Letter to the Editor: Customer Wants Bank CEO to Re-Deposit Original Center Plan

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Photo: Belmont Center.

[Editor’s note: This message was originally sent to Robert Mahoney, CEO of Belmont Savings Bank.]

Dear Mr. Mahoney:

My husband and I are customers with accounts at the Belmont savings bank. We are also residents of Belmont.

We are outraged at the last minute change to plan B for the Belmont Center renovations which would reduce the originally planned and approved green space in Plan A. We and many members of the community have contacted the selectmen, and there is a petition to restore to Plan A. You have been named in the Belmontonian website news article of supporting plan B even against the overall community’s support of Plan A that was developed over the years. 

Under Plan A, there would be families and students and folks of all ages who could enjoy being in the green space under the large sign of Belmont Savings Bank. There couldn’t be a better long term advertisement for generations to come who would associate their childhood memories with the bank.  And the bank would physically be a central part of the community’s activities. Under Plan B, it is at risk of being a dead and obsolete space with the bank sitting in its ivory tower.

Although you are not one of the selectmen who voted for plan B, you are an influential person to them, and sadly the communities’ voice does not seem to be enough of an influence to our representatives.

So, I urge you to reconsider and contact the selectmen to endorse plan A 

Gi Yoon-Huang

School Committee OKs Fee, Rent Increases for Using School Spaces

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Photo: School lunches will increase by a quarter beginning in September.

The Belmont School Committee approved a package of fee hikes for all users of school space at its Tuesday, June 10 meeting.

The action, first reported in the Belmontonian last month, will begin in July at the start of the new fiscal year in July for facility rentals, full-day Kindergarten and school breakfast and lunches.

The increases come after an analysis conducted this spring by the Belmont School District to determine the actual cost of operating school facilities including classrooms and athletic spaces. 

Examples of the new fees include: 

• Increases for after school care will range from $7,400 to $5,900 over the two years with rental expenses reaching $29,425 at the Wellington, Butler and the Middle School, $23,406 at the Winn Brook and Burbank and $6,688 at the High School in fiscal 2017. 

• A jump in lunch fees by a quarter at the district’s elementary, middle and high schools will result in Belmont’s total pricing of $9.50, jumping from the lower to the highest third of other school districts, comparable to schools in municipalities such as Lexington ($9.25), Dover-Sherborn ($9.75) and Winchester ($10) but still behind Watertown ($10.50) and Concord ($10.55). 

• One local organization feeling the impact is the Belmont Aquatic Team. The non-profit will see its hourly rent for the Higginbottom Pool located at Belmont High School increase from $13.28 to $50 an hour in the coming school year and $75 in 2016-17. 

Speaking to the committee, Elena Ruggiero, BAT’s director of registration, said the new rental expenses on the 35-year-old club, with 77 swimmers – it is one of the smallest clubs in the New England Swim League – “does seem abrupt, making up from past times.”  

Ruggiero said the organization did not feel the school district’s move towards establishing market rents as “unfair considering the very low rates currently.” But she said “it is a big expansion of fees” resulting in higher tuition rates. Currently, members – 88 percent are Belmont residents – pay between $700 (for those 10 and younger) and $900 (for more senior swimmers) for half of a 11 month season. 

Ruggiero said the jump in tuition for members will be “substantial” and the club will only know how it will effect membership when enrollment starts in September.

School District Superintendent John Phelan, who described each effected group as “our partners,” said he is committed to a continuing dialogue with the renters on the impact of the higher expenses, a comment that Ruggiero took to heart. 

“Our hope is that we keep talking,” said Ruggiero, noting that most teams are part of a larger business – many own the pools and rent them out or conduct swimming lessons – with dedicated revenue that allows them to subsidize the clubs.

“We are just a swim team,” said Ruggiero. 

Fore! PGA Tour Brings Street Closure, Parking Restrictions Beginning Tuesday

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Photo:

The Belmont Country Club is hosting the PGA TOUR Constellation Senior Players Championship beginning Tuesday, June 9.

Working with state and other municipalities, the Belmont Police Department has developed a traffic plan that will help keep traffic delays and parking issues to a minimum during the 

Road and exit closures:

The most prominent feature of the plan is that Winter Street in Belmont will be CLOSED to traffic on the following dates and times. These times are subject to change. 

