Watertown City Council (Tuesday March 10, 2026)

I'd like to call the meeting to order. This is a meeting of the Watertown City Council of March 10th, 2026. This is an in-person meeting with remote access. The information for the remote access is available on the city website. as well as a phone number and email address. And it is being broadcast and recorded by Watertown Cable Access. Can I get a roll call please?

Councilor Bates? Feltner, Gannon, Gardner, Izzo, Offei, Palomba, Piccirilli, Sideris

President, thank you. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States Thank you. The next item on the agenda is public forum. If there's any member of the public here or at home wishes to speak, please raise your hand. Did you want to speak? Please, identify yourself for the record.

Hi, I'm Ed Scheinbart, I live at 275 Main Street, and I've lived in Watertown, I'm proud to say 43 of my 78 years. I just want to publicly, although I've said something to them privately, thank Councilor Tony Palomba, Theo Offei, Councilor Vinnie Piccirilli, and Councilor John Gannon for coming last Thursday to the session. on to the talk on antisemitism. Personally, it meant a lot to me that four of you were there. and that the four of you were here for the city. And that's it, okay.

Thank you. Anyone else in public forum? Seeing none, I close the public forum and move on to the next item, which is the examination of minutes. Can I get a motion on the minutes of February 10th?

Mr. President, I make a motion we adopt the minutes of February 10th as written.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.

Mr. President, I'll make a motion that we adopt the minutes of February 24th as written.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Item number five is President's Report. and this is a confirmation of appointment of Alana Berman-Navecki as a member of the Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee for a term that expires on May 15, 2028. this was presented to the city council back in October. So under the council rules, the confirmation becomes automatic. The next item is public hearings. 6A is a public hearing and vote on a proposed loan order that the sum of $750,000 is appropriated to pay costs of sewer system improvements for the Department of Public Works as more fully described in line 51 of the annual budget for fiscal year 2026. Mr. Manager.

Thank you, Mr. President. I think I noted at the last meeting that line actually should say line 51 of the capital improvement plan is incorporated with the fiscal year 26 annual budget. This is a request for SOAR system improvements under the SOAR Enterprise Fund. and Mr. Brady, our Public Works Director, is here to answer any questions you may have on this particular item, but these are the improvements that are generally approved as part of the capital plan. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you. This is a public hearing. If there's any member of the public that wishes to be heard on this issue, please raise your hand. Seeing none, I close the public hearing and ask for a motion from the City Council.

Izzo. Mr. President, make a motion that we approve the loan order as presented.

Is there a second? Second. Discussion? Roll call please.

Councilor Izzo. Yes. Councilor Offei.

Yes.

Palomba, yes, Councilor Piccirilli, yes, Councilor Bays, yes, Councilor Feltner, yes, Councilor Gannon, yes, Councilor Gardner, yes, President Sideris, yes, thank you.

Item seven is motions, orders, and resolutions. And 7A is the first reading on a proposed loan order that the sum of $450,000 is appropriated to pay costs of turnout gear replacement for the fire department as more fully described in the annual budget for fiscal year 2026. Mr. Manager?

Thank you, Mr. President. This item is a first reading. It will be on for a public hearing. at the next meeting. If you have any given questions about it here or next time, our fire chief is available. The full cost for the turnout gear will be $480,000 with the additional firefighters and paramedics that we are in the process of hiring. Our intention is to cover the additional funds with the transfer of funds in order to maintain the capital budget borrowing item of $450,000 when this comes before you at the next meeting. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you. 7B is a resolution authorizing a transfer of funds in the amount of $30,000 from the fiscal year 2026 City Council Reserve to the fiscal year 2026 fire replacement of equipment account. Mr. Manager.

Thank you, Mr. President. This particular item will... along with the borrowing on the next agenda, bring you the total of $480,000 for the turnout gear. And as noted, our fire chief is here and can answer any questions about the specific technical details of this particular purchase. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve the transfer of $30,000?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please.

Bayes, Feltner, Gannon, Gardner, Izzo, Sideris.

Yes, thank you. 7C is an intermunicipal agreement for therapeutic recreation services. Mr. Manager.

Thank you Mr. President. This is an exciting moment for me to bring this before you. This is something we've been working on for quite a while. We have had a shared relationship with the town of Belmont on Therapeutic Recreation Services for quite a while and the program has grown far beyond our wildest imagination in terms of what it can be able to do and where it can go. And the person who's been working on it, working for the town of Belmont has a lot of other responsibilities and those responsibilities have grown. And I've had a lot of, opportunity to spend time with the Belmont town manager on this and with our recreation team and their recreation team to come to the conclusion that at the end of the day it would make a lot of sense for us to be in a situation where we could collectively have a full-time person working on this. The Belmont town team offered to have that person work on their staff, which

for a lot of reasons right now is very helpful to us. I think that having them do the staff management side of this would be very helpful. but it is a 50-50% split in terms of what this person will be doing and they will be spending time with us as well. This is listed as an additional budget request on the fiscal year 27 budget that I am inclined to move forward in the budget. And in preparation for doing that, we would essentially be interested in having an inter-municipal agreement in place, having the start of the hiring process. If it happens before July 1st, we can do some stuff with the initial remaining portion of the year, but essentially make sure that by July we have something all in place. So I would like to let Ernie, our rec director, spend a moment just explaining the the benefits of the shared program and introduce our colleagues from Belmont along with his assistant director who are all here this evening as a part of this program. Thank you, Mr.

Manager. City Council, thank you for having us tonight. I think it's an exciting time. What Mr. Manager said about we've been working for a few years to try to get this position filled. I don't know if you know about the Sport program that's been going on. We've been in conjunction for over 30 years with this program. It's been a great program what I've seen. since I've been here for 18 years. We really have and she had our responsibility on this position. This is a golden opportunity to bridge that gap and split the job over the next, hopefully, few years and hopefully we'll have a full-time one of our own. A little bit about the program. Like I said, 30 years we've been in conjunction with the Belmont Recreation Department. The Belmont sports, we have approximately 200 participants right now with over 15

15 Special Olympic programs that's going on, major activities, dances, special events. We did the Santa came to town and that was just a great event that we all got to see. Seeing the smiles on the clients, it was just amazing. So if anyone had any questions about it, I know a lot of people know about the program, but I think it's a great opportunity to Watertown to step up and fund this project.

Thank you. Before I ask, I mean, let me ask first for a motion to approve entering into the intermunicipal agreement of therapeutic recreation services with the town of Belmont.

So moved.

Is there a second?

Second.

So we've done inter-municipal agreements with the town of Belmont before. Our plumbing inspector and our electrical inspector were 50% here and 50% there. So there is some precedent. that I think, and I think this is mutually beneficial. It's a great program. It's been around for a long time. And I would respectfully request that we could support this as we move forward. Councilor Piccirilli.

Thank you, Mr. President. And we do have the current inter-municipal agreement with Belmont for the support program for persons with disability. to participate in sporting activities. I just wanna say, back in 2021, we amended our charter and we came up with a preamble, which states, These guiding principles find multiple expression in Watertown's policy priorities, practices, and partnerships in furtherance of the Charter's purpose to provide the residents of Watertown with a government that represents all who live, work, and play here, all. And this is just a tremendous, I wanna thank the Recreation Department for bringing this forward. This is a tremendous example of providing the ability for all people to play in Watertown. So thank you for doing this.

