Belmont Reopens Tennis, Track, Parks; Playgrounds, BBall Will Have To Wait

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Photo: Alan Palm and his son Sawyer in the newly reopened Grove Street Playground.

On a warm Tuesday with willowy clouds overhead, Alan Palm and his son, Sawyer, are on the newly installed walkway that meanders around the Grove Street Playground; Palm père on his skateboard while Palm fils is riding his balance bike.

For the first time since mid-March, Grove Street is back open to the public and the Palms are taking advantage of the return to “normal” in the park.

“I’m very happy that the park is open,” said Palm. “I think we have to find ways to be able to maintain our health and safety.”

What attracts Palms to Grove is the expansive spaces a park provides, “where it’s possible for people to be social distance apart as opposed to just crowding onto the sidewalk. People need to take advantage of that.”

In the most visible examples of a return to normalcy since the sudden closure of many activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March, Belmont is reopening several public spaces effective Tuesday, June 2.

The Belmont Select Board voted unanimously at its Monday, June 1 remote meeting to immediately begin a restart of the town’s public parks and athletic fields limited to passive activities such as walking and running, according to Jon Marshall, the assistant town administrator and Recreation Department director. Arrangements are being made with the School Department to allow use of the track around Harris Field.

In addition, the padlocks will be taken off the town’s tennis courts to permit singles action as well as doubles as long as the pairs are from the same household.

“First off, I want to thank all the residents for their patience. I know it hasn’t been an easy time with all the parks being closed,” said Jon Marshall, the assistant town administrator and Recreation Department director who coordinated the openings with other town departments.

The Department of Public Works is working to create and place signs with new rules and what activities are allowed at each site.

While the parks and fields are now open, residents will still be under state and town orders on minimizing human contact.

“We’re still looking at public safety as our main concern and social distancing and face masks are critical at this time,” said Marshall who said people should not congregate at these locations.

Board Chair Roy Epstein said residents should follow the guidelines of putting on a mask when you’re with six feet of a person not in your household, “if you’re off by yourself or can maintain six feet when they’re outdoor, a mask is a good idea but it’s not obligatory.”

But many activities will remain shuttered for the time being. Remaining off limits will be basketball courts due to likely contact between players. The town will not be issuing athletic permits for organized “pick-up” games such as soccer. Playground equipment aimed at young children will remain closed due to the difficulty in sanitizing the apparatus.

Marshall told the board that the Recreation Commission will discuss at its next meeting on June 10 on how and when to open the courts and fields as most of these activities will be allowed under a Phase II Commonwealth’s Re-Opening Plan from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration.

Marshall told the Board his department could reimpose bans if residents do not abide by state and town regulations.

“We want to keep in mind that there’s still a pandemic going on … so we need to be very prudent in terms of the decisions that are made,” said Marshall.

Belmont Woman Dies Hiking In New Hampshire

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Photo: Mount Israel via Wentworth Trail.

A Belmont resident died while hiking in New Hampshire on Saturday, May 30, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game.

Shortly before noon, 911 received a call regarding a hiker who was experiencing chest pain on the Wentworth Trail in Sandwich. A number of emergency services arrived to find Aida Repuh Grabovac, 48, from Long Avenue unresponsive.

“She was hiking with several friends and started experiencing chest pain approximately a half mile from the trailhead. Rescuers arrived on the scene and attempted to resuscitate her, but were unsuccessful,” said Lt. Bradley R. Morse of Fish and Game.

“She was pronounced deceased and carried by litter to the trailhead parking area. The incident is still under investigation and no further information is available.”

Letter To The Editor: Belmont Against Racism Asks ‘Why And How We Can Accept This?’

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Photo: A vigil at First Church Belmont

To the editor:

The Board of Belmont Against Racism is saddened, anguished and, yes, angry at the taking of Black lives in our country by law enforcement officers over these past several weeks, culminating in the death of George Floyd. The COVID-19 pandemic will be overcome by our scientists, medical leaders and public officials. We ask why this same focus and determination has not and still will not be applied to eradicating racial hatreds, injustice and violence. 

Belmont Against Racism was begun 28 years ago as a sad, anguished and angry response to the police brutality directed at Rodney King on another spring day in Los Angeles. And many of us in 1992 recalled too well the events of the 1960s and the Kerner Commission report which declared that “our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.” So very little has changed and so it is time that we ask each other and our civic and community leaders why and how we can accept this and call ourselves a civil society whose laws and structures protect everyone, not just those whose skin tone happens to be white.

