Photo:
Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.”
• 141 Fairview Ave., Saturday, June 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• 30 Moraine St., Saturday, June 6, and Sunday, June 7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• 5 Pearl St., Saturday, June 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• 61 Spring Valley Rd., Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to noon.
• 116 Sycamore St., Saturday, June 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Photo:
• The final Second Friday Coffeehouse concert featuring an Evening with Richard Curzi & Positive Energy will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 5 – which happens to be the first Friday of the month – at the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave. Joining the ensemble on stage will be Belmont High students Rowan Wolf on tenor and baritone sax, Yilei Bai on alto sax, Jasper Wolf and Riley Grant on trumpet and Jack Stone on trombone. In addition to Curzi, the night will feature the “Filthy Funk Gentlemen,” a kickin’ brass section of Belmont High School students who were featured at the annual Parents of Music Students “MY GENERATION” benefit dance party.
• Belmont has created the First-Time Homebuyer Assistance Program to help low- and moderate- income families purchase homes in the “Town of Homes.” Find out how to apply in an open session presented by the Homebuyer Assistance Program. Come get answers to questions and help with applications on Saturday June 6, at 10 a.m. at the Belmont Public Library.
• The Powers Music School will be hosting a weekend of recitals. On Saturday, June 6, and Sunday, June 7, students will perform All-School Recitals at 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m. with an addition 6 p.m. concert on Sunday. Back on Saturday, June 6 at 6 p.m., the school will hold its Honors Recital, open to all graduating seniors and advanced students per nomination by a faculty member.
• Belmont High School graduation will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 7, in the Wenner Field House.
• The First Church in Belmont Unitarian Universalist will host the 37th annual benefit Chamber Music Concert on Sunday, June 7 at 8 p.m to benefit the SPARK (Supporting Parents and Resilient Kids) Center at the Boston Medical Center.
The concert includes:
Concert attendees will also be treated to an amusing and brilliant finale excerpted from Gilbert & Sullivan, and featuring the performing artists. The SPARK Center helps over 100 children and families in the Boston area who are coping with a host of issues including: complex neurological problems, HIV and AIDS, emotional and behavioral problems related to trauma, and developmental delays and related special educational needs. For more information please call 617-484-1054 ext.201 or email aradford@uubelmont.org
Photo: Moderator Mike Widmer.
7 p.m.: Welcome to hopefully the final night of Belmont’s annual Town Meeting. Tonight, capital budget appropriations will be highlighted as will a reconsideration of the solar power article which was indefinitely delayed in May.
7:11 p.m.: And the meeting starts with a shout out by Moderator Mike Widmer on all those who make Town Meeting “works.”
7:12 p.m.: Glenn Clancy, director of the Community Development office, gives an update on the Trapelo/Belmont corridor project. Interesting points: some sidewalks are showing defects and changes have been made. The project from Mill Street to Cushing Square is just about done except for the final top coating. It is a positive message that Belmont is moving forward on the town’s roads.
7:21 p.m.: Up now is Article 18, which reauthorizes the eight revolving funds, all self funding. There are two new accounts: Stormwater consulting and storm water improvements. The money comes from fees so the funding is not coming from general funds. It’s adopted unanimously.
7:25 p.m.: Now up is an overview of the capital budget appropriation process from the Capital Budget Chair Anne Marie Mahoney. Interesting facts:
In public safety, the priorities start with the high school fire alarm system. It must be replaced now – during the summer of 2016 – and it has to be replaced because the current one is nearly 45 years old. Cost, $1.2 million. Other priorities are fire alarms at the Butler and Town Hall and the replacement of portable radios. The replacement is part of a greater program in which a large amount will be bonded.
Mahoney then goes over the other expenditures, a total of 23.
A pair of large borrowing is one the way. The fire alarm at the high school will result in borrowing $1.55 million with a five year bond in 2016 or $236,000 per year, coming out of the capital budget each year.
The radio system will require a ten-year bond for $1.09 million.
Roads and sidewalks: all the money in fiscal 16 will come to $2.55 million from several sources. “This is an all time high,” she said.
Mahoney notes that the major capital projects are
All are expensive and also needed.
