State Names Belmont The Latest ‘Green’ Community

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(From left) Mark Sylvia, Undersecretary of Energy, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; David Kale, Belmont Town Administrator; Maeve Vallely-Bartlett, Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; State Rep. Dave Rogers; Andy Rojas, Chair, Board of Selectmen; Sami Baghdady, Vice-Chair, Board of Selectmen; Ian Todreas, Co-Chair, Belmont Energy Committee; Gerry Boyle, Belmont’s Director of Facilities, Meg Lusardi, Acting Commissioner, Department of Energy Resources. 

After being formally submitted to the Board of Selectmen this summer, Belmont was named by Gov. Deval Patrick as one the state’s latest Green Communities at a State House ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

Belmont was one of 13 municipalities named and is now eligible for grants up to $151,850 to encourage energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and promote clean energy by the town.

As a designated Green Community, Belmont will be eligible to apply for future grants to fund local renewable power and energy saving projects.

“Collaboration has real power, particularly when we’re trying to do something new and innovative,” said Patrick.

Belmont became eligible to become a “green community” after meeting five criteria including

  • renewable energy-friendly zoning,
  • expedited permitting,
  • programs to reduce energy use by 20 percent within five years,
  • the purchase of fuel-efficient municipal vehicles, and
  • the an energy efficiency requirement – known as the “stretch” code – for new commercial/industrial construction, as well as residential construction of more than 3,000 sq.-ft. The Belmont Town Meeting adopted a “stretch code” in May 2011.

After expressing concerns of possible unintended financial consequences from being designated a green community, the Selectmen created a working group to review the proposal. As part of the application process, an energy audit by Marlborough-based Guardian Energy of all town buildings to review the lighting, water use, and windows was completed to create an energy reduction plan. The application was submitted to the state in October.

Next for the town is a more detailed analysis of municipal buildings and the costs associated with meeting the Green Communities goals. If the town does go to the next step and apply for grants, Guardian Energy will implement the required improvements.

Funded by a regional cap-and-trade program, more than $30 million have been paid out to city and towns since 2010. With the announcement, 136 of the state’s 351 communities have joined the program.

 

Feel Like Running? Nomination Papers Available Now for Town Office, Town Meeting

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Want a say in how Belmont is run? Here’s your chance: Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman has announced that nomination papers for Town Meeting and Town-wide office are available to be picked up at the Clerk’s office on the first floor of Town Hall starting today, Friday, Dec. 5.

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

The Town Election will take place on Tuesday, April 7. 

If you’re thinking of running for elected office in Belmont, Cushman is advising potential “runners” to take a look at the guide for Belmont’s elected government and how to run for elected office in the “Town of Homes.”

Candidates for town–wide office (such as selectman, school committee and several boards)

To be considered a candidate for town-wide office, you must be at least 18 years old and a registered voter in Belmont.

All candidates for town-wide office must secure the signatures of at least 50 registered Belmont voters and return the signed nomination papers by Feb. 17 at 5 pm. Cushman recommends that more signatures are collected and submitted in the event that some signatures are invalid.

Nomination papers are available for pick-up at the Town Clerk’s office. Before collecting signatures, the candidate must sign the nomination papers and fill in the office for which he/she will be a candidate.

Terms for Town Meeting Member

The elected term for Town Meeting Member is three years, though should a resignation occur, there may be openings for one or two year periods.

Candidate for re-election as Town Meeting Member

If you are an incumbent Town Meeting Member, in late December/early January of the year your term is due to expire, you will receive from the Town Clerk’s office a letter asking if you would like to be considered a candidate for re-election to Town Meeting for your precinct.

The candidate must sign and return the affirmation form to the Town Clerk’s office by Feb. 17 to be considered a candidate for re-election. If the date passes without return of the form, the candidate would be considered a new candidate for Town Meeting and would be required to secure the 25 signatures on the nomination paper and the words  “candidate for re-election” will not appear next to the name on the ballot.

New candidates for Town Meeting Member

To be considered a new candidate for Town Meeting Member, you must be at least 18 years old and a registered voter in Belmont in the precinct you wish to represent. If you are currently serving as a Town Meeting Member who was elected at caucus, not by town ballot, you will need to submit nomination papers as a new candidate.

Candidates for Town Meeting must secure the signatures of at least 25 registered voters from the precinct and return the signed nomination papers. Once again, Cushman recommends that more signatures are collected and submitted in the event that some signatures are invalid.

“We encourage all candidates for all elected offices, for both town-wide and for Town Meeting, to investigate the responsibilities of the post by reading the Town General Bylaws and Belmont Town Meeting Acts of 1926, and reading the minutes of the elected board,” said Cushman.

Ambulance Firm Hopes to Land Satellite Office on Pleasant Street

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A regional ambulance firm is seeking to set up a satellite office in Belmont on Pleasant Street in the new year.

Arlington-based Armstrong Ambulance Service hopes to build its 10th Boston-area outpost at 1010 Pleasant St. near the back entrance of Star Supermarket, according to a presentation representatives made before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday, Dec. 1.

The company is seeking a Special Permit to operate the business.

