Belmont Begins, Yet Again, Search to Find Source Polluting Mystic Watershed

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Glenn Clancy may not look like Benedict Cumberbatch, but like the hugely popular sleuth the actor plays on BBC television, Belmont’s town engineer will be doing his best Sherlock Holmes as he attempts to find the source of what has been dirtying up a nearby major watershed that has been dogging the town for more than 15 years. 

“Am I confident that we are going to get it this time?” Clancy rhetorically pondered to the Belmontonian after this past Monday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting.  

“How confident are the Red Sox when they step on the field for a ballgame? We are going in with the idea that we will get it done,” he said.

With a finite budget and state and national environmental regulatory agencies breathing down his neck, Clancy is pinning his hopes on a game of elimination to pinpoint where the worst of the contaminants are coming from and marshal his resources there. 

Belmont has been on the state’s Department of Environmental Protection going back to January 2000 of being noncompliant of acceptable water quality standards leading to pollutants entering the Mystic River Watershed, a collection of rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds that drain an area of approximately 76 square miles and 21 municipalities north of Boston.

And for the past decade, the town has sunk into the ground several million dollars to repair and replace infrastructure to improve the quality of the water entering the system. But the work so far has had little impact on several water sources within Belmont with locations such as the Little River and the Winn’s Brook receiving poor or failing mark for water quality. 

It’s not a mystery what is creating the problem, said Clancy.

“This is strictly about the sanitary sewage system mingling with our stormwater system. So in Belmont, the biggest contributors to this problem are deteriorating sewage pipes to where that sewage is leeching up and finding its way into the storm drain system,” he said. 

The other source is toilets that contractors or homeowners have placed over a storm drain pipe. “While the decaying pipes are our most important issue, we have found 10 to 15 illicit direct connections to the storm drain system that we have already mitigated,” said Clancy. “We expect to discover more with this testing.” 

Clancy, who is also the director of the Office of Community Development, told the Selectmen Monday that the $70,000 (from a total of $200,000 the town approved to seek a solution) to conduct sample testing of 15 outfalls sites to determine which of those are responsible for the majority of pollution being sent into one of the Mystic River watershed tributaries located in Belmont. 

“We’ve done [testing and remedies] two or three times in the past decade with construction work totaling $8 million and the next phase to identify specific problems,” Clancy told the Belmontonian.

“The sampling is the first step in what ultimately will be another construction process,” said Clancy. 

“Once you identify the outfall as ‘dirty,’ you then have to determine where the source of that contamination is coming from,” Clancy told the Belmontonian.

The fix has mostly been lining the deteriorated pipe which “still in a structural condition that allows us to line it with concrete,” he said. If it is too far gone, the main will need replacing. 

If the survey discovers issues with toilets or interior plumbing, “we find a way to work with the property owner to solve the problem whether that is reconnecting a pipe to the proper main or eliminating the source altogether. The conditions will usually dictate the best way to mitigate.” 

And it won’t be cheap; the town could be open to another $4 million to $6 million over several years to make the necessary repairs, according to Clancy.

Saying that he understands the frustration from residents who will end up paying for the repairs, Clancy said the repairs in the past and the future would begin to show results.

“We spent eight million [dollars] plus already, and every dollar of that eight million plus has fixed some problem. I want people to understand while we still have a problem doesn’t mean that the money that has already been spent has not been spent properly. It has fixed problems that we have identified. The challenge that we have more problems that need to be identified and mitigated,” he said.

“I could never look someone in the eye and say this is going to be the time when we get it because I understand the nature of the problem. All we can continue to do is make a good faith effort to find the sources and mitigate them,” said Clancy. 

Belmont Allege Minuteman Seeking To Depress Vote On New School

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Photo: The Wenner Field House.

Calling restrictions on communities including Belmont a “deliberate attempt to depress the vote,” the Board of Selectmen is sending an urgent letter to the Minuteman Regional Tech School Committee to reconsider its recommendation of using only one location for a vote that could increase Belmont’s property taxes by half a million dollars over nearly three decades. 

