Around Town

Sidewalk Construction Continues on One Side of Mt. Auburn Street

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Work this week on the Mt. Auburn Street Project includes construction of sidewalks and drainage work in the East End of town. See more information from the City of Watertown below. Curb Installation & Sidewalk Concrete Pouring

Curb installation and sidewalk concrete pouring will take place on the westbound side of Mount Auburn Street, between Belmont Street and Keenan Street, on Monday, August 25, 2025, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Details on travel and parking impacts are provided below. Traffic and Sidewalk Impacts

The westbound sidewalk will be closed for curb installation and sidewalk concrete pouring starting Monday, August 25, 2025 at 7:00 a.m. A bypass sidewalk on the westbound side will be opened up while this work is being completed.Traffic on Mount Auburn Street will be narrowed and you can expect lane shifts, however traffic will be maintained in both directions. Entrances to driveways and parking lots will be maintained.

Around Town

Construction Beginning Soon at Victory Field Oval, Courts Area

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The track, tennis courts and basketball courts at Victory Field will soon close until next year while Victory Field Phase II improvements are made. The City of Watertown sent out the following information. Construction at Victory Field is starting next week improve the track, grass field, tennis courts, basketball courts, and more. These areas will be closed to the public while work in on-going. Victory Field’s multi-purpose turf field will remain open, as will the playground along Orchard Street.

Around Town

Health Department Received More Than 100 Rodent Complaints, Body Work Regulations Begin

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Watertown’s Health Department has received more than 100 complaints about rodents since the beginning of the trash strike. At their meeting the Board of Health also heard about the start of the City’s body work regulations, and approved a life science company’s permit. A short Board of Health Meeting on Aug. 20 concluded without any conversation about newly proposed tobacco regulations, but did see a permit approval and some general Health Department updates. Talks about the regulations did not progress as Board of Health member Kim Netter was recovering from a medical issue so was unable to vote, and member Dominic Amirtharaj was not able to attend the meeting.

Around Town

Watertown Resident Joins Action for Boston Community Development as VP

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Karl Green

The following announcement was provided by the Action for Boston Community Development:

Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) is pleased to announce the appointment of Karl Green of Watertown as vice president of administration. In this role, he leads the strategy, development, and implementation of administrative procedures for information technology services, office services, property management and purchasing departments. 

ABCD President and CEO Sharon Scott-Chandler cited Karl’s diverse background as an administrator. “Karl’s multifaceted experience across the higher education, financial services, and commercial real estate industries brings so much value to ABCD,” she said. “Our programs, services and business holdings touch many of these areas, and I am glad to have him onboard.” 

Before joining ABCD, Green served as assistant vice president at Boston University where he formulated and executed strategic initiatives aligning operational units with university objectives, resulting in notable efficiency gains and cost reductions. 

At SBM Management, through his strategic leadership, Green developed program workflows and established robust processes for the soft services program, aligned with corporate growth goals. He also held director of operations roles at Cushman & Wakefield and the New England Institute of Art,  and served as regional business services manager at CBRE on the Goldman Sachs account. 

Beyond his professional work, Green is an active speaker and mentor in the community, committed to transforming organizations into collaborative environments where employees can share ideas and develop innovative solutions.

Around Town

City Reminds Residents That Short-Term Rentals Are Prohibited

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Photo by Charlie BreitroseWatertown City Hall

City officials recently reinforced that short-term rentals such as Airbnb and VRBO are not allowed in Watertown. In April 2024, the City Council rejected a proposal that would have allowed short-term rentals on a limited basis, including for under 3 months a year. “The City’s zoning regulations prohibit the rental of properties for a period of less than 31 days, and those violating this ordinance are subject to fines,” the City’s announcement said. The announcement was part of the City’s education efforts around short-term rentals, said Tyler Cote, the City’s Community Engagement Specialist. “When the Council passed the ordinance, we worked with our Zoning and Code Enforcement team to develop an enforcement strategy, which includes this step of sending letters to identified properties around Watertown,” Cote said.

Around Town

POSTPONED: Tuesday Night Talk With Police in August Features the WPD’s School Resource Officers

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(UPDATE Aug. 18, 3:25 p.m.): The Tuesday Night Talk in August has been postponed to a date that will be announced at a later time.)

Once a month, the Watertown Police Department invites the public in to learn about how the department works and what officers are doing around town. On Aug. 19, the Tuesday Night Talk features the WPD’s School Resource Officers. The talks grew out of another Watertown Police Department community program, said Watertown Police Lt. Kevin McManus.

Around Town

Watertown Group Screening Film “October 8” on Aug. 19

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The following announcement was provided by the Jewish Watertown Action Network:

The Jewish Watertown Action Network (JWAN) invites you to a screening of the film October 8, on Tuesday, August 19 that 6:30 p.m. at the Watertown Public Library. October 8 is a gripping documentary that lays bare the horror of the October 7th massacre and the chilling aftermath of unbridled hate. It exposes the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, on social media, and in the streets of America in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7. It poses a haunting question: What world are we shaping when one group’s suffering is dismissed and their wounds exacerbated? This film transcends the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, offering no solutions to its complexities. Instead, it illuminates a broader, more troubling phenomenon: the ideological groundwork laid across U.S. campuses, priming them for the mass protests that erupted post-October 7.