No School Tuesday Due to Snow, Partial Lifting of Parking Ban at 7AM

By Leave a Comment

The larger-than-expected snow fall from the Groundhog Day storm has forced the Belmont Public Schools to be closed once again tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 3. This marks the fourth snow day to be called in the past week.

According to the Belmont Police Department, the snow emergency parking ban will be partially lifted at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Belmont Police reported that parking will be allowed on the ODD side of most street in town. Exceptions will include business centers such as Waverley and Cushing squares and Belmont Center.

Town Offices will be open and trash and recycling will be picked up on Tuesday as scheduled.

The Belmont Public Library and the Beech Street Center will be closed.

Schools Closed Monday, Parking Ban In Effect at Midnight, Trash Will Be Collected

By Leave a Comment

The Belmont Public Schools will be closed on Monday, Feb. 2, due to a pending snow storm that is expected to drop up to a foot of snow on the town. In addition, the Belmont Public Library and the Beech Street Center will be closed on Monday.

Beginning at midnight, Monday, Feb. 2, the town is declaring a snow emergency during which there will be a parking ban on on-street parking and in the three town municipal and six public school parking lots.

Trash and recycling pickup will occur on Monday despite the storm. Also, Town Offices will be open on Monday.

Your Business: A New Yoga, Wellness Studio With a Family Vibe

By 1 Comment

Photo: GROUNDWORK yoga + wellness in Belmont.

One day before she was to open her new business in Belmont, Megan Dattoli was running a bit behind schedule.

No, it was not because she overslept or was waiting for supplies to arrive; early Thursday morning Dattoli was at Boston Medical Center helping a client deliver her baby. For the past four years, Dattoli has been a birth and postpartum doula, a nonmedical person who assists a woman before, during and after childbirth.

“You have to excuse my appearance but it’s been a long morning,” the Belmont High graduate (’97) who grew up on Homer Road said in the newly-renovated studio space that is now home to GROUNDWORK yoga + wellness, located just around the corner of Trapelo Road on Maple Street (first building off the intersection on the left).

It’s that background in assisting families through the birthing experience that led Dattoli – who lives in Watertown with her two young children and husband (Belmont High class of 1996) – to consider opening a business with the emphasis on bringing a holistic view to promoting family-friendly wellness to the studio.”

“There is such a need for the entire family to focus their wellness, not just before and during a birth, but also afterward,” said Dattoli, who is a yoga instructor.

The new studio will offer yoga and pilates classes and parenting education and childhood enrichment workshops that “encourage self-care of body and mind, healthy families and a mindful community,” according to Dattoli.

During GROUNDWORK’s grand opening weekend, the studio is offering free yoga and Pilates classes, along with discounted class passes and memberships starting today, Friday, Jan. 30 and running through Sunday, Feb 1.

Belmontonian: Tell me about your new studio?

Dattoli: “The yoga and pilates classes will be cornerstone of the business but it would also be nice to having a place to offer new moms support groups and to teach my private childbirth ed classes in a place where I can have group sessions. I’ve rented spaces in the past, but it ended up being difficult conducting recurring meeting when I was moving around all the time.”

Belmontonian: What is your studio’s focus?

Dattoli: “There is definitely a family focus here. Along with yoga and pilates that are open to everyone, we will offer the family and kids classes along with prenatal yoga. And the space will be used for newborn care and other birth-related classes. I’m really excited about the parenting education because we are not as mindful in a lot that we are doing. I’m talking to [someone] who gives workshops on how kids can ‘push your buttons’ which I love.”

Belmontonian: So a typical day at GROUNDWORK will be …

Dattoli: “There will be yoga and pilates in the morning and evenings. Mid-day I plan to offer the moms and kids programs with enrichment programs in the afternoon and on the weekends between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. We will also have an experienced yoga instructor who specializes in senior yoga.”

Belmontonian: There are some great yoga and pilates studios in and around Belmont. Why should people come to you?

Dattoli: “Every studio has their area of expertise and we definitely emphasise the family and parenting side of things. For yoga and pilates, there are so many studios everywhere, that people try out classes and get attached to a teacher or the studio’s vibe. So don’t expect hot yoga here, I want a warm studio with wonderful teachers. I hope it ends up being a little community, a place where people can hang out and not just come to a class. One of my friends said she got five or six hugs every time she goes to yoga because everyone there are friends, and I hope to have a place like that.”

Belmontonian: Where would you like GROUNDWORK to be a year from now?

