The week ahead: National Grid requests to open up Main Street for gas main replacement

This week City Council will hear a request from utilities company National Grid to open up parts of Main Street and surrounding roads to replace gas mains.

The company wants to install around 2,105 feet of plastic piping on the north side of Main Street between Weston Street and the Main Street post office and around 205 feet of pipe on side streets along the corridor. The new piping would replace older cast iron and plastic pipes installed between 1904 and 2018. 

National Grid originally discussed this work in March with the city’s Traffic Commission, which refused to give the company the go-ahead without receiving a comprehensive list of gas main replacement projects planned for the next two years. 

Some commissioners warned that the project would be problematic given the expected higher volume of traffic on Main Street that would result from National Grid’s ongoing Felton Street work. Others, including Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy and Ward 9 Councilor Robert G. Logan, complained about National Grid’s track record on previous construction projects, saying the company had left materials and vehicles on roadways and caused damage to city equipment.

Below is a chronological rundown of other city meetings scheduled this week, May 25 through 29.

Housing Authority

The Waltham Housing Authority works to provide affordable housing for Waltham residents who face barriers to housing. 

It will meet Tuesday at 5 p.m over Zoom and in person at 110 Pond St. to discuss the recently released annual budget of the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

City Council

In addition to discussions on National Grid’s Main Street gas line work, City Council will hold two other public hearings: It will revisit special permit discussions for a proposed hotel at 220 Moody St. and hear a request to open Greer Street to install water, sewage and gas connections for a new single-family house. 

The council plans to discuss a series of resolutions: Councilor-at-Large Colleen Bradley-MacArthur has submitted an annual resolution for Pride Day; Councilor-at-Large Tim King, Ward 2 Councilor Caren Dunn and Ward 3 Councilor Bill Hanley have submitted a resolution to hear from the Public Works and Engineering departments on road and utility work around the city this construction season; and the council will discuss two resolutions acknowledging the work of Waltham elementary school basketball teams.

It will also hear a handful of requests from McCarthy, most of which the council will likely send to its committees to discuss at their meetings next week. McCarthy is requesting $151,420 to fund union negotiations over the next three years; acceptance of a $289,982 state grant to install a sidewalk on Beaver Street; $20,000 in funding for the Building Department to purchase two noise meters; and $59,000 in funding for the city’s Illicit Discharge and Detection Elimination program.

As Memorial Day fell on its normal Monday meeting day, the council will meet Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Local Emergency Planning Committee

The LEPC is a city committee mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor the storage and use of hazardous chemicals in Waltham and maintain emergency response plans. It’s chaired by the Waltham Fire Department’s Lt. James Perry. 

The committee plans to meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Room 325 of Bentley University’s LaCava Center. 

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.

It will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the public meeting room of the Clark Government Center at 119 School St. to discuss two requests for event alcohol permits, one from the Waltham Boys & Girls Club and the other from Bentley University; a request for an entertainment permit for regular live music and dancing from the Aegean Restaurant; requests for five outdoor dining permits; and an application to transfer an alcohol and restaurant license from the recently closed Taste House to J&C Kitchen. The commission will also discuss four recent incidents at Franco’s Pizzeria & Pub and Tempo restaurant.