The Board of Aldermen met for more than two hours Tuesday with all members present and voting.

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By George P. Hassett
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O’Donovan calls out Nstar

Ward 5 Alderman Sean O’Donovan urged the public to attend a community meeting with Nstar engineers Wednesday, Sept. 8 in response to a string of power outages.

“We don’t hear this happening in other cities and towns,” he said at Tuesday’s meeting. “And when it happens in Wellesley and Brookline they respond immediately. We’re sitting around letting this happen year after year, tomorrow is an opportunity to stand up.”

O’Donovan suggested the city consider legal action. “I think we should sue them,” he said. “I’m fed up.”

O’Donovan said local businesses and senior citizens suffered during recent power outages.

Taylor suggests temporary parking permits

Ward 3 Alderman Tom Taylor said city parking restrictions are affecting city residents who host long-term out of town guests – and one constituents love life.

Taylor asked the city’s Traffic and Parking Committee to look into the possibility of offering residents 90 day visitor parking permits. “One constituent who is getting married soon said, ‘Can I carry on a relationship only with women in Somerville?’”

Taylor said residents who host in-laws or long term guests at area colleges have complained about receiving tickets from the city.

White: Search warrant for a problem property

Alderman-at-Large Bill White wants city officials to obtain a search warrant for an apparently abandoned property at 22 Forster St.

White said the property owner paid over $500,000 for the property and then never lived there or rented it out, leaving it empty to accumulate damage and become an eyesore for neighbors.

“The yard is a mess, the paint is peeling, we can only wonder what it’s like inside,” he said.

Gewirtz: Irving Street paving project five years overdue

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz is urging the city administration to pave a road that has been neglected for five years. Irving Street has suffered from poor conditions because of “haggling between this administration and the gas company about who should pave it,” she said.

Roche: Why does highway mitigation end at East Somerville

Ward 1 Alderman Bill Roche is asking that the city study health effects of Route 93 on East Somerville residents as a way to get state officials to erect barriers on the highway, blocking residents from pollution.

Cement barriers protect the Ten Hills neighborhood but construction ended at the East Somerville line, he said.