All Sides Prepping For Possible Ultimate Vote Monday On Community Path Route

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Photo: The crossing at Brighton Street.

Paul Roberts is determined for one more time to rouse supporters to save the proposed community path as it nears a possible pivotal vote on its future course by the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, Nov. 19.

“Once again into the breach, my friends,” declared Roberts, paraphrasing Shakespeare’s Henry V [“Once more unto the breach, dear friends”] on Twitter directing those to an impassioned post dated Sunday, Nov. 18 on his community-oriented Bogging Belmont site.

“[T]he Community Path faces a critical vote Monday evening by the Board of Selectmen and there’s at least a passing chance that staunch and sustained opposition to a common sense route along the Commuter Rail tracks by abutters on Channing Road will force a decision that could doom the construction of the path,” warned Roberts.

Monday’s agenda calls for the selectmen to review the draft application for the path and “possible discussion and vote on the path route,” which has been the most contentious issue facing the bike/pedestrian trail for the past two decades.

(In a rather interesting detail from the agenda, the selectmen are setting aside a mere 10 minutes on the item, apparently not taking public comment or conduct a lengthy discussion on the matter before a possible vote.)

For supporters and opponents of a northern route, until late this summer, it appeared the route was all but finalized. The recommendation by the consultant, Pare Corp., which produced the path feasibility study earlier this year was for the trail to stay on the north side of the commuter rail tracks than transitioning to a southern path via a new pedestrian underpass near Alexander Street than travel along the southern side of the tracks to Brighton Street. From there, travelers would need to cross over the tracks to meet an existing bikeway leading to the Alewife MBTA station.

As supporters of what is called the “direct” path observed, two important changes have occurred since the study was released; the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) declared the underpass and the route from Belmont Center to the Cambridge line would not longer be seen as a single but two distinct projects, thus decoupling the funding for each project.

In addition, during discussions in August with town officials, selectmen and Belmont’s elected reps – State Sen. Will Brownsberger and State Rep. Dave Rogers – MBTA and MassDOT stated clearly they would seriously object to doling out upwards to 90 percent of the estimated $10 million construction cost of the path if the town’s plans continued to show people crossing the tracks at Brighton Street, deeming the action “unnecessarily unsafe,” according to MassDOT. It became clear, to path supporters, that only one viable option remained, the path staying on a northern side of the tracks.

In recent comments made at open meetings, it would appear the Selectmen are leaning heavily on the route hugging the commuter track’s north side s from Belmont Center to Brighton Street where it will hook up with the existing trail. Speaking in favor of a $1 million request from the Community Preservation Committee to pay for an engineering study of the path last week, Selectmen’s Chair Adam Dash said he envisioned the study to determine “what is required to make the northern route viable.”

“You’ll make the Selectmen’s ‘tough vote’ a lot easier by showing up to their hearing room Monday evening and voicing strong support for a compromise with the MBTA that will send the path along the North side of the tracks,” wrote Roberts.

Widely sent email claim “clandestine” actions

While Roberts is issuing the clarion call for supporters of the route, email correspondences from those opposing the northern route is asking residents for pushback to the selectmen’s likely rejection of the conclusions of the $200,000 feasibility study and the recommendation of the Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee, a town-committee created to develop to move forward the preferred Community Path route, after a heated meeting in October. 

In an email that mirrors several others being sent to residents, the letter is urging the selectmen to “endorse the exhaustive, fully transparent public process of both the [CPIAC] and the Pare Corporation.”

But the letter also trumpets its own call to arms, predicting that despite a large number of public meetings which residents allegedly preferred a southern route, there [are] “subtle suggestions” that the “selectmen will ignore the vote of the Committee and the Consultant in favor of some unclear, undisclosed reason.”

And the opponents have taken to pointing fingers specifically at State Sen. Brownsberger as being part and parcel in “clandestine discussions” with the MBTA and Mass DOT to promote alternative route that “both the Consultant and the CPIAC [said] have no merit.”

