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.
Property tax, transportation tiff
City Council, 5:30 p.m. Monday. City manager Yi-An Huang asks $2.3 million out of a $7.8 million Water Fund Balance to buy from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and ensure reliable service during ongoing drought conditions affecting Cambridge’s supply from the reservoirs at Hobbs Brook, Stony Brook and Fresh Pond.
A call comes from councillor Cathie Zusy, with councillors E. Denise Simmons and Tim Flaherty, to postpone implementation of separated bike lanes on Outer Huron Avenue by five years because they aren’t needed and will eliminate around 44 on-street parking spaces (and because 1,400 people signed petitions asking the city to slow its roll). Of course, others disagree and say there are ways to make the area friendlier to people walking and biking without big problems for drivers. Meanwhile, transportation commissioner Brooke McKenna has good news for people trying to get around the city: Harvard affirms that residents can ride its shuttles for free, is making sure its drivers know it too and says the CityMapper phone app can make catching a ride easier; the Longwood Collective is working toward making it easier for residents to catch rides on its shuttles too; and the Getting Around Cambridge by Transit page has been updated with information about shuttles open to the public.
There’s a good report on the economic boost Cambridge saw from the summer, when the World Cup, Sail Boston and the country’s 250th anniversary was expected to boost tourism – and did, with hotels reporting a 10 percent increase in revenue in June alone from a year earlier and 87 percent of restaurants reporting higher customer traffic. The state rejected extending hours and to-go alcohol opportunities that were in place during the World Cup, but Cambridge is going to try to do it alone. “These trends underscore the potential long-term value of creating and expanding license laws and investing in special event programming to activate squares,” Huang said of details in the report.
The regular meeting pauses so staff can hold a hearing on property tax rate classification, which is what property owners – residential and commercial – can expect to pay this year per thousand dollars of value. Bills have risen recently after 18 years in which the city held rates down for most people. Though Huang advises keeping two-thirds of the burden on businesses rather than homeowners and the new tax levy is an expected 6.9 percent annual increase to $725.4 million, lower than last year’s 8 percent, it’s still an increase: to a single residential rate of $6.95 per thousand dollars of value, subject to Department of Revenue approval, up 4 percent; and a commercial property tax single rate of $16.99 per thousand dollars of value, a 21 percent increase. Both are still significantly lower than in surrounding communities. For instance, in neighboring Somerville with its smaller commercial base and where residents carry 67 percent on the burden, the homeowner rate is $10.98 per thousand dollars and business property owners pay $18.94 per thousand.
Don’t expect a report on whether to keep a 20 percent inclusionary zoning rate (which compels developers of big residential projects to turn over that much new square footage to be affordable homes). It’s was moved off the agenda to Oct. 8.
The council meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Thermal energy network pilot
Information session, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The city’s Office of Sustainability presents on how a geothermal thermal energy network – a shared underground loop of pipes that use the steady temperature of the earth to heat and cool aboveground – could replace fossil fuel-burning equipment in Cambridge homes and businesses. Watchable by Teams videoconferencing.
Lamplighter’s change; fads live
License Commission, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.Wednesday. Lamplighter Brewing is on the agenda for its transformation into an employee-owned company. And after getting evidence at the commission’s Sept. 17 meeting that the açaí and matcha fads wasn’t played out in Cambridge, here comes more boba tea and ramen, both to Harvard Square: Chicha San Chen seeks licensing for a space prioritizing takeout at 1 Brattle Square, expected to be open until 9 p.m. seven days, and Jinya Ramen Bar plans to serve as many as 100 people at a time at 16-18 Eliot St., the two-story restaurant center where an Ihop closed quietly in July after 20 years. Also in the square, BoostBerry Acai & Smoothies is back from the previous meeting to finish its bid to come to a small space within 99 Mount Auburn St. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Central Square arts and culture
Housing Committee, 2 p.m. Thursday. This committee run by vice mayor Burhan Azeem and city councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler hold a roundtable with Central Square arts and cultural institutions on planning and cultural preservation. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Automated ticketing by MBTA
Transit Advisory Committee, 6 p.m. Thursday. A half-hour on the MBTA using automated ticketing to try to keep drivers out of bus lane and bus stop spaces and updates on other state and city projects and committee work is expected when the group meets on the fourth floor of the City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge.
Reopening of Carl Barron Plaza
Ribbon-cutting celebration, 2 to 4 p.m. Friday. Food, music, art activities and speeches mark the opening of a revived civic space after a process that began in 2021, closing the plaza for construction starting in 2023. The plaza has more trees, space and seating, including on The Ribbon, a sculptural form with lighting and added mural by artist Sophy Tuttle, a bike lane and improved bus stop and shelters, and it is planned to host regular food vendors and community meals; live music, busking, broadcasts and other performances; celebrations, games and neighborhood get-togethers; small business markets and maker pop-ups; and social services outreach. The past plaza, named after a local business leader and ceremonial “mayor of Central Square” who died in 2014 at 98, suffered some bad reputation despite its prominent location at the crossroads of Massachusetts Avenue, River Street and Western Avenue: It attracted unhoused people and visitors to needle exchanges and other nearby social services. The activity in the reimagined plaza addresses this while replacing some of the uses and energy lost in the closing of Starlight Square, a Covid-era, open-air event space opened in 2020 that was closed by the city in July 2024 against the wishes of the Central Square Business Improvement District leadership. In person in Carl Barron Plaza, 632 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square.
