Complete List of Streets on 2015 Repaving Calendar

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Photo: Elm Street, one of the 17 roads that will be repaired this year.

Seventeen streets and road made the 2015 Pavement Management list after the Belmont Board of Selectmen accepted a $1.99 million bid from E.H. Perkins Construction last week. Due to the low bid, about $400,000 lower than the estimated price tag, allowed four additional streets (in bold) to be added to the list, 

The roadways that will soon have a new layer of pavement include: 

  • Charles Street (from Slade to Orchard)
  • Edward Street (from Orchard to Waverley)
  • Holt Street (from Lexington to 25 feet east of Knowles)
  • Orchard Street (from Common to Beech)
  • Richmond Road (from Prospect to Lawrence)
  • Somerset Street (from Pleasant to Shady Brook)
  • Warwick Road (from Common to Carleton)
  • Wellington Lane (from Concord to Somerset)
  • Winthrop Road (from Common to Charles)
  • Garden Street (from Washington to Long)
  • Concord Avenue (eastbound from Common to Cottage, and westbound from Cottage to Common)
  • Hastings Road (from Common to Brettwood)
  • Elm Street (from School to Payson)
  • Cottage Street (School to Concord)
  • Emerson Street (Concord to Louise)
  • Bradley Road (Gordon to Pearson)
  • Shean Road (Waverley to Gordon)

Sold in Belmont: Classical Colonials Hit Seven-Figure Sales Price

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Photo: The quintessential Belmont Colonial, this one located between School and Goden on Washington Street.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes.”

171-173 Beech St., Triple decker (1912). Sold: $925,000. Listed at $ 950,000. Living area: 3,516 sq.-ft. 16 rooms, 6 bedrooms, 3 bath. On the market: 56 days.

153 Washington St., Center-entrance, hip-roof Colonial (1930). Sold: $1,125,000. Listed at $1,199,900. Living area: 2,504 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 107 days.

146 Watson Rd., Center-entrance Colonial (1928). Sold: $1,150,000. Listed at $1,150,000. Living area: 2,407 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 56 days.

69 Oak Ave., Colonial with Queen Anne elements (1907). Sold: $1,150,000. Listed at $1,075,000. Living area: 2,716 sq.-ft. 11 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 56 days.

86 Clark St., “Lemuel Hatch House” Italianate/Greek Revival (1863). Sold: $850,000. Listed at $795,000. Living area: 2,407 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 42 days.

25 Dalton Rd., Two-level condominium (1920). Sold: $590,000. Listed at $529,000. Living area: 2,287 sq.-ft. 11 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 58 days.

133-135 White St., Two-family (1928). Sold: $757,000. Listed at $ 725,000. Living area: 2,676 sq.-ft. 13 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths. On the market: 72 days.

Cool and Dark: Belmont High’s New Court Design Unveiled

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Photo: The new basketball/volleyball court at Belmont High School will be ready for the volleyball season in September. 

Stone gray and midnight blue will color the new varsity court at the Wenner Field House as Belmont Athletic Director Jim Davis unveiled the new design to the School Committee at the final committee meeting of the school year on Monday, June 22 at the Chenery Middle School.

Replacing the long threadbare 20-year-old vinyl court will be a padded, modern synthetic court displaying the school’s mascot in the center circle and “Belmont” “Marauders” on either end. Construction will begin in late-July and be completed at the end of August.

The darkish color scheme will complement Belmont’s home “white” kits.

Along with the new court, the rims on the varsity court will be repaired or replaced.

The new court – which will be inaugurated with a game by Belmont High’s Volleyball team in September – was financed by a $100,000 appropriation from the Capital Budget Committee and private funds, chiefly from duel $35,000 contributions from the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation and the Belmont Youth Basketball Association. An additional $5,000 was raised at a fundraiser at Hopkinton Country Club.

Originally the focus was just the varsity court but a substantial contribution of $15,000 by the Belmont Boosters will allow the the surface surrounding the court, out to the inner track, to be completed.

The adjacent junior variety court will be completed in the summer of 2016.

A Little Rain Equals Fast Times At Brendan’s Home Run 5K

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Photo: Nine-year-old Gillian Palmer runs across the finish line with David Palmer in 35 minutes and 50 seconds in the 14th annual Brendan’s Home Run 5K.

While the steady warm rain may have kept the total number of runners at the 14th annual Brandan’s Home Run 5K race down from previous years – 301 runners finished the race Sunday, June 21, as opposed to nearly 425 last year – it also helped those running the Father’s Day tradition set fast times.

