Minuteman Relents on Election; Belmont To Use Usual Polling Precincts

July 20, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Voting will take place in the customary locations.

In a decision affecting an all-important vote in two months time, the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District will allow Belmont to use its customary polling locations for the Sept. 20 election rather than a single, centralized site to determine whether the district can go ahead with the financing of a new $145 million vocational high school.

Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman told the Belmontonian that she received word of the reversal from Minuteman Regional School District Superintendent Edward Bouquillon on Friday night, July 15.

“Belmont requested that for the district-wide Minuteman election that voters were able to vote at our usual seven locations, eight precincts … and they were kind enough to allow that to occur,” said Cushman to a question on whether Minuteman had responded to her request and a letter in support from the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

Belmont’s Selectmen were highly critical of the earlier single location decision, saying it was a deliberate attempt by Minuteman – which under state law is allowed to call for a district-wide vote if it could not convince the 16 communities Town Meetings to move forward on the $100 million bonding plan – to stifle the vote in Belmont, the only of the district municipalities whose Town Meeting members voted down the financing plan at a Special Town Meeting earlier this year.

If the district vote passes the bonding issue, Belmont ratepayers could find themselves paying an additional maximum of $500,000 annually in capital costs in addition to the tuition to allow the roughly 30 Belmont students to attend the school in Lexington.

The selectmen joined Cushman in hailing the change.

“I’m thrilled to hear that [Minuteman] has allowed at least Belmont to vote in our regular precincts,” said Mark Paolillo, the board’s chair.

“I think they heard the concerns of the Town Clerk and [the board’s] letter … because we do expect a relatively high voter turnout,” said Sami Baghdady, vice chair of the board.

“There is nothing more discouraging to the democratic process than heavy traffic, waiting in lines and with only one polling station, it would have a big dampening effect,” he said.

While many town officials believe voter turnout of registered voters in the other 15 district communities will be in the low teens and even single digits, Cushman expects upwards of 30 percent coming out to vote.

“The way I looked at it, it wasn’t because I supported a point of view, I just want broad representation to vote either way on this,” said Paolillo.

Earlier this month, Minuteman’s recommendation was to use only one location for a vote, which Cushman said would place a hardship on Belmont voters by causing confusion on where to place their ballot not only on Sept. 20 but in state and national elections before and after the financing polling.

Cushman said the only location in Belmont that could accommodate up to 6,000 voters would be the Wenner Field House on the Belmont High School campus off Concord Avenue.

With the need for added transportation, police coverage and mailings to voters, Cushman noted the total cost to the town to use one location would eventually cost Minuteman – which is paying for the election – about the same amount, about $16,000, as using the seven sites.

With the reversal on Minuteman’s part, Belmont voters will head to their familiar polling locations on Tuesday, Sept. 20, but with one distinct difference.

“Polls will be open from noon until 8 p.m.; we will not open at our usual 7 a.m. start,” said Cushman.

Belmont Allege Minuteman Seeking To Depress Vote On New School

July 12, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker 3 Comments

Photo: The Wenner Field House.

Calling restrictions on communities including Belmont a “deliberate attempt to depress the vote,” the Board of Selectmen is sending an urgent letter to the Minuteman Regional Tech School Committee to reconsider its recommendation of using only one location for a vote that could increase Belmont’s property taxes by half a million dollars over nearly three decades.

“To limit the number of polling places ensures there will be lower voter turnout. And if that what you are attempting to do, then we disagree,” said Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo of a series of moves by Minutemen officials that he and the board believes will dampen voter turnout in Belmont to decide, for a second time, on the future of a new technical school on the Lexington/Lincoln border that will cost nearly $145 million.

The comments, made during the Selectmen’s Monday, July 11, meeting at Town Hall, came after the board heard from Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman that unless Minuteman retreats from its earlier position, nearly 6,000 voters will be forced to abandon their regular polling locations and tramp over to Belmont High School to vote on the final days of summer.

Paolillo said a possible reason for Minuteman’s effort to suppress the vote specifically in Belmont is to thwart any avenue town officials have to leave the district. Belmont Town Meeting member rejected the current project as being too large for the ten communities – six towns have petitioned to leave the community once a final vote is cast on the new school – which will remain in the Minuteman system after the election.

If approved by an aggregate of voters in the 16 communities and with Belmont remaining in the district, taxpayers would likely foot a bill of up to $500,000 in annual capital costs– on top of tuition expenses – to house the approximately 30 students the town averages annually at the technical school.

