Open Space? Solar Farm? Marijuana Grove? What to Do With Belmont’s Former Incinerator Site Meeting Nov. 3

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New recreational playing fields.

A new home for the Department of Public Works.

A solar photovoltaic farm.

Open space.

A grove for growing medical marijuana.

Those are just a few of the suggestions citizens and town officials put forward for the future use of the former town incinerator located off Concord Avenue near the Lexington town line with Belmont.

With the state prepared to sell the nearly 16 acre parcel to the town, the Belmont Board of Selectmen will be updating Town Meeting members and the public on possible uses for the former incinerator at a presentation and discussion set for Monday, Nov. 3 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Chenery Middle School auditorium.

The public and Town Meeting members are encouraged to provide their ideas for the best use for the land, according to a press release for the board.

The town is moving forward on a new use after Gov. Deval Patrick in January signed legislation pushed by State Rep. Dave Rogers that authorizes the sale to the town of the state-owned land. The law allows Belmont to purchase the land after an appraisal determines the fair market value of the property. In addition, the town will be responsible for the site’s costly remediation of environmentally hazardous material.

An important provision of the law is the land is limited to recreational or municipal use; it can not be sold or leased for commercial or business operations.

Constructed in 1959, the incinerator operated until 1975, when it became the town’s transfer station for two decades. It is currently used by the Belmont DPW for equipment storage, leaf composting and placement of debris.

Questions and ideas can be submitted prior to the meeting at selectmen@belmont-ma.gov . More information on the meeting can be found by contacting the Board of Selectmen/Town Administrator’s office at 617-993-2610.

Belmont OKs Commuter Pass Program, Price Hikes for Town Lots

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Straphangers using Belmont Center to catch buses or the commuter rail to work will soon lose most of their free parking options as the Belmont Board of Selectmen approved a plan Monday, Sept. 29 requiring commuters to purchase of a monthly pass to park along streets and town lots near the transportation hub.

The recommendations from a committee of the Financial Task Force is predicting the commuter pass along with an increase in the fees at the three municipal parking lots will generate an additional $40,000 a year for the town, according to Floyd Carman, the town’s treasurer who is a member of the Task Force’s Other Revenue Committee.

The selectmen decided to defer from expanding the commuter plan to the “turn around” road across from Cottage Street and the Underwood Pool that is used for parking for residents and visitors attending events or using the school playing fields or the ‘Skip’ Viglirolo Skating Rink.

The new parking regulations will go into effect on Jan. 1.

Residents and out-of-towners who use the three town-owned lots in Belmont Center (on Claflin Street), Cushing Square and Waverley Square will be paying 40 cents more an hour and $2 a day to park, which will cover the costs to maintain the lots and operate the parking program, said Carman.

The parking fees will become $1 per hour and $5 for an all day ticket on Jan. 1. Parking passes will jump from $60 to $90.

The big change will be the new commuter parking plan, an idea proposed in the past but never implemented, said Carman. Currently, about 65 percent of the vehicles parked adjacent the Belmont commuter rail station are from out-of-town, said Carman.

“Sometimes, it’s 100 percent. There are no places for residents to park,” he told selectmen.

Under the recommendations, ten spaces in the three municipal lots as well as 13 spaces along Royal Road in front of the Belmont Lions Club will be reserved for commuters who purchase passes for $90 a month. The pass will allow commuters to use the spaces from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The ten commuter spots in the Belmont Center lot will be located near the former Macy’s location as its unlikely the site will be leased “until next year,” said Carman.

“So for the short term we can develop a revenue stream,” said Carman.

He also said there is some risk to the plan as the Belmont Center lot is used by the town’s Farmers Market five months during the summer and fall while the Lions Club sells Christmas trees in December.

Carman told Selectmen that businesses whose employees have been using lots and the street could begin a shuttle service from other locations.

