Fire Dept. Responds To HazMat Incident At Star Market Monday Night, One Taken To Hospital

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Photo: Belmont Fire’s ladder truck at the scene at Star Market on Monday, Oct. 11

A refrigerant leak in the basement of Star Market on Trapelo Road on Monday, Oct. 11 resulted in the state’s hazardous materials team being called to the scene by Belmont Fire officials.

In a press release from Belmont Fire Department Chief David DeStefano, Belmont Fire personnel responded to a call from the supermarket located at 535 Trapelo Rd. at 8:45 p.m. where they found an active leak of refrigerant filling areas of the store. Firefighters safety removed 18 employees and contractors in addition to customers while the incident commander requested mutual aid from Waltham Fire and assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Hazardous Materials Team.

“We chose to house the Technical Operations Module or TOMS truck operated by the state here in our [Trapelo Road] Headquarters station for just such an incident,” said DeStefano. “The team was able to assemble and respond rapidly to our request for assistance. Working with neighboring agencies and partnering with the Commonwealth to leverage our capabilities provided efficiency and greater safety for our firefighters and the community in general.”

With assistance from the Haz Mat team and guidance from the refrigeration contractor at the scene, the system was made safe and the area ventilated. One employee was transported to Mt. Auburn Hospital for evaluation. While Belmont Fire companies operated at the incident Cambridge and Arlington fire departments provided station coverage.

The Annual Flushing Of Belmont’s Fire Hydrants Continues Next Two Weeks

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Photo: Ready to go

There is the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain while in Belmont there is the annual flushing of the town’s hydrants.

And while not as exciting as dodging a 1,000 kg animal on slippery cobble streets, the yearly flushing helps ensure water quality and helps avoid random bouts of rusty water if there is a high demand for water, caused by a major firefighting effort or water main break, according to Mark Mancuso, manager of the Belmont Department of Public Work’s Water Division.

Starting this week – Tuesday, Oct. 12 – from 7 p.m. to midnight, hydrants with green tops will be opened. This could cause water discoloration in the system. Don’t worry: The water is safe for drinking purposes but residents should avoid laundering during flushing hours. Next week beginning on Monday, Oct. 18, all yellow hydrants will undergo the flush.

Any questions regarding this program? Call the Belmont Water Division at 617-993-2700 for answers.

Trash/Recycling Pick-Up Delayed A Day By Holiday; Weekly Yard Waste Collection Starts Oct. 25

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Photo: Put your carts out a day later than usual

Whether it was once Columbus Day or, now, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the holiday on the second Monday of October causes trash and recycling pickup to be pushed back by one day through town. So in the collection universe, Tuesday is actually Monday so don’t be surprised when you go out to collect your carts only to find them still filled.

With gardens shutting down and flower beds begin laid to rest, residents will still need to hold off placing their yard waste for curb side collection other than on the designated recycling day.

Weekly fall yard waste collection begins Oct. 25, and ends on Dec. 9.

And what exactly is yard waste? According to Belmont’s Department of Public Works, it’s leaves, twigs, grass, weeds, flowers, plants, hedge and shrubs prunings that are one inch or less in diameter and other easily raked yard waste. No tree limbs or branches greater than one inch in diameter.
NOT ALLOWED are food scraps, animal waste, trash of any kind, soil or plastic bags.

Just a reminder, yard waste must be placed in 30 gallon biodegradable paper bags or barrels marked with yard waste stickers. Close the bags by folding over; do not use staples or tape. Yard waste should be put out by 7 a.m. on collection days.

Rookie QB Leads Belmont High Football Over Winchester, 41-14, As Lexington Looms

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Photo: Belmont High senior RB Gordon Lassiter on his way scoring the Marauders’ second TD vs Winchester on Friday night.

It was suppose to be the year sophomore Jayden Arno would learn the quarterback position behind senior Ryan Broderick, getting a few snaps under center during practice, playing on the JV and watching from the sidelines on Friday night.

Fast forward to Oct. 21 when Broderick injured his non-throwing arm against a strong Reading team and Arno was thrown in against an undefeated Rockets defense. While he was under pressure on nearly every play, Arno did show a willingness to take a shot down field and tuck the ball and run mopping up in the 34-0 loss.