Paolillo said Belmont would still be able to exit the district if a majority of voters reject the plan on Sept. 20. That would start the clock for town officials to call a Special Town Meeting 60 days after the election where those seeking to withdraw from the district will need to capture a two-thirds majority of Town Meeting members.

“So it’s in [Minuteman’s] interest to keep overall voter participation down while they push [the new school] supporters to come out to vote,” Paolillo told the Belmontonian after the meeting.

The vote was called by the Minuteman School Board after Belmont rejected the earlier plan at the town’s May Town Meeting. Under state law, since the regional district could not convince the Town Meeting in each of the 16 municipalities to approve the bonding for a $144 million project, the school committee was able to use a “second chance” that calls for a referendum in which a majority vote will determine if the $100 million bonding package – the state is expected to pitch-in $44 million – is approved.

Since it “called” the election and is paying $100,000 to hold it in the district communities, state law allows the Minuteman district “alone, in consultation with the Selectmen, gets to decide how this vote for the debt occurs” including what day and times it will take place and number of locations where the vote will take place, said Cushman.

The Minuteman Board has set the time and date of the referendum, to be held on Tuesday, Sept. 20 from noon to 8 p.m.

While Belmont usually opens seven polling stations for its eight precincts, Cushman said Minuteman is expected to limit voting to a single location as one way to control costs. While clerks in the other towns – whose Town Meetings voted for the bonding plan – are expected very low voter participation in single digits, Cushman expects a healthy turnout of about a third of registered voters, which would likely be the highest among the towns voting.

Cushman heard from Kevin Mahoney, the tech school’s assistant superintendent of finance who is heading the election campaign, that Arlington has also requested Minuteman to approve that town’s request to allow it to use its usual ten voting locations (for 22 precincts) rather than a central spot.

That decision is yet to be made.

Belmont has until July 22 to petition Minuteman to utilize its seven polling places, “however they have the final say since the warrant is issued by them and not you,” said Cushman, who has already sent that request to the school district.

Cushman said the only site large enough to handle the estimated 6,000 voters expected to vote is the Wenner Field House on the Belmont High School campus off Concord Avenue. It would require placing a temporary floor on top of the new court and install between 50 to 60 polling booths.

While Minuteman’s reasoning for a single site for the vote is cost, Cushman told the Selectmen it’s likely the cost of holding the election at the high school will likely exceed the $12,000 expected cost of using the traditional seven locations and could pass the $16,000 price tag to use the seven sites for an all-day election.

Also, the Field House, home to Belmont High School volleyball home games and the locker rooms for the fall season, will need to be closed on that Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the vote. The midweek election would likely impact a varsity girls’ swimming meet on that Monday and cross country races on the Tuesday election.

The Belmont Selectmen feels the unfamiliar voting location and difficulty for residents using the site – a limited amount of parking is on the other end of the campus from the field house which could be a burden for the many older voters – is troublesome for what it implies.

“I’m all for wide voter turnout, and there is no [better] way to suppress the vote than to limit the locations, change where people are accustomed to and make it inconvenient because of long lines,” said Selectman Sami Baghdady.

Complicating matters further, since voters will not be using their regular voting locations, Cushman is required by state statue to send an official notification to all voters 20 days, on Sept. 1, for the election of the change of voting venue.

She noted that mailing would occur a week before voters head to the polls for the Massachusetts state party primaries a week later on Sept. 8. Cushman worries that many residents will misunderstand the notice and head for the high school to vote during the primary and Presidential election in November or ignore the document and attempt to vote at their regular precincts on Sept. 20.

Speaking about the difficulty of conducting a vote at the Field House during a school day and restricting locations both in Belmont and Arlington, “how can this not result in lower turnout? It has to,” asked Paolillo.

“Whether you’re for or against the building project, it’s important to have as broad a representation as possible regarding community involvement,” said Paolillo.

It is likely that the Board of Selectmen will call for an informational meeting sometime before the election to “educate the public on the ramifications of their vote,” said Paolillo.

Time Running Out To Find New Home For Belmont Food Pantry

June 30, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: A busy Belmont Food Pantry on Belmont Serves.

It’s nail-biting time for the Belmont Food Pantry.

With a little more than five weeks before the non-profit will be forced to move from its current home in a modular unit at the rear of Belmont High School, the pantry – which assists more than 200 residents with much-needed food staples and sundries – is scrambling to find a space to continue its charitable work.

