City Council in brief: Further Fernald funding and other business 

The Waltham City Council approved two new funding requests from Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy this week for work at 200 Trapelo Road on the property of the former Fernald State School.

On the recommendation of its Long Term Debt and Capital Planning Committee, the council at its Monday night meeting authorized a $6.8 million loan to improve infrastructure on the property.

The majority of the loan would fund 3,700 feet of new water main, 2,500 feet of new sewer pipes, 4,000 feet of new electrical connection for the site, the cleaning and lining of an existing water main and the demolition of the chapel on the property. 

McCarthy said the project would take approximately a year to complete. The city is set to begin work in the spring.

The council also approved a recommendation from the Finance Committee for $50,000 to design a nine-hole par-3 golf course on the property. This plan differs from the golf facilities originally proposed by McCarthy as part of a recreation plan for the site in 2022.

According to Recreation Department Director Kim Hebert, the course would be approximately two to four acres, similar to the Stone Meadow course in Lexington. Hebert told the committee the city has not yet calculated ongoing costs, such as maintenance expenses, associated with the new course.

Additionally, the City Council:

• Approved $346,000.62 for preservation work at the Wellington House. Historical Commission Chair Mort Isaacson told the committee that the funds would assist in fixing internal and external damage and deterioration to the historic building.
• Approved $100,000 to construct affordable women’s housing in the city’s former Elks Lodge.
• Approved the renewal of used car sales licenses for Specialty Auto Sales and About Boston Muffler Brake & Automotive.
• Applauded the service of departing at-large councilors Kathy McMenimen and Thomas Stanley. The council also recognized retiring police officer Richard Giordano.
• At the Ordinances and Rules Committee’s meeting, heard preliminary residential development plans for three lots in the west of Waltham. The properties’ owners have requested the city designate all three as mixed-use residential and commercial districts and have proposed putting in approximately 1,850 units between the three properties.
• At the Public Works and Public Safety Committee, requested additional updates from the Law Department to street opening and resurfacing requests for the private ways Mount Pleasant Street, Parkview Road, Duddy Avenue, Marion Way, Buxton Lane, Kenmore Road/Terrace, Milner Street, and Blossom Street.
• Approved committee recommendations from last week, accepting two donations, renewing a used car sales license, filing away some Economic and Community Development Committee business, approving a resolution about bike parking on Moody Street and approving the first reading of a revised city noise ordinance.
• The Economic and Community Development, Finance, Licenses and Franchises, Long-Term Debt and Capital Planning, Ordinances and Rules, Public Works and Public Safety and Veterans’ Services committees carried over business items remaining on their dockets into the new year. The Licenses and Franchises Committee voted to file away two items: a previously-addressed resolution to memorialize Joseph Lazaro and a lodging house license that has been in front of the council since 2023.