  • Tuesday, June 9: 7:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday, June 10: 5:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, June 11: 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
  • Friday, June 12: 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, June 13: 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, June 14: 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

In addition, the state will close the Exit 56 ramp from Route 2 East (onto Winter Street) during the event hours.

The detour for motorists who use Exit 56 will direct them to use Exit 55 onto Pleasant Street in Lexington, so residents may anticipate that much of the traffic that usually would be on Winter Street will shift to Concord Avenue between Pleasant Street in Lexington and the intersection with Winter Street in Belmont. The reverse detour will bring motorists on Concord Avenue west to Pleasant Street in Lexington, where a right turn will bring vehicles to an entrance to Route 2 West.

Marsh Street will be closed for motorists intent on getting to Winter Street, Route 2, Lexington, or Waltham. Motorists headed for Belmont Center, Concord Avenue, or Mill Street may find it quicker to gain access via Route 60/Pleasant Street. Residents will be able to enter Marsh Street from Concord Avenue and proceed north on Marsh Street.

Robinwood Road will be posted as “do not enter” at Concord Avenue, since Robinwood Road will be used to send some event traffic away from the country club.

Residents of Hough Road and Robinwood Road will be asked to come on to Marsh Street from Concord Avenue. Hough Road residents may turn left onto Hough Road. Robinwood Road residents will turn left onto Winter Street and then turn left onto Robinwood Road.

To improve traffic flow with all of the detours, Mill Street will be diverted into a T style intersection at Concord Avenue. Motorists westbound on Concord Avenue will not be permitted to turn left onto Mill Street. Motorists driving east on Concord Avenue will be permitted to turn right onto Mill Street or continue on Concord Avenue in the normal manner.

Residents of the area:

All residents near the Winter Street Road closure will be able to get to and from their homes by motor vehicle at all times during the event. Some brief delays in doing so and parking restrictions on their streets should be anticipated.

For residents on the streets listed on the reverse, your driver’s license with the street address will be sufficient to allow you through any road closure to get to your home. In addition, for visitors you authorize, the Police Department will have a printed pass system available. To prevent improper use, there will be a limit to the number of passes each address will be permitted. This pass will not authorize on street parking. Passes for resident visitors will be available starting June 1 by visiting the police station.

Parking:

There will be temporary “no parking” restrictions on the streets listed below. Some of these parking restrictions are needed because of the detoured traffic flow. Other restrictions are intended to discourage event parking that might cause problems for emergency vehicles, add unsafe pedestrian trips to the event, and be inconvenient for residents:                                               

  • Rayburn Road                                
  • Country Club Lane
  • Dundonald Road                               
  • Grey Birch Park
  • Partridge Lane                                  
  • Greybirch Circle
  • Winter Street                                    
  • Greensbrook Way                              
  • Robinwood Road                                
  • Concord Avenue        
  • Hough Road                                      
  • Marsh Street (between Concord Avenue and Country Club Lane)

In addition, there will be no private parking available for purchase at or near the event at Belmont Country Club and no public or on street parking at or near the location. 

For more information about the event from the PGA TOUR:

http://www.pgatour.com/champions/tournaments/constellation-senior-players-championship.html 

or  cspgolf.com  or  781-205-2040

Letter to the Editor: Selectmen Fail to Honor Center Reconstruction Process

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Photo: Belmont Center. 

(Note: This letter was originally sent to the Belmont Board of Selectmen.)

I am disturbed and outraged to learn that Belmont Center Reconstruction Plan A was overturned at the last minute for Plan B, decreasing the size of the green space and surrounding it with traffic, just because of a small group of opponents. This group did not show up or speak out at all the many public meetings over several years.

The [Board of Selectmen] meeting on May 28th was just advertised as a discussion of beautification and conflicted with several other important town meetings that evening such as The annual
meeting of the League of Women Voters, and the forum on Criminal Justice with our State Sen. Will Brownsberger and our State Rep. Dave Rogers (I managed to attend both of these). Regardless, one meeting should not have tossed out years of planning and substituted an alternative plan without proper notice and comment period.

