Letter To The Editor: Accomplishments, Priorities Of Belmont’s Economic Development Committee

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Small business revival in Belmont Center is a priority of Belmont’s Economic Development Committee

To the editor:

As Co-Chair of Belmont’s Economic Development Committee alongside Katherine Venzke, I am pleased to share a brief overview of our accomplishments this past year with the greater Belmont community. 

2022-23 Accomplishments

Over this past year, I am proud to report that the EDC has made an important contribution. 

Last spring and summer, the EDC implemented a $25,000 Wayfinding and Branding Design grant through a dedicated working group and critical community input most notably by third-generation Belmontian and Town Meeting Member Allison Lenk and Boston-based design studio Favermann Designs. Our process resulted in the Select Board approving the Belmont Gardenia flower design. Mark Favermann – who has worked with 40-plus committees on branding and wayfinding design – described our process as “one of the best examples that really connects to the community and the town’s history in a very natural and authentic way.” The EDC remains fully committed to implementing the design on the Trapelo Corridor and eventually across all of Belmont.  

Second, through a designated state surplus appropriation of $100,000, the EDC successfully designed and advocated a Belmont Small Business Grant program to the Select Board. Ten businesses were eventually awarded $10,000 by our state representatives, state Sen. Will Brownsberger, state Rep. Dave Rogers, the Select Board, Venzke, and myself.  

Third, the EDC has also worked to improve communication and networking among local business leaders. We hosted a small business networking event last fall and will do another in the next month or two. We increased our committee membership from seven to nine and have also worked diligently with other town committees, boards, and Belmont residents to bring the voice of economic development across various town initiatives.  

2023-24 Committee Priorities

However, we understand there remains much to do over this next year and beyond. While empty storefronts are being filled by remarkably persistent and talented local business owners, including Café Vanak on Belmont Road, rated as one of the world’s best restaurants by Condé Nast Traveler, Belmont can and must make the permitting process for local restaurants and businesses easier. We want a vibrant Leonard Street increased business at Cushing Square, and increased mixed-use development at Waverly Square. 

We are also committed to serving residents as a sounding board for ideas and suggestions. As the Collins Center Report and the recent Belmont budget summits clearly show, the town would benefit from a more robust commercial tax base over the medium and long term. Working professionals are spending more time in home offices than in pre-2020 due to the rise of hybrid work. This increases Belmont’s daytime population and local business opportunities across our three key commercial centers: Belmont Center, Cushing Square, and Wavery Square.  

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that the EDC has made significant contributions to the Belmont community this past year. Looking ahead, the Committee is committed to making the permitting process for local restaurants and businesses easier, increasing small business formation, and serving as a sounding board for ideas and suggestions from the community. We believe that a more robust commercial tax base is crucial for Belmont’s medium and long-term growth, and we will continue to work toward this goal.  

Paul Joy

Co-Chair, Economic Development Committee

Three Take Out Nom Papers For Two Open School Committee Seats; No One Pulls For Treasurer Post

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Nomination papers deadline is Feb. 14

Three newcomers have started the process of running for two School Committee seats in which both incumbents have chosen not to seek re-election.

Two-term member Kate Bowen is not seeking a third on the committee, according to an email Bowen sent to the Belmontonian. Bowen would not explain why she would not be returning. While incumbent Micheal Crowley has taken out nomination papers, he told the Belmontonian he would not turn in the nomination papers when qualified candidates run for both seats open this election cycle. Crowley joined the board after winning a rump election in 2019 and was elected to a full term three-year term in 2020.

As of Friday, Feb. 3, three residents have taken out nomination papers from the Town Clerk’s office: Rachel Watson, Amy Zuccarello and Jung Yueh. So far, Yueh is the first of the three to return the necessary number of signatures to qualify for the April 4 Town Election, according to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

Yueh is a director of client services for a small Belmont software developer. Zuccarello, a partner with Sullivan & Worcester, is active with Parents of Music Students, and Watson, a Human Resources Administrator, and attorney, is the co-chair of the Belmont Special Education Parent Advisory Council (Belmont SEPAC).

Zuccarello and Yueh were two of ten candidates to apply to fill a vacant seat on the school board created by Andrea Prestwich’s resignation in Nov. 2021. Ralph Jones was selected for the post.

