Government

Watertown Health Department Holding Medical Sharps Collection

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Watertown residents can bring household medical sharps, such as needles and lancets, to Town Hall on Saturday to dispose of them. The collection will take place on Saturday, Jan. 10 from 9 a.m. to noon  in the rear parking lot of Watertown Town Hall, 149 Main St. Watertown residents may bring the following:

Used Needles, syringes, and lancets, stored in sturdy puncture proof containers
Unused capped needles, syringes and lancets in original packaging
Sharps containers. No Medical Waste or Commercial sharps will be accepted. Proof of Watertown residency is required.

Development

Town Councilor Opposes Proposed East Watertown Hotel

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East End Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis has come out against the proposed hotel on Elm Street that recently came forward. 

Elm Hospitality LLC submitted preliminary plans for a five-story hotel with more than 100 rooms to the Watertown Planning Department. The hotel would be at 80 Elm Street, right behind Target in the Watertown Mall, and would replace the former Atlantic Battery Co. facility. Kounelis said she does not believe the site is appropriate for such a project. “I will state from the start, I will not support the hotel proposal,” Kounelis said.

Government

MBTA Officials Looking For Ways to Improve Watertown Transit

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With crowded buses in Watertown and new developments the MBTA is looking for ways to improve public transportation. Mass. Department of Transportation and MBTA officials discussed possible ways to improve public transportation in town at a meeting held in December a the Arsenal Center for the Arts. Around a dozen bus routes serve Watertown, but the most heavily used ones are the 57 from Watertown to Kenmore Square (more than 12,000 riders a day), the 70/70A along Main and Arsenal streets (7,357 a day), the 73 down Belmont Street to Harvard Square (6,424), and the 71 down Mt. Auburn Street to Harvard Square (5,548).

Development

Learn About Greystar’s Plans for Arsenal/Irving Streets

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The developers of a major project at Arsenal and Irving Streets in Watertown will discuss the latest details of the residential and commercial proposal. Representatives from Greystar Real Estate Partners will hold the meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 6 from 6-9 p.m. at the Watertown Free Public Library. Greystar is working with local partners Oak Tree FX, and the project is a test case for the town’s new design guidelines and standards being developed to shape how Watertown will look in the future. “This is an opportunity to view the project as currently envisioned and consider changes suggested by the ongoing design guidelines and standards being developed by the town,” the meeting notice reads.

Business

Subcommittee Recommends Locations for New Liquor Licenses

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Watertown could be getting 15 more liquor licenses for restaurants, and a group of Town Council subcommittees designated where they could be used. The members of the joint committees of the Rules & Ordinances, Economic Development & Planning, and Public Safety voted to send a proposal to the full Town Council. The town currently has more than 30 licenses, awarded by the state based on the town’s population. These can be sold and transferred by the holders. The new ones would be linked to a particular address and business, and would be leased out by the town, so they cannot be transferred or sold.

Development

See Drawings of the Latest Hotel Proposal in East Watertown

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Developers have come forward with preliminary plans for a hotel off of Arsenal Street, behind Target in Watertown. Elm Street Hospitality LLC has requested a developer’s conference with the town’s Planning Department to discuss the hotel proposed for 80 Elm Street – the former Atlantic Battery building. The spot is just down Elm Street from the recently approved Residence Inn by Marriott at the corner of Arsenal and Elm streets. According to engineering documents submitted to the Planning Department the hotel would be five stories tall and cover about 12,000 square feet of the 36,000-square-foot parcel.The total floor space would be 66,604 square feet. The documents were drawn up by Bohler Engineering of Southborough.

Government

LETTER: Fire Union President Reacts to Council Rejecting Contract

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As President of the Watertown Firefighters Union, Local 1347, I write today to express my and my membership’s extreme disappointment with the Town Council’s decision to reject the Joint Labor Management Committee’s (JLMC) decision relative to the collective bargaining agreement between the Local and the Town. The tripartite JLMC panel, comprised of a management representative, a labor representative and a neutral arbitrator is empowered by Chapter 589 of the Acts of 1987 to resolve disputes between public safety employees (who by statute lack the ability to go on strike like all the other unions) and cities/towns that have remained unresolved for unreasonable periods of time. In this case, after nearly 6 fruitless years of bargaining, mediation and arbitration the JLMC, after reviewing supportive documentation from both parties and hearing their testimony rendered their decision known as an “award” in late October 2014. The award included the accepted proposals from both parties that this neutral panel believed to fairly represent the wants and needs of the parties collectively. Not all of either parties’ proposals were accepted by the panel.

Development

Residents Wonder if East Watertown CVS Project is Being Rushed

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The CVS proposed for East Watertown had its first hearing in front of the Zoning Board of Appeals Wednesday and residents said they worry that the approval of the project is being rushed. The project has met resistance since it was proposed, both from residents and the town boards. Last week, the Planning Board voted 3-1 against supporting the proposed 13,000-square-foot project at the corner of Mt. Auburn and Arlington streets. Neighbors and residents expressed the same concerns as they did during the Planning Board hearings – about lights, noise and most of all traffic.