Sports: Belmont Girls’ Nipped by Top-Ranked Woburn, 52-51

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Photo: Belmont’s Jen Call (21) looking to pass to freshman Jess Giorgio vs. Woburn.

Walking off the court after seeing her team lose for the first time this season to a top-10 (ranked 5th by ESPN Boston) Woburn High team, Belmont High Girls’ Basketball Head Coach Melissa Hart looked back and said, “I should have called a timeout. Darn.”

Hart was recalling the final sequence of the game, with the game tied at 50. Belmont’s Jenny Call had just swatted an attempted inbounds pass out-of-bounds with just under five seconds remaining in the second half.

As Belmont set up its defense, the ball went into the Tanner’s league all-star junior guard Marissa Gattuso, who dribbled to the top of the key and leaned into Belmont’s freshman Megan Tan while taking the shot as the clock ticked down to zero.

A varsity move by Woburn’s leader that was rewarded with a generous whistle from the ref, sending Gattuso to the line for two shots with 0.9 seconds left.

The veteran hit the first and missed the second, giving Belmont no time for anything miraculous and sending the Marauders (4-1, 4-1 in the Middlesex League) to its first defeat of the season, 52-51.

“You know, it was a hard fought game. I think we had a chance [to win] with the ball but … ,” said Hart. “We could have been on the other side of the score. They just had the better chances.”

If there was a lesson of the game, it was to put away teams when you have them down. Belmont held nearly 10 point leads for the majority of the first three-quarters yet could never find the run which could have given the Marauders’ a comfortable double-digit lead.

But that’s hard to do with Gattuso who left her mark on the game with a bookend performance, scoring 16 of her game-high 18 points in the first and fourth quarters. After outscoring Belmont 6-0 in the first two minutes of the game, Gattuso was effectively held in check by Belmont’s swarming defense led by seniors co-captain guards Samari Winklaar (8 points) and Irini Nikolaidis.

For the next six minutes, Belmont outscored the reigning Middlesex League champions, 19-5, behind Belmont’s sophomore point guard Carly Christofori (team leading 13 points) who found the team’s other co-captain Sarah Stewart who scored 6 of her 8 points in the first quarter as all five starters scored to give Belmont a 19-11 lead. 

While Woburn (5-0, 5-0) trimmed the lead behind forward Mya Blazejowski (10 points) to 22-20 with two minutes remaining, a basket and free throw from Christofori and a layup at the buzzer by  senior sixth man Sara Lyons from a pinpoint pass from Tan increased Belmont’s advantage at the half to seven, 27-20. 

The Marauders appeared like it would sprint away from the Tanners at the start of the second half as Nickolaidis (10 points) hit a basket and a free throw to up the lead to 10 points as Belmont was effectively running the break. Freshman center Jess Giorgio, who was effective coming down with rebounds against the tall and physical Tanners while scoring on a nifty jumper, and Jenny Call with five third-quarter points kept the Marauders’ lead at seven the end of the third eight minutes, 43-36.

The final quarter saw the Marauders pick the worst time to go cold on the offensive side of the court while Gattuso decided to wake up. A three-pointer by Gattuso led a 6-0 Woburn run to cut the lead to one, 43-42, before Stewart hit a bucket from under the basket to up the lead to three.

But that lead was shortlived as a pair from the charity stripe from Blasejowski and a three-pointer by senior center Elle Brennan gave Woburn its first lead, 47-45, since two minutes in the game.  

Nickolaidis hit two from the line and a tough layup in traffic between Gattuso’s floater to see the match tied at 49 with 2:17 left in the game. Gattuso gave Woburn the lead, 51-49, on a layup only to have Christofori make two free throws with 1:01 remaining to give the game its final tie, 51-15. 

A good defensive stance saw Belmont get possession back with 35 seconds but Blazejowski anticipated Christofori’s pass to Call with 11-second remaining. It was then up to Gattuso to win it from the line 10.1 seconds later. 