The approved recommendations come as the November Town Meeting will discuss approving the $2.6 million reconstruction of Belmont Center’s roads that will include the introduction of a parking plan that calls for meters along Leonard Street. Selectman Sami Baghdady said he wanted to promote the commuter lot in a way “to encourage turnover along Leonard Street” to promote shopping and not all-day parking along the town’s “High Street.”

Selectman Mark Paolillo brought up the running concern of workers using on-street parking spaces by suggesting employee designated parking spaces in the three municipal lots with the remaining spaces limited to four hours or less.

“Let’s start thinking about this now before the Macy’s site opens,” said Paolillo.

 

 

New Underwood Pool Out to Bid Again, With Fingers Crossed

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Belmont Board of Selectman Chair Andy Rojas was not happy.

At a joint meeting Wednesday morning, Sept. 3, of the Selectmen and the Underwood Pool Building Committee – the citizens group organized last year to manage the design and development of a $5.2 million pool complex to replace the historic 102-year-old Underwood Pool – Rojas and his colleagues heard that due to the dubious last-minute withdrawal of the construction firm which submitted a below budget bid and other auxiliary issues, the budget for the voter-approved two-pool facility is currently $400,000 short of the new “low” bid.

“We weren’t expecting this,” said Adam Dash, vice chair of the Building Committee. “We had a bidder who meets our estimates and you think you’re done. Then the guy backs out.”

Because of the failure to secure a bid within the building committee’s $4.16 million construction budget and since the second round of bidding will occur, at the earliest, early in the New Year, any chance of Belmont residents wading into a new pool in the summer of 2015 is all but dead.

“I’m sorry to say that we will not have a pool next year,” said Anne Paulsen, chair of the Building Committee.

Conversations with the Belmont Health Department earlier this year said safety variances for the existing century-old Underwood Pool were approved by the town and OK’d by the state on the assumption a replacement facility would be up and running in 2015.

In an attempt to salvage the pool, the committee is moving to put the project – in a slightly different arrangement to satisfy state legal requirements – back out to bid for a second round in January. They will have their fingers crossed a new crop of builders will be eager to take the job within the budget.

“It’s a big bet, and I’m opposed to casinos,” said Paulsen.

“But we have been put into a corner, and we’re hoping to get out of the corner with some redesign and some assistance from the Board of Selectmen,” she said Tuesday night, Sept. 2 as the building committee met to prep for the joint meeting.

As for Rojas, he did not mince words placing a good proportion of the blame for this developmental “fail” square on the shoulders of the pool’s architect, Thomas Scarlata, principal at Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype, and the building committee’s project manager, Deborah Marai of Pinck & Co.

“There were only two people that are trained to have the experience necessary to [create a plan]; Scarlata and Pinck,” said Rojas, pointing specifically at the amount allocated to contingency costs – an amount in a project’s budget set aside to account for errors and omissions in the plans and to pay for unknown conditions such as an overheated market – as the prime culprit in the failure to secure a builder.

“I thought the contingency was way low, and if the contingency were higher, quite frankly, we’d be building a pool right now,” said Rojas, saying the pair’s financial assumptions were “well-below industry standards.”

According to committee documents, the construction contingency was $250,000 or about six percent of the total construction cost.

“Scarlata swore up and down that his contingency was high enough. I have no confidence in them anymore,” said Rojas.

“I hate to be correct on things like this,” Rojas said after the meeting. He said his experience, as a landscape architect, with state and federal projects of a similar size, requires 10 to 15 percent contingency “because they know there is a volatility in the bid environment.”

“[Scarlata] miscalculated the project. It was that simple. Just think if we had $600,000 in reserve. We would not be here,” said Rojas.

Yet Pinck’s Marai told the building committee Tuesday night the cost estimates, performed by two independent and veteran estimators, “were solid.”

In addition, the project did attract the interest of a bidder who was willing to work with the town’s numbers and two others “were really close,” said Marai.