Over the last several years, I attended many meetings and was generally pleased with the majority of the details for Reconstruction of Belmont Center. But I was even more pleased with the process. Lots of comments were taken into consideration, and the resulting plan, Plan A, was a really good compromise of all the important features that everyone wanted. I am particularly in favor of the large, pedestrian-friendly, green space which Belmont Center has always sorely missed.

This last minute change from a plan that was already approved and supported by the larger community is completely inappropriate and does not represent the Belmont community as a whole. Town Meeting approved money in the fall for the Reconstruction with the plan that included much more green space; not a small island of token green space that is hard to utilize, similar to the current island of poorly utilized greenery.

If a change is to be made at this point, a public process must be offered once again; no last minute substitutions to appease one small vocal minority. If this is not done correctly, the whole process is tainted and will be very difficult for the Selectmen to gain the confidence and monetary support of the town again.

Bonnie Friedman
Town Meeting Member
Precinct 3

On the Rebuilt Street That You Live: Town’s Roads Repair List for 2016

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Photo: Palfrey Street.

Palfrey Road is one of the worst conditioned streets in Belmont.

Due to the steady amount of traffic – many vehicles use the roadway as a convenient detour onto Trapelo Road bypassing the Cushing Square lights – and the unlevel pitch of the road, the thoroughfare’s road surface running between Common Street and Gilbert Road at times resembles a Peruvian mountain path with crevasses and pot holes that involuntarily realign cars wheels and steering.

But long-suffering commuters and residents need only wait just about a year for relief as the byway  was placed on the town’s fiscal year 2016 road reconstruction list that totals $2.55 million.

Announced at this week’s Town Meeting by Glenn Clancy, director of Community Development, Palfrey joins 12 other roads deemed so in disrepair that it made the cut for reconstruction. More than half of the streets have a pavement condition index (PCI) in the 30s, considered a “poor” grade where travel is “uncomfortable with frequent bumps or depressions.”

The list with the corresponding CPI rating includes:

  • Clifton Street (32) from Beatrice Circle to Prospect Street
  • Bartlett Avenue (33) from White Street to Harriet Avenue
  • Winslow Road (34) from Hammond Road to Palfrey Road
  • Palfrey Road (35) from Gilbert Road to Common Street
  • Payson Terrace (35) from Payson Road east to Payson Road west
  • Glendale Road (36) from Common Street to Orchard Street.
  • Cushing Avenue (36) from Pine Street to Payson Road
  • Sharpe Road (37) from School Street to Washington Street
  • Marion Road (39) from Belmont Street to Grove Street
  • Albert Avenue (40) from Tobey Road to Brighton Street
  • Albert Avenue (53) from Lake Street to Tobey Road
  • Simmons Avenue (41) from Scott Road to Brighton Street
  • Middlecot Street (40) from north of Cowdin Street to Claflin Street 
  • Middlecot Street (72) from Cross Street to north of Cowdin Street
  • Sherman Street (41) from Brighton Street to Dean Street.

Clancy said the list is subject to change based on the availability of utility work to be completed on the roads in 2016. But he added that National Grid, the gas utility, has stepped up the rate of conversions this year insomuch that he believes that most, if not all, of the roads on the list will be completed by the end of the construction season next year.

Possible Policy Change Could See Money Heading for Sidewalk Repair

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Photo: Sidewalk in need of repair.

Town Meeting member Catherine Bowen came to the microphone to ask a question on the Capital Budget at the annual gathering on Wednesday, June 3.

If the town was spending in fiscal 2016 the largest amount ever on road resurfacing at $2.55 million – so much so, said Capital Budget Chair Anne Marie Mahoney, that it couldn’t spend “one more penny” because it had met its construction limit – why not dedicate a few dollars over to repair and reconstruct several miles of dilapidated sidewalks rather than roads that service a few homes with little traffic?

“I have been in Belmont for a few years so if you told me that roads were being repaired, I would naturally assume that sidewalks were part of that [reconstruction],” Bowen told the Belmontonian.

“But when the roads were being repaired in precinct four, I discovered that was not the case,” said the Bartlett Avenue resident.

After a few seconds, Belmont Board of Selectmen chair Sami Baghdady answered Bowen’s query and made news at the same time.

It’s time the board looks at the town’s policy on funding sidewalks as part of the road resurfacing account; he told the body.

