Letter Carriers to Collect Food Donations for Belmont Food Pantry Saturday

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Photo: Reilly Lubien and Patty Mihelich at the Belmont Food Pantry.

This past winter, Unity Avenue’s Reilly Lubien was worried that some fellow Belmont residents might “not have supplies; you know, they might be unhydrated.” 

So the Wellington Elementary kindergartener set out to collect money, first, from her parents and close relatives, then took to her mom’s Facebook page to announce her intent. Knowing that residents rely upon the Belmont Food Pantry for their weekly food, Reilly chose this vital town resource to take her collection in late March. The pantry’s director, Patty Mihelich, said the funds will be used to help the nearly 150 families who sign up each week for the basics. 

This Saturday, May 9, fellow Belmont residents can join Reilly to help keep the pantry’s shelves filled by leaving food donations by their mail box or at the front door to be collected by US Postal Service letter carriers and brought to the Food Pantry as part of the NALC Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive — the largest one-day food drive in the nation.

“It is only second to Belmont Serves [in October] in terms of number of contributions that comes to the pantry,” said Mihelich.

The letter carriers remind everyone to place bags of donations by the mailbox/front door on Friday evening and it will be picked up on Saturday.

Belmont Mother’s Day Flower Sale Begins Friday Afternoon

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Photo: Mother’s Day flowers on sale this weekend. 

The Friends of Belmont Softball will be hosting their annual Mother’s Day Flower Sale at the Belmont Lions Club at the foot of the MBTA Commuter Rail station just off Common Street in Belmont Center.

Come by to purchase some beautiful flowers and support the Belmont High School varsity and junior varsity teams.

The flowers will be on sale starting today, 

  • Friday, May 9 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., 
  • Saturday, May 10 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 
  • Sunday, May 11, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This Weekend: Ragtime Women on Saturday, Rummage Sale at First Church

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Photo: Deborrah Wyndham.

• Pianist Deborrah Wyndham’s program, “Ragtime Women,” concludes the Belmont Public Library’s Music on Saturday series at 3 p.m., Saturday, May 9 in the Assembly Room. Wyndham plays ragtime rarities of women ragtime composers, sharing the interesting history of the women ragtime composers who contributed to its legacy with hundreds of published rags. Wyndham performs regularly throughout the U.S. Check out her website. Music on Saturday is free to all thanks to the sponsorship of the Friends of the Belmont Public Library. 


 Deborrah Wyndham “The Brittwood Rag” by Eubie Blake

• The First Church in Belmont, Unitarian, 404 Concord Ave., will be holding its 73rd annual Rummage Sale on Saturday, May 9. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Proceeds go directly to the Stained-glass Window Fund, and the Partner Church and Social Action Committees.

• Powers Music School’s Suzuki group classes will perform on Saturday, May 9, at 3:30 p.m., at All Saints’ Church, 17 Clark St.

• First Church of Christ, Scientist, Belmont, 199 Common St., will host José de Dios Mata who gives a public lecture entitled “Divine Love: The Answer to Universal Health,” on Saturday, May 9 at 2 p.m. Mata will explore the Biblical basis of God as divine Love, whose law Christ Jesus taught and practiced in his healing and teaching ministry. For further information, call 617-484-3963 or visit www.christiansciencebelmont.com. Free parking and child care will be provided.

• The Belmont Dramatic Club will ring-up the curtain for its spring production; “Prelude to a Kiss,” this weekend, Friday May 8 and Saturday, May 9, both at 8 p.m. Performances take place the historic Belmont Town Hall auditorium. The production of  the 1988 play by Craig Lucas is directed by Russell Greene. Tickets will be sold at the box office one hour before the show. Cost: $20. For information, go to the club’s website. Additional shows will take place on Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16; and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 17.

Sold in Belmont: From Stately to Stark, Spring Market Finally Blooms

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Photo: 252 Common St. Belmont.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes.”

• 33 Evergreen Way. Brick and frame Colonial (1967). Sold: $1,260,000. Listed at $1,199,000. Living area: 3,337 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3-full, 2-partial baths. On the market: 88 days.

