Tweaked: Failed Dunkin’ Donut Developer’s Back On Pleasant Street With New Proposal

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Photo: The new design for the strip mall at Pleasant and Brighton.

The development team whose attempt to build a Dunkin’ Donut restaurant at the corner of Pleasant and Brighton streets was shot down by the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals in January 2016 is back before the town with a new proposal for the site.

Although “new” will be seen as a stretch for some as Nick Leo’s proposed strip mall does mention a Dunkin’ Donuts restaurant as one “alternative” in occupying the larger storefront at the former Pleasant Street Getty service station located at 350 Pleasant St. which Leo bought for $1,060,000 in July 2014.

But this time, rather than building a strip mall with one of his franchise as the anchor tenant that would involve what some contend is a zoning board not favorably disposed to business interests, the development’s retail spaces will be open to anyone.

‘Once site plan approval is granted and the construction schedule is set up, Mr. Leo will then seek out possible tenants,” said Joseph Noone, the Belmont-based attorney for the Leo Organization.

Leo’s plan this time is to build the structure under the review of the Planning Board and “if a future tenant use requires a special permit under the Belmont By-Law, the tenant will apply to the ZBA for a special permit if the proposed use is not permitted as of right,” said Noone.

The new concept comes before the Planning Board on Tuesday, July 11 at 7 p.m. for a Site and Design Review a year-and-a-half after the Zoning Board of Appeals voted down the application in January 2016 due to traffic and parking issues.

Leo, the owner of 20 Dunkin’ Donut franchises in Massachusetts and Florida, is seeking to build a 3,516 sq.-ft. strip mall with three retail spaces of 1,500, 1,000  and 746 square feet with 269 square feet of common space. The site will have 21 parking spaces, seven more than is required in an LB3 zone.

In many ways, the new design is similar to the failed plan which included a 3,500 sq.-ft. building with a pair of 1,000 sq.-ft. retail operations.

While an application is prohibited for two years to return to the ZBA after being rejected, the new project is considered just enough of a change to allow it back before the town.

“In essence, the footprint of the building is not changed from the plans previously submitted,” said Noone, noting that a small second-floor storage space was eliminated.

The big difference is what’s going inside the space, said Noone. The initial design came before the ZBA as it needed a special permit to use one of the retail spaces as a Dunkin Donuts. Since the new proposal only mentions two possible uses – or alternatives – the Planning Board will only review the proposed structure.

“The denial of the special permit for the use of a Dunkin Donuts [in 2016] does not preclude seeking site plan approval for the proposed structure,’ said Noone.

Noone said the new design incorporates suggestions and requests by abutters, neighbors and the town made during the ZBA hearings, including moving the new building closer to Pleasant Street. and the placement of the dumpster, transformer, and environmental remediation equipment.

Leo also hosted an informational meeting for the neighbors on May 9 at Noone’s office, which was attended by several neighbors. 

Applications For 2018 Community Preservation Funding Now Available

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Photo: The Underwood Pool

Could your group or committee use a few dollars to complete a community project that involves acquiring or improving open space and recreation land, rehabbing or preserving historic sites, or goes to support affordable housing?

If “yes” is the answer, the town’s Community Preservation Committee has about a million dollars waiting to spend on your worthy venture in the coming 2018 fiscal year. And applications to start the process are available today.

The CPC, which distributes the total of a 1.5 percent surcharge on property taxes and an annual contribution of state funds for a wide range of proposals, has released preliminary applications for the 2017 funding cycle. You can download the preliminary application online here.

Applicants are invited to attend the CPC’s Public Meeting on Sept. 14 to ask any questions they may have regarding the application process.

The deadline for returning your application is Friday, Sept. 29 for those projects to be eligible for the next round in the process.

In the past, CPC funding has been distributed to the Belmont Housing Authority for much-needed infrastructure upgrades of housing under its control, to help fund the second phase of the PQ Playground Revitalization Project, updating the Town Clerk’s records, and for the repair of tennis courts at the Grove Street Playground. It was also instrumental in major projects such as the Underwood Pools and the building of Joey’s Park.

