Belmont Center’s Leonard Street Closing On Thursday at 10 AM ’til Labor Day

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Photo: The map of the changes coming to Belmont Center with the closure of Leonard Street.

Just two days after the Select Board approved a plan to increase outdoor dining in Belmont Center to help restaurants and retail hurt by the COVID-19 shutdown, the Community Development Office announced Wednesday, June 10 that Leonard Street will be closed as soon as 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 11 and continuing until the day after Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 8.

“Pending available DPW crews, we will be closing the road a soon as tomorrow,” said Glenn Clancy, director of Community Development.

The street through Belmont Center will be shut down from Alexander Avenue to Moore Street with no parking allowed during that time. The roadway will have a 15-foot center lane that will allow for accessed by emergency vehicles, deliveries and MBTA buses only.

The closure could be extended into the fall depending on how successful it is assisting eateries weather the COVID-19 storm.

Vehicles traveling northbound will turn right onto Moore Street to Pleasant Street. Southbound traffic will travel on Alexander Avenue to Cross Street.

With the loss of parking along Leonard Street, parking in the Claflin Street Parking Lot will be free until July 6. Time restricted parking spaces in the Belmont Center area will be enforced starting July 6.

Warrant Briefing Wednesday; Know What’s Coming At Town Meeting

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Photo: The warrant briefing provides a heads up for Town Meeting members on articles and amendments.

Town Meeting members and the public are invited on Wednesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. to attend the 2020 ‘Zoom’ Warrant Briefing for next week’s annual Town Meeting.

The meeting is cosponsored by the town’s Warrant Committee and the Belmont League of Women Voters.

Residents and members will have the opportunity to ask questions of town officials and department heads about the articles and amendments prior to the annual legislative gathering on Tuesday, June 16.

Laurie Slap, chair of the Warrant Committee, will preside.

To join the Zoom Meeting, head to:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89869234568

Meeting ID: 898 6923 4568

One tap mobile +19292056099, 89869234568# US (New York)

Meeting ID: 898 6923 4568

Town, Health Dept. Rip Harris Field Graduation ‘Ceremony’, Large Party; Attendees Should Be Tested

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Photo: Graduating students at Harris Field on Sunday. (credit: Instagram)

The director of the Belmont Health Department is condemning a pair of events held on Sunday, June 7 in which large numbers of Belmont High School students and adults staged an unsanctioned graduation celebration on school property and attended a house party in apparent violation of town and state health codes created to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Calling the actions “disrespectful and frustrating,” Health Department Director Wesley Chin said while Sunday was a time for big celebrations, “we just want to encouraged people to do the right thing during this difficult time.”

Chin is advising students and adults who attended these events to be tested for COVID-19 if they begin showing symptoms associated with the virus.

“It’s something we believe that is owned to the community to help keep everyone safe and healthy,” Chin told the Select Board at its virtual meeting on Monday, June 8.

Chin was informed of the events on Monday by concerned residents who viewed a number of photos and a video of the events circulating on the internet, which were characterized to Chin as reckless, grossly inappropriate and irresponsible during a pandemic.

Occurring soon after the end of the broadcast of the Belmont High graduation which was held virtually due to the pandemic, photos on the social media platform Instagram showed about 50 students and adults at Harris Field and at a large outdoor party with approximately 70 residents held Sunday night in which rules concerning social distancing, a limit on groups of more than 10 and wearing masks were ignored.

Note: The identity of those in the photos and names found online are being protected as they are not facing any charges.

The photos show typical graduation-type scenes with lineups of friends and sports teammates in caps and gowns linking arms and posing. Several of the young men are seen with cigars – an annual Belmont tradition at the post-ceremony family reunion – and in one video a bottle with carbonated liquid is opened by a student and the contents sprayed on his fellow students.

Photos from the party also shows students drinking alcohol in the presence of adults. While Massachusetts General Laws allows people under the age of 21 to consume alcohol on private premises with the consent of a parent or grandparent, that permission does not include non-family members.

Smoking and alcohol are banned at Harris Field.

The events come a few weeks after a large number of parents and some students protested a joint decision by the district and town limiting graduation celebrations to remote and virtual events due to safety and health concerns due to the COVID-19 virus.

