Two More Cases Of Coronavirus In Belmont, Raising Total To 3

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Photo: Belmont now has three confirmed cases of the Coronavirus.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has informed the Belmont Health Department that two more residents have been declared “presumptive positive” for the COVID-19 virus, according to an email dated Friday, March from Wesley Chin, director of the Health Department.

Belmont now has a total of three MDPH confirmed cases of the stain of the Coronavirus which has developed in just four months into a global pandemic. As of March 13, there are 123 cases In Massachusetts.

MDPH defines “presumptive positive” as a person that has tested positive by the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory, while awaiting specimens sent to the US Centers for Disease Control for final verification.

Like the initial case, these residents are linked to the Biogen conference held in Boston at the end of February. Statewide 82 out of 108 positive cases are linked to the Biogen event that took place at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf Hotel.

The first person who contracted the virus is currently in isolation in their home, staying away from their family members who are self-quarantined in the same location for 14 days.

“Other members of the family, do not have symptoms of COVID-19,” said Chin.

“Local health departments, including the Belmont Health Department, conduct contact investigations of confirmed and presumptive positive COVID-19 cases, in collaboration with MDPH. This helps to prevent further spread by having contacts of cases self-quarantine,” read the email.

Breaking: Belmont Schools Closed For Two Weeks Due To Pandemic Concerns, Joining Neighboring Towns

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Photo: The Belmont School Administration Building

In an extraordinary action to stem the spreading Coronavirus pandemic in the Boston area, the Belmont School District is joining with five towns in the Middlesex County in closing their public schools for two weeks beginning Friday, March 13.

Belmont is collaborating with superintendents from Arlington, Bedford, Burlington, Lexington and Winchester after being “informed by our local boards of health, as well by expert epidemiologists who recognize that the time to act is now,” said a joint press release from the superintendents dated March 12

“We know we can have a greater and more positive impact on public health and safety if we do this together,” the release said.

The superintendents noted the joint closure may be extended or shortened at the direction of state authorities.

Belmont and the other schools are joining the rapidly growing “social distancing” movement “a term that epidemiologists are using to refer to a conscious effort to reduce close contact between people and hopefully stymie community transmission of the virus,” as described in The Atlantic.

Examples of “community mitigation strategies” include nearly all Boston area colleges and universities sending student home for the remainder of the school year, a growing number of businesses are asking employees to work from home and the cancellation of large gatherings from classical music concerts, lectures to sporting events from the professional level to high school championships.

“We do this out of an abundance of caution, particularly out of sensitivity to families and staff who have underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable to complications should they become infected,” said the superintendents.

“We also do not do this lightly, as we know that this will impose a hardship on families who do not have childcare options,” said the release.

The “timely and unified decision” to shut down public education for the fortnight comes a day after the first confirmed case of a Belmont resident infected with the Coronavirus was made public by the Belmont Health Department.

To The Garden! Belmont Heads To State Finals After Taking D1 North Crown, 3-2, Over St. John’s (S)

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Photo: The Division 1 North champs, Belmont High School

The Marauders have conquered the North and the State is ready for the taking after Belmont High Ice Hockey scored twice in the final seven minutes of the third period to win the Division 1 North final, 3-2, over St. John’s (Shrewsbury) Monday night, March 9, in a come-from-behind thriller at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.

Junior Ben Fici’s snap shot from beyond the left faceoff circle that rocketed by Pioneers goalie Dan Laursen glove with a minute and 25 seconds remaining proved to be the game winner, securing Belmont’s first ever Sectional crown.

Fici’s heroics followed a stunning shorthanded goal by senior assistant captain Marco Santagati who gathered a Matt Brody pass behind the defense, deeked Laursen to the left and buried a backhander at the 6:21 mark to tie the game at 2-2. Santagati’s goal came a little more than a minute after St. John’s retook the lead through the Pioneer’s Griffin Burns at 7:50.

“Tonight we got a power play (goal), we got a short handed goal, these kids just find different ways to win,” said Belmont Head coach Fred Allard outside a rakus locker room. “You just can’t count these kids out. They’ve just got a will that exceeds anything else. It’s remarkable.”