Leading the way was the shirtless Zack Schwartz, a 26-year-old former Brandeis cross-country and track racer, who stormed over the 3.1 mile course in 14 minutes and 44 seconds, smashing the course record of 14:59 set by Ryan McCalmon in  2012. Also breaking the old record was Eric Speakman, the 24-year-old 2015 Stony Brook University graduate, who followed Schwartz by eight seconds.

“This is my best race by far,” said Schwartz, who works at MIT and “am trying to run as much as I can.”

The woman’s race nearly duplicated the men’s as 37-year-old Northbridge-resident Stephanie Reilly finished in 17:22, within five seconds of breaking the women’s record of 17:17 set in 2013 by the woman came in second in Monday’s race, Karen Roa, 24, who finished in 17:48.

Complete race results can be found here.

And while the race – sponsored by Belmont Savings Bank, Fitness Together, and Belmont Dental Group – featured those running in the front of the pack, those participating were enjoying the inclement weather leaving them drenched and dodging puddles as they race by themselves or with friends and family.

The real winner of Sunday’s race was The Brendan Grant Foundation, dedicated to enhancing youth development, and has been instrumental in the support of key initiatives that perpetuate the best core values of healthy parent-child relationships.

 

Due to Scheduling Kerfuffle, Belmont Center Petition Delivered Through the E-Mail

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Photo: Parking in front of the Belmont Savings Bank is at issue in the petition delivered to the Board of Selectmen Monday.

Paul Roberts is not just frustrated with what he perceives as the Board of Selectmen overreaching its authority in altering the design plans for the $2.8 million Belmont Center Reconstruction Project even as construction had begun, he also had to deal with faulty dates on the town’s web page.

“They have inaccurate, outdated info on the Board of Selectmen’s web page,” said Roberts, who was prepared on Monday, June 15, to submit his petition asking the board to restore the Project’s original design which features a “town lawn” in front of the main branch of Belmont Savings Bank on Leonard Street.

The only problem was that the Board of Selectmen were not holding office hours at 6 p.m. as its page stated on the Belmont-ma.gov site.

“It’s too damn hard to figure out what[’s] happening and when in this town,” said Roberts, a Cross Street resident and a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 8.

So rather than presenting his Petition with 430 signatures from Belmont residents and business owners calling for the restoration of the original design, Roberts put the package into a PDF file and zipped it over to the three selectmen via e-mail.

You can see the petitions at the end of the article.

Roberts promises he’ll hand deliver a printed copy to the board at the Selectmen’s scheduled Monday, June 22 meeting.

As for the Selectmen, while one acknowledged receiving the package, its contents were yet to be read.

“[Roberts] did e-mail us something, but I have not seen the petition. I just got it,” said Selectman Chair Sami Baghdady at another public meeting Monday night. 

What is facing the selectmen is a growing number of residents angered by the board’s vote to approve two major changes to the approved Reconstruction Project’s design – now known as Plan A – proposed by a small faction of residents led by long-time homeowner Lydia Ogilby.

The revised design, Plan B, restores the current layout of parking in front of the bank as well as continue a cut through between Moore Street and Concord Avenue. Those changes would effectively end the hope of many of establishing a town green (or lawn) into Belmont Center as a central gathering area.

Roberts and those who signed the petition are asking for the board “to respectfully reverse a decision you made at a special hearing in May that installed a new, heretofore unseen and untested plan created at the last minute by your office in the place of Plan A.”

Roberts has joined others who believe the original designed was vetted and approved by a Special Town Meeting in November 2014 which approved the $2.8 million project’s financing.

“Reinstating Plan A will respect the work of the Traffic Advisory Committee, the wishes of Town Meeting and – as this petition suggests – the wishes of the voting public,” says Roberts letter.

The petition’s signatories represent “the full spectrum of Belmont politics” including Town Meeting members, the Warrant Committee, and the Traffic Advisory Committee which created the program. It also includes some pointed quotes from neighbors.

“Plan A” was the approved plan. It was an excellent plan. The last-minute substitution of another plan, which bypassed a multi-year town-wide process, by a small group to effectively undo the good works done by many people over many years is a shameful act and should not be allowed to happen.” said resident Andrew Bennett.

Roberts hopes the Board of Selectmen will conclude that since any further changes to the project’s blueprint could actually delay the reconstruction schedule. the board will open discussion on his petition at 7 p.m. at Monday’s meeting “so that we may resolve this issue as soon as possible.”

