City Council in brief: Celebrating Waltham residents with youth sports, Pride resolutions

The City Council’s Tuesday meeting focused on Waltham residents with a series of resolutions directly honoring community members.

Councilor-at-Large Colleen Bradley-MacArthur presented a resolution signed by most councilors for Waltham Pride day. The resolution calls for Waltham to “stand in solidarity” with the LGBTQIA+ community for the month of June and beyond. It celebrates the volunteers who run Waltham Pride celebrations and requests that the mayor’s office hang a pride flag on June 14 for Pride Day.

Councilors referred the resolution to next Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Bradley-MacArthur said part of the resolution’s purpose is to “listen with an ear toward empathy” to community concerns, highlighting some of the factors worrying parts of Waltham’s LGBTQIA+ community. She referenced the wave of antitransgender legislation across the United States over the last few years. The independent research group Trans Legislation Tracker has identified 50 bills passed so far this year designed to exclude or target trans people or reduce protections and funding for transgender populations. 

She also talked about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the area, pointing out that some LGBTQIA+ community members have fled unsafe circumstances in their native countries.

“When hate speech towards a marginalized group happens and is endorsed and repeated, it begins to continue the cycle of erasure and dehumanization,” Bradley-MacArthur said. “We know from history that dehumanization of people leads to violence towards people.”

She added, “Waltham leads with empathy, and we will not allow hate and dehumanization to happen here.”

Youth sports champions

Residents  packed the council chambers early in the meeting to celebrate Waltham’s grade 6 girls’ and grade 3 and 4 boys’ basketball teams as well as their coaches, Jessica Bourne, Jeff Smith and Jeff Hynes.

Both teams  finished first in their divisions this year. The grade 6 girls’ team repeated as champions for the second year running, and the grade 3 and 4 boys’ team completed an undefeated season.

Each teammate was given a copy of the resolution signed by councilors and a proclamation signed by Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy.

Additionally, the City Council

• Approved a long list of business items discussed in committees last week, including preliminary approval for amendments to Waltham’s zoning code pertaining to affordable housing and pet grooming. The council also gave final approval for the purchase of an electrical substation at 200 Trapelo Road.
• Heard an update on an application from a proposed hotel at 220 Moody St. Philip McCourt, an attorney for the project, reported that the site’s owner has been refining its design with the Ordinances and Rules Committee and is in talks with the mayor about potentially using some city parking spaces. He said the parking plan needs Traffic Commission approval before proceeding and agreed to delay the close of the hearing until the council’s special meeting in August.
• Opened a public hearing for an application from National Grid to open up Main Street from Weston Street to the Main Street post office to replace old gas lines. The application will go to the Licenses and Franchises Committee meeting Monday.
• Opened a public hearing for an application to open up the roadway in front of 108 Greer St. The property’s owners are rebuilding the lot’s single-family house and requested the street opening to replace a sewer line, telling councilors they intend to repave the street and replace any sidewalk. The application will go to the Public Works and Public Safety Committee meeting Monday.
• Passed a resolution requesting updates on ongoing on-street construction work for Monday’s Public Works and Public Safety Committee meeting. 
• Referred five requests from McCarthy to Monday’s Finance Committee meeting, including funding requests tied to union collective bargaining agreements, the city’s Illicit Discharge and Detection Elimination program and noise meters for the Building Department, and acceptance of a state construction grant.
• Referred one outdoor dining and one fortune tellers’ licence application to next week’s Licenses and Franchises Committee meeting. 
• Referred seven requests for a combined total of $4,073,454 in Community Preservation Act funding from the recent Community Preservation Commission meeting to the Long-Term Debt and Capital Planning Committee. These requests include funding for an inclusive playground at Northeast Elementary School, the restoration of monuments and city records, the creation of a new women’s shelter, the acquisition of two homes to turn into affordable veterans’ housing and administration for the program.
• Requested that Department of Public Works Director Michael Chiasson, social media coordinator Abby Auld and representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Waltham Partnership attend Monday’s Economic and Community Development Committee meeting to discuss trash management.