The City Council had a special visitor at last Tuesday’s meeting, and also approved funding for the Fire Department’s new boat, and discussed how to replace the outgoing director of information technology.
Fire Boat
The City Council approved transferring $54,000 from other Fire Department accounts into the Fire Department Equipment Capital Account to pay for a new boat that will be used on the Charles River.
The boat, known as Marine 1, will replace one that dates back to 2000, said Fire Chief Ryan Nicholson.
“In the summer months we put Marine 1 in water at the Watertown Yacht Club,” Nicholson said. “It is used as needed. The most recent time was when there was a vehicle in the river at the Watertown Yacht Club.”
The boat also gets launched for searches, such as a missing kayak, and if there are fires, such as at Newton Yacht Club or Watertown Yacht Club, or if there is a blaze in the brush along the river, closer to Cambridge.
Nicholson said it is time to replace the current boat.
Because the Charles is so shallow in some areas, the boat mostly operates east of the Watertown Yacht Club. Nicholson said the new boat will be able to go a bit farther into the shallow areas. It will also have more space for equipment than the current one.
Police Pup
Raider, the Watertown Police Department’s new comfort dog, was introduced to the City Council on Tuesday. He was joined by Police Chief Justin Hanrahan and Officer Anna Margaryan, who is partnering with the young dog.
“He’s now the most popular guy in town,” Hanrahan said. “He has a way of calming people down. He’s a good addition to the community.”
Raider was named after people voted on the WPD’s social media accounts. He will live with Margaryan, and he will mostly be on duty at Watertown Middle School, where Magaryan is the school resource officer.
City Manager George Proakis welcomed Raider and thanked Margaryan.
“I appreciate that Officer Margaryan is taking care of Raider, taking him into her home and her work, and having him available for the people of Watertown,” Proakis said. “I thank Chief Hanrahan for advocating for Raider and the support of the City Council, as always, as we went through this process.”
See more about Raider from the Watertown Cable Access TV report:
Chief Information Officer
Watertown will be saying goodbye to Chris McClure, who has been the Chief Information Officer since 2020, and has led the improvement of the City’s network, email, and phone systems.
“Chris has decided to move on. He has been offered an excellent opportunity in another community,” Proakis said. “Despite me being sad about it his last day will be in the middle of this month.”
According to The Belmontonian, McClure has accepted a job as Information Technology Director in the Town of Belmont.
Proakis said that McClure has been a tireless advocate for Watertown, and has worked to make technology available to all.
“In addition to working to ensure that our IT network, email, meeting technology, and phone network have all been working well, he has been a tireless advocate in closing the digital divide — making sure that people in public housing and folks in need have access to internet services. Just (Tuesday) we learned of another grant that he secured, allowing us to build out wifi for existing Watertown Housing Authority buildings.”
The search for McClure’s successor has begun, Proakis said. The City Council’s Committee on Personnel and City Organization will discuss qualities and qualifications wanted in the next Chief Information Officer on Monday, July 15 at 5:15 p.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room in City Hall. See more information about the meeting here.
Just a question. . . Does the Town still have a Border Collie on
petrol to move the geese along the Charles River on to other
locations? If so, what is his/her name?
The dog is called Vee, but I am almost positive she does not patrol the river. That is State land.