Waltham City Council unanimously approves $5.1 million Kutuzian Playground loan

WALTHAM — March 9, 2026 — Waltham City Council authorized a $5.1 million loan for Kutuzian Playground renovation and approved $564,581 for a new teachers contract at its March 9 meeting. The loan order for Kutuzian Playground on Ward Avenue cleared its second and final reading by a 14-0 roll-call vote, with Council President Robert G. Logan casting the deciding 14th vote. The $564,581 appropriation funds the first-year contingency of a three-year collective bargaining agreement between the School Department and the Waltham Educators Association, running through June 30, 2028. The council also approved $275,000 for conceptual engineering on the Firewall Street Bridge superstructure replacement and a $9,500 transfer for a new pedestrian safety beacon at Trapella and Porter Roads. In the night's most extended debate, Councillor William A. Hanley introduced a resolution — co-signed by eight colleagues — calling on the city to establish and fund a dedicated business development manager, citing rising commercial vacancies and a commercial tax base that he said is "taking a nosedive," with the matter referred to the Economic Community Development Committee.