Government

City Will Discuss MBTA’s Multi-Family Zone as Part of Watertown Square Improvements

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Watertown City Hall

Discussions about how Watertown will meet the state’s requirement to allow multi-family housing in certain areas of town will be included in the City’s planning for improving Watertown Square. Discussions about the Square will begin later this year. On Tuesday night, The City Council heard an update on the multi-family zoning, which requires communities served by the MTBA to create an area where multi-family housing would be allowed by-right, and therefore would not need special approval from the Planning or Zoning boards if they fall within the city’s zoning requirements. When the state first released the requirements, they called for Watertown’s multi-family zone to be near the Waverley Commuter Rail station in Belmont. The Council objected, however, because the area would be in the middle of a section of town zoned for single-family homes.

Government

State Giving Watertown Nearly $1 Million for Community Preservation

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

Watertown’s Community Preservation Committee is pleased to announce that the Commonwealth has released $203,645 more to Watertown’s Community Preservation Fund, bringing the total annual state match to $956,905 for our City. These resources are a supplemental distribution from $20 million in state surplus funds for Community Preservation Act (CPA) communities in fiscal year 2022. State matching funds come from fees assessed on certain real estate transactions through the registration of deeds. For the past fiscal year, the state match equaled 38.5 percent of the CPA funds raised locally. Mark Kraczkiewicz, current chair of the CPC, said, “These matching state funds of nearly a million dollars confirm the wisdom of Watertown voters when they adopted the CPC.

Government

Council Approves Millions for Easements for Mt. Auburn St. Project, State Still Has Not Released Comments on Plans

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The $30 million Mt. Auburn Street reconstruction project will likely go out to bid at the end of 2023, and the 75 percent plans will soon be submitted. City officials, however, are still waiting for the state to release the public comments from the 25 percent designs submitted back in 2018. The project will be paid for by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) using federal transportation funding, but the design occurs at the local level, said Watertown Public Works Superintendent Greg St. Louis.

Government

Watertown City Manager Holding Meet & Greet in District A

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Watertown City Manager will be available to speak with the public during an event focusing on District A in the East End of Watertown on Jan. 18. A similar meeting was previously held in District D in November. The City of Watertown sent out the following announcement:

Please join us at the District A Meet and Greet with City Manager George Proakis on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Hosmer School Cafeteria, 1 Concord Road, Watertown, MA.

Government

Watertown’s IT Department Receives Grants from Mass. Community Compact

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The City of Watertown provided the following announcement:

The Watertown Technology Department is proud to announce the award of $457,965 in Massachusetts Community Compact Grants in Fiscal Year 2023. The Community Compact Cabinet was established by the Baker-Polito Administration in January 2015 as one of its first actions after taking office, with the goal of strengthening the state’s partnership with cities and towns and to allow the Administration to work more closely with municipal leaders. Led by Lt. Governor Polito, the Cabinet champions municipal interests across all executive secretariats and agencies, and develops, in consultation with cities and towns, mutual standards and best practices for both the state and municipalities. Baker-Polito Administration Celebrates Community Compact Programs and Announces $7 Million in Fiscal Year 2023 Grants | Mass.gov

Watertown is grateful for the opportunity to participate in this amazing program and excited to complete the projects funded for FY 2023. The Watertown Technology Department received awards in three categories:

•    Best Practices

•    Information Technology

•    Municipal Fiber

The Best Practices program is based on voluntary, mutual Community Compact agreements that individual cities and towns have entered into with the Commonwealth.

Government

Watertown’s First Deputy City Manager Has Experience in Medford, Somerville

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Emily Monea

The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

City Manager George J. Proakis is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Emily Monea as Watertown’s new Deputy City Manager. Ms. Monea has most recently served as Acting Chief of Staff to Mayor Luengo-Koehn for the City of Medford, supporting the Mayor in daily leadership and management of the City, focusing on HR modernization, recruiting, complex employee matters, and labor relations. Prior to that she was the Chief of Staff to Mayor Curtatone for the City of Somerville and later became the Transitional Director of the Mayorʼs Office of Innovation and Analytics (SomerStat) supporting the transition of Mayor Ballantyne into office. While serving as the chief administrative officer for a city employing over 1,000 employees and serving over 80,000 residents in four square miles, Ms. Monea managed day-to-day operations while leading medium- and long-term strategic planning and organizational change. Ms. Monea partnered with senior staff to effectuate the Mayor’s legislative and policy agenda; to develop accompanying strategies for City Council and community engagement; and to align financial, legal, HR, and operational strategies, including oversight of the City’s $270+ million operating budget.

Government

City Petitions Legislature to Extend Age Police Officers Can Work Road Detail Shifts

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Charlie BreitroseA road after being milled and prepared for overlay of new asphalt.

The City of Watertown seeks to expand the age that police officers can work a detail at road construction projects up to the age of 70. Currently, the State caps the age of detail officers at 65, said City Manager George Proakis, but some communities have expanded that age to 70. With many road projects going on through the year, Watertown has trouble filling them with its own officers. With other communities allow older officers this creates some inconsistencies, Proakis said. “Because we are not able to fill all our details we often find ourselves requesting officers from other communities to come fill details in Watertown,” Proakis said.

Government

LETTER: City’s Planned Linkage Fee Concerns Regional Chamber

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The following letter was sent by the Charles River Regional Chamber to City Council President Mark Sideris and Planning Board Chair Jeffrey Brown:

Dear President Sideris and Chair Brown:

The Charles River Regional Chamber and the Watertown development community share the city’s commitment to creating and preserving affordable housing and applaud last year’s establishment of the Watertown Affordable Housing Trust. We also support the city’s goal of creating more affordable housing through linkage fees. However, we respectfully caution the city to be thoughtful about implementing the linkage program given the serious economic headwinds — including rising interest rates, material shortages, weakening demand for life science and office space, layoffs in the tech sector, a labor shortage in the building trades and a looming recession — before us. 

Watertown’s linkage fees will inevitably be competitive with fees in Cambridge and Boston. But we fear projects in Watertown will be at a competitive disadvantage to neighboring communities that don’t require linkage payments. We also worry about the impact the high cost of development might have on another one of our shared goals: The revitalization of Watertown Square.