These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City Calendar and in the city’s Open Meetings Portal.
Get rid of unsafe drugs
Medication takeback day, 1 to 3 p.m. Monday. Police, the Council on Aging and the city’s Public Health Department accept unwanted prescriptions, vitamins and over-the-counter medications for disposal. Drop off the items at the Citywide Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square.
Big projects coming to a vote
City Council, 5:30 p.m. Monday. City manager Yi-An Huang brings forward a series of big-ticket expenses he wants ready to go when Cambridge adopts a budget June 1: $28.5 million for municipal facilities improvements mainly at Public Works facilities, municipal offices, youth centers, libraries and fire stations; $12.8 million for financing school building upgrades; $13 million for the reconstruction of various streets and sidewalks and $10 million for improvements along Massachusetts Avenue and the vicinity between Bigelow and Sidney streets; $14 million to remediate and improve Gold Star Mothers Park in East Cambridge; $8.4 million for sewer and drainage infrastructure in the Baldwin neighborhood, $7.5 million for a combined sewer overflow control program – to keep waste from spilling into public waters or backing up into people’s homes – as well as $2 million for repairs and replacement of water distribution infrastructure and $1 million for a Harvard Square sewer separation and stormwater management program. Also requested: $12 million to begin the yearslong process of replacing PeopleSoft, the city’s quarter-century-old personnel, management and payment system, which still has employees walking from office to office with paper printouts. Along with all this, Huang has a report on 15 capital initiatives costing $15 million or more for the five fiscal years starting with 2021; and a check-in on the Cambridge Preschool Program for 3- and 4-year-olds. There are 858 children enrolled citywide (4-year-olds make up 69 percent of the total), showing relatively steady demand in the year two.
Also, an order returns asking for a stop to work toward undoing Garden Street changes, because staff analysis continues to suggest going back to two-way car traffic is pointless and would cause new problems. The order was brought up at the previous council meeting but paused by councillor Tim Flaherty using his “charter right.”
The council meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Cost of parking permits program
Transportation and Public Utilities Committee, 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday. This committee run by vice mayor Burhan Azeem and city councillor Tim Flaherty hold a public hearing to review and discuss the residential permit parking program – which will cost $75 next time, up from $25, unless the driver cites a hardship – and its associated costs and services. The council meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Healthpeak presents its plan
Planning Board, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The life sciences real estate firm Healthpeak presents its plans for a “planned unit development,” which foresees turning a largely industrial Alewife Quadrangle area in the Cambridge Highlands into a new neighborhood of 20 buildings, including 2,076 homes in buildings of up to 12 stories, retail and a pedestrian and bike bridge over rail tracks that brings residents near the Alewife red line T stop. Many want a commuter rail stop nearby too. The agenda also holds an item about replacing the Danehy Park salt shed with improvements. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Examining use of ShotSpotter
Public Safety Committee, 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillor Ayah Al-Zubi reviews police use of ShotSpotter technology, a microphone network by the company SoundThinking that tries to identify gunshots and issue alerts to bring first responders to the scene. This is the second hearing on ShotSpotter in the past 12 months. The last was June 2, when Boston University’s Spencer Piston warned that the system functions as a form of audio surveillance with significant privacy risks, including potential access by federal agencies. ShotSpotter here is funded through the Department of Homeland Security, the parent department of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. This meeting was requested by the Stop ShotSpotter Camberville Coalition. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Harvard paying in lieu of taxes
Economic Development & University Relations Committee and Finance Committee, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday. These committees (run by city councillors Tim Flaherty and Cathie Zusy; and Ayah Al-Zubi and Patty Nolan, respectively) hold a hearing with Harvard University about its payments in lieu of taxes, reflecting the school’s impact on the city despite its institutional property being nontaxable. Until last year’s Trump-induced chaos, these Pilot agreements were 20-year packages; in 2025, the city and school agreed to a one-year $6 million payment. New talks are ongoing. “We are in conversations,” city manager Yi-An Huang told councillors March 23, looking forward to a meeting that was intended to cover a variety of town-gown issues. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
BB&N adds space for robotics
Board of Zoning Appeal, 6 p.m. Thursday. The Buckingham, Browne & Nichols private day school appears with a request for a one-story addition to the historic Woodshed building overlooking athletic fields at 80 Gerrys Landing Road, West Cambridge. The new square footage would provide dedicated space to the school’s robotics program, including code-compliant restrooms. Also: Owners of 723-731 Cambridge St., Wellington-Harrington, want to add three stories of homes at their current three story building; its ground-floor businesses have included Flowers by Sal and the now-closed Portugalia restaurant. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Ellery Street multifamily plan
Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District Commission, 6 to 8 p.m. May 4. The continuation of a hearing as a developer brings plans for 88 Ellery St., where the existing two-story, single-family 1873 home of 4,006 square feet would get a partial demolition and a rear addition of six stories and 47,692 square feet – not needing a special permit, because the project falls under the multifamily zoning enacted Feb. 10, 2025. The developer describes the goal as building “to the limit” to create 32 to 36 “much-needed homes, primarily offering two-bedroom units specifically tailored to accommodate young and growing families.” It would be next door to another six-story multifamily development at 84-86 Ellery St., a block north of a six-story project at 60 Ellery St. and around the corner from a six-story project at 406 Broadway. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
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