Paolillo: ‘Seriously Leaning Towards’ Selectman Re-election Run

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Photo: Mark Paolillo.

Belmont Selectman Mark Paolillo said he “is seriously leaning towards” running to retain his seat on the Board of Selectmen as his term will expire in April 2016.

“At some point, I will need to make a definite decision but as of now, I’m heading in that direction,” said the Pilgrim Road resident. 

Paolillo said he was not ready to commit fully to the race due to “changes in the circumstances of my family.” Paolillo’s father, former Cambridge Police Chief Anthony Paolillo, died this summer, and he is assisting his mother after her husband’s death. 

“I just want to wait to see how things are in the next month,” he said.

Paolillo pointed to several unfinished issues facing the town, such as a number of major building projects – a new High School, police station and Department of Public Works facility – as well as the implementation of a community path, that he would like to see either decided or “directed towards completion” as reasons for seeking re-election. 

Paolillo said if he does win a third election, “it will be my final term. There needs to be new blood coming on the board.” 

Paolillo, a financial executive, won his first term in April 2010 by handily defeating incumbent Daniel LeClerc and fellow challenger Anne Mahon. He ran unopposed in 2013. 

Seven Projects Make Initial Cut for $1M in Community Preservation Funding

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Photo: Clay Pit Pond

Repairing another of town’s tennis courts, installing a walking path and revitalizing a well-known park are some of the seven projects that past muster with the Community Preservation Committee after it announced which applications were approved in the preliminary round of assessments.

The seven applications moving forward in the CPC process are:

Accepted:

  • $75,000 Town Hall Exterior Railings Improvements (Gerald R. Boyle, Town of Belmont – Facilities Dept.)
  • $50,000 Conservation Fund (Mary Trudeau, Agent, Belmont Conservation Commission
  • $250,000 Construction of Intergenerational Walking Path at Clay Pit Pond, (Mary Trudeau, Agent Belmont Conservation Commission)
  • $150,000 PQ Park Revitalization (Julie Crockett, Friends of PQ Park)
  • $325,000 Winn Brook Tennis Courts (Jay Marcotte, Town of Belmont – DPW)
  • $100,000 Preserving Belmont’s Original Vital Records (Ellen Cushman, Town of Belmont – Town Clerk)
  • $60,000 Digitizing Belmont’s Town Meeting Records (Ellen Cushman, Town of Belmont – Town Clerk)

The only project that did not make the initial cut was the largest request this year: $1 million to renovate Hittinger Field – which is adjacent to Belmont High School – from a request from Belmont Youth Baseball and Softball Association, which is adjacent to Belmont High School, by replacing the grass field with a Turf surface. The rejection came after it was determined artificial turf is prohibited under Massachusetts General Law from receiving Community Preservation Act funds.

The remaining applicants are now required to submit more detailed proposals to the committee. A final committee recommendation on funding any of the remaining projects will take place early in 2015. The 2016 annual Town Meeting will have the final say on allocating CPA funds.

The Community Preservation Act was adopted by Belmont voters in 2010. The fund is financed by property tax surcharges and annual distributions received from the State “Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund.”

Ten Days of Paving On Trapelo Road Begins Monday, Oct. 19

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Photo: Road work on Trapelo Road will last one week. 

It’s official; the town administrator’s office has released the schedule for the night time work on Trapelo Road as part of the $17.1 million state-financed Trapelo Road/Belmont Street Reconstruction Project.

Beginning Monday night, Oct. 19, Newport Construction will be paving the main thoroughfare.  Weather permitting, work is expected to be completed by Wednesday, Oct. 28 and will occur between 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The paving will occur from Mill Street to Cushing Square. 

Access to driveways along the work area may be restricted so residents should park on side streets away from Trapelo Road if you need access to your vehicle overnight.

Residents with questions should contact the office of Community Development at 617-993-2665.

Be Well Belmont Holding Health and Activity Dialogue Sunday

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Photo: Be Well Belmont logo.

Residents and families are invited on Sunday, Oct. 18, to attend a community-wide dialogue on healthy eating and staying active sponsored by Be Well Belmont.

The free event, which is open to everyone in town, will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Beech Street Center.

The event will provide the public an opportunity to share their thoughts on making Belmont a healthier community.

Be Well Belmont’s overriding goal – which is a project of the Belmont Food Collaborative – is to promote healthy eating and being active in Belmont through education, programming and improving access to opportunities for the whole community. The group collaborates with town government, schools and community groups.

