Successful Opening Day For New Belmont High School Wing

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Photo: A flood of students heading into the new school.

Around 7 a.m., on Thursday, Sept. 9, the first line of shower passed and behind it the skies brightened to allow the first day of school in Belmont to be one without raincoats or umbrellas.

Over at Concord Avenue, students – being driven, driving, walking and biking – began swarming to enter the new high school wing of the Belmont Middle and High School.

Despite the rain and the new street configuration that includes signal lights at Goden, the first morning was surprisingly calm. Traffic flowed somewhat seamlessly, students patiently waited at the cross walks and only a few parents attempted dropping off kids on campus – they were given a first day ‘pass’ with a reminder. The only issue on this opening day: not enough bike racks as a flood of students took the advice of the administration to wheel it to the high school.

“It’s a miracle,” said Jay Marcotte, Belmont Department of Public Works director, who came to observe how the new traffic/crosswalk lights were effecting traffic.

Maybe not a miracle as it was the result of countless public meetings (including 126 of the building committee) community notifications over the past weeks and a slew of public safety officers on the day directing vehicles and manning the crosswalks.

“Everyone is playing nice today,” said Marcotte, with his hope that it will continue deep into the school year.

For Belmont Superintendent John Phelan, this opening day with 300 educators and staff and 1,400 students arriving for a half day of school – Friday will be the first full day on the 180-day school calendar – was certainly one filled with some apprehension. Taking in the day from in front of the school with Owner’s Project Manager Tom Gatzunis of CHA Consulting, Phelan said his initial reaction to the morning was “a great deal of pride” for all who had a hand in bringing the 9-12 portion of the school on time and on budget.

Phelan has experience opening new buildings when as a principal in the Milton Public Schools the district brought on line five new schools within a decade in 2008.

“It’s alway exciting to see all our students and teachers come into a building that the voters overwhelmingly supported,” he said while taking photos of the day.

He noted that while it was conspicuous day, the project is just half complete with the Middle School expected to open in two years.

School Committee Supports Move For Mandatory Student Covid Vaccination; ‘Jab To Play’ Athletics, Extra Curriculum Being Discussed

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Photo: Students will need a vaccine card to attend Belmont schools if the Belmont School Committee has its way

While communities and states in parts of the US are passing laws preventing school districts from mandating vaccinations and/or masks and commentators saying vaccine requirements creates a “apartheid” system, Belmont is moving in the opposite direct as the School Committee vote unanimously at its Sept. 7 meeting to push the state to mandate a Covid-19 vaccination of every eligible student to attend school.

“Let us demonstrate [our commitment to protect children’s health] by taking the critical step of requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for school attendance … ,” said a letter written by School Committee Chair Amy Checkoway.

Currently, students 16 and older can take any of the available vaccines while those 12 to 15 are able to be vaccinated on an emergency basis.

Calling it one of several pathways of requiring student vaccination, Checkoway drafted the letter addressed to the town’s state delegation, State Sen. Will Brownsberger and State Rep. Dave Rogers, to back the move several neighboring communities have committed to.

The letter (see below) asks the elected representatives to add Covid-19 to the list of vaccines – for measles and chicken pox – the state requires children to have before entering school and push the Department of Public Health to codify a similar step.

”We have no time to lose. The school year has already begun,” reads the letter dated Sept. 7.

In a related action, School Committee member Jamal Saeh proposed (see below) a requirement that any student who wished to participate in school-sponsored athletics or after school extra curriculum (clubs, theater etc) to be vaccinated to take part or they will have to take a weekly mandatory test. Saeh said the committee could make this a mandate as it doesn’t prevent a student from attending school and it would encourage the 20 percent of high school students who have yet to be vaccinated to get the jab.

“This will emphasize the importance of vaccination of the entire Belmont public school community,” said Saeh.

While the proposal received overall support by the committee, there were questions on how to implement this possible emergency policy change with sports beginning in two days (Belmont High Field Hockey starts the athletic year on Thursday) while Belmont Superintendent John Phelan noted the leadership of the Middlesex League athletic conference, in which Belmont is a member, was hesitant of supporting similar policies as all student athletes taking part in fall sports have signed up and were not expecting changes to their eligibility status once the season got underway.

