By Jim Clark

It was a year filled with many challenges, surprises and changes for the City of Somerville and its residents. As we look back on the events of 2015, it becomes vividly clear how eventful such a relatively short period of time can be.

It began with discussion on what would become a major issue for the region in the months ahead: snow removal.

A number of concerns and complaints were voiced by Somerville residents over updated snow shoveling policies announced by the city. The Board of Aldermen conducted a public hearing to solicit feedback and suggestions from the public in regards to the fine structure for certain property types and defining certain terms in the ordinance.

And then it hit. The snowstorm christened “Juno” hit the northeast hard, and residents and city work crews spent the next several weeks digging out and trying to keep up with the snowfall. The City of Somerville reported that at one point it had 95 vehicles and 130 crew members out clearing streets and sidewalks.

Then, just as residents and city workers began to make noticeable headway in digging out from the record setting blizzard, a second front blasted through the region on, piling on more snow and bringing otherwise routine activities to a standstill.

A record setting blizzard crippled much of the northeast and tested the abilities of residents and municipal work crews in clearing the vast accumulations of snow.

Nearly a foot of additional snow fell on the city, adding aggravation and additional toil to all those involved in keeping their sidewalks, driveways, and roads clear for safe passage.

The accumulated snow proved to be a tremendous burden, so the city acquired a Snow Dragon SND900 melter at a cost of $229,000. Tons of snow was expected to be melted away quickly and efficiently throughout the remainder of the cleaning up period. However, the device proved to be less impressive operationally than had been hoped for.

While the city coped with the blizzard and the resulting cleanup, developments continued for the Green Line Extension project.

In January, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced a $996 million federal grant agreement that would significantly improve transit options to extend the MBTA Green Line light rail service from East Cambridge to Somerville and Medford. Governor Patrick noted that the funding commitment brought the GLX another step closer to reality.

However, in August the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority announced that the budget for the GLX into Somerville and Medford was short by as much as $1 billion.

State transportation secretary Stephanie Pollack said that officials were considering modifications to the plan, including a possible cancellation of the project, which she indicated was not a desirable option.

Since then the project has come under intense scrutiny, and as of this moment its fate is yet to be determined.

Mayor Curtatone has remained a staunch advocate for the project throughout the process, indicating that failure of the project is not a viable option.

A partial collapse of the roof over a girls bathroom at the Brown School sent chills through the hearts and minds of parents whose children narrowly missed being seriously injured, due to the lateness of the hour when the event occurred. The collapse took place after hours and nobody was in the building at that time.

The school was immediately shut down as inspection crews assessed the damage.

Work crews reportedly determined that the portion of the roof that had collapsed had been gradually eroding from water seepage over an extended period of time. Accumulations of snow had apparently accelerated the deterioration of the structure’s wood and masonry components, leading to the partial collapse of the roof.

Students were reassigned to alternate schools across the city, and lost school days had to be made up.

Meantime, Mary Skipper was unanimously selected by the Somerville School Committee serve as the city’s new Superintendent of Schools. Skipper had been serving as Network Superintendent for High Schools for the Boston Public Schools. In that capacity she oversaw the district’s 34 high schools representing 19,500 students. Skipper stepped in as the new Superintendent after Tony Pierantozzi stepped down from the position in July 2015.

Proposals for the Powder House Community School site that meet previous objectives developed over two years by the neighborhood were actively sought in 2015.

An RFP released by the city in 2013 sought proposals for the site that would meet a set of community objectives that were developed through a two-year community planning process. Those objectives included, as required by a vote of the Board of Aldermen, that at least 40 percent of the site is used as publicly accessible open space; that the pedestrian route from Broadway to Holland Street must be preserved, enhanced, and maintained; the long-term economic impact of the proposal; and the price offered for the property. The selected developer may propose to purchase or lease the site, and to either demolish, reconstruct or rehabilitate the existing school building.

Shortly thereafter, eight bids for redevelopment of the Powder House Community School site went under review to determine which proposals meet objectives developed by the community and thus which developers would be interviewed by mid-June.

A proposal to rehabilitate the former Powder House Community School into 40 new homes including affordable, senior and live-work artist units, and more than 13,000 square feet of commercial space including collaborative maker spaces and an artists’ hall was recommended by the Powder House Community School Technical Advisory Committee. Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone accepted the Committee’s recommendation and presented his decision to the Board of Aldermen.

Ultimately, Cambridge-based developer MarKa Communities successfully presented their plan for redevelopment of the Powder House Community School. The structure will become a mixed-use building with 40 residential units and 15,000 square feet of retail space. A city park will emerge from the building’s courtyard, filled with a laundry list of amenities for the neighborhood.

In other news, the Board of Alderman’s Rodent Issues Committee announced that it had made serious efforts, and got serious results in eliminating the rat population in Somerville. Last year, rodent sightings have decreased by 40%. Although rats continue to be a problem, the committee made plans to continue the trend throughout 2015.

Goran Smiljic, Superintendent of Inspectional Services, detailed the actions that have been taken in each instance. The most common action taken has been to bait the area. The policy of the city is not to bait an area unless a member of Inspection Services spots a rodent personally. Rodents don’t always show themselves when inspectors examine a given area. This means that citizens must be as involved as government. Trashcan lids seem to have made a large difference, especially in residential buildings.

Various local officials and civic leaders publicly urged the Somerville Retirement Board to divest from all companies in the fossil fuel business. They expressed their belief that fossil fuel companies are poor investments that will not only generate less return than other, comparable stocks and bonds, but are becoming increasingly volatile and risky investments, likely in the future to lose money for the Somerville Retirement System.