Guess what, there will be needs for additional space at nearly all the schools by 2017. Capital budget will be part of the process.
Mahoney is given a big hand by the gathering for a great report.
7:54 p.m.: There will be four motions in the Capital Budget expenditure, the first, Section A, is the reading of the 23 items that are being purchased or leased at $1.8 million. Kevin Cunningham, Pct. 4, asks the process for estimating $1.4 million for the high school alarm replacement with a new high school being planned. Mahoney said even if funding for the new school is approved by the state in December, it will take years before construction on a new school begins. Cunningham asked if the new floor can be salvageable in a new school. Of course, said Mahoney.
Julilet Jenkins, Pct. 3, asked why the system is now being replaced if it was known that it was outdated for years. Mahoney said the hope had been that a new school would be coming but the alarm system simply needs to be done.
Christine Doyle, Pct. 1, asked if it wouldn’t be wise to bond now as rates are currently so low. Treasurer Floyd Carman said rates will be just as low in 2016 as now. “Great, I’ll sign up for your newsletter,” Doyle quipped.
Rachel Berger, Pct. 2, asked if the fire system will last until 2016, or “will be homeschooling 1,100 students.” Fire Chief David Frizzell said the system is on its last legs and his department will work with the limitations before him.
Answering a question on whether to build a new or renovated high school, Mahoney said the shell of the building is in perfect shape, “built to last forever” so there is no need for a new building like other communities were required to do. But the systems are so old and there is need for a new science space.
Donald Mercier, Pct 8, said he “didn’t want to disappoint” the gathering by not asking a question, asking town officials on the price tag on a new rec vehicle and the shed at the library for the snowblower. Cunningham said while he talks process, he thanks the committee for making an expenditure for traffic calming at Lexington and Sycamore. The $1.8 million budget is adopted unanimously.
Section B appropriates $1.09 million for the purchase of radio transmission equipment for fire and police use and portable radios. Bonnie Friedman, Pct. 3, asks if this expenditure is needed if the town joins a regional 911 system. David Kale, Town Administrator, said the equipment is needed by the town. The section is approved with only six no votes.
Section C, is the fire alarm replacement project costing $1.06 million in bonding. No questions from members and the vote is 221 to 9.
Section D, is the $1.55 million in road paving. Janet Kruse, Pct. 3, asked if the money coming in this year can be used this year. Yes, said Clancy, and if not used this year, it would go into next year. Monte Allen, Pct. 8, asks what is the level of scrutiny that the Warrant and Capital Budget committees use to make the decisions. When these budgets come to Town Meeting, they are a fait accompli. Mahoney, Selectman Chair Sami Baghdady and Michael Libenson defend the process as open and complete.
Here’s some news, from a question for Catherine Bowen, Pct. 4, Baghdady said the town could be revisiting the percentage spent on sidewalk repairs. The current policy, which limits sidewalk expenditures since there was such a need to use the limited funding capacity on roads, will be reviewed according to Baghdady.
The motion is adopted unanimously.
8:47 p.m.: Article 15 is to accept $800,000 in state money for to resurface and repair our roads. Sounds good to the gathering. Passes.
Before the break, Widmer praises the “huge, huge contribution” of the volunteers on the capital budget and warrant committees who perform the usually unseen but greatly important work to bring the the budget to Town Meeting.
9:06 p.m.: After the break, Article 11, approve the enterprise funds for water and swear and storm water services. Pretty straight forward. Approved.
9:09 p.m.: Article 19, which establishes a new capital/debt stabilization fund for the capital costs on four building projects: the high school, the police station, the public works building and the library. It will be funded by the sale of the Woodfall Road parcel, the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square and other accounts. This will allow one-time funds to be placed in reserve to take one step closer to finishing these projects while not increasing the tax burden. “We need to tackle the big four,” said Mahoney, who said this will spark a debate among residents on the four projects. There is an amendment waiting.
Kevin Cunningham, Pct 4, wants to read an apology, which is rather personal discussing “his shame” for attempting to use Town Meeting to discuss something other than the amendment he presented, saying he wants to find a way to have a venue to express his opinion on process. He is given a hand.
Don Mercier, Pct 8, asked if the article is defeated, where will the money raised by Woodfall Road sale, etc. It will go into the general fund.