Town Center Green Space Signatures – NonResidents

Town Center Green Space Signatures – Residents

Angered, Resident Petitions To Restore Belmont Center’s Town Green

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Photo: The face page of the online petition concerning Belmont Center Reconstruction project.

After expressing their anger in on-line comments and message boards to a Belmont Board of Selectmen decision to approve a last-second petition driven design change to the Belmont Center Reconstruction Project, one resident has started his own petition in an attempt to have the Selectmen change their vote.

“I am circulating a petition calling for the restoration of Plan A and will be asking my fellow Town Meeting members and neighbors to join me in signing it,” wrote Paul Roberts, a Cross Street resident and Precinct 8 member, who placed his petition on the change.org website.

Roberts said he hoped the petition will spark the selectmen to reverse its earlier decision and call another public meeting, this time “to clear the air, explain their actions and discuss ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

So far, there is no word from individual selectmen on this petition.

Roberts joined others expressing their surprise, discontent and disappointment to an unanimous vote by the selectmen at an unusual Thursday night meeting, on May 28, prompted by a petition drive led by 96-year-old Lydia Ogilby who sought to make changes to the project’s blueprints as work had already begun on the plan.

The changes Ogilby advocated restores a small number of parking spaces in front of the main branch of Belmont Savings Bank that supporters claimed are needed by the bank’s elderly customers. Also, the modification would also preserve a “cut through” connecting Moore Street with Concord Avenue, allowing drivers to avoid Leonard Street when seeking parking in the area.

The result of the new changes would eliminate the creation of a new “town green” in front of the bank. Under the altered design, the green space would become an island surrounded by vehicle traffic and parked cars.

The alterations came seven months after a November 2014 Special Town Meeting approved the drawings and the project’s financing package.

Despite opposition to “Plan B” by residents and some stinging comments from Linda Nickens, Traffic Advisory Committee chair, which held four years of public meetings before approving the design which was approved by the Selectmen and Town Meeting, the Selectmen voted 3-0 for the changes.

The resulting comments – online in the Belmontonian and Google’s Belmont Moms community and public conversations – to the selectmen’s decision were quick to come with some pointed political jabs included.

“This seems like a poor precedent to set and an incredibly dangerous one that. I am very disappointed to be so poorly represented. Perhaps if my pedigree were better documented, I could bring about some real change… ” wrote Miriam Lapson in a Belmontonian comment.

“We have a major process problem if a small (and the apparently well-connected) group can make arbitrary last-minute changes to a plan that has been developed over years with broad community input,” wrote Mike Campisano.

“The result of these arbitrary changes to the plan will be to make Belmont Center less welcoming to pedestrians and more efficient as a pass through for drivers. How does that help any of the stakeholders?” he said.

Two days ago, Bonnie Friedman of Hay Road and Precinct 3, wrote a letter to the editor in the Belmontonian addressed to the selectmen in which she scolded the board for allowing it to be swayed by a small minority of residents in town.

“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,” she said.

For Roberts, the selectmen’s vote was “disgraceful” as it threw out the window “a months-long process out the window” hundreds of hours of volunteer time Traffic Advisory Committee.

“Their decision makes a mockery of this Town’s efforts to create a transparent, consensus-based, bottom-up process for planning and investment. Instead, it sends the clear message that the word of the Selectmen is written in sand. That even the most straight-forward projects in this town are political footballs to be kicked around and subject to the whims of powerful constituencies, rather than the will of the majority of voters and their representatives at Town Meeting,” he said.

Belmont High Graduates 275 Newly-Minted Alumni from Class of ’15

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Photo: Caps flying during the 2015 graduation at Belmont High School.

“Bittersweet,” is how Lisa Castagno would feel watching her daughter, Olivia, receive her diploma along with 274 of her classmates during graduation ceremony for the Class of 2015 at Belmont High School on Sunday afternoon, June 7.

“I’m really happy but sad,” said Castagno, who has seen three daughters graduate from the school, with a son remaining. “It’s great to see them growing up. It’s an exciting time for them and for us parents but in a different way.”

Amidst cheers, hugs, contemplation, photos and a cloud of cigar smoke, 275 seniors transformed from students to alumni during the ceremony held in the school’s Wenner Field House.

“Your child charmed us, and at times alarmed us, they have pushed the boundaries of learning and thinking to new horizons,” Belmont High Principal Dan Richards told the graduates and those who packed the Field House.

