Groundbreakings, Part 2; DPW On June 4 And Police July 9

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In the past month, the Town of Homes has transformed into a Community of Groundbreakings. After last week’s ceremony for the Belmont Middle and High School, its now the opportunity for additional municipal projects to have their own ribbon cutting.

The Department of Public Works/Belmont Police Department Building Committee is inviting the public and residents to a pair of ceremonial groundbreaking events:

• The renovation of the Department of Public Works facility will take place on Tuesday, June 4, at 8 p.m. at the DPW yard which is at the end of C Street.

The new construction and renovation of the Belmont Police Headquarters will happen on Tuesday, July 9, also at 8 a.m. at the headquarters located on the corner of Pleasant Street and Concord Avenue across from Town Hall in Belmont Center.

Starbucks Returns To Cushing Square, Opening In Mid-June

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Photo: Starbucks returns to Cushing Square.

Caffeine lovers, hipsters and teenagers, rejoice! Starbucks is returning to Cushing Square with an opening in the second week of June.

The multinational coffeehouse chain with 30,000 stores worldwide came before the Select Board on May 29 at Belmont High School to obtain a common victualler license which was granted unanimously.

“We’re still probably not going to be able to open for about another week or so trying to finish up the site, make sure it’s safe in the public,” said Daniel Brennan who works for dpb Design Consultants which partners with Starbucks on permitting and licensing.

“We don’t have a concrete [opening] date but after talking to the construction manager, it will probably be a week to two weeks after Friday [May 31], when we get our certificate of occupancy,” said Brennan.

Daniel Brennan, dpb
Design Consultants

Brennan said the store will likely have a “soft” opening. “[Starbucks] usually does a ‘friends and family’ where they invite the employees and their families so they can test out all the equipment and get it going,” he said.

The best approach for the public to know when the store is open “is go by and see people inside.”

Town Administrator Patrice Garvin noted the health department has signed off on the site.

The 42 seat store will have 25 to 35 employees working on the site. There will be approximately 20 off-street parking spaces adjacent to the location between two buildings.

While the store will be open daily from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., Brennan asked the board to approve a closing time of 10 p.m. which was permitted in the special permit approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

“We will likely want the later time after it is open so we don’t want to come back for the change,” said Brennan.

Belmont High’s Performing Arts Company Ends Season With Two Improv Shows

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Photo: The Spring Improv Show will take place on Thursday and Friday

The 35 members of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s Improv Troup will be taking to the Little Theater stage to close out another season of the school’s award-winning student theatrical group.

Thursday, May 23 and Friday, May 24
7 p.m. in the BHS Little Theater
FREE for Students
$5 for Adults

Come once or on each night: the improv show is guaranteed to be it’s own unique event, featuring games and scenes all made up on the spot based on audience suggestions.

The PAC Improv Troupe performs twice a year with the spring show featuring short form favorites along with long-form structures.

Blacker Senior Thesis Prizes Will Be Presented Wednesday, May 15

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Photo: Lillian Blacker

The Belmont High School English Department will present the annual Lillian F. Blacker Prizes for Excellence in Writing on Wednesday evening, May 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the Peter Holland Library at Belmont High School. This year, we will honor seniors Abigail Mohr (first place), Cameron Anderson (second place), and Alexander Park (third place) for their outstanding writing. 

Belmont residents are cordially invited to attend.

This year’s ceremony will begin with an exhibition of the creative projects produced by some of the 80 seniors who participated in the pilot Capstone Project. A dozen of those students will be presenting their work, science-fair style, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the library. If the Capstone program is adopte by the Belmont School Committee, it’s likely that most students will move towards creating projects instead of a senior thesis though AP students will still do the traditional thesis.  

Family and friends established the Blacker Prizes more than 20 years ago in memory of Lillian F. Blacker, a longtime Belmont resident who was active in community affairs and was director of the Harvard Medical News Office. She is remembered by the school and the community as a true lover of literature and language.

The Blacker Prizes are presented each year to three seniors for outstanding writing ability on their senior theses.  Each senior reads, researches, and writes a lengthy thesis paper investigating a literary topic. English faculty members determine the winners after an extensive reading process.

At the awards ceremony, the three Blacker Prize winners will read from their papers and discuss the evolution of their ideas. A panel of seniors will discuss their topics and the senior thesis process. Teachers, parents, administrators, and friends are invited. Underclassmen are encouraged to attend the ceremony to learn more about the senior thesis process. Refreshments will be served.

New Library Building Designs To Be Revealed At Public Forum Sunday, May 19

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Photo: An example of a design by Oudens Ello Architecture for the Scituate public library.

Gather your friends, family, and neighbors and join the Belmont Library Building Committee and its architectural team, Oudens Ello Architecture, for an open public forum on Sunday, May 19 at 2 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library.

Come to the forum to:

  • View designs for the new library,
  • discuss plan options,
  • learn about the spaces, and
  • explore the site.

Children are welcome to attend and participate in interactive activities.

