Historic Resources Survey Makes Public Debut on Thursday

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Photo: Redtop, the historic house located at 90 Somerset St. It was once the home of William Dean Howells and family.

After two years of compiling and sorting data and information, the summary findings of the Belmont Historic Resources Survey will be presented in the Board of Selectmen’s Meeting Room, at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Dec. 8.

The town-wide survey of historic properties, conducted by Preservation Consultant Lisa Mausolf, was funded by a grant of $115,000 from the Community Preservation Committee in 2013.

“The Historic District Commission is excited that the historic survey project is nearing completion,” said Lauren Meier, co-chair of the Belmont Historic District Commission.

“It fills in a number of gaps in the documentation about Belmont’s historic resources and will be a valuable tool for the Commission going forward. We are grateful to the Community Preservation Committee and Town Meeting for making this possible,” said Meier.

The survey is an update of the 1984 book Belmont: The Architecture and Development of the Town of Homes, a comprehensive architectural and historic survey of Belmont created by the Boston University Preservation Studies Program. 

In 2013, the Belmont Historic District Commission embarked on revisiting the data, hiring Mausolf to update forms with new information and prepare new forms for resources that had been overlooked in the previous effort.   

The information collected can inform state and federal agencies when federally or state funded projects are planned that might adversely affect a significant cultural resource.  

On the local level, the new inventory can help communities identify significant resources and prioritize future preservation activities including listing properties on the National Register of Historic Places and establishing local historic districts or neighborhood conservation districts.  

The inventory also serves as a basis for the Belmont Historic District Commission to determine which of the town’s significant historic buildings should be subject to the Demolition Delay Bylaw.

Holiday Cardboard Recycling Set for Saturday, Dec. 3

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Photo:

For the first time, Belmont’s Highway Department will accept uncut cardboard packaging for recycling. 

Residents will be able to drop off cardboard – which will need to be folded at the Department of Public Works Town Yard – on Saturday, Dec. 3 between 9 a.m. and noon.

While Belmont’s trash and recycling contractor accept cardboard, it must be cut into pieces no larger than 3 feet by 3 feet and tied or taped together to make a stack no more than nine inches high.

The new pilot program will take place on three Saturdays – the other dates are Jan. 7 and Feb. 4 – during the holiday season. The DPW will evaluate the scheme in February to determine if it will become an annual service. 

Letter to the Editor: ‘Belmont’s Poll Workers and Election Staff are Amazing’

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Photo: Belmont poll workers this November.

To the editor:

Dear Neighbors and Belmont voters: 

While many Americans are focused on the results and change of power as a result of the Nov. 8 Presidential election, I call special attention to our fellow Belmont neighbors who served as election workers to guarantee the rightful exercise of our treasured right to vote. They did a fabulous job and need to be recognized for their work:

The official election results for Belmont have been finalized:

82.41 percent of Belmont’s voters cast ballots in the Nov. 8 election. That’s 14,691 residents – of whom more than 6,100 voted during the 11-day Early Voting period. The conclusion – a vigorously active electorate and even more amazing election workers and staff. We enjoyed expert assistance from many town departments, but most particularly the Police, Public Works, Fire, Library, Council on Aging, School Department, Facilities, Treasurer, Information Technology, Community Development, Selectmen’s office, even the Health Department. Lastly, the members of the press/media covering Belmont, each of our media outlets, got the word out to our residents to let them know the details of voting which really made a difference.

More than 115 election workers were trained and ready to go; 99 actually wound up working during the Early Voting Period or on election day itself along with the fantastic, hard-working staff of the Town Clerk’s office:

  • Rising before the sun to arrive at the polls by 6 a.m. and be open to voters by 7 a.m.;
  • Happily greeting every voter;
  • Checking in and out thousands of voters (14,691 to be exact), some routine, some needing extra help;
  • Researching voter information so voters who needed to go to a different precinct or community to vote could do so;
  • Helping voters who needed a little physical help or extra time;
  • Expertly responding to hundreds of phone calls from precinct election workers and voters from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Election Day and many days before and after;
  • Discreetly opening and tabulating more than 6,000 Early Voting ballots, while ensuring a secret ballot for voters;
  • Posting signs, now-famous blue arrows for Early Voting;
  • Giving up hours at home with family in the evenings and even holiday weekends;
  • Scheduling the workers like an air traffic controller;
  • Processing and mailing 1,300 absentee ballots, including those to members of the military and overseas citizens;
  • Registering  2,500 new voters since Jan. 1, 2016 and deleting many more so they could vote in their new communities;
  • Keeping everyone’s spirits buoyed, even when face-to-face with an angry voter when we made a mistake;
  • Closing out the polls, accounting for every ballots and all the legal requirements so we could post Belmont’s results to the website;
  • Hand counting 2,000 ballots for the state’s mandated Post-Election Audit when Belmont’s Precinct 2 was randomly selected, with fabulous result.
  • Most importantly, enjoying one another’s company and looking forward to working the next Belmont election.

