City Council in brief: Changes to sidewalk snow removal ordinances

The Waltham City Council is considering changing how the city ensures clear walking paths after big snowstorms.

Ward 8 Councilor Cathyann Harris at Monday’s council meeting introduced a resolution to amend city ordinances on snow removal, in response to snowstorms this year which “exceeded our capacity.”

“We had an epic winter this year,” she said. “What we need to do is learn from it.”

The city’s current snow removal ordinances require property owners to clear snow on the sidewalks in front of their house if they have three or more dwelling units. Owners of industrial properties, properties in business, commercial or industrial districts, and properties in the Hope Avenue Redevelopment and Riverfront Overlay districts are also required to remove snow from their sidewalks. The city’s regulations do not apply to residents in one- and two-family houses.

Harris proposed that the city’s ordinance include regulations for owners to clear sidewalks in front of one- and two-family homes, carving out exceptions for residents physically unable to move snow. Councilor-at-Large Emma Tzioumis said she is coordinating with the Council on Aging and youth groups to create a program to pair older residents with youth who could shovel their sidewalks.

The resolution also includes a provision to potentially make the Consolidated Public Works Department responsible for clearing sidewalks in downtown Main Street and Moody Street, asking the department to evaluate what resources it would need to better clear streets and sidewalks.

Ward 6 Councilor Sean T. Durkee emphasized the importance of making sure the DPW had sufficient and properly resourced employees to address snow challenges. “If you pass an ordinance with no resources or enforcement value it really doesn’t address anything,” he said.

The City Council referred this to its Ordinances and Rules Committee for further discussion.

Additionally, the City Council:

• Announced that details of the city’s annual Arbor Day tree planting would be announced on city social media in advance of the event.
• Congratulated the Bentley Falcons on making it to the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Hockey Championship, where they’ll play against Michigan this Friday.
• On the Licenses and Franchises Committee’s recommendation, gave final approval of 23 license renewals for lodging houses around the city.
• On the Finance Committee’s recommendation, accepted donations of Waltham memorabilia and a donation to restore the Stonehurst piano, accepted a state grant for the Council on Aging, and approved funds for repairing the Veterans Memorial softball fields, out-of-district special education costs and heating work at Government Center.
• On the recommendation of the Committee of the Whole, approved a draft budget for the City Council’s upcoming fiscal year to send to Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy. At the request of Ward 1 Councilor Anthony LaFauci, the council added a $15,000 line item to fund television screens for the council chambers to improve accessibility.
• Opened a public hearing for utilities work by Eversource to extend a power line through the sidewalk to an expansion of the ExtraSpace storage facility at 195 Bear Hill Road. Eversource representative Joanne Callender assured LaFauci that the company would replace the sidewalk as necessary. The request was sent to the Licenses and Franchises Committee.
• Spotlighted Waltham author Yasmin Azad’s recently published memoir, “Stay, Daughter: A Story of Muslim Girlhood.” Councilor-at-Large Colleen Bradley-MacArthur encouraged councilors to read the book or other texts that challenged their perspectives for Women’s History Month this March and requested that the city donate a copy of the book to the City Hall Museum Room.
• Recognized April 9 as Local News Day and heard a presentation from Waltham Times editor and Board of Directors Chair June Kinoshita about the national initiative.
• Referred a series of requests from McCarthy to the council’s committees. A request to rename Northeast Elementary School after former superintendent John J. Daddona went to the Licenses and Franchises Committee; a preliminary plan for the year’s Community Development Block Grant went to the Economic and Community Development Committee; a $10.5 million loan authorization for the project management of the ongoing police station redesign went to the Long-Term Debt and Capital Planning Committee; and funding requests for the police medical budget, disability services commission and telecommunicator emergency response services went to the Finance Committee.
• Referred one request to renew a secondhand dealers’ license and one request to renew a lodging house license to the Licenses and Franchises Committee.
• Referred requests of time extensions to begin construction on three special permits the city granted in 2025 to the Ordinances and Rules Committee.
• Requested that Waltham Public Schools Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa appear before the Committee of the Whole to report on non-budgetary matters surrounding Waltham schools in advance of the upcoming fiscal year’s budgetary hearings.
• Voted 13-1 to go into executive session to discuss updates to a real estate matter previously discussed in January. Councilor-at-Large Carlos A. Vidal voted against the request.