Chin said the seemingly preplanned event at Harris Field mocked the long hours spent by 10 town departments, including fire, police, public works, and the school administration “who planned a safe and thoughtful graduation,” said Chin.

The Select Board joined Chin in denouncing the activity of the participants.

“To ignore the very reasonable asks that we’re making of people is just a bad practice … especially if parents are facilitating large groups who are not respecting social distancing is pretty bad,” said Chair Roy Epstein.

Town Administrator Nixes Own Pay Raise As Town Faces Big Budget Shortfall

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Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator

In a move that took many by surprise, the Select Board approved Town Administrator Patrice Garvin’s request that she not be paid her expected annual salary increase.

The amendment to Garvin’s contract is “in response to the significant budgetary shortfalls as a result of the unanticipated COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the press release from the town.

Garvin’s gesture comes two-weeks before the Belmont Town Meeting where members will be presented the fiscal 2021 budget that reflects a 25 percent reduction in state aid. In addition, the town’s Financial Task Force’s initial projections of the fiscal ’22 budget has the town suffering a one-year structural deficit of between $10 to $13 million.

Garvin was expected to receive on July 1 a two percent increase over her base salary of $189,300 or the general pay hike for department heads, which ever was higher.

Garvin’s action won praise from the Board.

“I’d just like to note that this is what leadership looks like. In coming from the town administrator, it makes a very large statement,” said Select Board’s Adam Dash.

With a significant financial challenge waiting in fiscal 2022, Garvin “recognizes she can’t ask employees of the town to do anything that she isn’t willing to do herself,” said member Tom Caputo.

Select Board OKs Move Towards Outdoor Dining In Belmont Center

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Photo: Belmont Center restaurant The Wellington is one of many eateries that will soon be adding outdoor dining

Al fresco dining is coming to Belmont as the Select Board approved outdoor seating for restaurants in Belmont Center to aid local eateries as the state begins cautiously removing restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The plans OK’d at the board’s June 8 meeting calls for closing Leonard Street through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7 with a 15-foot emergency access lane in the center of the street for fire apparatus and police vehicles.

Leonard Street would be closed “24/7” from Alexander Avenue to Moore Street beginning in the next few weeks with traffic detoured primarily through the Claflin Street municipal parking lot and onto Channing Road.

With the closure, restaurants and retail stores will be able to expand their operations onto the sidewalk and onto the street in front of their businesses.

“I think this will be a fun summer … like a several month long Town Day,” said Adam Dash, member of the Select Board which approved closing Leonard Street and adopted the new outdoor seating rules.

The outdoor seating will be required to be six-feet apart due to existing state and local COVID-19 restrictions unless the eatery provides a barrier seperating the tables that is acceptable to the Belmont Health Department.

“I think it’s the least we can do to support the businesses in this time of crisis,” said Dash. Massachusetts restaurants have been effectively shut down since the state shutdown all non-essential businesses in mid-March, surviving on take-out orders.

Gov. Charlie Baker earlier in the day included restaurants as part of the state’s Phase 2, Part 1 reopening in which restaurants can start serving diners outside in groups of 6 or fewer customers.

Belmont’s Glenn Clancy, director of the Office of Community Development, said he and his staff looked at how Waltham has modified Moody Street in the city center that has its own emergency access roadway. After discussions with public safety and the town’s Public Works Department, it was deemed Leonard Street was the only road that could be closed without causing a great deal of traffic disruption.

“I think we’re ready to dive into this and start working with the restaurant owners and business owners to get this thing moving,” said Clancy.

While Belmont Center will be the showcase for outdoor dining, restaurants in other parts of town- such as along Trapelo Road which can’t be shuttered due to its heavy level of daily traffic – will be allowed to move onto sidewalks. One potential headache according to Town Administrator Patrice Garvin is that traffic bypassing the center will drift into nearby residential neighborhood.

Damian de Magistris, one of the owners of both il Casale and The Wellington said by all appearances the town is moving in the right direction . de Magistris also wanted the town to know that even if each restaurant – both closed for 75 days – could place 10 tables outside, that would provide about 16 percent of the eateries pre-COVID revenue.

“So the outdoor space is absolutely critical” not just for the economic survival of the businesses but building “consumer confidence in a responsible way by encouraging people to gather in a safe place,” said de Magistris.