Gannon?

Yes, thank you, Mr. President, and thank you both, Representative both Belmont and Watertown and you, Ernie, for and this program. So I have a son who has special needs. Of course, he turned 22, so he's no longer entitled to services. But I know this would have benefited to him when he was in the system. and I've been an actor proponent throughout my career for shared municipal services. I think it brings the ability to perform both Services for both communities are part of IMAs. I note that other IMAs that I've seen specify the hours, including our plumbing inspector. but this provision at 2.3 states the weekly schedule and allocation of hours shall be determined by mutual agreement of the respective department heads. So I just want to get some clarity on what, how would that, how that would operate?

Well mainly, we'll be splitting the duties in half, but they'll be mainly taking over the sport program. So a lot of the activities, they'll be overseeing that program. Heidi's been doing a great job for the past almost 20 years. So we just wanted to make sure that there was support there for the support program. they will be, we will have access for the opportunity for our summer camp program if we have some needs at Camp Aquacet that this person will be available. So we will have multiple opportunities Multiple situations at camp or after school programs and also the main thing is the sport program, overseeing that. and making sure there's a transition, easy transition. I'm not saying Heidi's going to retire, but I want to make sure that we have all of that. There we go. She's been working hard. Weekends, nights, it's just amazing what they've been doing over there. Thank you. Feltner.

Thank you. This is very exciting. I agree for all the reasons that my colleagues have stated. And again, thank you for bringing this forward and all the years you've already contributed as well, Watertown. Just a quick question. It says automatically renewed annually, but there is a number eight, the 90-day notice of just checking because it says automatic renew up to 25 years.

I don't know exactly all the details of that, but I think on a yearly basis we'll be checking. I'm not sure of the small print.

If I may, it is basically intended to be that we are annually checking in, and if everything is going well, we don't have to renegotiate an agreement. if anything needs an adjustment, we can stop and get to that point. But if we're comfortable with it, we don't have to regularly be back at the table on it. That's the basics of it.

Great, thank you. Are there any other questions or comments? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? You guys have it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming over. Next is Committee Reports and 8 is a Committee on Parks and Recreation report regarding its meeting on February 19th. Councilor Offei is the chair.

Thank you, Mr. President. The committee convened on Thursday, February 19, 2026, at 5.05 p.m. on Zoom. Present were myself, Theo Fair, Chair, Tony Palomba, Vice Chair, and Nicole Gardner, Secretary. The purpose of the meeting was to conduct interviews for the Conservation Commission. First, we interview Marie-Sophie Rawater. Ms. Rerota is an ecologist and biodiversity researcher. She moved to Watertown in 2024 from Germany while working towards her PhD at the University of Potsdam. She's now looking for a job. Ms. Royda is happy to be settled into Watertown and said it now feels like home. She's looking for ways to engage with others and to serve the local community. She wants to do this in a sustained role with meaningful opportunities to participate in local decision making and so wants to serve on the Conservation Commission.

She believes she can devote a time now while looking for a job to develop an in-depth working knowledge of the committee's work. the relevant laws, and so on. Ms. Rewarder recently completed a Massachusetts Area Planning Council Fundamentals Program, which is a training for conservation professionals on wetlands protections. She also watched the recordings of fall and winter CONCOM meetings. She did both of these things for learning and preparation if appointed. she's eager to bring a fighting spirit to the protection of our wetlands a detail-oriented and meticulous mindset good communication skills and strategies to resolve conflict and where appropriate achieved compromise. She's aware that a member of the CONCOM sits on the Community Preservation Committee and would be interested to learn more. about that if appointed.

Councilor Gardner made a motion seconded by Councilor Palomba to appoint Marie-Sophie Royder to the Conservation Commission with the term expiring February 15, 2029. The motion passed 3-0. Mr. Leo Martin. Mr. Martin is a retired engineering geologist and project manager who has over 40 years of experience in setting and sitting inside and testing, licensing and construction of tunnels and other infrastructure facilities. He has served on the Conservation Commission since 1997 and has developed a deep knowledge of the open space wetlands and developments in Watertown. His goals in serving are, one, to preserve the wetlands we still have, and if possible, clean up areas that are still contaminated. Two, while DPW does a very good job already to ensure the city keeps improving stormwater management in order to project

in order to protect our wetlands, to protect and preserve the limited open space we still have in Watertown. Based on his professional work experience, he believes Watertown Conservation Commission has across its members deep and highly valuable skills. We're sorry to see some folks stepping down, but it's confident new members will contribute in important ways. Gardner made a motion seconded by Councilor Palomba to reappoint Leo Martin to the Conservation Commission with the term expiring February 15, 2029. The motion passed 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 5 45 p.m.

Thank you. Can I get a motion first to accept the report? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Can I get a motion to confirm to confirm Marie Sophie Rowider to the Conservation Commission for a term to expire on February 15, 2029.

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. And I get a motion to reappoint Leo Martin to the Conservation Commission for a term to expire on February 15, 2029.

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. 8B is a Committee on Personnel and City Organization report regarding its meeting from January 27th. Council obeys.

Thank you. The Committee on Personnel and City Organization met on January 27th in the third floor conference room. Present was myself. as Chair, Councilor Nicole Gardner as Vice Chair, and Councilor John Gannon as Secretary. Also present was Doug Newton, City Council, Municipal Policy. The meeting began at 639. That should be changed. The meeting agenda's stated purpose was to review referrals from the city council and to the Committee on Personnel and City Organization. Councilor Bays began the discussion of the first referral to the committee, the discussion of accessibility and accommodation for members of boards, commissions, and committees. I opened up the discussion stating that the referral pertained not only to providing physically accessible meeting spaces and accommodations to allow

all members of the public to serve and to participate in public meetings but to include other issues as well such as providing child care to board commissions and committees members so that the parents of young children could participate in all meetings. Doug Newton stated that he had been researching communities that do provide childcare to committee members. He also noted that he is speaking to officials from the city of Somerville about providing language Bay said that she would consult with City Council President Mark Sideris to discuss Doug Newton's scope of research and determine future steps such as cost and service impacts. Bates, the committee decided to continue this referral. Councilor Bates next took up another referral to the committee calling for the evaluation of the performance management process used to evaluate council staff. She stated that she will be working with the city's human resources director and the evaluation methods used for city employees. The committee decided to continue this referral.

Councilor Bayes next took up the final referral, which required the committee to review the qualities and qualifications for city treasurer. Councilor Bay stated that future committee meeting will be held to consider this referral. Accordingly, the committee will continue this referral. Gardner made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Councilor Gannon, and the meeting ended at 5.57 PM. Thank you to Councilor Gannon for doing these minutes.

Thank you. Can I get a motion to accept the report?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Councilor Feltner.

Yes, Mr. President, just note a typo that the meeting started at 5.30, I believe, according to the agenda, not at 6.30 because the meeting ended at 5.57.

Oh, did it start at 5? Because you have 6.30 at the top.