Early successes include:

  • A screening of the documentary “Fed Up” in March.
  • Funding the crossing flag pilot program started by Safe Routes to Schools.
  • A successful series of cooking classes are focusing on healthy recipes with locally produced food.
  • Collaborating on a National Food Day initiative.

A community needs survey is underway:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/bewellbelmont

For more information about Be Well Belmont, visit its website.

Trash Talk: Belmont’s Heading For a New Way on Take Out The Garbage

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Photo:

Belmont has a standing appointment each week with a town service it can not do without. 

And it’s not the Board of Selectmen. 

Town trash collection impacts every visitor, resident, business, and school in Belmont, and is as essential as water and electricity. The prospect of dealing with one’s garbage as some communities require – bagging, storing and hauling to a waste station – is a non-starter for many modern suburbanites.

So the early morning cacophony of squealing brakes and large compactors crushing tons of garbage arrives as sweet music to the ears of Belmontians.

According to town officials, residents and businesses are happy with the service – as long as the containers don’t fly off on blustery Spring days.

But this familiar service is likely to change, possibly significantly, as Belmont’s current trash and recycling collection contract with Somerville-based F W Russell and Son expires in June 2016.

In a presentation to the board by Department of Public Works Director John Marcotte and the town’s recycling coordinator, Mary Beth Calnan, the board – which will approve the subsequent contract – will need to be cognizant of changes in the trash collection industry while encouraging the public to embrace the new features.

“We want to do this in a way that people feel educated and that it’s not rushed,” said Belmont Town Administrator David Kale who with Marcotte is leading the town’s effort on crafting a new contract. 

“If you tell people ‘You’re going to pay money for … an extra container or there [are] no more bulky items, I think that’s a change that you have to let people know about, so it’s not as painful [if it happens,]” said Kale. 

The Selectmen appear willing to take an extended and deliberate approach before signing a new contract.

“Any changes will be a big deal for folks,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo. 

“The radical changes that could take place years from now in terms of automated waste collection where the industry is going, I get it,” said Paolillo.

“Getting input today we could somehow inform our next contractor we may want to change it a little bit,” said Paolillo.

One approach the Selectmen is gravitating towards is extending the current contract with Russell – one of the largest residential trash collector in Massachusetts – by a year or 18 months to allow “our public process” to be completed, said Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady. 

The current $1.07 million contract calls for weekly collection of an unlimited number of barrels or bulk items – you take it to the curb, they’ll take it away – Monday through Thursday from just about 10,000 locations around Belmont. While Russell will take just about everything, appliances ($20) and anything with a CRT monitor ($15) cost extra, said Marcotte.

According to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, Belmont is not such a trashy locale; at three-quarters of a ton of trash produced per household annually, the “Town of Homes” is well below the state’s goal of one ton of garbage annually from each pickup point.

Belmont compares nicely to neighboring towns such as Lexington with a five bag/barrel limit producing .74 tons of trash per household, Bedford with a single, 48-gallon barrel limit generating just under .9 tons. Only Arlington, with its three, 32-gallon barrel restriction, produces less at .63 tons.

On the recycling end, Belmont uses a biweekly dual stream recycling system separating paper and containers, at a yearly cost of $376,285. The material is sold in the commodity market with Belmont’s “cut” already calculated in the contract, said Marcotte.

Belmont’s yard waste is collected biweekly curbside 36 weeks. When the leaves begin falling, it is collected weekly.

While Belmont’s current garbage and recycling collection agreement has worked well, significant changes occurring in the removal industry will bring changes in collecting trash, according to Marcotte.

The first is automated collection in which a truck with a side arm picks up barrels and dumps the contents into a hopper. Firms like this mechanism as it reduces the number of employees and their associated costs.

But there is a large investment upfront for the town in purchasing the “carts” each household and business will be required to use.

Also, using carts will end resident’s unlimited trash collection and the free removal of “bulky” items that would require a traditional garbage truck.

The second is single-stream recycling in which a single container holds all materials. The upside is that it makes recycling much easier and in turn Belmont’s low recycling rate will increase.

The downside, according to communities using this system, is that many residents will put regular trash into the recycling bins, reducing net recycling percentages. And costs will jump as processors charge a “tip” fee based on what it takes in.

According to Marcotte, Belmont’s current dual stream system is “cleaner” (especially with paper products) which is more valuable to processors as it can be sold as commodities to large-scale recyclers in locations as far away as China.

