Bill Hanley, Ward 3 City Councillor

09/15/2026

Congrats to WPD. A lot of work, time and effort goes into this process.

We are proud to announce that the Waltham Police Department has been awarded re-accreditation by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission for another three-year period, through October 2029.

This accomplishment reflects the hard work and dedication of our entire department and our ongoing commitment to professional excellence and providing exemplary service to the Waltham community.

09/15/2026

📣 City Council Update – September 14, 2026

Our first meeting back from the summer break was a busy one, with several public hearings, resolutions, funding requests, and projects moving forward.

🎓 Recognizing Our Community

Students from Mr. Hanlon’s civics class were recognized for their sidewalk improvement project. It’s always great to see Waltham students getting involved and working to make our city better.

I was also proud to introduce a resolution recognizing Yolanda Cellucci for her lifelong philanthropy, generosity, and pioneering career as a Waltham businesswoman. We observed a moment of silence and extended our condolences to her family. She made an enormous impact on Waltham and will be greatly missed.

We also approved a resolution recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month, while resolutions involving AI in municipal government, MBTA Communities zoning, utility planning, and other matters were referred to committee.

🏢 Public Hearings

Several businesses and property owners appeared before the Council:

• More Than Words received approval to expand its secondhand dealer license beyond books to include clothing and household items.
• Pedals & Powder, a new business at 85 River Street, requested a secondhand dealer's license for bicycles, skis, and related equipment.
• 245 Fifth Avenue requested a special permit modification for generator fuel tanks needed by a new life sciences tenant.
• Dyer’s Crescent Suites at 287 Crescent Street requested permission to convert its current hotel units into rental housing.
• Service Credit Union requested approval for a drive-thru ATM at its future branch at 995 Main Street.

💰 Funding & Infrastructure

We approved a $208,000 state grant for the Council on Aging and $99,000 for stormwater filtration at the Embassy Garage, helping ensure cleaner water enters the Charles River. It is great to see our engineering department being proactive with this project.

We also advanced:
✅ $2.1 million for water, sewer, and street improvements
✅ $1.7 million for new public safety alerting and radio systems
✅ Final compensation ordinance changes for non-union city employees

🇺🇸 200 Trapelo Road

The Mayor’s request to present a concept for veterans housing at 200 Trapelo Road was referred to the Committee of the Whole. We’ll hear that presentation at next week’s committee meeting.

The School Committee’s request to rename 617 Lexington Street the John J. “Jack” Daddona Education Center was also referred to committee.

📅 This Week

Ward 3: A public meeting will be held at 119 School Street at 6 PM on Thursday, Sept 17th to discuss improvements planned for Forest Street.

🏈 Waltham’s annual Homecoming Parade is Saturday, September 19, beginning at Kennedy Middle School at 12:30 PM and ending at Leary Field. Kickoff against Chelsea is at 2 PM. Good luck to everyone involved!

Our next meeting is Committee Night, Monday, September 21 at 7:30 PM.

Go Hawks!

09/14/2026

The first city council meeting of the fall is tonight. Packed agenda with several resolutions and public hearings. Also, a reminder about this Thursday’s public meeting about the Forest St improvement plans. Thursday at 6pm at 119 School St.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18oAN3TF9s/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Waltham City Council resumes tonight! See the docket: https://www.city.waltham.ma.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09142026-680

➤ Some key matters & resolutions on tonight's docket at a glance:
• Acceptance of the Green Communities Competitive Grant
in the amount of $173,714
• Acceptance of a state grant in the amount of $208,096 to be used by Council on Aging
• A request for a presentation of a concept plan for Veterans’ housing and services to be held on September 21, 2026
• National Hispanic Heritage Month Resolution
• Use of Artificial Intelligence in City Government
• McDevitt 8th Grade Civic Sidewalk Project Resolution
• Resolution Amending the MBTA Communities Zoning Ordinance to Incorporate the City’s newly adopted inclusionary zoning requirements
• Yolanda Resolution

Tune in at 7:30pm via the MAC-TV live stream or find your local channel listing here: https://www.wcac.org/government

09/02/2026

FYI on city services this coming Monday, Labor Day.