Those joining the committee in April will step into a budgetary tempest with the possibility of significant cuts in staff and programming and defending a major Prop 2 1/2 override.

Town-wide races

With just under ten days to return the necessary papers to have the Town Clerk, no one has taken out nomination papers for Town Treasurer despite Belmont’s long-time treasurer Floyd Carman declaring late in 2022 he would not seek re-election after 18 years on the job. The lack of potential candidates comes less than a week after a Special Town Meeting approved a ballot question on the April 4 Town Election to change the Treasurer’s position from an elected to an appointed post.

Most incumbents have taken out nomination papers in other town-wide elected positions:

  • Town Moderator Mike Widmer, first elected in 2008, has secured a place on the ballot.
  • Incumbents Kathleen Keohane and Gail Mana are seeking to fill a pair of three-year terms on the Board of Library Trustees.
  • Gloria Leipzig is running for a second five-year term on the Housing Authority.
  • Bob Reardon, Sr. – who is looking to secure another three-year term – and Pat Murphy have taken papers out to run for seats on the Board of Assessors.
  • Elizabeth Dionne has qualified for a run to succeed Adam Dash for a three-year term with the Select Board.
  • Alex Corbett, III, hopes to retain his seat on the Board of Cemetary Commissioners.
  • Long-time member and former chair of the Health Board, Donna David has yet to take out nomination papers, while Stephen Fiore, who lost a seat in 2021, has pulled papers for the one three-year seat on the board up for grabs this cycle.

The deadline to submit nomination papers to have the candidate’s name appear on the ballot is St. Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, at 5 p.m.

Special Town Meeting Places Appointed Treasurer Question On The April 4 Town Election Ballot

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Special Town Meeting approved the one article on the agenda

In an overwhelming show of support for transforming how the town runs its finances, the Belmont Special Town Meeting voted Monday, Jan. 30, to place a ballot question on the 2023 annual Town Election to convert the elected town treasurer’s post to an appointed position.

The vote – 195 yes, 52 no, with one abstention – will place before town voters at the April 4 election the opportunity to implement a major recommendation proposed by the 2022 Collins Center Report in reshaping Belmont’s fiscal structure or to retain the current framework that stretches back to the town’s founding in 1859.

On Monday, the 247 members who attended the virtual meeting expressed a clear preference for change.

“The town would be best served by being able to hire the most qualified person available, not the most popular resident who wins an election,” said Belmont Select Board Adam Dash who presented the board’s position.

In his final Town Meeting as a member of the Select Board, Dash noted the Treasurer’s position requires a state-regulated set of technical skills and experience which, by, “restricting the pool of people to just Belmont residents prevents us from casting a wide net which includes looking outside for the hire.” According to the Collins Center report, 821 Belmont residents work as financial managers in the finance and insurance industry, while Middlesex County has 40,000 in the same occupation.

Mark Paolillo, chair of the Select Board, said adopting significant change in the town’s financial management – as recommended by the Collins Center report and advised by a 2011 Division of Local Services analysis of the town – which has been hampered for years by the lack of a unified approach in the budget process.

“The town of Belmont is one of the most decentralized towns in Massachusetts … and it really diminishes our effectiveness around financial management,” said Paolillo.

The meeting also heard from Treasurer Floyd Carman, who decided not to seek re-election in April, ending 18 years in the post. Carman – who received unanimous praise from the meeting for his stellar tenure at treasurer – primarily spoke on the duties and requirements of the job. Carman did not expand on the Special Town Meeting article itself, remaining agnostic on his personal views of the article.

If voters approve the ballot question, the town will begin a process of advertising for and vetting candidates before making a selection while the Treasurer’s Office staff runs the day to day operations. If the measure fails, the person who receives the most votes, including write-ins, will serve three years as treasurer.

While state statute names the Select Board as the appointing agency, Belmont’s Town Administrators Act passed in 2014 supersedes the state law, with Town Administrator Patrice Garvin holding that responsibility.

During the 66 minutes of debate, many members supporting the article concurred with the Collins Center’s findings that Belmont needs to revamp its management structure to meet current and future budget challenges effectively.