So the expectations for a 15-year-old starting his first varsity game were guarded at best as the Marauders traveled to Winchester for a match up under the Friday Night Lights.

But as the clock hit triple zeros 48 minutes after it started, Arno – who was one of the youngest players on the field – led the Marauders to a dominate 41-14 victory over Winchester, upping Belmont’s record to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Middlesex League Liberty Division.

Showing the maturity of a quarterback who had been in charge for a while, Arno threw for three touchdowns, ran for an another and had no interceptions in a game that Belmont never trailed and where the defense allowed a single scoring drive.

”I felt good going out there and playing, coming into the game wanting to win,” said Arno. “The [practice] week went off [well] and I was running with the first offense which really helped,” he said. What also helped, Arno noted, is that he’s been playing football “my entire life” as well as learning the game from his brothers: Tyler, a senior defensive back and wide receiver, and Avery, a two-year varsity starting Marauder quarterback who also threw for three touchdowns in his inaugural varsity game as a junior vs. Milton in 2018.

For Marauder first year Head Coach Brian McCray, a week after being beat up by Reading, “we really wanted to come out this week and just give it our all. We had a couple of people banged up and a lot of guys stepped up this week and they did an unbelievable job,” point out out both Arno and junior Ben Williams who would score his first touchdown on Arno’s and the teams final score.

Belmont started the night’s scoring thanks to the defense as junior Chris Cogliano stepped in front of a Winchester pass to scamper 33 yards to give the Marauders a 6-0 lead mid-way through the first quarter. After a dominate defensive stance highlighted by a key third down stop by sophomore lineman Max Cornelius, Arno – who was making the most of a series of swing passes on the drive – found senior Gordon Lassiter in the flats and it was a race 26 yards to the end zone that Lassiter won to make the score 13-0 at the end of the first.

Arno than showed his arm as Cogliano took a pass between two defenders and raced 61 yards to the house and a 20-6 lead at the 7:40 mark of the second. Winchester responded on the next play as the Marauder kick off squad believed they saw Derek Gianci go out of bounds. But the referee didn’t see it that way and Gianci took it to the house to cut the lead to 20-7. Arno nearly got the TD back when he found senior Kevin Logan on a 26 yard strike to the Winchester 6 as time ran out in the half.

Winchester took the kick off and benefiting from a pass interference call marched the ball in for a score via Gianci two yard third down plunge to cut the lead to 20-14 at 7:38 remaining in the third. But from there Belmont would score three consecutive TD: a three yard rush from sophomore Adrien Gurung, a 10 yard designed quarterback run by Arno and a bullet from 10 yards out from Arno to Williams.

Next up for Belmont is Lexington (1-3) on Friday, Oct. 15 under the lights at Harris Field at 6 p.m. with an opportunity to move closer to securing a playoff slot.

“It’s just a great opportunity for us against a great team,” said McCray. “We’re gonna play one play at a time, one game at a time.”

School Committee Mandates Student Vaccinations by Dec. 1 To Take Part In Sports, Extracurriculars

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Photo: Students aged 16 and older who which to participate in sports and extracurriculars must be fully vaccinated by Dec. 1

The Belmont School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday, Oct. 5 to require students 16 and older to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to participate in school-sponsored athletics or extracurricular activity.

The mandate, according to the language in the interim policy, was passed to “promote public safety and the safety of students, facility and staff” during the worldwide pandemic that is “causing disruption of the traditional school day.”

“I do think it’s a step in the right direction to continue to create a safer environment as possible for school operations,” said Kate Bowen who heads the committee’s policy subcommittee which wrote and edited the new language.

The policy requires students who are age-eligible according to the Federal Drug Adminstration – current guidelines would impact those between 16 to 19 – have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson injection.

The new policy is an effort to spur Belmont’s already high vaccination rate in the 7th-12th grades which currently averaging in the low 80 percent range.

While voting in favor of the measure, committee members Bowen and Meg Moriarity along with Belmont Superintendent John Phelan expressed a worry that it would appear the policy is selecting a group of students based on interest or participation . But each acknowledged that the intent is trying to vaccinate as many students as possible in all settings in order to provide a safer environment.