Along with a litany of past “problems” facing a northern route – environmental, needed easement, safety and possible legal action by a number of opponents – the letter also hones onto the premise the southern route is “a much more pleasant choice,” a point driven home by Belmont resident and developer Brian Burke at the October meeting of the CPIAC which ended in a bitterly divided vote.

It is Burke who is also promoting a “solution” to the need to cross the tracks at Brighton Street, predicting that a developer of a large commercial complex in Cambridge will build sometime in the next decade a pedestrian “bridge” over the commuter rail tracks allowing a southern route that will eventually connect with the current bike path to Alewife. 

What was noted at the October CPIAC meeting was Burke’s proposed solution has not passed further than the idea stage, as the development and bridge lacks a plan, an architect, a design or an OK from the MBTA and Mass DOT. 

Starting Oct. 1, Close Your Trash Lids Or You’ll Be Left At The Curb

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Photo: NO! The incorrect way to leave your trash carts for the hauler.

Starting Monday, Oct 1, trash carts whose lids are not fully closed will be left behind on the curb. And don’t go crying to the town about having to wait a week to have your garbage taken away.

That’s the word from Belmont Department of Public Works Director Jay Marcotte who told the Board of Selectmen at its Friday, Sept. 29 meeting that Waste Management – Belmont’s hauler of household garbage and recyclables since July 1 – has decided it was the right time to have the Town of Homes follow the procedures the company has at its service locations around the country. 

The reason the lids must be closed is to prevent spillage from overflowing carts when they are lifted into the receptacle trucks. 

For those residents who are scofflaws to this new enforcement measure, Waste Management will sticker barrels that are not closed or have unofficial bags on top of trash barrel lid. The town will not send the hauler back to empty stickered trash. Those citizens will have to wait until the following week and then the process must be done correctly; the cart lid closed and excess trash placed in official overflow bags next to the cart.

While Mike Santoro, the head of the highway division, said there is a little leeway for carts whose lids are slightly open, Selectman Mark Paolillo – who has become a crusader against wayward trash around town – was rigid in his support of a completed closed lid, saying there should be no wavering in the law’s application, noting he regularly uses the supplemental bags.

The overflow bags can be purchased at Star Market on Trapelo Road, Hillside True Value on Blanchard Road and the DPW Office at 19 Moore St. The cost is $15 for a sleeve containing five 32-gallon bags.

Selectmen To Attend Traffic Advisory Committee’s Thursday Meeting On Crosswalk Concerns

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Photo: The scene of the accident at Lexington and Sycamore streets.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen will join the town’s Traffic Advisory Committee at its scheduled meeting Thursday, Sept. 13 at the Town Hall auditorium as the committee takes up pedestrian safety after the death of a resident killed walking in a crosswalk.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and run for approximately 90 minutes.

Sachi Thanawala, 39, was struck by a 2015 Ford Transit commercial van around 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 30 while walking at the raised intersection of Lexington and Sycamore streets. The mother of two died two days later.

The meeting will be the first, but not likely the final chance the public will have a chance to question town officials and make statements. Town Administrator Patrice Garvin said that it is quite likely that there will be future hearings on traffic issues involving pedestrian safety.

Since the accident, residents have contacted elected and town officials, police and have posted online their concerns that the intersection where the accident occurred  and Lexington Street are unsafe as vehicles are prone to race above the 25-mph speed limit. Residents near the accident site has expressed increasing that traffic calming street measures need to be employed to make area safe for walkers and school children who use the intersection to head to and from the Samuel Butler Elementary School which is a few blocks down Sycamore.

Citizens have also used social media to express their opinions.

“This intersection is an absolute nightmare, and has only gotten worse since the town added a raised speed table/bump,” commented Frank Maldarelli in the Belmontonian. “My recommendation would be to add a four-way stop sign. Perhaps this will prevent life from needlessly being lost in the future.”

“I have watched in horror as children ran, frightened and confused, across streets where cars would not slow down at all,” wrote Sara. “Belmont is used as a cut through–pick up trucks, vans, fast cars. Enough!!! Do something!! Let’s demand more of our town government.”