• 21 Garfield Rd. Colonial (1937). Sold: $1,320,000. Listed at $1,195,000. Living area: 2,506 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 53 days.

• 53 Upland Rd. Bungalow (1920). Sold: $600,000. Listed at $569,000. Living area: 1,475 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 46 days.

• 692 Pleasant St. An antique single-family in the Italianate style (1851). Sold: $895,000. Listed at $895,000. Living area: 3,188 sq.-ft. 12 rooms, 6 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. On the market: 99 days.

• 2 Meadows Lane. Townhouse condominium (2011). Sold: $1,261,243. Listed at $1,274,748. Living area: 2,780 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 117 days.

• 252 Common St. “Stately” Brick Colonial (1937). Sold: $929,000. Listed at $1,039,000. Living area: 2,634 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 321 days.

• 30 Harding Ave. First-floor condominium (1925). Sold: $438,500. Listed at $400,000. Living area: 1,165 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 49 days.

• 11 Thayer Rd. Condominium (1958). Sold: $229,900. Listed at $229,900. Living area: 650 sq.-ft. 4 rooms, 1 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 55 days.

• 15 Thayer Rd. Condominium (1958). Sold: $210,000. Listed at $230,000. Living area: 612 sq.-ft. 4 rooms, 1 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 83 days.

After weeks of a handful of properties changing hands, real estate salespeople and Realtors are cheering as potential buyers are getting off the fence and deciding to put their money where they want to live.

Of the nine residential properties that turned over last week, there were a couple of high-end Belmont Hill colonials – a beautiful 1930-era residence and a heavy, brick faux-Colonial with an out-of-place four-column overhang (awful) – in which each sold above its listed price. 

On the other end of the income spectrum, three very affordable properties were sold, including one, a 600 square-foot essential (a bedroom, a kitchen, a bath and a living room) on Thayer Road in Waverley Square that went for slightly more than $200,000. 

The real surprise is a house that actually is “stately” as described in the sales copy. Located between  Hillcrest Road and Long Avenue (Realtors: Please stop calling this area Walnut Hill. I never heard anyone call the streets between Common and Goden from Orchard to Washington by that moniker.), this is a real beauty: Oak floors, lots of French doors, a restful enclosed patio, a curved interior staircase(!), an OK kitchen, a bricked driveway and a built-out attic. So how did this solid house fail to sell when it came on a supply-scarse market? Take a look how the list price just fall away like a Red Sox outfielder:

Original List Price: June, 2014: $1,039,000

July, 2014: $979,000

August 2014: $949,000

October 2014: $929,000.

Sales price: $929,000

After falling nearly $100,000 in four months, the owner draw the line in the sand and had to wait half-a-year before a buyer came by. If this property was on “the Hill,” it’s likely the Colonial would be kept more of its value. But being on a busy road and the “bigness” of the house could have put doubt in the minds of potential buyers. 

A final note: a wonder old house on Pleasant Street sold this week, an 1850s antebellum house that once was the home of a son of the Little Brown Publishing founder. Yet would you be surprised if this treasure, but cramped, structure will soon see a “demolition” permit on the front door? It’s on a third of an acre of land in a desirable section of town. We’ll see. 

Belmont Rugby Ends Regular Season with Overwhelming Win, Playoffs Next

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Photo: Belmont High School Rugby.

Despite the loss of captain senior scrum back Darren Chan, Belmont High School Rugby Club dominated a good Xaverian Brothers High School squad, 34-7, in the final regular season match held at Belmont’s Harris Field on Wednesday, May 6. 

Read the game recap here.

The team finishes the season with five wins against a single loss to Boston College High School. 

The victory gives Head Coach Greg Bruce’s squad an expected second seed in the Massachusetts Youth Rugby Organization High School championships and a bye for the first round.

Belmont tentatively will host a semi-final match at Harris Field on Tuesday, May 19. 