“The town is in a financial crisis and I strongly support making this position an appointed one for all the reasons described in the Collins Center report,” said Roger Fussa, precinct 8. Speaking from the report, Fussa said effectively dealing with Belmont’s structural deficit is rooted in its financial organization. If the residents and town officials back away from the 19 Collin Center recommendations being proposed – which an appointed treasurer is considered a priority – long-term solutions “will bare little fruit,” said Fussa.

Others believed Belmont can no longer roll the dice on selecting one of the most important posts in town based on politics.

“This position is simply too important and requires too much expertise to leave up to a vote and up to chance,” said Nicole Dorn, precinct 1, who works in a financial role for a public entity. “There is an incredible amount of complexity and compliance that goes into these roles. Imagine if we got someone in this position without the skills to manage our bond rating and it tanks? That would have a greater negative impact on our town that perhaps any action taken by the Select Board or Town Administrator or even ourselves.”

While politics plays an integral and essential role in shaping Belmont’s future, Paul Joy, precinct 7, said some positions in town government require “a different set of skills and experience, a level of professionalism that simply can’t be politized.”

“It is imperative that we separate politics from the professional role in town government to ensure that our financial health remains strong and secure,” he said.

Those seeking to preserve the current elected Treasurer’s post view the proposed change as taking the resident’s voice out of the selection process. Judith Ananian Sarno, precinct 3, said “my perspective is our town officials are proposing we take the hiring decision away from the 1,000s of voters … and then want to make the change to making it a position hired by one person. In this case, the town administrator with sole authority to hire,” noted Sarno.

“[Currenty] our elected treasurer is required to be a Belmont resident and in my view, this ensures that the persons running for the office will have a commitment to serving Belmonts financial interests is not necessarily true of the professionals we hire from outside Belmont,” Sarno said.

Judith Feinleib, precinct 6, questioned the “significant unintended consequences” to the town if the Treasurer is no longer providing an independent voice on financial matters.

Feinleib argued – counter to the finding in the Collins Center report the town has too many separate financial entities – that Belmont’s “unusual but effective governmental structure” in which the elected offices such as the Select Board, Town Clerk, Assessors and Treasurer, provides a balance not just to each other, but to influential volunteer committees, ie. the Planning Board and the Warrant Committee, “on which Belmont depends for so much of the work that is needed to keep our town running.”

Feinleib said this “healthy balance” of multiple power structures will be lost if the Treasurer is made into “a mid-level appointed bureaucrat,” resulting in the volunteer committees and “our unelected town administrator … will have too much power.”

Select Board OKs Belmont Patrol Officers Contracts; All Town Employee Agreements Completed

By 1 Comment

Photo: Final contract has been signed off

The Belmont Select Board approved two Memorandum of agreement with the 50-plus member Belmont Police Patrolman’s Association on a wintery Monday night, Jan. 23, completing contracts with each of the unions representing Belmont public employees.

“All our contracts are apparently settled,” said Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s town administrator who led the negotiations for the town.

“It’s great to be finally done,” said Mark Paolillo, chair of the Select Board. “I would characterize all of our contracts as fair … to the employees and also to the town of Belmont.”

The agreements are very similar to the pair of agreements OK’d two weeks ago with the firefighters union, said Garvin. The two contracts are:

  • A two-year term from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022 with a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) of 2 percent in each year. The memorandum of agreement also includes an increase in the first responders stipend by 4.5 percent effective July 1, 2021.
  • The second agreement runs from July, 1, 2022 to June 31, 2025 with the COLA compensation at 2 percent for each of the 3 years. There is an increase for first responders stipend starting July 1, 2022. “This payment will be equal to 6 percent of the weekly base pay as well as an educational incentive for a bachelor’s degree,” said Garvin. The stipend will incrementally increase in the subsequent years, to 7 percent on July 1, 2023 and 8 percent in July, 1, 2024. Patrol officers will receive an extra dollar in their detail rate from $3.50 to $4.50, Juneteenth is added as a paid holiday, officers will receive a $2,000 Covid-19 stipend just like their firefighting brethren, and employees will receive five weeks of vacation after serving 20 years; currently to take five weeks requires 25 years of service.