Johanna Swift Hart, Pct 4, wonders if the money from the two sales wouldn’t be better spent going into free cash which was depleted by $1.3 million for the Belmont Center reconstruction. Selectman Mark Paolillo said there is an expectation that there will be money at the end of the year will be going into free cash and these are capital projects “that are not running away” so let’s address them, said Baghdady. But Swift Hart said free cash isn’t free so “where is my money.”
Paul Roberts said the capital projects will take years to take hold, asking if there is any policy on funding years in the future.
Julie Crockett, Pct 5, asked Baghdady isn’t it true that any funds could to be placed into the fund will have to wait until next year’s Town Meeting. True, said Baghdady. Can’t we wait until next year to set up the fund? she asked. Yes, was the response. Crockett asked if the town shouldn’t wait until next year because there could be needs – such as housing all the new students coming into the schools – that could be more pressing.
This requires a 2/3s vote: This should be interesting. And the vote is 192 to 30. That was not even close.
9:35 p.m.: Article 20: The Minuteman Regional Voc High Regional Agreement is being postponed. Jack Weis, Pct. 1, who is Belmont’s rep on the Minuteman School Committee, said this is the same article presented to Town Meeting last year. Attempting to explain the background of this article is a terribly tangled web in an attempt to build a new school (which many people feel is too large) in Lexington with 15 partner communities. It’s suffice it to say that since one town of the 16 voted it down, why take it up. The measure is approved.
10 p.m.: Now is the reconsideration of Article 9, the solar power article. Selectman Jim Williams said he would not be moving forward on the reconsideration so that ends the action.
William continues to say that he is dismissing three of four citizen petitions as the selectmen and
Photo: Sidewalk snow blower.
The goodies in the capital budget, revolving accounts and reconsidering the indefinitely delayed solar power amendment will be in the spotlight during the “last” night of the 2015 annual Town Meeting starting at 7 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, June 3 in the Chenery Middle School auditorium.
Capital Budget Chair Anne Marie Mahoney will lead the discussion on the appropriation of capital expenditures – other than roads – totaling $1.8 million.
The requests – numbering 23 this year – run the gambit from $90,700 for a sidewalk snow blower for the DPW department and $123,000 for replacement radios for Belmont Police officers to $10,000 for a storage shed at the library to $62,500 to replace the Butler School boiler.
The pavement management account of nearly $1.550 million for road reconstruction in fiscal 2016 (beginning July 1, 2015) is the largest in recent memory and reaches a level in which the town can not rebuild any more roads with any more available funds.
There will also be eight revolving accounts that require reauthorization from Town Meeting.
Also up before the annual legislative gathering will be the reconsideration of Article 9, the so-called solar power amendment which was “delay indefinitely” by members back in May during the first session of Town Meeting. Leading the effort to bring the article back from legislative cryonics will be Jim Williams who feels the members did not understand that they were voting to effectively kill the amendment.
Williams would have had a greater presence on center stage in this session with four citizen petitions accepted by the Town Clerk, but he told the Belmontonian on Monday, June 1, he would be withdrawing the petitions as the Board of Selectmen have agreed to move on the recommendations in three of the articles.
It is expected that Town Meeting could adjourn tonight
Photo: The Belmont High School Jazz Ensemble.
You can’t get any better than the Belmont High School Jazz Ensemble.
The quintet of talented seniors – Max Davidowitz on drums, Mary Yeh, bass; Charlie Smith, piano; Rowan Wolf, tenor saxophone; and singer Zoe Miner – won over the judges at this year’s Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators’ annual conference with their outstanding performance at the Berklee Performance Center in March, earning them the rarified status of being named gold medalists.
But the combo never got the chance to show their chops to the public three months ago after the concert they would have been part of was cancelled at the last minute.
So the group’s long-time director, Berklee professor Mazim Lubarsky, and the members decided to put on their own show. Tonight, Wednesday, June 3 at 7 p.m., the combo will be performing at the legendary venue Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge’s Inman Square. The club, which hosts international and local jazz performers, is located at 212 Hampshire St. which is only 15 minutes from Belmont Center.
Tickets are $5.