“What we are asking we know that we need to come together as a community to provide this service to the people,” Laurie Graham, former Belmont School Committee chair, and a pantry director, told the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, June 27.

“We’ve known since December and to solve this problem now is acuter with this short fuse,” said Chairman Mark Paolillo of the August 1 deadline.

The pantry will need to move as the school department is running short of classroom space due to rocketing enrollment levels at Belmont High and throughout the district.

But despite the best efforts of the town administration, houses of worship, non-profits and businesses, as of the last week in June, there simply isn’t a location of a similar size – about 1,600 sq.-ft. – to meet the pantry’s needs.

Currently, the pantry is open five times a month: in the mornings on the first and third Saturday of the month and on afternoons on the second and fourth Tuesday evening with an additional day on the last Sunday of the month at Plymouth Congregational Church on Pleasant Street.

Belmont residents can use the service twice a month to pick up canned goods, baking supplies, sundries and, during the summer, fresh vegetables from gardens run by volunteers.

While the Belmont community has been “very supportive” of the pantry financially and with food donations, “we need space,” said Graham.

David Kale, Belmont’s town administrator, said he had discussions with department heads on available space, but so far there isn’t any local site that could handle the pantry.

A recent walk through of the former Belmont Municipal Light Department headquarters adjacent to the Police Headquarters and across Concord Avenue from Town Hall, which three years ago was the pantry’s home, was deemed unavailable as the building has deteriorated over that time and would need substantial rehabilitation to bring up to code.

There had been discussions of using two empty storefronts near the intersection of Belmont Street and Trapelo Road adjacent to Moozies that are owned by developer Chris Starr or parking a trailer in the Beth El Temple Center’s parking lot. But both some with significant restrictions such as lack of running water and electricity and a small footprint.

“But while saying that, we’d love to have anything on a temporary basis,” said Graham.

With nothing available at this time, the pantry is looking at stop gap measures to continue service, including sharing space with pantries in Watertown and Arlington, although the Watertown space is problematic since they hand out bags of food rather than allowing residents select what they need which is done in Belmont.

Graham said there had been discussions by the pantry’s board of directors of possibly allowing the pantry become part of town government similar to the way Watertown runs its food service.

“There are pros and cons to this [approach],” said Graham including giving up the pantry’s non-profit status. The pantry could find a commercial storefront and pay market rent although that would mean fewer supplies for residents.

“But I think for us an issue is sustainability … and that means we need to have a place,” she noted.

Saying the food pantry serves “a very important need,” Selectman Sami Baghdady said he has reached out to several large property owners if there is any available storefront in an accessible commercial location.

“When I say ‘food pantry,’ everyone’s attention spikes, and there is a strong desire to help,” said Baghdady, saying he is now waiting for a call back to resolve the predicament, “sooner rather than later.”

Dog Owners Seek To Keep Belmont’s Current Off-Leash Regs

June 27, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: The public meeting on the town’s existing off-leash regulations.

Just how passionate many (or is that most) dog owners are of their pets can be found in the phrase from the famous wildlife writer Roger Caras: “If you don’t own a dog … there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.”

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that nearly 60 dog owners and their friends jammed into the Board Of Selectmen’s Room at Town Hall on a beautiful first day of summer, Monday, June 20, to speak at a public meeting on the town’s existing off-leash regulations.

Belmont Board of Health Chair David Alper called the meeting to hear from all sides on the permit program that allows pets to run unencumbered.

Belmont Board of Health Chair David Alper (center) with board members Donna David (left) and Julie C. Lemay.

“We three are here to listen to you,” said Alper, referring to his board colleagues, Donna David and Julie C. Lemay. “We want as much information as we can get about the current situation … plus or negative.”

The off-leash program requires dogs and their owners meet with Belmont’s Animal Control Officer, John Maguranis, for a pet behavior assessment and a review of the regulations. While the Board of Health sets the rules, the program is run through the Recreation Department, which has a strict 200 permit annual limit while the town has more than 1,600 registered dogs.

Alper said the nexus for the meeting was a steady stream of letters to the board expressing “unhappiness” of the program which dogs were becoming a nuisance to pedestrians or scaring children in playgrounds and open spaces around town.

Those complaints were joined by the ever-present issue of dog “waste” on playgrounds shared by youth sports and residents seeking passive enjoyment.

For dog owners, the status quo is far more satisfying than any conceivable alternative. Many of the owners told how their pets are becoming more socialized and easier to handle by being taken to the open parks.