Community Preservation Committee Votes Six Projects Worth $1.7 Million Forward To Town Meeting

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The Grove Street basketball court will be reconstructed as part of the $1.7 million CPC package

The town’s Community Preservation Committee is sending six applications totaling $1.7 million to the annual Town Meeting for the body’s approval in the spring.

After some wrangling and reductions in two grant amounts, the projects which won the committee’s recommendation on Wednesday, Jan. 18 are:

Each project, which has undergone five months of financial scrutiny and applicability by the committee, was approved unanimously by the six members who attended the meeting.

Passed by town voters in November 2010, Belmont raises money for its Community Preservation Fund by imposing a 1.5 percent surcharge on local real estate taxes, collecting approximately $1 million annually. Additionally, each year the state distributes limited matching funds to the towns that have passed the CPA. These funds are collected from existing fees on real estate transactions at the Registry of Deeds.

CPC Chair Elizabeth Dionne noted that for the first time in many years, the dollar amount of the grants – $1,753,343 – nearly reached this year’s available funds of $1,757,666.

A preliminary grant application for $50,000 to begin design and engineering drawings for a renovation of the Underwood Playground above the Underwood Pool was withdrawn in December when CPC members felt the project could be delayed until the next CPC cycle beginning in the summer of 2023. Dionne also pointed to advocates of a Belmont Skate Park who view the park as a possible location for its park which would require the applicant to redefine the project’s scope.

Due to rules that require the CPC to have an adequate reserve for the three CPC “buckets” – the committee funds projects in historic preservation, affordable housing, and land conservation – the CPC approved cutting the original ask for the affordable housing application and the new conservation fund by $30,000 each with the $60,000 going into the historic reserve. The two grants will revert to the initial request if current projects turn back any extra funds when they close.

In addition to the final vote, the CPC voted unanimously to establish a reserve fund, serving as an “escape hatch” for emergency, off-cycle requests; the most recent example was the Town Hall slate roof that was underfunded at its initial request and the collapse last year of the Benton Library’s chimney.

Dionne’s suggestion was for 10 percent of CPC total budget, which would be approximately $140,000, but it was reduced to $100,000.

Tuccinardi Set To Move From Assistant To Taking Reins Of Belmont’s Accounting Dept.

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Donna Tuccinardi, to be Belmont’s new town accountant

While it won’t be official until the Select Board is notified of the appointment on Monday, Jan. 23, there are some strong hints that Donna Tuccinardi will be Belmont’s next town accountant.

Such as, on the Select Board meeting agenda is an item stating Appointment of Town Accountant Donna Tuccinardi. Another is that as of Sunday, Tuccinardi had updated her Linkedin page with her new promotion.

Not that Tuccinardi selection would come as a surprise. The Belmont High grade (Class of ’90) has been the assistant accountant for the past seven and a half years. And Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, when introducing former assistant Matt Haskell as the town’s new budget analyst, said, “the one thing we’d like to do is to look for potential and growth within the town itself,” said Garvin.

Tuccinardi replaces Glenn Castro, who is returning to his home state of California.

Before moving into municipal government, Tuccinardi spent 17 years as a senior accounting manager with Five Star Quality Care, a provider of community-based services for older adults.

After graduating from BHS, Tuccinardi matriculated at Boston College, where she received a degree in management/accounting. Tuccinardi earned her MBA with a concentration in taxation in 2000 from Bentley.

A resident of Watertown, Tuccinardi is active in community service serving as a director of the Watertown Community Foundation, a PTO president, and involved in Watertown Youth Baseball.

Deadline For Cat And Dog License Registration Is March 15; It’s Easy To Do Online

By 1 Comment

Photo: Get your dog or cat license renewed.

It’s time to do the annual renewal of your dog and cat pet license to comply with the Massachusetts General Laws and Belmont General Bylaws.

And it’s so easy to do! If your pet has an up-to-date rabies vaccination currently on file with the Town Clerk, renewal of the pet license can be accomplished online in fewer than two minutes. The online convenience fee for a $12 pet license is approximately $1.22. At the homepage for the Town, www.belmont-ma.gov, select “Online Payments”, then “License my Pet online”.