6.30 at the top, but you said your meeting commenced at 5.39 p.m., so just to correct the typo of the time to make it 5.30.

We'll make that change before we submit. Thank you. Next item is Committee on Personnel. Oh, we didn't vote on it, sorry. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Committee on Personnel Report regarding its meeting from January 27th. Councilor Bays.

Thank you, Mr. President. The Committee on Personnel and City Organization met February 10th on the third floor.

February 10th, that's what I meant, sorry. We just did the 27th, it's the 10th, you're right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Izzo. Sorry.

February 10th at the third floor conference room at 6 p.m. Present with myself as chair, Councilor Nicole Gardner, Vice Chair, and Councilor John Gannon, Secretary. Also present with City Councilor President Mark Sideris. Vinnie Piccirilli, Councilor Emily Izzo, and City Manager George Proekes. Meeting began at 6.04, and the agenda's stated purpose was to discuss the qualities and qualifications for the City Treasurer Collector. Bayes opened another meeting by allowing City Manager George Proekes to speak. He stated that former City Council Treasurer Collector Ms. Melissa Morrissey was A skilled, talented city employee who took a similar position in a different community. And he reveres that a new treasurer collector have the treasurer collector certification offered by the Massachusetts Collectors and Treasurers Association, which provides skill and career development classes to its member constituents.

He would also prefer that the new treasurer collector be savvy in the munis accounting system and stated that he spoke with the city assessor Earl Smith, who highly recommended that the new treasurer collector have a munis background. The city recently switched to this accounting system, so a new treasurer collector skilled in MUNIS and capable of interacting with MUNIS employees would be essential for the city's municipal finance team, especially since the city has a residential exemption and has adopted the Community Preservation Act. Other qualifications discussed for the position included good customer service and communication skills. Councilor President Sideris noted that finding qualified individuals for this position has been addressed as a statewide problem. Izzo asked if Bernie Lynch, a municipal executive recruiter used by the city for previous executive searches, would be retained. for this search. City Manager Proekes said that Mr. Lynch would not be retained.

He said that he knows the capable Gannon made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Councilor Gardner and the Gannon for these minutes.

Thank you. Can I get a motion to accept the report? So moved. Is there a second? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. 8D is a Committee on Human Services report regarding its meeting from February 26th, Council of Palomba.

Yeah, we have them listed separately.

That's okay.

Community Human Services convened on Thursday, February 26th at 5.30 p.m. This was a hybrid meeting and the public could join via... Lee, present with myself, Councilor Bates, Vice Chair Emory, Izzo, Secretary, also present with Jenna Bancroft, Director of Human Services. Stappi Benzarellis, Assistant Director Human Services, Dominica Puehl, Wellness Coordinator, and resident Jackie Van Loon. The purpose of the meeting

We have the report before that on the confirmation of the...

because I was having trouble pronouncing the person's name.

That's okay.

We'll figure that out. The Committee on Human Services will be on Thursday, February 26th at 5.30 p.m. This was a remote meeting, present with myself, Councilor Bates. I'm going to conduct an interview with Dominic Amathara, MD, for reappointing to the and is currently the Chair of the Board of Deputies as learned from previous chairs and learned from how to handle difficult situations, especially the dangerous dog areas. He has also learned how well the government works and has enjoyed working collaboratively with the health department. He also enjoyed working on the massage. Oh, thank you. I apologize. Massage, power, regulations.

He feels his work as a physician and his science background have been helpful, especially when it comes to biolab safety. The Board of Health is the step after the Biosafety Committee for final permit approval. sees the role of the Board of Health as a public advocate for safety specifically. Dr. Emma Thoraura feels as though the big challenge for the board is taking up the tobacco-free generation. Some communities in Massachusetts have adopted regulations which prevent selling to anyone who is not currently old enough to purchase tobacco products. He feels as though tobacco and cigarettes are the most preventive causes of many diseases. This issue has been paused since there is pending state action

and further consideration with the Department of Health. He would like to continue taking preventive measures for Watertown, including for issues like skin cancer. Bays, motion to reappoint Dominic M.D. to the Board of Health for a term expiring February 5, 2029. The motion was seconded. By Councilor Izzo and was passed three to zero. Councilor Bayes made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Councilor Izzo and was passed three to zero. Zerl. The meeting adjourned at 5.15 p.m. and I appreciate Councilor Izzo's preparing this so quickly after the meeting.

Thank you. Can I get a motion to accept the report? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Can I get a motion to reappoint Dominic Amirtharaj, MD, to the Board of Health for a term to expire February 5th, 2029? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. ADE is a Committee on Human Services report regarding its meeting on February 26th. Councilor Palomba.

Thank you. The Committee on Human Services convened on Thursday, February 26th at 5.30 p.m. This was a hybrid meeting. and the public could join via Zoom link. Present were myself, Chair, Councilor Bates, Vice Chair, Councilor Emily Izzo, Secretary. Also present were Jenna Bancroft, the Director of Human Services, Stephanie Venzuelas, the Assistant Director of Human Services, and Dominica Peale, Wellness Coordinator, as well as resident Jackie Van Leeuwen. The purpose of the meeting was to have a discussion with the Human Services Director on the current work of the Human Services Department and their upcoming goals.

The committee received a presentation from Ms. Bancroft, who is at LICSW, the Director of Human Services, and Stephanie Venizuelos, who is the Assistant Director. of Human Services regarding the structure, current programming, and strategic direction of the department. Ms. Bancroft provided both an overview of existing initiatives and a forward-looking discussion of planned expansions, emphasizing that much of the work has already been underway and continues to evolve in response to community needs. The presentation is attached. She expressed strong support for her staff and noted that the department's progress reflects a collaborative cross-departmental effort. The Human Services Department oversees programs

and Wellness initiatives designed to promote health, stability and connection within the Watertown community. The department includes oversight of veteran services and ADA coordination, the food pantry, wellness programming, and the farmer's market. with an open position for part-time farmer's market assistant. The department also works closely with the community Commissions, and external partners to address food access, housing stability, mental health and substance use, and resource navigation. Under food access, Ms. Bancroft reported that the Watertown food pantry has recently moved to the Parker building and is currently operating in an interim space. She acknowledged,

that operating in the Borough Church space in the past presented challenges, particularly in terms of scheduling, flexibility, and control over programming. The new location will allow the department greater autonomy, expanded hours, and eventually co-location of the full human services team. The Pantry currently serves approximately 170 households per week. Transportation access remains a key consideration as the Parker Building location is not equally accessible to all residents. The department is developing transportation guides to assist patrons and is exploring coordination with the senior center bus to provide rides. Ms. Bancroft also noted that the department hopes to solicit feedback directly from pantry patrons

regarding desired services and improvements. Plans for expansion include maintaining Tuesday's hours while potentially adding a Saturday or evening option, as well as implementing appointment times or signups to better manage flow. The department is also considering offering additional support services onsite such as health screenings. Snetri Van Zoellis, Assistant Director, discussed the growing demand for food access services and ongoing collaboration with the Catholic Collaborative Food Pantry, the Community Fridge, and other community partners. She noted that changes at the federal level have affected SNAP recipients, particularly with new eligibility requirements.

