Belmont’s DPW Drivers Get A Simulating Lesson on Snow Plowing [VIDEO]

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Photo: Vincent Nestor in the simulator

Joe Foti is holding steady at 55 mph in the cab of a snow plow as it glides down a stretch of road during a blizzard.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a car comes out of his blind spot on the left side of the truck.

As the Belmont Water Division employee puts on the breaks, over his right shoulder a voice booms out: “You gotta go, Joe. Keep it at 55, Joe. Let’s go, Joe.”

From over his left shoulder, another voice tells Foti to “answer your cell phone. Where is it? It’s next to you.” As Foti reaches for the phone, a truck in the oncoming lane swerves towards him. As he turns the steering wheel, the voice to this right yells, “You’re thirsty, Joe. Grabbed that water bottle.”

With a cell phone in one hand, Foti reaches for the center console when out of the steady falling snow he suddenly spots a parked SUV in front of this speeding truck.

“Look out, Joe” he hears, as his seat is being pushed back and forth as he hits the passenger vehicle.

For Foti and more than a dozen driver who push snow and spread sand and salt on town roadways, the combination of nightmarish senarios did not take place on town streets but in the driving simulator that was located in the Belmont Department of Public Works Yard last month. 

The employees drove through a number of driving challenges with the help of two instructors – the voices behind Foti’s shoulders – who spoke of best practices and tips on driving a big truck safely in bad New England winter weather.

The simulator came from L-3 Technologies, an international firm that provides real-world driving environments that can be configured for multiple vehicle types, including snowplow trucks, tractors, dump trucks, heavy-duty trucks and tractor trailers.

The training was part of a $10,000 grant from the DPW’s insurance company, said Michael Santoro, the town’s Highway Department manager who first the simulator in action four years ago at a public works conference.

For DPW employee Vincent Nestor, the training “is pretty lifelike and I will take this training to the job.” 

 

Town Meeting ’17: 25 MPH Speed Limit To Be Voted in May

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Photo: The proposed new top speed in Belmont.

Belmont Board of Selectman Jim Williams asked a question to Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin when the chief brought to the board a proposal establishing a 25 mph limit on nearly all of Belmont’s byways.

“Have you driven 25 mph on Concord Avenue?” with the inference that the speed would be a tad slow for many motorists.

The answer to that question will be left to Town Meeting members as the proposal was voted into the 2017 Town Meeting Warrant establishing the reduced speed limit throughout Belmont.

“The main thrust [for the change] is safety for pedestrians and bicyclists,” said McLaughlin – who last week celebrated his 10th anniversary as police chief – saying Belmont would be following area city and towns such as Arlington, Boston, Cambridge, Watertown, Lexington and Somerville which have switched to the lower speed limit.

Cities and towns around the state have moved to drop the speed limit since the implementation of the Municipal Modernization Act signed in August 2016, which grants local authorities the right to decrease local speed limits to 25 mph in “thickly settled” areas.

McLaughlin said three stretches of roadway that would be exempt from the new limit:

  • Concord Avenue from Robinwood Road to the Lexington town line.
  • Winter Street from Belmont Country Club to Route 2
  • Mill Street from Trapelo Road to Concord Avenue.

McLaughlin said the cost of implementing the new law would be putting up new signs at roads on the various town lines – such as Trapelo Road (Waltham), Concord Avenue (Cambridge) and Common Street (Watertown) – informing visitors of the limit. It will also require taking down signs such as along Pleasant Street with differing speed limits. 

Snow Shut Down: Town, School Closed Tuesday; Parking Ban Begins 5PM Tuesday

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Photo: It’ll be snowy in Belmont Tuesday.

Like you didn’t see this coming.

With the season’s biggest Nor’easter on the doorstep, Belmont – along with most of the state – is battening down in preparation for more than a foot and a half of snow on Tuesday, March 14.

  • Belmont’s public schools, town buildings and the Belmont Public Library will be closed as will the Belmont Public Library.
  • The Benton Library will be closed; Pre-School Story Time will not meet. 
  • The storm is expected to be so severe that the Department of Public Works has canceled trash and recycling pick up.
  • The Belmont Police has already issued a snow emergency parking ban beginning at 5 p.m., Tuesday and lasting until further notice. The town will tow vehicles parked on roadways and in municipal and school parking lots after the ban is in effect.
  • In addition to the town closing shop, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is urging residents to avoid driving Tuesday and take public transportation if possible.
  • The MBTA is expecting to run a regular weekday schedule, but travelers should check with the authority’s severe weather web page throughout the day.

If you have any questions, call the Belmont snow emergency hotline at 617-993-2698. 

Letter to the Editor: Dash’s Experience, Temperament Ensures Strong Selectman

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Photo: Adam Dash

To the editor:

I am writing to urge you to vote for Adam Dash for Selectman on Tuesday, April 4. The combination of Adam’s skills, experience, and temperament will ensure that he is a strong and effective selectman. 

