Two New Belmont Police Officers Sworn In

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Photo: (from left) Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, Belmont Police Officers Brian Conneely, Evan Nichols, Belmont Chief Richard McLaughlin.

New Belmont Police Officers Brian Conneely and Evan Nichols were sworn in by Belmont Town Clerk Ellen O’Brien Cushman at a ceremony held in the Board of Selectmen’s room at Town Hall on Friday Dec. 21.

On Thursday Dec. 20, Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin along with command staff attended the graduation ceremony for the Conneely and Nichols graduated from the Randolph Regional Police Academy 8th R.O.C. on Dec. 20 after a 21-week intensive academy program hosted by the Randolph Police Academy.

The new officers are pictured with McLaughlin and Cushman.

 

School Committee Says ‘Yes’ On Interest To Host New Rink Along Concord Avenue

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Photo: A new rink would likely be built in this location near the present rink (in photo).

The pieces are beginning to fall into place pointing to a new skating rink coming to Belmont in the next two years.

And while there are a pair of locations where the replacement for the ancient “Skip” Viglirolo rink is expected to be sited, there is growing support over the past month pointing to Belmont School District property along Concord Avenue across from the Underwood Pool as the likely spot, beating out a facility at the former incinerator site on upper Concord Avenue on the Lexington town line.

In an important step that would keep the rink adjacent to Harris Field, the Belmont School Committee vote unanimously at its Tuesday, Dec. 19, meeting to proceed with a Request for Proposal (RFP), which will solicit proposals through a bidding process.

“This is a town project, not just a schools project,” said Belmont Superintendent John Phelan at the meeting.

The School Committee Chair Susan Burgess-Cox said while moving forward with a RFP, the committee would be open to all suggestions and comments from the public on developing the site which will have its chance to express its opinion at a January community meeting on the future of the incinerator site that will impact the rink development.

While hardly the size of a new public/private venture in New York City that will house nine skating rinks, Belmont Youth Hockey in a presentation before the School Committee in April proposed a space with an ice sheet-and-a-half (with the half ice sheet covered for nine months and used by spring, summer and fall youth and high school sports teams) with recreational open space, an indoor track and locker rooms that can be used by indoor and outdoor sports teams.

(A public/private rink to replace the aged “Skip” is not a recent concept as it has been talk about around town since 2015.)

While no decision has been made by either the School Committee – which owns the property – and the Board of Selectmen which has final say what will go on the incinerator land, recently presented analysis of the two locations appearing to give the clear edge to the school’s site.

At the school committee meeting Tuesday, Phelan presented a pro and con comparison of the two sites. Noting that the 1970s-era “Skip” is well-passed its useful working life and is only kept running with “McGyver”-style hacks to the ice-making machinery, Phelan said a new rink built through a public/private partnership – in past schemes, Belmont Youth Hockey would manage the rink that is constructed on land provided free of charge by the town or schools – would provide local access to ice time for the community and the Belmont High School ice hockey teams. Under this scenario, the direct cost to town ratepayers would be zero.

As for the pro’s of the high school site, it would be convenient for the school’s teams, it would increase locker space for boys and girls teams who play at Harris Field, it would not need state regulatory approval and just town zoning permits and there would finally be on-site parking as opposed to using  Concord Avenue and several side streets.

“There’s a nice energy of uses if it was on the high school site that would complement the new fields,” said Phelan.

One big con would be the potential loss of playing field space during and after the building is completed, additional traffic and the possible congestion created as the rink will be constructed while the 7-12 school is being built less than a quarter mile away “would be challenging,” said Phelan. 

The incinerator site does have its pro’s as in less traffic impact on the local neighborhood, doesn’t interfere with new school’s construction site and there is enough land to build a rink with two full-size ice sheets.

But the cons at the incinerator are steep: school teams would need to take one bus to and from practice at a cost of approximately $400 daily or $2,000 each week for up to 14-16 weeks. Because there are state-issued conditions on what can be placed at the incinerator location and environmental issues, it is expected to take up to four years before the first shovel is put into the ground, which will also require the town to pick up maintenance costs and likely repairs at the old rink until construction is completed. There is the issue of capping the toxic landfill site which will cost the town approximately $3.5 to $4 million, an amount a non-profit rink organization would find daunting to help pay and would force up rental fees. Finally, there are concerns that a foundation for the building and ice sheet on ground that is infill and close to wetlands could be prohibitively expensive.

