Now There Are Two: Warrant Committee’s Epstein Pulls Selectman Papers

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Photo: Roy Epstein

It didn’t take long for the race to fill the open seat on the Board of Selectmen to became a real contest.

Warrant Committee Chair Roy Epstein picked up nomination papers at the Town Clerk’s Office on Friday morning, Jan. 11, two days after Town Meeting member Jessica Bennett obtained hers, setting up a particularly interesting town election with two – for now – possible candidates with strong views on the direction the town should take.

A well-known member of numerous boards, working groups and committees – he currently serves on four and sat on five others in the past – the 24 year resident touts his extensive knowledge working on the financial and policy nuts and bolts of Belmont’s town government.

“Why me?  I have the professional background and actual town experience that has an unmatched record of solving the hardest problems and saving the town millions of dollars,” said the adjunct professor of finance at Boston College who earned a PhD in Economics for Yale after matriculating at Wesleyan University.

“I think I will do the best job for the town as a whole. I will continue to be an independent, reliable voice and will always welcome public input from everyone; left, right, or center,” said Epstein who lives with his family on Cushing Avenue.

(The Belmontonian will conduct detailed interviews with all candidates after nominations close on Feb. 12).

Look Who’s Running: Why Bennett Won’t Likely Be The Only Candidate For Selectman

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Photo: Jessie Bennett receiving her nomination papers on Wednesday at the Town Clerk’s office. 

It’s the photo all candidates – or potential candidates – should take, when they make the leap and take out nomination papers for local office. On Wednesday morning, Jan. 10, Jessica Bennett got “the shot” as she was handed her papers at the Town Clerk’s office for her run to occupy the seat of retiring selectman Mark Paolillo.

“I’m running for the Board of Selectmen because the work of local government is vital and touches all of our lives every day, regardless of age, race, income, political affiliation, and citizenship status,” said the 11-year resident who lives with her family on Trowbridge Street.

“We all bring the trash to the curb and have to get across town in traffic, and turn on the lights and expect that electricity to be there. I know that none of this happens magically and that the Board of Selectmen is an integral part of that process,” she said in an email interview.

While Bennett is the first out of the gate – less than two days after Paolillo first told the Belmontonian after Monday’s Selectmen’s meeting he would not seek a fourth term – to seek a seat on the important three-member board, she’s is almost certainly not the last to see Town Clerk Ellen Cushman seeking their own nomination sheets and the reason comes down to simple math: do it now or end up in the political equivalent of the Registry of Motor Vehicles waiting room.

The selectman’s race in April will be a contest for an “open” seat, so there is no pesky incumbent with a slew of supporters ready for a re-election campaign. Everything (meaning every vote) is up for grabs without having to craft a message and a campaign around the person who already has the job. Everyone who enters the race this year is starting from square one in this political game of Candy Land.

Even the most casual of town government observers that the current collection of selectmen – made up of Paolillo, Tom Caputo and Chairman Adam Dash – is one of the strongest bodies in terms of policy and process in recent memory. Whether it is the community path, the future of the incinerator site, attempting to militate (or just mitigate) the Gordian knot of local traffic along with the myriad of the important ongoing issues such as budgets and planning for revenue shortfalls, there has been an acknowledgment that its service along with no-longer-new Town Administrator Patrice Garvin has Belmont on the right course.

So, let’s say you’re a person interested in taking the leap and run for selectman. If you decide this is not the “right” time to throw your hat into the ring, look at what faces you. Over the next two years – if the longtime trend of selectmen likely to seek a second term – you will likely first have to challenge Dash (who won his first election with 64 percent of the vote against a well-known conservative) and then Caputo (94 percent against token opposition), both well-liked and well-known to voters, a deadly combination for anyone to attempt to unseat incumbents. And the third year will be the winner of this year’s race. And it could be longer for an open seat to arise again if Dash and Caputo decide to match Paolillo’s nine years of service.

In many ways, if not for a better job out of state, retirement to Florida or burnout that could produce an open seat sooner, it’s now or never for those who envisioned themselves spending alternative Monday nights – and at least one other night talking to residents or being a liaison at the Warrant/Capital Budget/Community Preservation committees – at three hour meetings.