Dattoli: “I’d hope to have a place with a lot of offerings that people can choose from and enjoy. I haven’t packed the studios schedule because I will actively be seeking feedback and suggestions. I’m really hoping to have families follow us from the prenatal to the mom who needs a break and wants a yoga class Wednesday morning.”

For more information, please visit www.groundworkwellness.com

Blanketed Belmont: All-Day Blizzard Finally Winding Down Tonight

By Leave a Comment

A blizzard warning remains in effect in Belmont and all of eastern Massachusetts until 1 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 28, as the town and region have literally been shut down as a historic Nor’easter delivers nearly two feet of snow and gale force winds to New England.

In its latest report issued at 4:34 a.m. today, Tuesday, Jan. 27, the National Weather Service in Taunton said the region can expect heavy snow this morning at the rate of 2 to 3 inches an hour accompanied by strong and damaging winds – from the north at a sustained 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 65 mph – resulting in white-out/blizzard conditions with near zero visibility.

“Travel will be impossible and life threatening across the entire region. Also snow may be wet enough to result in downed tree limbs and power outages in addition to the winds,” said the NWS.

Snow totals have been reduced slightly as the NWS is predicting 15 to 25 inches of snow, a dip from earlier predictions of 20 to 30 inches. But the strong winds will cause snow drifts of up to four feet in some locations.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel: the NWS said the worst of the storm will be through this afternoon then diminishing later tonight with the winds slowing beginning in the early afternoon.

Latest Nor’easter Update: Yup, A Big, Bad Blizzard Heading to Belmont

By Leave a Comment

Batten down the hatches, Belmont. A blizzard’s heading’ this way.

The latest information from the National Weather Service, released at 3:53 a.m. this morning, Monday, Jan. 26, is predicting snow accumulations of “around 20 to 30 inches with locally higher amounts.” This nor’easter could match the 27.1 inches of snow that hit Boston in the famous Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978. 

“Those venturing outdoors may become lost or disoriented … so persons in the warning area are advised to stay indoors,” warned the NWS as it issued a Blizzard Watch for the eastern part of the state and region.

While the storm is expected to begin late today and linger into early Wednesday, the worst of the storm will be tonight, Monday, Jan. 26 through Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 27.

And once it starts, the heavy snow – falling Tuesday morning up to 2 to 4 inches an hour – and strong winds will result in white-out/blizzard conditions with near zero visibility.

Winds will be out of the north-northeast at 15 to 25 mph with gusts around 65 to 75 mph with the worst of the winds coming late tonight, Monday, into Tuesday.

“Travel will be impossible and life threatening across the entire region. Also snow may be wet enough to result in downed tree limbs and power outages in addition to the winds,” reported the NWS.

The National Weather Service is advising resident that all unnecessary travel is discouraged beginning after Monday’s commuter rush to allow people already on the road to safely reach their destination before the heavy snow begins and to allow snow removal equipment to begin to clear roads.

Historic Nor’easter Blowing into Belmont From Monday Evening Through Tuesday Night

By Leave a Comment

A massive Nor’easter will blow into Belmont and the region beginning Monday night and lasting for 24 hours, bringing up to two feet of snow along with blizzard conditions that will make travel dangerous.

“This has the potential to be a historic storm,” noted the National Weather Service in Taunton which issued the Blizzard Warning at 12:34 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 25.

The NWS forecast calls for continuous heavy snow and strong winds between 20-to-30 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph to produce whiteout conditions with considerable blowing and drifting snow with the worst of the storm occurring between Monday night, Jan. 26 through Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 27.

The snow may be wet enough to result in some downed tree limbs and power outages. Travel may become impossible and life threatening across the entire region as temperatures will stay in the low 20s.

BREAKING: Financial Task Force Endorses $4.5 Million Prop 2 1/2 Budget Override for April

By 2 Comments

After a year of meetings and extensive research, the town’s Financial Task Force voted provisionally to recommend the Belmont Board of Selectmen to accept a $4.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 budget override to stabilize the town and school budgets over the next three years.

The recommendation by the 13 member group will be presented to the Selectmen at its scheduled Monday, Jan. 26 meeting in Belmont Town Hall at 8 a.m. The first date the Selectmen can accept the task forces’ proposal and set a date to vote on the measure at its Feb. 2 meeting.

Mark Paolillo, the task force chair and a member of the Board of Selectmen, said the override vote should “absolutely” be on the Town Election ballot on Tuesday, April 7.

“We want the most residents voting on the measure,” Paolillo told the Belmontonian Friday.

A more detailed article on the proposed Prop 2 1/2 Budget Override will be in the Belmontonian on Monday morning, Jan. 26.

