Belmont Selectmen Appoints Community Path Implementation Committee

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The Belmont Board of Selectmen selected five residents – each with their specific skill set – to determine not just the best route for a community path to transverse Belmont, but also how to pay for it.

The Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee takes over from the Community Path Advisory Committee which completed its work in May after it researching and then developing a number of possibly combined bike/walking routes from Waltham to Cambridge.

“The desired outcome of this entire process is to have the community path built,” said Andy Rojas.

“The ultimate intent isn’t for a study … it’s for a physical path to be built that services the town and mitigates the negative and highlights all the positive impacts,” said Rojas.

The residents appointed to the committee are:

  • Brian Burke
  • Michael Cicalese
  • Heather Ivester
  • Russell Leino
  • Vincent Stanton

Each member comes with work experience or involvement with the proposed community path in the past. Burke was a member of the CPAC and will bring continuity to the process. Cicalese was selected to raise residents’ concerns to the group as a likely route will impact the Channing Road neighborhood. Ivester is a state licensed structural engineer while Leino is an attorney.

Stanton, who Selectman Mark Paolillo noted has been responsible for extending Belmont Town Meeting nights with his array of knowledgeable quires, is well-known in town for his divergent thinking and novel ideas and solutions to any number of issues facing the community.

The committee’s charge from the selectmen is to come to a consensus on the best path but also to uncover outside funding – be it private or from the state or federal governments – to pay for a good portion of the trail and also the evaluation and analysis of the potential of a proposed project.

“It’s pretty clear that this body needs to commit some how … identify public sources of funding to do a feasibility study,” said Rojas.

“We can then pursue other government grants for the implementation, but we need that feasibility study in hand,” he added.

According to several members of a pro-community path group that Paolillo noted at the meeting, “with a feasibility component, there could be significant funds from the state level for a path.”

The study will also provide the Selectmen – who will make the final decision on the route and if the project will move forward – the economics of building specific routes through Belmont.

“While not set in stone, that we would expect the feasibility study would give us input on the route options before we make up our minds,” said Rojas.

Wait ’til Next Year: State, Once Again, Skips Over Belmont High Renovation Plan

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Despite several hints that this could have been the year, Belmont will need to wait yet another year for just the possibility of being selected to receive state funds to help pay for a new and approved high school.
In a letter dated Monday, Dec. 15 and announced at Tuesday’s Belmont School Committee meet, the Massachusetts School Building Authority once again denied the committee’s statement of interest calling for the complete renovation of Belmont High School and the construction of a new science wing with a price tag of between $90 and $100 million.
“Through the MSBA’s due diligence process and review of the 108 [fiscal year] 2014 [Statement of Interests] that were received, the MSBA has determined that the Belmont High School SOI will not be invited into the MSBA’s Eligibility Period at this time,” stated the letter signed by John K. McCarthy, the Authority’s executive director.
Stating the Authority was proud to have collaborated in the building of the Wellington Elementary School which opened in September 2011, McCarthy said the MSBA “remains committed to collaborating and partnering with [Belmont] to better understand any other school facility issues in [Belmont].”
There have been a number of hints over the fall that Belmont’s application had been placed on the short list of projects to be accepted. In October, the MSBA came for a “senior study” of the high school, one of 25 the Authority made this fall. According to a school official on the Cape, a MSBA officials said “a substantial percentage of districts [that received a senior study] will be recommended to move forward with an invitation into the MSBA eligibility period.” In addition, districts that have submitted SOIs for more than a decade are traditionally placed higher on the approval scale.
Belmont can reapply for what will be the 11th consecutive year for the school’s addition and renovation by April 10, 2015.
See the MSBA letter to Belmont below:
Belmont_2014_SOI_Status_Letter

Sports: Girls’ Ice Hockey Edged by Top-Ranked Duxbury, 3-2, in Opener

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The winter season started on a down, yet still promising note, as the combined Watertown/Belmont high schools girls’  ice hockey team lost to their chief nemesis, the Duxbury High Dragons, 3-2, in the season opener on Saturday, Dec. 13 held in Kingston.

The Maraiders – combining the team’s Marauders and Raiders – held a 2-1 lead over the defending Dev. 1 state champions late in the first period by goals scored from Belmont’s Erin McLaughlin (on the power play with an assist by Belmont defenseman Serena Nally) and Watertown’s all-star Emily Loprete who took the puck the length of the rink to score on a backhand.