While a number of committee members voiced some concern about the loss of fields for high school sports teams (depends what the winning RFP bid specifies) and would a new rink replace the locker room space lost when the White Field House is demolished (“yes,” said Phelan), they also felt the added transportation costs and far-off location of an incinerator-located rink were less than attractive.

By the end of the presentation, the committee was ready to put the school district’s stake in the ground for new rink. But while interested in building on the property, the district and committee “[are] not yet committed to doing so,” until the public process is completed, said member Andrea Prestwich.

 

Community Preservation Gives Thumbs Up To Four Hopefuls

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Photo: The Belmont Police Station which will receive $787,000 of CAC funding.

The Community Preservation Committee has given its nod of approval to half of the applications requesting funds from the committee in the fiscal year 2019 cycle.

While the ultimate say on which of the eight applicants will be funded will be determined by Town Meeting at the annual gathering in May 2019, a thumbs up from the committee is an influential endorsement with many Town Meeting Members.

With the applicants requesting a total of $2.7 million and the committee with $2 million to distribute, the committee’s OK could be the difference from seeing projects get underway and those pushed off until next year.

The four which won committee approval on Wednesday, Dec. 12 were:

  • Preservation and restoration of vegetation at Clay Pit Pond; $20,0000
  • Habitat preservation through the control of non-native and invasive plant infestations; $25,400
  • Belmont Police Station conditions study and design; $787,575.10
  • Community Path phase 1b design from the Clark Street Bridge and Brighton Street; $1 million

The sum of the approved projects tops $1,832,975, leaving a minuscule $168,025 for the remaining four, including:

  • Town Field playground restoration: $700,000
  • Payson Park bandstand: $50,000
  • Restoration of the Belmont Clock Tower at First Church Belmont: $66,250
  • Town Hall slate roof: $75,000

For three of the applications – Town Field, Clock Tower and the slate roof – the committee requested more information on aspects of the project. i.e. is there any church/state legal issues involving using CPC funds to rebuild a portion of a religious building. 

The application which solicited the most quires from the committee was the Payson Park bandstand which will protect the bands and groups playing at the Payson Park Music Festival. Commissioners said they were wary of assertions by sponsor Tomi Olsen of town departments partnering with her to build and manage the bandstand, which officials disputed.

 

Next Year’s Property Tax Rate Falls But Bill Continue Skyward As ‘Average’ Belmont Home Nears $1.1 Million

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Photo: An “average” Belmont home that recently sold for $1.1 million (and it’s a ranch!)

Belmont Board of Selectmen Chair Adam Dash said that next fiscal year’s property tax rate approved by the board Thursday morning, Dec. 13 isn’t that onerous compared to charges imposed in other Massachusetts city and towns.

“It’s our housing values that are high,” said Dash, focusing on the annual dichotomy of where lower tax rates result in raising taxes for Belmont’s property owners after the Belmont Board of Assessors presented its analysis of Belmont real estate valuation during its annual tax classification hearing before the Selectmen.

Robert Reardon, long-time chair of the Board of Assessors, announced that Belmont’s fiscal ’19 property tax rate – which begins on July 1, 2019 – will be set at $11.67 per $1,000 assessed value, a reduction of nearly half-a-buck from the fiscal ’18 rate of $12.15.

But the average quarterly bill isn’t shrinking with the new tax rate as the total assessed value of property in Belmont shot up to $7.947 billion from $7.497 billion in fiscal ’18 as home buyers continue to clamor into the “Town of Homes.” 

The healthy increase in Belmont property values also pushed up the average residential home value to $1,090,000, a jump of a little more than 8 percent or $86,000 in 12 months. “Incredible,” said Selectman and lifelong Belmont resident Mark Paolillo upon hearing what the new “average” has become.

With home prices increasing at a steady clip, the annual tax bill in fiscal ’19 on an average assessed valued property ($1,090,000 x $11.67) will be $12,720.30, an increase of $525 from the $12,195.56  in fiscal ’18.

And the town is squeezing every last drop of taxes from the levy; by taking in $89.25 million, it is leaving only $4,003.08 of excess capacity “on the table,” said Reardon. 