Thursday’s meeting will begin with statements by the selectmen, the Belmont Police and the advisory committee. Glenn Clancy, the director of the Office of Community Development and Town Engineer, will then present an overview of pedestrian and traffic projects. After the officials speak, residents will be given an opportunity to express their opinion.

A Labor Lockout Could Keep Belmont Streets Unpaved ‘Til Spring

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Photo: Common Street.

The money is in the bank, the contractors are ready to go and long-suffering residents are waiting with bated breath.

But for homeowners along four Belmont roadways, a labor dispute between workers and an international utility firm is threatening to delay the reconstruction and repaving their streets until this coming Spring.

The prediction by Town Engineer Glen Clancy to the Board of Selectmen at its Monday night meeting, Aug. 20, relates to a month-long lockout of 1,100 union gas workers by employer National Grid after the two sides could not reach an agreement on a new longer-term contract in June.

Now Belmont residents are locked out of a promised a new road after suffering through detours and delays for the past year.

“I just want the community to understand that … the town and DPW (Department of Public Works) are obviously aware of the conditions of these roads,” said Clancy.

In each case, permitted infrastructure projects – such as the installation of gas lines – are uncompleted. Under current town policy, the Office of Community Development will not release funds for roadways that require expensive gas, water, and electrical work in the near future even if it was approved by Town Meeting.

“With National Grid being locked out, the utility work necessary to finish those projects are at a standstill,” said Clancy.

Clancy said many complaints relating to the condition of Common Street which runs from just outside Belmont Center to Cushing Square and to the Watertown line. 

Other streets include Payson Road, Lawndale and Prospect streets which were selected in the past year to be part of the annual pavement management program which sets aside funds to reconstruct streets the town determines to be in the most need of repair.

“I want people to understand that if not for the lockout, it’s likely that Clifton and Prospect streets would be finished since most of the major work is complete,” said Clancy, noting that Common Street is under the 2017 pavement management contract, “so all we are waiting for is for the street to be fixed.” 

While the beginning of winter – and the end of the reconstruction and paving season – is not yet around the corner, Clancy said unless the lockout is resolved soon, DPW will need to consider a stop-gap solution “to make sure those roads are safe for driving until the spring of 2019.” He pointed to the temporary top coat of asphalt placed on Grove Street last winter as an example. 

“[National Grid] has been put on notice for that job,” said Clancy.

Answering a question from Selectman Tom Caputo, Clancy said mid-September would the latest date to begin reconstruction and replacement for any street, providing six good weeks before the weather conditions turn “sketchy.” 

“We have a little bit of time but the clock is ticking,” said Caputo. Worst case scenario, according to Clancy, is the work will be scheduled to begin in eight to nine months from Sept. 1. But even if the lockout is resolved in the next few weeks, there is no guarantee National Grid would be able to send the necessary crews to finish the work as the firm is currently backlogged with jobs.

The one “good” result of the management action is it now allows the lining of the large MWRA water main along nearly the length of Common Street to be completed without competing with National Grid crews, said Clancy. 

Correction: The labor action between National Grid and the unionized workers is a lockout, not a strike.

A Hunter of Small Fungi Leaves Belmont Library A Big Gift

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Photo: Philip May (left) out exploring for lichen.

Phillip F. May was a teacher, educator and investor while living in Belmont. However, his passion for more than a quarter century revolved around exploring the world for that strange composite organism in which fungi live in a symbiotic relationship with algae.

May was that very rare breed: he hunted lichen; on walls, trees, rocks, forest and dales around the globe.

While May, who died last year at 68 after living in Santa Fe, New Mexico for many years, is best remembered among his fellow lichenists, he will soon have a place in the hearts of the patrons of the Belmont Public Library. In his will, May set aside $212,500 to the Belmont Public Library, the second largest gift in the library’s long history. Only an endowment created by Jane Gray Dustan for educational and enrichment children programming is more significant.