If successful in the semi-finals, Belmont will reach its third consecutive championship game which takes place on Saturday, May 23 at Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium in Worcester.

Belmont Town Meeting: Night 2, May 6

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Photo: Belmont T0wn Meeting.

Welcome back to the 156th annual Belmont Town Meeting. Tonight’s the second night of Town Meeting with the Community Preservation Committee’s grants up for debate and transfers. 

7:05 p.m.: And we are off … five minutes late, as usual. 

7:08 p.m.: Moderator Mike Widmer announced that Article 9 will be reconsidered in June. In addition, Widmer said he was a “stunned as you” to have heard the Lord’s Prayer by one of the religious leaders who gave the invocation. “We hope that this will not happen again.” Widmer said the Lord’s Pray is a beautiful one but it does violate the separation of church and state. 

Long-standing member are recognized.

7:15 p.m.: A commemoration of the Waverley Trail with a special proclamation from the Department of Interior and the US Park Service recognizing the trail as a National Recreation Trail. What a great honor for the town.

 7:28 p.m.: An we are off with presentations.

First up is Jim Palmer, GM of Belmont Light, with an update on the substation project. Palmer said that permitting, engineering and procurement is nearly complete while construction is 10 percent complete. A June 2016 completion date for the project “is still achievable.” The project is on budget. But there are challenges ahead like managing contracts and working with the MBTA. 

7:36 p.m.: The Special Town Meeting is next with a pair of articles: to allow for the transfer of money from reserve accounts to pay down the deficits in the school department (about a half-a-million dollars due largely to skyrocketing special education costs) and about $750,000 in the snow removal account. 

First up, Article 1, a historic winter left the snow and ice account about $750,000 in the red. That money will come from free cash. Typically, Belmont gets 50 inches, we got more than 100 inches, and that will cost money, said David Kale, Town Administrator. Belmont could see between $250,000 to $275,000 in federal emergency fund but it’s not likely it will be received by June 30; when it comes in, it goes to free cash. The article is adopted unanimously. 

Article 2, seeks a transfer of $285K from the Warrant Committee’s reserve fund and $250K from the Special Ed Stabilization Fund to cover the deficit in the School Department. The reason for the debt: special ed costs. 

Discussion? Vincent Stanton, Pct, 2, will special ed cost fluctuation or is this systemic? Professional opinion by John Phelan, superintendent, is that growth will continue. Follow up, is there some way to bring special ed students back to town? Currently, there is not sufficient space, said Phelan, and that would help. And with students with like needs, you can begin and grow programs to bring the number down. No other discussion. The article passes with one negative voice vote. Electronically, the vote is 233 to 11.

 Now back to the regular meeting. Up is the Community Preservation Committee grants of $1.1 million.  

They, all community generated, are:

  • Belmont Veterans Memorial Project: $150,000,
  • Wellington Station exterior restoration and rehabilitation: $26,300,
  • Electrical upgrade at units owned by the Belmont Housing Authority: $522,500,
  • Digitization of historic Belmont newspapers from 1890 to 1983: $25,000.
  • Rehabilitation and restoration of the 1853 Homer House: $100,000.
  • Upgrade and restore the Pequossette Park tennis courts: $295,000.

Each grant gets its own update. PQ courts are in rough shape, said DPW director Jay Marcotte. So all four courts will be removed and refilled. It will take 30 to 60 days to do and will last 20 years. Jennifer Page, Pct. 3, wonders if this is too much money to pay to preserve tennis courts. Maryann Scali, Pct. 2, said let’s repair them correctly so the town has many years of playing on it. Sylvia Cruz, Pct. 5, asked shouldn’t the town look at recreation activities more broadly, once again wondering if this is a lot of money for courts. We spend $295,000 on courts when if the town looked broadly that the money could be used elsewhere. Floyd Carman, Town Treasurer and member of the Community Preservation Committee said the CPC looks at all applications but it has to be brought to the committee. Deb Lockett, Pct. 7, asked if outside sources which use the courts could pay the town for its use. Anthony Ferrante, Pct. 8 and CPC member, said a task force is being created that will look at all courts to determine usage and support. The measure is adopted. 