“To limit the number of polling places ensures there will be lower voter turnout. And if that what you are attempting to do, then we disagree,” said Selectmen Chair Mark Paolillo of a series of moves by Minutemen officials that he and the board believes will dampen voter turnout in Belmont to decide, for a second time, on the future of a new technical school on the Lexington/Lincoln border that will cost nearly $145 million. 

The comments, made during the Selectmen’s Monday, July 11, meeting at Town Hall, came after the board heard from Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman that unless Minuteman retreats from its earlier position, nearly 6,000 voters will be forced to abandon their regular polling locations and tramp over to Belmont High School to vote on the final days of summer. 

Paolillo said a possible reason for Minuteman’s effort to suppress the vote specifically in Belmont is to thwart any avenue town officials have to leave the district. Belmont Town Meeting member rejected the current project as being too large for the ten communities – six towns have petitioned to leave the community once a final vote is cast on the new school – which will remain in the Minuteman system after the election.

If approved by an aggregate of voters in the 16 communities and with Belmont remaining in the district, taxpayers would likely foot a bill of up to $500,000 in annual capital costs– on top of tuition expenses – to house the approximately 30 students the town averages annually at the technical school.

Paolillo said Belmont would still be able to exit the district if a majority of voters reject the plan on Sept. 20. That would start the clock for town officials to call a Special Town Meeting 60 days after the election where those seeking to withdraw from the district will need to capture a two-thirds majority of Town Meeting members.

“So it’s in [Minuteman’s] interest to keep overall voter participation down while they push [the new school] supporters to come out to vote,” Paolillo told the Belmontonian after the meeting.

The vote was called by the Minuteman School Board after Belmont rejected the earlier plan at the town’s May Town Meeting. Under state law, since the regional district could not convince the Town Meeting in each of the 16 municipalities to approve the bonding for a $144 million project, the school committee was able to use a “second chance” that calls for a referendum in which a majority vote will determine if the $100 million bonding package – the state is expected to pitch-in $44 million – is approved.

Since it “called” the election and is paying $100,000 to hold it in the district communities, state law allows the Minuteman district “alone, in consultation with the Selectmen, gets to decide how this vote for the debt occurs” including what day and times it will take place and number of locations where the vote will take place, said Cushman.

The Minuteman Board has set the time and date of the referendum, to be held on Tuesday, Sept. 20 from noon to 8 p.m.

While Belmont usually opens seven polling stations for its eight precincts, Cushman said Minuteman is expected to limit voting to a single location as one way to control costs. While clerks in the other towns – whose Town Meetings voted for the bonding plan – are expected very low voter participation in single digits, Cushman expects a healthy turnout of about a third of registered voters, which would likely be the highest among the towns voting.

Cushman heard from Kevin Mahoney, the tech school’s assistant superintendent of finance who is heading the election campaign, that Arlington has also requested Minuteman to approve that town’s request to allow it to use its usual ten voting locations (for 22 precincts) rather than a central spot. 

That decision is yet to be made. 

Belmont has until July 22 to petition Minuteman to utilize its seven polling places, “however they have the final say since the warrant is issued by them and not you,” said Cushman, who has already sent that request to the school district. 

Cushman said the only site large enough to handle the estimated 6,000 voters expected to vote is the Wenner Field House on the Belmont High School campus off Concord Avenue. It would require placing a temporary floor on top of the new court and install between 50 to 60 polling booths.

While Minuteman’s reasoning for a single site for the vote is cost, Cushman told the Selectmen it’s likely the cost of holding the election at the high school will likely exceed the $12,000 expected cost of using the traditional seven locations and could pass the $16,000 price tag to use the seven sites for an all-day election.

Also, the Field House, home to Belmont High School volleyball home games and the locker rooms for the fall season, will need to be closed on that Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the vote. The midweek election would likely impact a varsity girls’ swimming meet on that Monday and cross country races on the Tuesday election.