“We are very grateful to Mr. May and his family,” said Belmont Library Director Peter Struzziero, who plans to reach out to the family and “give them a proper thanks.”

“There are some restrictions on how the money can be used that’s in the letter from the attorney settling the estate,” said Gail Mann of the Board of Library Trustees, who will determine how the funds will be allocated.

The amount May provided to the library was approximately five percent of his estate, one of many charitable institutions he provided for which totaled nearly his entire estate.

The gift was a complete surprise as no one in town government or library officials ever met or had contact with May or his wife, Anne. According to town records, May lived on Chester Road for nearly 20 years before moving to Stults Road in the late 1990s. His final address in Belmont was on S. Cottage Road. May is a bit of a mystery as information about this life outside of being a prominent lichenologist is sketchy; there are no life details online nor is there an obituary locally or from New Mexico.

But May’s legacy is secured by the scholarly work as one of the few lichenologists in the world. According to a remembrance written last year in the Friends of the Farlow newsletter (he was the group’s long-time treasurer), he became enthralled with the field of fungi after taking a course at the Harvard Extension School, before focusing on collecting and publishing extensively on the subject.

Long associated with Harvard’s Farlow Reference Library and Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany, May built a reputation as a keen observer and active explorer – you can read his witty account of lichen hunting in French Guiana. He also sought to assist those newly interested in the field as co-author to a general reference guide entitled “Identifying North American Lichens: A Guide to the Literature.” When he could no longer head out into the field, he generously gave his extensive collection of specimens, research equipment and materials to the Farlow to be handed down to the next generation of explorers.

Late in his career, May was honored by having a species named after him, Parmelia mayi, which can be found in the northern Appalachian mountains.

“If others are interested in town leaving money in their will or making the town a beneficiary … as it’s a great way to give back to the town,” said Adam Dash, Selectmen chair.

“Particularly if it’s to the library,” said Struzziero.

Parmelia mayi.

New Model Predicts Belmont Budget Heading For Financial Cliff in Fiscal 2021

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Photo: Members of the boards and committees discussing the new budget 

A budgetary roadmap provided by a UMass Boston-based advisory group shows Belmont falling off a steep fiscal cliff in two years time unless the town comes up with a new strategy to soften the landing.

At a joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen, School Committee and Warrant Committee on Monday, July 30 at Town Hall, consultants for the Edward J. Collins Center is forecasting a $2.3 million deficit in fiscal year 2021 which begins on July 1, 2020, due to what many municipalities are facing, a systemic structural deficit in which town expenditures are outpacing non-recurring revenue including money from the last Proposition 2 1/2 override.

“You basically have two years to resolve this matter,” said Stephen Cirillo, who with Anthony Torrisi presented a detailed forecasting model software program to the town as part of the state’s effort to provide communities with financial management best practices in the areas of fiscal forecasting, capital improvement planning and policies.

But rather than debate how best to resolve the deficit on the horizon, Selectmen Chair Adam Dash said “tonight is to ask questions about the model and the assumptions … Clearly, this is the beginning of a much longer conversation.”

In her first week on the job in January, Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin obtained a $30,000 Community Compact Grant from the state to create the forecasting program – think of it as a massive spreadsheet which permits  –  that Cirillo called a “powerful tool” that allows cities and towns “to look over the horizon to see what budgetary conditions will be in the future.”

Belmont’s budget planners in Town Hall, on the School Committee and with the fiscal watchdog Warrant Committee can now conduct “what if” analysis to see the effect of a policy decision – for instance, how a change to the amount employees  contribute to their health insurance – will affect the “gap” between revenue and appropriations, said Cirillo, who was director of finance for the Town of Brookline and Newton’s chief budget officer.

In the view of Warrant Committee Chair Roy Epstein, the forecasting model “is the most sophisticated effort to get our overall budget in a structure where it can analyze.” 