Checkoway asked the athletic department to provide more “specifics” and how other districts are committed to similar proposals. The committee decided to delay a vote until its policy subcommittee to review the “first” reading and make recommendations. “But I am hearing urgency” to come to a resolution, noted Checkoway, saying Saeh’s proposal will return to the committee for its Sept. 21 meeting.

Belmont School Committee Formally Accepts Town’s Newest School Building

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Photo: The newest school building in Belmont.

After nearly 27 months of construction, tons of steel, concrete, wires and piping, and a lot of money, the (nearly) completed high school wing of the new Belmont Middle and High School is now in the hands of the Belmont School Committee after the town issued the committee a temporary certificate of occupancy on Aug. 31.

”Belmont has much to be proud of,” read the letter accompanying the certificate to the school district. (See the letter below)

“The building project has been in the ownership of Skanska construction and the building committee since it started digging into the ground several years ago,” Belmont Superintendent John Phelan told the School Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 7, two days before the opening day of the 2021-22 school year as well as the first day the high school section will be open to students.

The committee voted unanimously to formally accept the TCO.

Phelan noted that several town departments including Police, Fire, and Health had to sign off on the certificate to allow the ownership transfer to the School Committee. It will remain a temporary certificate until the 7th and 8th grade middle school wing is completed in Sept. 2023 and the permanent certificate will be issued. The now former high school building, opened in 1970, is being demolished.

As of August, 2021, 54 percent of the construction has been completed with $166.5 million spent out of the $295.2 allocated to the project.

Despite Changing The Date, Belmont Town Day Still Brings Out The Crowd

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Photo: Another great Town Day in Belmont

Gerry wasn’t worried.

Gerry, as in Gerry Dickhaut, the owner of Champions Sporting Goods in the heart of Belmont Center, wasn’t worried about the reminiscence of hurricanes washing out the day, or the Labor Day three-day holiday syphoning away residents and especially the surge of the Covid-19 Delta-variant – the reason for the date change – turning businesses away.

The Belmont Center Business Association annual Town Day was going to happen on Sept. 4 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Period.

And under a cloudless, sparkling late summer sky, the 30th edition of Town Day turned out to be just what Belmont ordered.

“I’ve been here since 6 a.m. directing the set up,” said Dickhaut, sitting in front of his sports store on Leonard Street. He said he had to give special thanks to the crew from the Department of Public Works “who’ve been in the center since 5:30 a.m. working closely with me to get everything (setting up tables, placing garbage cans, getting rides placed in the proper locations) done on time.”

While there was a slightly fewer table and eateries – no hot dogs or sausages this year! – the crowds came out with many youngsters having a last weekend of fun and games before the school year begins. There was the robot that captured ball then launched them into the air, carnival rides, food, tables manned by non-profits or businesses making a profit, bouncy castles and kids getting to see the inside of fire trucks.

“And the band’s good,” said Dickhaut, who once again sponsored the dunk tank. “As long as the band’s good.”

What’s Open/Closed On Labor Day In Belmont

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Photo: Labor Day is Monday, Sept. 6

Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6, ends the last big get away weekend of the summer.

It’s one of ten holidays recognized by the federal government, although the feds don’t require employers to pay workers for this holiday. Businesses traditionally provide their employees with a paid holiday as part of a benefits package because most other employers do the same.

Trash and recycling collection is delayed ONE DAY due to the holiday: If your pickup day is Monday, this week it will be collected on Tuesday, etc.

Closed:

Belmont Town offices and Belmont Light are closed.

• US Postal Service offices and regular deliveries.

• Banks; although some branches will be open in some supermarkets.

• MBTA: Operating on a Sunday schedule. See www.mbta.com for details.

What’s Opened:

• Retail stores

• Coffee shops; Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are open.

• Supermarkets

• Convenience stores and,

• Establishments that sell beer and wine are also allowed to be open.

Tentative Agreement On Vaccine Mandate For Belmont Teachers/Staff

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Photo: Belmont teachers and staff will be required to be vaccinated if a tentative agreement is approved.

In a joint press release issued Friday afternoon, Sept. 3, representatives of the Belmont School Committee and the local teachers’ union, the Belmont Educators Association, tentatively agreed to mandated vaccinations against the Covid-19 virus for educators and staff working in Belmont’s six public schools.

The agreement, passed on Thursday, Sept. 2, will now go before the full BEA membership and the six member School Committee to be voted on and ratified.

The Belmont School District will also begin the school year with a mask mandate for students and staff.