When Selectman Tom Caputo asked how the new 7-12 school building on the site of Belmont High School will impact tax assessments, Town Treasurer Floyd Carman said the nearly $215 million debt exclusion will be phased in over three years beginning in fiscal 2020. The town is expected to borrow between $85 to $90 million in long-term borrowing in the first two years with taxes on an average home increasing by $680 each year. The final year will be short-term bonds in the $25 million to $30 million range.

“Think $1,800 plus” total increase on the average property in taxes by the start of fiscal 2022, “assuming we keep our [triple A] bond rating,” said Carman.

As in past years, the assessors’ recommended, and the selectmen agreed to a single tax classification and no real estate exemptions. Reardon – who is director of Cambridge’s Assessing Department – said Belmont does not have anywhere near the amount of commercial and industrial space (at must be least a minimum of 20 percent, said Reardon) to creating separate tax rates for residential and commercial properties. Belmont’s commercial base is 3.9 percent of the total real estate.

“Every year, the layperson ask us why we don’t increase the commercial rate, and the reason is that is such a small, small impact,” said Reardon. If Belmont increased commercial rates to the maximum limit under the law, those tax bills would jump on average by $6,350 while residential taxes would fall to $381, placing an unfair burden on commercial owners and their renters “and make Belmont a less desirable town.” 

“People always assume there’s more money if you go with the split rate when it really is just shifting the cost to the commercial side,” Reardon said.

Nomination Papers Available For ’19 Belmont Town Election

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Photo: Nomination papers are available now.

Nomination papers for the annual town election on Tuesday, April 2 are now available at the Town Clerk’s office, according to Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

  • Nomination for town-wide office will require the certified signatures of at least 50 registered voters of the Town of Belmont.
  • Nomination for Town Meeting Member will require the certified signatures of at least 25 registered voters of the precinct in which the candidate resides.

If you want to check your term of office, please see your Board’s webpage: https://www.belmont-ma.gov/town-clerk/pages/town-meeting-members

The Town Clerk’s web pages are packed with information for the potential candidates. One such example is the “Running for Elected Office and Campaigning” http://www.belmont-ma.gov/town-clerk/pages/elections-running-for-elected-office-campaigning

The deadline to submit nomination papers is Feb. 12, 2019. 

The following offices will appear on the Ballot for the Annual Town Election:

Town-wide Offices Number of Seats Term of Office
Moderator Vote for One 1 year
Board of Selectmen Vote for One 3 years
Town Clerk Vote for One 3 years
Board of Assessors Vote for One 3 years
Board of Cemetery Commissioners Vote for One 3 years
Board of Health Vote for One 3 years
Members of the Housing Authority Vote for One 5 years
Trustees of the Public Library Vote for Two 3 years
Members of the School Committee Vote for One 1 year
Members of the School Committee Vote for Two 3 years
Town Meeting Members

Each of the Eight Precincts

  

Vote for Twelve

  

3 years
Partial-Term Town Meeting Members
Precinct 1 Vote for One 1 year
Precinct 1 Vote for One 2 years
Precinct 5 Vote for One 2 years
Precinct 7 Vote for One 1 year

The Town Clerk’s Office is open:

  • Mondays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
  • Tuesdays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and
  • Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon.

Town Offices will be closed on Monday, Dec. 24, and Christmas, Tuesday, Dec. 25, in observance of the Christmas Holiday and Town Offices will close at 4 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 31, in observance of New Year’s Eve.

As always, contact the Town Clerk’s office should you have any questions or concerns.

Tragedy Prompting Belmont To Be First In State With Defibrillators At Fields, Playgrounds

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Photo: An outdoor automated external defibrillator located at Westerly (RI) High School’s turf field.

June Howell  automated external defibrillator

“I knew they can save lives with very little training,” said Belmont’s Recreation Department’s Program Supervisor who said the town had purchased one to be located at the Underwood Pool during the summer and the Skip Viglirolo Skating Rink for the rest of the year. 

But the idea of bringing the equipment to the wider community took a back seat due to the cost and logistics associated in keeping the machines need to stay within a specific temperature range.

It took a tragedy on one of the Rec Department’s fields to renew Howell’s commitment to increase the number of AEDs  In May, during the first adult softball game played on the diamond across Concord Avenue from the Belmont Public Library, a player in his early 40s suddenly fell to the ground stricken by a heart attack. Before help could arrive, he had died.

“It was terrible,” said Howell who still shakes her head remembering the incident.  