We are extremely proud of the work these folks accomplished to make Belmont’s election a huge success with accurate results and we thank them sincerely for their efforts, their attitude and their willingness to participate so wonderfully in this open election process.  When you see them around town, we encourage you to thank them in person.

With thanks and in awe of: Janet Bauer, Ann Beaudoin, Bruce Bell, Lily Benderskaya, Will Bielitz, Walter Bishop, Deborah Blumberg, Dorothy Boyle, Terrence Boyle, Carolyn Bunyon, Mary Butler, Katherine Chaprales, Rick Chasse, Meg Cole, Melinda Comeau, Elaine Crisafi, Elaine Dalaklis, Nancy Davis, Peg Demeritt, Janet Demers, Sheila Doctoroff, Mary Dominguez, Marjory Doyle, Theodore Dukas, Hildy Dvorak, Brenda Dzierzeski, Ron Eckel, Mary Ehler, Naomi Ellenberg-Dukas,  Deborah Falvey, Eilen Farrell, Ernest Fay, Angleo Firenze, Jenna Flanagan, Mary Gavin, Andreas Geovanos, Angela Giovannangelo, Carolyn Geenberg, Suzanne Greenberg, Viktoria Haase, Jane Haverty, Steve Hodgdon, Eleanor Howe, Phil Hughes, Priscilla Hughes, Martha Jacovides, Michael Jacovides, Barbara Johnson, Frances June Jones, Ed Kazarian, Maura Kelley, Elizabeth Kenrick, Janice Knight, Loretta Kravitz, Charles R. Laverty, III, Katy Liang, Warren Logan, Theresa Lorden, Paula Lyons, Janet Macdonald, Anne Marie Mahoney, Patricia Maloney, Zenda Mancini, Ann Marinelli, Markar Markarian, Marshall McCloskey, Robert McKie, Joan McLaughlin, Charlotte Millman, Robin Moore, Gerard Morin, Michael Nasson, Linda Oates, Christine O’Neill, Diane Orfanos, Jennifer Page, Mary Paolillo, Cindy Papa, Dawn Perry, Judy Rizzo, Anne Rosenberg, Phil Rossoni, Brian Saper, Joseph Scali, Maryann Scali, Carolyn Scarbro, Ruth Scarfo, Catherine Sclafani, John Robert Scordino, Judy Singler, Barbara Skelley, Clare Stanley, Hope Stone, Elizabeth Sullivan, Matt Sullivan, Susan Sullivan, Michael Trainor, Paula Van Horn, Dolores Vidal, Wei Wang,  Michael Wissner and Catherine Zevitas.

Town Clerk Staff: Dan Cane, Nancy Casale and Meg Piccione.

Five ‘Eastern’ Options Put Forth in Community Path Feasibility Study

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Photo: Participants at last week’s community path feasibility study view alternative routes on poster boards.

The one message the consultants conducting the Belmont Community Path Feasibility Study wanted to convey to residents attending last week’s public meeting on building a path through Belmont was that any discussion would stay within the bounds of “respectful civil discourse.”

The need for such a reminder came as the study ventured into the proposed path’s most contentious “eastern” section from Belmont Center to Brighton Street. For the past three decades, Channing Road homeowners whose property lines have abutted a strip of land adjacent the MBTA’s commuter rail line have resisted calls from the bike and recreational campaigners who have sought to build a community path along the route.

And it turned out that just a few sparks from the approximately 60 residents who turned up to the Chenery Middle School auditorium. Rather, the public was more interested in what was being presented than debating the plans … just yet.

“[The study] is a collaboration” of all residents and interest groups, said Kathleen Fasser, ‎principal at K3 Landscape Architecture in Concord which is working with Pare Corp., hired by the town to conduct the feasibility study.