Belmont (14-5-5) will meet Walpole High (13-8-5), in the state championship game on Sunday, March 15, at the TD Garden in Boston. The Rebels are the surprise survivors of the South Sectionals, a 12th seed which, like Belmont, won its four playoff games by a single goal.

Belmont and Walpole are seeking its first state boys’ hockey championship. Belmont was the favorite in its only visit to the finals 65 years ago in 1955 only to be upset by Winchester which was coached by long-time Belmont resident Francis Finigan.

But a trip to the Garden was far from certain after the first 15 minutes as Belmont stumbled out of the gate giving up a goal after only 52 seconds on the Pioneers’ first shot on goal, a Matt Myers wrister from the slot that slide just inside the right post by Belmont’s senior goalie Nico Carere.

For the remainder of the period it appeared St. John’s was ready to skate the at times tentative Belmont players out of the building as they outshot Belmont 11-1. But Carere quickly returned to his steady form that he’s showcasted throughout the tournament, keeping a clean sheet for nearly two and a half periods.

“Nico’s our backbone. He’s the one that keeps us in everything. He did it again in another kind of sloppy first period,” said Allard.

In the locker room between periods, which Allard recalled being “pretty bad,” the team was pressed to return to the basics.

“We gotta focus on what we can do. Let’s get sticks on pucks, let’s get pucks in deep because we’re a good cycling team down low. Once we have control of the puck, once we get ourselves in that mode, we’re tough and we wear out defense, and that’s when we can put pucks on net,” said Allard.

Belmont came out the gate upping the intensity emphasized by senior co-captain Justin Rocha who producing a picture perfect shoulder-to-chest check in the first two minutes. The hit herald Belmont’s aggressive puck pursuit that bottled up St. John’s in its end, leading to turnovers as the Marauders’ shots total began adding up.

Belmont leveled the contest close to midway in the second when Matt Brody roofed a Laursen rebound deep in the slot at 8:08 in the second, sending the nearby Belmont student section into a frenzy. By the end of period, the Marauders outshot the Pioneers 17-6.

The pivotal third saw both teams pressed the action, with the Pioneers sending two forwards deep into the zone while Belmont looked for to pressure the puck carrier to attempt to jump on the transition.

After falling behind 2-1 and then picked up a penalty 49 second later with less than seven minutes in the game, Allard said he felt his team would not crack under the pressure.

“I think the fact that we’re battle tested, especially this year with the games we’ve had in the playoffs [four one goal wins] is just been a sign that we knew we could come back,” said Allard.

After taking the lead and St. John’s pulling its goalie, it was up to Carero to keep the door shut,

“Nico has just been locked in because he wants [a state championship],” said Allard. “He’s a very competitive, highly driven kid.”

After the game, Allard recalled the last season, Belmont missed the playoffs after finishing last in the Middlesex League.

“The player all say that we should have been better than that. But they didn’t get lazy, they worked just even harder to put ourselves in a position to have this moment right now. And today it worked out,” he said.

“I’ve been the speechless. These kids are just unbelievable.”

Breaking: First Coronavirus Case In Belmont Confirmed, Attended Biogen Conference

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Photo: The Belmont resident with the coronavirus attended a Biogen conference at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf (Google maps)

Belmont’s first positive Coronavirus case in a resident has been confirmed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, according to a press release dated Wednesday, March 11 from Wesley Chin, director of the Belmont Health Department.

“The presumptive positive individual is in good spirits and reports mild symptoms,” said Chin.

A parent of students who attend the Chenery Middle School and Belmont High School, the resident took part in a Biogen conference at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf in late February which is “Ground Zero” in the spread of the respiratory disease. As of Tuesday, approximately 70 out of 91 presumptive positive cases in Massachusetts are linked to that leadership meeting.

Only the parent has shown symptoms of the virus known as COVID-19; the students and other members of the family are symptom free.