The Belmont Selectmen feels the unfamiliar voting location and difficulty for residents using the site – a limited amount of parking is on the other end of the campus from the field house which could be a  burden for the many older voters – is troublesome for what it implies. 

“I’m all for wide voter turnout, and there is no [better] way to suppress the vote than to limit the locations, change where people are accustomed to and make it inconvenient because of long lines,” said Selectman Sami Baghdady. 

Complicating matters further, since voters will not be using their regular voting locations, Cushman is required by state statue to send an official notification to all voters 20 days, on Sept. 1, for the election of the change of voting venue. 

She noted that mailing would occur a week before voters head to the polls for the Massachusetts state party primaries a week later on Sept. 8. Cushman worries that many residents will misunderstand the notice and head for the high school to vote during the primary and Presidential election in November or ignore the document and attempt to vote at their regular precincts on Sept. 20.

Speaking about the difficulty of conducting a vote at the Field House during a school day and restricting locations both in Belmont and Arlington, “how can this not result in lower turnout? It has to,” asked Paolillo. 

“Whether you’re for or against the building project, it’s important to have as broad a representation as possible regarding community involvement,” said Paolillo. 

It is likely that the Board of Selectmen will call for an informational meeting sometime before the election to “educate the public on the ramifications of their vote,” said Paolillo. 

Preliminary Applications For 2017 Community Preservation Funding Now Available

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Photo: A path along Clay Pit Pond has received funding from the Community Preservation Committee.

Do you or your group have a community project that could use a few dollars to complete?

Does the project involve acquiring or improving open space and recreation land, rehabbing or preserving historic sites, or goes to support affordable housing? If you can say “yes” to those two criteria, the town’s Community Preservation Committee has about a million dollars waiting to spend on your worthy venture in the coming fiscal year. 

The committee, 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. 

The deadline for the initial applications – which is available online here – is Sept. 30 for those projects to be eligible for the next round in the process.

The CPC will also hold a public meeting on Sept. 9, at which time interested parties can ask questions regarding the application 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 jump start the construction of the new Underwood Pool, the design and construction of a multiuse path around Clay Pit Pond, updating Town Clerk’s records, and for the repair of tennis courts around town. 

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

Olmsted Selected to Fill Library Trustee Post

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Photo: Corinne McCue Olmsted

Corinne McCue Olmsted joins the Belmont Board of Library Trustees at a time when the library, once again, is moving forward with a vision for a new building and its place as a resource for town residents.

Appointed unanimously by a joint committee of the Board of Selectmen and the Library Trustees on May 21, the Stone Road resident joins the “team” as it moves forward with its important feasibility study for the renovation or construction of a new library, ready to help in the development of programs and using the new physical space efficiently.

“I think that libraries are moving towards … places where people can gather,” she told the joint boards, moving away from being a quiet spot to “becoming more noisy, frankly, and that will be a good thing.” 

“I want to see it become more vibrant community space so where more people like me would come in,” McCue Olmsted said, and increasing the percentage of residents with library cards from the current 65 percent. 

Growing up on Long Island and matriculating at Skidmore, McCue Olmsted earned her Master’s and Ph.D. in Economics at UConn. She worked in research before moving to Nexus Associates and then seven years as a transfer pricing economist at Ernst & Young. She and her husband, who is also an economist, are parents of a six-year-old and nearly three-year-old twins.

McCue Olmsted joins the six-member board to finish the single year left of the term and will be up for election in April 2017 and then will need to run again for election in April 2018.

Her favorite book is “Four Kitchens: My Life Behind the Burner in New York, Hanoi, Tel Aviv, and Paris” by Lauren Shockey, a book on cooking, travel, and life.

The Belmontonian: As a trustee, you’ll be bringing the prospectus of a young woman with children, which is a considerable percentage of library users. Do you see yourself being the point person for that important constituency?

