BHS Winter Sports Season Starts With New Faces And Big Goals

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Photo: Belmont High’s Colin Galloway scores with his back to the basket during a scrimmage with Cambridge Rindge and Latin High at Wenner Field House.

It was appropriate that the first snowfall of the year would occur on the same week the Belmont High School Winter Sports season begins in earnest.

The biggest changes will be seen at the Coach Paul Lyons court at the Wenner Field House as both boys and girls hoops welcome new head coaches. Shantell Jeter takes the helm of Girls’ varsity while Darren Martinez – who is a BHS and Wellington physical ed teacher – will patrol the sidelines as the Boys’ varsity squad. The girls’ season opener is Tuesday, Dec. 13 vs Stoneham while the boys’ will open its account on Friday against Winchester at 5:15 p.m. with the girls’ taking the court at 7 p.m.

Belmont High’s first year Head Coach Darren Martinez.

Over at the Skip, expectations are running high as the Boys’ Hockey team under Head Coach Tim Foley brings back the heart of the team that went to the state Division 1 quarterfinals. The team, led by 30-plus goal scorer Cam Fici and all-state defensive pairing of Peter Grace and Joe Gaziano, have been in every Top-10 preseason poll as they will battle in one the most competitive leagues in the country, the Middlesex Liberty with perennial powerhouses Arlington, Winchester, Reading and Woburn.

The winter season got underway on Monday, Dec. 12 with the Girls’ Hockey team traveled to Arlington to face the SpyPonders who last year as 18-1-1 and finished the season in the Division 1 state finals. Under the tutelage of Ken Murphy, the Marauders’ (6-10-3 in ‘21-‘22) keep the match tight led by last year’s all-star and team MVP senior co-captain Bridget Gray who stopped 29 of 30 shots as Belmont fell, 1-0.

Belmont Girls’ (and Boys’ Hockey will play their home openers on Wednesday, Dec. 14 against Stoneham. Both Marauder teams will return to the Skip on Saturday, Dec. 17 vs. Melrose.

Boys’ Swimming are in the Higginbottom on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 4:30 p.m. vs. Winchester and Friday, Dec. 16 vs. Watertown and Arlington. Girls’ and Boys’ indoor track will begin its campaign at Winchester on Thursday, Dec. 15 while Wrestling will host Melrose in the Little Gym at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15.

Before The Winter Recess Starts, Get A Boost Against Covid, Flu On Thursday, Dec. 15

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Photo: Photo: Pfizer Covid vaccine (credit: Pfizer)

Just before the start of the Winter Recess when families head off to travel and attend family reunions, give yourself a boost of protection from the worst of Covid and the flu. The Belmont Health Department is offering a two-fer: vaccinations and bivalent boosters for Covid-19 and a seasonal flu shot to all eligible residents, ages three and older, on Thursday, Dec. 15 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Beth El Temple Center, 2 Concord Ave.

What to know about the clinic:

  • Primary vaccine series for anyone ages 3+
  • Bivalent booster of Pfizer (5+) or Moderna (6+) COVID vaccine for anyone who has completed a primary vaccine series of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 2 months after last dose or last booster dose
  • Flu shots will be available for ages 3 and up
  • Find full guidance on booster eligibility here.

Register for a vaccination appointment HERE.

Please bring your insurance (medical and prescription) and COVID-19 vaccination cards to the clinic.

  • COVID vaccines are free for all regardless of insurance coverage
  • Insurance is required for flu vaccines
  • For those covered by Medicare, please bring your red, white, and blue Medicare card in addition to any other insurance cards.

Please present insurance cards, photo ID, and vaccination cards at your appointment.

This clinic will be operated through a partnership between VaxinateRX and the Belmont Health Department. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be available.