Final Night Of ‘One Acts’ Saturday, May 11, 4 PM, 7 PM

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Photo: The poster of the show

The final night of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s student directed “ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL” will be held on Saturday, May 11 with a matinee at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the High School’s Little Theater.

Join BHS-PAC for the annual Student Directed Festival of short plays. Featuring 10-minute plays directed by PAC Members, the One Acts are a mix of comedy, drama and everything in between.

TICKET INFO:
7 PM SHOWS: ADULTS $12 / STUDENTS $5
SATURDAY 4 PM SHOW: ALL TICKETS $5

WHERE TO GET TICKETS:
Tickets are now on sale online and at Champions in Belmont Center

The plays are:

MURDER BY MIDNIGHT By Jeff Goode
Directed by Alice Turner and Grace Christensen
Dick Piston is a world-renowned hotel detective. A guest at the hotel comes to him, distressed by the murder of her husband. Hilarity and chaos ensue.

THE BEST DADDY By Shel Silverstein
Directed by Jacob Makar-Limanov and Sam Lubarr
It’s Lisa’s birthday and she’s getting a pony…
Or is she?

THE WEDDING STORY By Julianne Homokay
Directed by Liz Biondo and Sri Kaushik
An innocent attempt at a bedtime story quickly goes astray after the tale’s characters begin to inform the storyteller that she has got the facts all wrong.

THE MIME CRIME By Jonathan Yukich
Directed by Alyssa Bodmer and Megan Bodmer
A seemingly ordinary mime appears to have a connection with recent mysterious murders in a park.

‘TIS NOT ME SHE LOVES By Steven Stack
Directed by Alyssa Allen and Zoe Armstrong
The feud between the Hatplains and the McCroys has been in a slump for some time now, but perhaps a forbidden love between Romero McCroy and Julia Hatplain can get things going again.

THE GAME By Louise Bryant
Directed by Nathan Miller
Life and Death play a game of dice to decide the fates of two young people.

THE ZERO SUM MIND By Stephen Gregg
Directed By Sammy Haines
A group of people deal with the implications of the revelation that every time they learn something, they forget something else.


Eagle Scout Project Saturday Seeks Bikes For Donation

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Owen Thomas is combining his love of bikes with helping others by asking Belmont residents to donate bicycles no longer being used to be sent far away where they are needed.

On Saturday, May 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thomas, a 13-year-old Chenery 7th grader and member of Boy Scout Troop 66 in Belmont, is spearheading a bike drive for Bikes not Bombs, a Boston-based non-profit that collects used bikes, parts and accessories. The non-profit rehabilitates the donated bikes and ships them to economic development projects in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

The bike donation/drop-off location will be at 17 Clark St. at the corner of Common and Clark streets in the parking lot of All Saints Episcopal Church.

The donated bikes become the primary means of transportation and economic opportunity for individuals living in developing economies.

“It’s spring and many people are cleaning out their garages and donating or getting rid of older items,” says Thomas. “This project gives Belmont residents an opportunity to help underprivileged people in Massachusetts and around the world by donating used bicycles that will provide a reliable, eco-friendly, low-maintenance mode of transportation to school and work. These bicycles will transform people’s lives.” 

There is a $10 tax-deductible, suggested donation to Bikes not Bombs to support refurbishment and shipping of each bike. Tax receipts will provide at the drop-off location. All types of bikes are desired such as road, hybrid, mountain, BMX, and tandem, along with bike parts, tools and other accessories (helmets, bags, lights, pumps, locks, etc.). 

“My goal for this drive is to gather at least 50 donated bicycles,” says Thomas, “And I hope that Belmont community members will share the word with friends and neighbors to help us reach our target.” He is an active Scout and a candidate for the Eagle Scout rank, which this project will help him achieve. 

Bikes not Bombs also engages Boston-area youth in fixing the donated bikes as part of summer activity programs. Youth nurture a love of biking, develop useful mechanical skills and are eligible to earn a bike of their own. They are also trained in safety for urban bikers, get physically fit and participate in biking field trips throughout summer.W

Annual Town Meeting Gets Underway Monday, April 29

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Photo: Town Meeting in action.

While there doesn’t appear to be any “blockbuster” articles before them, the Belmont annual Town Meeting which convenes at 7 p.m., on Monday, April 29 at Belmont High School, there will be a few items that will spark interest of the 290 member body.

One of those items is likely to be Article 1 of the Special Town Meeting on May 1 when the building committee for the renovation of the Police Headquarters and the DPW returns to request up to $3.5 million over the $7.4 million last year’s meeting approved to do the job. The extra money is needed to relocate the police personnel offsite, for more extensive renovations and the higher cost of construction. It’s not unusual for Town Meeting to scrutinize any second go-around for funds after approving a project the year before they assumed was complete.

Another is the proposed change to the inclusionary housing zoning bylaw – which sets the number of affordable units in residential housing projects – bringing Belmont’s By-Law into alignment with peer communities and clarifies and simplify subsections of the By-Law by reducing the threshold for when affordable housing is required, from 40 dwelling units to 20 (in which 12 percent of the development will be affordable); deleting a provision that regulates mixed-use developments differently and simplifying the cash option to building affordable units. These measures could come under fire as dampening future large residential development in Belmont.

