Financial Watchdog Committee OK With Funding for New HS Design, Modulars

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Photo: Belmont Superintendent John Phelan at the Warrant Committee.

The Warrant Committee unanimously supported proposed funding sources for two outstanding school capital needs: the purchase of six modular classrooms to be located at the Chenery Middle School and the hiring of a project manager and funding for a feasibility study and schematic designs for the renovated/new high school.

The vote by the committee, which is the financial “watchdog” for the Belmont Town Meeting, came after short presentations by school and town officials at the Chenery Middle School Wednesday night, April 13.

What makes the funding approach different from the traditional method of issuing bonds to raise the funds, the town is arranging to pay for these needs via in-town financing.

The $1.4 million proposed by the School District for six modular classrooms to be located on the Chenery Middle School tennis courts will come from the town’s “free cash” account; the $1.75 million to pay for creating plans and hiring a property manager for the new Belmont High School project will come from the proceeds of the sale of town-owned property off Woodfall Road to a luxury residential developer.

The new classrooms – which will be ready for the start of the upcoming school year in September – are needed as the district grapples with continued overcrowding as enrollment levels continue to skyrocket, with a projected 400 additional students entering the system from Oct. 2015 to Oct. 2019.

“And we have a very real need at the Middle School” when it comes to finding space to use for teaching, said Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan, pointing out that classes are being taught in areas previously used as offices and storage rooms.

The modular classroom will be purchased rather than leased after an analysis conducted by the town’s Facilities Department found it is cost beneficial to own the pre-hab structures if held for more than three years, according to Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan.

According to the superintendent, “we will be in need of this space for some time,” upwards to a decade, said Phelan.

“If I could find the money and the space, I would ask for six more classrooms,” he said.

The direct transfer of the $1.75 million from the sale of the Woodfall Road property to the newly created Belmont High School Building Committee “just made sense” as the sale was a “one-time funds from the sale of a capital asset,” said Sami Baghdady, chair of the Board of Selectmen and the board’s representative on the committee

These funds will pay for the initial stages of the renovation/new construction of the high school including feasibility and design studies that are required to be financed within 220 days after the project is approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority in January.

While there are other financial avenues the town could have traveled to pay for the project – free cash and a special account known as the Kendell Fund which has more than $3.3 million – a discussion among town leaders and the Treasurer’s office that the Kendell fund should preserve to finance studies of future capital projects including a Police Station, DPW Yard, and town library.

While there will be a need for additional funds down the road, the Woodfall Road money should be “enough funds to get the Belmont High Building Committee through the initial feasibility phase.”

Town Meeting Preview: Warrant Briefing Thursday Night at the Beech

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Photo: The warrant briefing from October 2014.

Think of today’s Warrant Briefing as a movie trailer; attending will give the public the “coming attractions” of Belmont’s annual Town Meeting in three weeks time.

Tonight, Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m., the Belmont League of Women Voters and the Warrant Committee is co-sponsoring this briefing at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.

This is an opportunity for Town Meeting member and the general public to ask questions of town officials and department heads each of the warrant articles prior to the annual Town Meeting beginning on May 2. 

Michael Libenson, Warrant Committee chair, will preside. 

Belmont High Sheltered in Place During Bomb Hoax That Struck The Region

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Photo: Belmont High School.

In a more innocent time, pulling the fire alarm on the day the Red Sox opened the season in Boston – so they could sneak out in the confusion – was considered par for the course in student stupidity.

That is no longer the case in the world today.

When Belmont High School officials received a robocall this morning just before 9 a.m., Monday, April along with more than a dozen high schools in greater Boston, the school’s students were sheltered in place for 50 minutes until the threat was declared over. 

“We just remained in classes,” a student text to the Belmontonian. “No one could leave the class but there was no learning disruption,” the student added.

While the school was in place, Belmont Police officers along with Belmont Fire conducted a sweep of the school, searching trash cans and closet spaces. Belmont’s K9 Grim also was used. The students were not evacuated during the threat assessment. 

