Belmont Farmers Market Opens Thursday, June 1 With A POP And A Food Assistance Fair

Photo: Opening Day for the Belmont Farmers Market is Thursday, June 1.

Mark your calendar: the Belmont Farmers Market will open for the season on Thursday, June 1.

The Opening Day celebration will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the Claflin Street Parking Lot in Belmont Center with a ribbon cutting, a speech and the ringing of the market bell.

The market is open weekly on Thursday afternoons, 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., until the last week in October.

Market favorite vendors are back, bringing produce, baked goods, prepared foods and knife sharpening to Belmont each week. In addition,

In addition, the Just Hummus food truck will be a Market regular throughout the summer.

Opening With A Pop

This year the market will participate in the POP Club, a nationally-recognized program aimed at empowering kids to make healthy food choices and learn where their food comes from. Each week, POP Club members get a $3 POP Club coupon to spend at the Market on fruits, vegetables, or food-producing plants of their choice.

Signing up is simple. If your child is between the ages 5-12, fill out this POP Club form or stop by the Manager’s Tent at the Market to grab a POP Club Passport. Then collect your $3 coupons, get a stamp, and go shopping.

Food Assistance Fair To Inform Shoppers How To Stretch Budget

The Market will host their second annual Food Assistance Information Fair as part of the Opening Day celebration. The fair’s primary goal is informing shoppers about the many benefit programs that can help them stretch their food budgets.

BFM’s food assistance doubles SNAP benefits – formerly Food Stamps – up to $25 weekly for each shopper. They are one of the few farmers’ markets that double Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons (FMNP) for eligible seniors and WIC families.

The Market’s food assistance program grew significantly in the 2022 season:
• $26,000 in matching funds for SNAP and FMNP, an increase of 60 percent over 2021.
• $22,000 in produce purchased from HIP farmers, an increase of 15 percent over 2021.

Donations from the community and sponsorships from local businesses pay for the matching program, while the Commonwealth reimburses vendors for HIP purchases. Spending those additional funds at the Market also supports local farms and businesses.

The Market is a project of the Belmont Food Collaborative, Inc. BFC is a nonprofit whose goal is education about food and nutrition, and helping families in need get fresh produce.

Editor’s note:

A reader asked: Why does the Belmontonian use “farmers” rather than “farmers'” in the title of the market? Here is an explanation from Kevin Hessel, a top-notched copy editor:

“[Farmers Market] is a descriptive phrase, not a possessive – a market for farmers, not a market belonging to farmers – so there’s no need for a possessive apostrophe, which is the only thing an apostrophe here would seem to indicate. Boys basketball, girls basketball, teachers union, farmers market, etc.”

“Descriptive phrases like children’s hospital (a hospital for children, not a hospital belonging to children) get an apostrophe because the plural children doesn’t end in s, also e.g. men’s basketball, women’s basketball.”

“A complete explanation of the applicable rules is under the apostrophe entry in the Punctuation chapter of the [AP] stylebook.”

From Banking To Beaujolais: New Owner Of Belmont Center Beer And Wine Store Set To Open

Photo: Roxana Lemus, the owner of Belmont Wine and Beer in the former Cuvee Fine Wines on Leonard Street in Belmont Center

Ever since she came to the United States as a 10-year-old from El Salvador, Roxana Lemus was looking to take the

“It has always been a dream of mine to become a business owner,” Lemus told the Belmontonian.

And sometime this summer, Lemus will realize her goal when she opens the doors to Belmont Wine and Beer, in the location of the former Cuvee Fine Wines at 32 Leonard St. in Belmont Center.

The new Belmont Wine and Beer store on Leonard Street

“I am very happy about the opportunity that I see now,” said Lemus, after the Select Board approved her request for an off-premises beer and wine liquor license in March. The license was the existing one for the location, being surrendered by Gandbhir Swapnil who purchased the former Vintages: Adventures in Wine store in August 2016.

For the past several years, Lemus was moving up the retail banking ladder at Rockland Trust, as branch manager of its East Boston office on Meridian Street. It was when she recently purchased a house in Marlborough that Lemus said to herself, “it’s about time that I get to own my own business that was closer to my home.” Her search took her to Belmont where she discovered the long-established business was up for sale.

