Photo:
Due to the pending snow storm, the following town services will be closing early today, Monday, Feb. 8:
Photo: You could be towed.
The Belmont Police has announced a snow emergency parking ban on all roads and municipal and school parking lots beginning at 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 8.
The ban will last until 6 a.m., Tuesday morning, Feb. 9.
Vehicles parked on the side of the road or in the lots are in violation of the ban and will be ticketed and possibly towed at the owner’s expense.
For additional updates and storm resources, visit www.belmont-ma.gov/snow
Photo: Anne Mahon taking out nomination papers from the Town Clerk’s Office last week.
With only eight days remaining for nomination papers to be returned to the Town Clerk’s Office, it appears that potential races for several town-wide elected offices are starting to take shape, according to information from Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.
Residents taking out and those returning nomination papers (in bold) include (incumbents in italics):
Selectmen (elect one member for three years)
School Committee (elect two members for three years, one for one year)
Library Trustee (elect two members for three years)
Housing Authority (elect one member for five years and one member for three years)
There are some interesting match-ups in the offing. For the Housing Authority (which is, like all town offices, non-partisan) there is a potential for a blue/red confrontation with Town Republican Olson vs. Bernie Sanders supporter Mahon with perennial candidate Sullivan in the mix.
For Selectman, incumbent Mark Paolillo, who is seeking a third term, could be facing business consultant Alexandra Ruban. But in a brief conversation, Ruban isn’t actually committed to turning in the nomination papers although she said, “I have concerns how the town is run.”
And how are these for candidates for the two three-year seats (incumbent Shuster said she’s running for the one-year term) on the school committee: A venture capitalist (Bicer), a Harvard astrophysicist (Prestwich), a former John Hancock employee who is now a child care provider (O’Mahony) and a professor of Arabic and French (Abdelghany). This could be a lineup of a TED Talk Belmont.
Nomination papers must be returned by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16, in order for residents to be included on the April 2016 Town Election Ballot.
Photo: It will Town Moderator Mike Widmer’s (left) decision to postpone Monday’s Special Town Meeting.
The possibility of difficult traveling conditions and limited parking at the Chenery Middle School could put on hold Belmont’s Special Town Meeting scheduled to convene Monday night, Feb. 8. at 7 p.m.
With a Winter Storm Warning in effect for Eastern Massachusetts for all-day Monday and into Tuesday morning, Town Clerk Ellen Cushman has been in contact with Town Moderator Michael Widmer to advise him of state law regarding postponing Town Meeting due to inclement weather.
A new Massachusetts General Law from 2015 now allows the town moderator to declare “a continuation” of town meeting to a later date – within 14 days – after consultation with local public safety officials and members of the board of selectmen.
“Mike is the one who will make the choice tomorrow [Monday],” said Cushman. “We will be in touch with Town Meeting Members and media tomorrow” after a decision is made, she said.
Even if the meeting is “postpone,” Widmer and Cushman must physically make their way to the Chenery Middle School – the site of the special Town Meeting – for the 7 p.m. “call the meeting,” so they can then vote to “recess” to a date certain.
Monday’s meeting is to discuss and vote on a new regional agreement with Minuteman Tech and vote to create a building committee for the high school renovation and new construction.
Photo: Chris Starr before the Planning Board.
A day after the developer of the troubled Cushing Village project came before a skeptical and non-committal Belmont Planning Board requesting yet another multi-month extension to close on an important town-owned parking lot, the chair of the Belmont Board of Selectmen said a sudden change in the developer’s financial team will now “certainly necessitate a new review by the Board of Selectmen of how viable his financing and financial arrangement is.”
Speaking before the Warrant Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 3, Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady said developer Chris Starr’s acknowledgment that industry leader Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers is no longer involved with the project to provide a significant portion of financing “is troubling that it happened so late in process,” Baghdady told the Belmontonian after the meeting.
The board will next meet on Monday, Feb. 22 when they will convene with Liz Allison, chair of the Planning Board, to discuss the on-going issues concerning Cushing Village.
Despite Starr initial attempt to purchase the municipal parking lot six months ago, “the selectmen have take the position that we will not tender the deed (to the lot) selling him the parking lot unless the closing takes place at the same time contemporaneously with his loan financing is approved,” said Baghdady, referring to construction financing from its lead lender, Wells Fargo.
Only when Starr has the approximately $50 million construction loan in his hands, “that is when we will feel secure … and then we will record a land development agreement,” said Baghdady, who was Planning Board Chair when it approved the special permit allowing Starr to begin construction and purchase the parking lot adjacent to Trapelo Road.
In addition to a possible new round of financial reviews from the selectmen, the project faces a looming selectmen-imposed expiration date of March 27 for the option on the purchase and sale of the parking lot.
“Remember, they were given two years to complete the P&S and that deadline is less than two months from now,” said Baghdady of Smith Legacy, which was selected 32 months ago to create a 164,000 sq.-ft. three building multi-use development in the heart of Cushing Square.