Bennett is an attractive candidate with an inspiring back story – she left college (she would graduate later) to assist her parents financially, working as a teller then rising through the banking ranks before changing fields to high tech before moving to the Boston area when her wife was appointed a professor. If just going by Facebook “likes” and comments, Bennett has her supporters.

(The Belmontonian will conduct detailed interviews with all candidates after nominations close on Feb. 12)

Keen observers of town going-ons will have noticed Bennett’s increasing presence at Town Meeting and involvement with causes such as Yes for Belmont, parent/teacher groups and the Foundation for Belmont Education and at meetings including the Belmont High School Building Committee and the various traffic boards – she lives just a slingshot away from the new 7-12 school building. She was recently appointed to the High School Traffic Working Group. No surprise that she was in attendance at the most recent Selectmen’s meeting on Monday, Jan. 7.

Bennett is at the starting line, now it’s who’ll join her for the race.

 

Corrugate Tsunami! After Town Yard Swamped, Town Holding Second Cardboard Day Saturday

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Photo: A DPW photo showing just one of the containers filled with cardboard.

The Department of Public Works knew they would have a good response with its first cardboard drop off event of the new year – the first since the holiday season – so it reserved a second 42-foot long transport container “just in case” the first would fill up.

What occurred on Saturday morning, Jan. 5, was beyond anyone’s imagination.

Approximately 276 cars – many stuffed to the brim with packaging and corrugated paper – crawled into the Town Yard at the end of C Street, as the undermanned volunteers and workers tried their best to take out the material and find someplace to put it. Before noon on Saturday, not only were the two shipping container stuffed, the workers filled the shed housing the department’s snow trucks with cardboard. Even before the noon ending, Belmont Police was turning people away as the line were potential traffic on Waverley Street. 

As DPW director Jay Marcotte said before the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, Jan. 7, “it was a lesson learned.”

In response to the obvious demand, the DPW is holding a second cardboard recycling drop off this Saturday, Jan. 12 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Town Yard off C Street.

With last week’s enthusiastic response for this drop off still fresh on everyone’s mind and with the trend of cardboard recycling is “going up,” Marcotte said the town along with its recycling hauler Waste Management is studying whether to have a regularly scheduled drop off time – for example, an hour on Monday evenings after work – that would be spaced out over a few weeks so the neighborhood on C Street doesn’t feel they are being invaded by their fellow residents. It would involve the rental or purchase of a compactor which would dramatically lessen the number of containers required. 

A new recycling program could also alleviate the growing outcry from residents who contend the blue “recycling” carts aren’t large enough to hold two weeks of cardboard and other recyclables, While residents can store additional trash in authorized purchased bags, there’s no such alternative for recycling since the 96-gallon cart was considered sufficient capacity for two weeks of paper by similar-sized communities with a similar single-stream system.  

BREAKING: Paolillo Stepping Down As Selectman

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Photo: Mark Paolillo

It was a tough decision, but in the end, Mark Paolillo decided that it was a time of a change in his life and the political life of his hometown.

The three-term member of the Belmont Board of Selectmen told his fellow members after the end of its scheduled meeting Monday, Jan. 7 that he would not seek re-election to the three-person board in April.

“Nine years is a long time and it’s time to move on,” said the life-long Belmont resident.

Paolillo had been wavering between staying for a fourth term –  which would have been the longest-serving member since William Monahan

“I’ve been conflicted because it’s been a great board (comprised of selectmen Tom Caputo and chairman Adam Dash) this past year and I enjoy thoroughly working with Patrice [Garvin, Town Administrator] and there is still a lot of issues and there always will be. But I think it’s the best decision for myself and my family.

“I sought the counsel of many in town and I did call some of them privately and told them my decision. It was a really tough, tough call because it’s been a fun year,” said Paolillo. 

“It’s not that [the work] has worn on me but I think new ideas are important as well. I only thought I would do two [terms] but I did nine [years]. And I will continue to support these two guys,” said Paolillo of Caputo and Dash.