The resident and the family are now complying with a 14-day in-home quarantine protocol provided by MDPH, said the press release. The individual is isolated in the home and is staying away from members of their family.

Even before the confirmation, the individual and its family have been out of school and work since the previous week as a preventative measure to reduce the chance of community spread.

In light of the first positive case in town, the Belmont Public Schools Facilities Department is cleaning and disinfecting the schools the children attend as well as the Belmont Public Library, which was cleaned prior to opening today.

The school department has strengthened cleaning protocols at all schools, with a focus on high touch points. It is also closely monitoring hand towel and soap dispensers to ensure regular refill and has ordered a large supply of hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes to be distributed to all schools.

There are now plans to systematically disinfect all other town buildings moving forward, said Chin.

Local health departments, including the Belmont Health Department, conduct contact investigations of confirmed and presumptive positive COVID-19 cases, in collaboration with MDPH. This helps to prevent further spread by having contacts of cases self-quarantine.

The US Centers Disease Control (CDC) has updated recommendations for people at higher risk — older adults and people who have chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease.

Breaking: Schools Cancelling ‘Large Events’ Due To CoronaVirus Emergency; Musical’s Fate Up In The Air

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Photo: BHS-PAC’s spring musical “Shrek The Musical” is one event that will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The Belmont Public Schools is canceling ‘large’ school-sanctioned events due to the spreading CoronaVirus pandemic, according to Superintendent John Phelan.

Speaking before the School Committee on Tuesday, March 10, hours after Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts after the number of suspected virus patients doubled in one day, Phelan said the district will email a public statement on Wednesday, March 11, detailing the district’s decision and how it will impact the community.

Phelan said the school district’s action was done in coordination with the town’s Health Department and the Town Administrator Patrice Garvin. It also follows Baker’s declaration Tuesday in which he urged large organizations “[to] limit or eliminate large events where possible.”

Examples of “large public gatherings” include the 7th and 8th grade band concert on Thursday, fundraisers such as the Wellington Carnival, public lectures and field trips.

“We’ve had a lot of feedback from our families that they were worried about larger events,” said Phelan.

Phelan also said principals will “have at their discretion” the ability to cancel smaller events at the schools. Those could include a PTO meeting where a few dozen parents and school administrators are attending in a classroom or a “Meet the Kindergarten teacher” event, said Phelan.

Phelan would not comment on the possible cancellation or delay of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company’s annual spring musical, this year “Shrek The Musical.” The popular yearly event fills the high school auditorium during three or four performances.

“We have to talk about the play,” said Phelan saying he is in discussions with Arto Asadoorian, the district’s director of fine & performing arts on the show’s future. “There is a substantial amount of money that it takes in and a substantial amount that’s put out to support it. We are taking some of these events on a case-by-case basis.”

“But we also want to be safe and be prudent so we’ll decide that in the upcoming days,” said Phelan.

Phelan told the committee the district has not joined other public schools or several nearby colleges and universities in permitting home learning or virtual classrooms to prevent the virus from spreading in Belmont schools.

But Phelan noted that the district will be realistic that distance learning may become an option as the effect of the virus on communities “changes by the day.”

While no Belmont resident or public school student have been diagnosed with the coronavirus as of March 10, “it will come here,” he said.

Principal McAllister Leaving Chenery For Central Office [Video]

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Photo: Mike McAllister.

Micheal McAllister, the popular principal of the Chenery Middle School, will be heading to the Belmont School District’s Central Office to become the director of the newly named Office of Human Capital.

Entering his 20th year in the Belmont Schools, McAllister has been the Chenery principal for the past four years after spending seven years as principal of the Butler Elementary School in the Waverley neighborhood. He began his career as a sixth-grade social studies teacher at the Chenery in 2000.

McAllister earned his BA from Northeastern and a master’s in education from Harvard. He lives with his family in his hometown of Bedford where he served on the School Committee for six years (2013-2019) and was Chair from 2015 until 2018.

“We will welcome Principal McAllister to his new role after we post and search for an interim principal to replace him for the remainder of the 2019/20 school year,” said Belmont District Superintendent John Phelan announcing the news on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

The district will post for the permanent principal position for the Chenery that would start on July 1.