Paulsen did express support for BH+A and Pinck, saying that while there are some who are disappointed with the contingency amount, “they have not said they haven’t done great work on this project.”

“We discussed the contingency with them ahead of time, and they thought they were quite responsible,” she said.

Just swimmingly until last week

Just a month earlier, it appeared to the Building Committee that the new municipal pool was proceeding swimmingly as Seaver Construction placed a bid of $3.84 million, well within the budget. And well below the two nearest bids, including one from New England Builders and Contractors, Inc. at $4.55 million.

Then within the past fortnight, the Woburn-based contractor suddenly withdrew its bid, stating it had made an error in its calculations, saying it had inadvertently left a “0” off – using $17,500 instead of $175,000 – for winterizing the site.

While correcting the mistake would allow Seaver to remain under budget, it told town officials that it would withdraw its bid rather than lower their profit margin.

Several in attendance Wednesday viewed Seaver’s claim as dubious, at best; the assumption is the company believed it was undercutting its profit margin severely after viewing the other bids that came in at approximately $4.6 million.

By Tuesday, Sept. 2, as the Building Committee gathered at Town Hall to prep for its meeting with the Selectmen, Paulsen informed the committee that she was “sorry we’re here with such grim news.”

The committee heard that the possibility of asking the November Special Town Meeting to approve an appropriation to make up the funding difference as well as creating a new set of design changes and calculations “is not realistic due to the tight time frame,” said Pinck’s Marai.

Marai presented three options to move forward; the committee rejected one – abandon the project and return the money to the town and CPA – out of hand.

The option to reduce the cost of the pool by the $400,000 gap was deemed so draconian that it would render the pool a shadow of the town resident’s expectation.

“The workarounds are just not worth it,” said Committee member Joel Mooney pointing out that even making significant cuts would result in added fees for new designs and consulting expenses.

The committee’s preferred alternative is to take a second bite of the apple by rejecting the current suitors, make just enough changes to the pool’s design to satisfy the state regulations requiring a second bid to be significantly different than the first and send the project out once again.

One major change being floated by Mooney is altering the number of pools from two to one, saving on pumps and filtration systems.

“But that is not a fait accompli,” said Paulsen, saying that is just a suggestion on reaching the state’s benchmark.

There is some belief that a January rebid will be more successful in ferreting out contractors who will be eager to work within a budget, said Marai. But, as stated at Tuesday’s meeting, the bidding process is unpredictable at the best of times.

“It could have been that the estimates were off because they weren’t anticipating a hot market or it’s just a bad time to bid. That’s the trouble. Once you go back out, you can’t anticipate what’s going to happen even if you make changes,” said Peter Castinino, director of the Department of Public Works.

“Darn this improved economy,” said Dash.

Selectman Mark Paolillo, who did not want to see the pool reduced in size and scope, suggested a public/private partnership be seriously explored to reduce the difference.

On Wednesday, the Selectmen were also eager to bring a wildcard into the mix, Town Meeting. The selectmen want the building committee to present a report at November’s Special Town Meeting and possibly to the general public this fall that includes scenario on changes, from minor alterations, significant cost reductions, and some which lie in the middle.

“If there are changes to the design, it must go to Town Meeting since they approved a specific design,” said Selectman Sami Baghdady.

As of now, the town can accept either of the two remaining bids until Sept. 26.

Belmont Town Administrator David Kale quipped that the town would welcome any resident making a grant for $400,000 to the project before the deadline.

 

 

New Underwood Pool in Flux as Low Bidder Leaves Belmont High and Dry

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The sudden departure of the construction company set to build the new Underwood Pool complex has left the future the town’s facility in flux as officials prepare to convene to discuss Belmont’s options in completing the project by next year.

“We are disappointed that Seaver Construction decided to withdraw its bid, as we were looking forward to working with them to build the new Underwood Pool,” said Adam Dash, the vice chair of the Underwood Pool Building Committee which oversees the pool’s design and construction.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen has announced that it will be holding a special meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 8 a.m. to discuss the fate of the new complex with the Underwood Pool Building Committee at Town Hall.