Next up for Belmont is a trip to Lexington Friday, Jan. 7 for the penultimate match with the Minutemen and its Fordham-bound senior guard Anne Kelly, who once scored 52 points against the Marauders. But that was at Belmont.

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With Full Slate, Planning Punts Possible Airbnb Regs to Summer Review

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Photo: The Airbnb web page for Belmont.

With so much currently on its plate and with little data to move forward on, Belmont’s Planning Board decided to “punt” for now on a review of the town’s bylaws in respect to residents who rent rooms through Airbnb, the popular website for people to list, find and rent lodging.

“We are not scrapping for items to take up,” said Liz Allison, Planning Board chair at the board’s Tuesday, Dec. 5 public meeting, as its members decided it would take up a comprehensive review of the town’s bylaws this summer of this new way of casual lodging for people in the market for “something between hotels and couch-surfing.”

Since starting in 2008, the private company, now valued at more than $20 billion, has more than 1,500,000 listings in 34,000 cities and 190 countries. Approximately 1 million rooms worldwide were rented using the website for the New Year’s Eve/Day celebration.

While close to Boston and Cambridge, which have hundreds of Airbnb hosts renting thousands of spaces, Belmont is like many suburban communities, with just over two dozen hosts currently lending room(s) from between $49 a night for a double bed off Belmont Street to $333 a night for a room and bath on Belmont Hill. The average per night rental in Belmont is $132.

Under existing Belmont zoning code, residents who rent rooms through Airbnb are viewed as a bed and breakfast. Those residents living in the general residential area can “by right” to rent up to three bedrooms as long as it is for a week or longer.

Those seeking to provide rooms for fewer than seven days requires a Special Permit, which are granted or rejected by the Zoning Board of Appeals. 

Since most Airbnb rentals are two to four nights, it’s likely many hosts will be impacted by a negative ZBA vote.

Last month, the ZBA voted 3-2 to approve the first Special Permit for an Airbnb “host” on Betts Road but since a “Special” requires a “super majority,” the application was rejected. 

Several ZBA members, including one who voted against the request, said they wanted to seek guidance from the Planning Board for a more precise definition of the town’s lodging bylaws.

Residents opposed to the new web-based rental said last month they view Airbnb as a quality of life issue, projecting strangers with rolling suitcases roaming town streets, being brought to residences by “Uber cars” at all hours of the day and night.

There have been attempts by municipalities to place restrictions on the business model, mostly by large cities protecting hotel tax revenue. San Francisco required Airbnb to charge a 14 percent hotel tax yet failed to limit rooms being rented out for more than 75 days consecutively annually. Boston is contemplating regulations while Somerville attempted to impose a six percent tax but had no way of collecting the fee. 

Allison noted currently none of the surrounding towns comparable to Belmont – such as Arlington, Winchester, Bedford, Lexington to name four – “have as yet any zoning regulation” for Airbnb rentals.

“This is clearly a new area” and while there is a discussion on the subject, “there are no models within comparable communities,” said Allison, adding that it would be advantageous for the Planning Board to learn from the experience of other towns before imposing its regulations.

Since there are approximately 30 Airbnb hosts in town, the board unanimously decided to make a review of existing bylaws “a summer project” after the Planning Board clears its plate of current projects including work on imposing height and size restrictions on new construction, in general residential zone district. 

Sports: Belmont Boys’ Hoops Wallops Woburn, Nears League Top

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Photo: Senior Joe Shaughnessy skies during game with Woburn.

Finally, Belmont High Boys’ Basketball Head Coach Adam Pritchard was happy.

His Marauders’ – which has come off a hard holiday schedule of games – had just comprehensively beaten Middlesex League leaders Woburn High, 75-54, Tuesday, Jan. 5, as his starters and the bench contributing on both ends of the court the entire night.

“All victories are good,” said Pritchard. “I never had a bad one.” 

