Breaking: Waverley Station To Remain Open for 10 More Years

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.”

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Breaking: Belmont Memorial Day Parade, Cemetery Ceremony Cancelled

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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

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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. 

Hotel Developer Sues ZBA After It Rejected Pleasant Street Proposal

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Photo: Michael Colomba at the April ZBA meeting.

Saying it’s a “matter of principle,” the Waltham developer whose proposal to build a European-style boutique hotel at the corner of Pleasant Street and Brighton Road was rejected last month by the Zoning Board of Appeals, has filed a lawsuit in Land Court to reverse the board’s decision, calling the decision “an erroneous application of the law and constitutes an abuse of [its] discretion.”

Michael Colomba said he reversed his decision to place a small grocery store at the location – the former Mini Mart convenience store – after the board’s judgment on April 4 after reviewing the board’s ruling in detail. 

“After the dust settled, I really questioned the board’s process coming to its 3-2 decision,” Colomba told the Belmontonian. 

Colomba is seeking to renovation of the two-building, two-story structure at 334 Pleasant St. –  and offices – into a boutique hotel consisting of 19 guest rooms, a cafe for guests, a fitness room, a business center and offices on the 14,400 sq.-ft. site. Columba purchased the site in September 2015 for $1.9 million. 

Also, Colomba said for days after the verdict, “I received so many phone calls from residents and officials. They said, ‘Michael, this is nuts. How can they say you can’t come here? You need to appeal this’.”

The heart of Colomba’s complaint lies in the board’s view that the town’s zoning bylaws don’t explicitly mention “hotels” as an acceptable application.

“There is nothing in the bylaws that says a hotel can go anywhere in Belmont because there is no reference to a hotel use so how can we even hear arguments for the special permits,” said ZBA Chair Eric Smith in April, ending the meeting before hearing any appeal for four special permits Colomba was seeking to build the hotel. 

In the lawsuit filed April 22 in Land Court, a department of the Trial Court based in the Suffolk County Court House, Colomba claims that while there is no stated use for a hotel, “under the use category of ‘Business’ there is a catch all entitled ‘Other retail sales and services’ which requires a special permit.” 

Colomba told the Belmontonian that the ZBA could not “100 percent say what ‘others’ mean” suggesting this section of the bylaws was taken “word for word” using regulations from other municipalities as a template. 

“It is the town that need to spell out what ‘other’ mean, not me,” he said.

And, in fact, the town bylaws’ general regulations regarding off-street parking includes the phrase “hotels, motels, room and board, other commercial accommodations” thus confirming the town does allow hotels as a use. 

By closing down the process before hearing Colomba’s defense for the special permits was “an erroneous application of the law and constitutes an abuse of discretion” as the ZBA exceed its authority in a “whimsical, capricious or arbitrary” way causing him to suffer damages.

Colomba is urging the court to “issue a declaratory judgment” in his favor, “declaring that the hotel use, with the issuance of a Special Permit, is a permitted use in the town” in addition to “such further relief as justice requires.” 

For Columba, who filed the suit just under the time permitted to appeal such rulings, he hopes the courts will at least allow him to present his case for the hotel.

“I say let the state now decide. I believe that we will get a fair ruling,” he said. 

Belmont Town Meeting, First Night, Session One

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Photo: Mike Widmer, Town Moderator

7 p.m.: Welcome to the first night of Belmont’s annual Town Meeting. We are waiting for Town Moderator Mike Widmer to open the town’s legislative body.

We are at Belmont High School’s Auditorium. The 290 members will spend Monday discussing and voting on non-budgetary articles on the warrant. All budget and financial reports will be discussed and voted on in the June session.

Tonight, Monday, Town Meeting will tackle Articles 1-7 in the Town Meeting Warrant. They include:

  • Article 1: Reports (there will be no reports this evening.)
  • Article 2: Authorize, the Board of Selectmen, to represent the town’s legal interests.
  • Article 3: Authorize the town to abandon an existing utility easement along Trapelo Road and Common Street.
  • Article 4: Extend the Demolition Delay Bylaw by one year to allow for the completion of the Historic District Commission Town-wide survey of historic properties.
  • Article 5: Remove the “sunset” provision from the Residential Property Snow Removal Bylaw.
  • Article 6: Limiting the size and mass of dwellings in the Single Residence C Zoning District. This article could be tabled.
  • Article 7: Individual votes on the eight projects put forward by the Community Preservation Committee.