If successful, the property tax bill on a house valued at $844,000 – the “average” value of residential property in the town – will increase by approximately $675, according to Town Treasurer Floyd Carman.

The most recent attempted override in Belmont was in June of 2010 when a $2 million measure was defeated 3,431 to 3,043 with 40 percent of eligible residents voting. The most recent successful override measure occurred in June, 2002 when voters OK’ed $2.4 million for operating costs, 2,938 to 2,728.

“This is not an easy request,” Paolillo said of asking residents to find the money to meet a shortfall in revenue.

The need for an override is due to “a perfect storm” of limited current sources of revenue set against mounting expenses and the needs of future capital projects, he said.

The most significant cost drivers facing the town is within the School District as exploding enrollment numbers – more than 300 children have entered the district in the past two years – and skyrocketing expenditures associated with Special Education and other state mandated programs show no end to their rapid increases, Belmont Superintendent John Phelan told Friday’s meeting.

(Read about the current $500,000 budget deficit the school district is facing here.)

While expenses increase, the task force found “there are no magic bullets” to fill the expanding gap between what’s coming into Belmont’s coffers and the money rushing out, said member Paul Lisanke.

With 80 percent of the town’s revenue coming from property taxes and a significant 9 percent from state aid which has been decreasing in real terms for the past three decades, the areas to find extra cash are limited and not significant enough to raise the money needed.

In addition to the operating budget, the town must be prepared to sink some big bucks into capital projects and repairs, according to Task Force member and Capital Budget’s Chair Anne Marie Mahoney. These include a new police station and Department of Public Works facility, preparing for new High School and increased money for roads and sidewalks.

“We are now talking about safety issues because we haven’t spent the money we should have,” said Mahoney.

According to the Task Force, the town will find itself in a cumulative fiscal chasm of $4,448,000 by fiscal 2017.

A successful override will allow the town to provide funds to the school district to meet the increase in enrollment, meet special education actual costs and maintain Belmont schools as a first-rate educational community. It will so provide funds for sidewalks and streets as well as make capital improvements neglected in the past years.

“We can’t look to the state or external measures to fix our problem,” said Paolillo. “We are clearly in a deficit in fiscal ’16, ’17 and ’18.”

New Group Seeking Moratorium on ‘McMansions’ Near Grove Street Playground

By 2 Comments

Photo: 185 Dalton Rd. is an example of an “overbuilt” homes near Grove Street Playground which initiated a citizen’s petition.

Building on the success of those who brought a temporary halt to residential teardowns in Belmont’s Waverley Square area, a newly-created group submitted on Jan. 11 a citizen’s petition seeking Town Meeting approval to place a one-year freeze on the construction of so-called “homes on steroids” or “McMansions” in the neighborhood around the Grove Street Playground.

According to one of the leaders of the Belmont Citizens for Responsible Zoning, the initiative could become a jumping off point for a more wide-ranging rethinking of Belmont’s residential zoning laws.

“This could be farther reaching than just this moratorium. We believe this group will have a broader appeal around town to re-examine the bylaw,” Stephen Pinkerton told the Belmontonian.

The BCRZ is seeking to place a one-year suspension of “oversized single-family dwellings in a portion of Belmont’s Single Residence C Zoning District,” according to the group’s press release dated Friday, Jan. 16.

The area – at times called the Shaw Estate – includes single-families within the bounties of School, Washington and Grove streets and Grosvenor, Dalton and Bacon Roads. (See map below.)

The moratorium would set a 32-foot height limit from the average grade to the roof ridge of structures built to replace demolished homes, also known as teardowns.

According to Pinkerton, the area has seen the construction of five large teardown replacements in the past two years. (See second map below.) One example is 185 Dalton Rd., newly constructed with 4,000-plus square-feet and 34.1 feet high. It replaced a Garrison Colonial built in 1952 with 1,600 square-feet.

The press release states concerned “oversized replacement houses will:

  • change the character of the neighborhood;
  • crowd out sunlight, trees, and natural habitat for song birds;
  • exclude middle-income families from single-family home ownership;
  • undermine the value of existing homes; and
  • take advantage of zoning that is not as strict as existing rules for renovations and additions.”

Pinkerton said he and the group are not opposed to developers building in the neighborhood.

“They have a right to make a living like the rest of us. But there should be some limits on what is built,” he said.

Pinkerton attributes the successful effort by neighbors in Precinct 3 and 4 who fought for a one-year moratorium two years ago as spurring the BCRZ to seek its stay.

“They set the precedence,” said Pinkerton.