Baghdady’s comments came after Starr, the head of Smith Legacy Partners, requested a four-month extension from the Planning Board to purchase a municipal parking lot that he in the past said is the project’s lynchpin.
Telling the Planning Board he believes he now has a clearer path to obtaining construction financing, Starr said his firm should be signing an agreement within 60 days, four months at the latest.
Starr’s request was set aside on Tuesday, Feb. 2 by Allison who noted that her board could not grant the extension – which would move the deadline to the first week of June – until the Selectmen approved extending the purchase and sale agreement in which the developer would purchase the lot for $850,000.
For the past year, the developer has been paying the town a monthly penalty of $30,000 fine to allow him to keep his option on the P&S. Baghdady said Smith Legacy has turned more than $600,000 in penalties. Once a P&S is signed, the town will return half of the penalty to Smith Legacy.
The concern emulating from the two town boards was when they learned that a major source of mid-level financing left the development.
When asked by the Planning Board member Raffi Manjikian the status of Cornerstone, Starr said the project’s “mezzanine” lender had left the team since it was “not playing nicely in the sandbox” with lead lender Well Fargo. Cornerstone – an industry leader in secondary commercial financing – was prepared to provide $14 million in financing to the project.
In real estate finance, developers use mezzanine loans to secure secondary financing for their projects where the primary mortgage or construction loan equity requirements are larger than 10 percent.
In its place, Starr said the Marlton, NJ-based Micheals Development Company will bring eight percent equity financing to the project. Starr said the company will “drop in a considerable investment into Cushing Village” as well as bringing strong banking relationships that will allow the project to move “towards a closing.”
Starr also admitted that Micheals will offer its “executional [sic] capabilities on the financial front, construction management, and lease” operations that the current team and he don’t have.
We want someone who has been there, done that and has done it around the country very successfully,” said Starr.
Micheals is well-known in real estate circles as one of the nation’s top developers and owners of affordable housing. It has developed more than 50,000 units since 1973 and is the top private-sector affordable housing owner in the country, with more than 340 properties in 33 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
It is likely Micheals was brought onto the team from previous work it had with Cambridge-based Urban Spaces, which partnered with Starr nearly a year ago to jump-start the long-stalled project.
In 2014, Urban Spaces and Michaels were involved in a 50/50 partnership to build a five-story, 160,000 sq.-ft. apartment complex at 159 First St. in Kendall Square. It included 115-unit apartments with commercial space on the first floor along with underground parking, “the same program we’d be executing at Cushing Village,” said Starr.
But any arrangement remains stalled as Starr finds himself facing ever increasing demands from all sides, highlighted by the requirement from his lenders that he secures at minimum three leases to occupy the project’s 38,000 sq.-ft retail space.
So far, the project has two firm leases with one national company and a “bar.” Critical for Starr is that the team’s “close to finalizing” the lease for an anchor tenant. But Starr is not longer saying the anchor will be a food market as he has expressed in the past.
Starr remains confident in his project and the town’s continued support for his effort.
“They see what we are committed to bringing to the community, and that is a great commercial center,” he said.
Photo: Laurie Slap.
After serving two terms on the Belmont School Committee – including two years as its chair – Laurie Slap believes it’s a good moment to exit, stage left.
“I’ve had a fabulous six years on the committee and that’s the right amount of time,” said Slap, who announced Tuesday night, Feb. 2, after the Belmont School Committee meeting that she was “retiring” from the committee when her term expires in April.
Slap, who came to the board in 2010 after leading the effort to pass the debt exclusion for the Wellington Elementary, said one of her highlights from her tenure as chair was passing the $4.5 million Prop. 2 1/2 override in April 2015 that provided the school district with the necessary funds to meet the challenges of exploding district enrollment.
“[The committee] was so excited to make the case that the schools needed resources and the override passing with the margin it did was a big one,” the Long Avenue resident said.
The other high-water mark was updating the district’s statement of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to renovate and add new construction to Belmont High School. Those efforts came to fruition last week when the MSBA selected Belmont to begin the process of modernizing the nearly 50-year-old school. Slap was in attendance with Superintendent John Phelan and Belmont High Principal Dan Richards when the announcement was made by the MSBA in Boston.
“That’s a nice way to wrap up my time here,” she said.
Slap noted that with her and member Laurie Graham’s departure late last year in addition to Elyse Shuster’s decision to give up her full-term seat to run to complete the one year remaining in Graham’s term, there are two three-year seats vacant on the committee to be filled in April and no incumbent running to retain a current position.
As of Thursday, Feb. 4, only one resident has taken out nomination papers for the two seats.
“[The School Committee] is a fabulous group and everyone who is associated with it, from the administration to the teachers, the students and parents,” said Slap.
“I highly recommend anyone who is looking to get involved with the town to consider running,” she said.
Photo: Voting in Belmont.