For more information, contact the Community Preservation Hotline at 617-993-2774 or send an e-mail to Michael Trainor at mtrainor@belmont-ma.gov

Belmont Requires Yard Sale Permits – Which Are Free and Online

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Photo: Get your permit now.

With summer underway and the weekends filled with signs pointing to the nearest garage sale, the Belmont Town Clerk’s office wants to remind all residents that via town bylaw a permit is required for all “yard sales,” with a limit of three in a calendar year.

“If you intend to hold a private sale as defined in the bylaw, you must first register and receive a free permit issued by the Town Clerk’s office,” says Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman. Private sales include yard and garage sales, tag sales, moving sales and estate sales.

But fear not: obtaining a permit is so easy, you don’t have to go to Town Hall to get yours. 

Residents can file for the Private Sale permit by going to the Town Clerk’s web page on the Town’s website select ‘Yard Sale Permit.’ Registering for the free permit takes less than two minutes as the resident fills in an online form with the date, time, address of the sale and contact information about the sponsor. Once submitted, the free permit will be emailed automatically to you.

Residents who are unable to access email may call or visit the Town Clerk’s office and the staff will be happy to help. The Town Clerk’s office can be reached at 617-993-2600 or townclerk@belmont-ma.gov 

Sellers will also get a bit of free advertising. Yard Sale shoppers may use the web page to view a map of registered Belmont Yard Sales or print a list of registered Yard Sales for the upcoming two weeks.  

It’s Good to be Green: State Provides $250K in Energy Saving Grants

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Photo: The Burbank school.

Kermit The Frog famously lamented “It’s not easy being green.”

But recently for the town of Belmont, being green is not just easy but pretty darn profitable.

Last month, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Green Communities Division approved an award of $250,000 for four projects the town proposed in a “Green Communities Competitive Grant” application it submitted to the state last year.

List of projects being funded include;

• $92,499 for a boiler replacement at the Burbank Elementary School.

• $16,508 for retro-commissioning controls also at the Burbank Elementary.

• $92,481 for a boiler replacement at the Butler Elementary. 

• $48,512 for the weatherization of the Belmont Public Library.

The DOER reviewed Belmont’s grant application and determined these capital projects met the eligibility requirements of its “Competitive Grant” program, taking them off the rolls of the town’s Captial Budget Committee.

Belmont was named a Green Community at a State House ceremony in December 2014.

The Green Communities Division helps each of Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns find clean energy solutions that reduce long-term energy costs through technical assistance and financial support to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable energy in public buildings, facilities and schools.

Trash Talk: Picking Up on Belmont’s Garbage Options

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Photo: DPW Director Jay Marcotte modeling the possible containers Belmont residents could be using to place their waste in 2018. 

The options how Belmont will gets rid of its garbage and recycling beginning in the summer of 2018 is increasing by the day.

Single or dual stream? Use only big plastic bags you have to buy? Automated or keep it the way it is?

Who knew trash could be so complicated?

That was the feeling for many of the three dozen residents who attended the first of two – or possibly three – public discussions sponsored by the Belmont Department of Public Works held Monday, June 26 in the Town Hall auditorium.

In the presentation before the Belmont Board of Selectmen which included a wide variety of plastic trash containers as examples of possible receptacles residents could be using next year, DPW Director Jay Marcotte along with the town’s recycling coordinator Mary Beth Calnan sought to give the public the town’s choices as it prepares to signs in early 2018 a new long-term trash collection and recycling contract to collect curbside waste at nearly 10,000 locations.

“It’s a balancing act, said Marcotte on determining which of the options will best meet the needs of all the town’s residents.

The town currently is in the second extension of its 2011 contract with Cambridge’s J.W. Russell which expires on June 30, 2018. The new contract will be put out to bid in the fall with a final contractor selected in mid-January, said Marcotte. 

