Government

LETTER: Casual Recreation Opportunities at Victory Field Should Not be Lost

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The renovation of Victory’s Field’s track area is up again for discussion. The Town Council has appointed an ad hoc committee to study proposed plans and make recommendations in September. These plans, basically identical to those put forward three years ago, would rob the area of much of its grass surface while introducing several intrusive and heavy-handed innovations which would go far toward destroying the open feeling which has made it so inviting and attractive a playground for generations of Watertown residents. Among the changes proposed are a parking lot, additional lighting for night games, rubber hardening of the eastern part of the ‘oval’ to concentrate track and field events, and a concrete pad just outside for the two equipment storage containers owned by the schools. A bocce court and long rows of black metal poles and netting at both ends of the field have not been approved by the committee.

Government

LETTER: Use of Victory Field Reaching Capacity, Adult Rec Needed Too

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The following is an open letter that Watertown Resident Patrick Fairbairn submitted to the Ad Hoc Committee on Victory Field Renovations Phase 2. The committee will meet on Monday, July 10 at 7 p.m. in the Lower Hearing Room of Town Hall. Fairbairn is a member of the Conservation Commission but submitted the letter as a resident. The letter reads as follows:

Having sat in on the first two meetings of the Victory Field Renovations Ad Hoc Committee and participated in the intervening site inspection, I’d like to contribute to the discussion as follows. 1.

Letters

LETTER: Don’t Sacrifice the Open Space Feel of Victory Field for Athletics

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I attended one of the June subcommittee meetings on Victory Field renovations.  As with many projects, it is difficult to organize the “general public” to attend. And it is natural that those whose work is directly affected (sports directors from high school, recreation dept. and youth) are an integral part of this project, and will speak in favor of their needs. But in the effort to accommodate their needs, we can lose the identity of this open space, which has served the general public for decades, improving health and building community, in an informal way. By adding many fixed physical objects to the field for organized sports, we may make the field uninviting for casual play, and we may lose flexibility to use this space for future needs.

Government

LETTER: Town Should Not Double Book Important Meetings

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The Town of Watertown scheduled two important public meetings to conflict with each other this Wednesday eve, May 31: the first Victory Field Phase 2 Committee meeting, and the Arsenal Yards Phase II community meeting. This double-booking should set off alarm bells for every voting citizen and taxpayer. It robs us and our elected representatives of the opportunity to be present for two meetings of keen public interest. Proposals discussed at these meetings will have long term consequences for many if not most citizens. Watertownians, please add your voice, by letter, phone call or email, to tell your Councilors and city government that Watertown public meetings on topics of wide public interest must never be scheduled to conflict.

Letters

LETTER: Be Warned of Athenahealth’s Gift Horse’s Impact on Parks, River

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To who it may concern;

I believe the residents should not look at the Golden Calf too closely, lest they be blinded by greed. I believe AthenaHealth wants CONTROL over Watertown. What better way to get it is to offer money. LOTS of money. I believe in helping the town (towns people) with improvements which will definitely be needed after they are done with their Arsenal project.

Environment

LETTER: River Clean Up Removed Trash, Items Already Re-accumulating

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To the Editor:

Two weeks after the Annual Charles River Cleanup, April 29, I went back to the area behind the Stop & Shop, 700 Pleasant Street.  On the day of the Cleanup, members of Watertown Citizens for Peace Justice and the Environment hauled from the banks of the river bags and bags of trash, including a large car part identified as a catalytic converter. By noon the area looked immaculate. On my follow-up visit, trash had started to re-accumulate. Back again along the banks were scatterings of sanitizing wipes and advertising flyers.

Letters

LETTER: I-Cubed Program Would Bring $25 Million in State Funds to Town

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Through a state financing tool called the Infrastructure Investment Incentive Program, or “I-Cubed,” Watertown could see a total of $25 million of funding for improvements to public property surrounding the Arsenal on the Charles campus. Representatives from Watertown, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and athenahealth are excited about their participation in the I-Cubed Program and the public-private partnership the Program creates between the Commonwealth, Watertown, DCR, and athenahealth. Here is how the Program works: The I-Cubed Program earmarks general state funds for local public infrastructure improvements surrounding an applicant’s site. Before state approval is final, an applicant must demonstrate that those public infrastructure improvements ultimately support the company’s job growth at the site, which in turn pays off those improvements. More than two years ago, the Patrick Administration granted preliminary approval for $25 million in state funding based on collaboration between representatives of Watertown, DCR, and athenahealth.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Wants to See a More Responsive Town Government

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As I watch this town struggle with intense development pressures, what I see is a town government wholly incapable of dealing with the momentous decisions being made daily. Basically, we have nine elected officials, who get paid practically nothing, have little expertise in most of the matters before them, less time to learn, yet are pressured to attend meeting after meeting every night where they have to decide on big issues. They are stymied by the Open Meeting laws to the point where they don’t even seem to be able to discuss anything. I see a Town Manager who is buried in spreadsheets, who keeps us in the black, but provides no leadership. I see a Head Planner who was made Assistant Town Manager, which seems to be a conflict to me and should never have been approved.