The night will also showcase guest performers – and fellow Belmont High students – Riley Grant and Alex Sun on trumpets and Sa-Sa Gutterman on trombone.
Check out a video of the group here.
This is an opportunity for residents and fellow students to enjoy great music and get a chance to see young musicians – nurtured in the school district’s music program – at the start of their careers.
Photo: Lilacs in bloom.
Photo: Burbank Elementary School Garden.
On the government side of “This Week”:
• Belmont Town Meeting reconvenes with its focus on financial articles. The meeting takes place on Monday, June 1, at 7 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School.
• State Rep Dave Rogers will be holding office hours on Tuesday, June 2, at 9:30 a.m. at the Beech Street Center.
• The Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer run library at the corner of Old Middlesex and Oakley, will be holding Summer Pre-School Story Time at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 2, with stories and crafts for children 3 to 5. Younger siblings may attend with adults. Parents or caregivers must be present. Registration is not required. Pre-School Story Time meets at 10:30 a.m. every Tuesday and Friday throughout the summer.
• Sing-along with Julie will take place on Wednesday, June 3, at 10:30 a.m. in the Children’s Room.
• On early release Wednesday, June 3, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., Chenery Middle School student can stop by the Belmont Public Library’s Assembly Room, work on your homework, enjoy some lemonade and cookies, and try out an activity. This is for middleschoolers only, so high school students can do something else. The activity is funded by the Friends of the Belmont Public Library. Just drop in.
• The Belmont High School Jazz Ensemble, Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education’s gold medalists, will be performing at Ryles Jazz Club, 212 Hampshire St., Cambridge, on June 3 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5.
• The Friends of the Belmont Public Library annual meeting will take place on Thursday, June 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
• The LEGO Club for kindergarteners through second graders is back on Thursday, June 4 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library. Drop in anytime. Members will be creating their own unique LEGO structures. All LEGOs will be provided.
• The 7th-8th Grade Book Group from the Chenery Middle School meets Thursday, June 4, at 7 p.m., at Belmont Public Library’s Young Adult Room.
• The Burbank Elementary School Garden Opening Celebration will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 5, at the school on School Street with ribbon cutting and activities for families in the new Garden Classroom and in Burbank’s organic vegetable garden, also established this year with co-sponsorship from Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom.
Photo: Yard sales in Belmont.
Yard sales in the “Town of Homes.”
• 96 Agassiz Ave., Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• 151 Beech St., Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• 30 Clark St., Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• 30 Davis Rd., Sunday, May 31, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• 13 Harvard Rd., Saturday, May 30, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• 6 Hillside Terr., Saturday, May 30, from 8:30 a.m. to noon.
• 30 Moraine St., Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• 179 Trapelo Rd., Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31, noon to 4 p.m.
• 449 Trapelo Rd., Sunday, May 31, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• 88 Winn St., Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Photo: Veterans greet each other on Memorial Day, Belmont 2015.
On a muggy, overcast morning, Belmont residents came out to participate and watch the town’s annual parade and remembrance service on Memorial Day 2015.
One of the biggest crowds in recent memory sent the long-line of veterans, color guards, public safety officers, scouts, the combined Belmont high and middle school marching band and sporting teams such as Belmont Hockey and the Arlington-Belmont state champion crew off with cheers from Cushing Square down the Trapelo/Belmont corridor, onto Grove Street before stopping at Belmont Cemetery.
Speaking before the assembled audience, the Reverend Paul Minor, co-rector with his wife, Cheryl, of Belmont’s All Saints Church, said the day is not just for those who sacrificed their lives defending the country but also “those who mourn the loss of loved ones throughout our history.”
“We pray that inspired by their witness and service and sacrifice of blood that we would move forward in our own way to draw closer to our national vision of compassion, of mercy, of justice, of the rule of law,” said Minor, the sole full-time chaplain in the Massachusetts Army National Guard where he has achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Sami Baghdady, chair of the Board of Selectmen, said that while the Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, of backyard barbecues and escaping to the Cape, it is a day to remember the more than 120 from Belmont, from the Civil War to the war in Iraq, who died in combat or on active duty, including three remaining missing in action.