“I was first very, very tentative but then I knew this is what I’m looking for. So it was about time for me to step up and become a business owner,”, said Lemus.

While her primary goal is to continue the success of the business, Lemus also wants to get to know and support the Belmont populace.

“I want everyone to know me more than just a business owner. I want people to know me as Roxanna, that she’s part of the community.”

Breaking: Town Day Cancelled Saturday Due To Wet, Cold Weather; Rescheduled Sometime In The Fall

Photo: See you in the fall

The 32nd Belmont Town Day celebration scheduled for Saturday, May 20, has been cancelled due to a daunting weather forecast for the day. According to Gerry Dickhaut, president of the Belmont Center Business Association which sponsors the annual event, will be rescheduled sometime this fall.

Showers are expected early on Saturday than becoming a steady rain by noon with the potential for heavy rainfall resulting in a half-an-inch sweeping the area. In addition, the expect high temperature is not expected to breach 64 degrees with wind gusting to 15 mph.

This is the second time in a decade the event has been postponed by weather with the day pushed back three weeks. The COVID pandemic forced the cancellation of Town Day in 2020 and delayed it into the fall of 2021.

Hosted by the Business Association along Leonard Street, the Town Day is filled with events including musical groups, classic cars, tours of the Belmont Center fire station, carnival rides, a bouncy castle, trinkets for sale, booths sponsored by civic groups and businesses and and lots of food. 

Belmont Community Path Phase 2 Hybrid Public Forum Set For Thursday, May 18

Photo: A conceptional image of the Belmont Community Path above the MBTA commuter rail

Join the first Public Forum for the Belmont Community Path Phase 2 project. 

At this presentation and listening session, the Belmont Community Path Project Committee and consultant team from Pare Corporation will provide a brief overview of the project, a summary of the community input received thus far, and project work to date, including the draft route recommendation. The public’s input at this meeting will provide guidance for the development of the project.

Belmont has retained Pare Corporation and Toole Design to recommend the final alignment and to design Phase 2 which will connect from the Clark Street bridge to the Waltham city line with a linear trail and park.

The Belmont Community Path is a generational off-road, multi-use path that will provide recreational opportunities and a safe, walkable, and bikeable route to cultural, economic, and social anchors. It will also serve as a critical piece of the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) which will connect Boston and Northampton.

The forum is taking place on Thursday, May 18 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. It will be a hybrid meeting 

For those who wish to attend via Zoom, the link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85658595262 

For those who want to participate live, the forum will take place at Belmont Town Hall in the Select Board Meeting Room, 455 Concord Ave.

Get To See ‘Out Of The Bunker’ At Trinktisch Sunday, May 21

Photo: Members of Out of The Bunker who will be performing at Trinktisch this Sunday, May 21.

By Monica Collins

Michael Shea, ad hoc leader of a new jazz quintet, says the name of the group, “Out of The Bunker,” is a testament to the world post-COVID after an epoch of isolation. People now go out without masks and cluster again in groups to hear music. And one place with a new listening audience is Trinktisch, the beer hall at 87 Leonard St. in Belmont Center where live jazz has become a vibe repast at Sunday brunch. 

The first time I heard “Out Of the Bunker” play jazz standards such as “Bluesette, “Body And Soul,” “Skylark” and “Fly Me To the Moon,” at Trinktisch, I was transfixed. The music was wonderful, the food and drink tasted delicious. The whole event just seemed like one of those rare occasions when all was right with the world – and the town of Belmont.

Two quintet members live in Belmont: Casey Jones, the drummer, is also a software engineer, and Gregory Schneider, saxophonist, is the Head of School at Belmont Hill. Keyboardist Shea, who has masters degrees in jazz and composition, is a professional musician and bassist John Capello is a high-tech entrepreneur who has also played with jazz groups through the years.

The guitarist Bunker (George) Henderson graduated from Belmont Hill School in 1968 and after college and law school went on to have a long career as an environmental lawyer and U.S. Attorney. He’s the husband of Dita, my college roommate and, yes, Bunker still carries the childhood nickname that inspired the quintet’s moniker – although Henderson is too self-effacing to admit that or other accolades in his backstory, notably his early career as an assistant attorney general focused on the Boston Harbor clean-up. When after decades, Henderson finally retired from the government, he homed in on another of his passions – the guitar. He yearned to become proficient as a jazz guitarist. 

