Fiscal 2022 Budget

Town Budget: Watertown Will Pay for New High School Without Tax Override, Fund to Buy Land to be Created

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Ai3 ArchitectsA view from Columbia Street of what the new Watertown High School could look like. The new Watertown High School will be built without a tax increase from a debt exclusion, Town Manager Michael Driscoll announced during Tuesday night’s presentation of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget. The FY22 budget will total $164.43 million, which is an increase of $976,720 — or 0.6 percent — above the current fiscal year. The budget includes a $1.5 million increase in State Aid from FY21, but does not include an expected $10 million that Watertown will receive as part of the Federal American Rescue Plan Act in FY22 and FY23. High School Funding

Driscoll saved the announcement of the high school project funding to the end of his budget highlights.

Around Town

New Lights Will Illuminate Softball Field at Park in Watertown

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Charlie BreitroseThe softball field at Filippello Park is undergoing a renovation and upgrade, including seven new lights on poles, new dugouts and backstop and a scoreboard. This spring, the softball field at Filippello Park has undergone a modernization, with new lights, a scoreboard, and a new backstop going up at the East Watertown park. Work continues at the field, and when it is complete seven light poles will light the softball field, which sits near the parking area off Grove Street. The project has been many years in the planning, said Watertown Recreation Director Peter Centola, who wanted to make facility upgrades at the Town’s parks a priority when he was hired in 2009. “I was here with Musco Lighting, we met on this field in the spring of 2010,” Centola said.

Arrest

Police Log: Customer Threatens to Harm Tufts Health Plan Employees, Food Delivery Man Stiffed for Bill

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The following information is provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrest

April 11, 11:57 p.m.: An officer patrolling in Watertown Square saw a white Toyota at the traffic light, and when the light turned green the vehicle did not move. The officer honked his horn to try to gain the driver’s attention but the person did not respond. The officer then saw that the driver appeared to be passed out with the car in drive and the driver had her foot on the brake pedal. After several attempts to wake her by knocking on, and shaking the vehicle the operator woke up.

Around Town

Deal to Sell Watertown Mall Closes, Purchased by Owners of Arsenal on the Charles

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The Watertown Mall — home to Target and Best Buy — has been sold for $130 million to the owner of other major properties in Town. The sale by Watertown Mall Associates Limited Partnership and New York-based Rosen Associates to Alexandria Real Estate Equities closed on Thursday, according to a story on Bisnow Boston which reported the closing of the deal. Alexandria has become a big player in biotech in Watertown. It also owns the Arsenal on the Charles and the former Mount Auburn Club. 

The future of the property is not clear, with Target having a lease through 2033, according to Bisnow.com. Other tenants of the Watertown Mall include the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Joyful Garden restaurant, Miss Maria’s School of Dance, Carter’s and Work N’ Gear.

Schools

School Building Committee Delays Submitting High School Project, Looking Closer at Where to Put Temporary Site

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Ai3 ArchitectsA rendering of what a two-story modular building could look like on Moxley Field. It could be the temporary location for Watertown High School while a new school is constructed. The submission of the Watertown High School project to the State has been delayed in an effort to look at where the temporary location of the high school will be during construction. 

The School Building Committee had been scheduled to vote on submitting the plan for the WHS project, including the use of Moxley Field as a site for a temporary school site, on Wednesday. Instead, Town Council President Mark Sideris announced the delay of the submission of the project. 

“We have a number of things we have to work out. A lot of concerns have been raised, and we believe the prudent thing to do is to continue talking, continue investigating and continue to have conversations with people to figure out the best approach that will get us a good high school and a good plan to get to that,” Sideris said. 

The proposal called for building the new high school on the current WHS, and moving the students to a temporary school made up of two-story modular classrooms at Moxley Field.

Government

Town Charter Changes Proposed to Allow Council to Hire Staff, Hold a State of the Town Meeting Annually

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Watertown Town Hall

Allowing the Town Council to hire staff to help them with their work, adding language to spell out the Council’s power, and requiring annual State of the Town meetings are some of the changes being considered by the Watertown Charter Review Committee. The Committee began looking at ways to alter the current Town Charter Tuesday, at the first meeting following their vote to keep the current form of government with a Town Council and the Town Manager serving as the executive rather than changing to one with a mayor as the executive. Assistants for the Council

The Committee’s consultant, Michael Ward from UMass Boston’s Collins Center, brought up some possible changes to address concerns raised at previous meetings. One issue raised was the Council’s ability to do its work, and having enough capacity to handle the duties of the Council. One way Ward suggested to address that issue was adding a piece to the Legislative section of the charter which would allow the Town Council to hire staff to help them with areas such as research into municipal issues, financial analysis or other areas.

Arrests

Police Log: Man Who Drove Up on Sidewalk Faces OUI Charge, Shoplifter Hits Car in Lot While Fleeing

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

April 7, 4:31 p.m.: Police were called by someone who observed a woman sitting in a white car for an extended period and the caller said the woman was acting strangely. The vehicle was parked on Spruce Street and when officers spoke to the woman she said she was there because her boyfriend lived in the area. She was unable to tell police in which house he lived. When speaking with her, Police learned that there was a warrant for her arrest from the Brockton District Court for reckless endangerment of a child.