“We will miss their energy and their endless ideas, but know that each of them will put that creativity and intelligence to good use,” he said.

Class President Sophie Kunz-Cosgrove said this graduating class “cultivated a culture of hard work, determination, and caring, in and out of the classroom.”

“After today, we will start our lives apart. But we built something here that will always be with us; a community, our community where everyone is different but everyone belongs,” she said.

Thomas Zembowicz, the first of the speakers honored with the School Committee Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship – whose long list of accomplishments in academics, volunteering and athletics read by School Superintendent John Phelan seemed to embarrass him slightly – said what he will miss the most from his experience at Belmont High is “a feeling of contentment and belonging … in even the most mundane situations” hearing snippets of conversations or watching classmates working together on projects.

“I reflected on the rituals that bind us as a class; unscripted and unnoticed … noticing these shared routines … gave me a more powerful sense of nostalgia,” said Zembowicz, who will matriculate at Yale in the fall.

“Take a minute to notice the forged ties with people that shared things with you, even if that means just sharing a table at the library,” he said. “Because even as the past weeks events slip out of our memories, we will always have each other.”

Organization, for Catherine Tang, the second School Committee Award speaker, was the touchstone of her experience at Belmont High School. How she studied and practice, Tang did each within a tidy planned “comfortable” system. That was until the day her art teacher, Mark Milowsky, squirted a tube of paint on her blank canvas.

“Mr. Milowsky said, ‘You need to learn to trust yourself’,” Tang said. Despite being out of her comfort zone, she created a work that she remains most proud.

“We all have our plans, our systems, our expectations for the future. But we may find that someone splatters paint on our canvas,” said Tang, who will not travel far to attend Harvard College this fall.

“It is up to us to decide what we make of the unexpected situations that life throws at us, whether we view them as obstacles or as opportunities for personal growth,” she said.

“Don’t worry about the unexpected; trust your abilities and put your mark on the new and unexpected.”

Finally, it was time for the 275 students to become former pupils, to shake hands with school committee members, superintendent, and principal; then tossing caps in the air, and meet outside for photos and cheap cigars.

Belmont Boys, Girls Track In the Top Ten in East Divisional Meet

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Photo: Belmont’s girls relay team in action. 

In the best combined day in recent memory, the Belmont High School Boys’ and Girls’ Spring Track teams powered their way to top-ten finishes in the East Division 3 championships held Wednesday, June 3 in Durfee, Mass.

Led by a pair of second-place finishes by sophomore Julia Cella in the 100 (12.73 seconds) and 200 meter (26.36) sprints, Belmont piled up 46.5 points over the day, good for a solid sixth place.

The boys collected 33 points to place 9th, just three points from 7th place.

Belmont’s girls was the only team with two runners in both sprint finals as fellow sophomore Marley Williams joined Cella in the dashes.

After taking seventh in the 100, Williams finished second to the eventual winner, Tatum Pecci of Tewksbury, in the preliminary heats of the 200 meters, making her a favorite in the finals.

But Williams began feeling under the weather and scratched from the final, said Belmont Head Coach Melissa Glotzbecker, whose team won the Middlesex League regular season title and the League meet. 

Belmont’s other multi-event point scorer was freshman standout Anoush Krafian, who finished third in the 100-meter hurdles, tied for seventh in the high jump and 11th in the long jump. She was also on the 4×100-meter relay that came in fourth.

Junior Samantha Kelts was one of three athletes who broke the existing point record for the pentathlon to finish the multi-event competition in third. Also capturing a third place medal was junior Meggie MacAulay in the 400 meters.

Sophomore Claudia Tenner led three Marauders in the 400-meter hurdles, coming in 7th followed by senior Kayla Magno and sophomore Guilia Rufo.

In the field events, junior Katrina Rokosz threw the javelin just under 111 feet for 7th place.

Leading the boys was senior captain Ari Silverfine, who broke two minutes to finish fourth in the 800 meters, while anchoring the 4×800 relay that raced stride for stride against Pembroke which eked out the victory over the Marauders by less than a second.

Silverfine’s fellow senior Owen Madden took third in the 400 hurdles while junior Luke Peterson used his long frame to finish fifth in the long jump, and sixth in the triple jump.

The final meet for both girls and boys is the All-State meet taking place on Saturday, June 6, at Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg.

From the girls team, Cella will be running in the 100 and 200 meters, Krafian in the 100 hurdles and high jump, MacAulay the 400, in addition to the 4×100 relay with Cella, Krafian, MacAulay and Williams with Naria Sealy as alternative.

