Fingers Crossed: Third (And Final) Night Of 2018 Town Meeting Segment A [LIVE]

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 Photo: Belmont Town Meeting.

6:50 p.m.: After the highly anticipated debate on marijuana along with votes on banning plastic bags, zoning bylaws and most of the Community Preservation Committee grant applicants, the Belmont 2018 annual Town Meeting will hopefully finish up the non-budgetary warrant articles (known as Segment A) tonight, May 7, as it reconvenes at Belmont High School’s auditorium.

The hot topic tonight will the citizens’ petition to increase the size of the Board of Selectmen from three to five members. If it passes, it would start the process which the town will seek state legislative approval of the proposal. But already the petition will have a hurdle to scale as the current Board of Selectmen voted to seek unfavorable action on the measure.  

A second citizens’ petition that would change the procedural rules on roll call votes will also be discussed but it has not garnered member support. 

Also up tonight are the final two Community Reinvestment Committee grant applicants:

  • $250,000 to fund eligible commitments by the Belmont Housing Trust that would increase housing units where new housing is being built, provide incentives to developers to develop affordable housing units, or fund pre-development work to determine if sites are suitable for community housing development.
  • $175,000 to stabilize the McLean Barn.

There will also be a proclamation to the Belmont Garden Club, reports from the Council on Aging and the Energy Committee.

7:08 p.m.: Town Moderator Mike Widmer says there’s a quorum and we are underway. Widmer said the Community Preservation Committee, the roll call article that will be withdrawn. The budget section of Town Meeting will begin Wednesday, May 30. Widmer said the Town Meeting did not hold up to the tradition of respectful discourse. “Let’s have a civil debate tonight.” 

7:16 p.m.: Selectman Thomas Caputo reads the proclamation to the Belmont Garden Club, which is sort of long. But it is an important town resource by making the town a more beautiful community. Cheers all around.

7:23 p.m.: Now the reports, first Nava Niv Vogel, the town’s Council of Aging Director, who speaks on the Age-Friendly Movement. The town received an $8,000 grant from Tufts Foundation and a UMass grant to do a study on needs. There will be a community-wide presentation on June 5 at 3 p.m. at the Beech Street Center. 

7:30 p.m.: The Energy Committee’s James Booth is presenting the town’s Climate Action Plan. While there has been some decrease in carbon pollution, it’s not nearly at the level to meet the plan’s goal in 2050. There is a need to reduce automobiles and oil/gas heating. More electric cars (50 percent by 2030) and use of heat pumps in homes. This is a roadmap for the town to follow.

7:36 p.m.: The final two CPC grants: first up is $250,000 that the Belmont Housing Trust will use for affordable housing and suitable for community housing development. Housing Trust members Elizabeth Lipson and Rachel Heller present its plans in using the CPA set-asides. It can be used to maximize transit-oriented development opportunities, keep existing housing and shape housing rather than have development come without a plan in hand. Why approve these funds? We don’t have enough homes to house all workers. CPA housing funds is an excellent way for towns to show they are committed to their plans. The Housing Trust said it will allow the trust to use the money to leverage additional money. Liz Allison, pct. 3, asked about the grant agreement which is still being developed and will the agreement will only approve by the Housing Trust. George Hall, town counsel, said the Housing Trust is a quasi-independent committee that has the opportunity  Bob McLaughlin said the grant/agreement is a “slush” fund but you need a slush fund to have a chance to get everything done, it needs to move fast.

The vote is a voice vote and passes unanimously. 

8:02 p.m. Now is the $175,000 to stabilize the McLean Barn – on the National  to stop its deterioration and make the building secure so the town can decide what to do with it. The warrant committee voted 10 against and 5 for favorable action. This is the work that the CPA was created for,” said Lauren Meier of the Historic District Commission. 

Mark Carthy, ptc. 1, said it would be hard to determine the true cost of renovating the building will come only when future use is known so he has problem spending funds on it. Glenn Clancy, director of Community Development, said the only funds being asked to protect the building to allow future use later.

