Join a town hall meeting on Tuesday, May 25, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., to discuss plans to establish a supervised consumption site (SCS) in Somerville. At the meeting you can learn more about how SCS work, see data from a recently conducted needs assessment and evaluation, and ask questions of city officials and public health experts. The meeting will be hosted on Zoom, and there will also be an option to call into the meeting from a phone. Visit somervillema.gov/virtualtownhall at the start time of the meeting to join live or get call-in information. The Somerville Public Schools will also send meeting information via their alert system to all student families and conduct additional multilingual outreach via the School’s Somerville Family Learning Collaborative. Call-in information will also be available on the day of each meeting on City Cable TV and the Educational Channel (channels 13 and 15 on RCN, channels 15 and 22 on Comcast) or by calling 311. You can submit feedback and questions about information presented at the meeting online at http://bit.ly/SCSComments. The comment form will be left open until Friday, June 11.

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The City of Somerville’s annual Water System Flushing Program began the week of May 17 and will conclude in late October. This annual program flushes pipes at high velocities to clean water mains and maintain the highest possible water quality. Flushing will be done on Mondays and Thursdays between 6:00 p.m. and midnight to minimize disruptions to water service. In most cases, residents will not notice any changes to their water service. However, some homes may experience a temporary, slight drop in water pressure and/or discolored water. In these cases, though the water may be discolored, it is safe to drink. Until the water runs clear, it is advisable to avoid washing laundry, especially white fabrics. If any rust stains appear on wet laundry, it should not be dried, and residents can call 311 (or 617-666-3311 from cell phones or outside the city) for a free bottle of rust remover. Residents will be notified via signage when their neighborhood will be affected by the Flushing Program. For more information, please contact the Water Department by email at water@somervillema.gov, or call 617-625-6600 ext. 5850.

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Celebrating their birthdays this week: Happy birthday to one of Somerville’s political pundits, Mr. Feargal O’Toole. A great guy, we wish him the very best on this his birthday. Happy birthday to Vinny (Clue) Vicente. We wish him the best. Happy birthday to local Winter Hill resident Brian Roche. We hope he enjoys his day. We wish all of our Facebook friends, such as Kevin D. Downey, Ken McIntyre, Karen Keenan McCann, Rick Driscoll, Gene Duggan, Deirdre Grace, Shirley Valentine, Danielle Scrima and Iona O’Brien a very happy birthday. We hope everyone has a great day. To all the others we may have missed, we sincerely wish them the very best of birthdays.

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Groundwork Somerville’s next Cleaning & Greening workday will take place Saturday, May 22, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. They will be carrying out basic garden tasks along with collecting trash at four of our school garden sites: Albert F. Argenziano, Arthur D. Healey, Next Wave Full Circle, and West Somerville Neighborhood School. Registration is required. For more information visit http://www.groundworksomerville.org

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The City of Somerville Health and Human Services Department is partnering with Riverside Trauma Center to offer a free two-day virtual training in Psychological First Aid and Post-Traumatic Stress Management for individuals who live or work in Somerville. Participants will learn basic behavioral health disaster-response skills in order to support youth and adults impacted by a traumatic event. This training would be beneficial for school staff, youth workers and service providers, human service workers, nurses, juvenile justice and law enforcement personnel, clergy, social workers, and anyone providing services in a support capacity. Training sessions will be held Friday, June 4, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Friday, June 11, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participants must attend both sessions. Learn more and register at somerville-ma.gov/HHS.

