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.”

Thinking of Running for Elected Office? Now’s the Time to Act

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Have you ever considered running for elected office for Belmont? How about being a Town Meeting member?

If you have, the Belmont Town Clerk’s Office advises that time is running short on this opportunity to represent the town or your precinct as the due date to submit nomination papers is fast approaching – Tuesday, Feb. 17 – to see your name on the April 7 Town Election ballot.

Town-wide Offices

There are many Town-wide elected offices that will appear on the Annual Town Election ballot. If you’re interested or want to share your skills in this way, now is the time to step forward. Here is the list of town-wide offices up for nomination, in the order they will appear on the ballot.

  • Moderator elect one person for one year
  • Board of Selectmen elect one member for three years
  • Board of Assessors elect one member for three years
  • Board of Cemetery Commissioners  elect one member for three years
  • Board of Health elect one member for three years
  • Members of the Housing Authority  elect one member for five years
  • Trustees of the Public Library elect two members for three years
  • Members of the School Committee  elect two members for three years AND one member for two years

Representative Town Meeting – Representatives from Each of the Eight Voting Precincts

In addition to the Town-wide offices, 12 representative Town Meeting members are elected for three-year terms from each of our eight voting precincts. This year, there are also some partial term openings for Town Meeting, vacancies created by members moving or resigning:

  • Precinct 1 : elect 12 members for three years
  • Precinct 2 : elect 12 members for three years
  • Precinct 3 : elect 12 members for three years
  • Precinct 4 : elect 12 members for three years
  • Precinct 5 : elect 12 members for three years AND 1 member for one year
  • Precinct 6 : elect 12 members for three years AND 1 member of one year AND 1 member for two years
  • Precinct 7 : elect 12 members for three years AND 4 members for two years
  • Precinct 8 : elect 12 members for three years AND 1 member for one year

Incumbent Town Meeting members who want to run for re-election in 2015 must notify the Town Clerk by 5 p.m., Jan. 27, by submitting the Intention Letter that was mailed in December to those Members whose term expires in 2015.  Missing that deadline means having to collect signatures on nomination papers.

Annual Town Meeting takes place in the spring, and typically lasts for six evenings, (customarily Monday and Wednesday) starting May 4 then reconvening on June 1. Town Meeting makes all of the decisions about the Town’s budgets and local Bylaws. Belmont’s government is a Representative Town Meeting, which means that only Town Meeting members can vote at Town Meeting, unlike the Open Town Meeting form of government.  That’s why it’s very important that all the Town Meeting seats are filled to have full representation of each Belmont neighborhood.

Getting Your Name on the Ballot

Running for election is simple. Stop by the Town Clerk’s office to pick up nomination papers; have your neighbors and friends who are registered voters sign your papers and submit the signed forms to the Town Clerk by the deadline, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m. 

To be nominated for Town-wide office, you must have signatures of at least 50 registered voters of the Town on the nomination papers. The Town Clerk must certify these signatures so we always suggest obtaining about 20 percent more just to be safe.

To be nominated for Town Meeting, the signatures of at least 25 registered voters of your precinct are required on the nomination papers. The Town Clerk must certify these signatures so we always suggest obtaining about 20 percent more just to be safe.  Some current Town Meeting Members will be seeking re-election but all 12 seats are available in each precinct.

Find Out More

The Town Clerk’s web pages contain quite a bit of information to help make a decision to seek office by selecting “Town Clerk,” then select “Campaigning: Running for Elected Office in Belmont or Town Meeting Member Information” or by calling 617-993-2600.

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

Winn Brook Tennis Courts Aced Off Town’s Community Preservation Funding List

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The town committee appointed to dole out community dollars for a wide-range of projects decided last night to play singles and not doubles when it comes to funding repairs to a pair of Belmont tennis courts.

The town’s Community Preservation Committee rejected a request from the town for $295,000 to reconstruct and repair the tennis courts at the Winn Brook Elementary School at its monthly meeting held on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at Town Hall.

There is good news to the tennis-playing residents in the southern end of Belmont as the committee approved sending to Town Meeting a proposal to spend the same $295,000 to upgrade and restore the Pequossette Park (also known as the PQ) tennis courts located behind the VFW building off Trapelo Road.

[Under Belmont’s charter, only the 290-member Town Meeting, which meets each spring, can allocate funds from the Community Preservation Act account.]

The debate among the eight members was not that reconstruction work is required at both sites – the group agreed the courts need repairs for their long-term survival – but whether the courts are utilized by residents to warrant the money being spent.

“I believe there’s too much capacity in the number of tennis courts,” said member Floyd Carman. “It’s a distribution problem,” said Carman.

The committee agreed a comprehensive usage survey of the town’s tennis court inventory should be conducted before the community spends another dollar on repairs.

But putting together that study will require forming an oversight group – either within the Recreation Department or as an offshoot of an existing committee – and formulating the criteria to be used will be difficult, because, as Andy Rojas of the Board of Selectmen noted, “the study is time intensive because you’ll need to carefully monitor the courts’ use.”