“I think that the district is about to undergo a lot of change, to be able to have a hand in helping steer that in a good direction is an amazing opportunity,” McAllister told the Belmontonian. He noted that bringing the new Belmont Middle and High School “online” in the next five years will require a great deal of time and effort on his part.

McAllister will handle the district’s human resources duties, including the recruitment and hiring staff and educators, negotiating contracts, benefits, professional development opportunities, retirement, and other related employment issues. 

After 20 years as a classroom teacher and a school leader, this will be McAllister’s first time working in the central office.

“When I saw the job description, one of the things that struck me was that I’ve done a lot of those duties already, so I think I can parlay the skills and experiences that I’ve had,” he said.

“I think the central office is really closely connected to the schools, and I think that I can help do that. I am one of those rare people that has experienced at the elementary, middle and high schools, and I have relationships at all those schools and I’m hoping that we can build on this,” McAllister said.

McAllister said it will be a major adjustment to go from daily managing hundreds of students and educators to an office on Pleasant Street.

“I get fired up by the interaction. I love being in a place where 1,500 people know me and I know 1,500 people, I love that, you know, so it’ll be a big, but it’s just a different type of leadership. You know, and I think that as a leader, you’re always trying to move into a place where you’re being challenged. And this is this will definitely be a challenge.”

As FY ’21 Tax Rate Falls, Average Tax Bill Jumps 11% As High School Debt Exclusion Kicks In

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Photo: The Assessors before the Select Board (from left) Martin Millane, Robert Reardon and Charles Laverty III

Belmont homeowners knew the day of reckoning was coming.

And that day will be July 1, 2020 when the dual impact of the successful vote on the $213 million debt exclusion to build the new Middle and High School and continued skyrocketing property values will result in one of the largest annual property tax increases in recent memory, according to Robert Reardon, the long-time chair of the Belmont Board of Assessors.

“This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but maybe the amount will,” said Reardon.

The red hot Belmont property market contributed in pushing up the “average” single family home value (made up of the sum of all home values divided by the number of homes) to $1,285,000 with property values on single family homes increased a whopping 18 percent in the past 12 months outpacing all other categories such as condos (6 percent) and multi-families (10 percent), Reardon told a special meeting of the Select Board held Wednesday, Dec. 18.

“[Belmont] remains a desireable place to live and it has a good school system. And while it’s very close to Boston, you can still get a good yard and a garage while in Cambridge for the same price you’ll likely get off street parking,” said Reardon whose day job is as director of Cambridge’s Assessing Department.

The total annual taxes on that “average” house comes to $14,135, an 11 percent increase from the $12,720 set the previous fiscal year, with half of the $1,415 increase attributed to the debt exclusion passed by voters in November, 2018, said Reardon, who attended the meeting with his fellow board members Charles Laverty, III and Martin Millane.

Fiscal
Year		Tax
Rate		Avg.
Assess		Avg.
Taxes		Avg.
Taxes %
Increase		Median
Assess		Median
Taxes
201612.90$928,000$11,6566.56$848,000$10,560
201712.69$942,000$11,9542.56$856,000$10,863
201812.15$1,003,750$12,1962.02$910,000$11,057
201911.67$1,090,000$12,7204.30$997,000$11,635
202011.00$1,285,000$14,13511.12$1,179,000$12,969

The rest of the increase consists of the annual two-and-a-half percent ceiling on total property taxes the town can levy and new growth which came in at $1.1 million.

Reardon also noted this year’s debt exclusion only covers the first half of the construction funding with a second, equally large increase coming in fiscal 2021.

Reardon came before the board to reveal the town’s property tax rate for the coming fiscal year – which begins on July 1, 2020 – at $11 per $1,000 assessed value, a reduction of two-thirds of a buck from the fiscal ’19 rate of $11.67.

The total assessed value of property in Belmont shot up to $9.210 billion from $7.947 billion in fiscal ’19.