The DPW is seeking “direction” from the Selectmen on what option the department should pursue, said Marcotte, much relying on balancing residents’ expectations and the town’s fiscal resources.

And there is an array of ways for the town’s trash and recycling to be collected. The town will need to decide if recycled material will be included with everyday trash – known as the single stream approach – versus a dual stream which recycables are picked up seperately. 

The first option is to continue what the town is doing. The current program is collected manually four days a week with an unlimited number of barrells, yard waste and bulky items. If you put out a dozen containers and a sofa or two on the curb, it’s all going to be picked up.

Recycling is collected once every two weeks and there are Recycling Days for items not collected such as rigid plastics, textiles and DVDs/CDs.

The current seperate recycling program is quite effective in Bemont; 95 percent of residents recycle and nearly three-quarters of recyclable items are recovered.

But the cost is pricy: fiscal year ’18 expense for collection, disposal and recycling is $2.5 million.

High on the DPW’s list of options is automated collection. One need only travel south to Watertown to see a single truck with a mechanical arm pick up wheeled-trash recepticles provided to residents being hoisted up and into the container. 

Marcotte said this method – which is increasingly becoming the industry standard throughout the country – is efficient, cuts labor costs and workmen compensation claims and is neater than the current system.

There is a signficiant upfront cost of between $250,000 to $450,000 for the new “carts” as well as the liklihood that an addtional recycling truck will be neeeded. And trash pick up is limited to what’s in the barrels; bulky items will need a seperate removal at an addtional cost. But the town will see yearly cost savings by the fourth year of upwards of $200,000 versus the manual method.

Another option is Pay-As-You-Throw or PAYT in which all garbage is required to be placed in a 35 gallon bag that costs a few dollars. If you put your garbage in any other bag – sorry, it’s not being picked up.

The pickup can be done within a manual or automated system, with a state grant avaliable to subsidize puchasing carts. The bags will be a distinctive color with the town’s seal on it.

Marcotte said PAYT will decrease the amount the town will pick up and it’s a great incentive to reduce, reuse and recycle. It would also be somewhat cheaper to run. But he noted “throw” systems come with its own issues: you have to purchase bags for all waste, collection is not as efficient, recycling is not as “clean”, and there has been increases in illegal dumping – or people throwing trash in other people’s bins – from those who just won’t pay for the bags. 

With so many options, some residents wondered why things need to change from the familiar system currently in use.

“I think the whole thing is nuts,” said Maryann Scali of Prospect Street, speaking for several long-time homeowners in the hall. “Why can’t we leave what we’re doing?” 

Several people believe the largest container at 65 gallons would prove too unwhelding for older residents and those living on slopped roadways especially in the winter. Others said that they would not need a large PAYT bag for their weekly curb-side offering.

“I would really like to see the emphasise here placed strongly on conveince and ease for the customer,” said John Gilman of Claflin Street 

Amanda Mujica of the Belmont PTA/PTO Green Alliance felt that it was wasteful for the 10,000 customers to throw out the their existing barrels and purchase new containers for a quarter of a million dollars. 

“I know that everyone is on this rally about automation but the trucks are going to take longer as they go up and down each street because they can only go up one side at a time,” she noted.

Pat Brusch of Radcliffe Road said she would be in favor of a “throw” system but only if it was accompanied by an article before Town Meeting to discuss and vote on “an underride.”

The opposite of an override which allows a community to permentaly exceed the annual 2.5 percent cap on the property tax increase, the underride Brusch is proposing would reimburse Belmont taxpayers the $2.1 million they approved in 1990 to create the current curbside trash and recycling system.

Several residents noted they were in favor of the PAYT option, including Taylor Road’s Kim Slack who brought a successful citizens petition at May’s Town Meeting to allow the Board of Selectmen to consider PAYT in future contracts. Slack told the board the “throw” option would not require an automated system which would result in more diesal fumes and would reduce the waste collected from residents “starting on day one.” 

Others, such as John O’Connor of Upland Road didn’t believe it was fair to ask homeowners – who will be facing in the next few years requests for higher taxes to pay for a new high school and other capital projects – to pay to place their rubbish in a bag when they paid for collection 27 years ago. 