And with that suggestion, Baghdady said the selectmen will soon debate possibly reintroducing an annual expenditure for sidewalks, reversing a decade-long practice of haphazard funding during the best of times.
“It was a good suggestion that came from the Town Meeting floor, and it is a policy that the board should discuss and reconsider,” said Baghdady.

With the rare exception of this and the coming fiscal years in which $200,000 in each year will be targeted for sidewalk repair using one-time funds, the town’s decade-old policy has been to forego sidewalk expenditures. As Mahoney stated earlier in the night, the need for road repair has been so pressing since the mid-2000s while money from state and local sources for resurfacing and reconstruction has dwindled over the years.

As a result, a walk on most Belmont sidewalks is interrupted by concrete slabs displaced by tree roots or broken by cars parking on them or by the weather. In all neighborhoods, the lack a well-defined sidewalk with curbing results in vehicles parking on the walkway.

The impact is that many residents – especially the aging or those pushing carriages – find the path daunting and will move in the roadway to walk.

As a member of Safe Routes to Schools at Butler Elementary and Sustainable Belmont, Bowen said as a “green” community the town should be interested in increasing transportation with a lower carbon footprint such as walking as well as encouraging healthy activities.

“There is an increasing awareness that people want to use their sidewalks, that we are using our sidewalks, but we don’t necessarily feel safe doing so,” said Bowen.

The call to review the current policy is due to the simple fact “that our sidewalks need repair,” Baghdady told the Belmontonian.

“Sidewalk replacement should be looked at at the same time. We are always looking for better practices and it seems personally that there might be some economies of scale if we do the work at the same time,” said Baghdady, saying that the board will be asking direction from the Department of Public Works and Community Development on writing a new policy.

“A practice should not survive just because it’s been there for years and years,” said Baghdady.

Belmont Town Meeting, Segment B, Night 2

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Photo: Moderator Mike Widmer.

7 p.m.: Welcome to hopefully the final night of Belmont’s annual Town Meeting. Tonight, capital budget appropriations will be highlighted as will a reconsideration of the solar power article which was indefinitely delayed in May.

7:11 p.m.: And the meeting starts with a shout out by Moderator Mike Widmer on all those who make Town Meeting “works.”

7:12 p.m.: Glenn Clancy, director of the Community Development office, gives an update on the Trapelo/Belmont corridor project. Interesting points: some sidewalks are showing defects and changes have been made. The project from Mill Street to Cushing Square is just about done except for the final top coating. It is a positive message that Belmont is moving forward on the town’s roads. 

7:21 p.m.: Up now is Article 18, which reauthorizes the eight revolving funds, all self funding. There are two new accounts: Stormwater consulting and storm water improvements. The money comes from fees so the funding is not coming from general funds. It’s adopted unanimously.

7:25 p.m.: Now up is an overview of the capital budget appropriation process from the Capital Budget Chair Anne Marie Mahoney. Interesting facts:

  • The initial request from all town departments came to $5.4 million. 
  • The amount of money of potential unfunded requests was $1.2 million. 
  • But there was even more money coming to Capital Budget including from the override and one-time funding.
  • That leaves $1.8 million for capital projects. 

IMG_8012

In public safety, the priorities start with the high school fire alarm system. It must be replaced now – during the summer of 2016 – and it has to be replaced because the current one is nearly 45 years old. Cost, $1.2 million. Other priorities are fire alarms at the Butler and Town Hall and the replacement of portable radios. The replacement is part of a greater program in which a large amount will be bonded.

Mahoney then goes over the other expenditures, a total of 23. 

A pair of large borrowing is one the way. The fire alarm at the high school will result in borrowing $1.55 million with a five year bond in 2016 or $236,000 per year, coming out of the capital budget each year.

The radio system will require a ten-year bond for $1.09 million.

Roads and sidewalks: all the money in fiscal 16 will come to $2.55 million from several sources. “This is an all time high,” she said.

Mahoney notes that the major capital projects are 

  • The DPW building ($28 million)
  • New Belmont High ($70 million)
  • A new police station ($20 million)
  • a new library ($18 million with state and private funds)

All are expensive and also needed.   

