Override request could exceed $7 million

Taxpayers may be asked to increase property taxes by between $2.6 million and $7.6 million if selectmen adopt recommendations voted this month by the Override Study Committee. According to Selectwoman Betsy DeWitt, an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the volunteer group, a report that will go to selectmen next month will also include short- and long-term cost-saving measures and a strong suggestion that the town fully fund underfunded areas - mostly building maintenance and street and sidewalk repairs. The committee voted to recommend paying for a longer school day and elementary world language instruction. Finance director Stephen Cirillo calculated that for each $1 million in override, the average single-family homeowner will pay roughly $74 more each year and the average condo owner $32 .

Higher tax bills being less popular even than the Grinch, town officials have been busy all fall crafting a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes policy for Brookline. Finance director Stephen Cirillo presented a draft document to selectmen, who this month approved asking all tax-exempt institutions to contribute to the town's budget. Expected contributions will be at least 25 percent of what assessed taxes would be on the property; most institutions do not use all town services, Cirillo said. Small nonprofits that give the town services could be allowed to count a percentage of those against their payments.

Ten private developers have responded positively to the town's overtures on the hoped-for development of mixed-income housing on the eastern underground reservoir atop Fisher Hill. After years of negotiations, the town came up with a wish list of sorts about the kind of residential development it would like to see there - including a limit of 40 homes to be sold, 24 of them to be affordable. According to Selectwoman Betsy DeWitt, who chairs the committee that hammered out the agreement to which developers responded, there were concerns about financing and the funds the town hopes to get from the development, about the small amount of government subsidies available for homeowner units, and about the condition of the underground reservoirs.

Got a news item for Brookline? E-mail Andreae Downs at andreaedowns@yahoo.com

Two programs designed to keep children not only well-fed but also well-informed have gained recognition. The Cambridge-based CitySprouts program was honored by the Social Innovation Forum for cultivating gardens in eight public elementary schools. CitySprouts is also campaigning to raise $500,000 by 2010 to expand the program to all 12 public elementary schools in the city. In addition, the Healthy Living Cambridge Kids program, run by several city agencies, received an award for innovation in prevention from the Department of Health and Human Services this month. The program asks children to follow a formula of five or more servings of fruits and vegetables, two hours or less television, and one hour of exercise every day.

The squat, dilapidated Fresh Pond Seafood building on Fresh Pond Parkway is familiar to commuters and residents of Cambridge alike. The building was bought in September for just over $3 million, the City Council learned on Monday. The buyer, Fresh Pond Real Estate Development, plans to construct a two-story retail and office building on the site, and the city's Planning Board will hold a public hearing in January on the proposal. Councilor David Maher, who had requested the report, called the current building a "visual blight to the neighborhood," and noted other such sites in Cambridge, including the long-abandoned Faces nightclub on Route 2. "I'm wondering what we can do to be proactive to go in and try to force the owners of these sites to do something" to improve their appearance, he said, adding that the city should consider compiling a list of the six to eight "worst sites."

Customers at the busy Harvard Square Post Office were greeted with an unusual treat Dec. 14: cookies, music, and a knit-in while they stood in line during one of the Post Office's busiest days of the year. Two students from the Longy School of Music serenaded customers with the smooth sounds of Pachelbel's Canon and four Harvard students knitted fluffy wool scarves. The knitters, part of a Harvard group called A Stitch in Time, planned to donate their finished wares to homeless shelters. Scott Farmer, who founded the group and was working on a long, violet scarf, noted that his presence and that of fellow knitter Jack Cen startled the occasional customer. "Most people look at two guys knitting with weird stares," he said, but he added that knitting appealed to him because it was a simultaneously relaxing and productive activity. Harvard Square Post Office manager Paula Zizza said the event was intended to call attention to the Postal Service's set of Holiday Knits stamps and to "celebrate the value of today's mail."

Got a news item from Cambridge? E-mail Victoria Cheng at vcheng@globe.com.

Just in time for winter break, the 585 students of the East Somerville Community School returned to class in new locations last week, the city announced. Administrators are focusing on keeping classes intact. Kindergartners met at the Capuano Early Childhood Center last Monday; first- through fifth-graders came back Wednesday to rooms in the Edgerly center; and sixth- through eight-graders went to the former Cummings School. Principal Holly Hatch appeared on local television to say she hoped students used the unplanned time off to read. A Dec. 9 electrical fire rendered the school unusable. Officials invite people to adopt a classroom, student, or teacher to restock lost school supplies.

The 11th annual Illuminations Tour was the biggest yet, the city said, with more than 1,000 attendees, an extra trolley, and a partridge in a pear tree. Tickets sold out more than a week in advance. Guides for the trip to the city's brightest light displays included Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. Snow curtailed the route, but light-peepers can still buy maps showing houses the trolleys missed, or the "Somerville: City of Lights" book surveying the decade. Somerville Arts Council program manager Rachel Strutt said that although some high-profile houses have gone dark, other families light up, with Santas spreading down Preston Street.

Got a news item from Somerville? E-mail Danielle Dreilinger at djdreilinger@comcast.net.