Folks, this is a waste of money, said Bob McLaughlin, pct. 2, said it will cost up to $2 million but there is no practical use due to restrictions on the use. Peter Whitmer, pct. 6, said reject it, talk to McLean Hospital on what it wants to do with it, then come back. Ellen Cushman, not as town clerk but as a member of McLean Land Management Committee, said McLean supports keeping the barn viable so the money is a start not the end of the process, Liz Pew, pct 2, said you have to walk around the building and see its potential, like she did with the old fire stations back in the 1970s. The town is asking $20 per household to save a unique resource. 

Celtics falling behind the Sixers by 12 with 7:32 remaining in the game. 

“I like old things. I am an old thing,” said Mike Chesson, pct 4, who said he sees this “rare” barn – which he visits – said the Town Meeting can think of a use. Smart, dedicated people saved the old fire stations and it can do so with the barn. A “powerful” speech, said Anne-Marie Lambert, pct 8, of Chesson’s speech. Mike McNamara, pct 7, asked Belmont Police on the safety of the barn. Richard McLaughlin, Belmont’s Police chief, said he’s aware of attempted break-ins and anything to help prevent that will be a benefit. Bob McGaw, pct. 1, we heard promises and dreams of the Clark House – which was demolished after a long time attempting to save it. This is much the same and predicts that Town Meeting to “shovel money into a black hole” to keep the barn viable. Ellen Schreiber, pct 8, said if the town doesn’t protect the structure, McLean will be freed from obligations such as building affordable housing on the land. “It’s penny wise but pound foolish.”

Roy Epstein, chair of the Warrant Committee, said the deed restriction on use should be decided first before spending any money on the barn. “We think it’s advisable to seek a long-run solution” before spending the funds.

Dash said this is a three-part process: mothball it, find a use and do the use. “We are looking to work with sddMcLean in the future” and why would they cooperate with Belmont if we can meet our obligations, said Dash. The barn is a poster child for the CPA in historic preservation, he said.

Those in favor see the barn as a valuable asset while opponents want to see future use up front before spending town funds. It’s been an hour of debate.

Donald Mercier moves the question. It’s an electronic vote.

It passes 181 to 59. 

Widmer asked if the masses want to finish tonight or adjourn until Wednesday. Only Jack Weis wants to come back in two days. We are going to finish tonight come hell or high water.

Mary Bradley, pct 5, is withdrawing her citizens’ petition on roll call voting.

9:22 p.m.: Sue Bass, pct 3, presents the citizens’ petition that would increase the number of selectmen from three to five. Bass said she is in favor of a larger board due to the “group dynamics” – less disagreement and more diversity. She said the selectmen should be a policy board. And it doesn’t mean you need to change the role of the Town Administrator to a manager, they already have that authority. The cost would not be that great. And the public meeting laws is not an issue with five which allows for a greater ability to bounce off ideas without the worry concerning a quota. 

Marianne Scali, pct. 2, who was a member of the committee on the number of said her analysis shows three selectmen is effective and manageable. Five would take more time and 

Amy Trotsky, pct 2, another committee member, said what the board really needs is more women and people of other cultures. Trotsky said two more members could see policy done out of the light of the public view. She said don’t fix what’s not broken.

Charles Hamann, pct 3, said it’s “bizarre” two selectmen can’t talk about a subject because of the open meeting law. 

Ellen Schrieber, pct 8, makes a passionate argument against the change, arguing that a five-member board is not 

Steve Rosales, pct 8, former selectmen, gives a rousing barnburner of a speech to defend the current number. 

Ann Paulsen, pct 1, speaks for a five-member board, saying during her seven years on the board her opinion was not always heard. She suggests that women do not seek membership on the board due to the lack of cooperation. 

Jessica Bennett, pct 1, said it’s too big a change without taking a comprehensive look at town government as a whole while also calling for more diversity. 

Ralph Jones, pct 3, as a member of the number of selectmen committee, urge the selectmen to meet with the committee to discuss how to make the board better. He said a five-member board doesn’t mean you will always have qualified candidates/members. “Because I can’t be sure on the downside risk, I vote down,” said Jones.

Julie Crockett, pct 5, talked about barriers of entry to run for selectmen, with the need to raise $50K. She calls for socio-economic diversity on the board. 

