Zoning and Planning will meet in person (Council Chamber) and virtually (Zoom link) on Monday, February 26 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following:
- Public Hearing on the adoption of an Electrification Ordinance requiring all new construction and substantial renonvations in Newton to be all-electric, effective January 1, 2025. This is in conjunction with the City’s recent conditional approval by the State Department of Energy Resources (DOER) for participation in the Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Building Construction and Renovation Demonstration Project, also known as the Ten Communities Program.
- Request for a discussion with the Law and Planning departments regarding the process going forward for 40B projects since meeting the 10% ‘Safe Harbor’ designation. The discussion should address the different parameters that can or will be used to accept, deny, and modify projects and the criteria allowed to be used by ZBA or any other approving authority.
- Request for a discussion and possible ordinance amendments to update fees related to special permit, zone change, and site plan review fees requested by the Planning Department, City Clerk’s Office, and Law Department. See Planning Memo.
- Request for a preliminary discussion with the Planning Department, Inspectional Services Department and CPA Program Manager to prepare for the Commitee’s FY25 Budget Review of these Departments and Programs.
- Reappointment of Denise Chicoine and Lei Reilley to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Finance will meet virtually (Zoom link) on Monday, February 26 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following:
- Recommendation from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) to appropriate $125,000 in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding from the FY24 Historic Resource Reserve Funds for a grant to the Second Church in Newton for restoration.
- Request to accept and expend funds a $27,500 National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) grant to improve the City’s conformance with the US Food and Drug Administration’s Retail Program Standards by the Health and Human Services Department.
- Request to accept and expend a $30,785 Massachusetts Office on Disability grant for Williams Elementary School playground accessibility improvements.
- Request to accept and expend a $35,000.00 reimbursement grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety and the State Department of Fire Services for Firefighter Safety Equipment.
- Request to transfer the Opioid Mitigation funds totaling $446,104.67 for use by the Health and Human Services Department into a Special Revenue Fund, as allowed by State Law in December 2023.
- Request authorization for the Newton Public Schools to issue an RFP with a food service management company, for a contract duration of up to five years.
- Request to appropriate and expend $1,191,000 from June 30, 2023 Certified Free Cash to complete the funding for the Newton Free Library’s chiller and related cooling equipment replacement project.
- Request authorization to establish a NPS Educational Stabilization Fund.
- Request authorization to appropriate from Overlay Surplus ($18,200,000), interest income that has accumulated as part of the $18.2 million Overlay Surplus ($800,000) which can be allocated from Free Cash, and June 30, 2023 Certified Free Cash ($3,000,000) to the NPS Educational Stabilization Fund, for a total of $22 million.
- Request to appropriate and expend a total of $7.8 million for the NewCAL project to reduce the amount of funding the City would need to borrow for that project. The $7.8 million is comprised of two funding sources related to the Eversource agreement: (1) $5.5 million, transferred from the ATB Interest and Penalties account, and (2) $2.3 million from Overlay Surplus. As a result, also a request to rescind $7.8 million of bond authorization for the NewCAL project.
- Request to issue refunding bonds to refund all or any portion of the City’s general obligation bonds.
Land Use will meet in person (Council Chamber) and virtually (Zoom link) on Tuesday, February 27 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following requests:
- Special Permit/Site Plan Approval to allow a series of retaining walls which exceed four feet in height with the rear setback at 12 Clark Street. See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Amend a previously approved special permit to allow the Winchester School of Chinese Culture (WSCC), a non-profit educational use, to operate an afterschool program, and a waiver of required number of parking stalls at 14 Collins Road. See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Special Permit/Site Plan Approval to convert the accessory apartment into a separate dwelling, resulting in three single-family attached dwellings in two separate structures with dimensional waivers and parking waivers at 199 Church Street. See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Special Permit/Site Plan Approval to construct a two-story rear addition and dormers which will further extend the nonconforming FAR, nonconforming number of stories, and nonconforming front setback at 442-444 Lowell Avenue. See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Special Permit/Site Plan Approval to raise the roof and add dormers, further extending the nonconforming two-family dwelling use and alter/extend the nonconforming front setback at 265-267 River Street. See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Amend Special Permit #67-20 to allow a medical marijuana treatment center (formerly known as Registered Marijuana Dispensary or “RMD”) at 1089 Washington Street. See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
Community Dialog Working Group will meet in person (Council Chamber) and virtually (Zoom link) on Thursday, February 29 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following:
- Committee introduction
- Public Comment