As the senior governing body for the town, the Board of Selectmen should reflect the culmination of a progression of leadership in town governance, rather serve as an entry level position. And, in that regard, Adam has been actively involved in town governance, as a Town Meeting member since 2008, and, more importantly, as a member of the Warrant Committee, the town’s primary financial watchdog, since 2009.

Over the past six years, I have had the opportunity to meet with the Warrant Committee on multiple occasions.  On those occasions, as well as at numerous Town Meetings, I have been impressed by the insightful questions that Adam asks and the well-reasoned positions that he takes. His questions and comments are invariably right on the mark.    

I was also impressed by the approach Adam took in building support for the new Underwood Pool project in 2013. He sincerely solicited public input throughout the design process, making it clear that listening carefully to the citizens was more than just a pro forma exercise. Someone who views his role as a steward for the citizens of the town, not someone who personally wants to control the decisions, is precisely what we need in the position of selectman.  

I urge you to vote for Adam Dash. He has a wealth of experience in town matters and the genuine temperament that we need in a selectman.

Jack Weis

Chenery Terrace, Town Meeting Member, Precinct 1   

School Committee OKs Creation of Later Starting Time Task Force

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Photo: Freshmen Ella Serrano-Wu and Kate Devitt before the Belmont School Committee.

The Belmont School District is pushing forward with plans that could lead to a later starting time for Belmont High School students.

Last week, the Belmont School Committee heard Belmont Superintendent John Phelan layout a blueprint for forming a task force to review a proposal presented by a local chapter of a national group advocating starting the beginning of the school day for teens at a later hour.

“A realistic timeline would be to form a team by June with a game plan and allow it to work through the fall with a hope of presenting its findings to this body in late Fall,” said Phelan.

“I think there are parts of [the task force] that can move quickly such as an executive summary of the literature and best practices from comparable districts and identify the local ‘variables’ that could affect the proposal including the future grade alignment of the high school,” said Phelan.

Delaying the beginning of the school day is being prompted by Belmont Start School Later, which argues that high school students’ physical and mental health are impacted by the lack of deep sleep the majority receive, due in part to the early start time.

“If students only have sleep buttons that we could press so they would go to bed early would be perfect. But unfortunately, they don’t,” said School Committee member Andrea Prestwich, who started SSL in Belmont a few years ago.

In Belmont, the high school day begins at 7:35 a.m.

School committee members expressed support for the superintendent’s way forward.

“There are lessons learned from other communities that the task force can look at and sees what works for Belmont,” said Committee member Susan Burgess-Cox.

While there was uniform approval on the board to move forward, opposition to the time change was present at the meeting in the guise of two freshmen who brought a cardboard display board to explain their position. 

Freshmen Ella Serrano-Wu and Kate Devitt who started Belmont Same Start Time in January called the time change a “band-aid” approach to the issue of students being overburdened with homework and studying for highly challenging classes such as AP-level courses.

“We just don’t think the other side of the issue was being heard,” said Serrano-Wu, who hopes that either she or Devitt will be asked to participate some way in the task force.

While Prestwich said, the two ninth-graders raised “some very valid concerns that were raised in other districts” she reiterated that “[s]tarting school early has a huge number of advantages” that can not be ignored.

According to Phelan, the task force will “look into this with a very open mind and listening to all voices, especially to students, is the way forward.”

Early Warning: Storm Watch Already Issued For Tuesday’s Nor’easter

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Photo: Winter Storm Watch issued for Tuesday’s Nor’easter.

It is more than 24 hours away but the National Weather Service has already issued a Winter Storm Watch for Belmont and the region for a classic Nor’easter that will arrive late Monday night and remain in the area for 24 hours.

Issued at 9:58 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, the NWS statement warns of heavy snow with accumulations of greater than six inches of snow will occur between the night hours of Monday, March 13 and throughout Tuesday, March 14. 

“The heavy snow will make many roads impassable. In addition, strong winds may lead to blowing and drifting snow, reduced visibility, and power outages,” reads the report.  

Winds will come out of the northeast 20 to 30 mph with gusts 40 to 50 mph.

A Winter Storm Watch means there is a potential for significant snow, sleet, or ice accumulations that may impact travel. Continue to monitor the latest forecasts. Be prepared to modify travel plans should winter weather develop.

Spring Forward: Daylight Savings Time Returns Sunday

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Photo:

It’s literally time to spring ahead as Daylight Savings Time returns early Sunday morning, March 12.

At 2 a.m., time rushes ahead – springing forward – one hour as clocks change to 3 a.m. Sunrise and sunset will be about one hour later on Sunday than the day before. There will be more light in the evening.

Benjamin Franklin first proposed something like daylight savings time in 1784, but the one used today was first suggested in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson, an entomologist from New Zealand. Germany was the first country to use Daylight Savings Time 101 years ago on April 30, 1916.

Less than 40 percent of the countries in the world use Daylight Savings. 

