Letter To The Editor: Liquor, Money, and Politics in Belmont

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Photo: The September meeting between the Selectmen and Star Market and the Loading Dock.

To the editor:

Belmont was a “dry” town until about 2000. Over several years, we carefully authorized and licensed restaurants and retail stores. Elected officials spent hours developing rules to ensure that when we went from “dry” to “wet” we wouldn’t end up in the mud where liquor licenses are sold to the highest bidder.

But here we are.  On Oct. 6, the Board of Selectmen (by a vote of 2 to 1, with Chairman Mark Paolillo dissenting) authorized The Loading Dock to transfer its right as a retail all-alcohol licensee to Star Market for $400,000.   

This is not what Town Meeting intended when it voted to increase the number of all-alcohol retail licenses from one to two. The Selectmen’s decision on Oct. 6 is a threat to small retail stores in Belmont. Town Meeting needs to fix this.     

Let me explain.    

Until 2013, Town Meeting had authorized only one all-alcohol retail store. That license was held by The Spirted Gourmet in Cushing Square. At the annual Town Meeting in 2013, Town Meeting authorized a second all-liquor retail store. In 2014, the Selectmen gave that license to The Loading Dock. 

During the 2013 Town Meeting, Donald Mercier, Town Meeting Member from Precinct 8, suggested that the language of the article on all-alcohol retail licenses should be drafted more carefully.  He said, “I appreciate what this group of Selectmen are doing, but in 10 years from now, we may have different Selectmen with different ideas. So I think this license has to be tightened down, so you get what you want today, what you want to create today.” Mercier was right.  

What the Selectmen promised in 2013 was that they would approve a full liquor retail license to an establishment similar to the first recipient of that license – The Spirited Gourmet — a small specialty store. No Town Meeting Member recommended that the license should go to a supermarket chain with 2,200 stores nationwide. Instead, the vast majority of speakers insisted that the second license go only to a small, specialty store. A Town Meeting Member from Precinct 3 also asked for assurances that the license would not go to any vendor in Waverley Square near the Butler School.  The Selectmen said that they understood.  

I was a member of that Board, and we promised we would follow the intent of Town Meeting.    

But Mercier was right. We have different Selectmen now. On Oct. 6, the second of two all-alcohol retail licenses was transferred from The Loading Dock to Star Market for $400,000.    

Star Market was started in 1915 by the Mugar family in Watertown. According to its website, Star Market is now part of AB Acquisition LLC, which is owned by a consortium of private investors led by Cerebus Capital Management. Cerebus financed a merger to create the second-largest supermarket chain in the US. According to financial analysts, the intent was to create a huge chain that could compete with Kroger and WalMart.  

The Selectmen held two hearings on the transfer of this license. At the first meeting (on Sept. 19), the attorney for Star Market told the Board that it “must follow the letter of the 2014 home rule petition.”  The letter of the home rule petition only tells the Selectmen what they could do. It does not tell them what they should do. The Selectmen had the legal authority to determine public need and public good for Belmont.  

The Board’s determination should have been shaped by the values and expectations of Town Meeting Members as expressed during the Town Meeting of 2013. Former Selectmen Mahoney and Solomon attended the October hearing and explained to current Selectmen that the intent of the original rules on alcohol licenses in Belmont. The intent was to award these licenses to small, specialty stores, and to prohibit their transfer. According to Ms. Mahoney, this has been an ongoing covenant between Town Meeting, Belmont residents, and small businesses since 2000.  

As the son of a small retail store owner, I know what small businesses hope to get from government – consistency, predictability, and fair play … and maybe some parking.

The Selectmen’s decision on Oct. 6 was inconsistent with past precedent and a threat to small businesses. Elena Benoit of The Spirited Gourmet explained that she and Chris Benoit had worked hard and played by the rules for ten years. She was encouraged to open the Belmont store by than Selectman Angelo Firenze. But now, the Board had decided to change the rules. That, she argued, is not fair play. Jen Bonislawski, owner of the new Arts Specialties store on Trapelo Road testified that she “didn’t know how we’re going to survive.”

The Selectmen’s decision on Oct. 6 sends a message to small retail stores in Belmont.  Consistency and predictability are not important. The license originally awarded to a small specialty store for $4,000 can be transferred to a large supermarket for $400,000.      

Trust in elected officials is fragile. Once lost, it is not easily restored. To start the process of restoring Town Meeting’s long-standing commitment to small, local businesses, we must “tighten down” the authority to grant liquor licenses. We should not allow any Board to award licenses “at its discretion.” Town Meetings can specify who gets a license and ensure that licenses cannot be sold or transferred.   