Town Meeting in May 2013 passed a moratorium on single-family homes being replaced with two-family structures in general residence zoning districts with the majority located near to Belmont’s Waverley Square. In the five previous years, 20 single-family houses were torn down and replaced by 40 attached townhouses in the area.

The article will need to win two-thirds approval from the 290-member Town Meeting. If that occurs, the BCRZ “will work with the Belmont Planning Board and others to craft new zoning by-laws that will help preserve the neighborhood’s distinctive character,” said the press release.

The BCRZ will be holding a precinct meeting in the next few weeks to discuss the moratorium.

Pinkerton said the BCRZ’s moratorium effort could start a discussion on a possible comprehensive review of the town’s residential bylaw in the near future.

“We already see interest in that. Our expectation is this sort of discussion will only grow.”

Screen Shot 2015-01-16 at 12.49.07 PM

Screen Shot 2015-01-16 at 12.52.20 PM

Moratorium Flyer

BREAKING: Studio Cinema ‘Unlikely’ to Reopen as Theater

By 6 Comments

The co-owner of the Studio Cinema, the historic landmark in Belmont’s Central Square, said it was “unlikely” the town’s nearly century-old movie theater will be in the business of showing films if current tensions with town departments can not be resolved.

“I am trying very hard to reopen it but, as of now, it’s only about a 10 percent chance that that will happen,” James “Jim” Bramante – who is co-owner of the Studio with his brother, David – told the Belmontonian.

The Bramante brothers also own the popular multi-screen West Newton Cinema in Newton.

The Studio, at 376 Trapelo Rd., has been shut for the past two weeks and its website only informing residents and movie goers that the theater “is closed for technical problems until further notice please keep in touch.”

Those technical issues, according to Bramante, regard town regulations involving several departments including those related to the fire department’s annual inspection of the building.

Bramante would not go into details about the specific issues, only to say that town officials appear unwilling to give the operation “grandfather” status from new town regulations.

“I have real concerns that I can fulfill the obligations the town requires me to do and remain a viable business,” said Bramante.

Town officials are playing their cards close to the vest, only indicating that all departments are working collectively to resolve any remaining issues to allow the operation to open for business.

In fact, Bramante did apply to the Belmont Town Clerk’s Office last year for a business license to run a theater at the existing location.

But Bramante, who bought the theater in Belmont and West Newton with his brother 30 years ago due to their love of movies, said it all comes down to the money needed to make the repairs and upgrades.

“It always comes down to cost,” he said. “We try hard to make this a success, but it has always been an uphill battle,” said Bramante.

The theater is one of the rare remaining venues that was built to show silent films that has remained a single-screen operation in New England and the US. The building opened in 1919 as The Strand at the corner of Trapelo Road and Beech Street as the area surrounding Central Square was being developed into residential housing.

At the height of its popularity in 1941, the theater – with its new name the Studio – had 700 seats and was operated by the national chain, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.

Bramante said he and his brother have not envisioned another use for the property – he said the building “is beautifully situated to remain a theater.”

“Right now we are working to find a reasonable solution but that’s hard to see coming,” he said.

 

Town Administrator Kale To Receive Second Three-Year Contract

By Leave a Comment

Receiving four-and-a-half (out of five) stars on the review and ranking website Yelp says a lot about how people think of a business or service.

You can add Belmont’s Town Administrator David Kale to that high-standard list as the official who manages the day-to-day operations of the town’s departments received an enthusiastic annual evaluation from the Belmont Board of Selectmen its Tuesday, Dec. 30 meeting.

“It was all very positive,” said Board Chair Andy Rojas.

During the meeting, the board announced Kale will receive a second three-year contract through July 2017 to stay in the position he’s held since August 2012.

“We are finishing the wording” in the contract, said the Cambridge-resident, who will receive a two percent cost-of-living adjustment to his current salary retroactive to July 1.

Kale’s evaluation was a tabulation of individual assessments by each selectmen, said Diane Crimmins, the town’s human resources director. The board appraised Kale’s expertise in professional tasks, public relations, organizational leadership, personnel management, leading the budget process and planning. Kale received a combined rating of 4.5 out of 5, said Crimmins.

The three selectmen praised Kale on improving morale in town personnel and working collaboratively with departments, and the school district, “which is critical is a small town like Belmont,” said Rojas.

Kale’s handling of the annual budget – which included creating a “one budget” process that requires a close working relationship between the town and the school committee and district – was sighted by the board.

“You’ve enhanced the public budget process,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo.

Kale, in turn, acknowledged the work of “a great group of department heads and employees” who “makes the work happen.”

“This is not done in a vacuum,” said Kale.