A compromise between the existing system and the “throw” option which some selectmen appeared favorable with was voiced by Terese Hammerle of Adams Street who suggested that residents should be able to fill either a 35 gallon bag or container for free each week and then pay for any additional waste.

“That is a way to address the town having already paying for [collection],” she said. “You don’t want it to be unlimited then there is no incentive to reduce the garbage we produce.”

Burbank Picked To Be Modulars’ New Home With a $2.2M Pricetag

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Photo: Belmont Superintendent John Phelan.

The fall Special Town Meeting now has a price tag for the big ticket item on its agenda as Belmont Schools Superintendent John Phelan recommended four new modular classrooms be sited at the Mary Lee Burbank Elementary School on School Street.

The anticipated cost of the project – which will be up and running in September 2018 – is $2.2 million, excluding furniture and teaching equipment, Phelan told the Belmont School Committee at its Tuesday meeting, June 20.

“This is a very significant ‘ask’ to the town for the Burbank to take on the modulars,” said Phelan.

The Burbank was selected at the Butler Elementary School to be the home of the third set of modulars used by the district – there are several at the High School while six were installed at the Chenery Middle School in November 2016 – to alleviate the skyrocketing enrollment gains occurring throughout the district.

Phelan said adding the classrooms will help reduce class sizes in elementary grades from 25 and 26 students per room to a more acceptable 22 to 23 students.

Last month, administrators and staff held a pair of two-hour meetings at each school to discuss the concerns of residents and parents of adding prefab structures, afterward was a walk of the sites with an architect.  

The Burbank four modular will be sited adjacent to the rear of the school building which will allow for a covered walkway. The location will also have a minimal impact on neighboring houses as it’s lower than nearby Richardson Road and next to a stone wall.

Another factor leading to the Burbank taking on the modulars was its ability to take on additional students without affecting the teaching going on at the school. While it could have met the needs of students if selected, Phelan said the Butler had been home to a historically smaller school community, which has worked educating students successfully.

The greatest difference between the two proposals was the extensive infrastructure proposed at the Burbank. Including the repair and expansion of the parking lot and the overhaul of the playground area while the Bulter’s improvements would be limited to adding sod to the school’s two playgrounds.

In dollars and cents, the Burbank’s infrastructure costs exceed $692,000 compared to $172,000 at the Butler.

Heather Rubeski of Dalton Road, a Burbank parent and Precinct 7 Town Meeting Member told the committee and Phelan that presenting the most expensive option to the town’s legislative body could result in pushback by members.

“When I look at the cost difference of almost $500,000 … I think there is gonna be a lot of questions at Town Meeting on why are we spending all this extra money to put them at Burbank when the town has many things it needs to spend money on,” Rubeki said.

Putting on her “parent’s hat,” Rubeki also asked why would the district select the Burbank for additional space when the school population has been static resulting in children being bused to the school in September 2019.

“It has a feeling of ‘us’ vs ‘them’ and that has become very noticeable in the parent conversations,” she said.

Town officials and Town Meeting members had already begun on how to pay for the modulars with discussions on whether to dip into the “free” cash account which paid for the prefab classrooms at the middle school (a total of $1.4 million) or to finance the project through a bond.

Phelan said moving forward with the project is the best solution until a decision is made on the future of the new Belmont High School which will impact the district’s building requirements. 

“This is something that I believe is a good decision for the town … that this is a short-term trend that will help inform our long-term planning as well,” he said.

School Street From Washington To Bow Will Be Closed Thursday

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Photo: School Street from Washington to Bow will be closed Thursday.

On Thursday, June 22, E.H. Perkins will begin road construction on School Street between Bow Road and Washington Street. Road closures and delays are expected during construction hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

While that stretch of School Street includes the Burbank Elementary School, Belmont schools will have been closed for summer recess the day before, on June 21.

Vehicular access to homes in this section of town might be limited during work hours.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience,” noted a press release from the town.