Stephen Carter, a Yale Law Professor and former clerk of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, stated in an interview on NPR this week that this hatred, injustice and violence will continue until our country can forsake our belief in the inherent superiority of white people and inherent inferiority of black people. We believe he is right. In “These Truths,” her history of the country, Jill Lepore observes the many ways we have failed to ever really be faithful to the words from the Declaration of Independence in each generation as nativism, nationalism and white supremacy have too often contradicted the aspirations that neither the founders nor we have ever lived up to. She quotes Abraham Lincoln, who said in 1862, “We must disenthrall ourselves and, and then we shall save the country.” More than 150 years later, it seems we have barely begun to do this.

Some will be tempted to focus on the protests, riots and burning. While we too regret that so many small businesses and communities are ravaged as well by the rages that are swirling, this is not the core problem now, nor was it in 1992, nor in the 1960s. It is too easy to let our sympathy and support for those who are the rage’s victims become “the story” and not the underlying cause of racism. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar makes this point in his op-ed piece in today’s Los Angeles Times. He quotes Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem:” 

What happens to a dream deferred?

…Maybe it sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

We are fortunate in Belmont to have leadership in our Town’s Police Department who have embraced The 21st Century Policing Principles and are demonstrating their commitment to anti-racist policing in our town.  Some in BAR can recall times and incidents when such principles were not adhered to as well. But, we have made progress in our community. Belmont is not Minneapolis, LA, St. Louis or any of the larger cities where police violence against blacks are too common and until the age of the smartphone often unseen, unless you happened to be the black victims. 

But, if we can make progress in our small town, we must retain some hope that it can be done elsewhere. However, focusing just on law enforcement is also a mistake. We who are white must continue the work to become disenthralled. It is done in small and large ways. We must pick ourselves up from these ashes and recommit to creating a country that someday will see beyond the color of our skins.

Michael Collins

BAR Board Member

Virtual Candlelight Vigil On Thursday, June 4 In Response To George Floyd’s Death

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Photo: The poster of Thursday’s remote vigil

In response to the murder of George Floyd and the resulting nationwide unrest, Belmont Against Racism, the Belmont Religious Council, and the Belmont Human Rights Commission are sponsoring a virtual candlelight vigil on Thursday, June 4 at 7 p.m. to be aired on Belmont Media.

Members of the clergy, Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac, State Rep. Dave Rogers, State Sen. Will Brownsberger and others will be giving short words of comfort/comments which will be followed by asking listeners to light a candle or flashlight on their front porches. 

Road Construction On Payson Road, Three Other Streets Begins June 3

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Photo: Belmont roads will be reconstructed beginning Wednesday

Beginning Wednesday, June 3, the Town of Belmont’s general contractor, E.H. Perkins, will commence road reconstruction on:

  • Payson Road from Oakley Road to Belmont Street,
  • Lawndale Street
  • Newton Street
  • Carleton Road

Residents can expect heavy construction activity for several weeks during the construction hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Payson Road will be closed to through traffic during construction hours, and commuters are advised to seek alternate routes.

For any questions or concerns about the project, contact Arthur O’Brien, resident engineer in the Office of Community Development, at 617-993-2665.

Belmont High Rolling Rally’s Route Set For Saturday

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Photo: Come out on Saturday to cheer for students like this one.

Come out on Saturday to celebrate the Belmont High Class of 2020 as they roll along the streets of Belmont.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation of all year-end activities and events for the Belmont High School Class of 2020. As a way to celebrate our seniors, senior parents with the support of town officials have organized a rolling rally through Belmont on Saturday, June 6. 

The rally will begin at noon at the Boston Massachusetts Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Belmont Hill and will proceed along the following route:

Start: Boston Temple, 100 Hinckley Ave.

Right to Park Avenue

Right to Prospect Street

Right to Clifton Street

Left to Pleasant Street

Right to Brighton Street

Right to Cross Street

Right to Channing Road

Left to Leonard Street, under the commuter rail bridge

Right to Common Street

Left to School Street

Right to Washington Street

Left to Common Street

Right to Trapelo Road

Left to White Street

Left to Beech Street

Right to Waverley Street

Straight onto School Street

Left to Goden Street

Right to Concord Avenue

Left to Underwood Road

Right to Hittinger Street and the high school parking lot.

Make some noise, give them a wave and shout out some words of encouragement. Please also be mindful of the current social distancing requirements.  