Next up is the Veterans Memorial Project. Kevin Ryan, chair of the project’s committee, describes the project. The project can be finished by Veteran’s Day in November, he said.

Vince Stanton, Pct. 2, said the memorial is described as a park, has landscaping been discussed? Ryan said the group did not but hope that groups that does it now will continue to do so. The project is adopted unanimously. 

Susan Smart, director of the Homer House, describes the restoration project which includes repairing the cupola and three porches which are in bad shape. This will lay the foundation for private, state and possibly federal contributions. Support this because of cultural tourism, as a television crew said how wonderful the house remain. “Thank goodness for those dames,” one said for saving the project. The great Belmontian Lydia Ogilby, Pct. 1, said she supports the project “because I’m one of those dames.” The article is adopted unanimously. 

The Belmont Public Library submitted the digitalization of old Belmont newspapers. Kathleen Keohane, Pct. 2, and head of the Board of Library Trustees, said the reason to computerize papers from 1890 to 1923 will make it searchable which makes it easier to research and use. Many towns are doing this and the Boston Public Library is creating a digitization lab to make the content is accessible to the country and world. Don Mercier, Pct 8, can this information be placed on a hard disk for our own files. Yes, that information will have access – maybe not on disk – and you can tell how many people use it. Mercier wonders if the information can be on a hard disk – “not on that sky thing” – and use it for the town’s purposes. Penelope Schafer, Pct. 7, asks if the project will move quicker than the town records which received funds in 2013. Town Clerk Ellen Cushman said actually the level of work for the town records was massive and, actually, is about to be completed. The motion is adopted unanimously.

8:54 p.m.: Up now is the Wellington Station restoration. The money will help preserve the well-known landmark adjacent to the First Church, Belmont. It’s been around before Belmont was a town. Vince Stanton, Pct. 3, asked if other funds were sought to help restore the building as the Belmont Historical Society has a bit of money that could have been used. No we didn’t, said Carman. Was there any exploration of having a contractor do the work for a sign? The motion is adopted unanimously. 

9:09 p.m.: “We will be out of here before 11,” said Carman. Yikes! Did the treasurer jinks us?

Donna Hamilton, director of the Belmont Housing Authority, said that this year’s request is the continuation of rewiring the final 19 buildings in Belmont Village. Steve Klionsky, Pct. 6, asks why is the Housing Authority is asking for more money when last year’s money hasn’t been spent yet. Hamilton said the work is currently being bid out, so its heading forward.

Norma Massarotti, Pct 6, asks if the authority should use last year’s money to find out just how much it will cost to perform the work and then come back next year for the rest of the money. Hamilton said the systems need to be upgraded from the existing wires put in the 1940s as tenants have greater electronic needs.

It’s shocking that nothing has been done due to safety reasons, said Christine Kochem, Pct. 8. Hamilton said she agreed, but they wanted to come up with a good plan rather than the quickest. Kochem returned to ask a timetable. Hamilton said first units will be built out soon and the entire two projects should be done by next May.

“I’m very disappointed that you haven’t spent the money from last year. Just for that, I’ll have to vote against it,” said Don Mercier, Pct. 8.

Sylvia Cruz said the CPC should not have to pay to do what the state should be doing as this request takes away the town’s investment in other areas such as open space. There’s some applause.

Sami Baghdady, Selectmen chair, agrees and a letter will be going to the state on this issue. But that should not stop the town from doing repairs for a valuable housing source for low-income residents. He also said this should be done for safety reasons.

The motion is voted on and adopted.

Widmer “really urges” Town Meeting Members to get as many questions answered in advance because most of the questions members asked tonight could have been answered” beforehand. Cheers. Carman said he is willing to come to any precinct meetings to answer questions.

Final article, for CPC administrative costs of $56,200. It passes and we are about to adjourned until June for the budget. It’s 9:41 p.m., a record. 