McCue Olmsted: Yes, and I would like to be that person. When enrollment in schools increases, the uses of the children’s area of the library does so also. I will be an advocate for expanding programs for both adults and children. For children, I’d like to see similar space changes to the children’s room because it’s small and a little dark. While the librarians do a wonderful job with the arrangement of books and material, we can do more with this room.

Q: What would you like to see in a new or renovated building?

A: While the building shape is still the same [since its opening in 1967] … I would like to see this become more of a communal social space so that people just don’t come to take out books but to socialize. We should also commit in a new building to more energy efficient practices, more natural light and recycling, the same concepts used at the Wellington [Elementary].

Q: Does digital media have a role in your plans?

A: I see the library evolving into more of a space where people can come together and use the digital resources. The types of media products the library provides will continue to expand and [the library] can become the place where information literacy is taught in the community including the schools. But I still have an affinity for physical books. That’s the reason people continue to go to bookstores. Children get interested in things by looking at them physically, and that’s why the Children’s Room is so important to the community. 

Q: What is the first item that you’re interested in tackling as a Trustee?

A: I would like to take a look at the programs. To see if there are places that can be expanded or filled in. I also want to talk to Peter [Struzziero, Belmont Public Library Director] how he is increasing space. While other challenges are facing the town such as the construction of a renovated Belmont High School that will likely take precedence, the library still faces urgent problems such as the boiler issue [which will need to be replaced], the type of non-exciting things that need to be resolved to keep the building running. 

Time Running Out To Find New Home For Belmont Food Pantry

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Photo: A busy Belmont Food Pantry on Belmont Serves.

It’s nail-biting time for the Belmont Food Pantry.

With a little more than five weeks before the non-profit will be forced to move from its current home in a modular unit at the rear of Belmont High School, the pantry – which assists more than 200 residents with much-needed food staples and sundries – is scrambling to find a space to continue its charitable work.

“What we are asking we know that we need to come together as a community to provide this service to the people,” Laurie Graham, former Belmont School Committee chair, and a pantry director, told the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, June 27.

“We’ve known since December and to solve this problem now is acuter with this short fuse,” said Chairman Mark Paolillo of the August 1 deadline.

The pantry will need to move as the school department is running short of classroom space due to rocketing enrollment levels at Belmont High and throughout the district.

But despite the best efforts of the town administration, houses of worship, non-profits and businesses, as of the last week in June, there simply isn’t a location of a similar size – about 1,600 sq.-ft. – to meet the pantry’s needs.

Currently, the pantry is open five times a month: in the mornings on the first and third Saturday of the month and on afternoons on the second and fourth Tuesday evening with an additional day on the last Sunday of the month at Plymouth Congregational Church on Pleasant Street.

Belmont residents can use the service twice a month to pick up canned goods, baking supplies, sundries and, during the summer, fresh vegetables from gardens run by volunteers.

While the Belmont community has been “very supportive” of the pantry financially and with food donations, “we need space,” said Graham.

David Kale, Belmont’s town administrator, said he had discussions with department heads on available space, but so far there isn’t any local site that could handle the pantry.

A recent walk through of the former Belmont Municipal Light Department headquarters adjacent to the Police Headquarters and across Concord Avenue from Town Hall, which three years ago was the pantry’s home, was deemed unavailable as the building has deteriorated over that time and would need substantial rehabilitation to bring up to code. 

There had been discussions of using two empty storefronts near the intersection of Belmont Street and Trapelo Road adjacent to Moozies that are owned by developer Chris Starr or parking a trailer in the Beth El Temple Center’s parking lot. But both some with significant restrictions such as lack of running water and electricity and a small footprint.

“But while saying that, we’d love to have anything on a temporary basis,” said Graham.

With nothing available at this time, the pantry is looking at stop gap measures to continue service, including sharing space with pantries in Watertown and Arlington, although the Watertown space is problematic since they hand out bags of food rather than allowing residents select what they need which is done in Belmont.