Coincidentally, Grim along with several other K-9 teams from area police and public safety agencies conducting a routine sweep of Belmont High School on Friday morning, April 8.

“We knew that other schools were being called so we knew it was some kind of hoax,” said another BHS student who contacted the Belmontonian.

Belmont High Principal Dan Richards sent an e-mail blast to parents advising them of the situation.

“[Public Safety officials] have deemed the threat to not be credible. At this time I am lifting the “Hold in Place” and students should report to their … class,” said Richards.

Letter To The Editor: Ruban Thanks ‘All Who Supported Me’

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Photo:

To the editor:

Thank you to everyone I had the pleasure of meeting along the campaign trail, and a special thank you to those who supported, voted and volunteered for me. I knew that Belmont was full of intelligent, talented, educated, dedicated people, but you surpassed my expectations. We could not have come as far as we did in such a short amount of time without that.

I embarked on this journey because I wanted to begin a dialogue about how Belmont government does business.  I am proud to say we have had that conversation, in particular, about building the new high school and Community Path; creating greater transparency for citizens to participate in town government; implementing rezoning and other vision plan recommendations, and streamlining business processes. I know that talking about these projects and bringing them to fruition are two very different things and understand Mark has a challenging job ahead of him. I want you to know that I support him in these endeavors on behalf of the town as he begins his next term as our selectman.

Thank you again to all who supported me. It was a tremendous honor to have your faith. I hope that now you will join me in helping our town government work to achieve the best Belmont for all of us.

Alexandra Ruban

Letter to the Editor: Tomi Thanks Voters, Residents’ Interests ‘Paramount’

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To the editor:

I wish to thank all of my supporters for their support during my campaign for Housing Authority.  Your conviction evidenced by your hosting a sign, delivering and mailing cards, speaking to friends, getting friends out to vote,  and voting for me,  all added up to a victory.

I promise to represent our collective interests in housing and sheltering those less fortunate.  Our residents’ interests and our community’s interest will always be paramount in my decision-making.

I thank you for your confidence in me and I look forward to representing you and our community.

Tommasina (Tomi) Olson

Member Housing Authority

High School Building Committee Picks Leader, Debt Vote Likely in 2018

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Photo: William Lovallo (right), the newly-elected chair of the High School Building Committee, speaking with BHSBC member Bob McLaughlin.

When the Wellington Elementary School opened on Sept. 25, 2011, Sarah Lovallo cut the ceremonial ribbon for the kindergarteners entering the school for the first time. 

Lovallo, who is in fourth grade at the Wellington, is eight years from graduating from Belmont High School, which may seem like time enough for her to cut the ribbon for a new high school.

But her father, Willam Lovallo, who was selected as chair of the newly-created Belmont High School Building Committee on Monday, April 4 at the first meeting of the committee held at the Chenery Middle School, doesn’t think Sarah will have a second cut at the ribbon.

“This is beginning to look like it will be closer to ten years before the construction is completed,” said Lovallo, who was the unanimous selection of the 15 member committee.

The Homer Road resident’s professional background as a vice president at the Boston-based civil engineering firm LeMessurier Consultants along with being a veteran of the town’s Permanent Building Committee and building committees including the fire houses, Beech Street Center, and the Wellington will bring “that remarkable knowledge” to the post, said Patricia Brusch, who led the inaugural meeting. 

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Pat Brusch (center) at the inaugural meeting of the Belmont High Building Committee.

Brusch, who has been involved with constructing municipal and school buildings in Belmont for three decades, gave the committee a brief outline of what could be the next ten years of planning, financing and construction of a new high school.

With an expected infusion of $1.75 million from the proceeds of the sale of town-owned property on Woodfall Road – which will need to be approved by a majority vote at a Special Town Meeting on May 4 which will be a part of the annual Town Meeting – the committee will use the funds to:

  • create a feasibility study that will include environmental testing and assessment,
  • the hiring of a project manager and
  • Schematic designs for a new or renovate the high school. 