While voting down the Winn Brook courts, the committee agreed to move forward with the PQ repairs “because it is geographically isolated, and it’s in worse shape,” said Carman, adding the town has only a limited recreation presence in the area south of Trapelo Road.

It is hoped the study will determine the maximum number of courts required for residents and school use, and whether any current courts can be transformed into locations with other activities, such as roller hockey or a skate park, said Carman.

The committee did approve sending to the annual Town Meeting other requests:

  • Belmont Veterans Memorial Project: $150,000,
  • Wellington Station exterior restoration and rehabilitation: $26,300,
  • Electrical upgrade at units owned by the Belmont Housing Authority: $522,500,
  • Digitization of historic Belmont newspapers from 1890 to 1983: $25,000 and
  • Rehabilitation and restoration of the 1853 Homer House: $100,000.

While approving to send the Homer House request to Town Meeting, the committee did attach conditions to that request. One is to have the Belmont Woman’s Club – the building’s owner – put in writing what constitutes “public access” to the historic structure in terms of hours it will be open to residents and how much of the building can be toured.

“Public access is important,” said CPC’s Anthony Ferrante. “I want more specifics.”

In addition, the committee will discuss with Belmont Town Counsel George Hall whether a clause can be written into the structure’s deed that will allow the town to recoup the money it spent on the house if the building is ever sold.

Approved by Belmont voters in November 2010, the Community Preservation Act fund is financed by property tax surcharges and an annual stipend from the state’s “Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund.” The funds are used towards recreation, historic preservation, affordable housing and open space.

Join Boris: Pet Licenses Now Being Issued by Belmont’s Town Clerk

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Photo: Sorry, but cat license number 1 has been taken (by Hammond Road’s Boris, the Amazing Russian Circus Cat (Retired) yes, that’s his official name). But that shouldn’t stop you from getting your pet licensed. In fact, it’s a law.

Don’t let your pets become scofflaws!

Belmont’s Town Clerk’s Office has begun issuing annual dog and cat licenses to their owners.

Now is the time to get Fluffy and Fido their tags as the cost for renewing licenses for neutered or spayed pets will double after March 15.

It is simpler then ever to renew pet license for dogs and cats: it can be done online here or by printing the Pet License Form and mailing or bringing in the form and payment to the Clerk’s office at:

Town Clerk’s Office

Town Hall 

455 Concord Ave.

Belmont. MA 02478

New Pets

If your pet has never been licensed before in Belmont, you must supply a Certificate of Rabies Vaccination and a Spay/Neuter certificate from your pet’s veterinarian as well as the Pet License Form and mail to the Town Clerk’s office with payment or come to the Town Clerk’s office and license your pet in person.

2015 Fees

Jan 1 to March 15: Renewals and new pets

  • Neutered/Spayed: $12 per pet; $9 if owner is 60 years of age or older
  • Unaltered: $37 per pet; $34 if owner is 60 years of age or older
March 16 to Dec. 31: Renewals
(New pets use above pricing regardless of date)
  • Neutered/Spayed: $24 per pet; $18 if owner is 60 years of age or older
  • Unaltered: $49 per pet; $43 if owner is 60 years of age or older

Failure to license pets will result in a $50 non-criminal violation. Failure to vaccinate pets will result in a $100 non-criminal violation per Massachusetts General Laws Ch. 140.

Look Who’s Thinking of Running for Town-Wide Office

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With a month to go before the deadline for residents to submit nomination papers, it appears there will be at least two competitive town-wide races – for Board of Selectmen and the Belmont School Committtee – that voters will decide at the Town Election.

As of Jan. 13, Town Clerk Ellen Cushman has recorded the following residents who have taken out papers for a possible run for office. So far, no one has returned their nomination papers with the required number of signatures.

Board of Selectmen

  • James Williams
  • Brian Liddell
  • Andy Rojas (incumbent)

School Committee

  • Lisa Fiore (incumbent)
  • Thomas Caputo
  • Tara Donner
  • Susan Burgess-Cox

Board of Assessors

  • Martin B. Millane, Jr. (incumbent)

Board of Health

  • Dr. David Alper (incumbent)

Belmont Housing Authority

  • Donna Brescia (incumbent)

Cemetery Commission

  • Ellen Cushman (incumbent)

Board of Library Trustees

  • Elaine Alligood (incumbent)

The competitive race that has the most diversified field for Selectmen. Rojas is expected to defend his seat from Williams – who raised his visibility submitting a motion at Special Town Meeting in November to reject financing the $2.8 million Belmont Center Reconstruction project with the town’s “free cash” – and Liddell, a 2014 Belmont High School graduate.

On the school side, there are four residents seeking to fill two full, three-year positions and a two-year seat serving the two-years remanding on the term of Kevin Cunningham who resigned in the fall.

The incumbent Fiore will likely be racing for one of two open seats against two newcomers to the election process; Tara Donner and Susan Burgess-Cox. Yet the pair have some familiarity with the committee as both sought the temporary appointment to the board in November to fill the six months of Cunningham’s term before town election. A joint committee of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee selected Caputo two months ago.