Dash said the article is the most important in many years and if they get it wrong, “it will screw up the town for years to come.” He doesn’t see any problem as the board has changed many problem areas. When does increasing the size of the bureaucracy make anything better? “Please, please don’t do it,” said Dash.

David Alper, pct 6, said as a member of the Board of Health for the past 30 years that working within a three-person committee is quite doable. 

Town Administrator Patrice Garvin said she would need to hire a new member of her staff 

The question is moved – a two/thirds vote needed – and it’s 162 – 66.

Now the vote on article 12 … and it’s defeated 171- 59. Not even close. The board of selectmen will stay at three members.

With Clock Running, Selectmen Calls A Public Meeting On Incinerator’s Future

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Photo: The entrance to the former Belmont incinerator site.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

With the clock now running on the future of the town’s former incinerator location near the Lexington/Belmont line, the Belmont Board of Selectmen will look to residents to supply some ideas on the site’s future.

“We will need to open it up to the public,” said Adam Dash, Selectmen’s chair. “All of them are clever and really good, but we can only do so much on that site.” Dash added he sees public meetings – much like those held last year on trash collection – sometime in June to gather resident input. The meeting will likely take place on June 9 at the Board’s first scheduled meeting at the conclusion of annual Town Meeting. 

When the town took ownership of the site from the state 11 months ago – the deed for the property was transferred from the state on May 17, 2017 – the state required the town to construct a mitigation plan to remediate the site of contaminated soil and groundwater by “capping” the land polluted by ash produced in the burning of garbage. That work will need to be completed in the next few years.

The 16-acre property is located on upper Concord Avenue and the Rock Meadow Conservation about 1,500 feet from the Lexington town line. Opened in 1959, the incinerator operated until 1975, then becoming the town’s transfer station for decades before the state took control of the land. The Belmont Department of Public Works currently utilizes the site for equipment storage, leaf composting and the placement of debris.

As of fiscal 2016, Belmont had $3.5 million in a reserve account to clean the property.

Suggestions for future use include a dog park, solar farm, bike and recreation path, an expanded DPW operation, and even a marijuana farm. One use discussed in the past few months has been a new town skating rink. 

At its last meeting, the selectmen and Town Administrator Patrice Garvin felt that before capping the site, a specific post-closure usage needs to be decided rather than moving immediately with full site remediation. What will be placed on the site will determine what type of cap is used; a passive recreational use will require a less intrusive barrier than one supporting a building.

“Because if you use all the money to cap it, you won’t have anything left if you want to do a recreational type of use,” said Garvin. 

In the past month, Selectman Mark Paolillo said he and Garvin had met with Belmont Youth Hockey Association which is lining up funding for a proposed facility on the Belmont High School site, to ask if the skating rink “could work” on upper Concord Avenue. 

“It does align with what we are doing at the High School site, so we have to start thinking about this sooner than later,” said Paolillo, who believes the rink could be located at the site, but legal matters remain on whether the facility would qualify as a municipal use which is allowed under the deed. 

Belmont Hires State Bureau Director To Run Town/School Facilities

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Photo: Stephen Dorrance.

Belmont has been on a hiring spree since the beginning of the New Year with a new Town Administrator, Light Department director and a principal for the Wellington all coming on board.

And this week, the town welcomes a new facilities director who comes from the ranks of the state bureau of facilities.

“We finally found someone,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin as she introduced Stephen Dorrance – an hour later than expected – to the Board of Selectmen at its Thursday night meeting, April 12. Garvin said Dorrance was one of four finalists and his qualifications rose to the top.

Dorrance comes to Belmont having worked for the past four years as a multi-site facilities director for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, responsible for the building management and maintenance, regulatory compliance and environmental services at four hospital campuses – Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children, Tewksbury Hospital and Western Massachusetts Hospital – that houses 45 buildings, 800 beds, high pressure boiler/power plants, 10 miles of roadway, 1,000 acres of land, and 20 acres of parking.

“I’m looking forward to this. I’ve been a member of the National Trust for Historical Preservation for 20 years and love the character of Belmont,” Dorrance said, and will seek to “make these old, beautiful buildings even more beautiful.” 