After the feasibility study, the committee in partnership with the Massachusetts School Building Authority will need to decide between one of four options for the building.

  1. Keep the present building and commit to repairing problem areas.
  2. Renovate the building “within the walls.”
  3. Renovate and construction of an addition.
  4. Build a new high school building at a nearby location.

After one of the four options is selected, the process moves to the schematic design stage. Once that is completed, then the town will need to come up with a budget which will come from a debt exclusion.

Brusch said a quick calculation using past examples such as the Wellington, the most likely date for a vote by town residents will occur two years from now during Town Election 2018, with an outside possibility of the fall of 2017 “if everything goes smoothly but that rarely [happens].” 

Brusch also noted state law prohibits the Building Committee from advocating or showing support for the debt vote.

“Citizens will be asked to form” an independent committee “which is not a problem in this town,” said Brusch, whose last piece of advice to the group is “stay within your budget!”

“The first reason is credibility,” said Brusch, as the cost of the construction “will be a huge nut for the town to crack” which will be easier to do if the committee can demonstrate that a new high school “is not a Christmas tree with everything below.” 

Both Brusch and Town Administrator David Kale emphasized that any final dollar figure and project timeline will be set only after the schematic designs are complete. But Brusch did say the long advertised amount of $100 million was used by town departments as “a placeholder” with a more realistic figure about 50 percent higher. 

Town Election 2016: Paolillo Retains Selectmen Seat; Prestwich, Bicer on Schools, 18-Year-Old Tops Town Meeting Ballot

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Photo: Supporters of top vote collector Dan Vernick on Election Day in Belmont.

Mark Paolillo will be returning for a third (and final) three-year term on the Belmont Board of Selectmen as he easily beat back a spirited campaign from political novice Alexandra Ruban in the 2016 Belmont Town Election held on Tuesday, April 5.

Paolillo received 2,432 votes to Ruban’s 1,360, from voters in the eight precincts in town to secure the victory on a day when 3,907 voters, 22.6 percent of all registered voters, took the time to make it to the polls. Paolillo won all but one precinct – falling behind Ruban by five votes, 165-160 in seven – while more than making up that difference by winning overwhelmingly in his home district, in Precinct 8, by more than 250 votes (438-185).

Obtain the unofficial results at the Town Clerk’s Web page here. 

In the contested school committee race, first-timers Murat Bicer and Andrea Prestwich secured three-year terms finishing first and second with 1,959 and 1,931 votes. They outlasted Kimberly O’Mahony, who come in with 1,662 votes in a tight race for the seats vacated by long-time members Laurie Slap and current school committee member Elyse Shuster, who returns for a single year position, finishing the term of Laurie Graham. While Prestwich won half of the precincts, Bicer (who won three with O’Mahony winning her home precinct, the 4th, overwhelmingly) was always just a few votes from her total, losing three precincts (2, 3 and 5) by a total of 16 votes. 

For the race to fill the three-year-term on the Housing Authority, well-known Belmontian Tomi Olson defeated Paul Rickter by more than 150 votes out of 3,200 cast, 1,680 to 1,523. 

Over on the Town Meeting side of the ballot, the top story is 18-year-old Daniel Vernick (Belmont High ’15) who not only topped the vote in Precinct 1 with 339 cast; he received the most votes of any Town Meeting candidate running. Vernick, Yale ’19, ran an impressive campaign using social media, local contacts and going door-to-door to win his seat in the town’s legislative branch, saying he would bring “my [BHS] classmates’ perspective both internally within the school administration and externally through the town.” No one should be surprised by Vernick’s enthusiastic campaign, having started his activism as a 7th-grade middle school student calling for the passage of a Prop. 2 1/2 override in 2010. 