The company, which began in 1946 by Marine Corps veteran Bill Armstrong, want to store six ambulances inside the existing building on the site while keeping three wheelchair-capable vans outside. There will be no vehicle maintenance or hazardous material storage in Belmont. 

The operation will be managed from a 200 sq.-ft. office in the building. There will also be 15 parking spaces for employees. 

The Belmont office will allow the company to provide 24-hour emergency response in and around Belmont; its nearest operation is in Waltham. 

While it will be a 24/7 operation, the application stated that only one ambulance will be staffed between midnight and 5 a.m. unless there are pending weather conditions that would require more vehicles on the road.

The town can issue a special permit after the ZBA determines the business’ impact on the immediate neighborhood and the greater community. Board member Nicholas Iannuzzi said he would like to see a traffic study conducted on the effect of ambulance trips on the increasingly congested roadway while Chairman Eric Smith said he would like to see a clearer staffing schedule along with a protocol on when the vehicles would use their lights and sirens.

Three residents who attended the meeting – Judith Sarno, Austin Bennett Jr. and Mark D’Andrea, Jr. – spoke in favor of the business coming to Belmont.

The ZBA continued the hearing until January.

Health Director Russakow Retiring, Assistant Braun To Take Charge

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Stefan Russakow, who has headed Belmont’s Health Department for the past four-and-a-half years, is retiring as the department’s director at year’s end.

The town didn’t look far for a replacement as Russakow’s assistant, Angela Braun, will take charge of the department in January 2015. 

Recognizable by his prominent mustache, Russakow has been the town’s face for a variety of health services including inspections of the town’s 80-plus eateries and educating their food service staff on preventing food-borne illnesses, handling housing and nuisance complaints while adopting new animal control regulations.

He was on the forefront with the Health Board in increasing the age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21 at the 20 retail outlet selling the products. Russakow also was a main player in the removal of the diving board at the Underwood Pool in 2012 which caught the attention of many residents.

Russakow came to Belmont in July 2005 as assistant to Belmont’s long-time health director Donna Moultrup. Braun was hired in Dec. 2010.

The Philadelphia native began is public health career while serving in the armed forces in the Philippines. Before coming to Belmont, he worked as the director of public health and community services in Nashua, N.H., was the director of the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and was the Chief of Environmental Health and Operations of a 12-town health district in Connecticut.

Selectmen Declare Package Stores Unwelcome in Belmont

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Photo: Manager Kiran Nagar of Trapelo Variety with attorney Jake Walters (right) and husband Ajay Nagar before the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

The attempt by a young business couple to bring beer and wine to Belmont’s Central Square (the intersection of Trapelo Road and Beech Street) did not pass the “character” test before the Belmont Board of Selectmen Monday night, Dec. 1.

With the selectmen voicing a growing number of concerns and a half-dozen neighbors expressing discontent with the business centered on selling alcohol, the Selectmen rejected the application of a wine and malt retail license to Kiran and Ajay Nagar of Trapelo Variety located at 386 Trapelo Rd.

“It’s really about the character of the store,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo after being told by the Nagar’s that the small storefront business – with about 500 square-feet of business space – they bought in August would focus nearly exclusively on the sale of alcohol along with two of its most popular items, cigarettes and lottery tickets, if it received the license.

Pointing to the Selectmen’s decision in May to reject a beer and wine license to LC Variety a few hundred feet down Trapelo Road from the Trapelo Variety, Paolillo noted the Selectmen then were troubled by the same mix of lottery tickets, alcohol and tobacco at the location.

“I don’t see how I can vote to approve this application when we denied one for LC Variety,” said Paolillo.

“It’s also how the town sees itself,” said Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas, noting the four establishments with either beer and wine or full-alcohol licenses – The Loading Dock, Belmont Center’s Craft Beer Cellar and Vintages Adventures in Wine and The Spirited Gourmet in Cushing Square – have a polished “upscale” feel while “[t]his feels like a package store.” 

In addition, Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan wrote to the board opposing the license as the store was within 500 feet of the playground of the Daniel Butler Elementary School on White Street.

“My concern is the proximity with the Butler School,” said Selectman Sami Baghdady, saying the neighborhood was a “very family friendly” which ran countered to a alcohol-centric retail operation.

Kiran Nagar, who manages and runs the current store, said the proposed store would allow local residents to purchase beer and wine in Belmont rather than heading to Waltham or Watertown.

“This will allow us to increase business and revenue for the town and allow us to grow,” said Nagar, who indicated that they would likely take over the space currently occupied by an insurance agency next door if the license was granted.

While residents said they have seen an improvement in overall cleanliness and that Nagar is an outgoing merchant, residents did not support the move to beer and wine sale.

“I can’t see how a package store is an addition to the area,” said Dave Skolnick of Hull Street. “It doesn’t do the town justice.”

In the end, the worries outweighed the advantages of the business plan and the board rejected the proposal.

 

 

Belmont Property Tax Rate Falls but the Average Bill Continues to Rise

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The good news: The Belmont Board of Selectmen has cut the property tax rate in fiscal 2015 by nearly five percent.