The deadlines to return nomination papers to the Town Clerk’s office is 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015.

For more information on running as a candidate, read the article in the Belmontonian.

The Town Election will be held on Tuesday, April 7.

Thanks, Charlie: New Governor Sends Extra Cash for Roads to Belmont

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Immigrants were told American streets were paved with gold. Last week, Charlie Baker sent Bay State towns some extra greenbacks to simply pave the streets.

On Wednesday, Jan. 8, on his first full day in office, the newly-installed Massachusetts Governor released an additional $100 million of Chapter 90 funding to Massachusetts communities.

Belmont’s share comes to an extra $266,000 for the town’s roadways and sidewalks.

Chapter 90 reimburses cities and towns for costs incurred for eligible transportation projects. Cities and towns must submit receipts to the state’s Highway Department which verifies if the expenditures qualify for reimbursement..

The money comes from an initial $300 million Chapter 90 funding in the state’s the fiscal year 2015 transportation bond bill that passed the legislature last year.

But then-Gov. Patrick said state revenues would be insufficient to support the entire borrowing and released $200 million.

According to Belmont Town Administrator David Kale, the town received $534,000 from the state for transportation-related projects.

While the money will be coming to town, a question remains when to spend the funds. Kale said he was in discussions with town counsel to determine if the money is required to be spent as part of the current fiscal year 2015 budget or allocated towards the fiscal 2016 town budget.

Whether it will be used today or towards the 2016 budget, “the money must be used for transportation purposes,” said Kale.

Guess Which Former Belmont Resident is Thinking of Running for President … Again

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Third times the charm.

At least, that’s what Mitt Romney is hoping.

The former Belmont homeowner who lived with his wife, Anne, and five sons for five decades on Winn Street, Marsh Street and South Cottage Road, told a group of donors on Friday, Jan. 9, that he is considering a White House bid in 2016, a move that could scramble the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In the Journal article, Romney cited turbulent events overseas and the state of the economy as two reasons why he is considering another run.

If Romney does run for a third time for president – he ran in 2008 but did not receive the Republican nomination and lost to President Obama in the 2012 general election – Belmont is unlikely to be placed in the international media spotlight as it was in the fall of 2012 as the Romney’s sold their Woodlands at Belmont Hill townhouse condominium in May for $1.2 million.

 

Belmont Library – Once Again – Seeks a New Director

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The search for a new director of the Belmont Public Library has begun again, and this time, it’s on the fast track.

In a recent appearance before the Belmont Board of Selectmen, Chair of the Board of Library Trustees Elaine Alligood and the library’s interim director Emily Reardon said the campaign have restarted to find the next leader of the library located at 336 Concord Ave.

The search is the second since long-time director Maureen Conners announced her retirement in August. After interviewing an unknown number of candidates in October, the trustees decided in November that none of those finalists meet the qualifications they were seeking.

Alligood said, unlike the previous search, Belmont will not be competing with more than a half-dozen similar-sized Bay State communities seeking library directors that occurred this past fall. She said only Wellesley is seeking to replace its library director at this time.
“This time, we believe the process will be accelerated and we’ll have a new director by February.

The director’s salary range is $76,859 to $109,140 commensurate with experience and includes a full benefits package, according to the job notice released in the summer.

Grove Street Playground Ready to be Redressed

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It’s been sized and appraised. Now, how should the Grove Street Playground be dressed?

This month, the town will formalize a contract for a landscape architecture firm – familiar with Belmont – to begin the  creation a master plan for the 10-acre site on the Cambridge-townline used by numerous youth sports groups, residents and neighbors.

David Kale, Belmont’s town administrator, told the Belmont Board of Selectmen at its Monday, Jan 5 meeting the town was finalizing a contract with Dedham-based Activitas Inc. to create a master plan for the playground.

Currently, the playground is one of the most used in the town. With three dedicated ball fields, Grove Street is the base for youth baseball in Belmont. The soccer field in the lower section is used from early spring to late fall by Belmont Youth Soccer. In addition, the park has four tennis courts, a basketball court (used as a backdrop for a political ad by Maura Healey, the incoming state Attorney General) and a new playground. After any significant snow fall, the playground becomes a place many smaller children first learn to sled.

Yet the evolution of the playground from an open space to a location for many athletic facilities was completed with little planning. Responding to the concerns of residents and neighbors, the Capital Budget Committee submitted in June for Town Meeting approval $30,000 toward the creation of a comprehensive plan to determine if there are efficiencies in land use.

During the fall, a survey was conducted to provide a detailed overview of the playground and its current uses.

Activitas is best known in town for creating the Belmont Athletic Facilities Study as well as managed last year’s Belmont High School Track and Harris Field renovation.

Kale said the firm will hold public meetings to hear from athletic groups, residents and those who live close by for opinions and ideas.

“Anyone interested in Belmont parks should attend those meetings,” said Belmont Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas.