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Happy February, everyone! One month down on my first term. Here’s this week’s newsletter.
Coming Up (Feb 3-Feb 9, partial calendar):
Monday (tonight): Full City Council Meeting 7:45 PM (Agenda to be Voted On) - Other than some relatively minor routine items voted out of various committees, I think this meeting is mostly picking back up on some of the debate about parking waivers – and there has been a fair amount of public interest in the proposed temporary suspension of the certain historical landmarking powers during the review process. (The Zoning & Planning Committee amended the proposed suspension period so that it would end on June 30 2020 instead of Dec 31 2020, if adopted.) Also at some point we’re expecting to be in an Executive Session which is a part of the meeting where we won’t be in chambers and won’t have a public audience; this is a mechanism used to discuss legally privileged matters or confidential items.
Tuesday Feb 4:
Friends of Hemlock Gorge meeting 7:15 Emerson Community Center in Upper Falls;
Land Use Hearing on two retail marijuana store proposals (Ascend for Washington St and Union Twist in 4 Corners). The first one should be some time after 7 PM while the second should be some time after 8 PM.
Wednesday Feb 5: Programs & Services at 7 PM Room 211 - see Docket Review section of this week’s newsletter below
Thursday Feb 6: There is a Newton Highlands Area Council meeting at 7:30 PM at Brigham House, although I will probably not be in attendance due to a schedule conflict this month.
Looking ahead to upcoming Office Hours: In January, I did my first office hours in Upper Falls. This month, I’m going to try to do a double-header: First, I will be joining my Ward 5-at-Large Colleague Andreae Downs at her office hours at the Waban Starbucks at 10 AM on Saturday Feb 22. Second, I am tentatively planning for Newton Highlands office hours at 10 AM Sunday Feb 23. (Check my campaign committee website or email me beforehand to make sure that’s still correct.) In March, I will try to schedule a Friday session for people who cannot make weekends at all.
Docket Review:
This week in my review of newly filed docket items I wanted to highlight three specific items:
#102-20 Request for a discussion on the vacancy of the LGBTQ+ Liaison: “[The entire] PROGRAMS AND SERVICES COMMITTEE requesting a discussion on whether the Administration intends to fill the recently vacated position of LGBTQ+ liaison and whether a replacement would be compensated or uncompensated.” This position became vacant in 2019 when my colleague, Ward 8 Councilor Holly Ryan, resigned to run for the seat she now holds. But previously it also wasn’t paid either. A number of us, as you can see from the whole committee co-docketing this item together, are very concerned that our LGBTQ+ population in Newton is not being adequately served if we cannot attract a qualified person to fill the role, which is empty at the moment. We look forward to this discussion and hopefully finding a solution quickly in the upcoming budget.
#101-20 Requesting a discussion on the 2020 Census: “COUNCILORS ALBRIGHT, RYAN, GREENBERG, NOEL, KRINTZMAN, HUMPHREY, AND MALAKIE requesting a discussion with the Complete Count Committee Newton's plans to assure that all Newton residents are counted in the next census. To assure that Newton can continue to receive CDBG funds to serve underserved people an accurate census is essential.” Something that is heavy on the minds of municipal officials all across the Commonwealth is whether or not an accurate census will be conducted this year by the Trump Administration, particularly in communities with significant immigrant populations, because the official census data is absolutely crucial in determining federal program funding allocations that many cities and towns rely upon.
I have also request to join as a co-docketer on #100-20 Requesting a discussion on fees in the Newton Public Schools: “COUNCILORS KRINTZMAN AND CROSSLEY, LAREDO, NORTON, GREENBERG, LIPOF, KALIS, NOEL, AND MARKIEWICZ requesting a discussion with appropriate members of the School Department and School Committee about fees in the Newton Public Schools. The discussion should include an explanation of the basis upon which fees are set and how the fees factor into the overall budget request of the schools.” I think some other councilors might also be joining it as well, but I’m not sure. The reason I asked to join the item is that I have been concerned ever since I was a Newton Public Schools student myself about the discouraging impact that certain school fees have on the use of certain NPS services or participation in activities by our student population, especially but not solely among lower-income students. So, I’d like to learn more about this part of our budget along with my colleagues.