Unfortunately, the likelihood of a person dying from a cardiac event like the one that occurred in Belmont is staggeringly high. Each year in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association, there are approximately 360,000 Emergency Medical Services (EMS)-assessed cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting and on average, less than eight percent of victims survive.

But that does not need to the case if an AED is close at hand. The New England Journal of Medicine reported communities with comprehensive AED programs that include cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and AED training of the public have achieved survival rates of nearly 40 percent for cardiac arrest victims.

According to Howell, who told the story at Belmont Recreation Commission meeting on Monday, Dec. 3, “it’s time provide greater safety to the community.”  

As a result of the incident and the Rec Department’s efforts, Belmont is moving to become the first municipality in Massachusetts and one of the few in the entire US to install AEDs at its town-owned fields and playgrounds that can be used by citizens.

Howell said Belmont will copy a program in Westerly, Rhode Island, that has been up and running for nearly a decade. The seaside community currently has seven outside locations including the high school turf field and at the town’s beach.

Westerly, along with Warwick, have been designated HeartSafe communities, part of a long-running program underwritten by Rhode Island’s Department of Health. With an emphasis on quickly meeting the need of those in cardiac arrest, Westerly has installed more than 100 automated external defibrillators throughout town in public buildings, at schools and in its police vehicles while providing extensive public training in using AEDs. 

Like Westerly, Belmont’s defibrillators will be stored in climate controlled enclosures which enables them to be accessible on a 24/7 basis throughout all seasons. When the defibrillator is needed, a person calls 911 and Belmont dispatchers will provide an access code to open the storage compartment, enabling retrieval and use of the AED. Using an AED is “nearly foolproof,” said commission member and physician’s assistant Kathryn Jones, who enthusiastically supported the proposal. 

The first Belmont AEDs will be placed at five town-owned fields:

  • Pequossette (PQ) Park,
  • Grove Street Playground,
  • Payson Park,
  • Winn Brook Playground, and
  • Town Field.

The Recreation Division is currently meeting with the Belmont Fire Department and Belmont Light on the best sites for the equipment to be stationed and in bringing power to the posts where the AEDs will be located. It is also getting a quote from Zoll Medical, the town’s AED supplier, for the cost of additional equipment as well as maintaining and inspecting the devices once installed.

The Rec Department approached seven groups to assist in funding the venture and Belmont Soccer indicated it would fund the first $10,000 with Belmont Youth Baseball ready to step up to the plate. Howell said she’s looking for additional private funding to pay for the infrastructure work and possible town-wide training on using the equipment. 

Those who wish to donate can contact Howell at 617-993-2760 or email at:

https://www.belmont-ma.gov/users/jhowell/contact

While the town fields and playgrounds are crowded with youth and soon high school sports teams and activities, Howell said she sees the AEDs as “not specifically for kids but for every resident.”

“It’s amazing,” said Howell on how using a defibrillator increases the survivability of a person suffering a heart attack.

“It really will save a life.”

Is Town Government Accessible? Take The IT Committee’s Survey To Be Heard

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Photo: The survey by the IT Advisory Committee.

Is Belmont government – Town Hall, Board of Selectmen or the Shade Tree Committee – as responsive as you’d like it to be? What changes would you make to make the process less burdensome and more democratic?

The town’s IT Advisory Committee is now polling Belmont community members about their interactions with town government whether they are elected officials or the many appointed bodies and how the town might improve its interactions with residents and make the work these committees do more accessible.

The link to the survey is: https://goo.gl/forms/bEKdZ0BWPNFKXdA03

The Advisory Committee is looking to have as wide a possible sample size of Belmont residents. The survey only takes a few minutes.

Police Station Renovation Project Passes First Test With Funding Challenge Ahead

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Photo: Architect Ted Galante before the Zoning Board of Appeals.

It was smooth sailing as the renovation of the nine decades old Belmont Police headquarters at the intersection of Concord Avenue and Pleasant Street got its first thumbs up as it begins meetings to clear regulatory hurdles and obtain the funding for the historic preservation of the project.

“Step one done,” said Ann Marie Mahoney, chair of the DPW/BPD Building Committee which is overseeing the renovation of the police building and the facilities at the Department of Public Works after receiving unanimous approval from the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals on Monday, Dec. 3.

“And this [vote] was good and wonderful being unanimous,” she noted.