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Pare Corp’s Amy Archer.

Under the firm and business-like leadership of Pare’s Chief Planner Amy Archer, the consulting team revealed five alternatives routes:

  • Running on mostly land owned by the Belmont Citizens Forum along the north side of the MBTA commuter line tracks,
  • On the south side of the MBTA commuter line, hugging the back of Belmont High School.
  • A path in a “linear park” on a redesigned Concord Avenue,
  • One that meanders through the Belmont High property midway between C0ncord Avenue and the tracks, and
  • Using public roads in the Winn Brook neighborhood.

A detailed map and description of the five routes can be viewed in the feasibility study here.

You can see the path options for the western end of the route – from the Waltham line to the Department of Public Works site – here and the central section from the DPW to the commuter bridge in Belmont Center here.

Underpass in the mix

The study also includes several design plans for an underpass running about 50 feet from the end of Alexander Avenue under the commuter rail tracks and onto school property near Harris Field and the JV baseball diamond.

The pedestrian tunnel, first proposed and supported by town officials in the 1970s, would allow for a direct link from the Winn Brook neighborhood to community areas such as the high school and its playing fields, the Underwood Pools, the skating rink, the library and the Wellington Elementary School.

Archer also presented three crossing designs at Brighton Road – where a new path will likely cross the commuter rail tracks to meet an existing bike route that runs to Alewife MBTA station – that includes a pair of pedestrian bridges that would be well above the roadway and require long ramps on both sides of Brighton.

After presenting the five options, Archer said each path alternative was ranked and evaluated after a series of public engagements that included public meetings and two site visits in which the public and engineers walked the proposed paths.

Archer said the team had surveyed residents with 40 to 45 questions on what’s the most important feature of the roadway. While not a single feature rose to the top, a pair – that the path makes community connections and it brings high-quality recreation to the town – were on 70 percent of the surveys.

Archer pointed out that one important measure that has not been included in the calculations is the cost estimate for each route. But that was deliberate since the consultants wanted to determine town stakeholders’ preferences absent a bill in hand.

Public responses to the routes included questions and comments concerning the contentious issue from the previous public meeting that focused on how community path users would transverse Concord Avenue at the commuter rail bridge entering Belmont Center.

Sue Bass of upper Concord Avenue felt that attempting to add pedestrians and bike riders onto the current “free-for-all” of vehicle traffic at the tunnel “would kill people.”

Archer acknowledged that difficulty, pondering if a solution such as traffic lights or a traffic circle – called a “roundabout” – could be attempted.

“We are dying to do a traffic study there,” said Archer.

Other comments focused on whether to invest in snow removal equipment for the path or make it a nine months facility, the issue of people driving to the route and parking along residential streets and the danger of placing a path that intersects with side streets.

Next up on the schedule will be the final public meeting during the initial stage which will focus on “Hot Topics” – issues raised during the three previous gatherings – on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School.

Weis Exits As Belmont’s Minuteman School Committee Rep

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Photo: Jack Weis

It was hard for Jack Weis always to be on the losing side of the drawn out Minuteman Tech school debate.

On Monday, Nov. 14, Weis told the Board of Selectmen that with the recent Town Meeting vote in which Belmont decided to leave the Minuteman district, “this would be an appropriate time for Belmont to find another representative for school committee.”

One of the main reasons for his decision was that his fellow committee members weren’t listening to Weis.

“I think it has tuned me out,” said Weis of his fellow members.

“It’s not what I say but who says it,” said Weis, having been on the losing side of 13-3 or 14-2 votes for a better part of three years.

“So to have any influence [on the committee now] is hard,” said Weis.

But if there was one constant that people remember from Belmont’s protracted battle with and ultimate rejection of a new Minuteman Career and Technical High School, it is the calm, and thorough manner Weis represented the town on the vocational tech’s school committee.

Numerous times whether it was in front of small groups or a packed Town Meeting, Weis would carefully explain the almost Byzantine workings of the 16 member school district attempting to negotiate with a leadership aiming to proceed with a building project Belmont believed was too big.

In a role that at times made him a target of scorn during the years of negotiations, Weis always brought a collegial approach to the discussions, whether with Minuteman officials or town residents who were trying to make rhyme or reason of votes that would end a 40-year relationship with the vocational school.

