Commission accepts Whitney Hill report, defers gravel fix

Conservation Commission · Meeting of February 4, 2026

Watertown's Conservation Commission grilled DPW Director Tom over three trees cut at Whitney Hill Park, revealing that a 2013 resolution defining the park's boundaries had never been recorded at the Registry of Deeds. Tom said the trees, tied to a $1.8 million DPW roof project, were removed because a 26-inch Norway maple had grown into the building; staff member Katie said "I take accountability" for not catching the parcel mismatch sooner. Libby of Trees for Watertown asked that future cuts leave snags for wildlife and notify neighbors first.

Commissioners also continued a dispute over gravel spread in the Arsenal Park amphitheater to March, pending documentation of how much riverfront land is already degraded. The panel unanimously accepted the 2025 Whitney Hill annual report and cleared a backlog of minutes from November, December and January. Commissioners Jamie and Maria, the latter after 18 years, both signaled plans to leave the seven-member board.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 913 words

Source: the Conservation Commission meeting of February 4, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.