City Council will meet in person (Council Chamber) and virtually (Zoom link) on Monday, November 18 at 7PM. See Reports Docket and New Docket.
Finance Committee will hold a special in person (Council Chamber) and virtually (Zoom link) on Monday, November 18 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following:
- Request for approval of the FY2025 Property tax levy distribution percentages among residential, open space, commercial and industrial classes of Real Property.
Land Use will meet in person (Council Chamber) and virtually (Zoom link) on Tuesday, November 19 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following:
- Appointments to the Newton Wellesley Hospital Neighborhood Council
- Jay Flynn
- Marjorie Summers
- Theresa Fitzpatrick
- Alex Koppenheffer
- George Swetz
- Chris Letourneau
- Request for a Class 2 Auto License:
- Motorcars of Boston, Inc., 1191 Washington Street
- Request for Extension of Time to Exercise Special Permit to renovate and expand the detached accessory building for use as an accessory apartment with dimensional waivers at 193 Lake Avenue – See Special Permit documents.
- Request for Extension of Time to Exercise Special Permit to allow Elder Housing with services, to allow a development in excess of 20,000 sq. ft., to allow a five-story building, to allow a retaining wall greater than 4′ in height within a setback, to allow free-standing signs, to allow parking within the front setback, and to waive lighting requirements at 11 Florence Street and 318 Boylston Steet – See Special Permit documents .
NOTE: The Committee will review a request for a consistency ruling to allow changes to the elevations, relocating a landing and stairs closer to the street, and modifications to the dormers at 300 Cabot Street – See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Request for a Special Permit/Site Plan Approval to allow a restaurant with more than 50 seats (75) and to waive 11 parking stalls at 30-34 Langley Road – See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Request for a Special Permit/Site Plan Approval to raze the existing dwelling and construct four attached single-family dwellings with dimensional and parking waivers at 640 Watertown Street – See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Request for a Special Permit/Site Plan Approval to raze the existing dwelling and construct three single-family attached dwellings in one building with associated dimensional relief at 15 Algonquin Road – See Special Permit documents and Planning Memo.
- Request for a discussion with the Planning Department regarding the status of all designated but unspent mitigation funds received by the city – See Planning Memo.
Programs and Services will meet in person (Room 211) and virtually (Zoom link) on Wednesday, November 20 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following requests:
- Setting of a date for a special election to fill the vacancy on the Newton School Committee, in the position of Ward 7, due to the resignation of Committee member Davenport.
- Set early voting hours for the 2025 Special Election as recommended by the Election Commission.
- Discussion of Parks, Recreation and Culture Department’s recently completed, ongoing and future parks and fields projects.
- Discussion with the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department about the restroom facilities, or lack thereof, at our city parks. The discussion should include information about what restroom facilities are currently available, and which fields lack any restroom options. The discussion should also include an estimate for what resources would be necessary to upgrade those options at fields across the city.
- Discussion with Parks, Recreation and Culture on use of fields, especially on evenings and weekends, with respect to non-school permits, light timing, noise, trash collection and responsibility for disturbances and pursuant to PRC, NSHS, and Neighbors agreement of April, 2020.
- Discussion and possible changes to the Newton Tree Ordinance to avoid causing financial hardship to homeowners seeking to make improvements to their homes.
Public Facilities will meet in person (Room 204) and virtually (Zoom link) on Wednesday, November 20 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following requests:
- Appropriate and expend $700,000 from June 30, 2024 Certified Free Cash for the purpose of funding several high priority Newton Public School capital projects at Newton North High School
- Appropriate and expend $775,000 from June 30, 2024 Certified Free Cash for the purpose of funding municipal building maintenance projects
- Appropriate and expend $225,000 from June 30, 2024 Certified Free Cash for the purpose of funding security camera and access control improvements at Fire and Police Department locations
- Discussion and potential pause of the solar panel installation in the summer of 2025 at Brown and Oak Hill Schools in light of recent School discussions on plans for a revitalized campus at Brown, Oak Hill, and Newton South Schools
- Discussion with DPW Utilities Director and Conservation Commission Director to understand the problem of restoring culvert operations at Wells Ave with respect to non-lethal beaver intervention, protection of conservation land and accessing recently discovered sewer main. This would include discussion of the importance of beavers to conservation land, alternative solutions to the beaver population, and City needs for access to sewer main.
- Update on planning and construction of Bullough’s Pond Dam
- Discussion of the Bullough’s Pond Dam rehabilitation project and the preferred safety design
Public Safety and Transportation will meet virtually (Zoom link) on Wednesday, November 20 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following:
- Request for a presentation and discussion with MAPC as part of Public Safety & Transportation Committee examination of residential parking management, learn about programs and research from around the country from regional planners
- Appointment of George R. McMains as the Chief of the Newton Police Department
Rules Subcommittee will meet virtually (Zoom link) on Thursday, November 21 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following:
Chair’s Note: The Rules Subcommittee will continue its review of City Council Rules. The focus of this meeting will be on the following items:
- Items referred to the Public Safety & Transportation Committee. Continued from 10-17-24 Meeting
- Threshold that triggers a joint referral to the Finance Committee and the substantive committee
Traffic Council will meet virtually (Zoom link) on Thursday, November 21 at 7PM. The agenda includes the following requests:
- An accessible parking space in front of 147 Arnold Road
- A 4-way stop at the intersection of Greenwood Street and Arnold Road
- Change the 2-hour limit in the Langley Road parking lot to a 3-hour time limit
- No parking on either side of the curve in the vicinity of 111 to 121 Gibbs Street
- Add Studio Road into the Auburndale Village Parking District, with parking to be by permit only within the areas where parking will be allowed
- A stop sign at the end of Proctor Street, westbound, where it intersects with Walker Street. Note that this petition does not request a stop sign on Walker Street itself
- A stop sign at the end of Dartmouth Street where it intersects with Prince Street. Note that this item does not request to add a stop sign on Prince Street itself
- A parking restriction on a section of Bemis Road near California Street
- A long-term trial to allow temporary changes to certain parking regulations and traffic circulation on streets near the Countryside Elementary School in order to facilitate the reconstruction of the school