il Casale Team Opening New Belmont Center Restaurant in Early Summer

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Photo: The de Magistris’ new eatery “The Wellington” will be a similar size to the flagship il Casale restaurant.

Residents will have a new dining option as the Belmont family that runs il Casale will open its newest eatery in the early summer in the building that houses Foodies and the Belmont Book Store.

The “The Wellington” was presented before the Belmont Board of Selectmen last week as the de Magistris family sought a full-alcohol license for the second of the family’s businesses in Belmont Center, following their award-winning restaurant at 50 Leonard St. 

The license was approved unanimously by the board on Jan. 8. 

The family first approached the town in July 2017 when it presented its designs to the Planning Board which took some issue with the parking spaces allocated to the business. The application was approved in September. 

The new restaurant will be “a little more casual than what you may recall at il Casale, more modern American fare (“hamburgers and oysters,” according to Dante de Magistris), a fresh seasonal menu that will change … and meeting the ever-growing demand foreign and vegetarian options” in the $11 to $16 range for “burger and  and $21 to $31 for entrees. There will also be a brunch menu.  

The location – which will have entries on Leonard Street and adjacent the Claflin Street parking lot – will be open for lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner until 10 p.m. with a bar featuring craft beers and handmade cocktails. There will also be a brunch menu.  

The new eatery will mirror il Casale in size and occupancy, taking up 3,500 sq.-ft. in the first-floor dining area – with 2,000 sq.-ft. in the lower level taken up by office and storage space – will have 133 seats with 21 bar seating with an occupancy of 200, nearly identical to the de Magistris’ flagship operation.

Selectmen Reject ‘Opt-Out’ Vote On Pot Sales; Chair Still Wants Residents To Decide

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Photo: The Belmont Board of Selectmen: Paolillo (left), Williams and Dash.

Belmont is open for the recreational sale of marijuana when the Belmont Board of Selectmen rejected a proposal by Chair Jim Williams on Monday, Jan. 8 to hold a town-wide vote in February to ask residents their opinion on the controversial measure.

The 2-1 vote, with selectmen Mark Paolillo and Adam Dash voting no, did not sit well with Williams, who said it was the responsibility of the board to ask residents whether a majority wanted to town to “opt out” of the retail sale of weed in Belmont. While acknowledging that the town voted 52 percent to 48 percent in favor of the state-wide amendment in Nov. 2016 to end the prohibition of marijuana sales in the Bay State, Williams strenuously contended the result was not a green light on sales.

“Forget about Belmont’s representative democracy,” said Williams in an email to the Belmontonian after the board vote.

“[I]t’s actual democracy [that] took it on the chin last night … actually preventing the electorate from deciding whether to allow recreational marijuana retail sales in town or not. Opinion: Truly astonishing,” noted Williams.

In an attempt to revive the issue, Williams said he will schedule a reconsideration vote on the agenda when the selectmen next meet on Jan. 22. 

“I’m aware that this schedule will likely not enable us to effect an ‘opt-out’ before the existing April 1st deadline, but may allow us to put the question on the [Town Election] April 3rd ballot to avoid the obvious disenfranchisement inherent in Monday last’s 2-1 decision,” said Williams in a second email to the Belmontonian. 
 
“It also has the benefit of allowing an informed community discussion on the matter between now and then,” wrote Williams.
 
To place a marijuana sales question on the April 3 ballot, Williams would need to convince one of his colleagues to switch his position at the Jan. 22 meeting.

The need for the proposed “opt-out” special election in February is it would allow the town could “get ahead” of the April 1 date when the state’s licencing board begins accepting applications for retailers, according to the Town Counsel George Hall. With Belmont’s Town Election on April 3, retail applicants would have a small but critical three-day “window” to apply, effectively grandfathering their application if the town’s voters decided to ban the sale of weed in town. 

In the past few months, residents in Lexington and Winchester have voted “no” on sales and have submitted local bylaws to the state Attorney General for a review. 

Williams said not placing a question whether to “opt out” on the April 3 annual Town Election “is putting someone [ie retailer and the state] else in charge of the town,” as he advocated for a special election. 

“I am not in favor of doing nothing” since the board has “no idea, zero” on the electorate’s support or opposition to pot sales in the Town of Homes.

“We have to respect the will of the people and to do that we have to know what it is,” said Williams. 

But for the majority of the Selectmen, the vote and Special Town Meeting to ratify a new bylaw – at a cost of approximately $23,000, according to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman – would be counter to the will of the voters who originally passed the question 14 months ago.