7:22 p.m.: We are underway with the Articles. This is abandoning the utility easement in Cushing Square. Pretty straight forward. Glenn Clancy of the Office of Community Development gives his usual folksy explanation; this easement is to allow Cushing Village to move forward. No discussion? Darn, two questions. Sue Bass, Pct. 1 asks where the Cushing Village development now stands. Town Administrator David Kale says Toll Brothers, the large national developer, have until August to make a purchase and sale of the property. They are doing its due diligence to execute the sale. Don Mercier, Pct. 8, asks if the easement has economic value and why to give it away without getting paid for it. Clancy said town didn’t actually own it to sell it. The vote is unanimous yes.

7:36 p.m.: Now up is to extend the Demolition Delay Bylaw by one year. Selectmen, Warrant and Joe Cornish of the Historic District Commission said the extension would give sufficient time to complete updated town survey of historic properties and work with stakeholders in the community to draft a new bylaw by Spring 2017 Town Meeting. He said that only two properties were subject to the demolition process.

Funny moment: Just as questions are underway, the High School jazz band began to practice. “We’ll have a little interlude,” said Widmer,

No real questions, it passes 227-13.

7:40 p.m.: Now up is extending the snow removal bylaw. It’s been around for three years and let’s make it permanent. Joe White, Pct. 4, said some people have asked if a resident breaks a finger or have a heart attack while shoveling, who is liable? There is no shift of liability on civil claims if the bylaw was or was not in effect. If the sidewalk was defective, then you might have a claim, but not if the bylaw is in force. And yes, the bylaw also holds the town to shovel public walks. Mark Paolillo, Selectman chair, tells Don Mercier, Pct. 8, that the bylaw was created to change behavior, and it’s been successful. The vote is underway the bylaw is now permanent by a 230-9 margin.

7:53 p.m.: Article 6, which will limit the height and mass of single family homes in many sections of town, has been tabled due to technical changes that still need to be made. It will be brought up at the June meeting. It passes 226-8. 

7:55 p.m.: The Community Preservation Committee projects are up. Margaret Baily, CPC chair, gives an overview of what the CPA does. 

Jim Stanton, Pct. 3, made a comment saying that he knows of no grant program that approves 85 percent of applications. The town would be better served if twice as many applications were presented to the CPC and there would be a competition of ideas rather than just approve what is presented.  

For this coming fiscal year, the six projects seeking Town Meeting approval are:

  1. Construction of Intergenerational Walking Path at Clay Pit Pond: $228,350
  2. Preserving Belmont’s Original Vital Records: $80,000
  3. Digitizing Belmont’s Town Meeting Records: $85,000
  4. Town Hall Exterior Railings Improvements: $75,000
  5. PQ Park Playground Project: $25,000
  6. Winn Brook Tennis Courts: $325,000

TOTAL: $818,350

Mary Trudeau gives an overview of the Clay Pit walking path. The path will have a 6-8 foot wide compacted stone pathway, have a restored entrance to the Veteran’s Memorial Area from Concord Avenue to the flag pole and have brick pavers at points with the water’s edge. Kevin Cunningham, Pct. 4, asks what official “hoops” would this project need to pass to get an OK. Trudeau said the construction would need to get state approval because it is within wetlands protected the land. But she does not see it as a problem. Stanton, Pct. 3, said since the plans for the community path were developed, the renovation of the High School has been approved, and there could be a community bike/walk path included in the area. More comment than a question. Janet Kruse, Pct. 3, ask if the path will be wheelchair user accessible. It will be with ramps at all entry points. The Vote: Unanimously adopted.

Up now is PQ Park. It will be focusing on the one-acre playground area. A landscape architect would be hired to include a preliminary design, construction documents and position the group asking for the money to move to Phase 2, which will be actual construction. Joe White, Pct. 4, wants to know if the area will be fenced off from dogs. He then went off to doggie daycare. Jack Weis, Pct. 1, asked if approval of this article will require the town to pay for work proposed if the next phase is not done. Selectman Sami Baghdady said any Request for Proposal will go through the Selectmen’s office, and they would make sure the town isn’t liable for such non-work. The vote and the motion was adopted with a few nos. 

Winn Brook tennis courts is being debated. Lots of questions on the hole in the fence. Maryann Scali, tennis lover, Pct. 2, said since courts are disappearing, the town has to protect what’s left because tennis is a sport that people who of her age can still play. Yes with a scattering of nos.