The Return: Solar Power Article To Be Reconsidered by Town Meeting

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Photo: Belmont Town Meeting.

The solar power article – effectively killed off by an amendment postponing indefinitely a vote on the measure on the first night of the Belmont Town Meeting, Monday, May 4 – has returned from the grave after newly-elected Selectman Jim Williams requested the Town Meeting revisit the contentious initiative possibly one more time. 

While voting for the amendment submitted by former Ralph Jones, Williams told the Belmontonian that the decision didn’t “sit well the day after” so he approached Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman early Tuesday to request “a motion to reconsider” which is allowed under town meeting rules.

While Town Moderator Mike Widmer will inform Town Meeting on the reconsideration on the send night of Town Meeting, Wednesday, May 6, the earliest the actual vote on reconsideration will take place is in June, according Cushman.

At that time, Williams will speak on his request, discussion will take place before Town Meeting takes a vote on the reconsideration, which must pass by a 2/3 margin to be placed back before the members. 

If it does reach that plateau, Article 9 will be debated and will need to reach the standard 50 percent plus one vote to be adopted.

William said he believed his vote Monday, which passed overwhelmingly by Town Meeting, was “basically a ‘timeout’ for all parties to settle down and let the new Light Board do its work,”  referring to the board made up of the Selectmen which approves policy for Belmont Light, the town’s public electric utility. 

“[I] learned that the motion to postpone indefinitely was primarily used as a motion to dismiss and is normally employed by town officials when an article has been overcome by events and should be dismissed,” said Williams.

“This clearly was not my voted intention and so the decision to file for reconsideration was straight forward,” he said in an email Tuesday, May 5, 

Williams said, in his opinion, Town Meeting deserve to hear all sides debate the article “and … vote up or down on what [Town Meeting] want to do or should not be able to do.”
The article, which came to Town Meeting as a citizen petition, would place on the town ballot a non-binding resolution to request the town’s state legislators to vote for state legislation that would require Belmont and other municipal utilities to provide solar users favorable treatment when crediting solar owners for the electricity they add to the grid.
Yet many Town Meeting were incredulous with the measure when they discovered there is not state legislation for the legislators to vote on, and that the measure was presented to Town Meeting as a method to begin a discussion on promoting solar power. 

Preview of the Second Night of Belmont Town Meeting, May 6

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Photo: 

The second night of the 156th edition of Belmont Town Meeting takes place on Wednesday, May 6 as the meeting reconvenes at 7 p.m. at Belmont High School to hopefully complete the remaining non-budgetary issues before the 290-member legislative body.

The evening will revolve around debate on the $1.1 million in grants coming from the Community Preservation Committee.

They include:

  • Belmont Veterans Memorial Project: $150,000,
  • Wellington Station exterior restoration and rehabilitation: $26,300,
  • Electrical upgrade at units owned by the Belmont Housing Authority: $522,500,
  • Digitization of historic Belmont newspapers from 1890 to 1983: $25,000.
  • Rehabilitation and restoration of the 1853 Homer House: $100,000.
  • Upgrade and restore the Pequossette Park: $295,000.

There will likely be questions from Town Meeting on public money being used on a private residence such as the Homer House (owned by the Belmont Woman’s Club) and why residents tax money (the CPC receives its funding from a surtax on property taxes) is being used to repair the electrical wiring at buildings which are run by the state. 

In addition, a Special Town Meeting will be convened to allow for the transfer of money from reserve accounts to pay down the deficits in the school department (about a half-a-million dollars due largely to skyrocketing special education costs) and about $750,000 in the snow removal account. 

Recycling Saturday: Town, Butler Elementary Ready To Reclaim Material May 9

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Photo: Recycling Saturday in Belmont.

This Saturday, May 9, Belmont residents will have the opportunity to recycle just about anything they could ever hope, thanks to the town and the parents at the Butler Elementary School. 