Chair Amy Checkoway said it is important after the vote to inform families the policy was “going into place and making sure their questions are answered” while continuing to support access to vaccines for students.

The vote comes a day after the Belmont Board of Health recommended the committee mandate a vaccination requirement for all students 16 and up.

I’m in the process of consulting and finding out some more information from our legal counsel about next steps,” said Checkoway. “I think this is obviously a very important issue and something we neeed to discuss.”

Police, Schools Holding Open House/Tours Of Their New Buildings In October

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Photo: There will be three opportunities next week to view the new high school wing of the Belmont MIddle and HIgh School.

Residents will have the opportunity to take a look inside of Belmont’s newest municipality buildings as they fling open the doors for the public in the coming weeks.

On Saturday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m., the DPW/Belmont Police Department Building Committee invites the town to celebrate the dedication and ribbon cutting of the nenovated Police Headquarters with guided tours of the station located at the intersection of Pleasant Street and Concord Avenue will follow.

“Come see the successful renovation of the historic 1931 station and construction of the modern additions,” said the Building Committee chair Ann Marie Mahoney.

“I know it’s been slow but there have been small and annoying things at the end that we are still wrapping up. We are in the black and giving money back to Community Preservation and Warrant committees so that’s all that matters!” she said.

And the public will get their first look inside of the new Belmont Middle and High School on Concord Avenue as the district is holding three days of public tours of the high school wing:

  • Wednesday, Oct. 20; 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Saturday, Oct. 23; TBA
  • Wednesday, Oct. 27; 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“It’ll be a very exciting day on Saturday. There will be some words spoken by students and there’ll be the marching band to welcome folks, said School Superintendent Phelan at Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, Oct. 5.

“We’re glad that we can open the doors with the majority of our spaces complete and ready to be seen and enjoyed by our community. We appreciate your funding of this beautiful new facility that’s completed phase one. And we’re prepared to move into our phase two for the seventh and eighth grade over the next two years,” said Phelan.

Belmont’s First Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration Monday At Winn Brook

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Photo: The first Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration in Belmont will take place at the Winn Brook Playground on Monday, Oct. 11 at 9:30 a.m.

Belmont will celebrate its first Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration on Monday, Oct. 11 beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Winn Brook Elementary School Field.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day replaces Columbus Day through a vote of Town Meeting at the annual meeting in May.

Town officials and leaders of local organizations will make speeches as BOMBAntillana, practitioners of the oldest living musical tradition of the people of Puerto Rico, will entertain with music and dance drawn from the enslaved West African and Taino people who were forced to labor in sugar cane plantations.

Indigenous Peoples Day honors the past, present, and futures of Native peoples throughout the United States. Belmont sits on the original homeland of the Pequosette Tribe.

The day is being sponsored by Belmont Against Racism, Belmont School Department, Belmont Select Board, Belmont Public Library, Belmont Religious Council, Belmont Human Rights Commission, Community Organized for Solidarity, Belmont High School PTSO, Burbank School PTA, Butler School PTA, Chenery Middle School PTO, Wellington School PTO, Winn Brook School PTA, and Belmont Books.

Saturday Trash Collection In Parks, Business Centers Approved By Select Board

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Photo: Barrels in Belmont playgrounds and park will get add attention on weekends

With money “saved” in the Department of Public Works budget and a few tweeks to the pickup schedule, the Select Board approved a plan which they expect will make Belmont’s public spaces a bit more tidy.

At its Monday, Oct. 4 meeting, the board heard from town officials on a new initiative to reinstate weekend trash collection in Belmont’s business centers and public parks and playgrounds after residents this summer pointed to a ever increasing amount of garbage and waste overwhelming recepticals and sites near town eateries.

John Marshall, assistant town adminstrator and director of recreation, told the board that while bringing back Saturday collection does come at a cost – estimated at $10,000 a year – a funding source was identified that will allow the weekend collection to take place through fiscal year 2022.

“Luckily we had some [DPW] positions that took a little longer to fill … which opened up some salary items that we can use for the overtime to cover the weekend trash pickup,” said Marshall.