An early heads up on the schedule in Waltham for the Labor Day holiday next Monday, September 7th --

Due to the Labor Day holiday:

• There will be no Trash & Recycling pick-up on Monday, September 7th. Pick-up will be delayed 1 day next week, Sept. 8th - Sept. 12th.

• All Waltham City offices, and the Waltham Public Library will be closed on Monday, September 7th.

• All Waltham Public Schools will be closed on Friday, September 4th and Monday, September 7th. See the full WPS 2026-27 schedule here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tv3E2ETmmb_z2nXyvtRlQcYENTj6DNBG/view

• Parking will be free at all meters and pay stations on Monday, September 7th.

We wish everyone a safe & happy holiday weekend!

09/01/2026

Hey Ward 3, today is Election Day. Please take the time to vote today at MacArthur (Ward 3, Precinct 1) or Northeast (Ward 3, Precinct 2/2A).

Also, tomorrow is the first day of school, so please plan accordingly and leave extra time to get places. School buses are returning to their routes and the city will go through its annual end of summer adjustments. No school Friday or Monday for Labor Day.

Polls close at 8pm sharp!

08/27/2026

Reminder about the upcoming meeting for Forest St improvements.

Save the dates! Two public meetings have been scheduled for next month ⤵️

➤ Thursday, September 10th @ 6pm - Mayor McCarthy & Traffic Engineer, Mike Garvin will be holding a Neighborhood Meeting in the Government Center Auditorium to go over the plans with neighbors for the Warren Street / Main Street / Gore Street / Barbara Road traffic intersection.

➤ Thursday, September 17th @ 6pm - Mayor McCarthy, along with Ward 1 Councillor Anthony LaFauci, Ward 3 Councillor Bill Hanley, and Ward 4 Councillor John McLaughlin will be holding a Public Meeting in Government Center Auditorium to discuss Forest Street Improvement Plans.

All are welcome to attend.

08/25/2026

Ward 3, Please see this note about Hardy Pond

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BbQifLTYD/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Send a message to learn more

08/25/2026

FYI on crash data in Waltham. Lots of social media discussion has been going on as of late on this topic.

On August 15, 2026, the Boston Globe published an article examining the rates of serious accidents in local communities. The article referenced data from several sources, including the MassDOT “IMPACT” tool for analyzing crash data in Massachusetts cities and towns.

Waltham typically experiences about 10-15 motor vehicle crashes with “serious injuries” per year. This is displayed in the “IMPACT” data for all years starting in 2014, except 2019-2023. During these five years the data showed over 100 of these accidents per year, before returning to 12 in 2024.

We checked with the vendor who provides our Record Management System, and they were able to discover a glitch in which crashes with “minor injuries” were being reported to the IMPACT system as having “serious injuries”. This glitch was corrected in 2024 and the numbers from 2024 through 2026 are accurate.

An internal audit confirmed the numbers on the IMPACT website from 2019-2023 were incorrect. The actual totals for motor vehicle crashes with “serious injuries” in Waltham for 2019-2023 should be as follows:

2017: 15
2018: 14
2019: 11
2020: 07
2021: 12
2022: 12
2023: 11
2024: 13
2025: 14

The Waltham Police Department is committed to improving the impact of vehicle crashes in our city through community education, enforcement of motor vehicle violations, enhanced signage, roadway safety recommendations, traffic enforcement grants and providing input to the city’s Traffic Commission on improving safety on our roadways.

08/12/2026

Happy Summer, Ward 3! Attn Ward 3 residents on and near Forest St. We are holding a public meeting on Sept 17th at 6pm in the Govt Center auditorium (119 School St) to discuss plans to improve Forest St. Please attend if interested.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KjvVaoeT6/?mibextid=wwXIfr