Graham said there had been discussions by the pantry’s board of directors of possibly allowing the pantry become part of town government similar to the way Watertown runs its food service.

“There are pros and cons to this [approach],” said Graham including giving up the pantry’s non-profit status. The pantry could find a commercial storefront and pay market rent although that would mean fewer supplies for residents. 

“But I think for us an issue is sustainability … and that means we need to have a place,” she noted. 

Saying the food pantry serves “a very important need,” Selectman Sami Baghdady said he has reached out to several large property owners if there is any available storefront in an accessible commercial location. 

“When I say ‘food pantry,’ everyone’s attention spikes, and there is a strong desire to help,” said Baghdady, saying he is now waiting for a call back to resolve the predicament, “sooner rather than later.” 

Belmont Joins Ranks With Communities on Gas Leak Legislation

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Photo: Yvonne Brown (left) and Jennifer Marusiak of Mothers Out Front.

The rotten egg smell associated with leaking natural gas – it’s actually a chemical additive called mercaptan – is an annoyance that dampens your outdoor activities or forces windows to be closed on summer nights. But the problem of leaking gas mains goes beyond the odor it emanates; the hydrocarbon mixture is harming the environment and draining resident’s pocketbooks.

That’s the warning Jennifer Marusiak of Chester Road and Yvonne Brown of Highland Road brought to the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, June 27, as they sought the board’s backing for state legislation that would put a modest plug in what has become an epidemic throughout the state.

“It’s serious that we have these uncontrolled leaks in every Belmont neighborhood and the consequences are to climate change,” said Marusiak, who with Brown are members of the Belmont chapter of Mothers Out Front, a national grassroots organization seeking to implement policies to transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy.

And with the Selectmen’s official endorsement of the legislation making its way through Beacon Hill, Belmont joins 36 communities across Massachusetts supporting the effort to limit the level of gas leaks statewide.

In a comprehensive analysis of Belmont by Mother’s Out Front reported in the May/June Belmont Citizens Forum newsletter, there are 80 gas leaks throughout town – the majority in the heavily residential neighborhoods inside an area bordered by Trapelo Road, Pleasant Street, Concord Avenue and Grove Street –  part of the 20,000 leaks statewide that is spewing tons of methane into the atmosphere.
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‘[Methane] has been described as carbon on steroids,” Marusiak said of the greenhouse gas that’s nearly 90 percent more efficient than CO2 in trapping heat. It also exacerbates the effects of asthma and kills trees.

In addition to the environmental damage, the leaks cost ratepayers and consumers $90 million annual in lost product, which could power 200,000 homes each year.

The reason leaks occur is due to an aging infrastructure, said Marusiak. National Grid, the gas utility in Massachusetts, told Mom’s Out Front that half the pipes running through town are cast iron or unprotected steel “which makes them leak-prone” due to changing temperatures and corrosion, said Marusiak.

National Grid will repair leaks immediately if they are indoors and in an enclosed space with the real potential of an explosion, she said. There is a second level of severity are pipes that could become dangerous if they are close to residential buildings, but the company can wait six months before fixing them.

All other leaks don’t have any timeframe on repairs, which has resulted in two Belmont locations which have had been leaking gas since 1996, said Marusiak.

“And the shocking thing [about replacing leaking pipes] it has absolutely nothing to do with the volume [escaping] … they could sit there forever,” Marusiak said, noting that National Grid acknowledged it doesn’t know the volume of escaping gas from any of the Belmont problem areas.

The women were seeking backing on two bills in front of the state legislature on Beacon Hill: House 2870 would prohibit company from passing on costs from leaks to customer – this bill has been sent to a Study Committee – while Senate 1767 would mandate utilities check for leaks when roads with gas pipes are dug up, and fix any leaks found within one calendar year.

“The support from towns are vital,” said Marusiak. “The main benefit of passing this resolution is to keep up the pressure by saying ‘we need action now’.”

