Photo: Rugby!
The Belmont High School Rugby Club – the most successful Massachusetts public school playing rugby XV – begins its 2016 Division 1 season with special Saturday matinee, Saturday, April 9 at 2:45 p.m. when the team takes on an always strong Needham High squad at Harris Field.
And set aside “Tax Day” Friday, April 15 as the team hosts Boston College High in a rematch of last year’s state championship. The game is at 7 p.m.
Photo: Painting by Stephanie Stigliano.
Photo: William Lovallo (right), the newly-elected chair of the High School Building Committee, speaking with BHSBC member Bob McLaughlin.
When the Wellington Elementary School opened on Sept. 25, 2011, Sarah Lovallo cut the ceremonial ribbon for the kindergarteners entering the school for the first time.
Lovallo, who is in fourth grade at the Wellington, is eight years from graduating from Belmont High School, which may seem like time enough for her to cut the ribbon for a new high school.
But her father, Willam Lovallo, who was selected as chair of the newly-created Belmont High School Building Committee on Monday, April 4 at the first meeting of the committee held at the Chenery Middle School, doesn’t think Sarah will have a second cut at the ribbon.
“This is beginning to look like it will be closer to ten years before the construction is completed,” said Lovallo, who was the unanimous selection of the 15 member committee.
The Homer Road resident’s professional background as a vice president at the Boston-based civil engineering firm LeMessurier Consultants along with being a veteran of the town’s Permanent Building Committee and building committees including the fire houses, Beech Street Center, and the Wellington will bring “that remarkable knowledge” to the post, said Patricia Brusch, who led the inaugural meeting.
Pat Brusch (center) at the inaugural meeting of the Belmont High Building Committee.
Brusch, who has been involved with constructing municipal and school buildings in Belmont for three decades, gave the committee a brief outline of what could be the next ten years of planning, financing and construction of a new high school.
With an expected infusion of $1.75 million from the proceeds of the sale of town-owned property on Woodfall Road – which will need to be approved by a majority vote at a Special Town Meeting on May 4 which will be a part of the annual Town Meeting – the committee will use the funds to:
After the feasibility study, the committee in partnership with the Massachusetts School Building Authority will need to decide between one of four options for the building.
After one of the four options is selected, the process moves to the schematic design stage. Once that is completed, then the town will need to come up with a budget which will come from a debt exclusion.
Brusch said a quick calculation using past examples such as the Wellington, the most likely date for a vote by town residents will occur two years from now during Town Election 2018, with an outside possibility of the fall of 2017 “if everything goes smoothly but that rarely [happens].”
Brusch also noted state law prohibits the Building Committee from advocating or showing support for the debt vote.
“Citizens will be asked to form” an independent committee “which is not a problem in this town,” said Brusch, whose last piece of advice to the group is “stay within your budget!”
“The first reason is credibility,” said Brusch, as the cost of the construction “will be a huge nut for the town to crack” which will be easier to do if the committee can demonstrate that a new high school “is not a Christmas tree with everything below.”
Both Brusch and Town Administrator David Kale emphasized that any final dollar figure and project timeline will be set only after the schematic designs are complete. But Brusch did say the long advertised amount of $100 million was used by town departments as “a placeholder” with a more realistic figure about 50 percent higher.
Photo:
The Belmont Police has closed their investigation of allegations a person was spreading automotive anti-freeze in Pequosette Park off Maple Street after the person who witnesses reported was making the warning recanted what he told the residents.
In a press release released Thursday, April 7, Belmont Police Assistant Chief James MacIsaac said the police department received information on April 4 from two residents who told police they were informed that a person had “spread antifreeze” in the park.
“The Belmont Police investigated the allegations and on April 4, 2016, police spoke to the person who had reportedly witnessed the incident,” said MacIsaac.
“That person told police he had not seen anything. This person further stated that he believed there was no antifreeze spread at the park and that the park was safe for dogs,” reported MacIsaac.
During its investigation, BPD could not find any evidence that antifreeze was placed in Pequossete Park.
“Pending any forthcoming information, the Belmont Police consider this investigation closed,” said MacIsaac.