Under the Building Committee’s tentative timeline, construction on the two-pool complex was scheduled to begin in September with completion by the first day of summer 2015, replacing the 102-year-old existing structure.

There is no official word whether the committee’s time schedule remains viable at this late date.

Not only was the Woburn-based company the lowest of four bids to build the $5.2 million project, Seaver was also the only firm to stay within the established budget.

According to a press release from the Belmont Department of Public Works, Seaver withdrew its bid “on the grounds of having made a clerical error” in determining their cost in completing the project.

Under state law, public construction regulations prevent adjustments from being made after bids are submitted.

But even calculating in the error, according to the DPW, Seaver’s bid would have still been within the project’s budget and would have remained the low bid.

Seaver has built several projects in Belmont, including il Casale Restaurant in Belmont Center, converting a private house into the Belmont Hill School new Alumni Center and a high-end residential home at 365 Marsh St.

Dash said the committee “would like to review the options going forward with the Town Administrator [David Kale] and the Board of Selectmen.”

 

Rojas Leaning Closer to Re-election Run

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While still more than a half a year away before Belmont residents go to the polls in the 2015 town election, one incumbent is leaning ever closer to announcing a re-election run to keep his seat on the town’s executive branch.

“I still have a lot of time before I have to announce, but my inclination is that, yes, I will be running for the board,” said Andy Rojas, chair of the three-member Board of Selectmen when asked by the Belmontonian at the end of the board’s public meeting held Monday, Aug. 19.

The Drew Road resident won his first run for town-wide office in April 2012 when he defeated then-School Committee member, the late Dan Scharfman in one of the closest elections in town history, 2,171 to 2,136, to replace Angelo Firenze on the board.

What’s Coming This Week: Ice Cream and a Mad Scientist at the Beech, Chef Gerry Returns Again

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• Another sign that summer is nearly over: the return of the Belmont Board of Selectmen! It is meeting on Monday, August 18 in Town Hall at a special early time of 6 p.m. On the agenda: an update on the storm water regs and a presentation for a Belmont Veterans Memorial project.

• Meet Belmont’s new school super as John Phelan holds a open house coffee for all residents at the School Administration building in the Town Hall Complex in Belmont Center on Monday, August 18 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

• Come to one of the final Summer Pre-School Story Time at the Benton Library – at the corner of Oakley and Old Middlesex – on Tuesday, August 19, at 10:30 a.m. Story time will be hosted by summer intern Lenora Ellison or Denise Patnod for children ages 3 to 5. Parents or caregivers must be present. Siblings may attend with adults. Registration is not required.

• Chef Gerry is back! After making sushi, California rolls and other great food at Belmont Public Library, Belmont resident Gerry Connolly – a Cambridge School of Culinary Arts Professional Chef Program graduate with 20 years of experience as a personal chef and event caterer – is coming to make flat breads and dressings on Tuesday, August 19 at 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. This event is free thanks to the generosity of Chef Gerry and the Friends of the Belmont Public Library. Space is limited, so please sign up online or sign up by phone at 617-993-2870.

• The Belmont Public Library is providing one-on-one Digital Library Help on Tuesday, August 19, from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and on Wednesday, August 20 at 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Reference Room. Learn how to download eBooks from the library and set up a device. Get started with Zinio to read free digital magazines. E-mail and Internet basics, social media, or basic computer skills. Registration is required; register online or call 617-993-2870 to register by phone. Some services require downloading an app. Please come prepared with your Apple ID, Adobe ID, Amazon Account information, or other password and log in information for your device.

• Duplicate Bridge Club meets from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the Beech Street Center at 266 Beech St. The club holds American Contact Bridge League-sanctioned games. All are welcome to play. Cost is $7. Phone: 339-223-6484 for more information.

