City Council Meeting – September 29th, 2025

Meeting Link

City Manager’s Agenda

Reports and Communications

• #1 (CMA 2025 #237) An update on federal court cases and impacts
• #2 (CMA 2025 #238) “The graduate board of the Fox Club at 44 J.F. Kennedy Street is seeking City Council approval of a preservation restriction intended to protect significant interior and exterior features of the club building”
• #5 (CMA 2025 #241) “[Determining] which local statutes can be enforced by the Local-Option Procedure in order to better collect fines in violation of Cambridge Ordinances”

Appropriations and Grants

• #3 (CMA 2025 #239) $94,531 of the State 911 Department Support and Incentive grant to support the costs of Emergency Communications Center
• #4 (CMA 2025 #240) $7,000 from the Children’s Trust grant for the Center for Families program to provide gift cards to families to help access nutritional and other child/family supplies

Policy Orders

Requests that the city…

• #1 (POR 2025 #130) “establish a Seal Review Committee with the charge of recommending an updated city seal and motto in time for adoption prior to the 400th anniversary of the City of Cambridge in 2030”
• #2 (POR 2025 #131) explore all steps towards advancing social housing in Cambridge, and that that Housing Committee convene to discuss such steps and details
• #3 (POR 2025 #132) provide a recommendation for determining the future use of the 25 Lowell Street property
• #4 (POR 2025 #133) illuminate Cambridge City Hall in purple lights on Sunday, October 5, 2025, in recognition of Rett Syndrome Awareness Month

That the council…

• #5 (POR 2025 #134) go on record in recognizing October as National Women’s Business Month
• #6 (POR 2025 #135) Proclaim September 30, 2025, as “Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Day”

Charter Rights

• #1 (CMA 2025 #133) The city has been engaged in conversations with the MBTA, MassDOT, and the HSBA about repurposing the long-abandoned MBTA tunnel in Harvard Square, but is not ready yet to take formal next steps.