Environment

Council Disbands Watertown Recycling Committee

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After 22 years, Watertown’s Recycling Advisory Committee has been dissolved. 

The decision to end the committee was made by the Town Council last week after the Public Works subcommittee recommended the move. The Recycling Committee and officials in the Watertown Department of Public Works have disagreed about the goal of the committee since Watertown went to a single-stream recycling program, according to Councilor Cecilia Lenk, chair of the Public Works subcommittee. Councilor Aaron Dushku worried about what will happen when issues around recycling arise. “I think we need a place where recycling issues will be discussed in town,” Dushku said. “We need some way to convene residents who want to discuss recycling issues.”

Elections

State Rep. Jonathan Hecht Named Environmental Champion

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Watertown State Rep. Jonathan

Watertown State Rep. Jonathan Hecht received recognition for his work on environmental issues from two groups. Hecht was named an “Environmental Champion” by the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund and the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters (MLEV) and endorsed for re-election for his seat in the 29th Middlesex District. “Our organizations are united in support of the extraordinary commitment to environmental protection made by Jonathan Hecht,” said Chuck Anastas, MLEV board Chairman. “We need his 21st century leadership in the state legislature.”

George Bachrach, president of the ELM Action Fund, said Hecht understands the importance of clean energy technology. “Representative Hecht understands the connection between the environment and the economy,” Bachrach said.

Environment

Find Out How to Get a Tree from the Town for Your Property

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Watertown residents can have a tree planted in front of their home, or even on their property by the town – find out how! Watertown Tree Warden Chris Hayward is preparing for the fall 2014 tree planting season and he is looking for places to put new trees. He has nearly 30 species of all sizes to choose from, including variety of dogwood, cherry, maple and many more trees (see the list here). Hayward will put together a database of requests. “They can say these are the trees I want and I’ll come out and see if it works,” Hayward said.

Environment

LETTER: What Watertown Needs to Know About Stormwater

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As Watertown reviews and finalizes the Comprehensive Plan, the Stormwater Advisory Committee would like to draw your attention to stormwater management in our community. The Charles River is recognized as a key asset to our community life, and the Plan recommends restoring other water assets, such as Sawins and Williams Ponds. For the Charles and the ponds, polluted stormwater is a major, ongoing cause of contamination. Stormwater comes from rainfall and snow melt — they sound so pure, don’t they? But in a town like Watertown, not enough stormwater soaks into the ground, which would filter and clean the water.

Environment

Watertown Student Studying Abroad in Denmark

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Watertown’s Sam Allen will be headed overseas to take part in implementing a sustainable energy system. Allen, a third-year student at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, will be heading to Denmark with a class taught by COA faculty and led by COA students in a collaboration with the Rockland-based Island Institute under the auspices of a new philanthropic arm called The Fund for Maine Islands, according to the announcement from the college. During the student trip Sept. 22 through Oct. 4, to Samsø Energy Academy on Samsø Island, Denmark, Allen will study firsthand how Samsø, a farming and tourist community, became carbon negative through efficiency upgrades, wind and solar power production, biomass heating and other elements of a renewable energy portfolio, the announcement said.

Environment

Comprehensive Plan Looks at How to Make Use of Charles River

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The Charles River provides a place to stroll, see nature and even commute, and town officials looking at the Comprehensive Plan draft discussed whether it could also be a place to dine or have more active recreation. A joint meeting of the Planning Board and the Town Council’s Economic Development and Planning subcommittee was held last week to continue reviewing the Comprehensive Plan – a major planning document that will help shape what Watertown will be like in the future. The river could be a place for more town residents to enjoy and even draw people from outside of town. Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli said that will not happen on its own. “It is not good enough to just be next to a body or water,” Piccirlli said. “You have to give people things to do.”

Some have talked about finding a place along the river to put a restaurants.

Around Town

Citizens Group Looking at Banning Plastic Shopping Bags in Watertown

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With neighboring communities moving toward banning plastic shopping bags, members of a citizens group said this may be the time to do so in Watertown, too. 

ReThink Plastic held a community meeting on Tuesday night, and presented their findings about bag bans in communities around Massachusetts and in other states. The first town to put in a ban was Brookline, which required all businesses 2,500 sq. ft. in size or larger, including restaurants where take out is more than half the income. Also retailers with three or more locations in town or pharmacies with at least two locations in town.

Environment

Long Awaited Charles River Improvements Will Have Something for Everyone

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Efforts to upgrade the path and park along the Charles River, east of Watertown Square, started more than seven years ago, and Monday morning workers officially broke ground on a project that will improve the path, the park and add a special feature for the visually impaired. 

The park sits just blocks from Perkins School for the Blind, and a chorus from the school kicked off the ceremony by singing the National Anthem. The school is just one of several groups who helped make the project a reality, said Jack Murray, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. The $1.4 million project is a partnership between the state, the town, private organizations, foundations and more. The Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation donated $175,000, the Town of Watertown added $100,000, the Bilezikian Foundation added $50,000, Perkins School for the Blind gave $25,000, the Watertown Commission on Disabilities put in $15,000 and the Watertown Community Foundation added $5,000. Improvements

One of the new features of the park will be a Sensory Garden and Braille Trail, which will allow the blind and visually impaired to learn about nature.