Also, it seems prudent to create a new, appointed Alcohol Beverage Licensing Board in Belmont.  This Board should not be merely advisory.  It should have the exclusive authority to issue licenses.  An appointed Board would have sufficient institutional memory to have known that some of the “concessions” offered by Star Market on Oct. 6 merely brought it into compliance with Belmont’s existing regulations.            

The Board’s decision of Oct. 6, leaves us in a state of legal ambiguity.  We need to end this ambiguity in a manner that is consistent with Town Meeting’s intent.  

The attorney for Star Market informed us that the sale of liquor licenses is “routine” in Massachusetts. We know.  That is why Town Meetings and Selectmen spent a decade creating a unique environment in Belmont — where licenses would be issued consistent with Town Meeting’s intent, where licenses would not be transferred, and where promises to small retail businesses would not be broken. A future Town Meeting must re-establish this policy and ensure that it is enforced.  

Ralph Jones

Summit Road

Town Meeting Member, Precinct 3 and former selectman

Nearly 400 Cast Ballots on First Day of Early Voting in Belmont

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Photo: Tom Dolan of Clifton Street casts the first early election ballot in Belmont.

Just before 8 a.m., Monday, Oct. 24, Greg Poulos and his daughter, Linnea, entered Belmont Town Hall on a mission: To vote.

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Greg and Linnea Poulos, first in line to vote.

The Poulos’, who live on Oak Avenue, joined 386 of their fellow residents Monday who took advantage of the new state law allowing for early voting for the first time in Massachusetts, according to Belmont’s Town Clerk Ellen Cushman who spoke before the Belmont Board of Selectmen Monday evening.

The Commonwealth now joins more than half of the states in the US who allow voters the chance to cast ballots ahead of election day, said Cushman, who said the Secretary of State’s office predicts about 15 percent of the electorate are expected to take advantage of the changes to voting early. In Belmont, that would be between 2,700 to 3,000 voters.

For residents, the main reason for voting early was expediency.

“I want my vote to count early,” said Greg. “I didn’t want to deal with lines, and I like the convenience of it.”

For Linnea, a student at UMass Amherst, she’ll be in western Massachusetts in 15 days. Usually, she would have picked up an absentee ballot from the Town Clerks office, “but this makes it much easier [to vote].”

“I need to get this over with. I need this to be done,” said Clifton Street’s Tom Dolan, who joined the Poulos’ and School Committee member Andrea Prestwich as the voting early birds.

As eight o’clock arrived, the group was ushered by a gaggle of poll workers through a three-step process that sent them on a tour of various room on the first floor of Town Hall: picking up a ballot, then being verified as a registered voter and finally casting their votes in a specialty constructed ballot box.

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“We always like to throw the party and have people come,” said Cushman, excited to see a steady stream of residents coming to vote.

Cushman said her office has been working to create a comprehensive plan since the law was passed in 2014. Her office has hired approximately 115 poll workers to speed the process. 

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Cushman said Belmont has extended hours on most weekdays and on Saturday. The town has also set aside parking in the Town Hall lot for early voters, and the building will be staffed by poll workers to make the process as conflict-free as possible.

Belmont is one of 34 communities award with a gold medal by the Massachusetts Election Modernization Coalition for going far beyond the minimum requirements in terms of hours and availability.

The first voter to finish the process was Dolan who slipped his ballot in the box – after it was checked for a second time to see that it was empty. 

“Seamless, every easy,” Dolan said of the process. “Probably do this again next time.”

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Letter to the Editor: Vote No On The Charter Schools Ballot Question

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Photo: credit Portside

To the editor:

In the spring of 2015, Belmont residents voted for an override to better fund our schools and town infrastructure. Faced with rising budgets and kids with varied needs, we voted to increase our taxes. Other communities across the state have done the same. Massachusetts public schools remain the best in the country because of our dedicated teachers, administrators, kids, parents and taxpayers.

Now schools across Massachusetts face a new challenge: Ballot Question 2. This is a state-wide ballot initiative funded substantially by out-of-state billionaires. The initiative proposes to approve 12 new charter schools per year forever, with no limit on location within the state. Charter schools are publicly funded schools that are privately run with no local oversight. As a result, charter schools aren’t truly “public”: they don’t enroll as many differently-abled students or English language learners, yet the majority of their funding comes from diverting money from local school districts that are already struggling to make ends meet.

