These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City of Somerville website.
Land ruling; threat aftermath
City Council, 7 p.m. Thursday. Councilors will probably go into a closed-door session during the meeting to hear from the city’s legal department on a Massachusetts appeals court finding – that the city underpaid property owners during a land taking by nearly $30 million. The Somerville Housing Authority paid $8.7 million for the 4-acre property that was once the Cobble Hill Plaza mall at 90 Washington St. During litigation, a lawyer for Cobble Hill Center LLC argued that the property’s true value was higher based on theoretical lab development, and the court ruled that Somerville must pay the difference.
The council will ask the director of libraries and other administrators about safety measures for potentially controversial public events. A drag queen story hour hosted Oct. 5 by the Somerville Public Library drew protests and counterprotests outside its doors. The event was canceled because of a bomb threat called in shortly beforehand; the threat was determined to be false. The order is sponsored by councilor Matthew McLaughlin.
The meeting will be held at City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., Central Hill, and is watchable online.
Last day for voter registration
Election Commission, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Register to vote ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election. Early voting takes place from Thursday to Nov. 1 at City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., Central Hill.
Cleaning Davis; city Internet
Public Utilities and Public Works Committee, 6 p.m. Wednesday. Per an August request from the City Council, the committee meets to consider dedicating additional resources to removing used needles and other hazardous items from Davis Square, which has seen an uptick in the items and in homelessness in the past year. Just two weeks ago, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and newly elected police chief Shumeane Benford held a town hall on the city’s homeless crisis at which they heard residents express a desire to decrease open drug use. Seventy-six residents have also requested via petition a hearing on the possibility of implementing citywide broadband Internet access, similar to an exploration in Cambridge. The idea was also before the committee in 2022, but in the following May committee chair Jesse Clingan said that a request for a feasibility study might come through the participatory budget process or from the mayor, and “that the mayor needs to hear from the community on this matter.” Watchable via videoconferencing.
A stronger
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