The SNAP CSA program continues year-round and is state-funded, allowing eligible residents to receive fresh produce from participating farms during both market season and winter months. The department is also exploring the development of a mobile pantry or market to reach residents who may face transportation or other barriers. Ms. Bancroft address concerns about residents who are hesitant to leave their homes. The food pantry maintains a low barrier to entry. No one is turned away. Department to provide some deliveries and partners with mutual aid groups to ensure food reaches families who are uncomfortable accessing services in person. Housing Stability.

Housing stability efforts are coordinated in partnership with Wayside Youth and Family Support Network, the police department, the Senior Center, the Veteran Services Officer, and School Resource Officers. Ms. Bankarth described an ongoing discussion to identify service gaps, adjust to changing housing needs, and Implementing Responsive Programming. Housing Stability will formally fall under the Human Services Department, though she emphasized that the scope of work requires collaboration and cannot be undertaken by the department alone. plans include establishing a housing stability advisory group to bring together community stakeholders and service providers.

The department is also considering how to measure effectiveness and track outcomes to determine whether interventions are achieving intended results. Mental Health and Substance Use. Ms. Bancroft discussed Live Well Watertown program, which provides residents with resources and skills building opportunities. often hosted at the library. She also referenced the Watertown Cares Network, which originated during the height of the opiate epidemic. Epidemic, and continues to support substance use response efforts. Watertown has received opiate settlement funds distributed in waves through 2030. with approximately 250,000 currently available.

Ms. Bancroft noted that many communities have not yet allocated their funds and emphasize the importance of sustainability when funding programs. Current efforts include harm reduction initiatives such as distributing Narcan Kits, providing training on Narcan use, installing kits at city buildings. She reported that these measures have not encountered pushback. Resource Navigation, and Community Collaboration. The department continues to strengthen referral pathways through 311 coordination Different Services Meetings, Veterans Services, and ADA Request Processing.

Collaboration remains central to the department's approach, including partnerships related to digital equity, transportation access, and community food drives. Ms. Bancroft concluded by reiterating the department's work is ongoing and adaptive. While new initiatives are planned, much of the foundation is already in place. The department's focus remains on expanding access, improving coordination, and ensuring that services are responsive to community needs. The committee received the presentation and looks forward to continued updates as these initiatives progress. Members of the committee express their appreciation to Ms. Bancroft and her staff for the presentation.

Bayes made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Councilor Izzo and was passed three to zero. the meeting adjourned at 7 PM. And again, my deep appreciation to Councilor Izzo for turning these minutes around so quickly.

Thank you. Very comprehensive report. Can I get a motion to accept the report? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. 8F is the Committee on Climate and Energy report regarding its meetings on February 12th and February 25th, Council of Palomba.

I'm in energy.

My apologies, Councilor, I failed to print that out. Can you do it, Councillor? Yep. Councillor?

John's going to bring it to you online.

Can you read it online?

The committee convened on Thursday, February 12, 2006, at 5.15, President Wirt, myself, Chair, Councilor Bates, Vice Chair, and Offei, Secretary. The purpose of the meeting was to conduct interviews for the Environment and Energy Efficiency Committee. Laura Schreider, Dr. Laura Schweider is a senior scientist in environmental chemistry and engineering at Silent Spring Institute. She studies exposure to PFAS. Those are forever chemicals from drinking water diet and consumer products. and how PFAS can affect human health.

She works with communities to develop research studies and resources. resources to address their concerns about chemical exposure. Ms. Schreider leads the Massachusetts PFAS and Your Health Study, part of the broader PFAS multi-site study funded by the CDC in impacted communities across the United States. She also leads the PFA Research Study and co-leads the Community Engagement Core for the University of Rhode Island STEEP Super Fund. Research Program. She has been interviewed by NPR, The Washington Post, and other major news outlets, and testified in front of the Senate Subcommittee last December, being joined

before joining Silver Spring Institute. She was a research associate at the Harvard Ph. Chan School of Public Health. Ms. Schreider earned her master's degree and Ph.D. in environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. and a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering science from MIT. She has extensive background excuse me, background and policy engagement among those. One, interviewed witnesses for U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing examining the public health impacts of PFAS exposures. that was done in December of 2024, wrote and contributed to technical written and oral comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Mass Department of Environmental Protection, Mass Department of Agricultural Resources, and legislative hearings in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, and California. Topics include PFAS health assessments, Drinking Water Standards and Consumer Products, Herbicide Use on Cape Cod, She also presented at legislative hearings at the Mass State House and met with senators and representatives. presented also at the Maine PFAS Task Force in October of 29, and the Massachusetts PFAS Agency Task Force in July of 2021. Laurel has worked at the a local level before.

She was inspired to get involved after federal cuts for climate initiatives were defunded. She believes listening and taking initiative are essential to being a good team member. Action item, Councilor Bayes made a motion, seconded by Councilor Offei, to appoint Laura Schroeder to the Environment and Energy Efficiency Committee with a term expiring November 15, 2028. The motion passed 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 5.52. The committee convened on Thursday, February 25th, 2026, that's 6-03. present were myself, Councilor Bayes, Councilor Offei. The purpose of the meeting was to conduct interviews again for the Environment and Energy Efficiency Committee. Susan Ledoux, That was our person we interviewed, excuse me.

Ms. Ledoux brings an extensive background in climate and energy work in Watertown. amongst those including serving as a long-standing member of Watertown Faces Climate Change, where she helped analyze the current state of energy use and climate issues and develop the recommendations that directly inform the city's climate and energy plan, gaining working knowledge of energy use and carbon emissions from buildings and transportation, the role of the urban tree canopy in carbon capture and cooling, and the financial and practical considerations of sustainable building through her WFCC involvement.

Engaging directly with developers on sustainable building practices for Watertown projects, working to understand their design and construction constraints rather than taking an adversarial approach. actively advocating for net zero energy construction during the planning, design, and construction of the Hosmer School. attending every school building committee meeting during that period and continuing to do so. Town Personnel Board in North Borough, Massachusetts, where she completed a comprehensive compensation study and implemented changes to the non-union compensation structure in collaboration with the town manager and the board of selectmen and department heads. Board of selectmen and department heads.

Ms. Ledoux emphasized several strengths she would bring to the committee. Amongst those, a balanced, respectful approach to different viewpoints, including constructive engagement with developers on energy related issues, prior experience working within municipal government structures across boards, communities, elected official, and staff, and a clear understanding of the advisory nature of the committee and its relationship to the Climate and Energy Committee, city staff, and the City Council. She has indicated eagerness to support the implementation of the climate and energy plan and to contribute productively to the committee's advisory role. Action Item. Councilor Bays made a motion.

made a motion, seconded by Councilor Offei, to appoint Susan Ledoux to the Environment and Energy Efficiency Committee With the term expiring November 15th, 2028, the motion passed three to zero. The meeting adjourned and 623. And my appreciation to Councilor Offei Excuse me, for preparing both of these sets of minutes.

Thank you. Can I get a motion to accept the reports of February 12 and February 25? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Can I get a motion to appoint Laurel Shader and Susan Ledoux to the Environment and Energy Efficiency Committee for terms to expire on November 15, 2028.

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you. 8G is the Committee on Rules and Ordinance report regarding its meeting on February 11th. Councilor Gardner.