At the Powers Music School, these players found each other, jammed and learned to play together. They rehearsed until they decided to go wide. Shea and Jones had long been craft beer aficionados and patrons of Trinktisch. One thing led to another. Chef Kate Butler and CEO Suzanne Schalow offered them the gig to play every other Sunday, alternating with the MAC3 Jazz Trio. (“Out Of the Bunker” plays again on Sunday, May 21). 

Now, Butler says she couldn’t be more pleased with Sunday’s sweet strains at Trinktisch. “Beer goes well with music,” she says. “This seems to really work.” Back in the kitchen, Baker gets much joy “hearing them play and hearing people at the tables clapping, it’s an overall amazing experience.”

Good music can lure you out of any bunker. 

Mullan’s 100th Career Goal Leads Marauders’ Belmont Girls Lax Win Over ‘Ponders [VIDEO]

Photo: Belmont High’s senior co-captain Mary Mullan (right) and Tess Desantis – the Marauders’ Nickel and Dime attack – after the victory over Arlington in which Mullan scored her 100th career goal.

Belmont High School Senior Co-captain Mary Mullan scored her 100th career goal as the dime in the Marauders’ Nickel and Dime attack pair – Mullan wears number 10, and junior Tess Desantis, number 5 – scored eight of Belmont’s 16 goals in the team’s 16-7 victory against Arlington High School on Friday, May 12.

Marauders upped its record to 7-4 solidifying its hold on a playoff spot with seven game remaining in the season.

“It’s a good accomplishment to have,” said Mullan after the game. “It’s been really special playing with these girls.”

Mullan’s century mark came 10 minutes into the second half as the three-year starter had a hat trick in the first 25 minutes. Mullan tallied her 100 goals in just two-and-a-half seasons as her first year season 2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19 and the 2021 campaign was cut in half

Belmont Head Coach Dan O’Brien said that on any other night, the game ball would have been handed to junior goalie Julia Herlihy who made 14 saves stifling any attempt by the SpyPonders to get back into the game.

Belmont High’s Julia Herlihy with one of her 14 saves vs. Arlington.

“[Herlihy] was lights out,” said O’Brien. “That’s the type of performance that’s going to carry us forward in the tournament.”

Belmont plays the first game of the annual Lacrosse Night in Belmont, as the Boys’ and Girls’ will host Waltham on Saturday, May 13.

Performing Arts’ Student Directed One Acts This Weekend

Photo: The poster for BHS PAC Student Directed One Act

A serious business meeting of elementary school students, the 15-minute “abridged” version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a bar pickup played as a boxing match, the film set for a political ad, and reimagining of the last moments of Leon Trotsky’s life … eight times.

A mix of comedy, drama, and everything in between will be on stage when the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company presents its annual Student Directed Festival of short plays featuring five 10 to 15-minute plays directed by PAC seniors.

The One Acts take place May 11 to 13 at 7 p.m. at the Belmont High School Black Box Theater.

TICKETS are $5 for students: $12 for adults. Tickets are on sale at bhs-pac.org

One Acts is a PAC favorite each year, showcasing the talents of the PAC in directing, acting, and technical design. This year’s group of directors includes six seniors who have cast 32 students in the five plays. Another 50 students are working backstage, taking complete ownership of designing all of the scenery, lighting, costumes, props, and sound for the shows.

Some play deal with adult situations, contain mild adult language, and may not be appropriate for young children.

The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company is the extracurricular theatrical group of Belmont High School. Membership is open to all students of Belmont High School. The PAC produces five shows yearly: The Fall Play and Spring Musical on the Main Stage Theater and Cabaret Night, Improv Show and the student-directed One Act Festival in the Little Theater.