“This is an issue that the town itself can’t do and so political pressure that you’re proposing is the only way to get action,” said Selectman Jim Williams, who joined Chair Mark Paolillo and Selectman Sami Baghdady to sponsor an official resolution backing the measures.

Despite a stall on the House bill and the Senate measure still to be voted on to be included in the Senate’s omnibus energy legislation, Marusiak said communities, citizens, and groups “will just continue to keep on pushing for its passage, now or in the next session.” 

Minuteman To Hold District-Wide Vote Sept. 20 To OK $144M Building Project

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Photo: Belmont may have voted no, but it could be on the hook for nearly $500,000 in annual costs to construct a new regional technical school.

Belmont may have voted “no” in May, but that hasn’t stopped the Minuteman School Committee from getting a second bite at the apple to approve a $100 million bonding issue to build a new regional technical school on the Lexington/Littleton town line.

On Monday, June 27, the school’s school committee voted 12-1 with one abstention to bring a referendum to build the school to the entire 14 community district.

The vote – funded by the Minuteman School Committee – will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 20 from noon to 8 p.m. 

“It’s a simple vote across all the [d]istrict towns,” said Edward Bouquillon, Minuteman’s Superintendent-Director in a statement issued on June 28.

“It’s done on the same day during the same hours. The votes are totaled. If there are more “yes” votes than “no” votes, the project is approved,” he said.

According to data from Minuteman Tech, renovations and repairs are projected to cost local taxpayers roughly $100 million and take six to ten years to complete. With the MSBA grant, the local share would be roughly the same amount, to be paid by local taxpayers and by out-of-district communities through a new capital fee assessed by the state.

The new vote comes about two months after a Special Town Meeting overwhelmingly rejected the bonding issue, the only Town Meeting to vote down the proposal that would saddled Belmont with an annual bill of $350,000 to $500,000 to pay for its portion of the nearly $100 million to build the school.

And despite Belmont having expressed its opinion on the issue and while many in town would like the town to commit its own “Brexit”-style departure from the district, “it has there really is no practical way for Belmont to leave the District before the vote is taken. It’s simply not possible,” said Jack Weis, Belmont’s representative to the Minuteman School Committee.

In the view of the Minuteman officials, they were left with only one option after Belmont’s legislative body rebuffed the proposal.

“We tried the traditional Town Meeting route and won by overwhelming margins just about everywhere,” said Bouquillon, winning approval in the other 13 Town Meetings. “But we were unable to make the case properly in one town [Belmont] and, given the rules of this process, that was enough to require going directly to citizens through a formal referendum.”

In hopes of saving a $44 million grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority to build the school, said Bouquillon, the Minuteman School Committee will submit the issue directly to the voters of its member towns.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, June 28, Minuteman and officials from other communities in the Minuteman district met with Belmont officials on June 20 “to determine whether Minuteman should attempt to bring the matter back to Belmont Town Meeting or, alternatively, go to a referendum.”

Under the town meeting approval process, the project could only move forward if no member town voted to object. 

Belmont officials told the committee there was no indication that Town Meeting members would change their opposition to the project which it considers far too large for the number of students coming from district communities.

“[The] sensible course would be to proceed directly to referendum,” said Bouquillon. “Fortunately, state law gives multi-town districts such as Minuteman a second option for getting capital projects approved.”

“Under the new Regional Agreement, any community can petition to leave the District at any time.  The first step is to have a Special Town Meeting and to have the two-thirds of the Town Meeting members vote in favor of leaving. But, the actual departure isn’t effective for three years after that. So, there is no way to leave the District before the vote is taken.

Even if Belmont could decamp from the district, “communities are still obligated for their share of any debt incurred prior to the withdrawal date,” said Weis.

Dog Owners Seek To Keep Belmont’s Current Off-Leash Regs

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Photo: The public meeting on the town’s existing off-leash regulations.

Just how passionate many (or is that most) dog owners are of their pets can be found in the phrase from the famous wildlife writer Roger Caras: “If you don’t own a dog … there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life.”