For Paolillo, a special election “would be somewhat decisive” in a town where 70 percent of registered voters – about 14,000 – came to the polls and a majority casting a “yes” vote. He also said the public understood that voting yes “could mean sales in our town.” 

“We are representing the will of the people and they have spoken,” said Paolillo to Williams’ earlier statement.

In addition, local pot retailers will come under significant local controls including “the time, place and manner” of store operations and with the ability of the Health Department to mitigate the effects including by raising the age limit on the purchase marijuana and from the Planning Board in which business zone they can set up shop, said Paolillo and Dash.

Events outside of Belmont is also playing a role to limit applicants in Belmont as the federal government issued new guidelines this week which advised US Attorneys they can now enforce national laws that views marijuana as an illegal drug. Selectman Dash said the new harsher view by the feds will likely dampen retailers “jumping in here … with the uncertainty of the federal government.” 

In addition, the town would lose out on a three percent cut on sales that would go towards drug prevention and police, and education said Belmont Health Committee member Dr. David Alper. “Three percent is better than nothing,” said Alper.

Dash said while he was leaning towards a special election last month, “the more I thought about it and talked to people … that I’d rather do nothing than opt out but regulated appropriately.” 

“There’s going to be marijuana in Belmont whether we like it or not,” said Dash.

After Monday’s vote, Alper said the Health Department, along with the Planning Board, would begin creating comprehensive regulations on marijuana sales, singling out Brookline as a template as it has experience writing regulations with medical marijuana.

While the Health Board can unilaterally create regulations without the approval of Town Meeting, “we will hold public hearings so the public can be heard on this important matter.” 

Belmont Police Collecting Clothes For Cradles to Crayon Thru Jan. 15

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Photo: Logo for Cradles to Crayons.

The Belmont Police Department along with Brighton-based Cradles to Crayons will be holding a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Collection drive through Monday, Jan. 15 at 1 p.m.

A collection bin will be in the Belmont Police Department lobby at police headquarters at the corner of Pleasant Street and Concord Avenue across from Town Hall.

The police will be collecting new or like-new warm winter essentials for children up to 12 years old.

Items most needed are:

  • Winter Coats: boys and girls sizes newborn to adult medium
  • Winter Boots: boys and girls sizes child 0-13 and adult 1-10
  • Winter clothing: boys and girls sizes newborn to child 18/20 or adult medium

Cradles to Crayons provides children from birth through age 12 living in homeless or low-income situations with the essential items they need to thrive at home, at school and at play.

If you have questions about the drive please call Belmont Police Lt. Kristin Daley at 617-993-2554

Battling A Blizzard: A Talk With Belmont Highway’s Michael Santoro [Video]

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Photo: Trapelo Road, Belmont; 11:45 a.m.

Whether it’s a few inches to a foot or two, when snow covers Belmont’s streets, Mike Santoro is the town’s employee residents count on to keep the roads and parking areas clear and safe to travel.

With an anticipated 12 to 16 inches of the white stuff heading the town’s way today, Thursday, Jan. 4, Santoro, the long-time manager of the Belmont Department of Public Works’ Highway Division, will assemble up to 60 vehicles made up of town-owned trucks and contract ploughs to create a battle plan to open the town’s 78 miles of public roads.

The Belmontonian spoke to Santoro at the Town Yard just as the snow started coming down on Thursday.

In Or Out: Selectmen to Decide Jan. 8 If Pot Stores Are Coming To Town of Homes

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Photo: Selectmen Mark Paolillo, Chair Jim Williams and Adam Dash with “brownies” before their discussion on pot regulations.

The representatives of the Belmont Board of Health and the town’s Health Department were bearing gifts as they came to speak before the Belmont Board of Selectmen on the future of marijuana retail sales in town.

Brownies.

Uh oh! Was the Board of Health tipping its hand on what position it would take on the future of pot stores in the “Town of Homes?” Or were the members being “set up” like a scene out of a Cheech and Chong film with Belmont Police Chief McLaughlin and the drug squad ready to pounce on the unsuspected consumers of “edibles.”

“Watch out. It could be ‘Mary’ ‘Wona’!” warned Selectmen Chair Jim Williams. 

But it turned out that Board of Health member Dr. David Alper was only sweetening the night with actual brownies (and latkas from resident Bonnie Friedman) as he came to advise the selectmen on Monday, Dec. 18 and the Planning Board the next night, Tuesday, Dec. 19 that “they need to get going” to decide whether the town would join the majority of communities allowing the establishment of  stores for the “adult” sale of marijuana which will begin statewide on June 1 . 