Thank you, Mr. President. The committee met on Tuesday, February 11th at 5.30 p.m. Present were myself as Chair, Councilor Lisa Feltner, Vice Chair, and Councilor John Gannon, Secretary. Also present were Doug Newton, Council Municipal Policy Analyst, Carol Holmquist, Director of Advocacy from the Massachusetts Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Beth DeZolt, and Ann Cox. Also present by Zoom were City Manager George Proakis and Alicia Clements from Pet Advocacy Network. The agenda read as follows. To confirm the reappointment of John Labadini as a member of the licensing board to a term expiring February 15th, 2029. and to review and discuss the proposed pet shop ordinance. Mr. Labadini informed the committee that he was delayed by work obligations and needed to reschedule his reappointment to a later hearing date.

The committee then took up the discussion of a draft ordinance that would seek to prohibit the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in Watertown. The statement of purpose in the draft ordinance reads as follows. Puppies, kittens, and rabbits deserve to be free from the abuse that is rampant in commercial breeding mills. Such mills also mislead customers and consumers who sometimes watch their pets suffer from health challenges incurred as a result of abuse at a breeding mill. This chapter serves to protect animals as well as the public from the harms caused by puppy, kitten, and rabbit mills. End quote. City Manager Proakis was the first speaker and he introduced the need for the ordinance and addressed the issue of whether the ordinance is redundant with the city zoning ordinance, which does not currently allow for the siting of pet shops in Watertown. He stated that he initially thought the zoning ordinance would encompass the banning of pet shops. He changed his mind, he said, as the zoning ordinance banned the locating of a pet shop in Watertown. but it would not ban the activity of selling pets in Watertown.

He thought the general ordinance being considered by the committee would provide a more comprehensive ban than the present zoning ordinance as it would apply to prohibiting pet sales themselves in addition to the locating of businesses that do so. When asked why the focus of the ordinance was limited to the sale of cots, dogs, cats, and rabbits, he explained that the staff noted that, quote, puppy mill and so on, types of operations were more likely to sell those animals. He also noted that the City Council may choose as a policy matter to expand the scope of covered animals. A question arose as to whether adopting the ordinance would impact other types of animal regulations. Doug Newton stated that he had met with the staff at the health department regarding the proposed ordinance and heard no concern the ordinance would have such impact on present regulation on this field. Ann Cox, a Watertown resident, spoke in support of the ordinance. She also advocated for expanding the scope of the ordinance so that it would ban the sale of mammals, which is a broader definition of animals beyond those in the draft ordinance.

Alicia Clements of the Pet Advocacy Network presented her organization's view opposing local pet shop bans. Carol Holmquist, advocacy director for the MAPC, discussed the policy concept of banning pet shops. She stated that she had worked with 16 other municipalities to adopt similar pet shop bans. Some other communities expanded their bans beyond what is proposed for Watertown to include. including for example guinea pigs. And she recommended that Watertown expand the ban to include all mammals and birds. A committee discussion took place over whether to expand the present draft ordinance to include all mammals and birds. Mr. Perwekes expressed reluctance to broaden the scope of the ordinance given the prior research and input by staff and the animal control officer. Gannon inquired whether the ordinance would apply to pet shop adoption events run by humane agencies or individuals who request reimbursement for medical issues pertaining to adopted pet.

Doug Newton and Kara Holmquist stated that such adoption events may still continue. Gardner. Action item. Councilor Feltner made a motion that the draft pet shop ordinance be recommended to the City Council for a first reading. Councilor Gardner seconded the motion and the committee vote was three to zero. The committee adjourned at 6.46 p.m. And thank you, Councilor Gannon, for the minutes. I appreciate them.

I just want to note that the call to order says that you started at 7, so should that be changed to 5.30?

I was going to say that after we accepted the minutes. It's a correction, yeah.

Okay, so that's one change on this. Can I get a motion to accept the report with that change?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. and Per the request, this will be placed on the next council meeting for a first reading and advertised as such. The next item on the agenda is the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Oversight report regarding its meetings on February 4th, 11th and March 2nd. Councilor Piccirilli.

Thank you, Mr. President. Considering the report's eight plus pages long, and this is the eighth committee report for tonight, I'm just going to summarize it. somewhat. So the Committee on Budget and Physical Oversight met on February 4th, February 11th, and March 2nd. Bates, consisting of myself as chair, Councilor Izzo is the vice chair, and Councilor Bates is the secretary. The purpose, the first thing we did was review the list of open referrals. There were four referrals. One was closed out. Three of them would be continuing. Next, we dug into the meat of the matter, which is the fiscal year 2027 through fiscal year 2031 capital improvement program. that was submitted by the manager in January. So there was discussion. We went through the entire document over the,

the first two nights, and then the third night we actually discussed the recommendations of which there are 36 which I will read. So the first one, number one, reconfirm the prior recommendation to proceed with the fiscal year 23, $400,000 loan order for information technology. That's for... infrastructure improvements, and permitting and transparency dashboards. Number two, reconfirm the prior recommendation to proceed with the fiscal year 24, 288,432 for information technology consisting of infrastructure improvements and permitting and transparency dashboards. Number three, reconfirm the prior recommendation to proceed with the fiscal year 24, $190,000 loan order for the fire department for main station interior repairs and the main station emergency generator replacement. 4.

Reconfirm the prior recommendation to proceed with the fiscal year 24 $2,100,000 loan order for the Connected Roads along the street projects. This is for the reconstruction of Forest and Spring Streets. and Springfield Streets in the summer of 2026 through 2028. Number five, reconfirm the prior recommendation for the fiscal year 25 loan order for $350,000 for infrastructure improvements and permitting and transparency dashboards. Number six, this is canceling the prior recommendation to proceed with the $693,000 fiscal year 25 loan order for the police department consisting of replacing the training simulator computer system and the firing range HVAC upgrade. Alternative funding was found to do those.

Number seven, reconfirm the prior recommendation received with the fiscal year 25, $650,000 loan order for the public buildings department for the roof replacement and the solar canopy at the DPW parking lot. Number eight, reconfirm the prior recommendation for the school department's fiscal year 25 loan order for $95,000 for district security systems enhancements. Number nine, reconfirm the prior recommendations to proceed with the fiscal year 25 $40,000 loan order for the skating rink enclosure, soffits, and the outside walls. Number 10, reconfirm the prior recommendation to proceed with the fiscal year 25 $500,000 loan order for Mount Auburn Street non-participatory funds. 11. Confirm the prior recommendation to proceed with the Fiscal Year 26 $300,000 loan order for administration building, roof, and masonry repairs. 12.

Confirm the prior recommendation to proceed with a FY26 $550,000 loan order for information technology for infrastructure improvements, permitting and transparency dashboards, and document scanning. Number 13, confirm the prior recommendation and proceed with the Fiscal Year 26, $747,000 loan order. for the Fire Department, for the East End Fire Station, HVAC and Plumbing, the East End Fire Station, Painting, Carpeting and Lighting, and Firefighter Protective Outer Gear. Number 14, confirm the prior recommendation to proceed with the Fiscal Year 26 $440,000 loan order for public buildings consisting of inventory equipment, EV stations, and the DPW garage, fan, and doors.