And this was a good one, as Belmont ups its record to 6-3 and 4-1 in the Middlesex Liberty Division, tied with Winchester and Woburn (5-2) and a half game behind 5-1 Reading.

The game – which began with senior co-captain Matt Kerans receiving a ceremonial basketball for scoring his 1,000 point this past Dec. 29 in a game vs. New Bedford – saw Belmont race off to the lead as Woburn has a bit sloppy with the ball and missed a few “bunnies” under the basket. 

Senior shooting guard Cole Bartels led the charge offensively with 8 points in the first quarter including one of his long-range threes (he ended with a game-high 20 points) to give Belmont an 18-14 lead a the end of eight minutes. The Marauders would push the lead to double digits (38-27) at the half by out battling the Tanners under the basket and pushing up

The Marauders would press the lead to double digits (38-27) at the half by out battling the Tanners under the basket and pushing up the court with the ball. While junior Paul Ramsey (9 points) powered along the baseline for his 5 points (a three from the corner) in the quarter, senior tall forward Joe Shaughnessy (9 points) took advantage of Belmont’s height advantage to score a pair of put-backs for his five in the second, while reliable and versatile sixth-man junior Dylan Ferdinand scored 7 points in the game.

The second half saw Belmont put the gas on the pedal to score 19 – 8 coming from Kerans, who ended the night with 14, who drained a pair of threes and two free throws – in the third while holding the Tanners to almost half that. 

The fourth quarter was the time for the bench to shine as eight players scored in the final eight minutes including senior Damian Bitsikas (2 points), junior Daron Hamparian (2 points), sophomore Tomas Donoyan (5 points), junior Ben Jones (2 points), senior Lowell Haska (2 points) and senior Yvrantzi Desravines (1 point).

Pritchard said Belmont’s cause was helped by the absence of Woburn all-star guard Brandon Mascat from the starting lineup.

But Pritchard praised the team that played great defense, started to run and had some offensive put backs. 

“I like to think we are improving; that’s our ultimate goal,” he said.

Next for Belmont is a game Friday, Jan. 8, at winless Lexington. The game starts at 5 p.m.

Cushing Village Sets Latest Deadline While Similar Watertown Project Set to Open

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Photo: Similiar in many ways to Cushing The Residence Inn by Marriott nearing completion in Watertown.

The developer of the long-troubled Cushing Village project – the 164,000 sq.-ft. three-building development approved in July 2013 – told the Planning Board Tuesday night, Jan. 5 that he is really, really close to getting all his ducks lined up to begin construction on the $63 million project.

Next month.

Hopefully.

Now 30 months behind the initial timeline provided by Chris Starr, head of the development team Smith Legacy Partners, the latest “update” – requested by the Planning Board after Starr’s team missed a “drop dead milestone” of Dec. 18 to purchase the town’s municipal parking lot for $850,000 to begin construction of the first of the three buildings – has Starr asking the town to “stand still” until the board’s next scheduled meeting on Feb. 2 when his team “hopes to inform the board of a loan closing at that meeting.”

In a letter to the board – which was received a few hours before Monday night’s meeting, Jan. 5 – Starr painted yet another rosy picture of the development’s status, similar in tone and optimism made to the town in August 2013, September 2014, and in May, August and December of last year.

Reading the correspondence’s highlights, Board Chair Liz Allison said that while the team didn’t come close to meeting its earlier promises for Dec. 18, “the Cushing Village Development team has achieved significant lender-based milestones and is committed to proceed(ing) expeditiously with a loan closing in the month of January.”

Starr attempted to reassure the board that the project’s major lenders – including lead bank Wells Fargo – are still involved in closing the deal for the municipal lot, telling the board member they can contact the banks to validate his effort to purchase the lot.

Starr also noted that real estate veteran Rod Loring, who has three decades of experience in the residential and commercial sides, has been added to the day-to-day leadership team to work closely with Starr.

It is unknown if this move was an internal change or one suggested by the lenders and other potential partners.