The selectmen declared Monday it would decide whether to opt in or out of the state law allowing the retail sale of pot and associated marijuana-infused food and candies at its scheduled Monday, Jan. 8 meeting at Town Hall. 

The state is moving quickly on creating licensing regulations with the Cannabis Control Commission this week presenting to the Secretary of State its outline for the issuance of licenses. The state will hold a public meeting on Feb. 5 before the law goes into effect on April 1 with the first applications going to the 18 medical marijuana dispensaries currently operating. All new weed retailers can open their doors on June 1. 

If the board decides to follow the lead of Winchester and a few towns in the Cape that have opted out, Belmont will need to call a town-wide election to support the board’s decision. The special election is required because the town’s voters passed what was called Question 4 in November 2016, 52.5 percent to 46.5 percent (7,585 to 6,868 votes), a slightly lower margin than the state overall, which was 53.6 percent yes vs. 46.3 percent no.

If the voters approve the board’s opt-out declaration, the selectmen would subsequently need to call a special town meeting before April 1 to enact a bylaw codifying the decision. 

While the selectmen could simply wait until the town’s scheduled election on April 4 and then the first night of the annual  Town Meeting on April 30 rather than call a special election and town meeting with its additional cost of approximately $15,000, Alper noted that marijuana entrepreneurs are expected to target “well-to-do communities” for their retail operations – which early estimates will generate $1 to $3 million in revenue annually – as they seek “upscale cannabis consumers.”

“I am less optimistic that we will be ignored,” said Alper. “Those four days allows someone to come in and ask the CCC for a license which will be granted because we didn’t have a bylaw or vote stopping it.”

By opting out, the town would also forego revenue from a three percent tax through a user agreement with retailers which is on top of the state’s three percent cut. Alper said the money – which modestly could be north of $30,000 annually – must be earmarked towards anti-drug education and prevention, which could include providing grant money to the district schools to conduct annual health surveys, establishing pilot programs to fight opioid addition and funding of additional shifts for police officers in drug prevention operations.

If the board decides to allow stores to open, the selectmen can also decide whether to establish a “cap” on the total number of establishments in Belmont. The minimum number of stores is determined by taking 20 percent of the number of full-liquor retail operations in town, which will allow Belmont to have only one store. While the town must allow one to open although it does control the “time, place and manner” of the store through the Planning Board. 

But Alper advised the Planning Board that it should not attempt to “hide” the store(s) in some out-of-the-way location such as behind the new electrical substation off of Brighton Street. 

“We want this to be a success,” he said, noting it will be easier to monitor and control. 

Selectman Adam Dash said a dispensary near his law practice in Somerville is “very professional looking. They don’t have Bob Marley posters in the window. We can regulate it so it looks like a professional place.” 

Alper said this will not be like any other commercial operation in another way: it is a cash-only business. While the state has approved the sale of pot, the federal government continues to see weed as illegal and President Trump’s US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has vowed to step up federal enforcement against pot.

The result is banks and other institutions will not accept checks, electronic payments or credit card transactions from these retail operations. Subsequently, the buying and selling of pot is via cash, which also includes how they pay store employees and suppliers. (Although one solution is to use Bitcoin or another non-traditional cryptocurrency.)

“They will pay their taxes and light bill in cash,” said Alper.

And the business ain’t low-end: high-grade pot sold in these establishments will cost between $250 to $400 an ounce, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in cash exchanging hands each day.

“And they’ll need an IRS agent in each store because it’s all cash,” said Alper.

Alper said while the town can limit the number of retail operations, due to the “liberal drafting of the regulations” by the CCC, the Board of Health will have the right to issue permits to a business for the therapeutic or “casual use” of marijuana, pointing to yoga instructors, massage and physical therapists who could seek a waiver. 

“We could also see one-day licenses like we have for alcohol use,” said Alper.

Alper said the Board of Health is ready to create these regulations – it does not require Town Meeting or selectmen authorization, just an open public meeting before issuing the new rules – “so we are waiting what direction you want to take.” 

“It all leads back to you people,” said Alper.

Welcome The Winter Solstice With A Little (Belmont) Light On Thursday, Dec. 21

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Photo:

The town’s electrical utility, Belmont Light, will be Celebrating the Winter Solstice with its customers at the 40 Prince St. office on Thursday, Dec. 21 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.   

The event is open to all Belmont Light customers, and everyone who attends is encouraged to bring a new or very gently used blanket, bedspread, comforter, or quilt with them to the event to help share the warmth with others in need.