2023 Town Meeting; Second, Third Nights, Segment A: No On Fee Holiday For Payson Park Music Fest, Members OK Rink Appropriation

Photo: With citizen petitioner Tomi Olsen listening, Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo speaks on the Town Meeting article on exempting nonprofit music events from town fees

The final two nights of the annual Town Meeting Segment A found members with little to get excited about – that’s expected to take place in Segment B – yet enough to keep busy with changes to bylaws and voting to allow the construction of a next-generation skating rink for the town.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the highlight was the passage to amend a bylaw that would clamp down vehicles that jut into the sidewalk, forcing pedestrians into the roadway to bypass the obstacle. Citizens Petitioner Gi Yoon-Huang, precinct 8, said the purpose of the bylaw “is to bring awareness to the town” that sidewalks are not an extension of a driveway and that vehicles can also obstruct sidewalks “and to educate the public” via “annual communications” about the law.

“By passing this petition, we are sending the message that we are prioritizing pedestrian safety over vehicles to the rest of the town and those enforcing them,” said Yoon-Huang.

While Town Meeting members were largely OK with the new bylaw – some questioned Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac told the meeting he would be a little leery if his officers issued tickets under the new regulation as it goes beyond the existing Traffic Rules and Regulations, which allows the police to enforce 26 violations including speeding, parking, and obstructions. Unlike the regulations, the bylaw will require the police to identify who parked the vehicle to become an obstacle, which could be a drawback.

Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac

In addition, because the ticket is issued for violating a bylaw, anyone seeking to appeal the ticket has to do so before a Cambridge District Court magistrate rather than a traffic clerk. “If we start writing bylaw violations for parking tickets, I guarantee you I will hear back from the Cambridge District Court asking why [Belmont] is talking about backing up the process,” the chief said.

Speaking after the meeting, MacIsaac said “only the most persistent violators” would be fined under the newly worded bylaw, a sentiment that Yoon-Huang felt would be fair.

“I wanted this petition to be changing the culture and behavior” among residents rather than “another reason to ticket them,” said Yoon-Huang.

Despite concern from members who questioned the need for a bylaw reiterating existing regulations against obstructing the sidewalk, the article was easily adopted, 176-41-6.

Also, on the second night, the Meeting approved the authorization to borrow $28.7 million – which reflects $1.3 million in donations – to construct the new municipal skating rink. Town voters approved the debt exclusion at the April 4 annual town election with 61.7 percent approval after the measure was initially defeated in November by a 350 vote margin.

“The biggest thing I want to tell you is it’s not just a skating rink,” said Mark Haley, chair of the Municipal Rink Building Committee. “We’re creating a community center for high school sports and youth programs around the town.”

While most speakers congratulated the building committee for getting the project over the line by “sharpening our pencils” and reducing costs, others expressed apprehension that piling on debt with the rink and a new $32 million library approved in November could hamper the passage of a critical $9.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 vote due in April 2024.

“If we are facing a [fiscal] cliff after [an override] failure, the town’s elected representatives must be prepared to take responsibility for past votes and our votes tonight,” said Paul Gormisky, precinct 7.

But even those who opposed the rink would not thwart the will of the voters, and the article passed with a 200 vote margin, 210-9-1.

The highlight of the last night of Segment A was whether the legislative body would assist a resident who runs a beloved summer music festival from having to pay the fee for using town property.

Tomi Olsen, Precinct 5, is the founder and producer of the Payson Park Music Festival, which has hosted a dozen weekly performances during the summer for the past 32 years. But a long-standing bugaboo for Olsen has been the $75-hourly fee imposed by the town’s Recreation Department on events to provide clean-up services and maintenance.

“The amount of $1,120 may appear small, but in our budget, it is very substantial,” said Olsen. In the past two seasons, Olsen has not paid the PPMF fee; in 2021, Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo paid the tab, and 2022’s assessment was not picked up.

The original language in Olsen’s citizens’ petition would exempt all Belmont-based non-profit organizations from paying the hourly fee for using public lands as those entities provide a common good to the community.”

But in the run-up to Town Meeting, Olsen’s petition was barely treading water. The Select Board, Warrant Committee, and everyone else was lining up against the measure as it would allow more than 300 non-profits “residing” in Belmont to use space in town parks and land rent-free.

In a last-minute attempt to narrow the number of entities that would warrant a discount, Olsen submitted an amendment at the town-imposed deadline for revising articles. Working with the Bylaw Review Committee, the newly worded article – presented to the Select Board three hours before the start of the Town Meeting – whittled down the exemption to music-oriented non-profits producing free-fee concerts, which left only a pair of popular and well-attended musical events: PPMF and Porchfest.