Starr concluded by revealing that the biggest impediment to the closing, a lease modification with a “national” company to join the project, was difficult to do during the holidays.

While Starr would not say whether the firm was a retail operation or a parking lot management firm, he expects to sign up the company “shortly.”

Starr concluded by stating how he wants to work closely with the board as he “remains committed to Cushing Village. The development team is … confident that significant progress will be made over the next month.” He also is requesting an “internal” working group be established with the board – whose meetings will not be advertised to the public – and a weekly “call” to update the town of any progress to these new goals.

While saying the lost Dec. 18 deadline was a “disappointment,” Allison said attempting to close a land deal during the holiday season was, in hindsight, difficult to accomplish.

Yet members were not in such a forgiving mood. While encouraged to hear the developer wants to increase communications with the board and the staff in the Office of Community Development, “action will speak louder than words,” said Raffi Manjikian.

“I’m disappointed that it took until … we arrived at this meeting to see this letter,” said Barbara Fiacco.

“They took a significant amount of time and made a number of promises when they were here asking for an extension. I found that a little frustrating. The residents deserve more transparency,” she said.

The board’s irritation with the continuous delays in the Belmont project since one needs only to look to neighboring Watertown to witness a development that is fast on its way of cutting the opening-day ribbon.

The Residence Inn by Marriott on Arsenal Street across from the Arsenal Mall is similar in design and function to Cushing Village. The six-story extended-stay hotel has 150 rooms with kitchen area and work space, 115 underground parking spaces and first-floor retail space.

The significant difference with Cushing Village is that the Residence Inn is nearing completion. Despite receiving the OK from Watertown to commence development in late 2014, the project – developed by the experienced team at Boylston Properties – is expected to open to the public in the late spring/summer, generating tax revenue and hotel fees to Watertown.

The Big Wait: How Schools, Treasurer Prepare for State’s Decision on “New” High School

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Photo: Belmont High School.

The decision by the state to place the $100 million renovation and new construction project for a “new’ Belmont High School was greeted with cheers by school officials while one town official has taken out his green eyeshade and sharpened his pencil to determine how the town’s property owners will pay for the project “without going bankrupt.” 

“[This is] [g]reat news from the MSBA!” said Laurie Slap, chair of the Belmont School Committee, on the Dec. 22 announcement by the Massachusetts School Building Authority that Belmont’s statement of interest made the final review for state funding.

Belmont joins 25 other new construction, renovation and repair projects from around the state that the MSBA staff recommended forward in the process to the MSBA Board for approval.

Roughly half of the “finalists” will be selected later this month by the authority to advance to being funded by the state.

“This is great news for … Belmont as it represents a unique opportunity for our community as we have submitted an application for this project, annually, for over ten years,” said Belmont District Superintendent John Phelan.

“Although this is not a final decision, it is very good to know that our proposal is moving forward in the process,” he said.

“Like many other communities, we will now await the final decision of the MSBA Board that will be rendered on Jan. 27,” he said.

Until that decision is rendered, the School Committee “will have to wait patiently” on the sidelines, said Slap. But her group and the Superintendent’s office is “ready to start moving all forward as soon as we hear a positive decision from the Board!” she said.

If the project is approved, “the School Committee will work with … Phelan, Belmont High School Principal [Dan] Richards, the Board of Selectmen and the Belmont community to reexamine the needs at the high school and follow the MSBA process for feasibility and design studies, etc.,” said Slap.

Phelan noted that he had “notified faculty and staff as well as … parents and guardians. Additionally, I spoke with  Town Administrator David Kale, who will communicate this information to the Board of Selectman and Town Department Heads.

“The MSBA process is one that is very prescriptive and as the process evolves we will use their guidance to prepare and educate ourselves as to the ensuing phases,” Phelan noted. Those will include working closely with MSBA officials on costs and needs of the district. 

While the school committee and district are excited, the town’s chief financial manager has been going over the numbers on the cost of securing a new school. 