• A genre party for the Belmont Public Library’s Children’s Summer Reading Program will take place in the Assembly Room on Wednesday, August 20 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• It’s an Ice Cream Social and Mad Science Extravaganza for all Belmont residents as the Beech Street Center welcomes back the Mad Scientist on Friday, August 22 beginning at 1:30 p.m. Children will be dazzled and entertained as they interact with the Mad Scientist, whose show includes foggy dry ice and demonstrations of floating beach balls in the air. He will unlock the mystery of how to get “Egg-bert” back into his house using suggestions from the audience. Ice cream will be served at 1:30 p.m. and the entertainment will begin at 2:30 p.m. Suggested donation: $1. Tickets are available for 160 people. reserve by calling 617-993-2970 or come by in person.

 

Belmont Selectmen Approve Raises for Non-Union Workers

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At their Monday, July 21 meeting, the Belmont Board of Selectmen approved a two percent cost of living raise for the 55 town employees not represented by unions.

The vote came after the board meet with Diane Crimmins, the town’s Human Resources Director, in executive session before the night’s meeting.

The action will impact employees such as parking control officers, budget analysts, administrative assistants and the library director, said Crimmins.

“I put in a request for these employees for a cost of living increase each year and I’m happy that [the board] approved it,” Crimmins told the Belmontonian.

“We need to stay current with what comparable towns are paying their employees so we can recruit the talent the town needs,” said Crimmins, who said she calculates the percentage increase after doing research of other municipalities along with the consumer-price index.

Harness Your Interests by Applying for a Belmont Town Committee

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Have an interest in human rights? Do you love spreading the word on conservation? Is culture your thing? If you do possess these or many other skills and interests, the town’s leaders would like for you to consider using these talents to help run the town.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen has begun its annual committee appointment process. Soon, the selectmen will be making appointments to fill terms that are set to expire in 2014 and those that have been left vacant by resignations. Although an uncompensated position, the Board of Selectmen places a high value on committee contributions, and recognizes the critical role that committees play in shaping Belmont’s future.

The Board is looking for residents with a variety of talents and backgrounds who are willing to make the commitment to serving on a committee. Residents with no past committee service, past committee members, and current committee members interested in re-appointment are all encouraged to apply.

The number of appointments to be made, time commitment needed and preferred qualifications varies from committee to committee. The committees with vacancies or members with terms expiring in 2014 are:

  • Cable Television Advisory Committee
  • Community Preservation Committee
  • Conservation Commission
  • Council on Aging
  • Cultural Council
  • Disability Access Commission
  • Economic Development Advisory Committee
  • Education Scholarship Committee
  • Energy Committee
  • Historic District Commission
  • Housing Trust
  • Human Rights Commission
  • Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill
  • Municipal Light Advisory Board
  • Permanent Audit Committee
  • Planning Board
  • Property and Casualty Insurance Advisory Committee
  • Recreation Commission
  • Registrars Of Voters
  • Shade Tree Committee
  • Traffic Advisory Committee
  • Vision 21 Implementation Committee
  • Water Advisory Board
  • Zoning Board of Appeals

To be considered for appointment to any committees appointed by the Board of Selectmen, please fill out a Community Volunteer Interest Form that may be obtained from the Selectmen’s Office (second floor of Town Hall) or on the town’s website

2014 Committee Appointments – June 9-2.

Submit completed interest forms along with any other supporting documentation to the Office of the Board of Selectmen / Town Administrator or via e-mail to selectmen@belmont- ma.gov

Completed interest forms will be kept on file for one year. Please note that applying to be a committee member is not a guarantee of appointment. The Board of Selectmen will make all appointments in public meetings this summer.

Questions about committees or this appointment process may be addressed to Public Information Specialist Bob Reardon Jr. in the Office of the Board of Selectmen and Town Administrator.

