June 24, 2026

Items Recommended for Full Council

Hudson Street Conduit for EV Charging Station – Recommended 3-0

Eversource sought a grant of location to install 10 feet of conduit in Hudson Street (from Utility Pole 202/9 to a new handhole next to 135 Hudson Street). This conduit will connect city-installed electric vehicle charging stations, which were already approved separately by city staff through Traffic and Parking—only the Eversource conduit work was before the committee.

The item had previously been continued because abutters raised questions about the conduit's location. Two public comment letters (from Diane Covino and John Henderson) were attached to the item:

• One letter raised confusion about where the charging station would be installed and whether the sidewalk would remain ADA compliant. Chair Hardt reported that city staff confirmed the sidewalk will remain at least ADA compliant, with additional space beyond the minimum.

• The other letter objected to converting general parking spaces to EV-only spaces. Councilor Wheeler acknowledged this concern directly, noting the committee has no full resolution but that the city is balancing trade-offs—removing spaces available to gas-powered cars while adding EV-specific infrastructure that he hopes is "a sensible one on balance," including for climate reasons.

Chair Hardt added that with growing EV ownership, the change may be more of a rearrangement of parking than a net loss, and said the city looks forward to hearing how it goes. Jacqueline Duffy (Right of Way Agent, Eversource Energy) appeared for the applicant. The two public comment items were marked "work completed."

Richardson Street Conduit – Recommended 3-0

Eversource sought a grant of location to install 31 feet of conduit in Richardson Street (from Utility Pole 296/1 to a point of pickup at 0 Richardson Street) to provide electrical service to a property on Richardson Street. Chair Hardt reviewed the location, had no concerns, and received no public comment. No one appeared to speak.

Somerville Avenue / Prospect Street Conduit and New Manhole – Recommended 3-0

Eversource sought a grant of location to install 641 feet of conduit in Somerville Avenue and Prospect Street, plus one new manhole (31333), running from two existing manholes to a point of pickup at 51 Prospect Street. Ms. Duffy said the project is intended to provide electric reliability improvement in the area. Chair Hardt noted the location is near the substation and asked how the project connects to it; Ms. Duffy did not have additional information. No public comment was received.

Note: Ms. Duffy stated "approximately 511 feet" in her verbal description, while the agenda item specifies 641 feet.

Items Referred to Committee

The Richardson Street and Somerville Avenue/Prospect Street items had their official public hearings at the June 11 full council meeting. Because that meeting was crowded and experienced technical issues—at least one person appeared unable to speak due to computer problems—both items were sent to committee to give anyone who missed the hearing another chance to comment. No members of the public spoke on either item in committee.

Committee Discussion

The most substantive discussion concerned the Hudson Street EV charging item. Councilor Wheeler thanked city staff for closely reviewing the site in response to sidewalk accessibility concerns, and made a point of publicly acknowledging the parking trade-off concern raised by an abutter, even without a resolution to offer. Chair Hardt clarified that the decision to convert the spaces to EV charging was not before the committee—that decision had already been made—but welcomed the public communications being attached to the record.

What's Next

• All three grants of location (Hudson Street, Richardson Street, and Somerville Avenue/Prospect Street) head to the full City Council with the committee's recommendation for approval.

• The two public comment items on the Hudson Street project were marked work completed.

• May 13, 2026 committee minutes were approved without corrections.