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that nearly 60 dog owners and their friends jammed into the Board Of Selectmen’s Room at Town Hall on a beautiful first day of summer, Monday, June 20, to speak at a public meeting on the town’s existing off-leash regulations.

Belmont Board of Health Chair David Alper called the meeting to hear from all sides on the permit program that allows pets to run unencumbered.

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Belmont Board of Health Chair David Alper (center) with board members Donna David (left) and Julie C. Lemay.

“We three are here to listen to you,” said Alper, referring to his board colleagues, Donna David and Julie C. Lemay. “We want as much information as we can get about the current situation … plus or negative.”

The off-leash program requires dogs and their owners meet with Belmont’s Animal Control Officer, John Maguranis, for a pet behavior assessment and a review of the regulations. While the Board of Health sets the rules, the program is run through the Recreation Department, which has a strict 200 permit annual limit while the town has more than 1,600 registered dogs.

Alper said the nexus for the meeting was a steady stream of letters to the board expressing “unhappiness” of the program which dogs were becoming a nuisance to pedestrians or scaring children in playgrounds and open spaces around town.

Those complaints were joined by the ever-present issue of dog “waste” on playgrounds shared by youth sports and residents seeking passive enjoyment.

For dog owners, the status quo is far more satisfying than any conceivable alternative. Many of the owners told how their pets are becoming more socialized and easier to handle by being taken to the open parks.

“This is one thing that Belmont does better than any town around us … where owners can take their dogs to run and play and chase balls,” said Susan Demb from Louise Road, who spoke for many in the audience. 

But for one meeting participant, the program is “not always amazing,” Azra Nelson of Vincent Avenue said over 12 years of using Belmont parks she has found some dog owners “rude and expect their dogs can run to anybody and anywhere, not picking up while pestering kids and other people” where now her children are now scared of dogs.

“I pick up this sense of entitlement that ‘My dog can do whatever and that should be, OK because they are friendly,” said Nelson, who suggested “clearer rules” be set for owners who are socializing or ignoring situations when their pets are jumping on people.

In an apparent act of contrition, owners admitted that there were some “bad” owners operating “on the fringe,” who don’t collar their pets or pick up after them. It is those few outliers that owners say are hurting the doggy community. 

“When I see a dog misbehaving, I’m more mad than someone else who’s not a dog owner; I feel like you’re threatening my dog’s ability to have fun and my ability to have fun and you’re harming my park. And that irresponsibility doesn’t belong in our town,” said Scott Abrams of King Street.

Abrams said there were plenty of examples of youth sports participants who are just as ambivalent to rules concerning picking up after them or of residents to shot off “fireworks” at PQ Park, “so everyone can be a little bit more responsible.”

While dog parks – fenced in enclosures set aside for unleashed canines – are popping up in many communities (Arlington, Waltham, and Cambridge) surrounding Belmont and garnered some support Monday, most owners said the facilities are not large enough to allow for the amount and quality of running and socializing their pets need.

“They end up becoming hard-packed dirt patches where there’s not enough room for a dog to run and play,” said Johanna Swift Hart of Hull Street.

The consensus from the dog owner’s was that easy to read signage and notification on “correct” behavior and hours and times off-leash dogs can be in Belmont’s parks would be the first step in minimizing the conflicts between the animals and people.
They also advised an easily recognizable off-leash permit for the dog’s collar should be used to ID those pets that are licensed to run as well as owners volunteering their dogs for a program on how children should approach a dog. 

For many residents, the program is more than just for their pets.

“We were drawn to this area because it seems to be both common to people who have children and people who like [dogs] and this would be a great place to have both,” said Rachel Kilmer, who with her husband, have discovered the owners have bonded and have formed friendships through their use of the parks.

“It’s a really important thing to have in the community that brings people together,” said Kilmer. 

Dog Park Part of Discussion at Monday’s Meeting On Off Leash Program

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Photo: The dog park that recently opened in Waltham. 

