These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City of Somerville website.
Building a replacement school
School Building Committee, 4:30 to 6 p.m. Monday. The committee reviews the schedule for construction of a school to meet the needs of the communities of the Winter Hill Community Innovation School and potentially the Benjamin G. Brown School and looks at traffic, mobility and parking concepts for the project. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Meeting on enlarging Target
Community meeting, 6 to 7 p.m. Monday. Executives at Target address plans for the store at 180 Somerville Ave., Ward 2, sharing details of a proposed expansion into an adjacent vacant commercial space. Minor site and façade improvements will be made. At Somernova, 21 Properzi Way, in Ward 2, Somerville, between Porter and Union squares.
Filling crossing guard shortages
City Council Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters Committee, 6:30 p.m. Monday. This committee run by city councilor Will Mbah considers a review of hiring processes and requirements for school crossing guards – who have been in short supply for years – to ensure qualified candidates aren’t being unnecessarily burdened and deterred from the work. Watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Classroom tech and enrollment
School Committee, 7 to 9:30 p.m. Monday. Members get technology and enrollment updates from the superintendent and hear about the latest youth health survey. At 93 Highland Ave., Winter Hill, Somerville, and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Ward 5 Slice of the City
Community meeting, 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday. These drop-in style meet-ups at green spaces take place annually in each of the city’s wards. The mayor, city staff and city councilors mingle with residents and share some pizza. At Trum Field, 541 Broadway, Magoun Square.
Remaking 90 Washington St.
90 Washington Street Civic Advisory Committee, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. A debrief on the interviews with developers Wood Partners and North Point Leerink, which have proposals for the city’s nearly 4-acre site at 90 Washington St., and review of what the committee will tell the City Council and Redevelopment Authority about their pitches. The city seized the land in 2019 for a new public safety building. Since a subsequent multimillion-dollar legal ruling went against the city, Somerville has changed tack and plans for the site to make the money back with a sale by mid- to late 2027. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Meeting schedules and governing
City Council Legislative Matters Committee, 6 p.m. Tuesday. This committee run by city councilor J.T. Scott looks at changes to council practice – including moving the body’s meetings to 6 p.m. Tuesdays as of Jan. 11, 2028, from the current 7 p.m. Thursdays – and to the sale of secondhand goods in the city. One of the municipal proposals is to guard against use of taxpayer funds for self-promotion, keeping names of elected officials off city-owned property including signs, buildings, banners or official city communication if it’s not necessary to accomplish a specific government function such as a memorialization or quote in a press release. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Union Square, Inner Belt plans
Somerville Redevelopment Authority, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Members talk about Union Square zoning (where up to 200 new homes with a park, library branch and other community benefits have been proposed in place of an agreed-upon lab building) and 90 Washington St. (where two proposals have come in to transform 4 acres of city land). A closed-door session is expected for discussion of the value of the Washington Street property, which a member in April said they were “shocked” to find assessed at $3.8 million after the city paid $35.3 million. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
School Committee budget hearing
School Committee, 6 p.m. Wednesday. The district may need to cut as much as $1 million to help resolve the city’s budget deficit of between $5 million and $6 million as it enters the next fiscal year. East Somerville Community School, 50 Cross St., and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Period product and homelessness
City Council Public Health and Public Safety Committee, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councilor Matthew McLaughlin addresses aspects of making menstrual products available and asks monthly updates on progress toward addressing homelessness in Somerville. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing. (This meeting was canceled.)
Ward 1 Slice of the City
Community meeting, 5 to 7 p.m. May 11. These drop-in style meet-ups at green spaces take place annually in each of the city’s wards. The mayor, city staff and city councilors mingle with residents and share some pizza. At Chuckie Harris Park, 15 Cross St. E, East Somerville.
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