So far, the amount of money diverted from Belmont to charter schools has been relatively low ($31,284 projected for the fiscal year 2017), but with the ballot question placing no limits on location, we have no control over how much might be diverted from our schools in the future.

Please join me in voting No on 2 this November.

Mary Lewis
Randolph Street

Breaking: Cushing Village Project Is A Go with Toll Brothers’ Purchase of Parking Lot by Toll

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Photo: Coming attractions

Finally.

Earlier today, Wednesday, Oct. 19, developer Toll Brothers officially took possession of the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square after purchasing the parcel for $1.335 million from the town, according to Town Administrator David Kale.

Kale said the multi-use project will begin the construction phase with the closure of the lot in the next few days. 

Before Wednesday’s Special Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo made the closing announcement.

“It’s finally over,” said Paolillo. 

Kale said Toll Brothers will also be putting forth a press release that will detail the construction of the 167,000 square foot, three building project in the heart of Cushing Square. 

Cushing Villiage is a three building development that will include approximately 38,000 square feet of commercial space, 115 dwellings units – 60 two-bedroom units and 55 one-bedroom unit – and 225 parking spaces including 50 municipal spaces.

As Town Meeting Ponders Bolting Minuteman, Belmont Prepares ‘Pathway’ for Voc Students

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Photo: Roy Epstein, chair of the Belmont Warrant Committee

As the Belmont Town Meeting prepares to vote on the future of the town’s four decades partnership with the Minuteman Regional School District – the home of Minuteman Vocational Tech High School – the educator in charge of Belmont’s own district is already preparing a set of “pathways” to provide students seeking a vocational education “access to quality” classes if two-thirds of Town Meeting ultimately votes no. 

While many Town Meeting members and residents who attended this Monday’s warrant briefing – co-sponsored by the Warrant Committee and the Belmont League of Women Voter at the Chenery Middle School – were seeking more information on the financial pros and cons of remaining or leaving the district, Belmont’s School Superintendent John Phelan has begun cobbling together plans to use the three-year “window of time” where Belmont students are guaranteed a place at Minuteman to “research, review and analyze” options so by the second year in 2018, the town can prepare for the cost and logistics of setting the plans in motion.

According to Phelan, the “pathways” provide the town steps to satisfy the state requirement, known as Chapter 74, of providing approved vocational technical education. 

The first, and most straightforward, is the “Minuteman” pathway in which Belmont continues to send students to the Lexington-based school as pupils from non-member communities.

During the three years leading up to the opening of the new Minuteman building in 2020, Belmont would “closely monitor” the number of non-member students and any changes in state law so that it can ensure students aren’t squeezed out of the school if it reaches capacity.

The second avenue is the “Alternative” path, where Belmont would reach out to five nearby school districts – Waltham, Newton (Newton North), Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville – that proved state-approved vocational classes to inquire whether they are willing to take in Belmont students. 

Phelan told the meeting Monday the districts have been contacted and while only Cambridge and Medford “are in the business of taking in students,” the other three said they are open to talking about a partnership with Belmont.

Phelan said he would hold talks with the towns and present the School Committee with a “program of studies” by May 2017. A task force would be created to analyze the program options and how they relate to the classes Minuteman provide. 

By March 2018, more than two years before the new Minuteman school is scheduled to open, Belmont’s School Committee would meet with the Board of Selectmen to decide which of the pathways would address the needs of 8th graders who would option to a vocational program. 

Final agreements would be signed between Belmont and the nearby schools by the 2018/2019 school year; guidance staff would prepare students for a change and final implementation of the alternative pathway would take place in September 2020.

When asked his “central thought” of staying with Minuteman as part of the two pathways, Phelan said most people would rather be part of a regional school.

“We have a long relationship” with Minuteman, said Phelan. But since past votes – including two this year – have shown a strong preference in town to leave the district, “it’s our job” to find vocational classes and put together a “range of offerings … and provide a “quality menu” for students if the vote to leave the district is approved.

But several Town Meeting members agreed with Edward Bouquillon, Minuteman’s superintendent, who questioned whether just providing classes in a relative subject is the equivalent of Minuteman’s comprehensive educational approach.

“Minuteman and other schools are different,” said Bouquillon, saying that students in Lexington spend 630 hours exploring careers by spending time in all subjects while in Somerville the time is limited to 165 hours. And while Medford and Cambridge students are taught by licensed professionals for a bit over 1,000 hours, Minuteman students are instructed for 2,205 hours.

“There are distinct differences that should be considered before the vote rather than after,” he said.