“This is one thing that Belmont does better than any town around us … where owners can take their dogs to run and play and chase balls,” said Susan Demb from Louise Road, who spoke for many in the audience.

But for one meeting participant, the program is “not always amazing,” Azra Nelson of Vincent Avenue said over 12 years of using Belmont parks she has found some dog owners “rude and expect their dogs can run to anybody and anywhere, not picking up while pestering kids and other people” where now her children are now scared of dogs.

“I pick up this sense of entitlement that ‘My dog can do whatever and that should be, OK because they are friendly,” said Nelson, who suggested “clearer rules” be set for owners who are socializing or ignoring situations when their pets are jumping on people.

In an apparent act of contrition, owners admitted that there were some “bad” owners operating “on the fringe,” who don’t collar their pets or pick up after them. It is those few outliers that owners say are hurting the doggy community.

“When I see a dog misbehaving, I’m more mad than someone else who’s not a dog owner; I feel like you’re threatening my dog’s ability to have fun and my ability to have fun and you’re harming my park. And that irresponsibility doesn’t belong in our town,” said Scott Abrams of King Street.

Abrams said there were plenty of examples of youth sports participants who are just as ambivalent to rules concerning picking up after them or of residents to shot off “fireworks” at PQ Park, “so everyone can be a little bit more responsible.”

While dog parks – fenced in enclosures set aside for unleashed canines – are popping up in many communities (Arlington, Waltham, and Cambridge) surrounding Belmont and garnered some support Monday, most owners said the facilities are not large enough to allow for the amount and quality of running and socializing their pets need.

“They end up becoming hard-packed dirt patches where there’s not enough room for a dog to run and play,” said Johanna Swift Hart of Hull Street.

The consensus from the dog owner’s was that easy to read signage and notification on “correct” behavior and hours and times off-leash dogs can be in Belmont’s parks would be the first step in minimizing the conflicts between the animals and people.

They also advised an easily recognizable off-leash permit for the dog’s collar should be used to ID those pets that are licensed to run as well as owners volunteering their dogs for a program on how children should approach a dog.

For many residents, the program is more than just for their pets.

“We were drawn to this area because it seems to be both common to people who have children and people who like [dogs] and this would be a great place to have both,” said Rachel Kilmer, who with her husband, have discovered the owners have bonded and have formed friendships through their use of the parks.

“It’s a really important thing to have in the community that brings people together,” said Kilmer.

Breaking: Waverley Station To Remain Open for 10 More Years

June 14, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: The Waverley Station.

It’s not used by many riders, it’s difficult to get around and it’s in need of a great deal of maintenance. And that’s what the MBTA says about Waverley Station, which runs the commuter rail station in the heart of Belmont’s Waverley Square.

But it now appears that all of Waverley Station’s shortcomings are the major factors which will allow the Fitchburg Line stop to remain open for the next decade, according to Belmont State Sen. Will Brownsberger.

In an e-mail announcement dated Tuesday, June 14, the state’s Architectural Access Board – which in 2014 deemed the station a liability for people with limited access to use the facility – has given the MBTA a 10-year time variance before needed repairs or a new station is required to improve accessibility for riders.

The announcement came after nearly a year in which the MBTA actively sought to close down the nearly century-old station and create a new stop along South Pleasant Street. That plan was deemed unacceptable by many residents surrounding Waverley Square and the MBTA dropped that plan earlier in the year.

In its decision, the AAB in a letter to the MBTA noted that since the Waverley Station has some of the lowest ridership numbers in the system – only 117 daily passengers arrive or depart from the stop – the board is placing higher priority on improvements at 69 stations and bus stops with much higher use. It also cited a cost of $15 million to $30 million to bring the station up to AAB standards

“[D]ue to the low ridership and high cost to create access, Waverley Station is not considered a ‘priority station’,” read the letter from the AAB to the MBTA explaining the 10 year variance.

Police Hope A ‘Yes’ On Incinerator Site Provides Them With New Home

June 13, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker 3 Comments

Photo: Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin in the hallway that serves as a booking area.

When the Belmont Police Department Headquarters opened in 1931, it was a modern marvel among police stations in Greater Boston, a spacious, three-level facility with an indoor shooting range, a full-service garage, and plenty of room to allow officers to go about their job of keeping residents safe.

But in its ninth decade, the now threadbare building at the corner of Pleasant and Concord Avenue is not just on its last legs; it’s down for the count. Age has caught up with the landmark building across the street from Town Hall, and there’s not much time remaining to find a solution.