Marcotte said the town will need to begin the process in the next month “because [the expiration date of the old contract] will be before us before you know it.”

Yet Baghdady said “the community needs to participate in the process of making a big change in the way trash is disposed [of].”  

Final Nighttime Paving Schedule Set from Waverley to Cushing Sq

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Photo: Nighttime paving from Waverley to Cushing squares begins Oct. 19.

The western half of the $17.1 million Trapelo Road/Belmont Street Reconstruction Project is scheduled to be completed just before Halloween, according to town officials, nearly two years to the day since Massachusetts Department of Transportation-financed construction began in 2013.

After work crews tear up and place an intermediate surface in Cushing Square, the final pavement will by laid overnight beginning on Oct. 19.

The night work will begin at 8 p.m. and conclude at 5 a.m., according to town officials. Residents along Trapelo Road will be informed of the construction schedule.

The time line for the work is:

  • Tuesday, Oct 13: Start milling the remaining section of Trapelo and Common Street at Cushing Square.
  • Thursday, Oct. 15: Paving intermediate course on Trapelo at Cushing Square.
  • Monday, Oct. 19: Night paving begins at Mill Street continuing throughout the week to complete final paving at the east side of Cushing Square
  • Monday, Oct. 26: Final pavement markings to begin.

Work continues along the eastern/Belmont Street portion of the two-mile project, with a spring 2016 completion date.

Light Board Approves New Solar Power Policy; Tariffs Run Until 2017

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Photo: The Working Group shaking hands with the Light Board after turning in their recommendations. 

On a dank and rainy day in which solar panels wouldn’t have a chance to work, the Belmont Light Board – made up of the members of the Belmont Board of Selectmen – approved unanimously a new solar power policy for homeowners and small commercial businesses on Sept. 30. 

The policy and tariff, set forth in a series of recommendations by the Temporary Net Metering Working Group, was filed with the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs the next day, Oct. 1.

The recommendation’s acceptance ends years of contentious debate – including a bitter debate at the annual Town Meeting in May – between solar advocates who sought a progressive tariff to promote its use in Belmont and those who questioned subsidizing homeowners who installed solar power panels which they decried as an inefficient and a costly method to reduce carbon usage.

Holding 17 public meetings in a little less than two months, the Working Group – made up of economist and Warrant Committee member Roy Epstein who served as chair, attorney Stephen Klionsky and  “Jake” Jacoby, the William F. Pounds Professor of Management, emeritus at MIT’s Sloan School – worked meticulously creating the policy and setting the tariff, hearing from those who advocated for a highly progressive subsidy but always following its own scholarly course, rejecting the political rancour that fueled much of the previous debate.

“[The recommendations] are a triumph of economics,” said Epstein two weeks ago when the group presented to the Light Board a draft of the recommendations.

“What I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, you’ve helped unite people on this issue,” said Light Board Chair Sami Baghdady, of the Working Group which the board appointed in June.

The establishment of a stable tariff is expected to lead to more solar arrays on Belmont rooftops as it will provide solar companies “a level of financial certainty” as they provide their service in town.

In addition, the town will start an aggressive public information push promoting solar power to residents. 

The recommendations to Belmont Light included:

• Creating a tariff which will only apply to solar arrays with a capacity of 250 kilowatts (kW) or less, which encompasses residential and most commercial sites.  Potential industrial scale solar is not included.

• Each solar user will pay the same rate for the electricity it receives from Belmont Light as any other rate payer.

• When a solar user generates more electricity than it uses, it will be paid a “buyback” price of 11 cents per kWh by Belmont Light. That rate will be in effect until Dec. 31, 2017 when the price will be adjusted once a year using a formula created by the Working Group.

“It’s fairly automatic,” said Epstein.

• The amount due to the solar household for the electricity it delivered back to Belmont Light each month will be credited to the household’s bill. If the amount of the bill is negative, the household will not make a payment to the utility and the “negative” amount becomes a credit used towards the customers next bill.

• The policy has a limit of one megawatt on the aggregate solar capacity in Belmont. The Working Group said that would equal about 280 residential homes. Once that level is reached, the Light Board will assess if there are any problems and can then bump the benchmark upwards.

• The group also recommends that Belmont immediately capitalize on a 30 percent federal tax credit that is likely to expire at the end of 2016 by organizing a “Solarize Belmont” campaign, involving residents, citizens groups as well as the utility’s energy consultant, Sagewell, to encourage residents to “go solar.” 