The provisional deal comes as school’s open in Belmont on Wednesday, Sept. 8, in the midst of a significant surge of the virus due to the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant. Elementary and younger middle school students who can not be vaccinated due to their age are seen as susceptible to either catching or carrying the virus.

The press release also announced the second of” two important health mitigation strategies that will support a safe opening of school” as the Belmont Public Schools is partnering with Cambridge Innovation Center to implement a Routine COVID Safety Checks – formerly known as Routine COVID Pooled Testing – and a “Test and Stay” close contact testing protocol.

Routine COVID safety checks is when shallow nasal swab samples are collected at school and put into a single tube. If a group tests positive, individual follow-up testing with a second sample collection occurs at the school with BinaxNOW and/or individual PCR testing, as necessary.

Test and stay protocol is for students and staff who may have been exposed to COVID-19 while in school. Test and Stay allows students and staff who were exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19 at school to remain in school as long as they have no symptoms. Instead of missing school, these students and staff will be administered a daily BinaxNOW rapid test at school. They will continue to quarantine outside of the school day. Students and staff participate in Test and Stay for a minimum of five days after they may have been exposed. 

A health bulletin from the school district’s nursing staff with more information on pool testing, test and stay, testing consent forms, etc., with links to the new symptom checker will be sent to you early next week, Sept. 12.

Cityside Subaru To Supersize Pleasant Street Location With Big New Dealership

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Photo: A preliminary design of the proposed new Cityside Subaru dealership on Pleasant Street.

Belmont-based Cityside Subaru is about to supersize itself as it will bring before the town a proposal to double the size of its location by building a nearly 40,000 square foot all-purpose dealership on Pleasant Street.

When completed, the new multi-level structure will occupy 39,900 square feet on 1.6 acres and rise to nearly 40 feet overlooking the roadway. So far no price tag has been placed on the project or when construction will commence and a proposed opening day.

While details are still sketchy, the dealership will pull the curtain back on its intentions on Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. at a virtual Zoom meeting of the Belmont Planning Board.

One important thing Cityside does have in its hands is a variance on the proposed building’s height and the number of stories as well as a special permit on lot coverage coming from a 2020 ruling by the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals. Those actions by the ZBA will allow the new building to reach 38 feet and three stories, an additional six feet and one floor above existing zoning requirements.

But the most significant allowance for the developer is in commercial lot coverage which doubles under the proposal from 38 percent to 73 percent.

In an effort “to create a more efficient customer experience,” Cityside’s proposes to demolish the existing building at 790 Pleasant St. – constructed in 2003 – in addition to the pair of adjacent structures on parcels Cityside purchased in the past few years. The new building will be completed in phases to allow the existing dealership to operate while the new structure – which occupies 774A and 778 Pleasant St. – is under construction.

The ground floor will have 24 service bays, pull-in spaces, parts, retail and storage. The rear of the building will be for customer and employee parking and new vehicle storage. The second or main level will be a new showroom, offices, conference rooms and customer “amenities.” The top third level will be structured parking where new vehicles will be stored.

Cityside – which is a member of the Colonial Automotive Group – is proposing hours of operation to be: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

In its application to the Planning Board, Cityside broached what will be one of the most contentious issues it will face: traffic, suggesting the redesign will “reduce unnecessary vehicle movements” along Pleasant Street.

News reports from across the country reveal the new Cityside building will be one of the larger structures constructed by a Subaru dealer.

‘And There Are Pansies’ As You Travel Through Cushing Square [Video]

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Photo: Artist Grace Julian Murthy working on her traffic signal control canvas painting pansies.

On a recent Sunday afternoon in August, a day after one of the handful of heatwaves that settled over New England was finally pushed aside, pansies appeared in Cushing Square.

They weren’t the ones emerging from a pot or some lonely stretch of earth. Rather it was the impression of viola tricolor var. hortensis by the artist Grace Julian Murthy who used as her canvas the traffic signal control box on the sidewalk adjacent the Bradford Apartments at the corner of Common and Trapelo.

“I like to paint things that are overlooked,” said Murthy, who works as a graphic designer. “Because pansies are so prevalent, you don’t get to see there beauty.”

Using acrylics (it dries quicker and has a vibrant palette) Murthy applied purple, yellow and black on a white base to create a field of pansies all within the aluminum box – originally a dark green – protecting the expensive signal and traffic controller equipment inside.

