Around Town

Watertown’s Fall Fire Hydrant Flushing to Begin Soon

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The Department of Public Works provided the following announcement:

The Water Department’s Annual Hydrant Fall Flushing Program is September 16 through October 24, 2024 between 7 to 11 p.m.

The purpose of flushing is to remove sediment build up in the water mains and to verify the safe operation of hydrants and valves. Flushing the system may cause discolored water. It is bacteriologically safe to drink, but unpleasant to look at. This situation can usually be resolved by running your cold water until it clears up. Locate the closest and lowest cold-water faucet in your building.

Government

Watertown DPW Director Leaving; Led Road, Water, Park & Recycling Projects

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

Gregory St. Louis, PE will be stepping down as Superintendent of the Watertown Department of Public Works (DPW) on September 27, 2024, after four years of service to pursue a new professional opportunity outside of Watertown. Greg was hired as Superintendent of the Watertown DPW in 2020 by the late former City Manager Michael Driscoll amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and later worked under the leadership of Acting City Manager Tom Tracy and City Manager George Proakis. 

Greg has led the department in implementing and completing several projects that will positively impact the Watertown community for many years to come. His leadership has been most felt in the City’s Complete Street projects, an approach to designing and building streets that enables safe access for all road users. Greg led the City’s successful effort to receive MassWorks funding for the Arsenal Street reconstruction project, and he played a critical role in expanding the off-street bike network that exists today. Throughout his time in Watertown, Greg has worked closely with partners like the MBTA to remove the unused catenary electric bus system lines and the Mass Department of Transportation to kick off the long-awaited Mount Auburn Complete Streets Project, which officially started in the spring of 2024.

Around Town

New Spray Pad Will Keep Kids Cool at East Watertown Park

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Children enjoy the new spray pad at Filippello Park in East Watertown. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

On a warm afternoon, dozens of children waited patiently for City officials to declare the new and improved spray pad at Filippello Park open so they could run through the cooling streams of water. Friday’s ribbon cutting marked the official opening of the new feature that has 15 spray features, including geysers, an aquadome, a lunar cannon and a palm tree on 2,500 sq. ft. of non-porous rubber play surface.

Around Town

DPW Releases Results of Watertown’s Recycling Audit

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Department of Public Works:

The Watertown recycling audit has concluded after two weeks. Thank you to all who reached out with questions and engaged with this city program! Observation from the audit found that about 10 percent of each route contains recycling contamination. This means we still have work to do in the city to ensure that we are sending the correct materials to our Materials Recovery Facility, also known as a MRF. MRFs, like everything else, can only work efficiently with the materials that they are built to process.

Around Town

Field at East End Park to be Closed for Multiple Months

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The City of Watertown announced that one of the fields at an East End Park will be closed to let it recover from high use. The City sent out the following announcement:

The Watertown Department of Public Works (DPW) and Recreation Department have concluded that the Filippello (Grove) Field should be shut down due to poor field conditions. Due to overuse and weather the turfgrass went into winter in rough condition and will not recover unless it is allowed to rest. There is extreme wear on the east end of 11 v 11 soccer layout caused by shading of trees, which prevents area from drying out after rain events. We will take an aggressive approach to renovation (aeration/seeding/fertilization/topdressing) over the next 3 months and expect the field to fully recover for Fall ’24 sports.

Around Town

Watertown Touch-a-Truck Features DPW, Fire & Police Vehicles + Bookmobile

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

Calling automobile enthusiasts of all ages! Watertown Department of Public Works is hosting a Touch-a-Truck on Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 124 Orchard St. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Guest experiences will include a Road Sign Maze as well as a Planting Station where participants can plant seeds in a paper cup to take home. Free popcorn and giveaways for children will be available while supplies last. You can plan to see DPW vehicles and others from around the city, including Watertown police and fire, the library’s bookmobile, plus recycling and compost trucks!

Government

City Offices, DPW, Senior Center Closing Early on Good Friday

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The City of Watertown announced that some municipal facilities will close early on Good Friday. The City release said:

Please be aware that the Department of Public Works office is open at 7:00 AM and closes at noon, and City Hall and Senior Center are open at 8:30 AM and are closed at 1 PM, in observance of Good Friday on Friday, March 29, 2024.

Around Town

DPW Update on Waste Reduction, Recycling & Re-use

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The Department of Public Works provided the following update on trash, recycling, and re-use efforts in Watertown:

Happy New Year! 2023 was a strong continuation of the big push that was started in 2022 to help achieve our Resilient Watertown action items, as well as the City Council established goal of reducing the amount of waste sent for disposal by 30% by 2030. Watertown’s tonnage reduction is being tracked based on the City’s 2019 baseline of 8,760 tons of waste sent for disposal. Watertown sent 8,581 tons of solid waste for incineration in 2022 and reduced that amount to 8,327 tons in calendar year 2023. This decrease shows that as a city we are continuing our trajectory of reducing our trash tonnage every year, which is critical to hitting our goal.