COVID-19 Deaths Stable Over 2 Weeks As Town Discusses Opening Parks, Playgrounds

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Photo: Belmont town buildings, parks and playgrounds could be opening in the next week.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Belmont have remained essentially stable in the past two weeks as the town begins discussions on reopening in the coming weeks.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus from May 14 to May 29 increased by two, to 60 from 58, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health while the number of confirmed cases COVID-19 rose from 198 to 220.

With the number of cases and deaths statewide and in town are holding steady, the Select Board will discuss reopening town buildings, parks and playgrounds at its remote meeting on Monday, June 1 at 7 p.m.

Currently, all Belmont public playgrounds and fields (including all basketball, tennis, and pickleball courts) are closed. In addition, Town Hall offices, the Belmont Public Library, and the Beech Street Center buildings are closed.

On May 18, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced plans to slowly begin reopening Massachusetts businesses and industries, including specific information about which businesses will be allowed to re-open and when under Phase 1. 

You can find more information about when businesses and organizations will be able to reopen here: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/reopening-when-can-my-business-reopen

If you would like more information on the Massachusetts Reopening, visit the Reopening Massachusetts website here:https://www.mass.gov/info-details/reopening-massachusetts

Beech Street Center

Nava Niv-Vogel, Director of the Council on Aging, wishes to remind the community that staff at the Beech Street Center are available to help residents of all ages to access essential services during the pandemic. 

Due to growing national concern that people are waiting too long to seek out medical treatment over fears of catching COVID-19, potentially contributing to poor health outcomes, all residents are reminded to always call their primary care physicians and/or other medical specialists for advice regarding ANY medical issue, even if it is not related to COVID-19. 

Staff at the Beech Street Center can be reached at (617) 993-2970.

Emotional Health Resources 

During stressful times it is common to have worries about yourself or a loved one.  If you have questions about the types of treatment available, please contact Health Department Social Worker Janet Amdur atjamdur@belmont-ma.gov or (617) 993-2983.

Please remember to take care of your emotional health and help others to do the same. If you need emotional help please also consider making use of the following resources:

  • Call 2-1-1 and choose the “CALL2TALK” option. (Please note that 2-1-1 call center has recently been operating on approximately a 90-minute delay for responses.)
  • The Samaritans helpline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text their helpline any time at 1-877-870-4673.
  • The Disaster Distress Helpline, 1-800-985-5990, is a national hotline, which also operates 24/7, to provide immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human caused disaster, including disease outbreaks like COVID-19.  This toll-free, multilingual, and confidential crisis support service is available to all residents in the United States and its territories. 

Belmont Helps: Ways to Help Our Community

Belmont Helps, a Winn Brook Parent Teacher Association Committee, is an all-volunteer organization founded on March 14 to connect Belmont area community members in need during the COVID-19 outbreak to resources and volunteers. More information can be found at www.belmonthelps.org.  Contact belmonthelps@gmail.com or leave a message at (617) 993-0162 for a call back from a team member.

Belmont COVID-19 Informational Call Center and Email

For general COVID-19 questions not specific to Belmont, all Massachusetts residents encouraged to call the state’s 2-1-1 hotline that is staffed by operators 24/7 and with translators available in multiple languages.  Residents with questions can dial 2-1-1 from any landline or cellphone or use the live chat option on the on the Mass 2-1-1 website. 

Belmont has also established a call center to allow residents to ask non-medical questions specific to COVID-19 in Belmont. The call center will be staffed Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. the number for the call center is (617) 993-2222. Questions can also be emailed to: belmonteoc@belmont-ma.gov .

Please call 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency. Calls should not be made to 9-1-1 to obtain information about COVID-19

Important updates about COVID-19 and its impact on the Town will be posted at www.belmont-ma.gov .

Letter To The Editor: Chief MacIsaac Discuss George Floyd’s Death And Future Of Trust

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Photo: Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac

On Thursday, May 28, I received an email from a Belmont resident who, in light of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer, felt it was necessary to ask me a few questions to proactively ensure the safety of Belmont’s minority citizens. I immediately answered the residents email. I have since heard from others with similar concerns, so I believe it is necessary for me to write this letter.

I watched the video of George Floyd’s death with dismay. As a police officer and former use-of-force instructor, I was sickened by the video. Speaking for the Officers at the Belmont Police Department, I can say that they, too, found the video disturbing. The death of George Floyd runs counter in every way to the values of democracy, justice, and fundamental fairness. Any officer who is not upset about the death of George Floyd, or seeks to justify the unjustifiable, should leave the profession of law enforcement.