As in past years, the assessors recommended, and the selectmen agreed to, a single tax classification and no real estate exemptions. Reardon said Belmont does not have anywhere near the amount of commercial and industrial space (at must be least a minimum of 20 percent, said Reardon) to creating separate tax rates for residential and commercial properties. Belmont’s commercial base is 3.9 percent of the total real estate.

“There’s always this misconception that if you have a split rate it’s going to be beneficial for homeowners but that’s not the case,” said Reardon.

Arizona Business Express Interest In Opening Pot Shop On Pleasant Street

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Photo: An image of Mint’s retail pot operation on Pleasant Street.

An Arizona-based firm described as “an industry leader in the blossoming cannabis industry” has sent a notice of intent to Belmont town officials to open a “world class adult-use“ retail marijuana dispensary on Pleasant Street where a service station is currently located.

Mint Retail Facilities LLC which runs a pair of retail shops in the Phoenix suburbs of Guadalupe and Mesa hopes to open its first Massachusetts operation at 768 Pleasant St. “no later than Dec. 31, 2020” if all goes to plan.

The one-story building will be constructed where Lenny’s Service Center is currently operating, adjacent to My Other Kitchen and Auto Engineering Body Work and Cityside Subaru.

Shops near Tempe.

The firm, owned by Eiavan Sahara, is concurrently seeking state cultivation and manufacturing licenses in Palmer and Beverly.

Mint joins Winchester couple Kelly and Stephen Tomasello who have expressed interest in turning a commercial storage site at 1010 Pleasant St. into Cal Verde Naturals, 3,600 square foot single story “retail wellness shop.”

While both ventures will need to commit to discussions on host community agreements, no time line has been established with either group, said Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s town administrator, to the Select Board on Monday, Dec. 16.

The town is currently drafting guidelines with the help of Town Counsel George Hall for applicants to follow during the licensing process.

Once the business receives a provisional license from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission – following the signing of a host community agreement with the town and the issuance of a special permit from the Planning Board – it will begin construction and open its operation within 180 days.

According to a business plan sent to town officials, the firm will seek to operate seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The building will have limited access areas for security and operational reasons with “buzz-in” electronic/mechanical entry systems. The firm’s letter to the town details other areas of the operation including odor controls, waste disposal, storage, inventory and transportation of weed.

The store will sell flowers, concentrates and extracts, infused edibles, accessories and branded merchandise with produces coming from its own manufacturing plants as well as other suppliers including providing “priority consideration to product cultivated in Belmont by independent cultivators.”

One area Mint hopes to cultivate is a delivery service which would go counter to one of the two town restrictions placed in the marijuana bylaw; the other being a 25 year old age restriction on the purchase of pot.

In a profile by the Spanish-language press association EFE News, its Arizona operations – located near the Arizona State University – are “visited daily by some 1,000 customers” selling everything imaginable related to the weed “from infusions to cannabis-themed T-shirts and souvenirs.” Mint’s website promotes store proportionals like a “Toasted Tuesday Sale” when customers can purchase “one gram of flower wrapped in Shatter, then submerged in Kief” for “ONLY $25.”

Mint’s most innovative offering is a first-of-its-kind medical marijuana kitchen serving up “blueberry muffins, salad, pizza, and macaroni and cheese with a dash of cannabis.”

Crunching the numbers, the firm expects to spend $1.5 million in capital costs and working capital to open the Belmont store. By its second year, the firm predicts the store will gross $9.5 million with net income of $700,000.

In addition, Mint forecasts Belmont receiving $276,000 in combined local marijuana and community impact taxes in the first year increasing to $660,000 by the fourth year. The firm said it will create 20 new jobs and pay half a million dollars in salaries and benefits.

Mint, which is also seeking to enter the Michigan market in 2020, is seeking to ride the rapidly growing cannabis retail market with forecasts of the total economic output of legal retail pot will skyrocket 150 percent from $16 billion in 2017 to $40 billion by 2021, according to BDS Analytics.