For the bulk of the meeting, newly-appointed Warrant Committee Chair Roy Epstein walked the audience of Town Meeting members through the article’s highlights noting it will take a 2/3 majority vote of Town Meeting to approve the withdrawal.

A “yes” vote will change the status of the town to a non-member community which will relieve Belmont of the debt building a new $145 million building set to open in September 2020. With state subsidies, the debt to member towns will be $100 million. The new facility will have room for 628 students.

Epstein said even if the town votes to leave the district, Belmont can still send new students to Minuteman until the school opens, after which Belmont pupils can attend if there is space.

Turning to finances, the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education this summer allowed Minuteman to assess a capital charge of $9,500 per student to member town and non-member communities such as Belmont which does not have any vocational training in the district.

But Epstein said it remains uncertain if Minuteman will implement the add-on cost since it retains the ability to “make deals” to attract and retain students by reducing the assessment.

“That’s just conjecture but take it for what it’s worth,” said Epstein.

Epstein crunched the numbers on the cost of staying or leaving. In the next three years after the vote, a “yes” to remain would result in the town an additional $232,000 in debt service if the current level of students remains constant while withdrawing would keep charges at their current amounts. 

Once the school opens, the yearly cost – tuition, capital charge, transportation and Special Education – per Belmont student reaches approximately $33,000. Multiply that by 29 students now enrolled and Belmont’s tab will be $957,000. 

Using Epstein’s calculations, by remaining in the district, Belmont would be obligated to pay the remaining operating and capital expenses after payments by non-members. Epstein said the cost per student annually would be in a range of $42,000 to nearly $50,000. Those charges would add between $311,000 to $436,000 to the town’s bottom line, requiring the town to seek an override or find a source of funds in the budget to pay for it, said Selectman Mark Paolillio to those in attendance. 

Epstein said after analyzing data and enrollment projections from the Minuteman administration and those advocating for withdrawal, the Warrant Committee believes there will be a significant cost gap between a student coming from member and non-member towns, even if the Minuteman school is fully enrolled. 

While the Minuteman administration is confident it can boost enrollment from the current 576 to 628 – most newly built schools experience a rush of students and vocational education is increasing in popularity – the new high school will need to attract a much greater percentage of higher paying member town students than it does today, a number Epstein isn’t quite ready to accept.

After the meeting, the Warrant Committee voted 11 to 2 for leaving the district.

Town Meeting Preview: Warrant Briefing on Leaving Minuteman Monday

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Photo: Warrant Committee Chair Michael Libenson.

A warrant briefing on the Special Town Meeting to determine if Belmont will withdraw from the Minuteman School District will be held tonight, Monday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. in the Chenery Middle School auditorium, 95 Washington St.

The briefing, co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Warrant Committee – Town Meeting’s financial watchdog – will include town officials and department heads providing information and answer citizen inquire concerning the article.

In May, Town Meeting voted by a little more than a 2/3 margin to  approve leaving the Minuteman School District due to an ongoing dispute with the administration on the size and scale of a new $145 million building. 

In September, Belmont was the only member community to vote against the project in a special district-wide election.

Warrant Committee Chair Michael Libenson will moderate the event. 

Belmont Town Clerk Announces Early Presidential Voting Dates, Hours

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Photo: Town Clerk Ellen Cushman registering Belmont High School students allowing them to vote in the 2016 Presidential Election. 

Recent changes to the Massachusetts General Laws gives all registered voters the opportunity to cast a ballot for the Presidential and State Election before the Nov. 8 Election Day, according to a statement from Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman. 

The new law permits voters to cast ballots during the designated period of Early Voting from Oct. 24 and Nov. 4. Those times includes Saturday, Oct. 29 and night hours until 8 p.m.

“In Belmont, we are excited to offer this opportunity to our registered voters, an expanded, accessible schedule of hours at one central location, Belmont Town Hall, for this ‘no excuse’ vote-ahead option,”
said Cushman. 

Unlike absentee voting that is available in every election only to those voters who will be absent from Belmont, or have a physical disability preventing the voter from going to the polls or with a religious belief preventing the voter from going to the polls on Election Day, Early Voting is available to anyone.

No advance application is necessary to vote in person; voters can decide the date and time to cast their ballot in person at Town Hall during the Early Voting hours. Once the voter has cast an Early Voting Ballot, that voter may not vote at the polls on Election Day or receive an absentee ballot. 

Only residents who were registered to vote by Oct. 19, are eligible to vote in this year’s Presidential State Election. To find out whether and where you are already registered, and where to vote or to inquire about absentee voting, visit www.123Voter.com

Visit the Belmont Town Clerk’s pages on the Town of Belmont website to explore elections information.