Photo: Benjy Cunningham singing “Don’t be the bunny” in the musical “Urinetown.”
The curtain is going up at 7 p.m, Thursday, April 7 for opening night for the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s production of “Urinetown, the Musical.”
In a Depression-era metropolis, a 20-year drought has caused such a water shortage that the city government has banned private toilets. The citizens must use “public amenities,” regulated by a monopoly that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs.
Amid the people, a young, idealistic hero, Bobby Strong, decides he’s had enough and plans a revolution to lead them running to freedom! Along the way, the audience is kept informed of the plot with Officer Lockstock assisted by a street urchin named Little Sally. But, by the end, good intentions don’t always lead to the best outcome. But you’ll have to see the musical to find out what happens.
Performances are:
Tickets will be online and at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center. Tickets are $10 for students (BHS students get half-price tickets Thursday) and $15 for adults ($18 if they wait to buy them at the show).
Photo: Supporters of top vote collector Dan Vernick on Election Day in Belmont.
Mark Paolillo will be returning for a third (and final) three-year term on the Belmont Board of Selectmen as he easily beat back a spirited campaign from political novice Alexandra Ruban in the 2016 Belmont Town Election held on Tuesday, April 5.
Paolillo received 2,432 votes to Ruban’s 1,360, from voters in the eight precincts in town to secure the victory on a day when 3,907 voters, 22.6 percent of all registered voters, took the time to make it to the polls. Paolillo won all but one precinct – falling behind Ruban by five votes, 165-160 in seven – while more than making up that difference by winning overwhelmingly in his home district, in Precinct 8, by more than 250 votes (438-185).
Obtain the unofficial results at the Town Clerk’s Web page here.
In the contested school committee race, first-timers Murat Bicer and Andrea Prestwich secured three-year terms finishing first and second with 1,959 and 1,931 votes. They outlasted Kimberly O’Mahony, who come in with 1,662 votes in a tight race for the seats vacated by long-time members Laurie Slap and current school committee member Elyse Shuster, who returns for a single year position, finishing the term of Laurie Graham. While Prestwich won half of the precincts, Bicer (who won three with O’Mahony winning her home precinct, the 4th, overwhelmingly) was always just a few votes from her total, losing three precincts (2, 3 and 5) by a total of 16 votes.
For the race to fill the three-year-term on the Housing Authority, well-known Belmontian Tomi Olson defeated Paul Rickter by more than 150 votes out of 3,200 cast, 1,680 to 1,523.
Over on the Town Meeting side of the ballot, the top story is 18-year-old Daniel Vernick (Belmont High ’15) who not only topped the vote in Precinct 1 with 339 cast; he received the most votes of any Town Meeting candidate running. Vernick, Yale ’19, ran an impressive campaign using social media, local contacts and going door-to-door to win his seat in the town’s legislative branch, saying he would bring “my [BHS] classmates’ perspective both internally within the school administration and externally through the town.” No one should be surprised by Vernick’s enthusiastic campaign, having started his activism as a 7th-grade middle school student calling for the passage of a Prop. 2 1/2 override in 2010.
Five incumbents did not retain their seats including a pair in both precincts 1 and 6, while new members will be taking their place in the 290 member body including Kristen Zecchi in 1, Michael Chesson in Precinct 4, Elizabeth Lipson (with an impressive fifth place) and Katherine Gardner Poulin-Kerstien, and Gi Hyun Yoon-Huang in 8.
And over in the “couples district,” Precinct 4 is sending three sets of married couples, the Flewellings (Sheila topped her husband, David, 205-192), long-time town meeting member Kevin Cunningham just got by his wife, newly-elected Lisa Gibalerio, by one-vote and Sandra Occhino was 14 votes ahead of her husband, John.
And finally, Warren Committee Chair Michael Libenson is back in Town Meeting representing his home Precinct 1 after being voted off the body a few years back, essentially for not responding to the questioner from the Belmont League of Women Voters guide. And School Committee member Susan Burgess-Cox successfully changed precincts now representing Precinct 2 for the next two years.
Photo: The Zoning Board of Appeals voting to deny vote on hotel proposal.
