Government

Watertown Health Department Collecting Needles, Syringes and More

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The Watertown Health Department will have a Households Sharps Collection Day on Saturday, April 18, 2015 from 9 a.m.-noon at the Watertown Town Hall (149 Main Street) parking lot in the rear of building. Watertown Residents may bring:

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 are accepted.

Environment

Watertown State Rep. Honored For Environmental Record

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The Environmental League of Massachusetts honored a Watertown state representative for his work and record on voting for environmental issues. The group sent out the following announcement:

State Rep. Jon Hecht, a Watertown Democrat, is a true leader on environmental issues, according to his perfect scores on the Environmental League of Massachusetts’ unique and inaugural legislative scorecard. The scorecard gauges true leadership on environmental issues – not just votes, upending more traditional rankings that are often based mainly on non-controversial votes. The legislative scorecard from ELM, the oldest environmental advocacy organization in the Commonwealth, awards additional points to lawmakers who led by sponsoring important legislation and deducts points for lawmakers who filed measures that ELM opposed. It also takes lawmakers to task over their recent practice of ensuring controversial votes are not recorded roll call votes – preventing voters from truly gauging which representatives and senators on truly on their side.

Development

Developer, School Collaborate to Make Grove Street Project Approvable

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The first time developers of the former GE Ionics Building on Grove Street came to the Planning Board they met loud opposition because the plan had hundreds of cars exiting onto a residential street, but they worked with their neighbor – the Atrium School – to come up with a solution. Wednesday night, Cresset Grove LLC presented a new plan that would have all cars from the 135,000 square foot office building come and and leave via Grove Street. The agreement became official just the night before the Planning Board meeting when the Atrium School School Committee approved the new plan, said Ed Nardi, president of the Cresset Group. The driveway for the Grove Street project was too narrow to allow cars to enter and exit, so they had to ask the school if they could share their driveway. Silvia Nerssessian, an Atrium parent and chair of the School Committee, said the school was pleased with the outcome, too.

Charity

Local Foundation, Town Funded Post Help Watertown’s Homeless and Needy

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{This is the second story in a series of articles on homeless and needy in Watertown}

Watertown’s neediest have few places to turn, but when they are in their direst moments there are a couple places to turn. 

Those in need of money to keep the heat or lights on, or even to put a meal on the table, can go to the Helen Robinson Wright Foundation. Nancy Dutton, administrator of the the Robinson Foundation, said she often sees people at wit’s end. 
“People get down to zero in their heating oil,” Dutton said. “They come to you on the last day.” The harsh winter has made for an increase in need in Watertown. The first quarter of 2014 the foundation gave out $20,000 in aid, and in mid-March they had already spent $5,000 more than the previous year, Dutton said. The money goes straight to pay the bill, said Mark Harris, minister at First Parish Church of Watertown, where the Wright Foundation is located.

Government

Watertown Public Works Holding Spring Recycling Event

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Get your items ready for the Watertown Public Works recycling event. 

The event will be held Saturday, May 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

It will be held at the Watertown Recycling Center on Green River Way, off Waltham Street. You can shred paper, a styrofoam collection, and a tire collection – no rims are allowed. No commercial or business recycling will be allowed. The event is open to Watertown residents and identification will be required.

Development

Most of Town Council Seeks Tweeks in New Pleasant Street Zoning

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The majority of Town Council liked most of the proposed changes to the Pleasant Street Corridor District zoning, but wanted time to think about some of the details. The lone councilor who wanted to pass the changes at Tuesday night’s special meeting was Westside Town Councilor Ken Woodland, whose district includes most of the Pleasant Street area. The area – most of Pleasant Street and side streets off that street – has uniform zoning created to encourage the redevelopment of unused and underused industrial buildings. The change was made in 2008, but the development that resulted has been almost all large residential complexes. The biggest change in the proposed new Pleasant Street Corridor District into three different zones:

PSCD-1 continues to allow the existing mixture of residential, retail, and/or industrial uses
PSCD-2 would allow a maximum of 25 percent of the square footage to be residential
PSCD-3 would allow only retail, commercial, and light industrial uses with no residential allowed

A large portion of the PSCD-3 zoning will be along the river in the southwest corner of the district.

Development

Armenian School Worried About Impact of Proposed Development

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The proposed Linx project has an address on Arsenal Street, but the redevelopment of the Verizon Building could impact residents and others in Coolidge Square, including the St. Stephen’s Armenian School. Last week, developers of the building, Boylston Properties, discussed the plans to turn the warehouse that serves as home to a fleet of Verizon trucks, into a 185,000 square foot space for companies that may in the past looked to be in Kendall Square in Cambridge. Details were first revealed during a meeting at the site in February (see details here). The 8.5-acre site will have a 37,000 square foot green space for employees to take breaks or work outside.

Around Town

Learn About Diabetes from the Watertown Health Department

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The Watertown Health Department will host a free lecture about diabetes at the Watertown Mall. 

Join Public Health Nurse Wil van Dinter RN on April 17 at 10 a.m. and learn about the types of diabetes, most common signs and symptoms of diabetes, tests and diagnosis for diabetes, and ways to control your diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 9.3 percent or about 29.1 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. From those about 8.1 million are undiagnosed. Undiagnosed and untreated diabetes can cause eye, nerve, and kidney complications. This free health lecture will be held in the Old Country Buffet. In addition, from 10 a.m.-noon, free blood pressure screenings will be provided by St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center.