Five incumbents did not retain their seats including a pair in both precincts 1 and 6, while new members will be taking their place in the 290 member body including Kristen Zecchi in 1, Michael Chesson in Precinct 4, Elizabeth Lipson (with an impressive fifth place) and Katherine Gardner Poulin-Kerstien, and Gi Hyun Yoon-Huang in 8. 

And over in the “couples district,” Precinct 4 is sending three sets of married couples, the Flewellings (Sheila topped her husband, David, 205-192), long-time town meeting member Kevin Cunningham just got by his wife, newly-elected Lisa Gibalerio, by one-vote and Sandra Occhino was 14 votes ahead of her husband, John.

And finally, Warren Committee Chair Michael Libenson is back in Town Meeting representing his home Precinct 1 after being voted off the body a few years back, essentially for not responding to the questioner from the Belmont League of Women Voters guide. And School Committee member Susan Burgess-Cox successfully changed precincts now representing Precinct 2 for the next two years.

ZBA Denies Developer Vote To Build ‘Boutique’ Hotel on Pleasant and Brighton

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Photo: The Zoning Board of Appeals voting to deny vote on hotel proposal.

For the second time this year, the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals denied special permits which would have allowed the construction of a multimillion-dollar development on two lots at the intersection of Pleasant Street and Brighton Avenue.

This latest denial occurred Monday night, April 4, for the renovation of the two-building, two-story structure at 334 Pleasant St. – the former Mini Mart convenience store and offices – into a boutique hotel consisting of 19 guest rooms, a cafe for guests, a fitness room, a business center and offices on the 14,400 sq.-ft. site. 

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The ZBA Monday voted 3-2 not to even bring the five permits sought by Waltham developer Michael Columba before the board for discussion. Chair Eric Smith said the board did not have the authority to move the waivers forward since the town’s zoning bylaws don’t explicitly mention “hotels.” as an acceptable application.

“There is nothing in the bylaws that says a hotel can go anywhere in Belmont because there is no reference to a hotel use so how can we even hear arguments for the special permits,” said Smith.

The board dismissed the claim by Robert Levy, an attorney with Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott representing Columba, that the zoning bylaw’s parking requirements – which does briefly refers to a “hotel” – suggests the development’s “impacts” were similar to retail and service uses that are allowed at the site with a special permit.

“In my view, the mention of a hotel in the parking requirements was simply an error made at the time the bylaw was approved,” said Smith.

Not all the members held the same view as Smith as Associate Member John McManus said he “hates to see all these opportunities get squandered.”

While “disappoint,” Waltham developer Michael Columba said he was “OK” with the decision.

“I’ve always said that if the town did not want [a hotel], I have to put the building to good use with whatever tenants I can get,” Columba said, which will likely include a convenience store, garage and offices which are deemed “as of right” under the zoning bylaw and does not require town approval.

“I have to move on this project in a few months,” said Columba, who purchased the site in September 2015 for $1.9 million. 

Monday’s decision follows the rejection on Jan. 11 of a proposed 3,500 sq.-ft. Dunkin’ Donut franchise and retail space across Brighton from Columba’s property. The landowners and franchise, the Leo family who operates nearly 20 donut shops in Massachusetts and Florida, has suggested appealing the 3-2 vote denying them permits to renovate a former gas station and garage it purchased for $1 million in 2014. 

These latest board decisions have led some residents to complain that the ZBA is contributing to what many views as a negative business climate in Belmont, where the needs of commerce are pushed aside for those of residential housing.

Board members rejected the notion it is feeding the perception of an anti-business bias in town, saying it only follows what the Town Meeting – the legislative branch of town governance – has approved.

“In my view, we are trying to apply the bylaws which have been determined by Town Meeting what should be allowed and … if it turns out, in our opinion, it’s not, we are following [Town Meeting’s] edicts,” said Smith.