Please know that our officers work very hard to build and maintain trust within our community. Our number one goal is to provide excellent, fair and impartial police services to the community of Belmont. Over the years, leadership at the BPD has infused an ethos into our Department requiring that all citizens and visitors to Belmont that we encounter receive fair, equal and compassionate treatment. Maintaining and cultivating this culture is our number one priority.

The most effective way we can build trust between the police and the community is for us to get to know one another.

Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac

Our officers are aware of the differences of explicit and implicit biases and have received annual training on how biases can affect their interactions with others. Belmont Police Officers are trained in de-escalation techniques that include de-escalating incidents involving people in crisis, people living with addiction, and people with autism.

The circumstances of the George Floyd death will and should cause police organizations across the country to take a hard look at their officers and their organizational cultures to prevent these kinds of tragedies from happening in the future. I can assure you that the Belmont Police Department fully embraces the six pillars of the principals found in President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

The Belmont Police will continue our partnerships and collaboration with existing and future groups that seek to bring social justice within our community. I have never been more proud of officers and our team at the BPD. At no time during my career, can I recall us having a group of professional and community minded officers like the ones that fill our ranks today. I will be attending each roll call in the coming week to discuss the incident in Minneapolis with our officers and to share the concerns that residents have expressed to me.

The most effective way we can build trust between the police and the community is for us to get to know one another. I, and the members of the Belmont Police Department, will always make ourselves available to anyone who has concerns or questions regarding operations, tactics and how we interact with the public.

As a police officer, it is heartbreaking to me when I learn that there are people in our community that fear the police. We will make every effort to alleviate that fear and build trust within the Community of Belmont.

James MacIsaac

Belmont Police Chief

Developer Seeking 16 Townhouses Off Frontage Road On Belmont Hill

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Photo: An architectural rendering of the proposed 16 townhouse project off Frontage Road on Belmont Hill. (EMBARC)

The email message to this media outlet was a call to arms: “How can someone even think about placing an apartment complex in our neighborhood of homes? How?”

The consternation from at least one Belmont Hill resident comes as a Florida-based developer is proposing to build 16 townhouse units on approximately half an acre of land at 91 Beatrice Cir., located off of Frontage Road between Park Avenue and Pleasant Street.

The proposed project will highlight the Select Board’s Monday, June 1 remote virtual meeting at 7 p.m.

The development team has applied for a comprehensive permit under Chapter 40B, the sometimes contentious state law enacted in 1969 to promote the construction of low- and moderate-income housing.

The law allows developers to skirt local zoning regulations – such as for density and lot restrictions – if 20 to 25 percent of the project units have long-term affordability restrictions and the town’s housing stock is less than 10 percent affordable. The development team is setting aside four units as affordable to households earning 80 percent of the median income around Boston.

And Comprehensive Land will be seeking waivers from 10 zoning bylaws – including restrictions on attached apartments in the SR-A district, the requirement that a nonconforming development undergoes the Planning Board’s Design and Site Plan Review, minimum lot area, open space limited, yard setbacks and lot coverage, to name a few – and from the town’s stormwater management and control bylaw.

In a letter to Select Board Chair Roy Epstein dated May 13, MassHousing, the state agency that oversees 450B proposals, has already begun the process of reviewing the application and seeking information from the town on moving forward with the project.

For the developer, this townhouse project will allow moderate-income families the opportunity to live in Belmont.

“Through Chapter 40B’s streamlined permitting, the proposed project creates affordable rental opportunities, with larger units that have the potential to provide much-needed family housing,” said the developer in its application to MassHousing. “The average single home sales price in Belmont over the past twelve months exceeded $1,250,000.”

Comprehensive Land Holding, LLC – made up of Joseph, Jacob and Stephen Tamposi on this project – of the Gulf Coast community of Hernando has long roots in New England (Samuel Tamposi Sr. made the family fortune in real estate and business holdings in southern New Hampshire) constructing upscale homes in upscale communities such as Wayland while expanding to the Sunshine State where it built “our family’s flagship community.“

The Tamposi’s 40B project in Belmont is not their first in the area. In fact, the family has made quite a splash down in Milton where it’s proposing two large scale affordable projects totaling 252 units with 380 parking spaces.

The developers purchased the existing structure – a seven-room brick ranch built 72 years ago – after a wave of activity as the property was sold three times in the past three years. The 2,700 sq.-ft. structure was bought for $1.4 million, a cool $300,000 over the assessed value.

The project consists of a pair of buildings – laid out east to west on the lot – each with eight connected wood-framed townhouses. The southern row of housing will consist of three bedrooms in three stories, 1,480 sq.-ft townhouses; the building closest to Frontage Road will be four bedroom, four stories at 1,800 sq.-ft.