Number 15, confirm the prior recommendation to proceed with the school department's fiscal year 26, $317,000 loan order for school improvements for the Phillips School masonry repairs and the district security system enhancements. Number 16, proceed with the proposed loan orders for local road construction projects as follows. fiscal year 26, $2,875,000 loan order for local road construction in the summer of 2027 for Cottage Street and other roads. and B, fiscal year 26, $2.3 million loan order for Connected Roads along the street projects for Forest and Springfield Streets in the summer of 26 through 28. And I just wanna make a note here, because we made a prior recommendation, that Forest Street and Springfield Street road project is so big that we actually have to use two years worth of money to do it because it's so long. 17.

Confirm the prior recommendation received with the Fiscal Year 26 $1.1 million Street and Sidewalk loan orders for underground ducts for utilities, ornamental street lighting, and the Mount Auburn Street non-participatory funds. So just want to stop here for a moment. That takes care of all prior fiscal year loan orders that haven't been done yet. And I just want to point out there's 36 recommendations here. Last year there were 51, so I do want to give the administration some credit for actually getting a lot of those older projects done, so thanks for that. So now we're going to move on to the fiscal year 27 proposed loan orders. Proceed with fiscal year 27, $2,441,000 city buildings loan orders. This includes Parker Building ADA code upgrades, Parker Building Roof Design and Replacement, Phillips Building Roof Repairs and Replacement, and general ADA upgrades per the KMA audit.

Number 19, proceed with the fiscal year 27 $800,000 open space loan orders. That includes Sullivan Park construction and Victory Field phase three field house and elevator design. Number 20, proceed with the fiscal year 27 $450,000 information technology loan order. That's for document scanning and for cybersecurity enhancements. 21, proceed with fiscal year 27, $1,425,000 fire department loan order. $1.25 million of that is for the engine truck replacement for engine three. and the rest is for the replacement of two cardiac monitors. Number 22, proceed with fiscal year 27, $170,200 police department loan order for our mobile data terminal system replacement.

Number 23, received with the fiscal year 27, $230,000 of public buildings loan orders. That's for vehicles and snow equipment, EV stations, and the DPW garage makeup air unit replacement design. Number 24, proceed with the fiscal year 27, $160,000 senior center loan order for the senior center shuttle bus. 25, proceed with the fiscal year 27, $1.6 million, Department of Public Works, loan order for vehicles, This includes animal control vehicle, a fleet pickup truck, a heavy duty dump truck, electric street sweeper, a cemetery dump truck, a cemetery utility vehicle, and a parks and forestry 4x4 landscape dump truck.

number 26, proceed with fiscal year 27, $1.4 million, Department of Public Works loan orders for the following projects, City Hall parking lot repairs and ADA improvements, the Parker Building parking lot expansion, Adaptive Traffic Signal Management, Ornamental Street Lighting, and the Mount Auburn Street Nonparticipatory Funds. Number 27, refer the Public Works Committee for policy guidance and according with Resolution 2013-76, The fiscal year 27 three million dollar proposed loan order for local road construction projects highway and sidewalk in the summer of 2027 28, proceed with the fiscal year 27, $2.4 million proposed loan order for Connector Roads, Longer Street projects for the reconstruction of Riverside Street in the summer of 2027. in accordance with the Public Works Committee report of December 9th, 2025.

Number 29, proceed with the school department's fiscal year 27 capital appropriation request for projects in the CIP There's $230,000 for various items to be funded with tax revenues and a fiscal year 27 loan order for $95,000 for district security system enhancements. And number 30, and we spent quite a bit of time discussing this and coming up with the correct language, if you recall, this was also in last year's CIP recommendations. Number 30, revise the prior recommendation for the Watertown Middle School new building project, which is proposed using the most recent cost estimate of $112,239,426 a figure which does not include the potential savings from purchasing the modules at Moxley Field. Continue with the design contract to produce bid documents by the end of 2026.

to obtain an actual cost with periodic cost estimates to be presented to the city council and keep the proposed fiscal year 27 loan order of $10 million as a placeholder until the City Council reaches a decision to fund the project and proceed with construction. Next, we'll move on to the Water Sewer Enterprise Fund Capital Improvement Program, number 31, reconfirm the prior recommendation perceived the fiscal year 19 sewer fund loan order for $394,000 for a heavy duty crane. Number 32, confirm the fiscal year 26 water sewer enterprise funds loan order, MWRA loan orders, for $1.3.2 million for sewer inflow and infiltration. Local Water Assistance Program, half a million dollars for replacing unlined cast iron water mains.

and $300,000 loan order for the lead loan program to replace lead service lines. Number 33, proceed with the fiscal year 27 water and sewer enterprise funds, MWRA loan orders, basically for the same thing. A, for the $1.2 million for the sewer inflow and infiltration. B, sewer, inflow and infiltration, local financial assistance program. This is for a one-time interest-free loan for $1,290,000. C, a local water assistance program, half a million dollar interest-free loan to replace unlined cast iron water mains, and D, a local lead loan program, $300,000 loan to replace lead service lines. 34, proceed with the fiscal year 27 sewer enterprise fund loan order for $780,000 for sewer system improvements.

35, proceed with the fiscal year 27 sewer enterprise fund loan order for $100,000 for sewer siphon rehabilitation design and construction. and finally, number 36, proceed with the fiscal year 27 water fund loan order for $225,000 for a hook lift vehicle. So those are the 36 recommendations. And then the summary of this is the total capital spending proposed for fiscal year 27 is $40,587,000. and the total budget, proposed budget as of today is $223,181,000.

So based on this, our total capital spending would be 18.19% of the operating budget, or if you exclude the Building for the Future school project, 7.95%. and just to note that Mr. Proekes did clarify that while our normal policy is to maintain our debt between 7-8% of of the operating budget, this 18% has risen because of school construction, but because we have almost finished paying off our OPEB liability, as well as fully paid off our pension liability, we had room to borrow more and he assured us we can continue to maintain our current level of service despite the increase in construction debt service. So we made four motions on the budget which passed unanimously and they are on the agenda so I will not read them.

and I do want to thank Councilor Bays for doing the committee report. I want to thank Doug Newton for helping put together the recommendations. And I do want to thank the great team we have on budget and fiscal oversight with Councilor Izzo and Councilor Bayes putting this all together. So that's the report, Mr. President.

Thank you. Can I first get a motion to accept the report? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Councilor Gardner.

Thank you, Mr. President. Councilor Piccirilli or committee, I just had one question which was on, I don't recall the recommendation number, but it was essentially to keep a placeholder of 10 million for the middle school until the committee until the council made a decision to redo the middle school or build a new middle school. I can't remember the exact wording. But, you know, I don't think it's a given that we will necessarily make that decision at this time. It may get deferred some years.

So I wonder if it, if the... Chancellor Gardner, if I may, that's going to be for the action item itself? I beg your pardon. Thank you. Just the report. Any other comments on the report? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. So the first action item is to get a motion to adopt the 27 to 31 CIP conceptual recommendations.

Right. The 36 recommendations. So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Now, Councilor Gannon.