“As Town Treasurer and a 45 year Belmont taxpayer I have thought through the financing as not to bankrupt individual family property taxpayers,” said Floyd Carman who has been in his position for more than a decade.

“I assumed the MSBA will cover 30 percent of the cost of a new Belmont High School. That leaves $70 million for Belmont taxpayers to pay for a debt exclusion vote,” he said. 

Carman has come up with a preliminary plan that will spread out the project’s financing “pain” over a decade, recommending borrowing three times within a ten-year Capital Plan:

  • 2019: $30 million.
  • 2021: $20 million.
  • 2023: $20 million.
While many residents have been focusing on the future of Belmont High School, Carman said that people “can’t forget Minuteman Technical High School, which looks like an agreement with member towns, is close to an agreement.” And that agreement, which includes a new building for the Lexington-based vocational center, will come at a cost to Belmont.
 
Under the current agreement that Town Meeting Members will vote on in early February, the “potential debt service cost for Belmont will be $400,000 to $500,000 annually for 30 years,” said Carman.

 

Concord Avenue Three-Car Accident Sends One to Hospital

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Photo: The aftermath of a three-vehicle accident that sent one person to the hospital.

One person was taken to a local hospital as the result of a three-car accident that took place on Concord Avenue adjacent to the Belmont Public Library on Saturday, Jan. 2.

The 2 p.m. event – which seriously damaged each car – occurred when a Toyota Corolla driving towards Belmont Center rear-ended a Toyota Prius which was partially in the inbound lane waiting to turn into the library’s parking lot, according to eyewitnesses. The collision forced the Prius into the outbound lane hitting the third sedan parked along Concord Avenue.

A passenger in the Corolla was taken by Belmont Fire Rescue ambulance to a local hospital for observation, according to police on the scene. No charges were made at the scene.

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Support BHS Science Team at Somerville’s Flatbread Co. Tuesday, Jan. 5

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Photo: The website of the Belmont Science team.

Belmont High Schools teams don’t just show prowess on the sports fields and music venues but also the lab.

Belmont High’s Science team is ranked second out of 19 schools in the West Suburban Science League. And this year’s squad has an excellent shot to qualifying for the Massachusetts State Science Olympiad.

But what the team needs right now is a little help getting there. A big problem is collecting money since each club at the high school receives a small amount each year from the school district. And most of the money goes to travel costs. If the team can’t afford to go to the competitions, the students can’t qualify for the state or national tournament.

While the sports teams have the Belmont Boosters and musicians are supported by Parents of Music Students, there is no related group for budding scientists. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 5, residents and students can show their support for the Belmont High Science Team by eating pizza, do some candlepin bowling, and winning awesome raffle prizes!

Flatbread Company in Somerville will donate about 20 percent of their proceeds from pizza sales between 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday to the club. The team will also be selling baked goods and raffle tickets at the door, with prizes including $20-$50 gift cards and products from Starbucks, Comella’s, Bolocco, Ben and Jerry’s, the Harvard Co-op, Origins, Marcou Jewelers and more.

So join the team for a night of fun, food, and fundraising!

This Week: Cushing Village Before Planning, Spanish in Motion, LEGOs Club

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Photo: ABC Spanish in Motion.

On the government side of this week:

  • The Planning Board will meet for the first time in 2016 on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. to will discuss … drumroll, please … Cushing Village! as well as the future of possible new bylaws on residents who rent rooms via the Internet booking site Airbnb.
  • The Belmont School Committee will go over the Social Studies Plan for Action in addition to an athletics update on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School.
  • The Capital Budget Committee is meeting a few hours later than usual at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at Town Hall to review all capital projects in its docket but, in particular, Belmont High School, the library and modular classrooms to elivate overcrowding at Belmont’s six public schools.

• Pre-School Story Time at the Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer-run library, at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5. Stories and crafts for children age 3 to 5. Parents or caregivers must attend. Siblings may attend with adults. Registration is not required. The Benton Library is located at the intersection of Oakley and Old Middlesex.