There will be a parking space inside each townhouse and 10 additional spaces for overflow parking. The lot is situated across from a number 84 MBTA bus stop with access to Alewife Red Line station.

The unnamed Belmont project is following a decade long development trend of building residential apartment and condominium blocks along Route 2 inbound towards Cambridge. Multi-unit blocks now dot the landscape from the Belmont line – including the Royal Belmont – to a recently opened 320-unit apartment complex where the Lanes & Games bowling alley and the Gateway Motel once stood.

What Every Parent Needs: A Summer Tip Sheet As COVID Restrictions Are Lifted

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Photo: Open to the community.

Prepared by Lisa Gibalerio, prevention specialist, Wayside Youth and Family Support Services

As towns and states pull back on the restrictions imposed to “flatten the curve,” and society tries to re-open businesses and resume “life as usual,” questions arise:

  • What’s safe for our families to do now?
  • Can my kids see their friends? get jobs?
  • Can we eat in a restaurant? go to the beach?

The most important thing to realize as you venture out into the world is that the coronavirus has not been eliminated — COVID-19 is still around us, it is highly contagious, and it can be fatal. 

Shifting From “Prevention” to “Minimizing Risk”

“Flattening the curve” was part of a strategy of prevention and containment: we kept our distance to avoid overcrowding hospitals.  Now, as society moves to open up and we venture forth, our strategy needs to change accordingly — to minimizing risk.  

How do we do that?

First, remember how COVID-19 spreads:

  • Airborne transmission – particles spread from one person to others via coughing, sneezing, and talking, this is by far the most common means of transmission.
  • Surface (“fomite”) transmission – particles spread from contaminated surfaces; this seems to be a much less significant source of transmission for COVID-19.

Core Guidelines to Keep in Mind

  1. COVID-19 spreads by airborne transmission in closed spaces, so….

Avoid closed spaces and crowds as much as possible, and instead meet others in open, well-aired spaces; outdoors is best.

  1. COVID-19 spreads via droplets in the air & stays airborne for long periods of time, so….

Use face masks and keep social distancing (6 feet minimum — 10 feet is better) even while outside, to keep out of the “particle cloud” created by others’ speaking and coughing; realize that sometimes you might pass through a cloud left minutes before, so protect yourself. Wash with soap and water after any interactions with others.

  1. COVID-19 is highly contagious and people can have the virus without showing symptoms for days — everyone is a potential carrier, so…

Recognize that this is not about you alone. The danger you personally face is only part of the equation. You are potentially dangerous to others around you. Think of yourself as a potential link in a chain of disease, and try to minimize your role in that chain.

Can the kids see friends, or visit our extended family?

  • Check in with parents of your kids’ friends, and try to assess the potential risk they pose. Ask about their practices for the past 10 weeks, e.g., “Have you been physical distancing?” “Have you been working from home?”  “Do you wear masks when outside the home?”
  • Outdoors is the safest option; keep well spaced (at least 6 feet apart, even further is better).
  • Wear a mask.
  • Keep hand sanitizer close by.
  • If a food event, bring your own food, and avoid sharing serving utensils.
  • Discourage sleep-overs, indoor play dates, or any activities that involve extended periods together in closed spaces. There is much more risk.
  • To allow for lower-risk play dates and teen gatherings: keep them outdoors, everyone use masks, and maintain distance.

Can my teens have a summer job?

There is no “one size fits all” answer. There are a variety of factors to consider, and the decision will still be a personal one within a given family. Consider:  

  • Does the job involve crowds?
  • Is the place well ventilated?
  • What is your teen’s tolerance for wearing a face mask?
  • Is there anyone in your family who is high risk?

Where can my family go?

Restaurants?

  • Maybe.  Call ahead.  Only if outdoors, tables are well spaced, and staff are fully masked.

Backyard BBQ?

  • Gather information:  How many people will be there?  Will masks be required?  Can I bring my own food?  Is there a plan for bathroom use?

Beach?  

  • Maybe — off hours are best.  Avoiding crowds is the goal.

Hair Salon?

  • Maybe.  Call ahead.  Ask about the precautions that are in place:
  • How many people will be in salon?  Are chairs wiped down?  Is mask wearing required for all?  Skip the shampoo and blow dry – get in and get out.

Public Transportation?

  • Only if you must.  Be very cautious.  Wear a mask.  Sanitize before and after.  Spread out.

Concluding Thoughts: Be intentional, thoughtful, and plan ahead.