So my question, I'm not gonna repeat in the interest of time, but my question is whether that language should say something more like until the council makes a decision about whether to build a middle school.

what it says, keep the proposed fiscal year 27 loan order of $10 million as a placeholder until the city council reaches a decision to fund the project and proceed with construction. So until...

It kind of implies that it will make a decision to fund the project.

Well, it doesn't... Well, I think... Well, reach a decision... to either fund it or not fund it.

I think that's clearer. I think otherwise it suggests that we will make that decision. And we might make it in 10 years. And I don't know that we want to keep the loan order for 10.

that's my thought. It's just a placeholder at this point and I think that if we make a decision to not move forward with the project that we would refer back to the Budget and Fiscal Oversight Committee working with the manager to see what they would do, what changes would need to be made for that $10 million potential appropriation.

The reason I mention it is I just have had some residents come to me a couple of different times saying, this decision has already been taken, it's a done deal. And I think the committee, the council hasn't done that, so I don't want to support that misperception.

and I understand but I also I do feel that the City Council was very clear when they said proceed with a design to get a better idea of cost. So I think the committee here was trying to recognize that if that did move forward, there was a placeholder to begin the next phase of that project. You're welcome. Feltner.

Thank you, Mr. President. Two questions. Did you remind me why we have such old loan orders that continue to reconfirm for IT? 23, 24 for document scanning. I thought we were, we've been doing that for a while so just remind me would be helpful.

I want to start by framing this that upon my arrival four years ago we had loan orders that were going back seven, eight, nine, ten years and there are a lot fewer of them that go back and they go back a lot fewer years. Most of the ones that are languishing are some leftover pieces of the information technology strategy. One of the things we were doing is we changed and reduced the borrowing strategy for IT going forward, where they're going to focus on like one given large project each year, sort of in a five year kind of rotating basis, which I think which actually brought the overall IT borrowing numbers down. We removed probably two-thirds of the IT borrowing numbers that were in the previous years, but we retained some funding, particularly for items like document scanning we thought over the course of the coming months and in the very near future are going to be important to us for part of work we're doing around the city. Our IT office is trying to keep up with the borrowing.

We got even further behind, but we refined it, worked with them, and we came to the conclusion to hold a few of those. You'll also note the school security one tends to languish a little bit behind. But for the most part, it's a much smaller list than it was a few years ago.

So just to clarify that we have a lot more to do and we're just basically carrying forward that work.

Yes, and our intention, just to be clear to you, Mr. President, to be clear that the if an old loan order it's still in here it's because we intend to still do it and if there was one that we weren't going to do or we funded out another way or we found a way through without doing we pulled it off so and in a lot of cases we pulled things off because we've done them in the last year, which is the most important and best reason to be pulling them off the list. But we go through, if you go through the staff memo, there's actually an appendix in the back that lists all the stuff from last year and what the status of it is. we asked for certain ones to remain because we have work to do and we want to get them done.

OK, great. And the only other question is, we have ornamental lighting in here for a couple of years. Can you shed light on where that is or what that is?

You'd have to think through the chair would have to go through the Public Works Committee to have a conversation about some of the project priorities that DPW is doing but there is a standard ornamental lighting number in every year to try to add ornamental lighting and We've put add-ons in various places. There's also an item about non-participatory costs for Mount Auburn Street that you're going to see coming forward in the very near future because that is actually also includes ornamental lighting and some upgrades that were beyond what the state was willing to pay for when we did the Mount Auburn project.

Okay, great. I just, so clarity that Public Works hadn't talked about that yet, so we will anticipate that. Thank you.

Sure. Are there any other questions? we have a motion on the floor to accept the 36 recommendations. Councilor Fe.

I'm just curious what the city manager, like, you know, how confident you are about that $222 million revenue projection given the softening in the biotech industry?

I'm sorry, the revenue projection in the operating budget for next year? We are very confident in the revenue projection number in the operating budget next year. I'm happy to... Take some offline time to walk through how we build the tax and new growth data. It's depending upon a baseline growth with the 2.5% addition, which we are allowed to do by state law, plus a new growth number in the or about $2.5 million range. We'll be refining that as we come in for a budget document in April. And then when you look at our other revenue sources, they're pretty solid. So, yeah, I mean, we'll be refining our revenue projection number as we head towards the budget, but that's where our current projection is, and we're building a budget towards that number.

Any other questions? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. The next action item is that the City Council recommend that the City Manager maintain the FY27 capital spending so that it does not exceed 8% of the submitted fiscal year 27 operating budget in order to meet the City Council's budget policy guideline that the city should seek to maintain capital expenditures including debt and exclusive of the school building for the future initiative funding and enterprise funds equal to at least 7.5 to 8% of the operating budget.

So moved.

Is there a second? Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Next action item is to request DPW provide a memo to the City Council about ADA compliance as raised by the Commission on Disability for the Arsenal Street sidewalk from Louise Street to the Toyota dealer, addressing issues, challenges, potential short-term fixes, and potential long-term fixes. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. And to request DPW provide a memo to the City Council on the status of the remaining work to be done for lead water service and gooseneck replacements and the expected completion date.

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Thank you. A lot of reports. Communications from the city manager. First is a request for confirmation of reappointments to the Human Rights Commission.

Mr. President, Lisa LaPlante, Susan Muszynski, Mel Poindexter, all reappointments, all members who are doing well in the Human Rights Commission, all in extension to April 1st, 2029. all of whom have been reviewed and recommended by the Residence Advisory Committee. I'm happy to present those for committee review. Thank you, Mr. President.

these go to the Committee on Human Services, but we did make a change in our rules, so I neglected to something about confirmation of appointment. So we'll get that for the next one. The next is a request of confirmation of appointment to the Public Arts and Culture Committee. Mr. Manager.

Yes, thank you, Mr. President. Once again, a recommendation of the Residence Advisory Committee. Happy to present Jan Taylor, an appointment to Public Arts and Culture to expire November 15, 2028. Thank you.

that will go to the Committee on Economic Development and Planning and I will polish up my rules. I didn't get a chance to do that. We don't need to do it right now. Continue on, Mr. Manager.

Thank you, Mr. President. If you may indulge me to do so, I would like to ask Chief Nicholson from the Fire Department to provide a little bit of information about the Firefighter Toscano Memorial Ceremony on March 17th that's coming up.

Thank you. Sorry, I don't have a committee to report on tonight. I appreciate the time. As the manager mentioned, the ninth anniversary of the Joe Toscano line of duty death is coming up next Tuesday, the 17th. Smith will be forming up in our usual way on Bigelow Ave to remember his sacrifice for the city. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. 1015 in the morning. Sorry.

Go ahead.