Belmont voters will cast their first ballot in 2016 Election Cycle on Tuesday, March 1 in the Presidential Primary Election. But just because you’re a registered voter doesn’t mean you can take any ballot that’s available.
Ellen Cushman, Belmont’s Town Clerk, reminds residents the deadline to register to vote in the Presidential Primary is Wednesday, Feb. 10. The Town Clerk’s office is open daily 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will remain open until 8 p.m. on Feb. 10 for walk-in voter registration.
Because March 1 is a primary election, a voter who is a member of one of the four Massachusetts political parties – Democratic, Republican, Green-Rainbow and United Independent Party – can only vote with that party’s ballot. A Democrat cannot take a Republican ballot, and a Republican cannot take a Democratic one.
Feb. 10 is also the deadline for registered voters who wish to change their party enrollment either to another party or to “unenrolled,” which is commonly referred to as “independent.” This should not be confused with the United Independent Party (UIP); a party that will have ballots available but with no candidates printed on them.
While “unenrolled” voters or voters enrolled in political designations – let’s say the Pirate or Pizza parties – can ask for any party ballot on Primary Day, voters registered in UIP will NOT be eligible to take a Democratic, Republican or Green-Rainbow ballot.
And it’s likely some Belmont residents may have inadvertently joined UIP as nearly 50 voters are registered as members of this fairly obscure outfit.
“With spirited contests in both parties, pervasive advertising and intense coverage in early primary states, some voters may want to vote for a candidate in a different party from the one they are registered in now,” said Cushman.
Residents who are United States citizens, reside in Massachusetts, and who will be at least 18 years old on or before March 1 are eligible to register to vote. Those meeting these qualifications who have a Massachusetts Driver’s License can submit their registration online. Those registering by mail should have their form hand-canceled by the Post Office to ensure it is postmarked before the deadline.
To find information about your current voter registration, visit the Massachusetts Secretary of State office or visit the Town Clerk’s web page, (and select Town Clerk/Elections: Register) to vote or check your voter status.
Photo: Belmont Town Meeting.
Have you ever said, “There ought to be a law in this town!
Here’s your chance to do just that.
The town warrant – the document that calls for the annual Town Meeting which Board of Selectmen voted to approve at last night’s Selectmen’s meeting – will be “open” from Feb. 1 to Feb. 29 for residents who wish to add their own article to be heard and voted on by the 290-member Town Meeting in May.
“Citizens are welcomed to submit petitions,” said Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.
Under Massachusetts law, residents may place articles before the annual Town Meeting without approval by the Selectmen by petitioning the Town Clerk to insert the article into the warrant. Officially, it only requires ten signatures on the petition from residents to secure a place on the warrant although Cushman recommends 15 to be on the safe side.
While not all petitions are successful, a good portion succeeded to become bylaws. In the past few years, citizen’s petitions on banning smoking in town playgrounds, combining school and town building supervision, restricting yard sales and requiring residents to shovel snow from sidewalks have passed Town Meeting muster and included into the bylaws.
For those residents thinking about putting their stamp on the town’s bylaws, Cushman advises petitioners to do their homework and be prepared to work with town officials and government groups to construct their appeal to have the chance of a favorable vote before Town Meeting.
For those seeking changes to the town’s zoning bylaws should meet with the Planning Board and the town’s Office of Community Development while those looking to alter the town’s budget priorities need to get in touch with the Warrant and Capital Budget committees and the town’s financial departments, said Cushman.
With all petitions Town Counsel, George Hall will review each, to determine that they do not violate the state or US constitutions.
“So it’s important that citizens start the process earlier than later to receive advice in drafting their petitions and getting the support they need to give themselves a good chance before Town Meeting,” said Cushman.
Photo: Selectman Jim Williams.
To the Belmontonian:
Some supporters have related that the “Belmont Street” is critical of the ideas I have put forth around the town’s management of its unfunded benefits obligations because it’s unlikely that I’ll be living in Belmont in 2026. While I have no idea as to whether we’ll be living in Belmont (or even living for that matter, but let that go), we all have some idea of the magnitude of the commitments Belmont has already made and is making to its employees and retirees. Also, we have some idea of how the town is currently managing these duties and my professional opinion is that the Belmont’s current policies and strategies are no longer valid based on what we know.
More specifically:
Given the above as background and because the financial and operating challenges Belmont faces over the next decade are unprecedented, the following are proposed for our consideration:
Mark Twain said: “Never make projections, especially about the future.” It would be so nice if we could use this idea as the basis for managing our benefits obligations, but we can’t because the cost of these long term commitments can be readily estimated as committed and they need to be funded annually with present value funding. If not, Belmont will end up with enormous obligations payable as we go forward, and this debt will beggar our operating, capital, and financial capabilities.
It’s simply not fair to future Belmont generations which bring me back to the opening remarks of this opinion. It may be that the town might be better off if we all assume that we are not going to be around in 2026 because it draws attention to how unpredictable the future is and the need to take care of today’s business today.
Jim Williams
Belmont Selectman, Town Meeting Member