Yet Watertown/Belmont could not hold off this year’s top-rated team, with Dragon freshman Kelly McCarthy scoring the game winner on a breakaway four minutes into the final period.

It’s expected the Maraiders and the Dragons will meet up once again in the playoffs in March.

This Hanukkah: Remembering an Ancient Fight for Freedom

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This article is by Len Abram

American service men and women in Africa (AFRICOM) are not only fighting terrorism on the continent, not only training local police and militias in equipment and tactics, and not only protecting American interests and facilities, but they are also dealing with the scourge of Ebola. This last mission means building hospitals and treatment centers and providing doctors and nurses to help the ill and prevent more infection.

The responsibilities of the American military clearly go beyond bearing arms, to containing a local epidemic and giving victims a chance to survive. As in the battlefield, serving in a zone of contagion has its own dangers. As with jihadist terrorism, the American military is fighting the threat abroad, before it can threaten more Americans here.

The Jewish military men and women of AFRICOM are far from home, but not necessarily far from their traditions, such as the holiday of Hanukkah. Each year, the Beth El Temple Center Brotherhood and congregation have sent Hanukkah celebration kits to Jews serving abroad, this year to Africa, including Djibouti, at the strategic Horn of Africa. The Brotherhood joins other organizations (one is called “Kosher Troops”; another, “Jews in Green”) shipping Hanukkah candles and special candle holders (a menorah or hanukkiah) to Jews serving in the military overseas.

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The eight-day holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, begins December 16 at sundown. With the lighting of candles, the holiday celebrates the victory of Jewish forces, 2200 years ago,  over Greek-Syrian armies and a king determined to eradicate Jewish culture. The Seleucids inherited the empire of Alexander the Great, these Greek-Syrians tried to Hellenize the Jewish people in what is now present day Israel, even forbidding under penalty of death, the teaching of Jewish texts and traditions.

Mattathias and  his five sons from the village of Mod’in, still on the map, started a revolt against the formidable Seleucid armies, professionals and mercenaries, up against farmers, artisans and shepherds, with no standing army, no armor and few weapons, beyond their bows. It was one of the most successful guerilla wars in history. Against a superior force, the Jews harassed, ambushed, and whittled away at the professionals, who at one point brought elephants to battle.

Using terrain to advantage, controlling the heights of the Judean hills through the armies had to march, proved critical to the victory, although many died, including Mattathias and most of his sons. When Jewish forces took the Temple in Jerusalem, they had to clean and rededicate the holy site after the Seleucids had defiled it. Legend says that only one day of olive oil was left untainted. That small amount somehow burned for eight days; hence, the eight day holiday.

The war won the Jews over a hundred years of autonomy until the Roman Empire intervened (there were two unsuccessful Jewish revolts against the Romans). Of the five Maccabean brothers, Judas was the most famous, celebrated in song and legend. Jews sponsor athletic competitions  in Israel, Europe and America, called Maccabean in their honor.

The Hanukkah celebration kits from the Brotherhood  include enough candles for the eight days; a candle holder or hanukkiah; a dreidl to play games of chance (by legend, to deceive the  Seleucids while Jews were studying their Bible); chocolate coins to wager; bubble gum from Israel; a camouflage kippah or head covering; greeting cards from the Temple fourth graders; a CD of Jewish music; and a letter from the congregation.

Here in Belmont, Beth El Temple Center will have a candle lighting ceremony outside of the building on Concord Ave at 6 p.m., following which the Brotherhood is sponsoring a Hanukkah party for parents and children, with music led by Rabbi Jonathan Kraus. Foods fried in oil, such as potato pancakes or latkes, will be served, a reminder of a miracle during an ancient  fight for freedom.

From Belmont to Ferguson: Residents Demonstrate Solidarity, Concern

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In the chill of a cold, Sunday darkness, a long line of people illuminated the night with candles as they weaved a chain of protest from Belmont Center, under the commuter rail bridge and towards the post office on Concord Avenue.

The marchers, numbering more than 200, were accompanied by a steady chant of concern.

“Hands up, don’t shoot!”

“Black lives matter!”

When the assembly reached the entry to The First Church in Belmont at the intersection of Concord and Common, the crowd began a call-and-response heard across the country for the past three weeks.

“What do we want?”

“Justice.”

“When do we want it?”