Having difficulty registering? Call 617-993-2720 or Email: Lsharp@belmont-ma.gov for assistance

BHS Ellie Shea Takes Second In Champs National HS X-C Championship [VIDEO]

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Photo: Belmont High’s Ellie Shea finishing second in the credit: (Credit: Photorun for Champs Sports Cross Country)

Belmont High junior Ellie Shea turned last year’s DNF (Did Not Finish) into an impressive second place finish at the 43rd Champs Sports Cross Country Championships National Finals held Saturday, Dec. 10 , at Morley Field at Balboa Park in San Diego.

Racing in bright morning sunshine with temperatures in the mid-50s, Shea – wearing her trademark sunglasses – was dropped by Karrie Baloga of New Winchester, NY at the final hill on the 5,000 meter course to take the runner’s up position. The result was a reversal of the Northeast Regional race two weeks previous which Shea beat Baloga by 12 seconds.

Shea was running in only her third cross country race of the year coming a week after starting her indoor season for Emerging Elites running club racing over 3,000 meters against mostly professional runners in 9:10. Shea is the defending 5,000 meter national high school indoor track champion and won the 2021 national 5,000 meter outdoor high school championship where she smashed the freshman record by half a minute.

Baloga, a senior from Cornwall Central High School, controlled the early pace across the first loop leading through the mile with a swift 5:17.3 split. At the 1.5 mile mark, the lead group was reduced to four as Baloga, Shea, and seniors Paityn Noe from Huxley, Iowa and Ciara O’Shea of Richmond, Ky.

Quickly O’Shea was dropped and it was the last three who would all shared the lead several times during the remained of the race. Shea took the group through the two-mile mark with a split time of 10:55.4.

The trio ran within strides of each other until the steep uphill/downhill stretch that looms in the final half mile. From there it was all Baloga, who pulled away capping off one of the most competitive girls’ races in recent memory. Shea would dip under 17 minutes crossing the finish line in 16:55.1, six seconds ahead of Noe in 17:01.5. Rounding out the top five were sophomore Abby Faith Cheeseman (Bell Buckle, Tenn.) in fourth at 17:13.4 and O’Shea in fifth at 17:21.5. 

You can watch Shea’s impressive race below: The race begins at the one-hour mark (1:00.00) and a short post race interview with Ellie is at 1:42.30

Letter To The Editor: Historic Clock Tower Needs Community Support

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Photo: The clock on top of First Church in Belmont

To the editor:

Over centuries, since the invention of mechanical devices for keeping time, community elders have placed a clock in a prominent building in the village center to announce the local time. This practice traveled from Europe with migrants to North America. In New England, many of the clocks that we see in churches on town greens were bought by town meetings.

In 1889, Belmont’s Town Meeting voted to purchase a clock to be installed in a new church – today, the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist – being constructed on the Belmont Town Green. That clock is still there, keeping time dependably until the early 2000’s. It stopped only from an accumulation of environmental dust over the years.

Based on several quotes from qualified craftspeople, the cost of the cleaning and renovation of the clock will be about $29,000.

In Autumn 2021, the First Church and the Belmont Citizens Forum teamed up to seek funding to fix the clock.

This past June, Town Meeting appropriated $26,100 in Community Preservation Committee funding for the clock project. None of the funds will end up in the reserves of the church. The money will be paid to contractors and craftspeople who do the work of repairing the clock.

As part of the CPA approval, $2,900 – or 10 percent of the cost of the project – must be raised privately. The church has created a special account to receive community donations to the project cost. The fund has received approximately $1,050 to date.

Please consider contributing to this historic town restoration. Contributions can be made using this link:
https://forms.ministryforms.net/embed.aspx?formId=d3f6641a-3ae5-41be-b0b4-d7f7e0581458

Michael Fleming

Belmont High’s Big Winter Concert Set For Wednesday, Dec. 14 In The BHS Theater

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Photo: Belmont High School’s Concert Chorale along with Watertown High’s chorus at Fenway Park.

The musicians of Belmont High School have been working hard throughout the fall and are excited to present the first musical event of the school year, the Belmont High School’s Winter Choral/Orchestral Concert on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. in the school’s theater.