First time licenses for new pets must be by paper application with the veterinarian certificate of rabies vaccination. Send the vaccination certificate to townclerk@belmont-ma.gov or via fax to 617-993-2601. The Clerk’s office will update the record and you’ll be able to license online immediately thereafter.

Pet license applications (both online renewals and fillable pdf) are available on the Town Clerk’s webpage at http://www.belmont-ma.gov/town-clerk. A paper pet license application will also be included with every census mailing to Belmont households in January.

Fees applicable to March 15

  • Spayed or neutered cats and dogs: $12 or $9 if the owner is 60 years or older.
  • Unaltered cats and dogs: $37 or $34 if the owner is 60 years or older.

Make sure you license your pet dog or cat by the March 15 deadline to avoid the significant automatic increase in fees and $50 enforcement violations.

Belmont Treasurer Carman Will Not Seek Re-election, Opens Up Vote On Appointed Post

By Leave a Comment

Photo: A 2014 photo of Town Treasurer Floyd Carman

Floyd Carman, Belmont’s long time Treasurer, announced late Friday, Dec. 30, his decision not to seek re-election to the post in the April 2023 town election.

“I am retiring and not running for re-election on April 4, 2023, as your Elected Town Treasurer and Tax Collector after 18 years on the job,” said Carman in an email to residents. “It has been a privilege and honor to serve Belmont.”

The announcement makes official what was speculated in the fall when the Select Board’s Roy Epstein revealed that Carman would not seek a seventh three year term as the town’s leading financial official. Carman would later say in November that he would decide whether to run to keep the post “sometime in the new year.”

With Carman’s decision, the Select Board will move forward with its plan to seek Town Meeting approval to restructure the Treasurer’s position from an elected position to one which is appointed by the Town Administrator. The Board is seeking to implement one of the major recommendations proposed in a report by the Collins Center for Public Management released in August 2022. The report called Belmont “one of the most decentralized town structures of its size existing in the Commonwealth” resulting in a “significant diffusion of responsibilities and authority across the executive branch.” The Center made nearly 20 recommendations including the change to an appointed treasurer to allow a more cohesive approach to budgeting and financial management.

The Special Town Meeting will be held in February for member to vote on an article to establish an appointed treasurer post. If adopted, a ballot question will be presented to voters at the Town Election. During this time, any eligible voter can run for the open post to fill the three year term. If the voters approve the appointed treasurer post, the winner in the general election will serve until the legislature approves the voters initiative which will occur in a matter of weeks. If the voters rejects the proposal, the winner will serve the three year term.

The Select Board has come out in strong support for the appointed post as have many members of the influential Warrant Committee. Additionally, Elizabeth Dionne, the sole candidate seeking to fill the seat on the Select Board held by Adam Dash who is not running for re-election, has said she supports a appointed treasurer. Critics of the change have said there are highly qualified residents who can fill the post who will then be beholden to the voters rather than a non-elected Town Administrator.

Pick Up Covid Rapid Tests and Kn95 Masks At Town Locations In Belmont

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Tests, masks and thermometers are avaliable for pick up

The Town of Belmont has rapid tests and other Health Department supplies currently available to resident for pickup. Rapid tests, Kn95 masks and a limited number of thermometers will be available while supplies last. Rapid Tests are good to use until February 2023 due to FDA extensions.

Pick Up Locations and Hours 

Belmont Health and Recreation Departments 

19 Moore Street, Homer Building 2nd Floor — Open Monday 8AM-7PM, Tuesday-Thursday 8AM-4PM and Friday 8AM-12PM

Belmont Public Library 

336 Concord Avenue — Open Monday-Wednesday 9AM-9PM, Thursday 11AM-9PM, Friday 9AM-5PM and Saturday 9AM-1PM 

Beech Street Center 

266 Beech Street — Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8AM-4PM, Tuesday 8AM-7PM 

Belmont Town Clerk

455 Concord Avenue — Open Monday 8AM-7PM, Tuesday-Thursday 8AM-4PM and Friday 8AM-12PM

Belmont Town Administrator (second floor)

455 Concord Avenue — Open Monday 8AM-7PM, Tuesday-Thursday 8AM-4PM and Friday 8AM-12PM

A Sleepy Special Town Meeting In Belmont As All Articles Pass By Wide Margins

By Leave a Comment

Photo A view of the new Belmont Public Library that will open in the fall of 2025

No controversy, no post-11 p.m. debates, and no problems.