“NOW!”

For the participants – some who first marched in the 1960s Civil Rights demonstrations to a large number of teenagers and children who were participating in their first action – the events of the past four months involving the deaths by police of several black men and youths which many claim the judicial system appeared indifference to the action of law enforcement brought them out to voice their collective anger.

At the church, the group sang “We Shall Overcome,” before laying on the ground in silence for four minutes, one minute for every hour the body of Michael Smith – shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. – laid on the street on a hot August afternoon.

For Molly Thayer and her friends from Belmont High School, participating in the march was a symbolic joining of hands from suburban Belmont to Ferguson and Staten Island, NY where Eric Garner died after a struggle during an arrest.

“Belmont is not a town that we have these sorts of incidents but there’s a need to express our support for people who are effected. We can not look away,” Thayer said.

That sentiment is what prompted Patricia Garcia, the chair of First Church’s Social Action chair, to call for a march in Belmont, “because it is a mostly-white community so we tend to see what occurred in Ferguson and elsewhere as being far away.”

“But what happened there and across the country happened to human beings, to African-American men. We all have a stake in learning what happened, why and do something about it,” said Garcia, a native from Mexico.

After spending an hour in active protest outside, most of the marchers entered the church’s sanctuary to talk, vent or discuss their and the country’s emotional state.

“I had to be here,” said one speaker while another said he “must act in some way” to the increase in incidents around the country.

“It’s been 26 years since Rodney King, and we’re back,” said Mike Collins from Belmont.

For Marian Evans Melnick, a First Church congregant and Watertown resident, cell phones and small video cameras in the hands of ordinary people have made possible “that immediacy where one person can make a difference” and allow everyone to bare witness to incidents.

Longer term, a way to alter the now injurious impact of the judicial system on many African Americans is to “dial back” the overtly punitive sentencing requirements for many non-violent offenders, according to State Sen Will Brownsberger, who is the co-chair of the Joint Judiciary Committee on Beacon Hill. Currently, a sentence for a non-violent drug crime has 700 “collateral” effects on a person including loss of licenses, denial of housing and long probation periods.

“It’s gone too far,” said Brownsberger.

From the protest was a sign of hope, said Collins.

“I am heartened by the fact that so many young people were here,” he noted.

“We need young people in New York and San Francisco but also here in Belmont” to come out for change.

Letter to the Editor: Lobby to Preserve Tennis Courts in Belmont

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To the editor:

Our town once had three tennis courts at Town Field, ten at Belmont High School and four at Chenery Middle School.

We have lost two at the Middle School when they rebuilt it for parking. Six-to-eight courts at the High School leaving two to dilapidate.

There are two tennis teams at the High School which need to practice from March to the end of May and play their matches.

The town also removed four where the [Skip Viglirolo] ice rink is. There used to be four covered and lighted courts at that location before they made it into a hockey rink.

Tennis is a life-living sport. Grove Street Playground people fought to restore their courts.

We have lost 11 tennis courts to date. Please do not add to that number.

The public courts are used by the  school tennis teams, children taking lessons after school and other people. No reservations are made; people just go down and play so you do not have a count of who is playing.

Why is the cost so high? The courts must be totally restructured to allow proper drainage etc.

Last time it cost about $20,000 to $25,000 to rebuild them. I worked with Dick Bette when that happened. They have been patched many times and just painted two years ago.

Please consider what we have and do not eliminate another lifetime sport for all ages to play.

Anyone who enjoys the sport of tennis, please read the article and lobby for their preservation.
Maryann Scali

Prospect Street 

Saturday’s Power Outage Left 2,000 Belmont Light Customers in the Dark

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The Christmas lights went out to about a quarter of Belmont homes on Saturday, Dec. 13 as a large-scale blackout hit the town.

According to Becca Keane, Belmont Lights’ executive assistant and communications coordinator, the outage, first reported at 12:51 p.m. on Saturday, was related to an energy supply issue from NStar, the town’s wholesale power supplier.

The issue resulted in a loss of distribution out of one of the three Belmont Light substations. The resulting drop in power caused outages to nearly 2,000 customers, said Keane.

Before long, Belmont Light’s field and engineering teams had the problem under control with power restored by 2:20 p.m.

“The shortest outage lasted approximately 1 hour, 10 minutes and the longest approximately 1 hour 35 minutes,” said Keane.