“It has served the town well, but it hasn’t kept pace with the times or technology,” said Police Chief Richard McLaughlin last month. “It can’t get any better, and that’s the reality.”

While the deteriorating condition of the building has been a concern for the past 20 years – at one point, the building leaked so freely that during torrential rains streams of water would collect on the walls – a likely solution will come before a Special Town Meeting tonight, Monday, June 13 as the members vote to accept or reject the conveyance from the state the former incinerator site on upper Concord Avenue.

For police leaders, a positive result on tonight’s vote could be the first step in locating a new police station “and that is something we would like to build on,” said McLaughlin.

Belmont Asst. Chief James MacIsaac at holding cells.

A tour of the station puts into stark focus the challenges facing the personnel who work in a structure opened when Herbert Hoover was president. Around every corner and cranny, in antiquated rooms with Depression-era push button light switches and every spare space, the business of modern law enforcement is running headlong into an intractable past.

The dual liabilities of a cramped working environment (the station is about 15,000 square feet) and an inefficient layout has created a hodgepodge of competing uses. Utility closets are stuffed with boxes of paperwork that the Department are mandated to have on hand while the booking area was cobbled out of a hallway. The wiring and connections that run the department’s communication system are jerry-rigged in a web of cables in a small basement enclave while the evidence locker doubles as storage space for bottled water. It’s a scene only a hardcore hoarder would appreciate.

Personal space: Nil

Caught in the middle are those who work at the facility. Personal space is next to nil for officers as detectives who are located on the second floor (accessible only by a single staircase in violation of federal and state access regulations) are cheek-to-jowl requiring them to leave the room to make phone calls. The men’s changing room is cramped with a feel of a junior high school locker room.

But it’s the place reserved for female officers – never imagined by the architects who designed the building – that is the greatest cringe-worthy space as the women are squeezed into a rabbit hutch – part storage area, changing room, bathroom facility all in one location – about the size of the men’s bathroom.

McLaughlin said a recent updating of the public area through the front door has hampered this efforts to impress on the town the department needs a new station house.

“People come see the lobby and say ‘what’s the problem?’,” said McLaughlin, as he walks around tires placed on in a hall in the basement.

“[The public] don’t understand the operational challenges that we deal with every day,” he noted.

While much of the problems lead to a discomfort for personnel, the building’s lack of modern public safety infrastructure has real world implications such as when a person is “booked” in the building.

In a contemporary station, a police vehicle enters a secured enclosed area called a “sally port” where the officer will first ensure their weapon and keys before taking the prisoner in the building, removing any temptation to escape or turn on the officer.

But due to the finite parking area in which the building it situated, “we don’t have that luxury,” said James MacIsaac, Belmont’s assistant police chief, demonstrating to a visitor how an officer must escort a prisoner to the station from the parking lot. It is at that point when some arrestees will decide they no longer want to be going to jail.

“And we had them bolt out to Belmont Center,” said McLaughlin.

Outdated infrastructure places officers, public in potential danger

While the image of a person with their hands cuffed behind their backs running across Leonard Street with officers in hot pursuit may be seen as a humorous event, the lack of up-to-date facility could place officers, the public, and the prisoner in a potentially dangerous position.

Assistant Chief James MacIsaac said the police department’s needs are similar to those of the Belmont Fire Department that after decades of effort were successful in building two new fire houses ten years ago, but with one important caveat.

“They were not taking civilians into their buildings. They absolutely need the buildings, but we are totally different; we are storing evidence, we have firearms, and we store drugs. We are responsible for the safety of people we bring here and the current building puts all that in jeopardy,” said MacIsaac.

McLaughlin said the time for town officials and residents to begin serious discussions on the future of a new station with the release of an updated feasibility study issued in February 2016 by Donham & Sweeney Architects.

Read the feasibility report here.

In a nutshell, the study found that at 14,800 square feet, the current headquarters has become woefully inadequate for the space requirements of a modern police department. The feasibility study calls for more than double the square footage, ideally 30,000 square feet to be a viable building a quarter century in the future.

The report analyzed placing the new headquarters on the incinerator site at a cost of $18.4 million.

If the town moves forward on building the department’s future home, Belmont would join others in updating its police station. This January, Weston opened its 21,000 square feet facility including the shooting range, at a little over $12 million, Malden will enter it’s new 24,000 square foot facility in the fall and Gardner’s new $14 million police station is about 31,000 square feet, replacing the former station with 18,000 square feet.