In an efficient and timely manner, Belmont’s town legislative representatives approved five articles by a wide margin at the Fall Special Town Meeting held over two nights, November 29-30.

Not that there was any foreseen trouble from articles that included a compromised agreement on the future use of leaf blowers, three “housekeeping” financial items, and the reaffirmation of the will of the voters who passed a debt exclusion to build a new town library.

On night one of ”the special,” the body heard a proposed general bylaw to ban gasoline-powered leaf blowers. The impetus for the new regs came after residents stuck at home during the Covid pandemic began complaining to the Select Board about the noise from multiple blowers used by landscape businesses at all daytime hours, including early weekend mornings.

While initial public meetings and Select Board discussions on a bylaw pitted those residents who wanted to limit the noisy and polluting machines and small landscaping businesses who saw the ordinance hurting their bottom line, and residents who find the blowers are far more efficient than picking up a rack.

A first attempt to bring a proposed bylaw to the annual Town Meeting was scrapped as the June warrant was oversubscribed, and the wording was less than ideal. During the summer, Select Board member Roy Epstein and members of the Warrant and Energy committees brought representatives of both sides – including landscape owner Dante Muzzioli – to hammer out a compromise, allowing landscapers to continue to use the equipment until a certain date.

“If you’ve read the bylaw, you’ll see it has several provisions that seem complicated, but the overall intent is actually quite straightforward,” Epstein told the meeting.

With both sides aligned with the fact that gas-driven blowers “produce wall penetrating noise and pollution that is incredible,” according to the Energy Committee’s Claus Becker, under the bylaw, ”in a few years all the leaf blowers in town will be a lot quieter and won’t be stinking up the neighborhoods.” Becker pointed out that communities across the country have established bans on gas blowers and that California – a trendsetter for the country – is banning the sale of this equipment in the next two years.

The Warrant Committee’s Geoff Lubien detailed the provisions in the new bylaw:

  • A ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers starts in January 2026. The three-year” runway” for the end of gas blowers will correspond with technological improvements to electric-powered blowers, thus building a cushion to give homeowners time to switch. ”We feel this is a reasonable time horizon to give everyone to adjust,” said Lubien.
  • The Select Board will appoint an enforcing person. The property owner or property manager – not the operator – will be the responsible party when considering violations of the bylaw. Belmont Police Chief James McIssac believes the police should not be asking for identification from landscaping employees, many of who are undocumented workers. “I don’t want to put my officers in that situation. I don’t think that is the type of community we are,” said McIsaac.
  • A first violation will be a written warning; subsequent violations will see a citation issued.
  • Commercial landscape businesses will prohibit gas blowers at residential properties – single-family homes and condos and two to eight-unit multi-family – from May 13 to Sept. 30. ”Most noise complaints were coming from the dense residential areas,” said Lubian. The dates were chosen because grass and leave debris are the lightest and can be cleaned up with electrical blowers.
  • Commercial properties – town and public school-owned land, cemeteries, state property (such as Beaverbrook), MBTA property, churches, private schools, golf courses, and large apartment complexes such as Royal Belmont – were to be allowed to use blowers until 2026. An amendment to the article by John Robotham (Precinct 2) would add commercial properties to be added to the residential restrictions. While the amendment was not backed by the group or the Select Board, it narrowly passed by 124 to 114 with nine abstentions.
  • There will now be a limit on the number of blowers of any type used simultaneously on residential property; the number will be determined by the size of the lot. This provision will continue after gas blowers have been banned.

The debate of the amended article was lively regarding how effective the enforcement of the new bylaw will be, with a few members demanding from Epstein just how beneficial eliminating gas blowers would be to the environment and to residents hearing.

With the debate completed, the article passed 205 yes, 44 nos, and four abstentions.

On night two, Town Meeting was asked to authorize the borrowing of $34.5 million to demolish the existing building, create architectural drawings, and construct the new 42,000-square-foot structure on the current site. The library debt exclusion was passed by Belmont voters in the state election on Nov. 8 by a 1,800 vote margin.

