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. I spoke with the Manager (George Proakis) who may have thoughts.”
Sideris said the issue of notification of residents about projects in their neighborhood will be discussed by the Council’s Committee on Economic Development & Planning.
Rodent Control Plan
Another issue that residents have expressed concern about is the increased numbers of rodents in town.
“We are all being contacted by people about rodent issues,” Sideris said. “I had a long conversation with (Health Director) Larry Ramdin.”
The Council approved a referral to the Council’s Committee on Humans Services to discuss the creation of a citywide rodent control plan.
The dates have not yet been set for the discussion of either issue.
Hiring Department Heads
City Manager George Proakis updated the City Council on the process of filling vacant department head positions: Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Director of Senior Services.
Proakis noted that changes to Watertown’s City Charter call for him to consult with the City Council when hiring department heads. He said he will get feedback from the Councilors about the positions as he hires the new department heads.
With the Police and Fire chiefs, the City will use the Civil Service hiring process. Proakis said he will be hiring a consultant to assist with the process. With both positions, candidates will go through an assessment center, in which they react to real-world scenarios.
For the Director of Senior Center, who will also oversee the Senior Center, Proakis said that the City put out a job posting in April. He plans to repost the position. He said he will keep the candidates who submitted applications in April, and hopes to “build the pool” with the second posting.
Trash & Recycling, Elections Policies
The Committee on Public Works will discuss trash and recycling rules, and the inflow and infiltration fees at a meeting on Monday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. in the Council Chamber in City Hall, 149 Main St.
The Committee on State, Federal & Regional Government will discuss Watertown’s election processes and procedures on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 5:30 p.m in the Third Floor Conference Room in City Hall. Join by link by clicking here.
It will be good that more and better communications on developments and other issues will be discussed and come up with a resolution. Councilor Izzo has done a great job of sending details to those of us in District D who are on her email list, but not everyone is aware of this option and, therefore, many people have missed meetings and the details. She has even walked around the neighborhoods to spread the word, but again she can’t cover every street.
The Boston Globe is now the paper of record for Watertown for public notices of important City meetings, but that does not serve residents well, especially if we don’t subscribe to this paper and don’t want to. I have been told that it is up to the MA Legislature to address this issue as we aren’t the only city/town who no longer has a local paper. Waltham and Newton are two that also don’t have a newspaper. We need to put some pressure on our state representatives to do something on this issue or they will drag their feet like they do on so many issues.
Online publications don’t work for seniors and others who don’t have access to computers. Maybe we need community bulletin boards in prominent areas of town, such as parks or near key areas of town in each district so people know to check these boards frequently or weekly and can spread the word to their neighbors.
Maybe these boards could also be used for local issues where people can post their individual concerns or questions to discuss with neighbors and friends to bring up at council meetings or to contact their councilors.
Agree with Joan. Thanks for taking the time to articulate what so many of us are feeling.
Thank you. As a resident who works very hard to stay informed, I have seen communications improve over the last couple of years with significant effort made by city employees. The pandemic clearly pushed the city out of our comfort zone and allowed legal requirements to be met while providing remote access.
We are all trying to take in so much information every day that having our own city make a special effort to make us aware of what’s happening right here can really build a better connection between citizens, neighbors, town government, businesses moving in, businesses continuing to operate here, developers etc.
It’s just the only way.
We can’t be forced to pay attention, attend meetings, or feel comfortable speaking up, but we need more channels of communication as we do not all use or have access to social media.
I look forward to seeing the ideas that will come out of these discussions. 
Yes, Joan. Your words are the online beginning of a conversation that Clyde Younger has been having for quite some time with residents. Democracy dies when residents are no longer involved. Thank you for stating the issue so clearly and suggesting some options for getting us back on track.
Thanks for your suggestion about mailing notices to residents in the mail. Also remember to sign comments with a full name.
Joan,
How about a sort of telephone “hotline” from the City? This would help the vision impaired as well as folks who want to stay involved but find the website unmanageable. If there was an easy phone number (include it on tax bills, etc.) that people could call:
“Next week in Watertown”, with dates,
press 1 for meetings, with agenda items, (make a feature that they can skip ones they’re not interested in)
Press 2 for special events
and so forth. It could give people advance notice for meetings and events they don’t want to miss.
Also, is this already done on our local cable access channels?
Just some thoughts.
Linda, you raise some great ideas. Let’s hope the city councilors, the new City Manager, and others in the various city departments read our comments and become creative. They should know best what the city is capable of doing. The council meetings that have been taped do appear on the cable access channels, but again some people are cutting the cord to cut costs and don’t get the local cable news. I don’t know if the library could give any assistance with providing playback times in one of the big meeting rooms during set times during the day or early evening for people to go and watch, similar to what they do with the movies.
Good point about people leaving cable. People can still stream Watertown Cable on the website, https://wcatv.org/. No cable subscription needed.