Many of the new facilities are replacing buildings about 40 years old, half the age of Belmont’s current police headquarters.

“If the town says the high school is aniquated and that was built in 1971, what are you telling us by not addessing our building that’s twice as old and in much worse shape?” said McLaughlin.

McLaughlin acknowledges that a new Police Headquarters will be competing with other capital needs such as a DPW facility, a library and other big-ticket items. In past discussions with town officials, a portion of the cost would come from the sale of the existing Concord Avenue police station and the adjacent former Belmont Municipal Light Department for commercial development. And McLaughlin said he would be eminable to share the incinerator site with a new DPW headquarters.

“I’m not saying we’re any more important than anybody else. The unfortunate part is the town hasn’t kept pace with what their projects should have been,” he said.

Town Meeting Puts Kibosh On McMansions Passing Limits On Residential Homes

June 8, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Peg Callanan speaking before Town Meeting on Monday. Steve Pinkerton is behind Callahan.

Late in 2014, Sargent Road’s Peg Callanan and Stephen Pinkerton of Dalton Road decided something had to be done to put a halt the sudden explosion of oversized structures – dubbed McMansions – being built in their neighborhood of single-family homes adjacent to the Grove Street Playground.

Nearly 18 months since they formed the Belmont Citizens for Responsible Zoning (BCRZ) to bring attention to what they called “a threat to the character of our community,” Callanan and Pinkerton were present to see their concerns answered when Belmont Town Meeting on Monday, June 6, overwhelmingly approved major changes to the zoning bylaw that places permanent restrictions on the size of new construction or major renovations in seven of Belmont’s eight precincts.

“The vote shows that you can change what some said was too complicated to do,” said Callanan, after the 195-32 vote to give its blessing to Article 6 which sets limits to the height and space around new homes.

The vote on the article – which took 15 minutes – came after nearly three hours of debate on four amendments that would allow the construction of a second floor by right, the placement of HVAC units and design issues. Each was defeated handily with the exception of the final amendment on another HVAC-related issue voted down by a margin of two votes, 114-112.

While the overall article had overwhelming support, many Town Meeting members were dreading the prospect of up to nine amendments which would take time to debate and vote. Advantageously, many of the pending amendments were withdrawn before the meeting, and when Charles Hamann, chair of the Bylaw Review Committee removed three more at the last minute, he received a kiss in gratitude from Planning Board Chair Liz Allison.

See how the new bylaw effects the size and mass of single-family homes going forward in the SR-C district.

Among the new rules are:

An applicant that demolishes a house to build a larger home, and on a different foot print, or increases the original gross floor area by more than 30 percent during a renovation will now require obtaining a Special Permit.
New homes will be limited in height to 30 feet from the midpoint of the roof line and 34 feet at its highest.
The front set back must be the average footage of the abutting houses.

What the new bylaw does is close “two critical loop-holes” in town zoning, said Pinkerton: the lack of a total height limit and the absence of a Special Permit requirement for significant work in residential neighborhoods.

The new bylaw expands on a one-year moratorium approved at last year’s Town Meeting placing restrictions on the total height (at 32 feet) on any new or reconstructed single-family dwelling unit in a small section of Precinct 7 that saw a rapid increase in demolitions and the construction of mega-homes.

Since that vote, the BCRZ began working with the town’s Planning Board to develop Zoning By-Law amendments to “help preserve the neighborhood’s distinctive character” by mitigating the effects of oversized construction throughout the Single Residence C Zoning District, according to a committee letter to Town Meeting.

“We pledged last year that we would work collaboratively, and that started right away and it just never stopped,” Callahan told the Belmontonian after the meeting.

“We believe that Article 6 is the best solution … that will balance the interests of today’s homeowners for larger homes while respecting the rights of its existing owners,” Callanan told Town Meeting before the vote.

Pinkerton told Town Meeting members who were thinking of opposing the article as it does not allow “as right” the construction of a second floor or it appears to grants more power to the Planning Board, “not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

“Come to the Planning Board and work with them and with us. This has been a remarkable collaborative effort from all kinds of people,” said Pinkerton.

There was some opposition, on forcing design parameters being placed on homeowners and builders, and whether new residents would be heard by the Planning Board, yet those issues were brushed aside allow the article to pass comfortably.