For the second time this year, the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals denied special permits which would have allowed the construction of a multimillion-dollar development on two lots at the intersection of Pleasant Street and Brighton Avenue.
This latest denial occurred Monday night, April 4, for the renovation of the two-building, two-story structure at 334 Pleasant St. – the former Mini Mart convenience store and offices – into a boutique hotel consisting of 19 guest rooms, a cafe for guests, a fitness room, a business center and offices on the 14,400 sq.-ft. site.
The ZBA Monday voted 3-2 not to even bring the five permits sought by Waltham developer Michael Columba before the board for discussion. Chair Eric Smith said the board did not have the authority to move the waivers forward since the town’s zoning bylaws don’t explicitly mention “hotels.” as an acceptable application.
“There is nothing in the bylaws that says a hotel can go anywhere in Belmont because there is no reference to a hotel use so how can we even hear arguments for the special permits,” said Smith.
The board dismissed the claim by Robert Levy, an attorney with Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott representing Columba, that the zoning bylaw’s parking requirements – which does briefly refers to a “hotel” – suggests the development’s “impacts” were similar to retail and service uses that are allowed at the site with a special permit.
“In my view, the mention of a hotel in the parking requirements was simply an error made at the time the bylaw was approved,” said Smith.
Not all the members held the same view as Smith as Associate Member John McManus said he “hates to see all these opportunities get squandered.”
While “disappoint,” Waltham developer Michael Columba said he was “OK” with the decision.
“I’ve always said that if the town did not want [a hotel], I have to put the building to good use with whatever tenants I can get,” Columba said, which will likely include a convenience store, garage and offices which are deemed “as of right” under the zoning bylaw and does not require town approval.
“I have to move on this project in a few months,” said Columba, who purchased the site in September 2015 for $1.9 million.
Monday’s decision follows the rejection on Jan. 11 of a proposed 3,500 sq.-ft. Dunkin’ Donut franchise and retail space across Brighton from Columba’s property. The landowners and franchise, the Leo family who operates nearly 20 donut shops in Massachusetts and Florida, has suggested appealing the 3-2 vote denying them permits to renovate a former gas station and garage it purchased for $1 million in 2014.
These latest board decisions have led some residents to complain that the ZBA is contributing to what many views as a negative business climate in Belmont, where the needs of commerce are pushed aside for those of residential housing.
Board members rejected the notion it is feeding the perception of an anti-business bias in town, saying it only follows what the Town Meeting – the legislative branch of town governance – has approved.
“In my view, we are trying to apply the bylaws which have been determined by Town Meeting what should be allowed and … if it turns out, in our opinion, it’s not, we are following [Town Meeting’s] edicts,” said Smith.
“This board definitely does not have an anti-business motivation,” said member Nicholas Iannuzzi, noting the ZBA approved “a ton of businesses along South Pleasant Street using the same bylaws which are on the books today.”
“But if something doesn’t fit within the zoning bylaws, then we don’t have much choice,” said Iannuzzi.
Changes to zoning laws would start at the Planning Board who would create a new bylaw before presenting it before Town Meeting for a vote. A current example is the rewriting of zoning language placing limits on the height and mass of new residential construction in the neighborhoods surrounding Grove Street playground.
But even if Town Meeting introduces hotel use under the bylaw, Columba is not interested in a do-over.
“No, I am not coming back for a hotel. That’s done. It’s no longer an option,” he said
Photo: Belmont’s Town Election is today.
The annual Belmont Town Election takes place today, Tuesday, April 5, 2016, according to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
And below is information that will make the process of casting your ballot all the easier.
Polling Places
For voting purposes, Belmont is divided into eight voting precincts, located as follows:
Please adhere to the posted parking restrictions and use caution to ensure the safety of pedestrians around the voting precincts.
Are You Registered to Vote in Belmont and Eligible to Vote April 5?
If you are wondering if you are a registered voter and/or your voting precinct, please go to the Town Clerk’s webpage or phone the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600.
The deadline to register to vote and make changes to voter registration such as address was March 18 at 8 p.m. Any forms received after that date or not postmarked by that date will be process AFTER the election.