• Sing-Along with Julie will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. 

• Enjoy a pictorial visit to the forests of Peru’s Amazonia, one of the most pristine, wildlife-rich places left on the planet, with Earthwatch’s volunteer Mark Hopkins at the Beech Street Center at 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Mark’s photography will show the work being done with the region’s monkeys and other terrestrial mammals, caimans, macaws, manatees and fish, as well as its fascinating and unique pink fresh-water dolphins.

• Join Karen Halloran of CareOne at Lexington at the Beech Street Center beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5 for a discussion of foods, cooking techniques, and fitness and nutritional tools that people concerned about preventing Diabetes Type 2, and people with Diabetes can use to make their diet more healthy and exciting.

• Chenery Middle School students are invited to head over to the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room on Wednesday, Jan. 6 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., to do your homework while enjoying some hot chocolate. This is for middle schoolers only so high schoolers are on their own. This event is provided for free, thanks to the Friends of the Belmont Public Library.

• Sustainable Belmont will be meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 6 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Belmont Public Library’s Flett Room.

• The Belmont Woman’s Club will convene its Board meeting in the Belmont Public Library’s Flett Room at at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6.

• The Parents of Music Students POMS is meeting at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 6 in the Belmont High School Conference Room.

• The Friends of the Belmont Public Library will be meeting on Thursday, Jan. 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the library’s Assembly Room.

• ABC Spanish in Motion, a program for children, will take place in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library on Thursday, Jan. 7, from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. 

• The LEGOs Club is back at the Belmont Public Library! If you love building with LEGOs, this program is for you. Kids in grades Kindergarten through 2nd grade will build with our LEGOs and we’ll put all the creations on display in the Children’s Room. The fun begins Thursday, Jan. 7, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the library’s Assembly Room.

• Everyone is invited to Chinese Storytime which takes place in the Flett Room of the Belmont Public Library from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. 0n Thursday, Jan. 7.

• Literacy Playgroup is a parent and child group that supports child’s language and literacy development on Friday, Jan. 8, 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Flett Room. You’ll play, read, sing and take home new ideas. Presented by educators from the CFCE grant program; for children age 4 and under.

• Members of the Belmont Board of Selectmen will be ready to take your questions at the Beech Street Center beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 8. 

• The Senior Book Discussion Group will meet on Friday, Jan. 8 from 11 a.m. to noon to at the Beech Street Center to discuss the novel Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather.

• Long-term care insurance can be a confusing product. It has been described as having “a lot of moving parts.” In a workshop presented by Hans Hug, Jr., owner of the LTC Insurance Group, Exeter NH, Hugs will examine how a modern this insurance policy really works. It will be held at 1:15 p.m., Friday, Jan. 8 at the Beech Street Center. 

O’ Tannenbaum, O’ Tannenbaum; It Can Be Left on the Curb Starting Monday

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Photo: Goodbye until next year. 

Today, Monday, Jan. 4th, is the day before Twelfth Night, which marks the end of the Christmas holiday (it’s the night before Epiphany, the day when the nativity story says the three wise men visited the infant Jesus), which in the past was a time of revelry and merry making.

And with the end of the holiday comes another tradition: the dumping of the family Christmas tree onto the curb. 

And starting today, the Belmont Department of Public Works will collect your Christmas trees at the curb for regular trash pickup on the designated trash day during the first two full weeks of January.

For those who like to recycle, the branches can be spread over your garden plot to help protect the soil and provide some shelter for voles and chipmunks. 

If you have any questions about ol‘ Tannenbaum, contact the Belmont Public Works at 617-993-2680.

Heads Up, 2016: The Year to Come in Belmont

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Photo: Belmont High School, Town Meeting and Cushing Village are topics coming up in 2016.