Belmont High Graduates Remember Building Connections, Life Beyond BHS

June 6, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker Leave a Comment

Photo: Class President Richard “Trey” Butler speaking at Belmont High School’s graduation ceremony on Sunday, June 6. Behind Butler is (left) Belmont High Principal Dan Richards and Belmont Superintendent John Phelan.

When Richard “Trey” Butler was in elementary school, his father made a request: spend half of recess meeting classmates he didn’t know.

An athletic kid who would rather play wallball or be in a pickup game of football – he became Belmont’s all-time career points leader in lacrosse – Butler said he would “appease” his dad and talk to the other students at recess.

Whether it was the classmate who knew how to whittle wood or foster care an ant farm or traded rubber band bracelets – which Butler showed the field house he was wearing – it was there he began to “build connections with classmates that I may not have otherwise made,” said Butler, telling his story to a packed Wenner Field House that included 302 of those classmates he first met nearly a decade ago and who he was graduating from Belmont High School on Sunday, June 5.

And through their 12 and sometimes 13 years together, “it was our ability to see past our own interests and open ourselves and respect the wide variety of passion” in each graduate, said Butler at the afternoon commencement.

Beach balls were bouncing around the field house – could this be the start of a new “tradition”? – as the ceremony moved along smartly finishing in a relatively quick 90 minutes, all the more remarkable since the class graduated 303 students, a high-water mark not seen for decades.

Belmont High Principal Dan Richards said curiosity, character and community were the attributes found in the Class of 2016.

“We hope that your education at Belmont High School will enhance your lives and provides the blueprint for the work that lies ahead for we know that you have the heart and power to accomplish great things,” he said.

Carly Tymm, who with Emma Pierce-Hoffman, is a recipient of the School Committee’s Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship Award, focused on her class’ commitment to camaraderie, demonstrated at sporting events where the level of participation did not reflect that likelihood of winning the event or remembering to come back from Starbucks with a coffee because someone was having “a rough day.”

“As one teacher told me ‘The leadership and camaraderie of our class have truly left a positive legacy on Belmont High School.'”

Pierce-Hoffman recalled the difficulty moving from Pennslyvania to Massachusetts, and how a second move in the state to Belmont made her “so much more open to the change,” allowing herself to explore new experiences such as theater and to change as a person.

“Whatever the future holds for us, whether it’s college, work, moving to a new place, it will be different and we will be different people after experiencing it. And that’s OK. It’s not just OK, it’s awesome,” she said.

When members of the Class of 2016 meet in the future, “we’ll stll have common ground as Belmont High School graduates. We’ll share the memories of crowded cafeteria tables, walking around the Pond …”

Graduation is also “an amazing opportunity to leave other things behind, as memories and make way for new experiences. Change and be scary … but also sometimes the best thing in the world,” said Pierce-Hoffman.

“So welcome, Class of 2016, to life beyond Belmont High. Let the new adventures begin.”

Breaking: Belmont Memorial Day Parade, Cemetery Ceremony Cancelled

May 29, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker 1 Comment

Photo: Last year’s parade.

Due to a forecast of a heavy morning and afternoon rainstorm on Monday, May 30, the Belmont Memorial Day Parade and the ceremony at Belmont Cemetery on Grove Street have been cancelled.

A reverse 911 call from the Belmont Police Department to town resident at 6:41 p.m. Sunday, May 31, made the announcement of the cancellation.

Belmont Town Meeting Rejects $144 Million Minuteman Funding Proposal

May 8, 2016 By Franklin B. Tucker 1 Comment

Photo: The vote at Town Meeting.

With many members expressing a great amount of frustration with the process and the school’s administration, Belmont Special Town Meeting voted down the $144 million bond issuance plan for a new Minuteman Career and Technical High School building, 141-81, Wednesday night, May 4.

The overwhelming rejection of the project now places the future of the 628 student school in jeopardy as Belmont appear likely to be the only one of 10 communities in the Minuteman School District to vote against the plan.

“[T]his is the wrong school at the wrong time,” said Belmont Board of Selectmen’s Chair Mark Paolillo, who spoke against the plan which would have saddled Belmont with an annual bill of $350,000 to $500,000 to pay for its portion of the nearly $100 million to build the school.

Paolillo said approving a new school among the ten communities would end any meaningful incentive for cities and towns, including Watertown, Waltham, Medford, and Everett, outside the district that sends nearly 45 percent of the student population to join the district and help pay for the building.