The concert will consist of performances by the Concert Chorale, Chamber Singers, Jazz Ensemble, Belmont High Combined Orchestra, and the Belmont High Wind Symphony.

The snow date for the concert will be Tuesday, Dec. 20.

Belmont Center Will Be Home To A Menorah For The Holiday Season

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Photo: It’s menorah time in Belmont Center

Belmont Center will be home to a Hanukkah menorah as the Belmont Select Board unanimously approved on Dec. 5 having a public display of the chanukkiyah over the eight nights of the holiday.

The first lighting will occur on Sunday, Dec. 18 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the delta in from of M&T Bank. It is open to the Belmont community with dreidels, donuts and menorahs for the public.

The menorah will stay on the delta with an additional candle – it is an electrical candelabrum – is lit until the final candle lights up on Sunday, Dec. 25.

Luna Bukiet, co-founder at Center for Jewish Life of Arlington-Belmont, told the board there was a really nice showing last year – even though it was a ”very last minute event” – “so much so that community members and Belmont members have been asking us already if we were planning to do this again.”

“It’s cool. I support that,” said Board Chair Mark Paolillo.

Belmont’s Property Tax Rate Drops But Average Yearly Bill Will Jump $900

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Photo: Belmont property owners will see an increase in next fiscal year’s tax bill

Property owners would see Belmont’s property tax rate decrease as the Board of Assessors presented a series of recommendations at a public meeting before the Belmont Select Board at its Dec. 5 meeting.

The Assessors propose a property tax rate for fiscal year 2023 of $11.25 per $1,000 of assessed value, a drop from the current rate of $11.56 per $1,000, according to Robert Reardon, long-time chair of the Board of Assessors. The Select Board voted unanimously to adopt the new rate.

But due to a hot residential real estate market that resulted in escalating home values, the average property tax bill for households will increase. According to the Assessors, the average value of a single family house in Belmont rose to $1,463,000, up a robust $116,800 from $1,346,300 in fiscal year 2022. The average value of a single family house statewide is $525,788.

With the Proposition 2 1/2 increase of the tax levy and the impact on the tax rate of nine debt exclusions – which includes the Senior Center, the Wellington Elementary School and three segments of the new Middle and High School – which makes up 12 percent of the total tax rate, the expected property tax increase on an average house will be approximately $900 for this coming fiscal year, according to Reardon. Without that additional debt, the tax rate would be $9.90 per $1,000.

In addition, the Assessors are recommending the town not create a split tax classification where commercial property would be taxed at a higher rate than residential homes., Reardon said since commercial real estate makes up just five percent of Belmont’s property base, a split rate would not raise any more in taxes while businesses would be hit with a significant rate increase while homeowners would see a very small reduction. The Select Board supported the recommendation.

Breaking: CPC’s Chair Elizabeth Dionne Pulling Nomination Papers For Open Select Board Seat

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Photo: Elizabeth Dionne

The first resident to declare their intentions to run for the Belmont Select Board will do so on Wednesday.

“I will be forming a candidate committee and pulling nomination papers for Select Board on Wednesday, Dec. 7,” said Dionne, ready to fill the post currently held by Adam Dash, who said he will not seek re-election for a third three year term.

Julie Wu is Dionne’s campaign chair, and Fiona McCubbin is the campaign’s Treasurer. 

“Yes, I am considering it, but I won’t make any final decisions until after speaking with key people in Belmont,” Dionne told the Belmontonian two weeks ago. “My decision depends heavily on whether or not another qualified candidate steps forward, one whom I could support.”

“Being a member of the select board is a demanding position, especially given the serious fiscal challenges that Belmont faces,” she said. “I am sorry that Adam Dash chose not to run again, although I very much understand his decision. He has served Belmont faithfully and well. He will be missed.”