Long Serving Belmont Fire Chief Frizzell Set To Retire In August [Update]

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Photo: Belmont Fire Chief David Frizzell

The cat is out of the bag on the future of Belmont Fire Chief David L. Frizzell.

Last week, Select Board Chair Roy Epstein casually mentioned at a public meeting that Frizzell “would be leaving” his position this year. The long serving member of the Belmont Fire Department confirmed the rumor before the start of the Class of 2020 Rolling Rally on Saturday.

At the Select Board’s meeting on Monday, June 8, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin said it was with regret that Chief Frizzell was indeed retiring “after a long and distinguished career.”

Frizzell’s final day will be Aug. 28 or 31, according to Jessica Porter, Belmont Human Resources director.

“It’s been a great time, been a great job, the best job in the world,” said Frizzell.

Chief David Frizzell at a working fire on Trapelo Road in Belmont.

“I loved working for the town, had a great bunch of of people under me that made the department a success and I’ll be moving on to the next chapter,” he said.

Son of a Belmont Fire Department captain – David M. Frizzell – Chief Frizzell has been leading the department for the past 16 years since his appointment in June 2004, after serving seven years as assistant chief.

Frizzell’s first position in Belmont was as a part-time police dispatcher in 1985 before joining the fire department as a full-time Fire Alarm Operator (dispatcher) in 1986. He was appointed a firefighter in March 1988.

A graduate of Minuteman Vocational High School, Frizzell received two associate degrees from Middlesex Community College and his bachelor’s and a Master in Public Administration from Anna Maria College.

In February 2019, the Belmont Select Board agreed to extend Frizzell’s contract until June 30, 2021.

It is unknown how the town’s hiring freeze will impact the search for and appointment of Frizzell’s replacement.

FYI: Town Clerk Provides Voting Updated For Annual Town Election June 23

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Photo: “I voted” sticker

By: Ellen Cushman, Belmont Town Clerk

Do you usually like to vote in person on Election Day, and vote early in the morning, in the afternoon or early evening? For the June 23 annual Town Election you could miss out. 

In-person voting at the precincts on Election Day will be limited from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the safety of our election workers and voters. 

This is a different election and different behavior will keep us all safe and guarantee your vote gets counted on Election Day. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has opened Absentee Voting to all registered voters, no excuse necessary. The Belmont Town Clerk encourages all voters of Belmont to consider voting early by mail, instead of going to the polls on Election Day. Every voted absentee ballot received by the close of polls will be counted on Election Day.  

Apply NOW for Your Absentee Ballot: Time is Running Out

Absentee Ballots can only be mailed to those voters who request them in writing, though every voter is eligible during the pandemic. The written request must include the voter’s signature or that of an immediate family member or person living with the voter.  

There are two ways to accomplish this, either complete and submit an application or simply write a letter that contains the voter’s name, voting address, signature, the mailing address for the ballot and contact information for the voter. Voters may choose to request Absentee Ballots be mailed to them just for the Annual Town Election or for the remainder of 2020.

If for all year, the voter must also include which party ballot to send for the Sept. 1 Massachusetts State Primary: Democratic, Green-Rainbow, Libertarian, or Republican. 

Application forms are available on the Town Clerk pages on the Town of Belmont website: https://www.belmont-ma.gov/town-clerk   and select the link on the left of page

Ways to Submit A Request For An Absentee or Early Voting Ballot by Mail

  • Fastest methods are to email the signed Absentee Ballot request to mpiccione@belmont-ma.gov    (by a clear scan, pdf, or photo), or fax to 617-993-2601,  or place it in the Town Clerk drop box at Town Hall (located directly outside the doors facing the parking lot).  
  • If you must, mail it to Town Clerk, 455 Concord Avenue, Belmont, MA 02478 but realize there may be a delay in the Post Office getting it to us. Ballots are mailed out in the order requests are received and  voters are urged to file requests as soon as possible. 
  • The legal deadline to file a request for an Absentee or Early Voting by Mail Ballot is Noon, Monday, June 22, but realistically voters should allow plenty of extra time for mail delivery in both directions.  Ballots may be returned by mail or placed in the Town Clerk Drop Box, as described above.

Absentee Ballots Already Received Are Valid for June 23

If you’ve already requested and received an Absentee Ballot for the election, bearing the original April 7 date, please vote that ballot and mail it in.  New ballots will not be printed for the June 23 date; the special legislation allows the use of ballots that were already printed for the original election date.  