Silverfine will run the 800 and Madden the 400 hurdles with the 4×800 and 4×400 relay teams taking part.

Sold in Belmont: A Quartet of Roaring 20s-Era Abodes Skidoo Off the Market

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Photo: 39 Bartlett Ave.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes.”

• 39 Bartlett Ave. Colonial (1927). Sold: $510,000. Listed at $525,000. Living area: 1,400 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 99 days.

• 35 Gilbert Rd. Condominium (1925). Sold: $497,000. Listed at $449,900. Living area: 1,100 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. On the market: 65 days.

• 71-73 Lewis Rd. Condominium (1924). Sold: $485,000. Listed at $485,000. Living area: 1,198 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. On the market: 70 days.

• 49 Sycamore St. #2. Condominium (1925). Sold: $388,000. Listed at $389,900. Living area: 950 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. On the market: 40 days.

The great explosion of home building in Belmont lasted about two decades at the start of the last century. Farm and orchard lands were developed, estates were subdivided and streets plotted north and south of the Trapelo/Belmont corridor.

So it shouldn’t be that far-fetched to see four homes built in the 1920s selling in the same week. What’s interesting is that some have gone from owner-occupied two families to straight duel condominiums. Guess no one wants to be the landlord living over/under the tenant. 

It should also be noted that, despite news that the real estate market is suffering a lack of supply (causing prices to race skyward), especially of condos, Belmont saw three units on the smallish end of the square footage scale sell along with a sad-looking single-family.

And for these parts, rather affordable, on average about $480,000. Not a bad starter house for many couples.

Of course, just outside job-hot Austin, Texas, (about the same distance from Belmont to Boston) this is what you get for $469,000.

As Town Delays Policy, Town Meeting Considers Solar Power Resolution

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Photo: Solar panels.

Just two weeks after the Belmont Light Board – made up of the Belmont Board of Selectmen – decided to delayed the start of a payment plan for residents who use solar power, Town Meeting will debate placing a non-binding resolution on the town ballot to ask if the town should support as policy a higher subsidy to homeowners who choose the solar route.

While Sami Baghdady, the chair of the Light Board and the Selectmen, said the delay was so legal language could be clarified in the documents homeowners are required to sign, he did not dismiss the possibility the Light Board – which oversees Belmont Light, the municipal electric utility – could lead to a change in the Residential Rate APV, the new set of rates for customers who use solar panels to generate electricity which was approved in December. 

“At this point, it’s a delay. May it result in a re-evalutation of the policy? I think it might,” said Baghdady after a Selectmen’s meeting on Monday, April 27. 

The Light Board OK’d the postponement after several of the 18 residents who are entitled to participate in Belmont Light’s new program voiced concerns on understanding the legal language in the agreement including a very strong indemnity provision that needed to be signed and returned by April 24. 

“So when [the board] met (on April 22), we raised several questions regarding the packet that went out to residents that were still unresolved. So we agreed to delay the implementation. Concurrent with that, so that necessitated a delay in the filing [by Belmont Light] to the Massachusetts Department of Utilities,” said Baghdady. 

With the new residential rate delayed, Town Meeting will likely take up on the first night of the annual meeting, Monday, May 4, a citizen’s petition from a group of solar power advocates seeking members approval to place a non-binding referendum to gauge the community’s support for either the newly-created buy back pricing program or one which provides a greater payback to households using solar energy. 

Under the newly-delayed plan – which took nearly two years and sometimes contentious debates between advocates and the Municipal Light Advisory Board which drew up the blueprint – residents who install solar power would pay the standard monthly fee every household pays to be hooked up to the Belmont Light system, and a new monthly charge of about $14 for installed capacity.

The new plan also reduces the money homeowners receives as a credit for energy Belmont Light “buys back” when the solar system is generating excess energy as the utility pays for electricity over the course of the entire month, without crediting the homeowner if the electricity is generated during peak-times and how much greenhouse gas emissions they are savings.  

Solar advocates contend they should receive additional credits, (or as the utility calls subsidies) for a myriad of energy and pollution savings.

While the debate in Belmont continues, a state task force on net metering and solar power issued its own report on April 30 concluding that it did did “not support raising the net metering caps in the short term absent a long term sustainable solution.”

“Rather, we believe it is extremely important that any adjustments to the caps be accompanied by meaningful changes to the mix of incentives and proper consideration of the role of the ratepayers,” it read.