Community Path Feasibility Study Winding Down, Recommendation in April

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Photo: Anne Archer of PARE Corporation leads residents in the latest round of the Community Path Feasibility Study on Wednesday, March 8.

Before approximately 50 residents in the Belmont Town Hall auditorium on Wednesday, March 8, the consultants conducting the feasibility study on a proposed multi-use community path running through Belmont said the review is “winding down” with a final recommendation from the team coming in about six weeks time.

PARE Corporation‘s Amy Archer and Kathleen Fasser, a ‎Principal at K3 Landscape Architecture,  unveiled several routes and their estimated costs associated with the third segment of the trail which runs from the commuter rail bridge in Belmont Center to Brighton Street adjacent to the Cambridge city line.

Information on the trail and costs have been placed in the Town of Belmont website. Questions and comments made up the remainder of the night. 

Archer said a final public meeting would be held in the next weeks to go over “hot topics” – issues such as privacy and public safety – which produced the most comments or raised matters in the previous three meetings.

Archer added the review team would include comments and suggestions into a recommendation report presented to the Board of Selectmen sometime in mid-to-late April, between town elections on April 4 and the first day of Town Meeting on May 1. 

“It will take about a month to incorporate what the community tells us is important to them into the final report,” she told the Belmontonian. 

Hired last year by the Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee, PARE will recommend to the town a single route that, according to the firm, will “best serve the Town’s residents AND function as a segment of the Mass Central Rail Trail.” 

The MCRT is a 104-mile former railroad line from Northampton to Boston that is being restored as a rail trail, a path to be used by bicyclists, walkers, runners, baby strollers and young cyclists with training wheels, wheel chair users, cross-country skiers, equestrians (in areas out west) and nature enthusiasts.

Free for 30: Town Release New Belmont Center Parking Plan [Video]

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Photo: A pay-by-plate kiosk in Pittsburgh.

In an effort help to increase on-street parking turnover and availability for shoppers in Belmont Center, drivers parking along Leonard Street will need more than just change in their pockets; they’ll need to remember their license plate number. 

According to a press release from the town dated Friday, March 10, Pay-By-License-Plate parking stations will go into effect in Belmont Center on March 27,  primarily along Leonard Street. 

The stations, currently under wraps, were installed this past fall. The new system goes into effect about a month before the opening of Foodie’s Urban Market, the popular grocery which is expected to increase parking demand in Belmont’s principal business center.

The new multi-space meters will allow for 30 minutes of free parking and the ability to pay for up to an additional hour for a total of 90 minutes of parking per day on Leonard Street. The stations will accept cash and credit card payments. 

Patrons will be required to input their license plate number even if they intend to only take advantage of the 30-minute free period. 

Here is a video from Deerfield Beach, Florida (with Jim “Chiefy” Mathie, the local dive shop owner) on how to use the system.

Parking in the Claflin Street Municipal Parking lot, located behind Leonard Street, will continue to offer two free hour parking spaces, as well as metered parking spaces – which were installed in August 2015 – for a dollar per hour. Credit card and cash payments are accepted. 

Parking by plate number was first installed in Calgary, Canada in September 2007 and in Denver in 2008. The largest US pay-by-plate program is in Pittsburgh which has installed 800-plus terminals.

Belmont High Musical Talent Spotlighted to Help Homeless Friday

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Photo: Last year’s WTHH performers.

Belmont High School’s Working to Help the Homeless Club is hosting its annual benefit musical event, showcasing talented student performers on Friday, March 10 (snow date: Friday, March 17).

Tickets are $5 for students and $8 for adults at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center, as well as at the door. The Coffeehouse begins at 7 p.m. in the high school’s cafeteria.

In its 4th year, the Coffeehouse for a Cause features varied music genres, from improvisation to pop, on instruments ranging from those of a string quartet to electric guitar, and from ukulele to percussion. In addition to the music, WTHH members will share their baking skills, as homemade desserts and hot chocolate are included in the ticket price.

“This incredible event brings together the most talented Belmont High School musicians and caring community members, united by their passion for music and for aiding those in need.” said Senior Co-President Sophia Windemuth.

“The performers absolutely blew me away at the rehearsal. With performers like these, I am convinced that not only are we helping those in need, but we are also uniting the community to appreciate our local talent,” she said.

This will be the third WTHH coffeehouse to benefit Y2Y (Youth to Youth) Harvard Square, a new shelter for homeless youth in Greater Boston. Noting that young adults often do not feel safe in shelters with older adults, former Harvard students Sarah Rosenkrantz and Sam Greenberg decided to open their own youth shelter, dedicated to those from ages 18-24.

Opened in December 2015, Y2Y is located in the basement of a Harvard Square church and is staffed by Harvard volunteers.  In January, the founders were named to Forbes list of 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs.

“I think Y2Y can best be described as inviting. I saw not a shelter, but a safe place to call home. It is this vision that pushes us as a club to make a difference in the lives of those around us. said Senior Co-President Michael Guyumdzhyan who visited the shelter last month.