Guess what, there will be needs for additional space at nearly all the schools by 2017. Capital budget will be part of the process. 

Mahoney is given a big hand by the gathering for a great report. 

7:54 p.m.: There will be four motions in the Capital Budget expenditure, the first, Section A, is the reading of the 23 items that are being purchased or leased at $1.8 million. Kevin Cunningham, Pct. 4, asks the process for estimating $1.4 million for the high school alarm replacement with a new high school being planned. Mahoney said even if funding for the new school is approved by the state in December, it will take years before construction on a new school begins. Cunningham asked if the new floor can be salvageable in a new school. Of course, said Mahoney.

Julilet Jenkins, Pct. 3, asked why the system is now being replaced if it was known that it was outdated for years. Mahoney said the hope had been that a new school would be coming but the alarm system simply needs to be done.

Christine Doyle, Pct. 1, asked if it wouldn’t be wise to bond now as rates are currently so low. Treasurer Floyd Carman said rates will be just as low in 2016 as now. “Great, I’ll sign up for your newsletter,” Doyle quipped.

Rachel Berger, Pct. 2, asked if the fire system will last until 2016, or “will be homeschooling 1,100 students.” Fire Chief David Frizzell said the system is on its last legs and his department will work with the limitations before him.

Answering a question on whether to build a new or renovated high school, Mahoney said the shell of the building is in perfect shape, “built to last forever” so there is no need for a new building like other communities were required to do. But the systems are so old and there is need for a new science space.

Donald Mercier, Pct 8, said he “didn’t want to disappoint” the gathering by not asking a question, asking town officials on the price tag on a new rec vehicle and the shed at the library for the snowblower. Cunningham said while he talks process, he thanks the committee for making an expenditure for traffic calming at Lexington and Sycamore. The $1.8 million budget is adopted unanimously.  

Section B appropriates $1.09 million for the purchase of radio transmission equipment for fire and police use and portable radios. Bonnie Friedman, Pct. 3, asks if this expenditure is needed if the town joins a regional 911 system. David Kale, Town Administrator, said the equipment is needed by the town. The section is approved with only six no votes.

Section C, is the fire alarm replacement project costing $1.06 million in bonding. No questions from members and the vote is 221 to 9.

Section D, is the $1.55 million in road paving. Janet Kruse, Pct. 3, asked if the money coming in this year can be used this year. Yes, said Clancy, and if not used this year, it would go into next year. Monte Allen, Pct. 8, asks what is the level of scrutiny that the Warrant and Capital Budget committees use to make the decisions. When these budgets come to Town Meeting, they are a fait accompli. Mahoney, Selectman Chair Sami Baghdady and Michael Libenson defend the process as open and complete.

Here’s some news, from a question for Catherine Bowen, Pct. 4, Baghdady said the town could be revisiting the percentage spent on sidewalk repairs. The current policy, which limits sidewalk expenditures since there was such a need to use the limited funding capacity on roads, will be reviewed according to Baghdady.

The motion is adopted unanimously.

8:47 p.m.: Article 15 is to accept $800,000 in state money for to resurface and repair our roads. Sounds good to the gathering. Passes. 

Before the break, Widmer praises the “huge, huge contribution” of the volunteers on the capital budget and warrant committees who perform the usually unseen but greatly important work to bring the the budget to Town Meeting.

9:06 p.m.: After the break, Article 11, approve the enterprise funds for water and swear and storm water services. Pretty straight forward. Approved.

9:09 p.m.: Article 19, which establishes a new capital/debt stabilization fund for the capital costs on four building projects: the high school, the police station, the public works building and the library. It will be funded by the sale of the Woodfall Road parcel, the municipal parking lot in Cushing Square and other accounts. This will allow one-time funds to be placed in reserve to take one step closer to finishing these projects while not increasing the tax burden. “We need to tackle the big four,” said Mahoney, who said this will spark a debate among residents on the four projects. There is an amendment waiting.

Kevin Cunningham, Pct 4, wants to read an apology, which is rather personal discussing “his shame” for attempting to use Town Meeting to discuss something other than the amendment he presented, saying he wants to find a way to have a venue to express his opinion on process. He is given a hand.

Don Mercier, Pct 8, asked if the article is defeated, where will the money raised by Woodfall Road sale, etc. It will go into the general fund. 