The committee was before the ZBA seeking approval of a pair of special permits which would allow the circa 1931 headquarters project to bypass town regulations and increase the structure’s height and adding an additional floor to a portion of the building. Architect Ted Galante of The Galante Architecture Studio in Cambridge told the board the additional space would improve the building’s function and allow for a sallyport and revamping of the unsafe holding cells. There will also be a need to reconfigure the entrance to the parking lot from the corner of the intersection to a new curb cut slightly up Pleasant Street. 

The changes will correct complaints of the safety of the cells and meet Americans with Disability Act regulations, said Galante, bringing the building into the 20th century. “We want a building and facility the town can be proud of,” said Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin.

ZBA Chair Nicholas Iannuzzi quipped that as Belmont is a “Town of Homes,” it’s unlikely any of the residents will ever be spending time in the new cell block, only out-of-town “visitors,” to which McLaughlin agreed.

Next up for the project will be a presentation before the Planning Board in January 2019 which will review the project specifically the building’s larger floor area ratio and the landscaping in greater detail. 

Earlier in the day, the committee delivered its final request to the Community Preservation Committee for a $700,000 grant to preserve the historic features of the building. While the majority of the $7 million budget will be paid for via a long-term bond financed by existing town revenue, the brickwork and other repairs to the facade is critical to complete the job.

But the request seeking funding comes during the most competitive grant cycle in the CPC’s short history. Already approved in  the 2019 grant round is $400,000 for the design of an underpass on the commuter rail line at Alexander Avenue while the Board of Selectmen is seeking $1 million to design and conduct an engineering study of a community path from Belmont Center to Brighton Street. In addition, six other requests are pending. The total requested by the nine projects if funded would exceed the nearly $2 million the CPC has to provide. 

“And we really need that money this [cycle],” said Mahoney.

Finalist For Asst. Town Administrator Visits Rec Commission; Everyone Left Happy

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Photo: Jon Marshall, the finalist for Asst. Town Administrator’s job.

The lead finalist for Belmont’s Assistant Town Administrator visited the town on Monday, Dec. 3 and impressed the group who he’d be working closely if he gets the nod.

Jon Marshall, the director of recreation in neighboring Arlington came to talk with Belmont’s Recreation Commission at its monthly meeting Monday to discuss his background and ideas if he lands the job to be Town Administrator Patrice Garvin’s right-hand.

While the meeting was billed as “a discussion with the Commission,” town officials noted that Marshall was the only candidate given the chance to talk with the group as he is the frontrunner for the position. 

In a curious aside, Belmont’s former assistant town administrator Phyllis Marshall was appointed Arlington’s town treasurer in October. 

And after talking for about 40 minutes, everyone from Marshall to the commission members were happy with what they heard.

“It was a great meeting with the commission,” said Marshall after the get-together. “I heard their thoughts on the community and things they’d like to see improved. There are things that we both can accomplish and hopefully, I will get the chance moving forward.” 

Marshall’s resume and background appear to match what Garvin said she was looking for in an assistant who would focus most of their time overseeing the Recreation Division, which is part of the Department of Public Works. Marshall has led Arlington’s rec programs since Sept. 2016, after working as the director of the Recreation & Parks Department in his hometown of Natick for four and a half years after being the department’s Program Director for seven years. During this time, Marshall served as the president and legislative chair of the Massachusetts Recreation & Park Association.

Marshall earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI, and a Certificate in Public Administration from Suffolk University.

The Recreation Division had undergone changes about 18 months ago in how the department is run and while complaints from residents on the range of services and how many of the programs have “gone stale” over time, “we see this as a work in progress,” said June Howell, recreation programs supervisor.

“We are on the right track but we need help moving forward,” said Howell. Marshall said part of the problem is requiring a small staff to do at times an overwhelming number of tasks.

“Sometimes the ability to take a step back and refocus, then get a view of the landscape of what’s going on in the community and then saying ‘let’s tackle it’,” said Marshall. One area that “really excites me in Belmont” is the opportunity to start non-sports programs as they do in Arlington. 

Marshall has also experience in keeping programs running despite the loss of space as what happened in Arlington. Belmont will soon be under the same constraints once construction for the new 7-12 school building begins in June. 

At times, the discussion appeared as if the commissioners viewed Marshall as the town’s next recreation director, peppering him with questions on how he would revamp the inner workings of the division to attract residents to its variety of programs and facilities.