The selectmen responded to the news by praising Weis dedication to the job and a fair review of the building project and its

“I want to commend you publically for the courage that you’ve shown for carrying the torch for Belmont and representing our point of view,” said Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo, who with Weis and Warrant Committee member Jack McLaughlin made up the team which challenged the Minuteman officials on the future of the school.

Paolillo said the board wanted to thank Weis for “your outstanding service … during very difficult times when you were a lone voice.”

Selectman Jim Williams said Weis’ lonely mission was like that of Leonardo DiCaprio in the Academy Award-winning role in the film “The Revenant” for his service in the “cold wilderness” of the Minuteman school committee.

“It does take courage and perseverance” to battle for what is right, said Williams.

Weis said the next three years during which Belmont transfer to a nonmember town will be necessary and has written out a detailed job description for the next committee appointee.

The position of school committee member will be posted and will be selected by the board and moderator on Dec. 12, the final board meeting of the calendar year.

Ride ‘Em Cowboy: Belmont DPW Team Best in Snow Plow ‘Roadeo’

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Photo: (from left) Selectman Baghdady, Selectman Paolillo, DPW Director Marcotte, Paul Mosca, Highway Div. Director Santoro, Marc Petto, Selectman Williams and Town Administrator Kale.

When the snow starts falling this winter, Belmont residents and commercial owners can rest asure  that when Paul Mosca and Marc Petto are plowing the street, there’s no two better in the country.

Belmont Highway Division employees Mosca and Petto were recognized by the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, Nov. 14 for coming out on top in state and regional snow plow competition. 

Mosca, who has 24 years of service, and eight year veteran Petto placed first of 15 teams from 13 towns in the Plymouth County Snow Plow Rally and Safety Training event held Sept. 23. Then this month, the team topped the field in the New England-wide championships. 

With the wins, the men qualify to compete against teams from across the country in the Western Snow and Ice Snowplow “Roadeo” National Finals next September.

The “roadeo” consisted of five event including a written test, demonstrating their knowledge of the big six-wheel dump truck they operate – judges disable the truck and the team must tell what is not working and why – and driving and operating the heavy equipment (this year is was driving a course with road cones representing parked cars.)

“They are dedicated to go the extra mile,” said Michael Santoro, assistant DPW director and head of the Highway Department as he held the gold-covered cup from the latest victory.

“Just remember guy’s, hit that street first,” Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo told Mosca and Petto after giving them his address for when the first snow falls.  

Town Clerk’s Office Closed Tuesday for Election Audit

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Photo: Handcount will be underway Tuesday.

The Belmont Town Clerk’s office will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 15 as the town undergoes an audit of results from the Presidential Election for one of the town’s precincts.

Now before anyone believes that residents of Belmont Hill are committing widespread voter fraud, according to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the review is part of the state’s post-election evaluation prescribed by the 2014 Election Reform Laws.

Cushman said the law requires the state to audit three percent of the Commonwealth’s 2,200 precincts.

“The random drawing of the precincts occurred on Thursday morning, Nov. 10 and I was advised Thursday afternoon by the Secretary of the Commonwealth that Belmont Precinct 2 was chosen to participate, along with 65 other precincts statewide,” said Cushman.

Belmont’s audit/hand recount will take place in the Homer Building Gallery on Tuesday, Nov. 15 beginning at 9 a.m.; the last day permitted by law.

The town’s Board of Registrars will be conducting the audit/hand recount of Precinct 2 ballots cast and received on or before Election Day, Nov. 8, including all of the Early Voting Ballots and Absentees as well as Overseas and Military Absentee received by close of polls on Election Day.

Cushman said she “had an enthusiastic response from my election workers to participate in the audit/hand recount.” She hopes to conclude the process by 1 p.m. or 2 p.m.

 

New Belmont High Project Enters Feasibility Stage After State’s OK

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Photo: The current high school building.

The Belmont High School renovation project passed its eligibility stage with flying colors on Nov. 9 and will begin the phase that brings the multimillion dollar proposal closer to a bricks and mortar reality.

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s board of directors “invited” Belmont and seven other school districts to collaborate with the authority in conducting feasibility studies for a “potential” school construction projects, according to State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, who is also the chair of the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

“These feasibility studies will carefully examine potential solutions to the issues identified at the school facilities and will help us develop the most cost effective plan to address those issues,” said Goldberg.