Town Clerk Ellen Cushman said she hoped that she wouldn’t take that much time presenting her request in preserving Belmont’s original vital records and digitizing the town meeting records. Only one question, both articles passing unanimously. 

Gerry Boyle, Facilities Director, presents the town’s request to replace and refurbish the ornamental railings on the Concord Avenue side of Town Hall. Ed Kazanjian, Pct. 6, asks why weren’t this type of improvement done during the Town Hall renovation about 15 years ago. Is this the end of this sort of work? Boyle said he could not say if this was the final project at Town Hall “because all buildings are living and breathing things” which grow old and need repairs. Passes with a few nos.

Belmont’s Annual Town Meeting Convenes Tonight at 7 PM

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Photo: Town Meeting.
Legislative democracy is back in session tonight as Belmont’s Annual Town Meeting convenes tonight, Monday, May 2 at 7 p.m. in the Belmont High School Auditorium.
The 290 members will spend Monday and Wednesday, May 4, voting on non-budgetary articles on the warrant. All budget and financial articles will be discussed and voted on in the June session.
Tonight, Monday, Town Meeting will tackle Articles 1-7 in the Town Meeting Warrant. They include:
  • Article 1: Reports (there will be no reports this evening.)
  • Article 2: Authorize the Board of Selectmen to represent the town’s legal interests.
  • Article 3: Authorize the town to abandon an existing utility easement along Trapelo Road and Common Street.
  • Article 4: Extend the Demolition Delay Bylaw by one year to allow for the completion of the Historic District Commmision Town-wide survey of historic properties.
  • Article 5: Remove the “sunset” provision from the Residential Property Snow Removal Bylaw.
  • Article 6: Limiting the size and mass of dwellings in the Single Residence C Zoning District. There is discussion that this article could be tabled.
  • Article 7: Individual votes on the eight projects put forward by the Community Preservation Committee. More information on the projects can be found here.

On Wednesday, May 4, the annual meeting will close temporarily to allow for a Special Town Meeting to convene. The Special Town Meeting will have three articles: 

  1. A funding authorization to finance a new $144 million Minuteman Regional Vocational School.
  2. Appropriate $1.75 million, the proceeds from the sale of town owned land off Woodfall Road, to fund initial expenses of the Belmont High School Building Committee.
  3. Transfer $1.3 million from free cash to fund the purchase of six modular classrooms to be used at the Chenery Middle School. 
Jack Weis, Belmont’s Representative to the Minuteman School Committee, has provided a preview of the slides he intends to present under Article 3 of the Special Town Meeting, and is asking Town Meeting Members to look through the new presentation in advance of Wednesday’s meeting in hope of covering the entire presentation in an efficient manner. To permit everyone to receive and view these slides without being constrained by computer power, please follow this link to the slides that are on the Town Clerk’s Town Meeting Information page of the website: 
 

Comedian Jimmy Tingle in Belmont Saturday Using Humor To Support Good

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Photo: Jimmy Tingle, in the flesh.

Humor for Humanity and A Path Appears in Belmont are pleased to announce an opportunity to both give and get and feel good about it as they host comedian/political pundit Jimmy Tingle in his show: “Jimmy Tingle for President/The Funniest Campaign in History” this Saturday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Belmont High School, 221 Concord Ave. 

Tickets are $30 and are available on jimmytingle.com, eventbrite.com or apathappearsinbelmont.webs.com

The New York Times describes Jimmy as; “ More than comic wit.. so cheerfully intelligent he makes his audience optimistic in the face of appalling reality. It takes a serious and well-intentioned man to make one laugh to such good effect.”

Funds raised will support The Belmont Food Pantry, Belmont METCO and the Bristol Lodge which represent the top three issues – hunger, homelessness and education/literacy – identified in the community surveys collected at the A Path Appears in Belmont events last year including the talk with New York Times journalist and Pulitzer Prize Winner Nicholas Kristof. 

When Kristof spoke last April at Belmont High, he shared his research proving when an individual gives to another, it makes them FEEL GOOD, Come enjoy the evening and know that a portion of the cost of your ticket will be going to each of the three organizations listed above. You will not only FEEL GOOD you will laugh like you haven’t laughed before.

Go to apathappearsinbelmont.webs.com for more information and tickets.