Is it time for Belmont to have its own dog park, join its neighboring towns to provide a separate area to allow pets the chance to play and socialize. 

Watertown (2014) and Waltham (2015) have recently opened enclosed off-leash areas that Fido can run like the wind. Arlington his its own park while Cambridge has eight including two near to Fresh Pond on the Belmont line. 

A Belmont dog park will be one of several issues brought up on Monday, June 20 at 5:30 p.m. when the Board of Health holds a public hearing on the town’s off leash dog program.

David Alper, chair of the Board of Health, told the Belmontonian no policy changes will be issued at Monday’s meeting.

“We hope to hear from residents on the current policy and listen to any ideas they may have,” said Alper. The long-time chair has said a dog park, which is becoming the norm in communities, is one area that is worthy of discussion.

The current off-leash program in Belmont allows dog owners a large amount of leeway when and where they can run their pets. Owners need only obtain a $40 yearly permit ($30 for the second dog) from the town – which requires the licensed dog and owner meet with Belmont’s Animal Control Officer, for a pet behavior assessment and a review of the regulations. 

The couple can then go to six Belmont athletic fields – Belmont High School Fields, Winn Brook, Grove Street, Pequossette Field and Town Field – to run as long as they clean up after their pet and defer to requests from town and school officials on use. Newton has a similar program. 

A 2016 Permit Application can be found at the Health Department’s web page. 

Cracks Won’t Prevent Underwood Pool From Opening, Saturday, June 18

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Photo: The pool filled with water on Tuesday.

A few weeks back, a rumor was being spread in the local Starbucks/Dunkin’ Donuts that cracks – described as anywhere between “significant” to “devastating” – were discovered at the bottom of both Underwood pools as the less-than-a-year-old complex was being readied for its first full season scheduled to begin Saturday, June 18.

The people who said they heard the damage would result in the coming swimming season to be:

  1. delayed,
  2. suspended,
  3. closed forever;

and would lead to the pool being:

  1. repaired with the cracks costing a king’s ransom,
  2. forced to have the flooring ripped out and rebuilt, and 
  3. ruined beyond all hope.

But ask Anne Paulsen, the chair of the Underwood Pool Building Committee, the particulars of the rumors, and she will tell you one thing: “If the Health Department gives us the OK, [the pools] will be open on schedule.”

So if the chemical analysis of the water pumped into the twin pools this week is up to standards, the 2016 season will open to the public at 10 a.m. on Saturday. (Current forecast over the weekend is for sun with the highs in the low 80s). 

So, what about the “major” cracks lining the bottom of the pool?

First, Paulsen was not happy to hear two weeks ago there was structural issues, even if they turned out to be hairline cracks mostly located in the shallow pool and on the deck. 

“It is less than a year old, so it was disconcerting what was discovered,” said Paulsen, who led the group that supervised the construction of the facility. 

According to Department of Public Works Director Jay Marcotte, the cracks – due to the pool walls expanding and contracting as the ground settles and shifts – were superficial and were not affecting the structural integrity of the swimming pool.

“We cleaned out the cracks and repaired it with an epoxy which did the job,” Marcotte told the Belmontonian.

In addition to the repairs, the deep end pool was repainted, said Paulsen. 

A few days later, before the Special Town Meeting on Monday, June 13, Paulsen gave members an update on the pool in the coming season. She told Town Meeting that the pool:

  • will have new shade structures (like umbrellas) along the edge of the pool to provide sun protection,
  • paper towels will be replaced by electric hand dryers in the bathrooms,
  • The crosswalk and sidewalk on Cottage Street will be completed.
  • In the fall an irrigation system will be installed to protect plants from the summer heat, and
  • vending machines are now located at the facility.

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For information on the pool, activities and membership, head over the Recreation Department’s website. 

Saying that 450 residents have signed up for passes, Paulsen advised the members to get theirs soon, “and enjoy the pool.”