Ward 5 Major Road Work Alert - Chestnut St in Waban:
As part of critical preparations for the impending (2021 we hope), long overdue overhaul/repaving of Chestnut St from Rte 9 to Beacon St, the city first needs to do a rehabilitation and overhaul of the water main running along Chestnut St so that we won’t have to dig it up again immediately after we properly repave. Details from city staff, as summarized by me:
There will be a temporary no parking zone along Chestnut St from Beacon St to Rte 9 from Feb 3 to Sept 1 of this year (Mon-Fri), although this doesn't really affect anyone because no one ever parks on Chestnut St anyway.
"the water main will be cleaned and lined. This process will improve the quality, taste, odor, flow and color of the water. Water services will also be replaced from the main in the street to the property line during water main replacement. New fire hydrants will be installed"
"This work will include Chestnut Street and the following side streets: Beacon St, Avalon Rd, Pine Ridge Rd, Plainfield St, Woodward St, Larchmont St, Wyman St, Larchmont Ave, Collins Rd, Fenwick Rd, Stanley Rd, Kodaya Rd, Amherst Rd, Tamworth Rd, Oliver Rd, Anita Circle" +Rte 9
"When the mains in a neighborhood are taken out of service [...] residences will be provided with water by means of a temporary by-pass piping system. Connection will be made from the temporary pipelines laid alongside the curbs on each street to each adjacent residence."
"The Contractor will schedule an appointment with the homeowner to facilitate the connection to the by-pass piping."
Phase1 "Side Street Connections, is currently scheduled to begin on or after February 3, 2020 and continue for approximately 10 weeks. Construction hours will be 8:30 am- 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday. If this property is being rented, please notify renters of this construction"
Phase2 "Cleaning and Lining of the Chestnut Street pipe will begin on after May 1, 2020 and will continue for approximately four or five months to complete. Construction hours will be 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, Monday through Friday (some Saturday work may be required)."
Phase3 "Water Services will be replaced from the main to the property line"
Phase4 "Excavation trenches will be milled and paved [...] (the City will schedule complete paving after all water work is complete and the trenches have had adequate time for settlement)"
Remember during this process to be careful about running the water to make sure you don't have discolored/rusty water before you drink it or use it for laundry.
Councilor Downs emphasizes that this water main project is to protect the water pipes for the next 75 years—and a precursor to much-needed repair, paving and safety work on this stretch of Chestnut!
My Week-in-Review (Jan 27 to Feb 1):
Land Use (Riverside): I’m not on the Land Use Committee, but I sat in on the meeting like most of my colleagues to try to get caught up to speed on the details of the compromise proposal reached last fall for the Riverside T station development concept, as well as to hear public comments on it. My partial notes can be found here. There are more meetings to come; this one was just about overall design elements. Other topics will be covered at upcoming hearings.
Finance Committee: The Finance Committee held its first meeting, discussing possible future priorities for the year and voting out: $1 million for snow & ice removal (so far this has been a good winter but some of our recent winters have required a lot of February/March snow removal spending and 2 of our worst years for snow costs ever have been just in the last several years); $900k to cover retroactive salary increases agreed to in the recently reached collective bargaining agreement with the Fire Department (we heard a presentation on the outcome of that negotiation); $6000 in FDA grants money for Environmental Health Specialist training; $200k in state Housing Choice grant money to study the feasibility of converting the armory to 100% affordable housing (possibly combined with related on-site social services); $41,869 in E-Rate funds for converting Burr Elementary School hardline telephones to VOIP technology hardline phones. I asked some emergency preparedness / safety backup questions about the VOIP phone systems in the schools. There are tradeoffs here either way but there's also a Fire Department-mandated walkie-talkie emergency system in the schools already to help provide a backup. Councilor Noel asked a safety question confirming that these would be hard-wired and therefore not competing with wifi capacity in the schools. Councilor Kalis followed up on my question by asking if VOIP would be safer than copper phones (yes, compared to 40-50 year-old legacy wiring). There are 7 more schools, I think including Burr, to undergo this phased conversion process.
Newton Housing Authority Lunar New Year Event: Wonderful afternoon Saturday with the Newton Housing Authority and Mayor Ruthanne Fuller as we celebrated the Lunar New Year to kick off the year of the rat with our Chinese immigrant & first/second-generation community in Newton, as well as other residents of our community's NHA housing!