Customers will have an opportunity to enjoy a mug of hot cider or hot chocolate and say “hello” to special guest Frosty the Snowman.

Belmont Light customers will be able to pick up a free LED light bulb and an LED nightlight.

“We’re excited that Celebrating the Winter Solstice has become such a great tradition in the community,” Belmont Light Acting General Manager Craig Spinale said. “It’s always a fun event and we encourage our customers to stop by our 40 Prince Street office to celebrate the beginning of the winter season. We also encourage everyone to help others in need by donating bedding to share the warmth.” 

For more information about Celebrating the Winter Solstice, please visit the website www.belmontlight.com or call 617-993-2800.

Leave Your Mark On the New High School; Attend The Design Workshop Thurs. Dec. 14

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Photo: Design workshop in session.

Belmont residents: Here is your chance to put your stamp on the design of the new Belmont High School when the Belmont High School Building Committee hosts a public Community Design Workshop on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Belmont High cafeteria at 
221 Concord Ave. An optional facility tour of the school will take place at 6 p.m.

The purpose of the workshop is to allow the public to be heard, be involved and be informed about the project, said Bill Lovallo, chair of the High School Building Committee.

“We will have a great visioning session … on the 14th,” said Lovallo. “This is a real exciting part of the design process, to start looking at what visions, what opportunities and what benefits we can get out of this project.”

Residents will participate in a hands-on, small-group visioning workshop focused on:

  • Key features of major building spaces,
  • Interior spaces to leverage high-quality teaching and learning, and
  • Site planning discussions.

“There will be multiple sessions where we break up into smaller groups to discuss the issues before us and then present it to the entire workshop. The designers will then bring it back to their office to start to understand what the trends are,” said Lovallo.

“The design team wants to hear what people like and dislike, pros and cons,” he said.

To sign up for email updates and to learn more about the Belmont High School Building Project, including project timelines, videos, meeting schedules, presentations, and more, please visit www.belmonthighschoolproject.org. Questions? BHS-BC@belmont-ma.gov

It’s Official: Garvin Starts As Belmont Town Administrator Jan. 15, 2018

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Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s new Town Administrator, greeted by Selectmen Chair Jim Williams.

The executive session during which the Belmont Board of Selectmen negotiated the contract for the new town administrator was taking twice as long as scheduled on Monday, Dec. 11, leaving Patrice Garvin – whom the board had offered the job the previous week – to wait for an hour pondering exactly what could be going on between the members, the town’s human resource official and the consultants who help interest the Shirley Town Administrator to Belmont.

But in the end, the delay was caused by the normal course of negotiating the crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s, as the board welcomed Garvin who accepted the final terms of her contract with the town.

“I am very excited to be coming to Belmont,” said Garvin after the meeting.

Garvin and the board agreed to a three-year contract running through Jan. 15, 2021 with options to extend her employment. Garvin will receive an annual salary of $168,000.

With Jan. 15th falling on the Martin Luther King holiday, the board invited Garvin to the town’s annual MLK breakfast as a way of introducing her to the community. 

Garvin told the Belmontonian she will spend the first weeks with department heads and attending meetings of many of the 66 volunteer-run community organizations and committees. She will also be seeking out long-term residents and employees to give her a tour of the town as she learns the ins and outs of Belmont.

Million Dollar Belmont: Average Assessment Hits 7 Figures As Tax Bill Jumps 4 Percent in ’18

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Photo: Daniel Dargon, Robert Reardon and Charles Laverty III

There was a time in Belmont when the statement: “Your house looks like a million!” was metaphoric and not literal.

Not anymore, as the average assessed property in the “Town of Homes” had broken the seven-figure barrier, according to Board of Assessors when it announced the numbers during the annual tax classification hearing before the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, Dec. 11.

The new “average” assessed value is $1,003,750, an increase from $942,000, according to Robert Reardon, long-time chair of the Board of Assessors, who announced that Belmont’s fiscal ’18 tax rate is set at $12.15 per $1,000 assessed value, a decrease of 4.25 percent from the fiscal ’17 rate of $12.69 per $1,000.

But don’t expect your quarterly bill to shrink in the coming year as the assessed value of property in Belmont shot up a healthy seven percent to $7.3 billion from $6.7 billion in fiscal ’17. With property values increasing at its highest percentage in more than five years, the average property owner will see their tax bill increase by 3.5 percent. 

For example, the annual tax bill on the average assessed valued property ($1,003,750 x $12.15) will be $12,195.56 in fiscal ’18; an increase of $241.58 from last year’s bill of $11,953.98.