The Wellesley Road resident is the chair of the Community Preservation Committee and a long-time member of the Warrant Committee. She was also treasurer of Roy Epstein’s 2019 and 2022 successful campaigns for Select Board.

A glimpst into Dionne’s mindset when it comes to local issues can be found in a past article where she describes herself “as an agitator for reform in the public schools, resident-friendly zoning, and revamping the city’s governance structure.”

Dionne’s move into elected politics is following in her father’s footsteps. Dionne’s father, John L. Harmer, served as a California state senator for seven years before resigning to become Gov. Ronald Reagan’s last Lt. Governor for the final four months of Reagan’s second term in 1974-5.

She is in her third term on Town Meeting in Precinct 2

For more on Dionne’s thoughts found in an article she wrote in 2009 and from her League of Women Voters’ Candidates’ Survey for the 2022 election

One of ten children from a prominent Latter Day Saints family from California and later Utah, Dionne matericulated at Wellesley College where she received her B.A., in 1992. After spending two years on a Marshall Scholars grant (her fellow 1992 scholar grantee was Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch) at King’s College, Cambridge University where she earned a Masters in Philosophy, she attended Stanford University Law School where she graduated with a JD in 1998. She continued her involvement with Wellesley as a Visiting Lecturer in Political Science and has been a Harvard Law Olin Fellow.

Dionne has been a general practice attorney for nearly 25 years, but has called herself “a happily retired attorney” stepping away from a career in the law so she could raise her four chidren.

Before moving to Belmont a little more than a decade ago, Dionne was a resident of Hancock Park in Cambridge and a member of the Ward 6 Cambridge Republican City Committee.

Belmont Resident Arrested In NH For Voting Twice In 2016 General Election

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Photo: Richard Rosen’s arrest photo

A Belmont resident was arrested by New Hampshire law enforcement Friday, Dec. 2 for allegedly voting in both Belmont and New Hampshire in the 2016 general election.

In a press release dated Dec. 2, NH Attorney General John Formella said, Richard Rosen, 83, of Washington Street, Belmont, and Route 175, Holderness, N.H., was indicted on one felony count of wrongful voting related to voting twice in that election, a class B felony. Rosen is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 21 in Plymouth Circuit Court.

“Mr. Rosen knowingly checked in at the checklist at the Belmont, Mass., polling place and cast a Massachusetts ballot after having already cast an absentee ballot in the same election in Holderness, N.H.,” Formella said in a separate presser.

Formella said a Class B felony charges carry a penalty range of 3½ to seven years in prison and a fine of up $2,000. Additionally, pursuant to the New Hampshire constitution, anyone convicted of a willful violation of the state’s election laws will lose the right to vote in the state.

Since 2009, Rosen has been the CEO of Belmont-based American Ag Energy and through a subsidiary has been working since 2017 to build a high tech commercial greenhouse complex in Berlin, NH. He hopes to grow eight million pounds of tomatoes and 15 million heads of lettuce annually while creating 80 jobs. The firm is attempting to build a second greenhouse complex in Rhode Island.

Rosen, who earned a Ph.D in Engineering and Forest Science and Ecology from Harvard in 1974, purchased his Washington Street home in 1975 which is currently under his wife’s name. In 2010, Rosen ran for one of two open seats on the Belmont School Committee. He finished fourth behind Laurie Slap and Dan Scharfman.

A Sleepy Special Town Meeting In Belmont As All Articles Pass By Wide Margins

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Photo A view of the new Belmont Public Library that will open in the fall of 2025

No controversy, no post-11 p.m. debates, and no problems.

In an efficient and timely manner, Belmont’s town legislative representatives approved five articles by a wide margin at the Fall Special Town Meeting held over two nights, November 29-30.

Not that there was any foreseen trouble from articles that included a compromised agreement on the future use of leaf blowers, three “housekeeping” financial items, and the reaffirmation of the will of the voters who passed a debt exclusion to build a new town library.