Murthy was one of three artists selected to paint boxes by the Belmont Art Association which sponsored for a second year the Transforming Belmont Public Art Project. The artists received a $750 stipend from the Belmont Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council.

Belmont To Observe 9/11 At Fire Department HQ, Saturday, Sept. 11; At The Beech Street Center On Sept. 9

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Photo: Observance at Belmont Fire HQ recognizing those residents killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2014

Belmont will observe the 20th anniversary of 9/11 at two locations in the coming week.

At 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11, the town will hold its official observance at the Belmont Fire Department headquarters at 299 Trapelo Rd. with the reading of the names of Belmont residents who were killed in the terrorist attacks. There will also be the tolling of the bell for the first responders who died in the line of duty and the lowering of the flag to half-staff.

The Beech Street Center members to honor and remember this important day in history on Thursday, Sept. 9 at 1:15 p.m. 

Participants will have an opportunity to share their own stories and memories about this day after we’ll watch a special documentary commemorating the 20th anniversary. Bob Upton Belmont’s Veterans’ Service Officer and officers from Belmont Police and Fire Department will attend and the Belmont Public Library will provide books and movies for those interested.

To register for the Beech Street Center event, leave a message on our programs and events line at 617-993-2976.  

Temp HS Student Parking, Drop Off/Pick Up Locations Along Concord Get A Thumbs Up

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Photo: The new stripping along Concord Avenue at Goden Street (Credit: Belmont Police Twitter account)

Concord Avenue will be just a tad busier starting Sept. 8 as the Belmont Select Board unanimously approved 100 temporary student parking spaces along the westbound (from Cambridge to Belmont Center) lane of Concord Avenue as the high school wing of the new Belmont Middle and High School opens its doors for the first time.

In addition, the board approved drop off areas for students to exit cars bringing them to the school, according to Glenn Clancy, Director of Community Develop who made the presentation at the board’s Monday, Aug. 31 meeting.

“The beautiful thing about this plan is nothing’s new,” said Clancy, noting that construction workers have been using the same spots for the past two years that students are coming to, so drivers are familiar with vehicles along the roadway.

Approved by the Transportation Advisory Committee on July 15 with guidance from the Planning Board, the parking spaces are located at three locations:

• Across from the Belmont Public Library between the two curb cuts of the familiar turn-in parking area.

• Running across from Cottage and Goden streets, and

• Along Clay Pit Pond from the school’s entrance to Underwood Street.

The spaces will be issued by a lottery system, said John Phelan, Belmont Superintendent.

The spaces will be available to students until the completion of the Middle School portion in August 2023 when on-site parking becomes accessible.

While the TAC has delayed making a recommendation for the location of drop off and pick up spots due to the view that having a travel lane, bike path and parking along the street was “too concentrated” creating safety issues especially for bikers, said David Coleman, a TAC member, Phelan told the board there was an immediate need to have those spaces identified as the school year was less than two weeks away.

The placement of the drop off/pick up spots would be:

• Heading eastbound (to Cambridge): Between Oak and Orchard streets to allow students to use the newly-lined crosswalk which will be staffed by a crossing guard.

• Westbound: Across from Orchard Street that allows students to get out of the right side of the vehicle onto the sidewalk.

Phelan said the school district did not want to use a new loop in front of the school’s entrance as it will be reserved for buses. “We always wanted to separate cars, buses, walkers and bikers,” he said while construction continues for the next two years. “All the cars pulling into the driveway would create a walking conflict for those … coming from Harris Field … to get on the campus.”

Phelan said an additional drop-off site could be at the turn-off area across from the library.

Once the middle school is open, “we’ll have plenty of room for a pickoff/drop off on the site,” he said.

“That does not mean that this is a perfect scenario. We all know we are in a two-year temporary phase where traffic will be extremely congested in this area,” said Phelan.

For the Select Board’s Mark Paolillo, the current plan has his “heart in my mouth” concerning the likelihood that parents will simply stop along the entire stretch of Concord as an impromptu drop-off spot when traffic is congested.

“We need to have police presence… to supervise this,” said Paolillo. Phelan said Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac will be present for the first two weeks of school to “observe everything that’s happening.”

While saying there isn’t any way to know the demand for two drop-off locations, “I think we all just have to realize that with experience in the opening days of school we might have to make some adjustments,” said Select Board member Roy Epstein. “But I think this is the logical starting point.”