A November Override Vote Now ‘Nil’ Due to State, Town Deadlines

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The hope of advocates for Belmont schools and town services to place a multi-year operational Proposition 2 1/2 override on the November ballot has been quashed by a combination of a tight state deadline and insufficient time for a committee reviewing the towns financial health to complete its work in time, according to the Selectmen’s chair.

According to Brian McNiff, spokesperson of the Massachusetts Secretary of State office, the secretary’s deadline for reviewing and approving the Proposition 2 1/2 override language so it can be placed on the November 4 state election ballot is August 6.

“[The town] has to have all the work done by that date so we can do the legal review required,” said McNiff.

Andy Rojas, chair of the Belmont Board of Selectmen – the municipal body under state law that must approve both the language and determine whether the town requires an override – told the Belmontonian Wednesday, June 11, a summer cutoff point from the state on top of notification requirements on the Town Clerk all but dooms the proposed November override ballot question.

The early August state drop dead date will not allow the Financial Task Force, a 13-member “mega” committee created last year to conduct a comprehensive review of the town’s finances, highlight possible revenue streams and develop a long-range financial and capital improvement plan, any chance of completing the analysis the Selectmen would require.

“The chances that the Financial Task Force … finishing any of its work to the point where we can reach any clarity on an override is now apparently nil,” said Rojas.

Municipalities must follow a precise list of procedures mandated by the state Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue to place an override question on the ballot.

“It is a very strict on what we require from the towns,” said McNiff, as municipalities follow a template on the why, how much and when of an override request.

Under state law, a Proposition 21⁄2 referenda questions can be placed on the state biennial – every two years – election ballot which has become an important point by Belmont override advocates who hope to benefit from strong voter turnout in a November election with state-wide races – including what many predict will be a competitive race for governor – on the ballot.

“However, those questions must be submitted to the Secretary of State for certification by the first Wednesday in August preceding the [biennial] election. G.L. c. 59, § 21C(i),” according to language on the Revenue Department’s web site. (http://www.mass.gov/dor/docs/dls/publ/misc/prop2.pdf)

In addition to state requirements, Belmont’s Town Clerk “must receive written notice of the referendum at least 35 days before the date of the election. The vote to place a question on the ballot must take place in sufficient time to meet this advance notice requirement,” reads the regulations.

While the Task Force has been working since the beginning of the year on the town’s finances, “they are still working through the facts,” said Rojas.

Rojas said he continues to support placing an override on the ballot “once we have all the information” to determine the need to permanently raise the tax levy.

“I think … the earliest voters will have a chance to vote on the override will be the [annual] Town Election in April,” said Rojas.

Two (Maybe Three) Routes Recommended by Community Path Committee

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As final reports go, the one produced by the 11-member Belmont Community Path Advisory Committee on building a two-to-three mile multi-use trail through the heart of the town is 103 pages of painstaking thoroughness. 

The assessment, delivered to the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, June 9 at the board’s regular meeting at Town Hall, is chock full of photos, surveys, studies, comments and questions from public forums, analysis, detailed research and investigations that requires two appendix and 59 footnotes.

Committee Chair Jeffrey Roth, who has led the committee since it began in 2012, held up a paper-laden binder to the board, noting that it was one of four “just to give you an idea of the volumes of documentation and work that went into this report.”

Highlighting the report’s recommendations, the committee concluded that there are two routes – scoring highest using an evaluation criteria developed by the committee – from the Waltham line to the Brighton Street in east Belmont; one, dubbed the “priority route” relies on staying close to the existing, active rail beds including the north side of the commuter rail tracks adjacent Channing Road while the other, known as the “secondary” route, would go “off road” into the McLean property and utilize the southern (High School) side of the commuter rail tracks.

The report also goes into detail on mitigating the effects of the path on residential abutters specifically those homeowners along Channing Road, including the building of privacy barriers, a metal rail-with-trail fence, drainage and no lighting to name a few.