On night one of ”the special,” the body heard a proposed general bylaw to ban gasoline-powered leaf blowers. The impetus for the new regs came after residents stuck at home during the Covid pandemic began complaining to the Select Board about the noise from multiple blowers used by landscape businesses at all daytime hours, including early weekend mornings.

While initial public meetings and Select Board discussions on a bylaw pitted those residents who wanted to limit the noisy and polluting machines and small landscaping businesses who saw the ordinance hurting their bottom line, and residents who find the blowers are far more efficient than picking up a rack.

A first attempt to bring a proposed bylaw to the annual Town Meeting was scrapped as the June warrant was oversubscribed, and the wording was less than ideal. During the summer, Select Board member Roy Epstein and members of the Warrant and Energy committees brought representatives of both sides – including landscape owner Dante Muzzioli – to hammer out a compromise, allowing landscapers to continue to use the equipment until a certain date.

“If you’ve read the bylaw, you’ll see it has several provisions that seem complicated, but the overall intent is actually quite straightforward,” Epstein told the meeting.

With both sides aligned with the fact that gas-driven blowers “produce wall penetrating noise and pollution that is incredible,” according to the Energy Committee’s Claus Becker, under the bylaw, ”in a few years all the leaf blowers in town will be a lot quieter and won’t be stinking up the neighborhoods.” Becker pointed out that communities across the country have established bans on gas blowers and that California – a trendsetter for the country – is banning the sale of this equipment in the next two years.

The Warrant Committee’s Geoff Lubien detailed the provisions in the new bylaw:

  • A ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers starts in January 2026. The three-year” runway” for the end of gas blowers will correspond with technological improvements to electric-powered blowers, thus building a cushion to give homeowners time to switch. ”We feel this is a reasonable time horizon to give everyone to adjust,” said Lubien.
  • The Select Board will appoint an enforcing person. The property owner or property manager – not the operator – will be the responsible party when considering violations of the bylaw. Belmont Police Chief James McIssac believes the police should not be asking for identification from landscaping employees, many of who are undocumented workers. “I don’t want to put my officers in that situation. I don’t think that is the type of community we are,” said McIsaac.
  • A first violation will be a written warning; subsequent violations will see a citation issued.
  • Commercial landscape businesses will prohibit gas blowers at residential properties – single-family homes and condos and two to eight-unit multi-family – from May 13 to Sept. 30. ”Most noise complaints were coming from the dense residential areas,” said Lubian. The dates were chosen because grass and leave debris are the lightest and can be cleaned up with electrical blowers.
  • Commercial properties – town and public school-owned land, cemeteries, state property (such as Beaverbrook), MBTA property, churches, private schools, golf courses, and large apartment complexes such as Royal Belmont – were to be allowed to use blowers until 2026. An amendment to the article by John Robotham (Precinct 2) would add commercial properties to be added to the residential restrictions. While the amendment was not backed by the group or the Select Board, it narrowly passed by 124 to 114 with nine abstentions.
  • There will now be a limit on the number of blowers of any type used simultaneously on residential property; the number will be determined by the size of the lot. This provision will continue after gas blowers have been banned.

The debate of the amended article was lively regarding how effective the enforcement of the new bylaw will be, with a few members demanding from Epstein just how beneficial eliminating gas blowers would be to the environment and to residents hearing.

With the debate completed, the article passed 205 yes, 44 nos, and four abstentions.

On night two, Town Meeting was asked to authorize the borrowing of $34.5 million to demolish the existing building, create architectural drawings, and construct the new 42,000-square-foot structure on the current site. The library debt exclusion was passed by Belmont voters in the state election on Nov. 8 by a 1,800 vote margin.

The reason Town Meeting is required to vote on the debt exclusion that was approved by the voters is because each are “two different things, said George Hall, Belmont’s town counsel. Town Meeting is the appropriating authority to allow the town to borrow the $34.5 million while the voters approved that the principal and interest on the debt could be assessed as additional taxes over and above the level limit imposed by Prop 2 1/2. So both need to be passed to allow for the project to move forward.