But Marshall said his job would be to “drive the vision for the department while working to support the staff and the commission to make sure that some of the ideas and thoughts we come up with move forward.”

Landslide! Debt Exclusion For New 7-12 School Passes By More Than 3 To 1 Margin

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Photo: Ellen Schreiber (right), co-chair of “Yes on 4” celebrating Tuesday night’s election result.

In a result that few could have predicted, Belmont voters overwhelmingly approved a debt exclusion to construct a new 7th through 12th grades school building by more than three to one margin on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 6.

The final vote total on Question 4 was 9,467 yes and 2,952 no with the “yes” vote receiving 76.2 percent support from the 12,833 voters – a whopping 72.4 percent turnout of registered voters – who crowded Belmont’s eight precincts throughout the mostly rain swept day. 

The night was a spectacular victory for two groups, the Belmont High School Building Committee which created a transparent and public-friendly process as the project moved from initial support by the state to a nearly finished design, and the “Yes On 4” advocacy group which promoted the new high school as, despite its costly label, fiscally responsible.

“When I first started seeing the numbers come in, I just couldn’t believe them. It says something when that many people in the town agree that we needed to do this,” said Ellen Schreiber, the “Yes on 4” co-chair with Sara Masucci at a large celebration with Question 4 supporters on Tuesday night. “It’s an amazing day for the town, for our residents, and for our children.”

The question now heads to next week’s Special Town Meeting on Nov. 13 where it will be presented before Belmont’s legislative body for approval, which is a near certainty. While the ballot question does not indicate a cost of the exclusion, the Building Committee placed a $213 million price tag for the town’s share of the $295 million middle/high school. The Massachusetts School Building Committee, which has worked in partnership with the town since it voted to accept Belmont’s application to build a new school in January 2016, will pony up the remaining funds. 

With approval at the Special Town Meeting, the construction of the 451,575 square-foot campus housing 2,215 students will get underway with the completion of the building design in April 2019 with actual shovels in the ground after the school year ends in June 2019 with the 9-12 grade portion of the school completed by July 2021. The middle school section will then be built on the site of the former high school. The school will be completed by September 2023.

Just how unexpectedly large the “yes” majority turned out was caught in the reaction to the vote total from Pat Brusch, a member of the Belmont High School Building Committee, who accompanied Belmont School Committee Chair Susan Burgess-Cox to a backroom in Town Hall where Town Clerk Ellen Cushman and volunteers were tabulating the 3,400 early voting ballots minutes after the polls closed at 8 p.m.

Ten minutes after the polls closed, the first two early voting results, for Precincts 1 and 2, showed the yes’ had scored widespread support, a cumulative total of 777 to 250 in favor.

“It’s still early,” said Brusch, a noted pessimist who had spent past elections anxiously waiting the votes from residents with a well-known skepticism to approving tax increases.

When the result from the precincts themselves began filtering in on Burgess Cox’ cell-phone showing Belmont voters in near complete support for the new school project, Brusch – who was also vice-chair of the Wellington Building Committee and served on the building committees for the Chenery and Burbank/Winn Brook school construction projects – stood to stare in stunned silence for several seconds.

“I’m truly shocked,” Brusch final said as it became clear that before even a quarter of the votes had been tallied the “yes” majority would take the day.

For Burgess-Cox, the result “is amazing. The number of people who voted and the number who voted for [the debt exclusion] is an affirmation for Belmont’s schools.” 

At the celebration at a supporter’s house midway between the Chenery and Wellington schools, Schreiber said the victory for the school was accomplished fully by the dozens of volunteers who did both the large and small activities; from knocking on doors, creating innovative videos, to those who spent Tuesday in the rain for hours holding signs at intersections and the precincts.

“We wouldn’t have won without them,” she said.

The pitch to the public was straight forward; a new school would resolve issues that were threatening the education of the district’s children, said Schreiber

“Everyone saw that we needed to do this. The problems in the school system whether it’s over enrollement or inadequate buildings is real and they need to be solved. And this is a really great solution, it’s well planned and vetted by the building committee and we had an unpresidented amount of community meeting to give their input,” said Schreiber, who praised the group for “kicking the tires” on the project to demonstrate to residents that the project has been thoroughly evalutated with a great deal of transparency. 

“Through the course of this campaign, all we’ve been doing is communicating what the building committee has done. And with 76 percent of the vote, the town agreed.” she said.