“We don’t anticipate further service interruptions and the issue was not caused by Belmont Light’s system,” she added.

This Week: BHS Winter Concert Wednesday, Hanukah Menorah and Holiday Sing Tuesday

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• On the government side of the week, the Belmont Board of Selectmen will meet on Monday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. to hear about the future of the former Macy’s site and make the appointments to the Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee; the Planning Board will review and vote on the proposed Cushing Village design modifications and future housing production for Belmont Housing at its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. and the School Committee also meets on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. (starting a half-hour earlier than its usual time).

• Pre-School Story Time will be held at the Benton Library, Belmont’s independent and volunteer run library, at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 15. Stories and crafts for children age 3 to 5. Parents or caregivers must attend. Siblings may attend with adults. Registration is not required. The Benton Library is located at the intersection of Oakley and Old Middlesex.

• Staff from the office of U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark will be meeting with residents at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St., on Tuesday, Dec. 16, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. They bring coffee!

• Beth El Temple Center will be lighting the outdoor Hanukah menorah at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16 on the first night of the “Festival of Lights.” Afterwards, there will be the annual Latke Party with singing and eating. $10 per person or $20 per family at the door. A portion of the proceeds donated for Tikkun Olam.

• Evening Yoga at the Beech Street Center is held every Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. at 266 Beech St. Non-seniors, seniors, beginners and experienced are welcome.  You don’t need to be flexible. Practice is done with bare feet; mats and props are provided. Cost is $15 a class. For more information, call Susan at 617-407-0816.

• A Holiday Town Sing with faculty from Powers Music School is being hosted by the Belmont Public Library in the Assembly Room on Tuesday, Dec. 16 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.  Making music together will surely warm your heart on a cold New England winter’s night. Bring your friends, bring your family, and bring lots of holiday cheer for a song-filled evening that will brighten your holiday season. Everyone is welcome. Sponsored by the Friends of the Belmont Public Library.

• The annual Belmont High School Winter Concert takes place on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. The Winter Concert will showcase more than 400 student musicians performing in bands, orchestras and choruses. Here is the program with a list of all the performers.

• The Book Discussion Group for Chenery Middle School students from the lower school in 5tha and 6th grades will take place Thursday, Dec. 18 from 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Flett Room.

• Hot Topics, the current events group at the Beech Street Center, will be holding its next meeting at the center on Thursday, Dec. 18, at 10 a.m.

• Well-loved local musician Liz Buchanan performs original songs and traditional favorites (with Christmas only six days away expect a few songs about the coming holiday) on Friday, Dec. 19, 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Assembly Room of Belmont Public Library.
• State Sen. Will Brownsberger will be holding office hours on Friday, Dec. 19, at 10 a.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
• The Belmont High School’s Performing Arts Company is holding a Holiday Coffeehouse on Friday, Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. Performers will include Belmont High School students showcasing their talents in bands, solos, a capella, duets and more. There will be food for sale, including pizza and other ‘dinner’ foods; home made holiday treats of ALL varieties, cold drinks, coffee, hot chocolate and ice cream sundaes. All  proceeds will fund the PAC’s January trip to New York City, where 46 students will attend two Broadway shows and take part in a workshop with Broadway actors.

Open Homes: The Priciest Open House in Belmont is on … Waverley?

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Belmont has some neighborhoods and byways that are readily associated with upscale homes and family manses: Belmont Hill, the McLean property, Somerset, Marsh, Grey Birch and Rutledge.

And this week, joining the avenues of the ritzy-priced homes is … Waverley Street.

Where are the smelling salts?

If you knocked on the doors of property owners along that fine street between, let’s say, Town Field and the square, the homeowners would say they live in a great neighborhood with good folks. But they would admit their humble road would hardly be considered a place where high-income houses are located.

But this weekend, the priciest open house is not in the converted asylum on McLean Hospital (a mere $1,495,000 for a condo) or on the Hill. No, it is the attached townhouses at 54-56 Waverley St. Priced at nearly $1.6 million, the new construction (built in 2009) duel homes are, um, tightly situated (i.e. crammed) onto 9,000 square feet of land with a garage – the salesperson calls it a “barn” that can become an office space – in the back.

So what do you get? Just like some newly-built residences around town, this is a standard two-family that has been fed steroids: each townhouse has three levels along with a portion of the basement that takes up nearly 4,400 square feet total. Each unit has six rooms, three bedrooms and either 2.5 or 3.5 bathrooms. It’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger of multi-family homes. Ja!