In addition to presenting this new financial toolkit, the consultants gave their assumptions on Belmont’s budget in the near future. Both Cirillo and Torrisi were impressed with how the town “stretched” the $4.5 million operational override (that was placed into an account called the general stabilization fund) past in 2015 providing funds until fiscal year 2020, two years longer than anticipated.

But the consultants could not see past the looming gap facing the town in 2020. While there will be some “unused capacity” in open receipts in years to come, “it will not solve all your problems.”And the largest problem will be the $2.3 million “hole” in the budget, said Cirillo.

Belmont’s school budget is saddled with three “budget busters” whose inflation rate is “unsustainable” moving forward. Collective bargaining, health insurance, and special education are growing at annual rates of 2.5 percent, 8 percent, and 7 percent respectively requiring a rethinking on controlling their increases, said Cirillo.

“Clearly there is a large implied deficit at about the time we had expected it,” said Epstein.

The most striking recommendation from the pair was for the town to no longer use free cash to either fill in budget gaps or to support the operating budget. Free cash has been a favorite stop gap in filling several “needs” from paying for the Belmont Center traffic and parking project and modular classrooms at the Chenery Middle and Burbank Elementary schools. 

Rather, they suggest that annually free cash be placed in a “new” general stabilization fund to maintain Belmont’s outstanding bond rating, currently at an AAA rate. They point to a number of capital projects in the pipeline including the new high school which will benefit from lower interest rates.  

New Hours Of Operation At Town Hall, Homer Building To Better Serve Residents

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Photo: The Homer Building.

In an effort to better serve Belmont residents seeking services, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday, June 4, to implement on a trial basis new operating hours at town offices in the Town Hall complex including Town Hall and the Homer Building.

Beginning this coming Monday, June 11, and running through Friday, Nov. 2, Town Hall and Homer building offices will remain open until 7 p.m. on Mondays after opening at 8 a.m. Hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will remain at the current 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday’s will see offices closing at noon. 

Offices in Town Hall include the Town Clerk, Town Adminstrator, and human resources. Over in the Homer Building is the Treasurer’s Office, Assessors, Recreation Department, Public Works, and Office of Community Development where building permits are issued.

“This is a trial change,” stated Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s town administrator. In October, the selectmen will review the operation and make a final determination on extending Monday hours permanently.

“The [selectmen] welcome your feedback on this change,” said Garvin in an email who added the town appreciations Belmont’s town employees, the workers impacted by the change, for working to resolve this matter to better serve the people of Belmont.

Questions related to this change can contact the Selectmen at 617- 993-2610 or e-mail to selectmen@belmont-ma.gov

Underwood Pool Funding Surplus To Keep Patrons In The Shade

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Photo:

After all had been set and done, the Underwood Pool Building Committee which led the private/public funding partnership to build the $5.3 million pool facility at Cottage Street and Concord Avenue in 2015 discovered a bit of change in the back of the couch.

With all the bills paid, a $68,400 surplus was found floating in the committee’s bank account. That bit of remaining cash will be used to help patrons to remain in the shade.

Committee representatives, who literally handed the check to Town Treasurer Floyd Carman during last week’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen on May 21, said the extra funds will be used to replace, repair and add the large “umbrellas” that dot the pool’s deck and replace plants and flowers surrounding the facility.

“[The umbrellas and plantings] are quite expensive. This account will free [the pool] from seeking money from the capital budget or the recreation department,” said Building Committee Chair Anne Paulsen.

Selectmen To Ask Residents: What Should Go Into The Former Incinerator Site?

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Photo: The entrance to the former Belmont incinerator site.

The day before town residents are asked to provide their thoughts on limits on the place and time of retail marijuana sales, the Board of Selectmen is holding a meeting inviting citizens to discuss the future use (also known as post-closure) at the closed incinerator site off Concord Avenue on the Lexington Town Line.

The meeting to take place on Monday, June 18 at 8 p.m. at Town Hall will seek ideas for future use since whatever is selected will determine the type of “cap” or cover that will secure the contaminated land below the surface. For instance, a “passive” use such as trails will require a less intrusive and less expensive cover than a cap on which a structure is built.

