The week ahead: City Council will again meet online to avoid the snow

Update (Feb. 23): This article has been updated to reflect that the neighborhood meeting for proposed development at the Bay Colony site has been rescheduled to Tuesday, Mar. 3, because of inclement weather conditions.

Update (Feb. 27): This article has been updated to reflect that the License Commission meeting was delayed by a day and the Waltham Public Library bookmobile ribbon-cutting event has been postponed.

In light of the potential blizzard warning Massachusetts faces for the beginning of this week, Waltham is closing schools, enacting a parking ban and moving city meetings online for Monday.

City Council will hold its Monday meeting virtually and livestream it for residents on the city’s YouTube channel. As of Sunday, it does not plan to discuss any new resolutions or public hearings; most of the meeting will likely be spent ratifying preliminary votes from committee meetings last week and referring new business to its committees for their meetings next week.

Below is a chronological rundown of other city meetings scheduled this week.

Council on Aging

The Board of Trustees for the city’s Council on Aging, which organizes services for older Waltham residents and advocates for legislation that includes and protects them, is slated to meet this week. 

It is currently scheduled to meet in the conference room of the William F. Stanley Senior Center at 10 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 23, but will likely be cancelled or moved online due to inclement weather, given that government officials statewide are scheduled to work remotely on Monday.

City Council

City Council will vote on preapproved committee decisions from last week: approving a lease of city land to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation for a flood station, amending a council budgeting rule and accepting various funding requests from city departments.

It will also hear a list of new requests from Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy, which it will likely refer to committees for discussion next week. 

These requests include $564,581 in funding for the School Department in response to recent contract renegotiations; $13,520.93 for new city office equipment; a $5,000 increase to funding for a new Zamboni that the council approved earlier this month; $275,000 for engineering studies to replace the deteriorating Farwell Street Bridge; $9,500 for a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon on Trapelo Road; and an annual permit request for local business Charles River Canoe & Kayak to create a temporary dock on the Charles River.

The council will also likely refer a request for a used car sales license renewal from JJJ Auto Retailers at 196 High St. for committee discussion.

City Council will meet on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Zoning Board of Appeals

The ZBA is a five-person board charged with reviewing new and existing buildings that might violate the city’s zoning code. 

The board has the power to grant project-specific variances to the code, overrule judgments made by the building inspector and grant specific types of special permits. 

This week it will hear the continuation of a case from private landowner Paul Yu, who has requested a parking variance for apartments at a Main Street property. Yu first appeared in front of the board earlier this month, but board members requested he return with legal counsel.

The board plans to meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Arthur Clark Government Center.

School Committee

The Waltham School Committee, an elected six-member committee chaired by Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy, makes policy and oversight decisions for the Waltham Public Schools.

The committee this week will discuss the district’s science curriculum and its midyear budget report. It will also continue discussions about the high school’s Career and Technical Education Department and student schedules.

The committee will meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25, in the James J. Cannon Lecture Hall at 617 Lexington St. Its members will meet earlier that evening at 6 p.m. to discuss the school system’s budget for the upcoming year.

License Commission

The License Commission grants and reviews permits for serving food and alcohol for entertainment and for some types of gaming machines across the city.

The License Commission meeting has been delayed this week to Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. in the public meeting room of the Clark Government Center at 119 School St. The agenda will be posted Monday on the Licensing Department page of the city website.

Conservation Commission

The Conservation Commission is a volunteer board charged with overseeing environmental planning in Waltham. The commission reviews certain types of construction on or around wetlands to ensure they comply with the Wetlands Protection Act and  Department of Environmental Protection stormwater standards.

Among other items, the commission will consider a request from Washington Waltham Limited Partnership to repave a parking lot at 130 Second Ave. and a request from Bentley University to install a sidewalk on Linden Street.

It will hold a meeting over Zoom at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26. An agenda and link for the meeting will be posted on the commission’s page on the city website at least 48 hours in advance.