Watertown Locks In Parker School Deal, Votes $119,805 More for Irving Park

WATERTOWN — October 11, 2022 — Watertown City Manager unveils $9.8 million FY2022 surplus and announces Parker School repurchase deal. City Manager George Proakis, nine weeks into the job, told the City Council at its October 11 meeting that Watertown closed fiscal year 2022 with revenues running $9.8 million above its amended budget — driven by a permit fee account that reached $15 million against a projection of $8.8 million — and certified free cash estimated at $27 million. He disclosed that at 4:30 that afternoon he received a signed purchase-and-sale agreement to reacquire the Parker School building for municipal office use, with a $2 million down payment included in a proposed $4.3 million mid-year budget amendment that also directs $2 million to the high school construction stabilization fund, $85,000 for a municipal space-use study, and $75,000 to expand the city's composting program. The Council voted nine to zero to approve $119,805 in supplemental Community Preservation funds for the Irving Park rehabilitation after all four qualified bids came in above budget, with the lowest bidder, Argus, at $345,000. The Council also unanimously endorsed new trash and recycling fees effective October 17 — including $25 to $50 charges for bulk item and white goods pickup — and voted to double the sewer inflow-and-infiltration in-lieu fee from $10 to $20 per gallon per day of sewage.