Other Voting and Election Information

For more information about voting or to see the Annual Election Ballot, visit the Belmont Town Clerk’s pages on the Town website at https://www.belmont-ma.gov/town-clerk and select a topic in the green Elections links on the left of the page. Questions should be sent by email to townclerk@belmont-ma.gov   or by phone 617-993-2603 during the pandemic.

Register to Vote by June 12 for the Town Election

Only Belmont residents who are registered to vote by June 12 will be eligible to vote in this year’s June 23 Annual Town Election.  Once you’re registered to vote and remain at the same address, there is no need to register again.

To register to vote, or change your voting address, party affiliation or name, to find out whether and where you are already registered, or where you vote, visit:    www.RegisterToVoteMA.com 

Graduation On The Remote: 329 Belmont High Students Honored In Virtual Ceremony

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Photo: Belmont High 2020 Class President Caroline Findlay addresses her classmates during the remote graduation broadcast Sunday, June 7.

There were the expected chestnuts of a Belmont High School graduation ceremony as the 329 members of the Class of 2020 were conferred their diplomas on Sunday, June 7.

The speeches, the national anthem – beautifully sung by Valentin Reynolds – the awards, a cappella singers performing, and the walk up to the stage to have a photo taken with the well-earned sheepskin.

Just that it didn’t take place in the normally sweltering confines of the Wenner Field House but on a computer or television screen.

There wasn’t the nervous march into the Field House, the beach balls, the cigars hidden in some young men’s suit jackets, shaking hands with school committee members while receiving their diploma, the caps thrown high and the gathering outside for photos (and cigars) with family. That experience, along with the prom and other graduation week activities, were struck down weeks before by the same pandemic effecting the world for the past four months.

It was a new normal for the Class of 2020 – a remote graduation in a virtual setting.

Class President Caroline Findlay spoke about the void her class was feeling saying “[t]here is no way to speak to you today without acknowledging the fact that our class has lost so much this year. Missing the supposed best three months of the last 13 years has been truly difficult because it has meant the loss of our final moments together as a class.”

The main message coming from her classmates, said Findlay, was that “we have each other.”

“We have encourage this message throughout our time in high school but over the past two years it has solidified what it’s meant to be a member of the Class of 2020. It is through this adversity that we faced, instead of focusing solely on ourselves as individuals, we all have shown up in supporting one another.”

“If you think about it, the challenges that our classes face over the past two years have provided us with an incredible set of tools to lean on as we force our path in our journey that lies ahead,” said Findlay.

Findlay and Belmont High Principal Isaac Taylor noted the passing of classmate Cleo Theodoropulos in 2019 and chorus teacher Sean Landers early in 2020.

“I watched as you the ways that you kept your beloved friend and classmate, close memory alive, showing love for her and her friends,” while being “moved by the respectful and loving kindness that so many of you showed, to the passing of a teacher, a friend and a fellow human being,” said Isaac, overseeing his first graduation in Belmont.

Noting that a “great teacher gets to know her student by getting beneath the surface, finding the insecurities and helping to strengthen them, noticing the gaps, and sometimes subtly, sometimes overtly teaching the skills to fill them,” Isaac said while the graduates had wonderful teachers that are proud of each student, “you are all pretty great teachers yourselves.”

“You have used your heart and your wisdom to guide one another through the loss of a friend and the loss of a teacher. Through the pandemic. Through the lockdown. You have supported each other through tragic tragedy and loss and uncertainty. You have gone beneath the surface and listened, understood, you have taught your parents and the faculty and staff at Belmont High School,” he said.

Belmont High School’s Senior A Cappella

The Belmont School Committee bestowed its annual awards for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship to Samantha Widdison and Cynthia Lu.

“We are graduating during a pandemic, which hasn’t occurred in 100 years and in an economy as bad as the Great Depression. There are people in the streets fighting for justice, with intensity not seen since the 1960s,” said Widdison, who will be attending Tufts in the fall.

“We all have plans, our expectations for the future. It is up to us to decide what we make of unexpected situations. Whether we view them as obstacles or opportunities for personal growth. I use the opportunity of grades being pass fail this spring to fully embrace senior ‘slide.’ As we move on to the next chapter of our lives, let’s take one day at a time. Don’t worry about the unexpected. You are currently surviving a pandemic being quarantined with your family. You can survive anything,” she said.

