Blanketed Belmont: All-Day Blizzard Finally Winding Down Tonight

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.”

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Moratorium Flyer

BREAKING: Studio Cinema ‘Unlikely’ to Reopen as Theater

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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

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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.

Belmont/Watertown Takeoff Noise Concerns Remain Up In The Air

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Photo: Adriana Poole (in foreground) speaking to State Rep. Dave Rogers, State Rep. Jonathan Hecht and Belmont CAC representative Myron Kassaraba at a community meeting on noise from departing jets from Logan Airport.

Adriana Poole knows first hand about oppressive government agencies.

Born and raised in Romania under the Stalinist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu, the Louise Road resident recalls the total contempt the government had for its people.

Today, after living in the United States for decades, Poole thought her time with uncaring dictatorial authorities was at an end.

“I’m not saying this lightly, the [Federal Aviation Authority] to me is a pocket of totalitarianism … in the midst of the best democracy on earth,” said Poole as she spoke to elected officials, town representatives and citizens at a community meeting last week, Dec. 3, to discuss the increase in noise from aircraft departing Logan Airport.

Poole, who created the QuietBelmont Google forum group to provide a place to discuss and vent about the number and frequency of planes flying over Belmont and surrounding communities, said it was “troubling that no one seems to be addressing [the FAA which has] absolute power. That’s just not OK.”

According to Belmont’s rep on an overview group, it appears federal intervention, in addition to loud, community activism, is the only way to force the FAA’s hand on the issue.

Nearly one year to the day when it made its initial presentation to the town, the Belmont representative to the Logan Airport Community Advisory Committee was back before a joint meeting with their Watertown colleagues at Belmont Town Hall to update residents on the FAA’s new departure procedure and efforts to address the increased airplane noise from departing flights using Logan’s Runway 33 left.

At the meeting, Belmont CAC representative Myron Kassaraba used a detailed slide presentation that demonstrated that since June 2013, the FAA – which regulates and oversees all aspects of American civil aviation – implemented a new route for planes departing Logan. In the past, the routes out of Boston were much more random in their distribution with planes using a wide swath of air space.

With an eye towards safety and efficiency, the FAA deployed technology in June 2013 that now requires planes to move in much narrower paths as they head to the south and west. Unfortunately for residents, three of the four main air avenues fly directly over Belmont.

As a result, noise complaints to Massport, which runs Logan Airport in East Boston, have skyrocketed in the past year – from zero in Feb. 2013 to more than 250 in the same month in 2014, the most of any community in the region – as the sound of dozens of planes pass overhead “very concentrated population areas” throughout the day, said Kassaraba.

There have been some small victories for local communities to cheer, according to Kassaraba, including a trial that will last until January of varying the use of runways at Logan so that noise is not constant throughout the day but during the morning or evening. In addition, the airline industry is moving towards quieter, more fuel-efficient engines, which State Sen. Will Brownsberger said must be encouraged by the public and elected officials.

While Belmont residents are raising the concern of quality of life as well as related health concerns, the FAA is preparing a final study that could demonstrate that a greater number of communities in and around Boston are less effected by aircraft noise and they addressed other issues. Currently, the FAA is supporting its claim using what many see is an outdated noise model based on four decade old statistics.

Kassaraba said the CAC and elected officials have spoken to officials on Beacon Hill and with Massport CEO (and Belmont resident) Thomas Glynn on the noise concerns but “[t]his is really a federal issue so if there are any changes, it must be done in Washington [DC].”

“It will take an act of Congress” to change the flight patterns, said Kassaraba.

While admitting movement has been slow in approaching the FAA on issues impacting communities – it is hardly a single region concern as citizens in New York City, Chicago and Phoenix have recently complained of increased noise from aircraft – Jennifer McAndrew, a senior advisor to US Rep. Katherine Clark said she is an inaugural member of a new group of 25 representatives from communities impacted by airport and plane noise dubbed the Quiet Skies Caucus which was created in October to find solutions to noise barraging their constituents.

After sending a letter to Michael Huerta, the FAA’s administrator, Clark received a response in late November that indicated a willingness by the FAA to conduct a noise survey in the next year to determine if the current noise model is valid. 

In addition, the FAA’s reauthorization will be before Congress in 2015, an opportunity to push for greater responsiveness to citizens complaints, said McAndrew.

“These are small steps forward in a very long process,” she said.

In the meantime, residents should continue to file complaints via phone or online with the Massport noise complaint line, said Kassaraba.

Poole said that long lasting change to the current environment is to pressure federal and local officials to add language to the FAA’s mission statement that it must address any and all adverse impact they have on communities.

“To the FAA, I’m just collateral damage,” she said.