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Reopening steps, beyond the modified Phase 4, Step 1, will go into effect on Tuesday, June 1. All of the newly allowed activities will be subject to regular city permitting and safety rules and sector-specific COVID-19 guidelines. Dance floors will be allowed at private events, but facial coverings must be worn and there should be social distancing between households. Food and drinks will be allowed with recreational activities, but they must remain in one location. This means, for example, moviegoers can have snacks and drinks at their seats during a screening or bowlers can have food at their lane. And then on June 19 additional activities and reopening guidelines in Phase 4, Step 2 of the state’s reopening plan will go into effect in Somerville on Saturday, June 19. Somerville will be joining Boston’s reopening schedule, which is on a three-week delay from the State’s plan. All of the newly allowed activities will be subject to regular city permitting and safety rules and the State’s sector-specific COVID-19 guidelines. For more information and regular COVID-19 updates, visit www.somervillema.gov/coronavirus and sign up for city alerts at www.somervillema.gov/Alerts. Community members are encouraged to sign up for every alert method: phone call, text, email. Also follow FB.com/SomervilleCity and @SomervilleCity.

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Join the Terranova Youth Design Contest for a chance to win $175 and have your garden design installed at Somernova in Frost Alley. Designers must be middle or high school students in Somerville or Cambridge. Due date for proposals is June 12 and winners will be decided by August 17. This is a partnership between Groundwork Somerville, Somernova, and the Boston Society of Landscape Architects. For more information visit http://www.groundworksomerville.org.

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You might want to check out The City Explorers summer program for your students, offered through the Elizabeth Peabody House. For more information about local summer programming, from free programs to privately-run programs with costs associated, please visit: https://somerville.k12.ma.us/Summer

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The City of Somerville seeks to fill one vacancy on its Condominium Review Board. This position is open to Somerville renters or homeowners who are age 62 or older, who have a disability, or who earn 80% of the Area Median Income ($70,750) or less. Members serve staggered terms of three years or until another member is appointed. Meetings are held monthly, typically on the fourth Monday of each month at 6:00 p.m. This appointment includes a stipend of $300 monthly. Interested candidates should send a resume and letter of interest to Hannah Carrillo at hcarrillo@somervillema.gov. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the positions are filled. For more information, visit somervillema.gov/CRB.

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The next GLX General Public Meeting is planned for June 30, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. The meeting format will be virtual, and a link will be posted soon on the GLX website. The meeting will include updates on: Construction Status, Recent Project Milestones, Testing and Commissioning of GLX service. For project information, please visit www.Mass.gov/GLX.

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If a vehicle is booted, all unpaid parking tickets must be paid in full within 48 hours to have it released, otherwise the vehicle will be towed. While the Parking Department office remains closed to the public, payments can be made online at somervillema.gov/parking, over the phone (1-844-807-9069), or by placing a certified bank check made out to “City of Somerville” in the secure drop box outside the Parking office at 133 Holland Street. For more information, please visit somervillema.gov/parking.

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The City of Somerville continues to monitor COVID case trends, vaccination rates, and other related data on a daily basis. As more people are vaccinated there is hope for further reopening in the near future. All persons age 16 or older are currently eligible for vaccination. For information on how to schedule an appointment, visit www.somervillema.gov/vaccine or call the statewide helpline at 2-1-1.

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CHA Somerville Hospital offers free testing at Assembly Row. To make an appointment, call 617-665-2928 (Mon-Fri, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.). The mobile COVID-19 testing unit offers testing for all in our neighborhoods. To make a mobile appointment, call 617-682-0583. Mobile testing schedules, as they become available, and more testing information can be found at somervillema.gov/covidtesting. The state’s Stop the Spread testing sites are also an option, including in the nearby communities of Chelsea and Everett. For more information, visit the state’s web-site: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/find-a-covid-19-test.

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Hate incidents impact victims as well as the community. In an effort to make reporting hate incidents easier for the residents of Somerville, you may now report them using an online form. Visit the Somerville Police website under the “Home” tab and submit your Hate Incident report: www.somervillepd.com/home/.

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If you need assistance accessing food, there are several resources available to you locally. Visit the COVID-19 Help page at https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/covid-19-help-food-housing-and-financial-assistance to learn more. There you will find a chart that includes local food pantry schedules, contact information, languages spoken at the food pantry, and whether or not you need to bring ID.

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Reminder: city buildings are still closed to the public. Although city buildings remain closed to the public, a number of city services are still available online or by calling 311. Check the “City Service Status” tab on the city’s COVID-19 page for more information.

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