The Group was split on addressing possible compensation for moving away from retail net metering.   The majority recommends a potential one-time credit to about six households who were the earliest adopters while the minority would allow retail net metering to continue for all current solar households for the next three years.  The Light Board will decide on a compensation policy at a later date. 

“[The Working Group’s] charge had two pieces to it; be fair and don’t discourage solar … and I think we did that,” said Jacoby. 

Major Water Main Break Closed Common Street Sunday

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Photo: Teens will be teens.

A section of a major water main that runs along Common Street ruptured Sunday afternoon, Oct. 4, closing a portion of the main thoroughfare from Cushing Square to Belmont Center for most of the night.

The 12-inch pipe – the largest main used by the town – blew out at approximately 4:10 p.m. A witness said a sudden geyser of water erupted from the corner of Warwick Road and Common where the break took place under the pavement.

Department of Public Works crews arrived after police closed Common Street from Raleigh to Chester roads at 4:30 p.m. to begin the process of turning off the water main before repairs could take place.

Michael Santoro, director of the DPW’s Highway Division, told the Belmontonian Monday, Oct. 5, the main – laid in 1934 – had a 10-foot split running down the middle of the pipe.

Santoro suspected the split was caused “because of age. You can tell as it cracked bell to bell,” said Santoro. 

Water service was interrupted for homes on the east side of Common Street after the DPW shut off the main while a resident said his house on Bay State Road was suffering from low pressure.

Due to nearby gas and electrical lines, crews had to proceed slowly with its work, finally securing a new section at approximately 4 a.m. Monday morning, said Santoro. 

 

Compromise ‘Town Green’ Plan Wins Selectmen, Residents OK

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Photo: Lydia Phippen Ogilby with Paul Roberts before the Belmont Board of Selectmen. 

When the Belmont Board of Selectmen voted Monday night, Sept 28 unanimously, to approve the “enhancement” plan for the green delta in Belmont Center, a round of applause rang out throughout the crowded meeting room in Belmont Town Hall.

But hold on. Wasn’t the ever-changing blueprint for the redevelopment of the parcel abutting Belmont Savings Bank the catalyst for a four-month long, running battle that included the calling of a Special Town Meeting, competing citizen’s petition, condemnations, yelling and the need to have a police officer at one meeting to “keep the peace?”  

The answer to those questions is “yes.” But through the efforts of two individuals, Belmont found a compromise design that meets the demands of protagonists from both ends of the issue.

“We actually ended up in a much better spot as a community. This is a really good answer whether you call it a compromise or an enhancement, it’s much nicer,” said Belmont Selectman Mark Paolillo. 

While many residents can claim parentage of the new space – resident Bonnie Friedman and the director of the Office of Community Development Glenn Clancy were two named by others – two former selectmen were praised for bridging the gap between those mostly senior citizens who sought to reintroduce parking and a pass through roadway in front of the bank and those who fought for the parcel to become a new “town green” with the space abutting the bank.

(A history of the dispute and the Special Town Meeting can be found here.)

Rojas’ blueprint for the 17-foot wide pass through incorporated the dual requirements of parking while creating a “pedestrian friendly space” using the same brick and concrete being used throughout the Belmont Center Reconstruction Project.

See details of the plan here.

When the roadway is closed off at the intersection of Moore Street during non-peak hours – the Selectmen agreed to hold public discussions on the best times when to shut down the avenue – the area becomes a pedestrian-friendly area.

“It really looks like a plaza,” said Rojas, noting the green space is larger than in either of the previous two plans. 

While Rojas created the plan, Ralph Jones played the role of diplomat, bringing the different sides together both after the Special Town Meeting while urging the Selectmen – which had final say on the design – to take a last stab at finding a middle ground.

“[Jones] is able to move between the Selectmen and the residents and begin the compromise,” said Friedman last month when ideas were being passed between the opposing camps.

Some areas of the design – such as extending the crosswalk along Moore Street to enhance pedestrian safety – will be reviewed, the bulk of the construction work will be completed before the end of the construction season in the next two months. 

For Lydia Phippen Ogilby, the long-time Washington Street resident whose petition began the series of events in May, said the actions of the past five months “has stirred up this community which as been asleep for a long time.”

Accessibility Key at Initial Meeting on Waverley Square Station’s Future

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Photo: The meeting on Waverley Square station. 

After hearing a ten-minute presentation on the future of Belmont’s two commuter rail stations in Belmont Center and Waverley Square, Board of Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady got down to brass tacks.