What will 2016 bring to Belmont? While, as the 1981-tour T-shirt by the band “The Clash” proclaimed, “The future is unwritten,” there are some events that we can anticipate happening. As Donald Rumsfeld said, there are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns, those things “we don’t know we don’t know.” Certainly a known known is the annual Town Election, the known unknown is just how residents will vote at a special Town Meeting on the Minuteman High School and the unknown unknown is, of course, Cushing Village. 

Cushing Village: 2016 will be the start of construction on the long-troubled, infinitely delayed three-building development. But, then again, everyone thought 2015 would be that year. The latest update on the three-building development with 115 housing units, 38,000 sq.-ft. of stores and 200-plus parking spaces will be early in the new year on Tuesday, Jan. 5 before the Planning Board. Two-and-a-half years (YEARS) since winning approval to build the 168,000 sq.-ft. project, all there have been being promised to commence building the development from Chris Starr, head of Smith Legacy Partners. With the latest “rock solid” deadline missed last month, it will come to no one’s surprise if Well Fargo, the project’s lead lender, steps into the abyss to kick-start what should have been a Belmont landmark (and business magnet) but has been a missed opportunity.

Early February Town Meeting for Minuteman: What? Wait a minute! Town Meeting? In about 45 days? Yup, that’s right. Belmont’s 300 Town Meeting members will be braving winter conditions to assemble to debate and vote on a single article: approving a new agreement for towns to participate in the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District. In a roundabout way (the whole story will take a separate story to explain), the reason is to approve the construction a new $144 million school building but what has evolved to change the partnership between the 16 member towns and the Lexington-based voke school including proportional votes to the number of kids each town sends (Belmont has the third largest population with about 30 students) and requiring non-member students – from places such as Watertown, Medford and Waltham that make up about 40 percent of all students – to help play for the school. As a Belmont representative explained to the Warrant Committee and Selectmen: “It’s a bad deal but it’s better than the alternative.” Oh, by the way, the vote could be meaningless if other towns or the state objects, then all residents will be asked to vote on the deal, likely on a Saturday in June. Yes, it’s nuts. 

Foodies arrival: Belmont gets an anchor with the opening of Foodies Urban Market, the upscale South End supermarket in the former location of Macy’s/Filene’s. But it’s unlikely that residents will be purchasing prepared dinners and a Russo’s-type selection of fruits and vegetables until the fall of 2016 as construction on the site is taking longer than expected. One point of concern: Some Belmont Center businesses are a bit worried that a food-based business will not attract walk-about shoppers the way Macy’s did. The site will also be the home to a major national business which the Belmontonian will report on this week.

“New” High School: Wednesday, Jan. 27 is D-Day for the future of Belmont High School. The School District’s statement of interest to renovate the 45-year-old building and construct a modern science wing for $100 million will be voted on by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which will finance about a third of the total cost. If it gets the MSBA’s OK, 2016 will be a year when the town creates a building committee, design and construction details are hammered out with the state and possibly the hiring of an architectural firm. A vote on an anticipated $67 million debt exclusion is likely in 2017.

Town Election: You can expect the unexpected at Belmont Town Election: Last year was Jim Williams’ stunning swamping of incumbent Andy Rojas and the ease the $3.5 million override passed muster. This years’ edition will include three open seats for School Committee with neither of the two incumbents so far declaring their intentions. And will there be a challenge to Selectman incumbent Mark Paolillo as he attempts a third (and final) three-year term? So far, the only contested town-wide race is for a seat on the Health Board. A big question around town: will someone from Williams’ political sphere launch a challenge for the schools or be audacious enough to see if lightning strikes twice in as many years for a place on Selectmen?

School: 2016 will likely be a continuation of the students piling into the six overcrowded schools. September will see modular classrooms coming to a few schools – (whisper: it’s reported that the Chenery Middle School have already designated its tennis courts as the location for the temporary classrooms.) It will also be a year that a growing number of students who enter the system need greater help to speak and read in English as well as navigate a highly competitive system. The challenges continue.