Under the new rate, Belmont will collect $86.1 million from residential, commercial, open land and personal properties. Last fiscal year, the town raised $82 million in real estate taxes.

Reardon noted a “big” increase in new property growth totaling $2,020,408, compared to the $788,000 in fiscal ’17. On top of the existing Belmont tax base of $567,550, the Uplands development on the Cambridge border that selling units at a better than expected rate and new construction on the site is underway providing the town $600,750, nearly $200,000 more than anticipated. The completion of the electrical substation and its sale to Eversourse (the former NSTAR) brought in $852,108 in one-time funds to new growth. 

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 – at a minimum 20 percent – to creating separate tax rates for residential and commercial properties. Belmont’s commercial base is 4.1 percent of the total real estate.

“People always assumes there’s money if you go with the split rate and that’s not true,” Reardon told the Belmontonian.

Selectmen Offers Shirley’s Town Administrator Belmont Position; Contract Possibly Monday

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Photo: Patrice Garvin

The Belmont Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to offer Shirley Town Administrator Patrice Garvin the vacant Belmont Town Administrator position after a public interview of the final pair of candidates on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at Town Hall.

The Selectmen anticipate approving a final contract with Garvin on Monday, Dec. 11 at its next meeting. There are reports that Garvin – who was a finalist to become town administrator in three other communities this year – is likely to have competing offers from other municipalities, which was one of the reasons the selectmen moved up by a week its vote to decide on which candidate to select. 

A resident of Chelmsford, Garvin has been Shirley’s Town Administrator for the past four years, having been the executive assistant to the town manager in Groton previously. Garvin also has experience in town government as the chair and member of Chelmsford’s Finance Committee. She had her bachelors degree from Suffolk University and earned her masters in education and developmental and educational psychology from Boston College.

Also interviewed Tuesday was Kevin Sweet, Maynard’s town administrator, who along with Garvin was the last of 19 prospective candidates seen by a screening committee headed by School Committee member Kate Bowen. Both were described by Rick White of the search firm Groux-White Consulting as “represent[ing] the younger and rising stars in the profession.” 

While the selectmen each said that both candidates would be outstanding administrators, the majority opinion was that Garvin demonstrated a grasp of the position more significant than just process and numbers. 

“[Patrice] Garvin articulated a vision which I think is important,” said Selectman Adam Dash. “[She] came across to me as practical, foreright, persistent and those are qualities we need to go forward.”

“It wasn’t just a list of accomplishments; it was a statement of purpose and motivation as well as a quiet forcefulness that we can use,” said Dash. 

Mark Paolillo, the senior selectman on the board, was impressed with Garvin’s detailed and insightful knowledge when answering financial questions, “because we are facing great financial challenges in the future.” Of the two candidates, Paolillo felt Garvin would be more successful in “finding ways to bring people together and unify the community” and “work collaboratively with departments and the school committee.”

“It was some of her nuisance responses … like growing in the position in Shirley, that tipped the scales for me,” said Paolillo.

“She did really really well [on difficult questions], the answers were really honest and didn’t sound canned. I feel like I know what we are getting if we hire her because of that,” said Dash.

While saying he was less sure about making a selection, Chair Jim Williams said he was not looking for a “fourth selectmen” but rather someone who will follow the direction of the board. While both were very capable of doing the job, “I don’t have a strong preference.” Williams ultimately voted to join his colleagues to make the decision unanimous. 

With a low-key manner and a distinct Boston-regional accent, Garvin told the board “I always want to find a career where I would make peoples lives better,” and working in local government is where she “could see my efforts and my work in a very short period.” 

She told the board as an administrator for the past four years in Shirley, she looks for common ground and finds some resolution to problems that come through her door.

Garvin said her practical experience she gained being in Shirley for the past four years was “well-rounded” from building up the town’s reserves, restructured town offices, and obtained millions in state and federal grants and funding. She described her part in revamping the Shirley Fire ambulance response from relying on mutual aid to staffing the department with EMTs and on the weekend which resulted in a positive revenue and reducing response times.

She noted that the most significant challenge in the job “is gaining the trust and respect of the board you’re working for.”

She also told board she has “three rules” when it comes to working with the selectmen: “You’re always informed. You’re never surprised. And one [selectmen] won’t know something the other two do.”

When asked what qualities she will bring to Belmont if hired, Garvin said after ten years in government, she continues to “push to know more.” 

“What drives me is my failures as much as my success. I want to learn more and do better,” said “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying. And what I bring to everything I do is my full effort. If I don’t succeed with one thing, I’ll try another. I won’t give up until it’s done.”