A description of capping by the EPA can be found here.

Uses brought up in the past include a solar farm, trails, municipal use, a location for a skating rink, athletic fields and as a marijuana farm.

A pot far will be eliminated as an option if Belmont voters approve the “opt-out” bylaw in the September special town election. Lexington opened a solar facility on a closed landfill site in May 2017, reportedly saving $19 million in municipal energy expenses. While Belmont Youth Hockey has developed preliminary plans for a two full-sized rink facility on the site, the group has said it prefers to locate the public/private development close to Harris Field on Concord Avenue.

One use that many residents feel will continue is Department of Public Works including the location of its brush and composting piles.

Whatever the selected use is finally determined, it will be years before it is opened as the site is the likely staging area for equipment and material for the construction of the new Belmont High School which will not be completed until the mid-2020s.

After A Gesture Of Goodwill, Norton Appointed To Fill Final School Committee Seat

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Photo: Jill Norton of the Belmont School Committee.

It was a political gesture that’s hardly seen in an age of insulting opponents and demeaning the process.

A vote to fill the vacant seat on the Belmont School Committee by a joint meeting of the Belmont Board of Selectmen and the School Committee, on Friday, May 11, resulted in a four-to-four deadlock between Jill Norton and Michael Crowley, two of the four candidates seeking the position.

As the selectmen and committee were prepared for the second round of voting between the two, Crowley told the board he wished to “make things easy.”

“I appreciate that Jill got out and ran and I’ve talked to her a number of times … and she would do a fabulous job on the school committee,” as he graciously step aside, withdrawing his nomination to allow Norton, who unsuccessfully ran for a term on the committee, to serve the remaining two years of Thomas Caputo’s term after he was elected to the Board of Selectmen in April. 

The act caught the boards and residents by surprise as the Clark Street resident was unanimously approved by the board.

Crowley said his decision was not due to any sense of doing “the honorable thing.”

“I like [Norton] and it felt right,” said the Warrant Committee member. “I didn’t want to see any quibbling or arguing which I did see any benefit in that.” 

For Norton, Crowley’s reaction thwarted her own thoughts of ceding her votes to her opponent.

“It’s funny because I potentially was thinking of doing the same thing Michael did but he got there first,” she said, noting a financial background is important as the schools make up nearly half of the town’s annual budget.

The closeness of the vote showed the group were of two minds on the skills the School Committee would need in the coming years. The first four votes were for Crowley, emphasizing his budgetary and financial background as well as his membership on the town’s financial watchdog agency.

“There’s sort of a void in that hardcore, number crunching [skill set],” said Adam Dash, selectmen chair.

Norton, who received the final four votes, was seen bringing a policy approach while each of members who selected her said she deserved credit for stepping up and running a good campaign and were vetted by the voters.

“I do give a lot of credit who put themselves out there for the election,” said Susan Burgess-Cox, chair of the School Committee.

But the differences were made mute when Crowley abandoned the race.

As for the newest member, Norton has experience on the policy side of the education field. For the past two years, Norton has worked as Director of Education Policy at Cambridge-based Abt Associates, to help develop and execute a strategy for the firm’s Education Practice. Previously, she was a Senior Policy Adviser for the state’s Executive Office of Education and Executive Director of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, a Cambridge-based think tank, having started her career as a classroom teacher.

Norton matriculated at Michigan State University where she earned a BA in Elementary Education and received her Master’s in Education from Harvard. A 16 year Belmont resident, her oldest child attends Belmont’s public school.

Norton told the Belmontonian that her priority is to listen to the constituencies – teachers, students, parents, and administrators – within the districts before she brings proposals before the committee, “and is there any possible connection between our needs and funding and grant opportunities that the governor’s office is considering.” 

Norton said her family’s involvement with the cadre of educators teaching her son as well as her background in the classroom “intensifies my inclination to connect with teachers and support all the good work that they are doing and do whatever I can because that’s where the rubber meets the road.”