For any questions or concerns about the project, please contact Arthur O’Brian, resident engineer in the Office of Community Development, at 617-993-2665.

Heat, Age Caused Transformer Explosion Blacking Out Belmont

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Photo: (from left) Belmont Light’s Jim Palmer, Belmont Selectmen’s Chair Jim Williams and Selectman Adam Dash at the emergency meeting of the Belmont Board of Selectmen to discuss the June 12 blackout.

The timing of the widespread power outage that affected between a quarter to a third of town residents during the hottest day of the year “was like our worst nightmare,” said James Palmer, general manager of Belmont Light, as he spoke to an emergency meeting of the Board of Selectmen held at Town Hall on Tuesday, June 13,

Palmer said a 90 degree plus afternoon in June when electrical demand had peaked with the town schools in session limited how the municipal utility could attack the equipment failure at one of the aging substations in town, requiring Belmont Light to rush in mobile generators to get the lights back on.

“We really had no other choice,” said Palmer.

The meeting, called by Selectmen Chair Jim Willams, brought the chiefs of police and fire, department heads to discuss their response to the incident and any further impact of the large-scale outage that left some neighborhoods without power for nearly 10 hours.

Highlights of the meeting

  • The town’s and the utility’s contingency plans developed to meet such an emergency received relatively good scores from town officials, said acting Town Administrator Phyliss Marshall. “I think I can honestly say that … we are very well prepared [for incidents such as these],” said Police Chief Richard McLaughlin.                     
  • It was the heat and the age of the equipment that lead to the single transformer in the Hittinger substation to “explode,” said Palmer. Luckily, the transformer did not catch fire due to safety systems that worked as a circuit breaker and cut off the electricity entering the substation. Had a fire started, the impact of a subsequent oil-based fire would have stretched fire resources and would have likely created havoc for months for the Light Department.
  • Three generator trucks were used to supplement the utility’s substation until repairs were completed. It’s suspected the cost of renting the trucks from Sunbelt from Hyde Park will be covered by insurance. 
  • Belmont Superintendent John Phelan and Belmont High School staff and educators decided to end the school day around 1:20 p.m. since power was not expected to be re-established until after the end of the scheduled classes. Students at the Chenery and Winn Brook who also lost power were kept in their buildings for the remainder of the day for safety and logistic reasons.
  • The Chenery Middle School was closed on Tuesday as a 400 amp transfer switch on the school’s backup generator malfunctioned, despite passing inspection just two weeks previous. According to Fire Chief David Frizzell, this switch has a tendency to act erratically if not used regularly. When he reinspected it Tuesday morning, Frizzell said it was working as expected. But the switch is now scheduled to be replaced.

Is This The Final Night of Belmont’s Town Meeting? Bet On It

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Photo: Town Meeting in Belmont, 2017.

Town Meeting can see the light at the end of this year’s tunnel.

After speeding through the first half of the financial articles on Monday, June 5, Belmont’s annual Town Meeting will only have seven articles remaining on this year’s warrant as it reconvenes tonight, Wednesday, June 7 at 7 p.m. at the Belmont High School auditorium.

Wednesday’s agenda includes approving the actual town and school budgets along with nine transfer payments to meet some operating expenses before the town’s legislative body takes up a citizen’s petition to transfer $1 million from free cash – the town’s piggy bank – into the General Stabilization Fund which was established after the 2015 Prop. 2 1/2 override.

It should be interesting to hear the debate on whether to set aside savings for the GSF that will hopefully defer a future override request versus those who believe the town needs the flexibility of free cash to pay for other needed projects and expenses such as modular structures for the schools and town functions. 

Another debate is expected on the final four articles concerning voting for additional funds to retirees and their survivors which will add up to a substantial expenditure in future years. 

Also on the agenda will be a report from Kathy Keohane, chair of the Library Trustees, who will be delivering a short report on the feasibility study for a new Belmont Public Library. You can follow along with the report by downloading it here.