“Am I hearing … that both stations would be closed, and there would be one central station possibly on Pleasant Street?” Baghdady asked interim MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola, who was leading the initial community meeting held at Town Hall on Monday night, Sept. 28.

“The short answer to that is ‘yes’,” said DePaola.

“What we’d like to talk about is where’s the best investment that has the best return not only for the MBTA but also the town,” said DePaola. 

An overflow audience of residents attended Monday’s Selectmen’s meeting to hear the first details from the MBTA on the future of the Waverley Square station – one of the least populated stops with only 117 passengers using the train each weekday – which for the past two years has been out of compliance with federal and state accessibility laws which would allow physically challenged riders and the elderly access to the trains.

The state review was triggered when the MBTA performed significant work on the Waverley Square platform in 2012.                      

With an order from the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board [AAB] mandating the MBTA to show progress towards a solution, and then either re-engineer the site with higher platforms, a series of ramps and elevators or have the state shut down the facility.

The MBTA has developed two plans for Waverley; one a comprehensive redesign and remodeling with a price tag of $30.3 million, and a cheaper alternative of $15.7 million. The high construction cost for the complete blueprint is due to the need to keep the towering retaining walls in place and building an elevator shaft on the site.

Depaola told those in attendance that the “cheaper” plan is unlikely to meet the requirements set forth by the AAB, which appears determined that the station is either revamped or closed, said DePaola.

While not included in the handout distributed to the Selectmen, the MBTA’s preferred option is the construction of a new, accessible station on a straight portion of the commuter rail line.

As Baghdady and others urged the MBTA to come to future meetings with only proposals to redesign and upgrade the 80-year-old stop, DePaola said he would prefer to locate a modern station in Belmont along the tracks near to the existing site.

“The current location is down in a deep cut so if we could move a little distance either way and have less vertical distance so it might be able to allow us to avoid the construction of an elevator,” DePaola said. 

He pointed to a new station being constructed in South Acton, which cost $20 million including land acquisition. DePaola noted the MBTA has land rights along stretches to the east and west of the Waverley Square station that could be used.

Questions of accessibility at Belmont Center 

While much of the discussion concerned Waverley Square, the MBTA noted that the Belmont commuter rail station in Belmont Center has accessibility issues, particularly its location on a curved section of the track making it “nearly impossible” to build an elevated platform to service the trains, said DePaola.

“So the idea of having two fully accessible stations … would probably not be able to happen because of the physical constraints at Belmont Center,” said DePaola. 

If Waverley is upgraded, the likely scenario is to close Belmont Center shortly and build another station near that site, he said.                                                                                                                                                                             

While the overwhelming sentiment of those residents who filled the Selectmen’s Room (many who came at the urging of Precinct 4 resident Judith Sarno) is to renovate the existing below-grade stop at the intersection of Church Street and Trapelo Road, that solution may not meet the MBTA’s own criteria.

Speaking to the Belmontonian after the meeting, DePaola said the MBTA does not view the Waverley Square station as a single location, rather, as a “project [that] is being evaluated in conjunction with other transit projects in the district.”

DePaola the MBTA proposes all new capital projects in January, a deadline he would like to see an agreement with the Board of Selectmen. 

An important part of the evaluation benchmark for moving a project forward is the cost efficientness of making large renovations at the current location.

“As we’re looking at several competing projects, it’s more likely we will spend money making a site accessible or building a new station that has 420 daily riders than one with 117 [at Waverley],” DePaola said.

DePaola noted the MBTA has a $7 billion capital budget backlog for projects “so there are more than enough projects in need of funding.” 

When asked if the MBTA would close the Waverley stop if the high cost of revamping the current site does not result in a significant increase in service and daily passengers, DePaola said “that maybe where we’re forced to go if we can’t identify the funds to upgrade it.”

“But at this point its too early to go to any conclusions. We want to seek an alternative that we can advance it into the mix of projects seeking capital funds,” DePaola told the Belmontonian. 

The Board of Selectmen and many neighbors expressed that “at a minimum, we need at least one station that’s handicapped accessible … and certainly that’s Waverley,” said Baghdady.

The MBTA will return in the next few week to Belmont to conduct a “design charrette” allowing the public to view plans and give their input to the process.

But Baghdady made it clear that “the consensus you’re hearing tonight is we’d like the station to remain in its current location, … rather than, honestly, wasting time looking at other locations in town.”