Dorrance, who has a BS from Suffolk and a Master’s from Harvard, is now responsible for maintaining more than one million square feet of buildings and grounds under the control of the Board of Selectman and the School Committee since the operations merged seven years ago.

Obituary: William ‘Bill’ Skelley; Former Selectman, ‘A True Belmontian’

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Photo: William R. Skelley III (Linkedin)

William R. Skelley III, a born and bred Belmontan who served two terms as a Selectman and was known for the honesty and high integrity he brought to town government, died on April 3, 2018, in hospice care in New Hampshire.

Skelley, 70, died from a reoccurrence of cancer he fought for several years, according to close friends.

“He was a mentor to me, one of the best persons who served on the board,” said Mark Paolillo, who spoke to Skelley a few weeks ago. “He was a true Belmontian who served his hometime in a quiet but efficient way.”

“Skelley had a very passionate love for Belmont,” said Jim Staton, a longtime Belmont town official. 

Skelley grew up on Warwick Road with his brothers and sisters. Skelley’s father, William Skelley, spent 40 years on the Cambridge Fire Department retiring as a Lieutenant firefighter in 1982. His mother, Edna K. (Sullivan) Skelley, was a long-time supporter of a Belmont Senior Center. 

An outstanding athlete and student at Belmont schools, Skelley was senior class president at Belmont High School – he was known as “Mr. Belmont High School” – as well as football co-captain his senior year. He was also a member of Belmont’s Division 2 state championship team the previous year.

After graduating from Belmont, Skelley matriculated at Harvard College, playing football for the Crimson and graduating in  1970. He earned a Master’s in History from Boston College in 1972 and an MBA from Boston University in 1976.

Living on Common Street with his wife, Linda, and children, the 1990s was Skelley’s time in town government first elected to Town Meeting from Precinct 5 in 1990. Due to his business background – he worked for Polaroid for nearly a quarter century in customer service and technical support – he was appointed to the Warrant Committee the next year. He was recruited to run for selectman by then-selectman Walter Flewelling and was elected in 1994 and serving until 2000, the final three years as vice chair.

“While he did have differences with other members of the board, he was always looking to do what was best for Belmont,” said Paolillo. Many highlighted Skelley’s involvement in the first Financial Task Force and his major role on the McLean Hospital land agreement. “He also tried to unite what was at times a contentious board. He could do that because he had no ill will to anyone,” said Paolillo. 

Staton said one area Skelley should be praised was his commitment to equality in all areas, as he reached out to Boston innercity youths.

“He was also quite interested in the town’s kids,” said former Board of Health Chair David Alper, who noted Skelley advocated for a Youth Commission to support Belmont’s younger residents. Nearly everyone said Skelley had a “special spot” for youth sports, volunteering on the fields and in the rinks and supporting every team with his presence.

Skilley founded Skelley Medical Company in 1997 which was headquartered in Cushing Square until he moved the operation to Hollis, NH at the invitation of then-Gov. John Lynch, which ended his involvement in Belmont government and saw him uproot to New Hampshire. The firm was praised by President Obama and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and was recognized as the Exporter of the Year for both New Hampshire and New England by the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2012.

The company, whose mission was “the reduction of global healthcare costs by providing affordable comprehensive medical equipment solutions,” filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2015, a year after a federal lawsuit was filed against it by a Panama-based investment firm.

With his business closed, Skelley began reconnecting with his hometown, having converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He attended the 50th anniversary of the Marauders championship football team and became a leader in the Veterans Memorial Committee which is seeking to build a new memorial at Clay Pit Pond.

“Bill got involved with the memorial committee not because he was a veteran; he wanted those who did serve to be recognized for what they did for the town and country,” said former Selectman Angelo Firenze, the committee’s president.

His wife, the former Linda Phelps, died a year ago in May just as the couple returned to Belmont. The couple raised their three children, William, Christopher and Maryelizabeth (Fiengo), in Belmont. He was the brother of Barbara Skelley of Belmont, Cathleen Mullins and her husband Kevin of Waltham and the late Ann Marie Carey and Mary Elizabeth Skelley.

