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February 2026

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Sallee Lipshutz, Chris Pitts, Eve Bould, Hunter Malasky, Steve Gusenoff, Marcia Cooper

Waban Area Council MEETING AGENDA
7:30 PM February 12, 2026 - ZOOM ONLY 

Ex Officio: City Councilors Rena Getz, Julie Irish, Brittany Charm

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86847520630?pwd=aHVQN2g2VUoweVVqeUgxU0JSSStCQT09
Meeting ID: 868 4752 0630 Passcode: 700015

I. Opening

  1. Confirmation of quorum
  2. Election of Officers
  3. Consideration of appointments
  4. Issues from the Community

 

II. Discussion Items

A. Upcoming Projects and Progress:

  • Police Meet and Greet - coordinate with Police Chief Timothy Cohoon
  • Waban Night
  • Home Energy Solutions
  • Superintendent Nolan School Report
  • Waban Beautification: Lighting, Large Pot Plantings, sidewalk trees
  • Issue Debates

 

III. Community and Administrative Items

  1. Treasurer’s Report
  2. Approval of December Minutes

 

    IV. New Business

 

Please note: Agenda order and discussion length are at the President’s discretion.

Meeting Date: 
Thursday, February 12, 2026 - 7:30pm

  1. Trees and Waban Beautification: Lighting, Large Pot Plantings, sidewalk trees

    1. Marc Welch - Director of Urban Forestry - City of Newton - joined via Zoom

    2. Discussed Waban Library landscaping - Marc confirmed the city will trim trees; Chris mentioned that there will be a calendar provided

    3. Briefly discussed potential to add street lights and trees to Waban Center (near Strong Building)

      1. Marc said adding trees where there are no strips available for planting would usually be part of an integrated plan developed by the city

    4. Other discussion related to trees in Newton:

      1. Chris asked Marc about street trees - Marc confirmed that street trees (planted in strips along sidewalks, etc.) are important for air quality, shading, reduction of hotspots, etc.

      2. Newton plants 500 street trees per year

      3. Newton Tree Conservancy plants 200 trees per year

      4. Catching up on restoring Newton’s street trees after many years of little to no planting prior to 2013/14.

      5. Marc confirmed that his team monitors city trees but cannot always keep up with trimming proactively. Residents should contact the city (call 311 for service request) if there are specific trees that need attention / trimming. His team will service them.

      6. Residents can request a tree to be planted in front of their property (street three) through Newton Tree Conservancy

      7. Marc’s team plants trees following the City’s plowing routes to allow for the greatest efficiency in planting and watering

      8. See the city website for the plans for future planting 

 

  1. Appointments - officers

    1. 2026-2027 Officers:

      1. President - Christopher Pitts appointed for 2-year term

      2. Vice President - Steve Gusenoff

      3. Treasurer - Marcia Cooper

      4. Secretary - Eve Bould

    2. Email Access for WAC members

      1. Email addresses and access will be provided for all WAC members (Outlook)

      2. Best to use separate email inbox

      3. Newton IT can help with setup

    3. Sallee announced departure

      1. Moving from Waban, potentially summer 2026

    4. Additional membership

      1. Ideally move to 9 members

 

  1. Police Meet and Greet

    1. Coordinating an opportunity for members of the community including residents as well as business owners from Waban center to meet the Waban “beat officer”

    2. Daytime activity

    3. Waiting to hear back from police on this

 

  1. Waban Night 

    1. Potential Waban event for adults at night

    2. TBD - Curt - said he has an upcoming anniversary for the Waban Frame Shop

 

  1. Home Energy Solutions (Marcia Cooper) 

    1. Group of Newton North students project - Participating in contest have a goal - getting 100 people to sign up for home energy assessments by the end of April

    2. Articles in Green Newton newsletter, Mayor’s newsletter

    3. People who sign up in Feb will be eligible to win a $25 gift certificate for Cabot’s Icecream

    4. Free home energy assessments through MassSave (provides discounted home energy efficiency)

    5. March 21st 3-5pm event in person - West Newton church

    6. Sallee - asked whether the commercial units in the Strong Building would be eligible; Marcia clarified that this program is only for residential 

 

  1. Other Environmental initiatives (Marcia Cooper)

    1. Newton has a Climate Action Plan 

    2. Green Electric Vehicle education program

    3. Green Newton has students who could help with updating WAC website

    4. Transitioning away from oil and gas.

    5. Steve: City of Newton should be responsible for guiding residents and promoting the transition from fossil fuels; noted the potential questions regarding funding; Marcia offered to clarify

 

  1. School Superintendent Nolan

    1. Potentially aim to set up a live event at Waban Library (or perhaps at Angier and Zervas)

    2. Next steps: 

      1. Hunter will look at the school calendar

      2. Reach out to Nolan to propose the event and potential dates

      3. Advertise the event for Waban community

      4. Note: this is not a PTO-related or a school event. This is a chance for Nolan to present her vision for the schools to Waban residents (with and without children in the schools).

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