In addition to the paths, the report recommends the creation of a tunnel under the tracks at Alexander Avenue to Belmont High School – an idea first broached by town officials and residents in the late 1970s to create a safe passage from the Winn Brook neighborhood – as well as a possible pedestrian “underpass” beneath Brighton Street connecting the current community path from Alewife Station with the east Belmont section.

For more specific information on the routes and the recommendations from the committee, go to the Community Path Advisory Committee’s web page.

Unlike earlier reports and studies in the past two decades that failed to move the concept of a trail forward, it appears the committee’s report is not destined to be stashed away into a drawer at the Office of Community Development. While there was no vote on the committee’s recommendations, the Selectmen expressed interested in taking a series of steps to proceed towards conducting an engineering feasibility study and the creation on an “implementation” committee in creating a path that would become an important link in the 27-mile Mass Central Rail bike trail from Somerville to Berlin.

While there remains technical issues, concerns from abutters and the final determination of a route through Belmont, “[w]e need to come together supporting the idea (of a trail) and the trust of your report which is that Belmont needs a community path and has huge community support for it,” said Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas.

But before any option is considered, the town “will need to put skin into the game” by paying for a feasibility study to study the engineering issues facing the town, according to Rojas.

For Roth, the overriding trend he and the committee came away with is that from all the studies and meetings, “that it was simply that people want an off-road path. It certainly was a success in gathering information and helping people get excited about something and I think it will be an extremely positive thing for the town.”

Not everyone cheering

While Roth saw the nearly two-year effort as a positive effort, several in attendance, many Channing Road residents whose home’s backyards abut one of the preferred paths selected by the CPAC, expressed their dissatisfaction with the report.

“This is just a lot of back slapping,” said one resident after a statement from committee member Cosmo Caterino (who could not attend Monday’s meeting due to scheduling/traveling issues) was read accusing the committee’s majority of using “unethical” voting procedures in selecting the two preferred routes.

Caterino suggested research be done on reconstructing Concord Avenue, delaying its long-awaited repaving in 2015 with a plan of placing a “cycle track” – a bike lane protected by a physical barrier, such as a concrete curb – along the length of the busy thoroughfare. 

The report – a “shorter” (only 96 pages) draft dated May 19 can be found on the CPAC’s webpage on the Town of Belmont’s web site – goes over in great detail the history behind the path, the criteria used to whittle down from 35 different routes to the pair that were rated the best by the CPAC and recommendations for further action.

Roth said that while the committee used words like “priority” and “secondary” for the two trail selected, “all of these route options have very positive features” and would like for a feasibility study to review both options.

And many questions will need to be answered via the engineering study, said Selectman Sami Baghdady including attempting to resolve using private land on Clark Lane and at the Waltham line, the reliability of aluminum tracks under the Lexington Street and Trapelo Road bridges, the path’s dimensions along the route, elevations challenges and placing a trail along side a “live” rail bed.

For Baghdady, after walking the area with his five-year-old son along the north side of the commuter rail track, the idea of having high speed trains along a pedestrian way was difficult to comprehend.

“When that train went by, it was not family friendly,” he noted.

Nor were the Selectmen willing to limit the number of probable trails under study to just two. Selectman Mark Paolillo advocated an alternative route which would include the use of Clay Pit Pond and Hittinger Street for an additional “south” route for the engineering study to consider.

If there was one area that could come into Belmont’s favor is in funding the path. Committee member Vincent Stanton said the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation has determined that the Belmont trail is one of the top seven routes “it wants to complete” and is a high priority when coming to state funding, noting the state is paying from $7.5 million to $15 million a mile. 

Roth is recommending a permanent planning and construction committee be created “to take some of this off [the selectmen’s] plates” to focus on building the path while continuing the dialogue with residents and town and state officials.

The CPAC will hold its “final” committee meeting on Wednesday, June 11 at 7 p.m. in the Belmont Gallery of Art on the third floor of the Homer Building in the Town Hall complex.