Fiscal 2018 Budget

Town Manager Unveils FY2018 Budget Which Includes Five New Positions

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The Fiscal Year 2018 Watertown budget presented by Town Manager Michael Driscoll is nearly 4 percent higher than Fiscal 2017 and includes a 5 percent increase for the Watertown Public Schools and new positions for a handful of municipal departments, including the Police Department and Library. Tuesday night Driscoll presented the budget to the Town Council for the 25th time, see the presentation here. The town budget totals $132.6 million, which is $5 million more than the previous year. Local real estate and personal property taxes total $94.8 million and State Aide accounts for $12.1 million. Local receipts – inspection fees, motor vehicle excise taxes and hotel excise taxes – provide $11.9 million for the budget.

East Branch Library

Town Council to Consider Sale of Watertown’s East Branch Library

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The long vacant East Branch Library may be sold by the town, if the Town Council approves the proposal on Tuesday night. 

The 2,684-square-foot building at 481 Mt. Auburn Street was built in the 1920s and closed in 2006 after the main branch of the library was renovated and expanded. Now the town is considering selling the building and .28 acres of land to St. James Armenian Church for $1.2 million. The town put out a call for bids, which had to start at $1 million, and received just one bid.

Around Town

Watertown Library to be Closed Two Days This Week

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The Watertown Free Public Library will be closed on April 6 and 7 so carpet replacement work can take place. Other sections of the library have been closed during the the project, but the building will be closed on Thursday, April 6 and Friday April 7 for the whole day, the library announced. The library has more than 30,000 visitors a year, and more than 3.5 million since the renovated library opened in 2004. Find out more about the project here.  

Around Town

Learn About Watertown Citizens Who Made History at New Library Display

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The portraits of eleven prominent figures from Watertown’s history have hung from street lamps along the town’s main thoroughfares since last July. Now, visitors can learn the stories behind the faces on the banners by exploring a new interactive digital display at the Watertown Free Public Library. In the display, photographs and documents from the library’s local history collection combine with biographical information to create a more complete portrait of each of the eleven banner subjects. The wide-ranging influence of these artists, entrepreneurs, activists, inventors, and explorers extends from patents to pulpits, architecture to abolition, Common Street to the U.S. Supreme Court. Some of their works—handwritten manuscripts, larger-than- life sculptures—are too fragile to touch, but all can be “handled” in digital format on the library’s interactive display.

Around Town

Watertown Library to Close for 2 Days During 4 Weeks of Carpet Replacement

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The carpets at the Watertown Free Public Library will be replaced beginning Monday, March 13 and installation will continue until Friday, April 7, library officials announced. This four week project will impact access to certain parts of the building. We will remain open for the duration of the project with the exception of Thursday, April 6 and Friday, April 7 when the library will be closed both days. During the installation patrons can expect limited access to areas of the building on weekdays from opening at 9 a.m. until around 3 p.m. after which all areas of the library should be accessible. Library staff will do as much as possible to help retrieve materials from any areas that are affected.

Government

Replacement of Library Carpet, Flooring Approved by Town Council

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With more than 3.5 million visitors since 2004, the carpets and flooring at the Watertown Free Public Library are showing their age. They will be replaced in a month-long project approved by the Town Council Tuesday night. Library Director Leone Cole said the library welcomes more than 30,000 visitors a month. So the carpeting and vinyl flooring needs to be replaced. The cost of the project is $259,400, and the town will borrow the money needed for the project, said Town Manager Michael Driscoll.

Entertainment

Watertown Library Kicks off Winter Concerts with Singer, Storyteller, Musician

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This year marks the Watertown Free Public Library’s fifth year hosting free concerts featuring a variety of musical styles performed by talented area artists, the library announced. Performances will be on the second Sunday of the month from December-March. All concerts are free and open to the public. The series kicks off with popular singer and harpist Kate Chadbourne, this Sunday, December 11 at 2 p.m. in the Watertown Savings Bank Room at the library. Kate Chadbourne is a singer, storyteller, and poet whose performances combine traditional tales with music for voice, harp, flutes, and piano.

Letters

LETTER: Simple Sign at Watertown Library Warms the Heart of a Resident

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Editor,

This morning I walked through the doors of the Watertown Library and was heartened to see a simple black and white sign in the door stating “The Watertown Free Public Library welcomes and serves everyone.”  

In these divisive times it was a welcome reminder that I live in a community that is diverse and that I believe takes pride in that diversity.  This diversity was evident to me in the families that came to the door trick-or-treating on Halloween, in the number of different languages spoken in the schools and in my work as a tutor with Project Literacy. As a white woman, I am unlikely to face discrimination in Watertown and I can’t presume that there is no discrimination or acts of harassment in our town.  But in general, Watertown feels like a welcoming community and my hope is that we will all look for ways to foster that sense of community as we move forward in 2017.  

Joan Blaustein
Riverside Street