A Detroit native, Sahara started his first business at 19 with a low price auto glass repair operation before heading to Phoenix to start up a number of discount businesses. Sahara is owner of a glass repair operation for the past 11 years achieving $1 million in profits in 2018.

Select Board Pegs McIsaac To Be Next Belmont Police Chief (VIDEO)

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Photo: Belmont Assistant Police Chief James MacIsaac

Assistant Police Chief James MacIsaac could soon be leading his hometown police department as the Belmont Select Board unanimously selected the life long resident to succeed Richard McLaughlin as Belmont’s next police chief.

“I hope to continue to serve the Town of Belmont [in] the capacity of Police Chief,” MacIsaac told the board after an hour-long presentation during a public meeting at Town Hall on Monday, Dec. 9.

MacIsaac and Belmont Lt. Chris Donahue – who addressed the board and a handful of residents on Monday – were the finalists from an original group of five selected by the Police Chief Screening Committee chaired by former Selectman Mark Paolillo.

While saying that the town “seems to have an embarrassment of riches” with two outstanding candidates for the job, Select Board’s Adam Dash believed “while Chris Donahue sounded like a great cop, I think James MacIsaac sounds like a great leader.”

MacIsaac will take command of the 108 member (with 49 sworn officers) department – pending contract negotiations with the town – from McLaughlin who is retiring on Dec. 31.

Once a contract is squared away, MacIsaac will be Belmont’s 12th full-time chief since David Chenery, Jr. was named Superintendent of Highways and Police Chief in 1877, according to the late town historian, Richard Betts.

In their presentations, Donahue and MacIsaac agreed on the need for additional support on traffic – 42 percent of all calls to Belmont Police involve traffic related incidents – assisting the elderly and strong school/police relations. Each pointed to strategies to protect victims of domestic violence which make up 90 percent of the assault and battery calls to police.

Belmont Police Lt. Chris Donahue.

They also agreed that civil service, which provides preference to residents in entry-level officer positions, has hurt Belmont’s ability to attract an increased diverse pool of candidates.

In his presentation, MacIsaac said that “attempting to maintain the status quo within the department is not an option.” He noted that his philosophy is that all organizations are “always growing even if you’ve reached that top pinnacle.”

“So we are going to build on success that Chief McLaughlin has created,” said MacIsaac.

Among the first acts under MacIsaac’s watch will be filling the vacancies of assistant chief and captain, create strong lines of communication with an emphasis on collaborative partnership between Command staff and officers as well as be cognitive of the fiscal limitations placed on the police budget.

McIsaac will also commit to a six month evaluation of 21 specific areas of policing including staff levels, whether there is too many supervisory positions, reviewing the IT function including the possibility of adding a software specialist to the force and if the department should continue a K-9 unit.

“You need to be willing to try new things. As long as it doesn’t endanger somebody or endangers civilians or cost a lot of money, I’m willing to try just about anything … to improve the organization,” he said.

The Select Board were more supportive of MacIsaac’s approach and specifics to issues. While there were many similarities to the finalists approach to the job, “the principle difference is the fact that MacIsaac’s has been assistant chief for some time and I think he is more attune to the issues on the management side of things,” said Roy Epstein.

And Board Chair Tom Caputo said while the town would benefit with either candidate in the job, “I was engaged and excited to see the depth in which he seems to understands the issues … and the manner in which he was able to provide specific examples to almost take it to a strategic level.”

“While we have two very good candidates, the nod for me is to Jamie,” said Caputo.

BREAKING: Parking Ban In Belmont Tuesday; Trash Pickup Delayed One Day

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Photo: If your vehicle is on the street Tuesday, it’s getting towed.

Belmont has issued a snow emergency for Tuesday, Dec. 3 due to a storm impacting the town beginning

The Belmont Police has issued a town-wide parking ban effective at midnight, Tuesday, Dec. 3 and will run until further notice. The ban includes all roadways and municipal and Belmont Public School parking lots.

Any vehicle parked in violation of the ban will be towed at the owner’s expense.

The Department of Public Work has announced that trash, recycling, and yard waste pickup have been delayed one day due to the inclement weather