Belmont Uplands: The land has been cleared so where are the buildings? Expect 2016 to be when the first steps take place in the construction of the 299 apartments in an area that has seen an explosion of residential complexes, the latest a proposed 219 unit Chapter 40B complex just over the line in Arlington off Route 2 just a stone’s throw from the Uplands. 

OPEB: Speaking of Williams, the long-anticipated meeting on the town’s pension and OPEB (Other Postemployment Benefits Obligations such as health insurance for retirees) as well as a discussion of Pension Obligation Bonds which the selectman obtained at the 2015 Town Meeting was held and it was determined that everyone was going to take a second look at how the town handles these benefits which the town doesn’t have funds to cover currently. Expect push comes to shove in 2016 as those supporting Williams to put a proposal on funding those obligations on the table either at Town Meeting or at a special TM in the fall.

Housing: Is Belmont in a housing bubble? That will depend on macroeconomic national trends but there is ample evidence since July that homes are selling for well above assessed values. What will be interesting is if the median assessed housing value in this “Town of Homes” tops the $1 million mark; it currently stands at $928,003.

Selecting a Community Path: We can only give our thanks to the members of the Community Path Implementation Committee for the truly thankless work they conducted. (There was so much walking on and off road around town that the members could be excused if they were climbing Dante’s Purgatorio.) The committee in 2016 will provide the Board of Selectmen with its preferred path that will require landowners and the town to compromise to make it work. But no one shouldn’t be surprised that town politics will rear its head to trump the reality on the ground.

Town Meeting: Another year without a budget crisis doesn’t mean Town Meeting will be boring; expect a few citizen petitions to bring at least one 11 p.m. session as residents line up to “speak their minds.”

Residential Zoning: Will 2016 be the year the town’s residential neighborhoods see a bylaw restricting the bulk and height of new construction that is representative of the existing housing stock? It all depends on the Planning Board making this a priority in 2016. If not, expect more soul-destroying mega mansions popping up on your street. 

Road/Parking projects: Who would have thought both major roadway projects in Belmont would not be finished on time? (Likely, everyone in town.) It will now be spring/early summer of 2016 for final infrastructure work and paving to be completed on the state-run Trapelo/Belmont Corridor project while the triangle adjacent to the Belmont Savings Bank will be dedicated in late spring as well. This year will also see a new parking system coming to Belmont Center including automated meters on Leonard Street.

Sports: My predictions!

Both Basketball teams go deep in the 2016 tournament especially the girls’ who have ten players who could start on any team in the league. (Watertown comes to town on Tuesday, Jan. 26.)

Baseball will take the Middlesex League Liberty Division and make a run in the sectionals behind the strongest and deepest pitching staff this side of the Chicago Cubs. That’s right, the Cubs!

Girls’ Track (in and outdoors) continues to run away from opponents with underclassmen leading the way including sophomore Anoush Krafian. 

Girls’ Swimming: The team will see Jessie Blake-West, one of the program’s greatest swimmers, breaking records at Brown in 2016 and will miss a slew of great seniors from the 2015 squad, but its foundation is set on the shoulders of three-time state champion sophomore Nicoletta Kalavantis.

Football will have a winning record, make and win a game in the playoffs and place a whopping on Watertown on Thanksgiving in Belmont.

Girls’ Soccer will be scary good with a mature, stronger team – a young defense with a year under their belts – that is aiming to score goals, lots of them. 

Field Hockey, which recorded a program’s best 16-3 2015 record and was Belmont High’s “2015 Team of the Year” will meet some surging squads next year – Winchester, Wilmington, and Lexington – and ponder who will take over for midfield star Serena Nally. But don’t bet against the team from reaching the sectional finals as they lost only five seniors, return a half-dozen exciting underclassmen, have a solid back four and are led by Division 1-bound AnnMarie Habelow. Although it would be nice if the team could welcome a few transfer students from the Netherlands next season.