Harvard-bound Lu told her classmates that “happiness doesn’t always have to come at a price or a sacrifice.”

“We are never too old to find delight in a snowman or a charity popsicle, or to dive headfirst into something new the way we used to jump into swimming pools, exploring new subjects and activities, meet new people and wander to new places, and soon you’ll find new homes.”

“While growing up often seems like a process of discomfort and less. I hope we remember that even when we fall and scrape our knees. We’ll have each other to help us up,” said Lu.

The ceremony proceeded and concluded with each graduate coming on stage in alphabetical order – which occurred a few weeks previous – to have their moment in the spotlight. If a viewer didn’t know Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance March in D” they would after hearing it repeated to the nth degree during the presentation.

One theme that was highlighted throughout the celebration was that of shared hope. Findlay referenced the writer and encourager Nikki Banas on what can get her classmates through even the toughest times.

“Let it be hope that you are stronger than any challenge that comes your way. Let it be hope that you are exactly where you’re meant to be right now, and that you’re on the path to where you are meant to be. Because during these times hope will be the very thing that carries you through,” said Findlay.

Rollin’ Thru Belmont With The Class Of 2020 [Photos]

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Photo: A Belmont High grad with his crew on hand.

How could it be any better? Sunny skies, summer temperatures, the roads open by a police and fire escort while residents, friends and family cheering all the way. Yes, the rolling rally for Belmont High School’s Class of 2020 was a success for a group of students who saw so much of their final days in school closed down due to the world wide coronavirus pandemic.

With nearly the entire traditional graduation script – from skip day to prom, the class cruise and receiving their diplomas in front of family in the school’s field house – wiped clean, it was clearly a time for the town and high school to think beyond the normal celebrations to honor the tow’s 328 graduating seniors.

So taking the cue from other communities, the high school administration and Belmont public safety arrived with an event that has proven a hit with Boston sports teams: the rolling rally. Instead of the town coming to a specific location to cheer on the class, have the class come to them as vehicles with the student’s on board ride through town, driving through Belmont’s business center’s and passing by the town’s four elementary and the Chenery Middle schools.

Starting at noon from the Boston Temple, the caravan was greeted the entire way by applause and shouts from family and strangers. The rally snaked through the Center, into Waverley and up to Cushing before heading back to the high school.

Belmont Police Chief James MacIssac said that earlier in the day the number of vehicle topped 160 with more coming just as the rally was beginning. He said no incidents or complaints from the public occurred.

With near universal approval from everyone involved, could a rally become a graduation tradition?

Belmont Joins Hundreds Of Communities Worldwide Marching Against Injustice [VIDEO]

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Photo: Residents marching into Belmont Center protesting the death of George Floyd and seeking racial justice. (all photos credit Lisa Sotir)

Hundreds of Belmont residents of all ages and races marched on Wednesday, June 3 from the Belmont Green through the town’s center as “The Town of Homes” joining hundreds of communities nationwide and around the world protesting the death of George Floyd and seeking racial justice.

Carrying signs proclaiming “White silence = violence”, “End Police Brutality” and “Black Lives Matter,” the marchers gathered first at the historic Wellington Station to hear speeches from organizers such as Mitchell Pereira and from incoming Belmont High senior Preston Jackson-Stephens before heading through Belmont Center.

Preston Jackson-Stephens speaking to protesters at Belmont’s Wellington Station. (Lisa Sotir video)

“I wanted to start this because a lot of our surrounding communities were taking part in protesting and I knew that many people in our town wanted to do it as well,” said Pereira, a 2019 graduate of Belmont High.

The march was a viral moment as organizers took to Instagram and asked friends to share their plans and, from there, the word spread.

“I was super surprised and happy with how many people ended up coming,” said Pereira.

For the organizers, the rally’s goal was as a starting point for all Belmont residents to consider how racial injustice effects their lives and the community.

I think it’s our duty to call out injustice and to try and better our society and community,” he said.

“This happened because of everyone and that everyone deserves credit and deserves to be proud of themselves. I’m just a small part of it, it’s really the community who made this happen,” said Pereira.