Lougee Will Not Seek Re-election to School Committee

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After three-and-a-half years, Anne Lougee has decided to end her service on the Belmont School Committee by not seeking a second term at Town Election in April 2015.

Lougee’s announcement will create a second open seat on the Committee in the coming election. Also on the ballot will be incumbent Lisa Fiore, who is seeking her first full three-year term after serving the unexpired time of Pascha Griffiths, who resigned in 2013.

Lougee decided not to pursue re-election after the evaluation and selection process in November to replace School Committee member Kevin Cunningham, who resigned in September.

“It’s hard to walk away from a group of wonderful colleagues but I was encouraged by the number of well-qualified candidates who came before the committee and selectmen last month for the position,” Lougee told the Belmontonian.

Thomas Caputo was selected from eight residents to replace Cunningham. His term ends at Town Election. Caputo can file to run for the remaining two years of Cunningham’s term, challenge Fiore for her seat or decide not to run.

At his appointment, Caputo said he would seek election to the board.

Fiore, a Lesley University faculty dean with children in district schools, was elected in 2014 to fill the one-year remaining on Griffiths’ term. She told the Belmontonian in September she would likely run for re-election in 2015.

Nomination papers are currently available at the Belmont Town Clerk’s office; the deadline for their return is 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.

Lougee, whose daughter is a 2011 Belmont High School graduate, was appointed to the committee in October 2011 to fill the remainder of the term held by Karen Parmett, who resigned. She won a full stint in the 2012 Town Election.

Lougee said the selection of Belmont Schools Superintendent John Phelan and promoted social/emotional learning throughout the district was two of her accomplishments serving on the committee.

In addition, Lougee emphasized from the time she was on PTOs that parents and officials must not take a myopic view of the town’s schools.

“You have to look at the whole system. It’s K through 12; you can’t separate it by school building or class,” said Lougee, a native midwesterner who came to Belmont in the 1980s and lives on Warwick Road with her husband, Roger Colton.

“You must know how it all works together for your child because they will be a graduate one day,” said Lougee.

In addition to the collegiality of the committee members, Lougee said she’ll also miss witnessing the growth of students in the classroom, in athletics and the arts.

“I love watching the kids test themselves and build their confidence,” she said.

Belmont Hires Everett City Services Leader as New DPW Director

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Not wasting any time to fill an important town position, the Belmont Board of Selectmen voted Monday night, Dec. 1, to appoint Jason Marcotte, the director of city services in Everett, to replace Peter Castanino as Director of the Belmont Department of Public Works.

“[Marcotte] has a great reputation and enthusiasm” in the public works arena, said David Kale, Belmont’s town administrator who was part of the search committee.

Kale noted that his experience in public works operations and fiscal and project management “has provided him with the opportunity to work effectively with elected and appointed officials, committees and boards at all government levels.”

“I have met [Marcotte] and what an impressive person he is,” said Selectmen’s Chair Andy Rojas.

“[I’m] pleased we attracted such a fine applicant [for the position],” said Rojas.

Marcotte was hired as an employee at will with a base annual salary of $120,000. He begins work on Jan. 5, 2015.

Marcotte, who goes by Jay, has been a young man on the move in the past few years. He was hired in Everett in July 2013 after spending a year and a month as Manager for the Village of Northfield, Vt. which recruited him from his job as assistant director of public works in charge of fleet, facilities and solid waste departments in Bryan, Texas, a neighboring city to College Station, the home of Texas A&M University.

“[Jay’s] innovative approaches and ability to think outside of the box resulted in significant fiscal savings for the Departments under his charge,” Alton Rogers, a fellow Bryan employee, wrote on Marcotte’s Linkin profile.

“If you wanted the words which best describes Jay, they would be integrity, honest, intellegent, innovative, perseverant and fair,” wrote Rogers.

Marcotte – who matriculated at Norwich University where he earned a BS (in biology) and MPA – also has work experience in the budget process and with large regional organizations as a member of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s advisory board. 

He was also the chair for the Solid Waste Technical Committee for the American Public Works Association, a national organization of public works professionals with 30,000 members.

Marcotte should also garner the attention of the members of Sustainable Belmont as he published a paper on the workability of a cap and trade system for solid waste that was featured by the Sustainable City Network. He also presented a paper at the APWA annual conference in August titled “Boras, Sweden – A city free from fossil fuels.”

“His paper on cap and trade in the solid waste arena is cutting edge. The industry and government should stand up and take notice. I hope to see him published in the near future,” wrote fellow MPA recipient Erica Balk.

Marcotte lives with his wife and two children in Nottingham, NH which is close to the University of New Hampshire. He is on the town’s budget committee and ran unsuccessfully in March 2013 for the town’s three member board of selectmen, losing by seven votes out of approximately 700 cast.