“To Belmont, Memorial Day is much more than just another holiday,” as the enthusiasm of residents coming out to greet the veterans or pay their respect at the service “that we have not forgotten the true meaning and purpose” of the day. He noted earlier this month, the town approved funding to a committee to refurbish the town’s three main veterans monuments.
Baghdady also praised the decade long service of the former town’s veterans agent, John Maguranis, and introduced the current agent, Bob Upton, for coordinating the day’s events.
The day’s featured speaker, retired US Army Major General Robert Catalanotti – who was base commander of Camp Taji in Iraq a decade ago – asked residents that after the barbecues and all the other long weekend events are over, “resolve to continue the meaning of this holiday with your loved ones.”
“Later, when the sunsets, after the smell of hot dogs and burgers fade away, I ask you to stop and reflect on this day, and the soldiers who paid the price that we will never be able to match,” he said.
“Most of all, today is the day to tell the stories of the soldiers on the battlefields of decades past. So soldiers of yesterday and today are never forgotten by the children of tomorrow,” said Catalanotti.
On the government side of “This Week”:
Tuesday is story time at both of Belmont libraries.
• Pre-School Story Time at the Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer run library, at 10:30 a.m. Stories and crafts for children age 3 to 5. Parents or caregivers must attend. Siblings may attend with adults. Registration is not required. The Benton Library is located at the intersection of Oakley and Old Middlesex.
• The Belmont Public Library on Concord Avenue will be holding two sessions of Story Time for 2’s and 3’s, at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
• Town Meeting members from Precincts 1 and 7 will be meeting at Tuesday, May 26,
from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the Belmont Public Library.
• Choices in After-Death Care will be discussed at the Beech Street Center on Tuesday, May 26, at 1:15 p.m. Come to a program presented by Raya Gildor, president of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Eastern Massachusetts for answers. What are the alternatives to conventional burial and cremation? How can I find a low-cost coffin? How can you make a funeral more meaningful and personal? Can you really keep a deceased body at home?
• The annual Beech Street Center Open House is being held on Tuesday, May 26, at 4 p.m. at the center located at 266 Beech St. This is a great opportunity in a short period of time to get a taste of what the center offers, as well as taste the light dinner refreshments sponsored by the Park Avenue Health Center in Arlington. There will be demonstrations of fitness classes and bocce, and a short concert from its singing group, the Bel Airs. Exhibits of paintings, and quilts created in quilting group will be showcased.
• The third installment of Belmont Public Library’s eCamp takes place on Wednesday, May 27, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Assembly Room. Reference Librarian Joanna Breen and Technology Librarian Ellen Girouard will teach how to access the library from wherever you find yourself this summer, talk about Zinio and hoopla, and demonstrate other ways the library connects patrons to online media, in this free-flowing demonstration plus Q & A session. Enjoy snacks, practice with your device or a library laptop, and get connected to magazines, movies, music, and more. Register here or call 617-
• Grade 7 & 8 Chorus and Orchestra Concert under the direction of Margot Reavey (orchestra) and Christine Moser (chorus), will be held Thursday, May 28, at 7 p.m. in the Chenery Middle School auditorium.
• Belmont Against Racism, The Belmont Human RIghts Commission, Belmont-Watertown Amnesty International and the Social Action Committee of First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist invite the public to attend a program on Thursday, May 28 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Criminal Justice Reform: “What is being done in Massachusetts to address mass incarceration?” Speakers will include State Sen. Will Brownsberger, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, State Rep. Dave Rogers and Leslie Walker, executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services. The event, which takes place at the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave., is free and open to the public. Parking may be limited at the church. There is more parking on the street.
• Celebrate Arbor Day with the planting of new trees this Friday, May 29, at 10 a.m. at the Daniel Butler Elementary School on White Street. All are welcome to join the students and staff.
• The Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s annual One-Act Plays take place on Friday, May 29, and Saturday, May 30, at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater at Belmont High School. The six plays – a combination of comedy, drama, satire and romance – are directed by 11th and 12th grade students with three written by BHS PAC members. All 36 actors and 60 crew members are also BHS students. It is the best night of theater in Belmont for the entire school year. Tickets: Adults: $12; Students: $5. Tickets are on sale at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center and on-line at bhs-pac.org.