“I am sorry to see him go,” said Dash, noting the importance of having Paolillo on the board who had the institutional history and policy heft when taking on major concerns facing residents.

“I understand your decision but you will be sorely missed and look forward you staying involved,” said Caputo.

Paolillo will still be involved in town governance as he will seek a Town Meeting seat this April and has talked about joining one of the myriads of boards and committees. “I will give it a little bit of a breather before deciding.”

After serving on numerous boards including the Warrant Committee, Paolillo was elected selectman in 2010, defeating Dan LeClerc and Anne Mahon with 45 percent of the vote. He ran unopposed in 2013 and beat back challenger Alexandra Ruban with 65 percent of the voters backing him in 2016. 

While always looking for a “win-win-win” solution (a favorite Paolillo phrase) to challenging issues facing the town, Paolillo was not a shrinking violet when confronting opposing views that he felt were specious or misinformed. 

Paolillo said he hopes candidates will step up, noting that “we need diversity on the board and hopefully they are up to that task.” 

New Rules And Times For Leaving Your X-Mas Tree For Pickup

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Photo: New rule on X-Mas tree pickup.

As Christmas is fading into the distance, the annual “de-dressing” of o’ Tannenbaum has begun and it’s off to the sidewalk for the family Christmas tree. 

And the Department of Public Works has a message to all residents:

Starting this year, Christmas trees will only be picked up during the two weeks from:

Jan. 7 to Jan. 17. So residents will have two opportunities to have trees picked up.

Please plan accordingly, according to the DPW, or you will have to hold on to your tree for a year (!) or you’ll need to have it hauled away by a private contractor. (Or you can recycle your tree yourself. They make a great covering for flower or vegetable gardens.)

Since the trees are being chipped and composted, they must not have any ornaments, tinsel or lights on them.

Also, the trees can’t be in a bag.

Finally, per the DPW, make sure that your tree is not covered by snow and ice, to facilitate putting it in the truck.

The trees will be recycled this year and will be diverted from the Waste to Energy plant.

Nomination Papers For Town-Wide, Town Meeting Election Now Available

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Photo: Nomination papers.

Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman announced Friday, Jan. 3 that nomination papers for elected town-wide 0ffices are available for those who wish to run. All candidates must be registered voters of Belmont.

In addition to those races, 12 representative Town Meeting Members are elected for three-year terms from each of the town’s eight voting precincts. This year, there are also some partial-term openings for Town Meeting; vacancies are created by Members moving or resigning.

Stop by the Town Clerk’s office to pick up nomination papers; have your neighbors and friends, who are voters, sign your nomination papers and submit the signed forms to the Town Clerk by the deadline, Feb. 12, at 5 p.m.

The Town Clerk’s web pages contain quite a bit of information to help make a decision to seek office at www.belmont-ma.gov  select Town Clerk, then select Running for Elected Office and Campaigning or feel free to call us at 617-993-2600, or email at townclerk@belmont-ma.gov

Running for election is simple:

  • To be nominated for Town-wide office – signatures of at least 50 registered voters of the Town are required on the nomination papers. The Town Clerk must certify these signatures so we always suggest obtaining about 20% more just to be safe.
  • To be nominated for Town Meeting – 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% more just to be safe.  Some current Town Meeting Members will be asking the voters for re-election but all twelve seats are available in each precinct.

Running for re-election to Town Meeting: current Town Meeting Members whose term of office expires in 2019 have already been sent a letter asking if the person wants to seek re-election. Deadline for return of those letters to the Town Clerk is January 22nd at 4 PM.

Here’s the list of offices that will be filled by the April 2 annual Town Election as of January 3, 2019:

Town -wide Offices Number of Seats Term of Office
Moderator Vote for One 1 year
Board of Selectmen 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 Two 3 years
Member of the School Committee Vote for One 1 year
Town Meeting Members for

Each of the Eight Precincts

 Vote for Twelve 3 years
Partial-Term Town Meeting  Members:

For Precinct 1

 Vote for One 2 years
For Precinct 1 Vote for One 1 year
For Precinct 5 Vote for One 2 years
For Precinct 7 Vote for One 1 year

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.