The article’s presentation by Kathy Kethane, vice-chair of the Board of Library Trustees, and Clair Colburn of the Belmont Library Foundation noted that $5 million of the project’s total cost of $39.5 million would be paid for from fundraising.

With the feasibility study and schematic designs completed, the project calendar for the project is:

  • Starts immediately the design development phase in which the schematics design is refined; there will be public forums during this phase.
  • Construction documentation phase will come after the design development is complete.
  • There will be a competitive bid process for a construction firm to be hired when construction docs are complete.
  • Breaking ground will occur in the first quarter of 2024 with an 18-20 month construction period.
  • The grand opening of the new library will occur in the fall of 2025.

While most of the town meeting members expressed enthusiastic support for the article, a handful of members sought to convince their fellow legislators to spurn the will of the voters and reject the appropriation. Chief among of those members was Paul Looney (Precinct 7), who launched an 11th-hour campaign to defeat the debt exclusion. Looney did not curry the favor of the members when he suggested that most were not as informed as he was on the library’s impact to the town’s finances. (Precinct 7 voted 885 to 544 in favor of the library debt exclusion)

“Based on my personal conversation with well over 100 residents, I can tell you that non of them has a clue about the Collins’ report or the $8 million structural deficit projected for fiscal year 2024. Many are confused by what a structural deficit means. It’s easy to vote for something when you don’t know what may be lurking behind the curtin. I believe most voters fell in that catagory,” said Looney, who said library supporters used a campaign of “fear” that the current structure is a fire hazard.

Chris Grande (Precinct 1) said with the town’s current fiscal” position is “subobtionial and a plethora of other critical financial needs he would vote no. (Precinct 1 voted 901 to 594 in favor of the library). While “respecting” the large margin the library won in his own precinct and in town, Grande said the voters seemed “a bit out of touch” as there are budgetary issues that voters did to consider which he believes they didn’t when casting their ballots. They included contracts for public safety employees, the expenses of using an out-of-town rink due to the current ice skating rink breaking down, and an expected Prop 2 1/2 override in the next few years, and funding the town’s pension contribution.

“Interest rates are high. Inflation is high. We really can’t afford this,” he said in conclusion.

Most meeting members found the arguments from both Looney and Grande to be wanting. Adriana Poole (Precinct 1) said the article being voted on was not if Belmont voters were educated enough about the issues related to the library when they submitted their ballots on Nov. 8. “It’s about respecting the wishes of the voters. The trust they pit in us as their representatives to carry on this issue and finalize the project.”

Heather Brenhouse (Precinct 7) said “it’s dangerous to present our voters as being uneducated on these issues” as her interaction with residents found them to be informed and engaged in the debate. “We’re either going to be throwing good money after bad if we delay this project or we’re going to invest in our future like the voters have already voted for.”

The vote to approve the article comfortably received more than the 2/3 needed for passage: 228-27-8

On Tuesday, the special meeting was suspended to allow a special town meeting within the special town meeting – ”Special Town Meeting 2” – to vote on three financial articles which were seen as housekeeping

  • Article 1: Raise and appropriate $284,000 to add to the Fiscal Year ’23 Recreation Department budget. This was an example of having to spend money to make money: Since the easing of the Covid-19 restrictions, enrollment in Rec Department programs and sports has grown exponentially. The funds will allow the department to hold the programs this fiscal year, resulting in a spike in fee revenue. Passes 235-5-8.
  • Article 2: Reduce the town’s fiscal ’23 budget’s principal debt and interest line item from $15,778,851 to $15,243,002. This is an oops article; the town miscalculated its original budget.This technical change will lower taxes, so it passed 248-0-1.
  • Article 3: An off-cycle Community Preservation Committee appropriation; the committee approved a total of $266,300 to repair Town Hall’s slate roof. This has been an ongoing issue for the CPC.