LIVE: Town Meeting, Segment B: The Budget, Night 1

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Photo: Mike Widmer (on stage) with Town Meeting member Jack Weis, Pct. 1

Welcome to the second session of the annual Belmont Town Meeting held tonight, Monday, June 5 at Belmont High School.

The meeting, known as Segment B, will involve all things financial: the town and school budgets, capital expenditures, transfers and all the other spare change the town takes in and spends.

The Town Moderator, Mike Widmer, said he would attempt to finish this final home stretch of this year’s meeting in two nights; tonight and Wednesday, June 7. He has asked Town Meeting Members to keep their questions to the motion and speeches short.

Tonight, the order of motions will be:

  • Appropriation of $1.4 million in capital expenses.
  • Budget appropriation and transfer balances to fund the fiscal year 2018 budget.
  • Borrowing appropriations
  • Authorization of revolving funds and funding stabilization funds.

7 p.m.: It’s cool inside Belmont High School as its a rainy, dreary late evening – perfect weather to talk about town finances. 

7:08 p.m.: Mike Widmer calls the meeting in order. Right on (Belmont) time. He asks members to be concise and brief so it can be finished in two nights. 

7:14 p.m.: State Rep. Dave Rogers gives a report on state government – legislation and the budget. He said the town schools got a big bump in state aid up to $7 million, up 10 percent. Nice earmarks for the town of a total of $150,000. But there is a budget crunch in the state, with MassHealth (the state’s Medicaid program) takes up 40 percent of the budget. A partial solution: make employers who don’t give their employees health care must pay the state tax. Rogers is also a co-chair of Marijuana committee – dude! He also is the sponsor of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act – which got universal support – and is pushing a paid family and medical leave insurance program, a safe communities act and a few environmental legislation including energy efficiency funds generated by municipal light plants, and a bill to protect bees.  

7:25 p.m.: The selectmen are now talking about accomplishments and goals.

Accomplishments: selling the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square, establishing a high school building committee, the Trapelo/Belmont corridor project, the Belmont Center reconstruction project, the completion of the construction and sale of the new electrical substation and more.

Goals: to implement a strategic planning process and coordinate goal setting session with the board of selectmen and department heads, hire a new town administrator, develop recommendations for providing vocational education to Belmont students, develop a capital plan for municipal buildings, a public/private partnership to build a new skating rink and a new garbage contract. 

7:38 p.m.: Anne Marie Mahoney gives a report about the new (created in Feb.) Major Capital Project Working Group, starting with a quip about adding music from the 60s to the presentation such as “Gimme Shelter” and “We Need to Get Out of This Place.” The committee was formed to finally create a comprehensive “sound” plan for the four outstanding capital projects in town: the police station, the DPW, the library and Belmont High School. It is trying to break the quarter century logjam to choice a one-at-a-time order for projects, recommend uses for the incinerator site and present a sequence and finance plan for each project. “All town employees deserved a basic, safe and decent place to work.” We will be back before you in the fall (at a Special Town Meeting) with a plan or die trying.” Mahoney hopes to be back with “Good Vibrations” or “I’m a Believer.” 

7:48 p.m.: Mahoney is back with the Capital Budget Committee’s recommendations. It sounded from Mahoney’s introduction that it was a battle to get this budget allocation done. $1.36 million was allocated from the Selectmen to the CBC. There is $2.4 million for roads and sidewalks. Good news this year: no “big” ticket allocation so most of the money goes to maintenance. This year there was a  balance the need to repair with the need to replace buildings – the library is the best example. Mahoney goes into the weeds of each line item. Read specific funding here. Mahoney also noted that the CBC will be coming back in the fall with possible requests for modular classrooms, expenditures for town buildings and other items. 

8:03 p.m.: Mahoney is reading each capital expenditures – some of the larger requests: $114,000 for fire staff vehicle 1 and 2; $200,000 for cameras for town-wide security, $45,000 to replace a truck for the DPW; $40,000 for new Chromebooks for the schools to take taxes; and $191,000 for building envelope “repairs.” 