But the Select Board was having none of that. At the board’s meeting preceding Monday’s assembly, Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo put the hammer down on both the late submittal of the amendment and what he and the board believed were “significant” changes to the article, explicitly adding the word “musical” to the article.

In a rare move, the board sent for Town Moderator Mike Widmer to attend the pre-Meeting Select Board confab to explain and defend the amendment.

Upon hearing the Select Board’s displeasure, Olsen attempted an end run around the stubborn opposition to the article by requesting a postponement of the debate and vote until the start of Segment B – which begins May 31 – allowing the amended article a chance to circulate in an attempt to garner support.

But facing a contentious and bustling budget segment, most Town Meeting demanded a final up-or-down on Olsen’s article by voting down the proposed postponement, 40-175-4.

Despite town committees and boards voting unanimously unfavorable action to her proposal, Olsen put on a brave face and questioned why the festival and Porchfest should be burdened

“If these gifts of talent can be provided for free-for-all by these non-profits, why wouldn’t we as a town want to help by waiving such a small fee for the town?” said Olsen.

While all who spoke praised the festival and promised to donate to it, members said they didn’t want to set the precedent of carving out a special exemption for the festival or any other worthy cause in the future.

Members also pointed out that Olsen has other options to reduce the PPMF’s financial burden. Recreation Department Director Brendan Fitz acknowledged his office has an existing mechanism in which individuals or non-profits can request reductions of payments, “which happens quite regularly.”

The last-second changes didn’t convince many to come to Olsen’s side, as the article was defeated 41-174-3.

Earlier in the evening, Town Meeting approved authorizing 10-year terms for town leases and procurement agreements for electric vehicles, expanding from the current state-approved three-year term. The article will allow a greater option to purchase large electric vehicles with an eye on the next generation of school buses. Since there are environmental and costs advantages to accepting the measure, Town Meeting gave the article a big thumbs up, 212-5-5

On the final article of the night, the meeting found itself scratching its collective heads when it came to the seemingly innocuous request for a property easement to allow the approved Subaru expansion along Pleasant Street to proceed. The original article used standard boilerplate language for granting all the necessary infrastructure changes for development.

What caused the article to become a glorious gallimaufry was a Substitute for the Main Motion authored by Robert McGaw, precinct 1, which town officials described as an exercise in heavy-handed “redlining” copyediting. But beyond that, they couldn’t say why the amendment was necessary. McGaw’s rewrite didn’t alter the easement’s purpose or make the article any more understandable to the members.

“Speaking for myself, and I think also for my colleagues, we were mystified, wondering what changed with this amendment. As far as I can tell, nothing has changed,” said the Select Board’s Roy Epstein.

But, as Epstein pointed out, the amendment did have real-world implications “because I can tell you a lot of time was devoted by town staff, Town Counsel – at some expense – and by the Select Board to evaluate this amendment to seemingly no purpose.”

At this moment, McGaw and Town Moderator Mike Widmer could not agree on which of the versions of the amendment the meeting would be voting on. The process became so muddled that Widmer called for a five-minute break as Town Counsel George Hall, Garvin, McGaw, and Epstein held a sidebar that got a tad animated at one point. When all was said and done, the Select Board decided it was best to move on and accept the amendment as “red.”

Director of the Office of Community Development Glen Clancy did his usual masterful job explaining the need for the easement to the assembly, which garnered not a single question. After passing with a handful of no’s, a second vote was required due to some “confusion” on what version the body was being polled. The article finally passed 207-0-2. Whew.

Town Meeting will return on May 31 with Segment B, the budget portion of the annual meeting.

State Rep Rogers Announces May Office Hours

Photo: Dave Rogers, your state rep, front and center

State Rep. Dave Rogers has announced his May office hours in Belmont. They are:

Please feel free to contact Rogers’ office at any time with questions by phone at 617-722-2263 or by email at dave.rogers@mahouse.gov

May 10 Public Meeting On Plan To Increase Water/Sewer Rates After No Hikes For Half A Decade

Photo: Water rates will be heading upward if the Select Board approves a five-year plan by a consultant Raftelis

After five years where residents saw their water rates stay constant – and six years for sewer rates – the Select Board will hold a hybrid public forum on water and sewer rates on Wednesday, May 10, to discuss the likely acceptance of a consultant’s recommendation in which water and sewer bills will increase by four percent annually over the next five years.