• The town’s Department Public Work will have its annual Recycling Day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Town Yard, 37 C St. Residents can recycle:

  • large, rigid plastics,
  • textiles (even ripped or stained),
  • clothes,
  • styrofoam,
  • DVDs,
  • CDs and
  • eyeglasses.

They will also provide secure paper shredding with a five box limit.

In addition, children’s clothes collected will be given to the Nepalese employees at dado tea in Cambridge who are flying to Nepal to volunteer with post-earthquake relief. 

Used, clean books should be donated to either the Belmont Public Library or at the Benton Library for their used books sale. Donors can take the donation as a tax deducttion.

• Butler Elementary, 90 White St., is holding its yearly Electronics Recycling and Disposal Drive from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Butler parking lot. For a small fee, you can drop off your old televisions, computer monitors, or anything with a plug. Prices for disposal are lower than the town’s, and there’s no need to purchase a pickup sticker.

The fees are:

  • $10 each for computer monitors,
  • $15 each for TVs 27” diagonal or less,
  • $20 each for TVs more than 27” diagonal or wood console TVs,
  • $25 each for projection TVs,
  • $15 each for large appliances such as washers, dryers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, etc., and
  • $35 for all you can bring: laptops, CPUs, cameras, CD ROM/DVD drives, servers, speakers, iPods & accessories, computer accessories, mice, keyboards, video equipment, copy/fax/scanner/printers, wires and parts, plugs, audio equipment, phones and phone systems, DVD players, stereos, UPS (back up systems), VCRs, Walkmans and microwaves.

One note: They accept cash or checks only.

Selectmen To Give $386K to Capital Budget Rather than Taxpayers

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Photo: Belmont Board of Selectmen.

What would you do with an extra $386,000 in next year’s budget? Give it back to taxpayers? How about spending it right off to repair the roads? 

“That $386,000 has generated quite a bit of discussion around town,” said Sami Baghdady, the chair of the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

Before Town Meeting on Monday, May 4, the Selectmen tentatively decided the $386,000 in additional state aid the town was not expecting into next fiscal town budget will be heading over to the Capital Budget Committee to be used to assist big-ticket items.

“Finally, all our pleading paid off,” said Anne Marie Mahoney, chair of the Capital Budget Committee, after the meeting.

Town Meeting will need to approve the allocation to Capital Budget in June when budget articles are voted.

After debating for more than a month what to do with the funds, the Selectmen’s decision to park the money in a Capital Budget Stabilization Fund comes at the expense of taxpayers. By not increasing the tax levy by the “extra” state funding, residential homeowners would have saved on next year’s tax bill, according to Town Treasurer Floyd Carman.

“Having just voting a considerable override, this would be a little bit of relief, maybe $40 to $50 or so to the taxpayers,” said Baghdady. 

“I’d really like to turn the money back to the residents, but we need to give direction,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo. 

Yet during last week’s Warrant Committee meeting, Town Moderator Mike Widmer called the tax relief move “a gimmick” as there are real needs to be serviced in town. 

Other possible uses included replenishing the Belmont School Department’s special education stabilization fund, the entire $250,000 in the account will be used to fill a $500,000 budget gap facing the department this year.

But there is a real need for the Capital Budget Committee to obtain additional funds since the $240,000 it will receive from the $4.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 override approve by voters in April to finance a million dollars in bonds for miscellaneous items, is about to be used to replace to the 45-year-old fire alarm system at Belmont High School. Belmont’s Fire Chief David Frizzell said if the system fails, the high school building will be closed.

“So the intention of giving us more money to fund our pay-as-you-go capital budget is not happening because it’s going to the fire alarm system,” said Mahoney.

“It’s frustrating to us … expecting that when the override passed we would get some more money to deal with our list,” she said.

When Paolillo asked Mahoney if the committee needed the money, she listed off a half dozen “immediate” projects that requires action. 

By the end of the meeting, the Selectmen believed the best use of the $386,000 is by providing Capital Budget with the extra cash.

The Capital Budget Committee is meeting on Wednesday, May 6, at 6 p.m. at Belmont High School to discuss how the extra money will be allocated.