Arrive early, consider traffic and limited parking
Belmont Police will designate some voter parking at each of the polling locations however with a busy election, parking close to the polling locations is often a challenge. Plan ahead: consider walking, carpooling with a friend or voting “off peak” during the middle of the day. Only voters who arrive at the precinct and are in line for the Voter Check-In before the close of polls at 8 p.m. can be permitted to vote; those who arrive too late will miss out.
Election Day campaigning
The Town Clerk and the Board of Registrars of Voters remind all residents that campaign signs, stickers, buttons or materials may NOT be displayed within 150 feet of each polling place. This prohibition, per Massachusetts General Laws, Ch. 54, §65, even extends to a candidate whose name is on the ballot, when the candidate is not actively voting. The Town Clerk’s website posts a map displaying the 150-foot radius sunder Campaigning: Running for Elected Office and Town Meeting.
Election Results – How Do I Find Out the Results?
Election results for each precinct are announced by the Warden of each precinct after the close of the polls. The unofficial townwide results will be announced at Town Hall and posted on the home page of the Town website as soon as they are available Tuesday evening or phone the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600 on Wednesday morning. Campaign representatives are welcome to wait at Town Hall for the printed results.
Photo: A rendering of the proposed Belmont Inn Suites at the corner of Pleasant and Brighton streets.
“Some conjurers say that number three is the magic number,” wrote Charles Dickens and Waltham developer Michael Columba hopes his third time before the Zoning Board of Appeals is a magical one as he one again presents his proposal to build a small hotel at the base of Belmont Hill.
It’s expected the Board will take a vote tonight, Monday, April 4, on Columba’s attempt to secure five special permits which will allow the construction of a 19-unit “European-style boutique hotel” at the corner of Brighton Avenue and Pleasant Street at the location of the now vacant Mini-Mart convenience store.
And there is every reason to think that the hotel has a better than average chance to pass board muster as the five members have asked Columba and his architect, former Belmont Selectman Andy Rojas, twice to return with greater detail and data on what are standard technical issues – sound levels of air conditioning, lighting, trash collection – that a commercial real estate development is required to present.
If there is one issue that could derail Columba’s plans to bring to Belmont the first hotel in more than century it would come from ZBA Chair Eric Smith’s quiry on just how a hotel fits within the town’s bylaws. As there is no mention of hotels in the table of uses in the zoning documents, “the closest … is apartments which are a prohibited use in [this zoning district],” Smith said at the previous meeting in March and February.
In March, Columba’s team made the connection the zoning bylaw’s parking requirements – which does briefly refers to hotel use – suggests a hotel would be similar to a daycare center or a catering business, retail and service uses that are allowed at the site with a special permit.
The project would involve renovating the two-building, two-story structure at 334 Pleasant St. to open a boutique hotel consisting of 19 guest rooms, a cafe for guests, a fitness room, a business center and management offices on the 14,400 sq.-ft. site.
Columba, who is head of a construction company that specializes in building airport control towers and other aviation infrastructure, built his first hotel, the Crescent Suite Hotel in Waltham and is preparing to construct a multi-level hotel on the foot of the Charles River on Moody Street.
Photo: Vote on April 5.
To the editor:
Belmont voters should head to the polls on April 5. Those in Precinct 2 should vote for me, Susan Burgess-Cox, for Town Meeting Member.
I grew up on Lawrence Lane and moved to Radcliffe Road earlier this year after living on Hull Street and serving as a Town Meeting member in Precinct 4. I am currently a member of the School Committee and the Capital Budget Committee. My five-year-old twins, Maggie and Matthew, are in Kindergarten at the Butler School and will be enrolling at Winn Brook in the fall.
Over the years, I have served Belmont as a member of the Disability Access Commission, the Senior Center Building Committee, Precinct 4 Town Meeting Member, the Wellington PTO and the Butler PTA. As a current School Committee and Capital Budget Committee member, I am working to address financial and policy issues related to increased enrollment in the schools and the capital needs of the town. Like many towns, Belmont faces challenges that require thoughtful planning. I would like to continue to address these challenges not only as a member of the School Committee but also as a Town Meeting member representing Precinct 2.
I would appreciate your vote on April 5.
Susan Burgess-Cox
Radcliffe Road