The townhouses are also being shopped around separately but how can you break up this pair? It’s being showed today, Saturday, Dec. 13, from noon to 2 p.m.

 

Tennis, Someone? Community Preservation Ponders Need for Court Repairs

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Does Belmont have too many tennis courts?

And who plays on them, and when?

While pondering the supply and demand of the 24 courts in town (with 22 actually available to be played on), the town’s Community Preservation Committee appeared willing at its monthly meeting held Wednesday, Dec. 10 to conduct an extensive study not just to answer those questions.

Wednesday’s meeting was to update the committee and possibly cast votes on the seven grant application seeking funding from the town’s Community Preservation Act account.

They include:

  • Belmont Veterans Memorial Project: $150,000
  • Wellington Station exterior restoration and rehabilitation: $26,300
  • Electrical upgrade at units owned by the Belmont Housing Authority: $522,500
  • Winn Brook Tennis Courts: $295,000
  • Pequossette (PQ) Park Tennis Courts: $250,000
  • Digitization of historic Belmont newspapers from 1890 to 1983: $25,000
  • Rehabilitation and restoration of the 1853 Homer House: $100,000.

Approved by Belmont voters in November 2010, the Community Preservation Act fund is financed by a property tax surcharges and annual stipends from the state’s “Massachusetts Community Preservation Trust Fund.” The funds must be targeted towards recreation, historic preservation, affordable housing and open space. 

The tennis courts at the two locations – Winn Brook is adjacent to Winn Brook Elementary and Joey’s Park while PQ is behind the VFW building off Trapelo Road – were “patched up” about five years ago and, according to the recently retired Director of Public Works Peter Castanino, are ready to more extensive reconstruction.

“We are now in the sweet spot … where the courts have reached their useful life,” Belmont Town Administrator David Kale told the committee. The renovation projects were put forward by the Board of Selectmen.

With the money available and the timing optimum, Kale said “[w]e can be proactive to reconstruct the courts so they are available for the next 30 years.”

Yet CAC member Anthony Ferrante, the Recreation Commission appointee to the committee, didn’t believe the two locations are in such desperate condition for the committee (and town taxpayers) to spend $300,000 before more is known about the courts usage and popularity.

“The sense of urgency is not there,” said Ferrante. 

Kale noted that point of view is valid only if Ferrante assumes that future money will be available which in the current economic climate is a big “if.”

“Strike while the funds are available and … be ahead of the curve as we were with Harris Field and the Underwood Pool,” said Kale, referring to the $850,000 reconditioning of Belmont High Schools main field and the more than $2.2 million the committee spent on the new Underwood Pool complex.

Ferrante countered, saying the Underwood experience – in which a building committee was created to create a detailed building and financing program – would direct the CPC towards a comprehensive study before committing limited resources to a recreational facility that may or may not be used by sufficient number of residents.

“Let’s first take a look at all the tennis courts and come to a conclusion on how many are needed,” said Ferrante.

“My gut says PQ needs to be reconstructed but I need more than my gut saying this. Planning is not taking place,” he said.

While agreeing with the premise of a study, member Charles Clark said he would vote to approve funding to reconstruct the PQ courts since the nearby area has undergone renovation including the repair of Trapelo Road, the adjacent sidewalks and the construction of new housing. 

But for Farrante, the lack of any hard data – unlike the Town of Lexington which compiles numbers on activity with its online permit system – results in a vote  a vote based on conjecture.

“There is my opinion and your opinion but not a lot of facts for the decision,” said Farrante.

But even if the CPC decides to conduct a master plan of the tennis facilities in town, “I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that PQ will survive even if you reduced the number of courts from 24 to 16,” said Belmont Treasurer and CPC member Floyd Carman, noting the PQ court is the only town recreational site in the Waverley Square area.

While the consensus at the meeting was that PQ would be funded this year, Winn Brook’s court would be put under a study’s microscope along with the other courts in town including those at Grove Street Playground, the High School, and the Chenery Middle School.

Yet Farrante was still critical of the process of spending funds without a solid factual reason to do so.

“I’m opposed to spending money simply because of inertia,” said Farrante.

The CPC decided to wait until its next meeting in January before voting on recommending funding applications for Town Meeting approval in May 2015.