The reason Town Meeting is required to vote on the debt exclusion that was approved by the voters is because each are “two different things, said George Hall, Belmont’s town counsel. Town Meeting is the appropriating authority to allow the town to borrow the $34.5 million while the voters approved that the principal and interest on the debt could be assessed as additional taxes over and above the level limit imposed by Prop 2 1/2. So both need to be passed to allow for the project to move forward.

The article’s presentation by Kathy Kethane, vice-chair of the Board of Library Trustees, and Clair Colburn of the Belmont Library Foundation noted that $5 million of the project’s total cost of $39.5 million would be paid for from fundraising.

With the feasibility study and schematic designs completed, the project calendar for the project is:

  • Starts immediately the design development phase in which the schematics design is refined; there will be public forums during this phase.
  • Construction documentation phase will come after the design development is complete.
  • There will be a competitive bid process for a construction firm to be hired when construction docs are complete.
  • Breaking ground will occur in the first quarter of 2024 with an 18-20 month construction period.
  • The grand opening of the new library will occur in the fall of 2025.

While most of the town meeting members expressed enthusiastic support for the article, a handful of members sought to convince their fellow legislators to spurn the will of the voters and reject the appropriation. Chief among of those members was Paul Looney (Precinct 7), who launched an 11th-hour campaign to defeat the debt exclusion. Looney did not curry the favor of the members when he suggested that most were not as informed as he was on the library’s impact to the town’s finances. (Precinct 7 voted 885 to 544 in favor of the library debt exclusion)

“Based on my personal conversation with well over 100 residents, I can tell you that non of them has a clue about the Collins’ report or the $8 million structural deficit projected for fiscal year 2024. Many are confused by what a structural deficit means. It’s easy to vote for something when you don’t know what may be lurking behind the curtin. I believe most voters fell in that catagory,” said Looney, who said library supporters used a campaign of “fear” that the current structure is a fire hazard.

Chris Grande (Precinct 1) said with the town’s current fiscal” position is “subobtionial and a plethora of other critical financial needs he would vote no. (Precinct 1 voted 901 to 594 in favor of the library). While “respecting” the large margin the library won in his own precinct and in town, Grande said the voters seemed “a bit out of touch” as there are budgetary issues that voters did to consider which he believes they didn’t when casting their ballots. They included contracts for public safety employees, the expenses of using an out-of-town rink due to the current ice skating rink breaking down, and an expected Prop 2 1/2 override in the next few years, and funding the town’s pension contribution.

“Interest rates are high. Inflation is high. We really can’t afford this,” he said in conclusion.

Most meeting members found the arguments from both Looney and Grande to be wanting. Adriana Poole (Precinct 1) said the article being voted on was not if Belmont voters were educated enough about the issues related to the library when they submitted their ballots on Nov. 8. “It’s about respecting the wishes of the voters. The trust they pit in us as their representatives to carry on this issue and finalize the project.”

Heather Brenhouse (Precinct 7) said “it’s dangerous to present our voters as being uneducated on these issues” as her interaction with residents found them to be informed and engaged in the debate. “We’re either going to be throwing good money after bad if we delay this project or we’re going to invest in our future like the voters have already voted for.”

The vote to approve the article comfortably received more than the 2/3 needed for passage: 228-27-8

On Tuesday, the special meeting was suspended to allow a special town meeting within the special town meeting – ”Special Town Meeting 2” – to vote on three financial articles which were seen as housekeeping

  • Article 1: Raise and appropriate $284,000 to add to the Fiscal Year ’23 Recreation Department budget. This was an example of having to spend money to make money: Since the easing of the Covid-19 restrictions, enrollment in Rec Department programs and sports has grown exponentially. The funds will allow the department to hold the programs this fiscal year, resulting in a spike in fee revenue. Passes 235-5-8.
  • Article 2: Reduce the town’s fiscal ’23 budget’s principal debt and interest line item from $15,778,851 to $15,243,002. This is an oops article; the town miscalculated its original budget.This technical change will lower taxes, so it passed 248-0-1.
  • Article 3: An off-cycle Community Preservation Committee appropriation; the committee approved a total of $266,300 to repair Town Hall’s slate roof. This has been an ongoing issue for the CPC.