Early Voting for Belmont Voters will be available ONLY at Town Hall, 455 Concord Ave., and only on the following schedule of dates and hours: 

  • Monday, Oct. 24; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Oct. 25; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 26; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Thursday, Oct. 27; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Friday, Oct. 28; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Saturday, Oct. 29; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Sunday, Oct. 30; No Early Voting Hours
  • Monday, Oct. 31; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Nov. 1; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Nov. 2;  8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Thursday, Nov. 3; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Friday, Nov. 4; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Pick the most convenient date and time for you and give Early Voting a try. It’s always advisable to have your ID with you when you go to vote either on election day or for Early Voting,” said Cushman.

“Written, signed absentee applications and Early Voting applications that request us to mail you a ballot are also available, online or at the Town Clerk’s office at Town Hall.  If you have questions or need additional information, email the Town Clerk’s office at townclerk@belmont-ma.gov or phone us at 617-993-2600,” she said.

“We’re here to help,” said Cushman.

 

Take a Hike: Western Community Path Trail Walk Saturday Morning

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Photo: Star Market parking lot.

Up until now, the many and varied routes that could make up a community path running the length of Belmont have been conceptional, drawn on a map or written in a report.

This weekend, residents will have the opportunity to discover exactly how those courses would ramble through town as the Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee invites the public to take a Saturday morning hike on the first of two Feasibility Study trail walks led by members of Pare Corporation, the Community Path’s consultant.

Saturday’s walk will encompass the western end of the path – Belmont Center to Waverley Square – Oct. 15, at 9 a.m. beginning at the Star Market parking lot. Boots and long pants are advisable.

Six Prelim Applications for CPC Funds Move To Next Round

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Photo: Grove Street Park which had two projects OK’d by the Community Preservation Committee.

Two big recreation projects will take nearly two-thirds of the proposed funding sought by local groups and town departments through Belmont’s Community Preservation Fund for the coming fiscal year.

Applications to make repairs on the final of three town tennis courts and planning for the renovation of a well-used park/playground along with four other projects totalling nearly $1 million were approved unanimously by the Community Preservation Committee last week.

The approved applications are: 

  1. Grove Street Tennis Courts: $336,000, Jay Marcotte, director of DPW.
  2. Belmont Headquarters Sons of Italy: $25,000, Cynthia Pasciuto, Culture Commission
  3. Music Hatch at Payson Park: $50,000, Tommasina Olson, Payson Park Music Festival
  4. Assessment and Project Redevelopment of Sherman Gardens: $173,000, Donna Hamilton, Belmont Housing Authority
  5. Grove Street Park Intergenerational Walking Path Construction Site Plan: $35,000, Donna Ruvolo, The Friends of Grove Street Park
  6. PQ Playground Revitalization Project Phase 2: $300,000, Julie Crockett, Friends of PQ Park.

The next Communiy Preservation Committee public meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Board of Selectmen’s Room on Thursday Nov. 10, where the applicants will present their proposals before the public and the CPC, answer any questions and solicit feedback about the projects.

As of June 30, the CPA had an available fund balance of about $873,000. The conservative projection on fical 2017 collections from town tax revenue and state contributions is $1.2 million, which means roughly $2 million will be available by the close of the fiscal year on June 30, 2017. 

Belmont raises money for its Community Preservation Fund by imposing a 1.5% surcharge on local real estate taxes. 

 

Minuteman Tech Holding ”Yes’ on New School’ Forum Thursday at 7PM

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Photo: The new school rendered. KAESTLE BOOS ASSOCIATES

The Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District is sponsoring a public forum dubbed “Minuteman: Facts and Future,” on Thursday, Oct. 13 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.

The forum will include a presentation, panel discussion, and question and answer period to provide Town Meeting Members and citizens an opportunity to discuss the town’s upcoming vote to either stay or leave the District,

“We’ll outline the facts about our new building and the positive impact it will have on students in the member towns in our District,” said Ed Bouquillon, Minuteman’s superintendent. “And we’ll talk about what makes a Minuteman education unique, including the broad array of career and technical education programming that we offer.”

The forum is open to the public.  

On Sept. 20, voters in the Minuteman District voted 12,160 in favor to 5,321 opposed to supporting the construction of a new High School. Belmont voters rejected the offer by an equally large percentage margin.

Following the vote, the Belmont Selectmen called a Special Town Meeting on Oct. 19 to ask Belmont Town Meeting members to vote to withdraw from the Minuteman District. A two-thirds vote is required by the members to pull out of the district.