The new Saturday collection of the business centers by the DPW crew will begin around 4:30 p.m. while a Recreation Department truck will pickup at town parks and playgrounds starting between 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., said Assistant DPW Director and Highway Division Manager Michael Santoro.

Santoro told the board the collection times during the week in the business centers, including Bemont Center and Waverley Square, “have been tweeked a bit more” to provide greater coverage over the time leading and following the weekend when a majority of the trash complants occur.

On Fridays, the town’s trash hauler, Waste Management, will make collections after they service the town schools as they exit Belmont sometime after 2:30 p.m. On Mondays, Waste Management trucks will start the day collecting at Belmont Center when they arrive in the morning around 7 a.m. Santoro said DPW staff will also monitor the pickup sites during the week.

While funding is secured for the current fiscal year, “we’ll have to go back to the drawing board for funding in ’23. That will now be part of the budget process,” said Marshall.

Trustees Presents ‘Dire’ Status Of Library Building To Select Board Monday

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Photo: Belmont Public Library

When the Belmont Board of Library Trustees comes before the Select Board on Monday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m., it will with a simple request concerning the building on Concord Avenue that has for more than a half century housed the books, services and collections that is the Belmont Public Library: What’s the next step?

For more than 25 years, the trustees and volunteers have pointed to the aging building – opened in 1965 – with increasing concern that one of the most popular libraries in its population group in Massachusetts was falling into a condition of disrepair of its infrastructure and the lack of space to meet the library’s programming needs.

Since then, the deterioration of the building has accelerated to the point where the options facing the town going forward has dwindled to a stark pair in the view of the trustees: be a town without a library or commit to a new future.

”We are at the end of the road,” said Kathleen Keohane, the Trustee’s vice chair. “We have kicked this can down the road so many times. And unfortunately, we are about to hit the wall. It’s that dire.”

Trustee Chair Elaine Alligood ran down the list of structural failings: when it rains, there are leaks that pop up everywhere, a fire alarm system is out-of-code since 1992, heating and electrical systems whose useful life ended 20 years ago and are chronically in disrepair, a roof that is so fragile it can’t accept a modern HVAC system while the elevator has to checked at the end of each day to see if anyone is stuck inside because the alarm doesn’t work.

Any significant and needed repair in any part of the building will almost certainly create a cascade of required alterations which would accelerate the cost past the point of reasonable expenditures.

“We’ve deferred those big ticket items because if you repair one system, it pulls a thread that requires another expensive repair,” said Keohane, who said if one or two repairs exceeds a certain amount, it activates a trigger that requires the entire building to meet millions of dollars of American Disabilities Act-mandated improvements “which would be fiscally irresponsible for the trustees to ask the town to meet.”

The trustees said the time has come for a clear eyed decision on the future of a centerpiece of the Belmont community.

“It is a challenging time and if there were any other time to do it don’t you know we would do it then,” said Ellen Schreiber, a member of the non-profit Belmont Library Foundation that promotes and fundraisers in behalf of the library. “But we have no choice. The library is an urgent situation.”

Despite its popularity – during the pandemic the library’s circulation remained steady at 474,000 items – the trustees attempts to spur the construction of a building that would meet the needs a modern library failed to garner town and community support or the cooperation of the school committee in the latest attempt nearly a decade ago.

On Oct. 4, the trustees will present to the Select Board with the facts.

The latest Library Building Committee – authorized by Town Meeting in 2017 – spent two years holding meetings with the community and focus groups using a 2016 feasibility study to determine the best way forward on the future of the library building. In November 2019, the committee presented a final schematic design created by Oudens Ello Architecture that took into account public and stakeholders feedback that revealed a plan of a modern library that would meet its patrons and the community’s needs.

“The new building design is focused on giving us more space [25 percent increase in square footage], will be ADA compliant and address all the failing infrastructure and business systems that are decades in the making,” said Keohane.

The trustees and the foundation will present what has been raised for a new library, a community fundraising initiative that will take place this month and an estimated cost for a new building. The last price tag was in the $34 million range.

Now nearing two years since the report’s release, the trustees say the building’s decline can not be halted with stop gaps or unrealistic hopes that renovations can add years to the building’s lifespan.

“So it’s up to the Select Board with our assistance to decide what is the next step,” said Keohane.