“This board definitely does not have an anti-business motivation,” said member Nicholas Iannuzzi, noting the ZBA approved “a ton of businesses along South Pleasant Street using the same bylaws which are on the books today.”

“But if something doesn’t fit within the zoning bylaws, then we don’t have much choice,” said Iannuzzi.

Changes to zoning laws would start at the Planning Board who would create a new bylaw before presenting it before Town Meeting for a vote. A current example is the rewriting of zoning language placing limits on the height and mass of new residential construction in the neighborhoods surrounding Grove Street playground.

But even if Town Meeting introduces hotel use under the bylaw, Columba is not interested in a do-over.

“No, I am not coming back for a hotel. That’s done. It’s no longer an option,” he said 

Hotel Proposal Hopes Third Time the Charm Before Zoning Board of Appeal

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Photo: A rendering of the proposed Belmont Inn Suites at the corner of Pleasant and Brighton streets.

“Some conjurers say that number three is the magic number,” wrote Charles Dickens and Waltham developer Michael Columba hopes his third time before the Zoning Board of Appeals is a magical one as he one again presents his proposal to build a small hotel at the base of Belmont Hill.

It’s expected the Board will take a vote tonight, Monday, April 4, on Columba’s attempt to secure five special permits which will allow the construction of a 19-unit “European-style boutique hotel” at the corner of Brighton Avenue and Pleasant Street at the location of the now vacant Mini-Mart convenience store.

And there is every reason to think that the hotel has a better than average chance to pass board muster as the five members have asked Columba and his architect, former Belmont Selectman Andy Rojas, twice to return with greater detail and data on what are standard technical issues – sound levels of air conditioning, lighting, trash collection – that a commercial real estate development is required to present. 

If there is one issue that could derail Columba’s plans to bring to Belmont the first hotel in more than century it would come from ZBA Chair Eric Smith’s quiry on  just how a hotel fits within the town’s bylaws. As there is no mention of hotels in the table of uses in the zoning documents, “the closest … is apartments which are a prohibited use in [this zoning district],” Smith said at the previous meeting in March and February.

In March, Columba’s team made the connection the zoning bylaw’s parking requirements – which does briefly refers to hotel use – suggests a hotel would be similar to a daycare center or a catering business, retail and service uses that are allowed at the site with a special permit.

The project would involve renovating the two-building, two-story structure at 334 Pleasant St. to open a boutique hotel consisting of 19 guest rooms, a cafe for guests, a fitness room, a business center and management offices on the 14,400 sq.-ft. site. 

Columba, who is head of a construction company that specializes in building airport control towers and other aviation infrastructure, built his first hotel, the Crescent Suite Hotel in Waltham and is preparing to construct a multi-level hotel on the foot of the Charles River on Moody Street.

Letter to the Editor: Vote for Burgess-Cox for Precinct 2 Town Meeting

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Photo: Vote on April 5. 

To the editor:

Belmont voters should head to the polls on April 5. Those in Precinct 2 should vote for me, Susan Burgess-Cox, for Town Meeting Member.   

I grew up on Lawrence Lane and moved to Radcliffe Road earlier this year after living on Hull Street and serving as a Town Meeting member in Precinct 4. I am currently a member of the School Committee and the Capital Budget Committee. My five-year-old twins, Maggie and Matthew, are in Kindergarten at the Butler School and will be enrolling at Winn Brook in the fall.    

Over the years, I have served Belmont as a member of the Disability Access Commission, the Senior Center Building Committee, Precinct 4 Town Meeting Member, the Wellington PTO and the Butler PTA. As a current School Committee and Capital Budget Committee member, I am working to address financial and policy issues related to increased enrollment in the schools and the capital needs of the town. Like many towns, Belmont faces challenges that require thoughtful planning. I would like to continue to address these challenges not only as a member of the School Committee but also as a Town Meeting member representing Precinct 2.

I would appreciate your vote on April 5.

Susan Burgess-Cox

Radcliffe Road