The bad news: Your residential tax bill will in all likelihood be higher in the coming fiscal year.

That’s the analysis from the Board of Assessors which presented its recommendations to the Selectmen on Monday, Dec. 1.

The board’s recommendation, which the Selectmen approved unanimously, was that the fiscal 2015 tax rate to be set at $12.90 per $1,000 of the assessed value of the property. That is a 60 cent cut from last fiscal year’s rate of $13.50.

While normally a cut in a rate would be good news, it comes as the assessed value of Belmont properties increased by just under $500 million to $5.9 billion. That increase can be seen in the value of an “average,” or median, Belmont house which exploded to $847,900 from $782,600 last year.

For the “average” Belmont home, taxes next fiscal year will be $10,938, up $373 from last year’s average of $10,565.

“The decrease in the rate is a result of the increase in real property values with an increase in the tax levy capacity,” said Assessors Chairman Robert Reardon, who was accompanied to the meeting by his colleagues, Martin Millane, Jr. and Charles Laverty III.

For more information on just what is and how the tax levy is calculated, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue has a handy primer explaining the concept.

With the vote, Belmont will see an increase in property taxes in the coming fiscal year of $2.3 million (compared to $1.9 million last year) from a total amount collected of $76.6 million. That amount is the sum of the annual 2.5 percent increase allowed under state law and $654,000 in “new growth” which includes properties that have increased in assessed valuation since the prior year because of development or other changes and any new subdivisions and condo conversions.

As with past years, the assessors recommended and the selectmen agreed to a single tax classification for all properties and no real estate exemptions.

Reardon said Belmont does not have anywhere near the amount of commercial and industrial space needed to support separating the classes with their own tax rate.

“We are not raising more money by having a commercial rate, we are only shifting it” onto businesses while the savings for residential rate payers would be “negotiable,” said Reardon.

Under a senario where the commercial rate would be maximized by a factor of 1.5, residential tax payers would see their rate drop by 39 cents to $12.51/$1,000 of assessed value for an “average” savings of $330 per year while commercial rates would increase to $19.35/$1,000 to see an average increase of nearly $5,500 from last year.

“Every board strives to increase our commercial base … we really want to incentive them and you don’t do that by increasing the tax rate,” said Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas.

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.

New Belmont Property Tax Rate to be Released Monday

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“Things as certain as Death and Taxes, can be more firmly believed,” wrote Daniel Defoe in “The Political History of the Devil.” 

Tonight, Monday, Dec. 1, the Belmont Board of Selectmen will be take on the certainty of taxes as it receives and will vote on how much residents and landowners will pay in property taxes.

The Board of Assessors will make its annual visit to the Selectmen’s Room to announce their recommendations on what is officially known as the “annual property classification/tax rate for fiscal year 2015.

A year ago this month, Belmont’s property tax rate was set at $13.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. That was a 17 cent increase from the fiscal 2013 rate of $13.33/$1,000.

Last year’s tax rate broke a barrier in which half of Belmont property owners would pay $10,000 or more as the median Belmont residential property of $782,600 would result in a bill of $10,565.10.

Public Meeting on Logan Noise Set for Dec. 3

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A public meeting to update residents of Belmont and Watertown on the increase in noise over the communities from aircraft departing Logan Airport will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at  Belmont Town Hall.

Representatives from both communities on the Logan Airport Community Advisory Committee (Logan CAC) will host a public meeting to discuss the activities being taken in response to the changes in runway usage and resulting increase in noise over Belmont and Watertown.

In the summer of 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration allowed changes to the flight pattern of aircraft departing from runway 33L which have led to significant increases in noise complaints from Belmont and Watertown residents.

This will be an informational meeting so community members with specific noise complaints should direct them to the Massachusetts Port Authority Noise Abatement Hotline online or by calling 617-561-3333 on weekday days from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

The meeting is expected to be attended by state Reps Jonathan Hecht (Watertown) and David Rogers (Belmont) state Sen. William Brownsberger as well as a member of U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark’s staff. Clark has been working with other Congressional Representatives as part of the Quiet Skies Caucus to advocate with the FAA on noise-related issues.

Selectmen Extends Deadline for Path Implementation Committee to Dec. 8

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The Belmont Board of Selectmen has extended the deadline for applications to the newly-established Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee until Monday, Dec. 8.

The temporary committee, which will consist of five members, will be selected at the Selectmen’s meeting on Monday, Dec. 15. Under the selectmen’s direction, the committee will develop recommended strategies for the design, construction and implementation of Community Path route options selected by the Selectmen back in the spring.

The charge of the Committee will also include identifying funding sources for a feasibility study of the route options, which will include a technical evaluation. The feasibility study will allow the town to establish a cost estimate to be used in the development of capital budget planning and to solicit grant funds to fund the Community Path Project.

Interested individuals with experience in the design, construction and implementation of similar type projects are highly encouraged to apply. Applications should include a completed Community Volunteer Interest Form and Resume. Community Volunteer Interest Forms are available in the Office of the Board of Selectmen or online. Please submit all applications to the Selectmen’s Office or e-mail: selectmen@belmont-ma.gov by Monday, Dec. 8.