Yeah, and thank you, Chief, that I appreciate the update there. We have, Watertown now has a visitor's guide, which a nice color glossy explanation of everything from our city events to dining options to knowing the way around Watertown. We've dropped this, I believe, in every hotel room in Watertown. This is available in City Hall. We're trying to get this out to anybody who is interested in learning more about what's going on for our visitors here in Watertown. I'll also note that on the back of the visitor's guide is an advertisement for our Treaty Day 250 event on July 18th, 2026, with more information to come about what we are going to be doing on July 18th. that does mark the 250th anniversary of the first treaty signed in the United States between the city of Watertown and the Massachusetts Mi'kmaq and

Maliseet peoples who were all working collaboratively together to celebrate this effort to collaboratively fight on the American side against the British in the War of Independence. The treaty was signed at the Edmund Fowler House in Watertown. It's the longest continually honored treaty in the United States. Like I said, that event is all a part of our visitor guide. I also note that the 2026 mayor's monarch pledge where the city pledges to do what we can to support the butterfly population that once again the city manager I had an opportunity to sign on to that pledge and we've received a leadership circle achievement for the third year in a row. It's an important program that we participated in to help the city meet climate and energy program goals working to make our community benefit both people and pollinators here in Watertown. I want to share a little bit about something that happened on February 28th. Marilyn Roach, the president of the Historic Society of Watertown,

represented us at the Knox Trail commemoration on February 20th. The Knox Trail marks Colonel Henry Knox's daring winter mission to haul 59 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Washington's army during the siege of Boston in 1775 and 76, a feat that helped turn the tide against the Revolution. Watertown was honored for its role in this dramatic chapter. We were a part of the path of the trail. They gave us a very nice, significant, heavy commemorative plaque for Watertown for being a part as part of America's sesquicentennial in this celebration. Marilyn cheerfully hauled this home on the MBTA and then brought it over to the manager's office to me the following morning. We also got a nice governor's

Proclamation here on behalf of the residents of the Commonwealth conferring a citation on behalf of the governor for the whole work that Watertown had involved in the Knox Trail. I also note that over the course of the past week, I had a chance to participate both in the presentation to Watertown, to the Watertown Business Coalition, and the presentation to our Regional Chamber of Commerce, where I got to sit on a panel. discussing a lot of what's going on in our business world. The event with the Business Coalition did an overview presentation on kind of where Watertown is and where things are going on the business front. With the Chamber event, I had a chance to sit on a panel after they had a presentation that included Sam Gilardi's presentation from Watertown Bio. and some words from the Secretary of Economic Development at the Commonwealth.

Both events were recorded by Watertown Community Access Television so I do believe they will be out there and for members of the community who are interested in kind of what's going on here and how we are approaching and working with the business community. It is a good opportunity watching either of those events to see what's going on. Today's event really highlighted the work that we have done in the life sciences world, how Watertown has come together as being a premier place for a lot of the startups and small creative businesses in the life sciences community and how those businesses work together, how that Industry is growing, albeit slowly growing. There were some good signs coming out of Watertown in terms of venture capital, although we have a long way to go to be quite at the boom world we were at a year or two ago.

Nonetheless, like I keep on saying, as long as those industries are in a growing and not a contraction mode, even if it's a very slow growing mode, Watertown is well positioned to receive a portion of them. Certainly we still have a lot of vacant space and we are working our economic development team works as well as our all of our developer landowners in town work to do their best to try to work to fill those spaces and we've had some good stories recently and I'm happy to share more of those and you can also watch the event that shares a lot of that perspective. Finally, the announcement that likely some people have been waiting an entire hour and a half for, or maybe they've been waiting an entire winter for, and I want to put some perspective on this as we explain what's going on because I think it's important to understand because I started to get feedback on the overnight parking ban starting around the beginning of this past weekend.

and I just want to stress that we are and have been closely monitoring the snow on the streets with the goal of determining what to do with the overnight parking rule. The council's well aware and the public may know Watertown has on the books in our transportation traffic rules an overnight parking ban that is year-round. We choose to only enforce it, to strictly enforce it during winter months and to make announcements as to when we relax the rule to allow overnight parking. We had tried as an experiment to only do January, February this year. It was a good start to the situation, but we found ourselves at the end of February with massive snow banks spreading across sidewalks all over into the streets. we tried our best in that second storm to push back to the curb and open things up on a lot of streets we were successful and I know it has been very very warm the last couple days and many people have suddenly seen their curbs on their streets and their probably saying, well, where are we going with the parking ban?

There have been some streets where there is still snow quite a bit past the curb. We've been keeping an eye on that. We've been watching the pattern of melting. I've been talking to the public works director and I've been talking to the to the police chief. So in an effort not to completely bury the lead any further, tonight is the last night of the winter parking ban this year. Tomorrow we will be lifting it. So after this evening, we do ask people to move their cars this evening, but after this evening, tomorrow, with the melting we've had today, tonight, into tomorrow, we do believe that by tomorrow evening, we will be in a good position on all of our streets to be able to handle on-street overnight parking again. So like I said, tonight's the last night that we're going to strictly enforce the ban. And starting tomorrow, we are in that Park on the street if circumstances be safe. Don't park in front of a hydrant. Follow all the other rules. All of the other rules of parking still apply, so please be careful. and be cognizant and friendly towards your neighbors.

And I have to add the caveat that I always have to add that if we have another snowstorm, we may need to put emergency parking bands back in place. certainly it's odd to say that on a 60 plus degree day but spring can be a fleeting and surprising thing in New England so I'll just note that we may find ourselves in a situation where if we Yet one of those 1996, or is it 97 style April 1st snowstorm. We may be putting a parking ban back in place, but at this point our intention is to lift it tomorrow. So thank you, Mr. President, and that is all I have this evening.

Thank you. Requests for information, any requests for information? Announcements, any announcements?

Palomba. Thank you. We won't meet before this meeting. And I know many people are interested in it. On Monday the 23rd at 6 o'clock here in the chambers, the committee on Climate and Energy will be holding a meeting to discuss the very new publication by the Sustainability Department. Department about metrics, the new changes in the metrics that they've come up with. So this is an important meeting. If you're interested in reading the report, go to the city's website, go down to March 23rd. Look at 6 o'clock for the Committee on Climate and Energy, and the full report is available as an attachment.

So thank you. Thank you.

Any other announcements? Seeing none, public forum. Is there anyone here or at home wishes to speak? Please identify yourself for the record.

Hi, my name is Laina Vai. On March 7th, 2026, Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltese took decisive action to protect his residents from the chaos of aggressive federal immigration enforcement. his executive order established clear protocols that preserve public safety uphold constitutional rights and maintain the trust essential for effective local governance. I'm urging you to follow the city of Chelsea's leadership and issue a similar declaration reinforcing Watertown's commitment to public safety and constitutional protections. The escalating federal immigration enforcement activities threaten the fabric of our communities. Trust between local government and the community is essential for effective governing and emergency response. When residents fear interaction with any government official, public safety deteriorates for everyone.

Chelsea's executive order demonstrates how municipalities can protect all residents while upholding constitutional rights. Watertown should adopt comparable measures that reaffirm that local resources will not be used for federal immigration enforcement, ensure all residents can safely access city Services without fear of intimidation, direct city employees to respect constitutional protections against warrantless searches and detentions, and commit to transparent communication about enforcement activities affecting our community. This is not about obstructing legitimate law enforcement. This is about preserving the trust and cooperation that makes effective local governance possible. Watertown has an opportunity to stand with Chelsea and other Massachusetts communities in protecting the safety, dignity, and constitutional rights of all of its residents. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there any other member of the public here or at home wish to be heard? Seeing none, can I get a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? You guys have it. Thank you.