Johanna Swift Hart, Pct 4, wonders if the money from the two sales wouldn’t be better spent going into free cash which was depleted by $1.3 million for the Belmont Center reconstruction. Selectman Mark Paolillo said there is an expectation that there will be money at the end of the year will be going into free cash and these are capital projects “that are not running away” so let’s address them, said Baghdady. But Swift Hart said free cash isn’t free so “where is my money.”

Paul Roberts said the capital projects will take years to take hold, asking if there is any policy on funding years in the future. 

Julie Crockett, Pct 5, asked Baghdady isn’t it true that any funds could to be placed into the fund will have to wait until next year’s Town Meeting. True, said Baghdady. Can’t we wait until next year to set up  the fund? she asked. Yes, was the response. Crockett asked if the town shouldn’t wait until next year because there could be needs – such as housing all the new students coming into the schools – that could be more pressing. 

This requires a 2/3s vote: This should be interesting. And the vote is 192 to 30. That was not even close. 

9:35 p.m.: Article 20: The Minuteman Regional Voc High Regional Agreement is being postponed. Jack Weis, Pct. 1, who is Belmont’s rep on the Minuteman School Committee, said this is the same article presented to Town Meeting last year. Attempting to explain the background of this article is a terribly tangled web in an attempt to build a new school (which many people feel is too large) in Lexington with 15 partner communities. It’s suffice it to say that since one town of the 16 voted it down, why take it up. The measure is approved. 

10 p.m.: Now is the reconsideration of Article 9, the solar power article. Selectman Jim Williams said he would not be moving forward on the reconsideration so that ends the action. 

William continues to say that he is dismissing three of four citizen petitions as the selectmen and

Capital Budget, Solar Reconsideration Highlight ‘Last’ Night of Town Meeting

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Photo: Sidewalk snow blower.

The goodies in the capital budget, revolving accounts and reconsidering the indefinitely delayed solar power amendment will be in the spotlight during the “last” night of the 2015 annual Town Meeting starting at 7 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, June 3 in the Chenery Middle School auditorium. 

Capital Budget Chair Anne Marie Mahoney will lead the discussion on the appropriation of capital expenditures – other than roads – totaling $1.8 million.

The requests – numbering 23 this year – run the gambit from $90,700 for a sidewalk snow blower for the DPW department and $123,000 for replacement radios for Belmont Police officers to $10,000 for a storage shed at the library to $62,500 to replace the Butler School boiler. 

The pavement management account of nearly $1.550 million for road reconstruction in fiscal 2016 (beginning July 1, 2015) is the largest in recent memory and reaches a level in which the town can not rebuild any more roads with any more available funds. 

There will also be eight revolving accounts that require reauthorization from Town Meeting. 

Also up before the annual legislative gathering will be the reconsideration of Article 9, the so-called solar power amendment which was “delay indefinitely” by members back in May during the first session of Town Meeting. Leading the effort to bring the article back from legislative cryonics will be Jim Williams who feels the members did not understand that they were voting to effectively kill the amendment.

Williams would have had a greater presence on center stage in this session with four citizen petitions accepted by the Town Clerk, but he told the Belmontonian on Monday, June 1, he would be withdrawing the petitions as the Board of Selectmen have agreed to move on the recommendations in three of the articles. 

It is expected that Town Meeting could adjourn tonight 

Williams ‘Wins’ Concessions, Withdrawing Petitions at Town Meeting

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Photo: Jim Williams (left)

He’s been an elected officials for just about two months, but in that time, Selectman Jim Williams has sent Belmont’s thinking on town finances all topsy-turvy.

With his surprise election in April – the four-year resident defeated incumbent Andy Rojas by nearly 500 votes – Williams has used his time before and after his election seeking greater “transparency” on a number of financial issues facing Belmont’s future, specifically how the town views and manages long-term expenses related to pensions and other post-employment benefits (know as OPEB).

And it was likely that this month, the town’s legislative body – the nearly 290 member Town Meeting – would have encountered Williams’ goal of bringing those issues into the public forum as the Glenn Road resident filed four citizen petitions with the common goal of “opening the books” of town governance, Williams told the Belmontonian.