Join the Zoom Meeting here Webinar ID: 895 3117 9431 

At the request of the Department of Public Works, the town hired Raftelis, a national management consulting firm focusing on municipal government and utilities, to conduct a five-year rate study. The goal is to “establish financial sufficiency and viability” for the town’s water and sewer enterprise by determining the revenue needed to meet the operating expenses while retaining a healthy reserve.

Ratepayers will be facing steady rate hikes for the foreseeable future, said Raftelis vice president David Fox who told the Select Board Belmont “is very much not alone in this boat.” Nationally, water rates have been increasing by five percent and sewer by six percent for the past decade due to a litany of reasons, from inflationary pressures, repairing aging infrastructure, and declining consumption which results in a fall in revenue for municipalities and their utilities.

Even if costs were stable and you didn’t need to reinvest in the infrastructure, “you already would be facing an uphill battle with a declining revenue base” due to conservation measures and just a general drop off in usage, especially after the pandemic.

And for those communities that have been “kicking the can down the road” on rate increases, “eventually you’re going to get to a position where [Raftelis] will be meeting with a community where they are looking at a 35 percent year-to-year rate increase.

During most of the 2010s, Belmont’s water and sewer bills were some of the highest among its peer communities. With that knowledge, town officials began relying on retained earnings to keep rates unchanged to align charges with neighboring cities and towns.

But relying on reserves to subsidize residential water rates is no longer viable. In its analysis of water consumption and the expected increase in the assessments from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, which supplies water to Belmont, Fox said the water fund’s retained earnings account is scheduled to run empty by the end of fiscal ’26.

Keeping the ratepayers in their mind

While it’s a simple equation to determine how high new rates should rise by understanding how much revenue is generated and what is needed to cover expected costs, “we don’t ever want to overshoot the rated and have the rates be artificially high,” said Fox. “We have to keep the burden of the ratepayers in the back of our mind.”

One area of importance when calculating the new rate is maintaining a healthy retainer, the equivalent of a savings account, said Fox. The account is necessary to weather the financial storm of reduced consumption when there is a cool, wet spring or summer or a sudden capital demand on the infrastructure.

Raftelis forecast water and sewer operations and maintenance costs to increase three percent annually, with just over half of the water portion coming from MWRA assessments, while 71 percent of the sewer increase results from MWRA pricing.

With yearly capital improvements expenditures expected at $1.36 million for water and $1.1 million for sewer and with both fund’s retained earnings line items heading towards zero in the next few years, “[a]dditional revenue is needed immediately in [fiscal ’24] to ensure [adequate] financial [growth],” wrote Fox for both water and sewer funds.

According to Fox, Belmont’s water rates should increase by four percent annually for five years. Raftelis recommends an eight percent increase in sewer rates in fiscal ’24 and ’25 before reverting to three percent increases in the remaining three years.

While rates are heading upward, the impact on residential users’ bills will be small under the Fox recommendations. The typical single-family household in the first year of the plan using approximately 200 cubic feet of water a month – the equivalent of 1,496 gallons – its annual combined water and sewer bill will increase by 4.5 percent, or $27.84, from $624.99 in fiscal ’23 to $652.84 in fiscal ’24.

A two-family structure would see its bill rise by 5.8 percent ($76.77), and an apartment complex 6.3 percent ($158.33). The big jumps will be seen in the typical commercial site using approximately 7,500 gallons a month, where the average annual bill increases by $1,302.44 to $13,505.44. High-volume commercial users (15,000 gallons a month) can expect a $6,820.40 year-over-year hike.

When asked what conditions would be after the five years, Fox said if he was a betting man, “I’d say you’d still be looking at probably at a three percent increase every year.” With inflation to be around for longer than most people think and infrastructure needs always in the forefront of concerns, “I don’t think you’re going to get to a period after this five years whey you just don’t have an increase,” said Fox.