City of Somerville officials undertook an in-depth study and refinement of a proposed new zoning ordinance, seeking clarification from planners as well as soliciting comments and concerns from residents and commercial interests who would be affected.

The “#BlackLivesMatter” banner hung in front of City Hall received mixed reactions from the public at large.

The Board of Alderman’s Legislative Matters Committee also continued its work on the Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance. Assistant City Solicitor Matthew J. Buckley submitted the ordinance to the members of the committee and government gathered, as well as various concerned parties, including a representative from the Surfrider Foundation, a national non-profit focused on health risks associated with environmental threats.

A group of Black Lives Matters protestors gathered at Interstate 93 in the vicinity of Exit 30, near the Century Bank building in Medford. State Police arrived to find a crowd of people on the highway and they requested that the individuals leave the area but that the individuals allegedly refused.

According to reports, a “human chain” of apparent protesters were linked together with PVC pipes, metal chains, ropes, and carabineers, which prevented law enforcement from separating members of the group.

In a controversial move, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone issued an appeal via Facebook calling on Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan to drop all charges against protesters who blocked traffic on I-93 last January.

The so-called “Somervillle 18,” consisting of protesters from Somerville and Boston, shut down traffic in Milton and Somerville in an action calculated to bring attention to alleged mistreatment of African Americans by law enforcement authorities. At the time of the arrests, the District Attorney said that the protester’s actions “jeopardized public safety.”

On April 17, the Tufts administration held a communitywide event in celebration of the debut a brand new statue depicting Tufts’ mascot, Jumbo the elephant. Tufts Labor Coalition (TLC), a student group on campus, chose to disrupt this event in protest of the administration’s decision to fire 35 custodial workers later that month, nearly one in five on the campus.

Five Tufts University students went on hunger strike for and plan to continue indefinitely until the Tufts administration agreed to stop plans to cut 17% of its janitorial workforce.

The students demanded that cuts be postponed until at least after the renegotiation of the janitors’ contract with their union, scheduled for early 2016.

On August 20, Somerville’s City Hall unveiled a banner strung across the front of the building, reading “#BlackLivesMatter, City of Somerville, Somerville Police Department.” The local Cambridge chapter of Black Lives Matter helped to hoist the banner in conjunction with the mayor’s office. This public support for the movement was endorsed by Mayor Curtatone, who published an opinion piece in Commonwealth Magazine the next day. Said the mayor in an interview with The Somerville Times, “We are making a statement as well as asking ourselves some important questions. It’s a moment of self-examination. As an elected official I have responsibility to lead this conversation.”

Somerville city officials announced at the May 12 ResiStat meeting held at the Healey School that the city was preparing to take over the site of the Winter Hill Star Market using eminent domain, a process whereby the city forces property owners to sell land at market value. For the Star Market site, this would come at the end of a long planning process, and approval at the city and state level. “We want to put the policies in place that say ‘this is what we want as a community,’” said Mayor Joseph Curtatone. “This tool is probably the one that’s left in our toolbox to accomplish this.”

In sports, as a member of last year’s Under-16 National Team, outside linebacker and Somerville resident Joseph Gulla, currently attending Everett High School, had the opportunity to represent the United States in the 2015 International Bowl. Hosted at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Gulla’s skill set and athleticism helped Team USA in the tough battle against Team Canada, losing 34-17.

Odmark Ozit, a Somerville High School graduate and member of the boys track team, who won the State Outdoor Track Meet Triple Jump Event, was honored by the entire Board of Aldermen and the mayor at the July 9 regular meeting of the Board.

After a regular season that saw 4-5 teams vying for the best record heading into the playoffs, the Somerville Alibrandis yet again rose to the top of the heap to take down their 16th YBL Championship trophy, and their 6th in a row.

For the third time, the City of Somerville was named All-America City by the National Civic League. The city has previously held the title in 2009 and 1972.

The Somerville delegation competed to be one of 10 All-America City Award winners in Denver Colorado from June 12-14.

The citywide election held in November yielded some new faces on the Board of Aldermen and the School Committee. Winning At Large seats were Jack Connolly, Mary Jo Rossetti, Dennis Sullivan, and William A.White. The new Ward 6 Alderman is Lance Davis.On the School Committee, in Ward 1, Steve Roix, Lee Erica Palmer will represent Ward 3, and in Ward 4 it will be Andre Green.

Bryan Bishop was named as the new Veterans Services Director. Bishop brings his years of service as the Deputy Commissioner and Chief of Staff for the City of Boston Department of Veterans’ Services. He is a 20-year Veteran of the United States Air Force who has spent much of his life serving the country and his fellow Veterans.

After 37 and one-half years of distinguished service with the Somerville Fire Department and 18 and one-half years at the helm of the department, Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher, whose official title is Chief Engineer of the Somerville Fire Department, retired on May 16.

The city lost some of its finest this past year, notably former Alderman for Ward 3 in Somerville Tom Taylor, who died in Florida on March 11, having succumbed to his long-fought battle with cancer.

Business entrepreneur Ken Kelly passed on December 23. Kelly was owner of the Independent and Brass, Union Sq., Foundry and Saloon, Davis Sq., and River Bar, Assembly Row. Recipient of John W. Fitzgerald Lifetime Achievement Award.

Several long time Somerville businesses said goodbye last year. Both Patsy’s Pastry and Murphy’s Florist have already closed their doors, and legendary music venue Johnny D’s announced that it too will cease to be in the very near future.

All in all, it was a momentously eventful year. Let us hope that 2016 is a satisfying one for all.