Updates from City Hall

City Hall's third floor council chambers will be quiet for the next 10-or-so days while the City Council takes a break, but that doesn't mean the city's pulse is any weaker. Here are some of things happening in the city:

• Jeffrey Rule was applying a clear coat Wednesday to the paint he has been applying to the Lachenauer Plaza fountain at Arsenal and Court streets. Since it's a city-owned fountain, a ribbon cutting, of course, is being scheduled to turn the water back on. More details about the party will be available in about a week.
• Public Works wrapped up its bulk curbside refuse pickup program on Friday. DPW Superintendent Eugene Hayes - who refers to the program as the "two college kids and a pickup truck" program - has not compiled number for the program yet.
• The First Baptist Church clock on the east side of Public Square is finally working again. The hands have been sporadically off and the hour bell has been mute for about six months. All appears to be synchronized for now. I've heard that the clock's wood hands periodically soak up too much water, causing them to expand and rub against each other. That rubbing, apparently, throws them off kilter. I have not yet been able to confirm that information.
• City Hall put out a news release Tuesday announcing the workers who have been in front of Key Bank on Washington Street are, in fact, working for National Grid. The group will be taking up parking spots in front of the building for the time being.
• The Black River was flowing through the city at more than 10,500 cubic feet per second on Tuesday. Is that too much water for a rafting trip? It doesn't matter - a guide I was talking to last week said most of his colleagues are going back to college and the season is wrapping up.
• The Franklin Market Drug Store sign still visible on the Franklin Arcade on the south side of Public Square may be removed and restored, Neighbors of Watertown Executive Director Gary Beasley told me during a brief encounter Friday morning.
• Breen Avenue residents might be glad to hear work on their street is ahead of schedule – that’s according to City Engineer Kurt W. Hauk. That good news comes even after a roughly $90,000 change order was added to the project last week to replace all of the sewer laterals in the 200 block. It looks like crews were installing curbs on the 200 block earlier this week.