Government

Council Narrowly Passes Resolution Supporting Fair Share Amendment

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Charlie BreitroseWatertown’s City Hall. Despite every City Councilor personally supporting Massachusetts Ballot Question 1, known as the Fair Share Amendment, the Council narrowly approved a Resolution supporting passage of the ballot measure. The Fair Share Amendment would increase tax on income over $1 million from 5 percent to 9 percent, which includes salary, as well as profits on real estate sales. The additional tax would be spent on education and transportation. On Tuesday, Oct.

Government

City Manager Commits to Building a New High School Without Sacrificing Education or Green Features

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Ai3 ArchitectsA rendering of the main entrance to Watertown High School from Columbia Street. Watertown has plans to build a new high school which will create enough energy to cover the amount needed to operate the building, be equipped with state of the art equipment and technology, and will educate students for decades to come. Even facing climbing construction costs, City Manager George Proakis vowed that the new school will be built.

Watertown will get a significant portion of the new high school reimbursed —  $44.2 million — by the State through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). The cost of the project approved by the state was $138.6 million, but since the approval in March the cost of construction has escalated. In July, the School Building Committee approved “value engineering” steps to use less costly materials and reduce the scope of the project to keep it on budget.

Government

Rodent Control Plan to be Discussed at Council Committee Meeting

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Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashThe City of Watertown is working on creating a rodent control plan. A City Council committee will discuss the problem of rats and other rodents in Watertown at a meeting on Oct. 24. The Committee on Human Services will discuss the problem and what can be done about it with members of the Health Department and the Department of Public Works. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Oct.

Government

Council Pays Tribute to Former Cable Executive Director

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WCA-TVHelen Chatel leaves Watertown Cable Access Television after 9.5 years as executive director. The City Council thanked former Watertown Cable Executive Director Helen Chatel for her work at the local cable access station, especially he role in helping Watertown’s government keep holding meetings during the pandemic. City Council President Mark Sideris personally thanked Chatel at the Sept. 29 meeting. “Helen was extremely, extremely helpful, and helped us get through COVID and issues with the Zoom and I can’t thank her enough for everything she has done to get us to the place where we are with technology and cable access,” Sideris said.

City Council

Council to Look at Neighbor Notifications About Projects, Rodent Control Plan & Hiring Department Heads

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Watertown City Hall

After hearing from residents about not being informed about key meetings about development projects in Watertown, the City Council will discuss ways to improve communications with neighbors of such projects. The City will also work on creating a rodent control plan, and the City Manager will be filling three key positions. On Tuesday, City Council President Mark Sideris said that he heard from residents who were frustrated that they did not know about the proposed project at 148 Waltham St. “We it comes to development we put in place the requirement for community meetings, but one thing that came out, particularly with the Sterritt Lumber site — and I thank Councilor (Emily) Izzo for her efforts — but we don’t have a process with notifying neighbors when a hearing is coming up,” Sideris said. “We do notify the immediate abutters, but we can do a better job.

Government

City May Change Rules for Demolishing Historic Buildings

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A City Council Committee has started looking at doubling the maximum delay for demolition of a historic home or building, but also to remove many properties from consideration for the demo delays. The Historical Commission can put a delay on demolishing homes and buildings that have historic significance in an effort to find a way to preserve them, including finding a person or group to buy it and save it. The Commission can prevent a structure from being demolished. The current maximum delay is 12 months. Currently, projects that must be heard by the Historical Commission include any building 50 years old or older.

Government

Council Approves Funds for Highland Ave. Repaving, Numbers Higher Than Planned

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The City Council approved funds to repave and install new sidewalks on Highland Avenue, but the project will cost more than originally anticipated. The total cost of the project will be $2.96 million for the project that also includes Chapman Street, said City Manager George Proakis, and $2 million will come from the loan order approved by the Council Tuesday night. The remaining funds will come from other Department of Public Works accounts. The loan is more than previous years for similar projects on longer roads in Watertown. “I recommend putting $2 million toward that this year, where we originally talked about $1.5 million,” Proakis said.

City Council

Council Approves Money to Start Process of Purchasing Pond Property

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Leo MartinThe City Council approved a transfer of funds to be used to put a deposit on the purchase of property that includes Walker’s Pond, on the Westside of Watertown. The City will have the money to make a deposit on the purchase of a property that includes a pond on the Westside of Watertown, and a small part of Waltham, after a vote made by the City Council on Tuesday night. The Council approved a transfer of $100,000 from the City Council Reserve to the Acquisition of Land account. The money will be used to go toward the purchase of the 6.67-acre parcel that includes Walker’s Pond. The area would be used for public open space and recreation space, said George Proakis, who attended his first meeting as Watertown’s new City Manager.