The Town Meeting will hearing the motions in the following order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9 and 11.

  • The first two articles are housekeeping items.
  • Article 3: Amending the “Inclusionary Housing” Zoning By-Law (needs a two-thirds vote)
  • Article 4: Another Zoning By-Law change which involves a small section of Pleasant Street within two blocks of the Route 2 off ramp that will “ensure that tear down/rebuilds and additions reflect the current character of the neighborhood in terms of density, mass, bulk, height, etc.”
  • Article 5: Article on kennels and dogs.
  • Article 6: The one which will do away with 160 years of tradition by making gender neutral the name of the Board of Selectmen to the “Select Board.”
  • Article 7 will be withdrawn as it was a citizen’s petition that is now taken up by Article 6.
  • Article 10 is to support a home rule amendment to change the term of the Town Moderator from 1 to 3 years.
  • Article 8 and 9 are non-binding articles; 8 is the Belmont Climate Action Resolution while 9 is to support efforts on the state level to allow the right to repair on electronic equipment.
  • Article 11 is to approve projects to be funded by the Community Preservation Committee.

If the meeting does not conclude the Segment A warrant articles on Monday, April 29, it will continue th meeting to Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m.   

On Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m., the meeting will reconvene starting with a report by Anne Marie Mahoney, chair of the DPW/Police Project Building Committee. At 7: 30 p.m. the meeting will recess from the Annual Town Meeting warrant and take up the articles in the Special Town Meeting, in the order: 2, 3, 4 and 1. 

  • Article 2 of “The Special” will approve transferring $3,663 excess premiums from the sale of general obligation bonds to the Kendall Fund.
  • Article 3 will approve the spending of a State Transportation Infrastructure Fund which will go to the improvement of the intersection of Lexington and Sycamore.
  • Article 4 is the paying of old bills.

It’s anticipated Article 1 of the Special will be taken up on Monday, May 6.

If all of the business of Segment A of the Annual Town Meeting and the Special Town Meeting does not conclude on May 6, the Meeting will resume on May 8.

Segment B Articles – all budget-related items – of the Annual Town Meeting will be taken up beginning Wednesday, May 29.  

Correction: In an earlier version of the article, there was a reference to an amendment to the planning board’s change to the “inclusionary housing zoning bylaw” as watering down the number of affordable units. That was an incorrect reading of the amendment and has been corrected.

Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day Saturday, April 27; 9-Noon

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Photo: Planting trees in Belmont’s Lone Tree Hill (belmontcitizensforum.org)

On Saturday, April 27, from 9 a.m. to noon, the Belmont Citizens Forum in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund is sponsoring the seventh annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day, and we invite you to participate, come rain or shine.

This year, there are having two work sites,

• plant white pines along the Pine Allee,

• clean up the trash and/or clear invasive plants along South Pleasant Street, across from Star Market and Artefact Home and Garden shop.

If you’d like to work on the Pine Allee, meet at the Belmont Citizens Forum white canopy in the Lone Tree Hill parking lot on Mill Street. Please bring a shovel and gloves to plant the trees along the Allee.

If you’d like to work on the much-needed trash or invasive plant removal along South Pleasant Street, meet at the green-and-white “Belmont Bikes” Belmont Citizens Forum tent at the bottom of Coal Road, opposite Star Market. Please bring a shovel and gloves to remove the knotweed at upper Coal Road.

High school and middle school students can earn community service credits—check in at the Belmont Citizens Forum tent or table, and make sure we sign off on your work.

Volunteers are suggested to wear closed shoes, long sleeves and long pants to protect against potential sensitivities to plants and insects. Bring gloves, bug spray, and a water bottle.

This volunteer event is made possible by our corporate sponsors, including: Gold Level Sponsors: Ann Mahon Realty, Belmont Land Trust, Cityside Subaru, East Boston Savings Bank, and Watertown Savings Bank.

Prescription Drug Take-Back At DPW Yard; Sat., April 27

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Photo: Poster for the national drug take-back day.

The Belmont Police Department in conjunction with the Belmont Auxiliary Police and the Drug Enforcement Agency will be hosting a prescription drug Take-Back Initiative to prevent the abuse and theft of old, unused and expired prescription drugs.

The Belmont Police will have a collection point set up at the DPW yard, 37C St., (off Waverley) on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Old or unused prescription drugs (no liquids) may be dropped off for free with no questions asked. You won’t even have to get out of your car. Please take some time to check your medicine cabinet and visit Belmont Police on the 27th.

Prescription drugs are highly susceptible to misuse by family and friends. In addition, they can be improperly disposed of and end up in our environment, posing a potential health hazard.

For more information on the Rx Drug Take Back Initiative or a list of additional collection sites visit www.dea.gov . You may also contact Assistant Chief James MacIsaac at jmacisaac@belmontpd.org

The Belmont PD also has a permanent Rx drug collection kiosk located in the lobby of the police station that is accessible 24/7.