For Belmont, the state’s acceptance of the preliminary work is a “big deal,” according to the chair of the Belmont High School Building Committee.

“It’s an exciting time for Belmont,” said William Lovallo, who leads the 16 member group which will oversee the building’s construction with the MSBA. “This is the precursor … of our design process,” he said.

During the just completed eligibility stage, “the state looked to the town and school district to understand the framework by which we will move into the feasibility study,” said Lovallo. With the state’s OK this week, Belmont can now move to hire in the new year an owner’s project manager who will work with the committee to write the Request For Proposal (RFP) for hiring a design team.

According to Lovallo, after the team is in place, the feasibility study will be underway looking at three building “scenarios”– a school that includes 7th-12th grades, an 8th-12th building, and a traditional 9th-12th high school – in multiple configurations.

“The MSBA requires us to look at each scenario three ways; ‘as is,’ a renovation project and a new structure” so “there could potentially be nine designs in the study in addition to any other variation,” said Lovallo.

“Then you take all those studies and boil it down through the public process to a preferred option,” he said. Only when the MSBA and the town approves a single building configuration will schematic designs be produced and the building will begin to take shape, said Lovallo.

“We’ll be working even harder in this next phase,” he said, estimating that the feasibility study will be completed early in 2018.

Belmont Voters Back Clinton; Reject Charter Schools, Yes on Legally Lighting Up

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Photo: Counting early ballots

More than four out of five registered voters cast ballots as Belmont residents came out in near record numbers to participate in the 2016 Presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Lines queued at each of the town’s eight polling sites before 7 a.m. as residents took the opportunity to vote in what many hoped was a historic election.

And at 10 p.m. when the unofficial final results were tallied, Belmont’s left-leaning reputation was varified as voters gave Democrat Hillary Clinton a solid win over Republican Donald Trump:

  • Hillary Clinton (D)   10,233   71%
  • Donald Trump (R)      3,102   21%  
  • Gary Johnson (Lib)        560    4%
  • Jill Stein (Green)            237     2%

When early voting and absentee ballots were added to the tally from the precincts, 14,667 residents cast ballots out of 17,826 registered voter or 82.2 percent. 

Belmont outpaced the rest of the state as the former US Secretary of State and former First Lady garnered 61 percent of the vote statewide compared to 33 percent to the businessman and television personality.

Clinton’s vote total is the most by a presidential candidate in Belmont, beating out both of President Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012.

But Belmont could not help Clinton as she was swamped by Trump nationwide.

On the four ballot questions, Belmont voted against more charter schools, for chickens and just said no to token around the town.

On Question 2, Belmont voters rejected the measure which would have allowed a significant expansion of charter schools in Massachusetts 63 percent to 37 percent (10,716 to 3,300) which nearly matched the statewide vote, 62 percent to 38 percent.

Belmont voters joined the majority of state voters who were high on Question 4 which allows smoking marijuana whenever the feeling strikes them, 52 percent to 48 percent. Residents can now light up on the “up and up” on Dec. 15 – for a “Merry Wanta Christmas” as Cheech and Chung said in their act – with pot supermarkets coming in 2018.

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“The Dude” Lebowski, from the movie “The Big Lebowski” has become a symbol of recreational pot smoking in society.

Finally, Belmont residents showed their kindness by overwhelmingly supporting Question 3 which bans the sale of foods derived from animals raised in cruel confined conditions, passing 80 percent to 20 percent, two percentage points higher than the state total. The ballot question sets new rules on the size of cages in which farmers can raise chickens, cows and pigs.

Belmont Schools, Public Library, Senior Center Closed for Election

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Photo: A line of voters at the Burbank Elementary School.                                                        

With safety in mind, the Belmont School District has closed the district’s six schools for the Presidential Election today, Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Speaking in September, School Superintendent John Phelan said the decision to shut down school for the day was a precautionary measure due to the combination of three schools – Winn Brook, Butler and Burbank elementary – hosting polling places and an anticipated high voter turnout for Presidential elections – Town Clerk Ellen Cushman is predicting upwards of 80 to 85 percent voter participation.

With limited visitors parking at the three schools and upwards of a thousand voters attempting to cast ballots during the day, it was decided to side on safety.

The number of voters anticipated and the need for parking resulted in the Belmont Public Library on Concord Avenue and the Senior Center at the Beech Street Center being closed today, Tuesday.