But Town Meeting members who were looking forward to several hours of debate and votes on the petitions will be disappointed to learn that Williams will withdraw his articles during the second night of June’s Town Meeting as town officials and members of the Warrant Committee – the financial watchdog for Town Meeting – have agreed to follow through with, at least, reporting on the ideas behind three of the four petitions.

“The selectmen [chair Sami Baghdady and Mark Paolillo] agreed to do the last three [petitions],” Williams told the Belmontonian on Monday, June 1 before Town Meeting reconvened.

The trio of petitions the selectmen agreed to be:

  • sending a quarterly report on the status of free cash to Town Meeting members,
  • the creation work sessions on the development and use of a 20-year financial forecast model for the town, and
  • the establishment of an in-house risk management policy which will make a lot easier because you can anticipate problems.

(The fourth petition would have required all reporting bodies – the selectmen and the warrant and capital budget committees – to provide in writing 48 hours before Town Meeting why they held either a favorable or unfavorable position on articles before the legislative body. It was decided that each body would have to decide on its own how to report this information.)

The other two selectmen’s deferring to William’s petition is somewhat of a surprise as both the Warrant Committee and the selectmen had or prepared to vote an “unfavorable recommendation” on each of the petitions. In the case of the Warrant Committee, the votes on the quartet of articles were nearly all unanimous.

Why the change of heart?

Williams said once he made his presentation to the selectmen, “they decided it was the right thing to do.” The former Wall Street banker said that all he has been asking the town for is “the same transparency any financial body is expected to provide. I don’t see how this is so revolutionary.”

Williams hopes that new information and vigorous debate will lead to what has been his clarion call of tackling the town’s fiscal obligations sooner than later.

As the selectmen are preparing to take a look at areas of debt, the Warrant Committee will take on a “summer project,” according to committee member Adam Dash, to review the town’s current pension payment plan with an attempt to mitigate the cost to town taxpayers.

For Baghdady, the purpose of the new long-range forecast committee “to look at our existing policy and see if there is anything more that can be done. We have a big obligation on paper [approximately $174 million] currently so the first question will be what more can we do as a fiscally-responsible community.”

Baghdady hopes that the efforts by the selectmen and the Warrant Committee on long-range debt “will come together as they really do go hand-in-hand” although pensions payments follow state policy while OPEB debt has not dictated.

While Williams believes the outcome of this new era of fiscal “glasnost” will lead to paying down OPEB debt early, Baghdady said that “it is possible that after the report is complete, it might tell us to ‘stay the course’.”

The current policy is for Belmont’s pension obligations to be paid down steadily – at an ever increasing amount annually – until 2027 and then focus on OPEB. Until that time, a token amount – this year about $366,000 in the next fiscal year – will be transferred into an OPEB stabilization fund.

Town Treasurer Floyd Carman has stated while small, the annual payment is seen by the bond rating agencies as a proactive step in facing its debt obligations, ultimately resulting in the town being one of only 30 or so communities with a stellar AAA bond rating.

“But I think we do owe it to ourselves to go through the process and the analysis,” Baghdady told the Belmontonian.

 

 

Last-Second Fiddling Reverts Belmont Center ‘Green’ Back to an Island

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Photo: The “access” road in front on Belmont Savings Bank.

The planning took four year to finalize, the blueprints were drawn, the contractors hired and the work underway.

And for those who worked to bring the Belmont Center Reconstruction project to fruition, it appeared that all that was left was for a ribbon cutting late in the year to celebrate the upgrade to the roadway, new sidewalks and other amenities that is expected to last for the next half century.

But being Belmont, the final word is never the last say. 

Despite a half decade of public meetings led by the Belmont Traffic Advisory Committee and with workers tearing up curbing and cutting trees beginning last week, the Belmont Board of Selectmen called a special meeting for Thursday, May 28 at the Beech Street Center to hear from some of the apparently 200 residents who decided the last second was an appropriate time to be heard about the entire project.

Led by 96-year-old Lydia Phippen Ogilby of Washington Street who took pencil to paper to call for the meeting to hear from the signatories – many who are north of Belmont’s median age of 42 – who felt passed over on the opportunity to express their concerns on the finished design, submitted their own “Plan B” revision. 