8:08 p.m.: Now debate on the motion. Only two quick questions. The motion is approved by a voice vote. Good job, Ann Marie. 

8:09 p.m.: Glenn Clancy, the town’s director of the Office of Community Development, presents the road paving budget. The program was launched in 1996, there are 75 miles of roads, and the program has repaired 42 miles. The balance each year to fix roads is about $1.8 million. The roads are evaluated, the last full evaluation was in 2007 and a partial evaluation in 2014 of the worst roads. The selection process – which roads are restored – “couldn’t be any simpler – the worst roads get repaired first.” Utility work happens first before a reconstruction occurs “which will make the road even worse!” “But there is a method to the madness,” said Clancy. Sidewalk construction is set aside on school walking routes.

8:19 p.m.: The motion is open for debate. No questions. The $1.9 million for road repair is approved on a voice vote.

8:21 p.m.: Article 12, $7.5 million appropriated from the Water Enterprise Fund that will be funded from a transfer from water retained earnings and water revenues. Approved without debate.

The second part of the article, $9.3 million for the Sewer and Stormwater Enterprise Fund, is presented. Fred Paulsen, Pct. 1, asks Clancy about Belmont’s agreement with the Mass EPA to reduce pollution coming from Belmont’s sewers into the Mystic River watershed and if there should be some priority how the town mitigate the effects. Clancy said the town would follow the agreement and the town will get the job done in the five years that it has to meet the state’s guideline. 

The motion passes on a voice vote unanimously. 

8:29 p.m.: Article 14, to use $535,000 from the state to use to repair roads. Adopted unanimously.

8:30 p.m.: Article 23 is to “de-authorize” or rescind the unused borrowing authority of $27.6 million authorized by a special town meeting in 2012 to build the electrical substation and transmission line project. Jim Palmer, Belmont Light’s general manager, speaks about the project and its sale to Eversource which saves the town a ton of money. Sue Bass of Pct. 3 asks Palmer when will the three current substations be decommissioned. Palmer said the earliest those substations will be closing in 2022. “I wish it were sooner, but that is our plan.” Approved by a voice vote.

8:42 p.m.: Article 24: Another rescinding of borrowing authority for $255,000 for the purchase of radio transmission equipment. Approved. Article 25 is also repealing borrowing authority of $350 for a fire alarm system at the high school. You can guess how the vote went. 

8:45 p.m.: Article 11: Salaries for elected officials. Three increases in salaries – with the moderator seeing a more than 100 percent increase – from $200 to $450. Paul Roberts, Pct. 8, asked if the town can see what other municipalities are providing their elected officials. There is some discussion of paying school committee members with a salary as they spend a great number of hours on the town’s schools for no pay. Article passes. 

8:51 p.m.: Up now is Article 17 the yearly authorization for the eight revolving funds. No debate and it passes.

8:52 p.m.: Article 16, which will appropriate and transfer $354,314 from free cash and to appropriate and transfer a total of $30,392 several enterprise funds to fund the Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) – which are health care costs to town retirees – Stabilization Fund. Passes with little discussion.

9 p.m.: No further votes will take part tonight. The last piece of business tonight is to hear from the Warrant Committee Chair Roy Epstein who is explaining the town budget; how it was developed, what it’s made up of and how it is spent. Read along with the Warrant Committee Report!

The town budget for fiscal 2018 will be $110.08 million, an increase of 3.5 percent, with schools up to $52.97 million up 5.7 percent (“because enrollment is exploding”) with the Town side at $38.55 million, an increase of 4.3 percent. Fixed costs up 3.5 percent to $17.2 million.

There is about $7 million in free cash (the town’s piggy bank) but will be drawn down to $4.4 million.

Beyond fiscal 2018 is shaky: while the town can expect growth of 3.5 percent but school expenditures will put a lot of pressure on spending priorities. “It will be a challenge” over the next five years, said Epstein. 

9:17 p.m.: And that’s it! We are out early. See you Wednesday.