Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/government/page/76/)
The Town Council’s Special Meeting on the agreement between the Town and Buckingham Browne & Nichols on Tuesday, July 27 has been cancelled. The notice from the Town sent out Monday afternoon said that the meeting will be rescheduled, but a date has not been set. See the original story here: https://www.watertownmanews.com/2021/07/26/towns-agreement-on-fields-with-bbn-to-be-discussed-at-special-town-council-meeting/
Nicole Gardner is running for District A Councilor. Dear District A Neighbors,
I’m running to serve as Watertown’s next District A Town Councilor because I love this town and the East End.
When my husband David and I moved here five years ago to be closer to our kids, we really had no idea that the East End would offer so much: a close-knit community, a vibrant mix of cultural institutions, businesses, and restaurants, as well as beautiful public spaces like the river walk, Filippello Park, and Mount Auburn Cemetery. What a dream! Watertown is now at a pivotal moment. As you know so well, the incredible pace of development is bringing significant challenges as well as benefits to our community.
Anthony Donato
Editor,
It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve on the Town Council, representing the hometown that means so much to me, but I have decided not to run for reelection this year. The decision to not run was more difficult to make than the initial decision to run a few years ago. Serving on the Town Council represents a significant time commitment and I am not currently in a position to make that commitment for another term. I am incredibly proud of the work the Town Council has accomplished during my tenure and I am excited about the groundwork we have laid for Watertown’s future. I am extremely grateful for all of the help and support I have received from Watertown’s residents, my colleagues on the Town Council as well as the Town’s Administration and Staff.
The Resilient Watertown Stakeholder Advisory Group Holding sent out the following announcement about its second meeting on the Watertown Climate and Energy Plan Update. The Resilient Watertown Stakeholder Advisory Group (RWSAG) Meeting #2 will be held on Tuesday, July 27th from 6-8pm (remote meeting).
The meeting will be open for viewing by the public on Watertown Cable Access https://wcatv.org/. The public may email questions and comments to Resilient Watertown: resilient@watertown-ma.gov.
The focus of this meeting will be for RWSAG members to refine the proposed actions developed by working groups and collected through the first public input survey. Participants will dive deep in breakout group discussions to understand how these actions can become a reality for Watertown. The meeting will be live-streamed for public viewing and recordings of the breakout group discussions will be posted following the meeting.
BB&NA planning document showing the design for the athletic field to be built by Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School on Grove Street. The agreement between the Town of Watertown and Buckingham Browne & Nichols School will be discussed Tuesday at a Special Town Council Meeting. In November 2020, the Town entered a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cambridge-based private school over land the school plans to put two athletic fields with synthetic turf on Grove Street. A petition signed by more than 700 people asking the Town to reconsider the agreement was submitted to the Town Council. The residents who signed the petition oppose the use of synthetic turf, and note that the Memorandum of Understanding calls for “open green space,” and does not specifically include wording about synthetic turf.
Town Council candidate Connie Henry, right, held her first listening session in District D.
The Committee to Elect Connie Henry held the first Listening Session for District D residents on July 19th. Connie Henry, a candidate for Town Councilor, District D, values the opportunity to learn and listen from as many residents as possible early in the campaign and to provide a space for dialogue between neighbors. The event used a ‘World Cafe’ model with each of four stations (backyard tables!) focused on important topics: Development and Traffic, Green Spaces and the Environment, Education and Public Safety, and Equity, Inclusion and Communication. As they visited each station, participants generated ideas, concerns, and hopes and discussed them with one another, writing and drawing on large poster boards. It was a productive -and fun- evening.
Charlie BreitroseWatertown residents cast their ballots at Watertown Town Hall in the 2020 Massachusetts Presidential Primary. The deadline for submitting papers to run in the Town Election is approaching and as of July 22 there are not enough At-Large Town Council candidates for the number of seats.
While three of the four district councilor seats have contested races, only three of the four councilor at-large incumbents have taken out papers to get signatures to run for re-election.
In District C and the Town Council President election, so far only the incumbents have taken out papers.
The School Committee has had six people take out papers for the three spots, including two incumbents. Current member John Portz announced he will not be seeking another term.
Five people have taken out papers to run for the three spots on the Board of Library Trustees, including two incumbents. Trustee Michael Hanlon is running for District A Town Councilor. The deadline for getting nomination papers into the Town Clerk’s office with signatures is Tuesday, July 27 at 5 p.m. The election will be held on Tuesday, Nov.
The Town of Watertown is a diverse, growing community with a strong commitment to education, green energy goals with active and engaged residents, according to the description of the town created by the Council subcommittee overseeing the search for the next Town Manager. Tuesday night, the Ad Hoc Committee for the Town Manager Search created the community description to go into the request for proposals (RFP) going out to potential manager search consultant firms.
The meeting was the first step of many to come in the process of hiring the new Town Manager, said Town Council President Mark Sideris. On July 15, the Council decided to have an outside firm help with the search. Sideris said this type of search is a specialized one, and he did not believe that the Town’s Personnel Department could do it on its own. He added that he wants to spend the money required to get a quality Town Manager.