Saying the reconstruction will be with the town for more than a half century, Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady said aspects of the project “raised so much concern” that despite the lateness of the challenge, the meeting was warranted in an effort to find a “revenue neutral way” to find a compromise.

In fact, the opponents were apparently perturbed with just a pair of the design’s details; the removal of about 10 diagonal parking spaces located in front of the Belmont Savings Bank headquarters at 2 Leonard St., and the related one-way “access” road – actually the currently parking area – connecting Moore Street with Concord Avenue.

Under the TAC design plans approved by d the Board of Selectmen and reviewed by a Special Town Meeting in November when it approved a funding package, the parking spaces and road were removed to create a “Town Green” in front of the bank, with benches and a flag pole that would attract residents and visitors to a central landmark Belmont Center. 

“It provides Belmont a ‘green’ which many towns have but we have been lacking,” Glenn Clancy – as director of the Community Development Office is overseeing the project for the town – told the Belmontonian before the meeting. 

In the current plan, known as Plan A at the meeting, there would be three parking spaces next to the existing exit from the bank’s covered parking garage with additional parking spaces created near by along Concord Avenue near Town Hall. 

While the meeting was established to hear from critics, most speakers expressing opinions were supportive of the current design.

“It would be a big mistake to change the new design,” said former State Rep. and Selectman Anne Paulsen, saying the “town green” concept would make the site “a friendlier space” while keeping parking and the access road will result in the space that “only a few people” would want to spend time.

Paul Rickter of Cross Street approved eliminating the cut-through from Moore to Concord as it would make the center “a little more pedestrian-friendly.”

While supporters were , the tardy opponents were not satisfied with the design as it would effect how they conduct business especially at Belmont Savings’ main branch. 

The second design – supported by the petitioners – would revert the Green back to a tear-shaped island surrounded by traffic and parking while keeping the “short cut” from Moore to Concord, which several residents note is a convenience so not having to enter onto Leonard Street to turn right onto Concord. 

Joel Semuels of Bellevue Road, who is on the board for the town’s Council on Aging, said reduction of parking spaces would be a detriment to the “25 percent of residents over 60” (Editor’s note: the 2010 US Census data indicated that 16 percent of Belmont residents are 65 years old and older) seeking to do business at the bank. Semuels approved of four parallel spaces situated before the bank’s garage exit in the Plan B scheme.

Scott Tellier, who with his father owns commercial property in Belmont Center, said preserving parking spaces – even three or four that will be “lost” in the entire project – was paramount for stores and restaurants to retain customers seeking to shop in the commercial hub.

“We want to see parking,” said Tellier.

Bob Mahoney, the president and CEO of Belmont Savings, said he could support the changes begin proposed although he did want to promote the green space adjacent the bank. He noted even under Plan B, the green will increase by approximately 40 percent from its present footprint.

The dilatory nature of the opponent’s complaints, as well as their insistence their concerns were not incorporated into the reconstruction’s plans, did not sit well with Linda Nickens, TAC chair who pointedly told the few opponents in attendance the committee didn’t sit “in a dark room” developing the project, which, she added, was viewed favorably by the selectmen and the business community last year.

“They did like it,” said Nickens.

With numerous public meeting TAC set aside to hear from all sides of the measure, the opponents “never came to complain” or be part of the process, said Nickens, calling the belated campaign to alter the plans “disappointing.”

As a supporter of the current plan, Rickter said his objection with the meeting is that “this change was made at the eleventh hour with no clear notice that the Selectmen would be making such a substantial change to the design.”

“We don’t know if they are representative of the town as a whole or merely a very vocal minority; the process never allowed us to find that out,” he told the Belmontonian.

Given the last say, Ogilby – whose family first ventured into what is now Belmont in the 1600s – expressed her feelings in a labyrinthine statement, in which she complimented Clancy, talked about the news about town, how she likes the traffic roundabout in front of her house at the corner of Grove and Washington, and all the “nice” residents near her 19th-century farm house for signing the “papers.” 

In the end, the selectmen unanimously voted to support Plan B which the opponents championed. Baghdady, who earlier called the changes “tweaking” he current plan, hailed the changes as “part of the democratic process.” Even Nickens agreed that “the people have spoken” on the matter.