While voicing its disappointment with the vote, leaders of the Minuteman administration contend they will move forward with the project and will push for the final two towns – Arlington and Needham – whose Town Meetings vote on Monday, May 9, “to stay the course” and approve the funding proposal, said Dr. Edward Bouquillon, Minuteman’s superintendent.

The Town Meeting vote – coming after two hours of presentations and debate – indicated that Minuteman could not close the deal with Belmont voters, as it was already starting behind the 8-Ball after the Board of Selectmen (unanimously), the Warrant Committee (8-6) and Capital Budget Committee (6-1) recommended “unfavorable action” in the article.

Jack Weis, a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 1 and Belmont’s representative to the Minuteman School Committee, presented the case for accepting the plan for replacing the deteriorating existing facility that has aged since it was built in 1974.

Since 2010, the school has been conducting a feasibility study that resulted in the administration would not support building a school for less than 600 students as it would limit the number of fields of study which they contend is critical to attracting students to fill the building. Weis told the assembly that building a school for about 400 students would cost about $120 million, which is not much savings.

While Weis admitted he believes the building is too big, “I get tripped up” when asking himself “will be better off if we vote ‘no?’” With nothing on the horizon in alternatives for Belmont students now and in the future, the better path, said Weis, was to seek approval of the new school funding.

Paolillo countered Weis and Minuteman, saying while he was prepared to vote ‘yes’ for a facility that met the needs and demands of the ten member districts, a 628-student building proposal was far too big for the municipalities who would be backing the bonds to fund the structure.

“I just can’t get to yes with a $144 million building,” said Paolillo, noting that the funding would need to be paid for via a debt exclusion vote, likely on the same ballot in 2018 as the possible $100 million debt exclusion for the renovation and new construction of Belmont High School.

Paolillo did not believe a “no” vote would kill a new building, just allow communities to continue negotiations.

“Maybe I’m an optimist, but I think that we can strike a new deal,” he said, rejecting the call by some that Belmont leaves the district and find an alternative school or program to educate the 26 students currently attending Minuteman.

When the floor was opened to residents, most speakers spoke of a frustration born of wishing to support vocational and technical education yet being unable to back the only project placed before them.

Bob McLaughlin, of Precinct 2 who with Paolillo and Weis worked on Belmont’s task force to the district, hammered the deal accusing the Minuteman administration of building a “Cadillac” school – it would become the most expensive vocational school in the Commonwealth if built – which could cost Belmont as much as $36,000 per student tuition but only if the school reaches the 628 maximum.

Long a critic of a larger high school building, McLaughlin said assertions by the Minuteman administration that out-of-district communities would pay their fair share of the capital expenses with a surcharge or by joining the district will not occur after the funding is OK’d.

“We are going to repeat history. The non-member towns are going to get a free load or a much cheaper load on the backs of the member towns,” he said.

Some members defended the proposal for the sake of all the students “who want more than doing college prep courses,” said

Roy Epstein, Pct. 6, and Warrant Committee member (who was one of the six “yes” votes) said there is no contingency plan [if it leaves the district] and we will have 60 days to decide to leave and then to do what? No one knows.”

Epstein said the town should take the risk that out-of-town communities will want to secure student spots in a brand new school by joining the system, “and build a new school.”

Carolyn Bishop, Pct. 1, said she had not heard any options for Minuteman. “What do we do with the students we can’t send because we didn’t approve a new school?”

“How can we meet the needs that Minuteman currently provides?” Bishop said, adding that she would “rather see something too large, we never erred on the side of too large. There are always ways to fill the spaces.”

But it soon became apparent that even members who were inclined to back the building plan due to the numerous questions that could not be answered.

Some pointed to the declining enrollment at Minuteman – a steady fall from 1,200 district students in the late 1970s to only 331 today – while other technical schools around the state are filled. Others focused on the non-member communities and their lack of cooperation in paying for the school.

“It’s starting to feel like this whole concept of member towns is totally ludicrous,” said Suzanne Robotham, Precinct 2, suggesting the town leaves the district and send the 26 students at the reduced rate.

Then there was the concern of which school the town should

“We may have only one realistic opportunity to go to the till of Belmont voters and ask for money, and my laser focus is on the 1,200 than the 26,” said Peter Whitmer from Precinct 6.

In the end, the combination of what many believed to be an oversized school without the assurances that it could be filled sent the proposal to a crushing 60 vote defeat.

The Belmontonian

Belmont's Independent Media Outlet Covering the 'Town of Homes'