Around Town

Watertown BioSafety Committee Shares How it Oversees Life Science Companies

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An illustration of the different BioSafety Level labs. Watertown has more than 60 life science companies, and more on the way, and they must go through the Watertown BioSafety Committee before they can start operating. Last week, the City Council got an update on what the committee has been doing in its first 2.5 years. The BioSafety Committee was formed as part of the Watertown Biotechnology Regulation, which was adopted by the Watertown Board of Health in 2019 and took effect in July 2020. Existing companies had to come before the BioSafety Committee within a year of the regulations taking effect, and new companies had to come before the committee.

Government

Public Notifications of Development Meetings to be Discussed by Council Committee

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The procedure for notifying the public about development projects will be discussed by the City Council’s Committee on Economic Development and Planning on Monday evening. The meeting will be on Monday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room in City Hall, and on Zoom. Ways to watch and partcipate:

The meeting will be televised through WCATV (Watertown Cable Access Television): http://vodwcatv.org/CablecastPublicSite/?channel=3

Join the meeting online at this link: https://watertown-ma.zoom.us/j/83549340015

Participate by phone in audio using these numbers: (877) 853-5257 or (888) 475-4499 (Toll Free) and enter Webinar ID: 835 4934 0015

The public may comment through email: vpiccirilli@watertown-ma.gov

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.