Visting hours will be at Stanton Funeral Home, 786 Mt. Auburn St., in Watertown on Friday, April 6 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. A celebration of the Funeral Mass will be held in the Church of St. Luke, 132 Lexington St. on Saturday, April 7 at 9 a.m. Burial will take place at Highland Meadows Cemetery in Belmont.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Community Hospice House, 210 Naticook Rd, Merrimack, NH 03054 would be appreciated.

Correction: Mr. Skelley’s name was incorrectly written the headline. We regret the error.

The Grass To Be Greener Along Sidewalks As Town Focuses On Separating People, Cars

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Photo: Along Bartlett Avenue.

Grass is good, according to Belmont Office of Community Development Director Glenn Clancy.

No, the longtime town engineer is not expressing his opinion on the future of marijuana sales in Belmont, but rather the grass strip between sidewalks and the roadways which are located on a majority of the town’s byways.

Now under a new approach prompted by the complaints of residents along Bartlett Avenue in the PQ Park neighborhood, the 10 percent of roads lacking a vegetative median can expect a greenway within five years, Clancy told the Belmont Board of Selectmen at its Monday, March 12 meeting.

The new initiative is a change in the town’s current sidewalk policy, said Selectman Adam Dash, coming after a comprehensive study rating the town’s sidewalks – which showed a majority of concrete paths were in good condition – was presented in the fall and after the public voiced concerns that walkways were being neglected in favor of roadway repair. 

The new policy, written by Clancy, will address the real issue facing not just the residents on Bartlett Avenue but throughout town is “the lack of adequate separation between the roadway and the sidewalks.”

After Bartlett Avenue was reconstructed, there was no buffer between the roadway and sidewalk which allowed vehicles to park or even drive onto the walkway, posing a dangerous condition for pedestrians especially so close to the Butler Elementary School.

In his research, Clancy found that the vast majority of streets have some curbing – either asphalt or granite – or/ and including a grass shoulder, as seen on most neighborhood side streets, which separates the road and sidewalk. 

“What I came to realize is the importance of that shoulder treatment,” said Clancy, noting that Bartlett Avenue only has an asphalt shoulder. “And that shoulder treatment must provide a buffer for pedestrians.”

He noted that only grass strip barriers without a curb do an excellent job keeping cars from creeping onto sidewalks. Grass also allow for trees to be planted in the barrier adding an “additional element as a buffer between automobiles and the sidewalk.”

In the new policy, “under no circumstances is an asphalt shoulder ever a good idea and that is the condition we are trying to get to the most,” Clancy said.

Clancy told the board that of the town’s 400 roadway “segments” (basically the road between intersections), only 10 percent or 40 portions of streets “have the need for either granite curbing because they are a major road (Cross Street and segments of Grove and School streets) … and 30 neighborhood streets that have asphalt shoulders where we want to reestablish [barriers].”

With the scope of work established, Clancy’s most significant question was funding. He told the board with updated data on roadway and sidewalk conditions and has made a considerable dent (of nearly 50 percent) in the cost of repairing the backlog of roads, his department has an adequate amount in its pavement management program to meet its current reconstruction cycle but also have “an additional $300,000 of capacity that we can put to curbing and sidewalks” over the next five years. 

Under the new five year plan, the sidewalks with non-grass, no curb barriers given the highest priority are along roadways which are:

  • School walking routes which will be retrofitted with curbing and a grass median. 
  • General walking routes – the main roads you use from neighborhood roads to main “collecting” roads (with granite curbs) leading to a destination site. 
  • Use-demand routes leading to parks, shops etc.
  • neighborhood roads, to re-establish a grass shoulder. 

With funding secured and a needed policy change before it, the Selectmen approved the changes unanimously. 

Plastic Bag Ban Set For May Town Meeting Vote

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Photo: “Plastic or paper?” could become “Paper?”

The ubiquitous single-use plastic bag could soon be a memory in the Town of Homes as the Belmont Board of Selectmen approved on Monday, Feb. 26 sponsoring an article before the annual Town Meeting in May banning town retailers from providing the quintessential receptacle to their customers.

If passed by Town Meeting, the bylaw will take effect six months after the vote or on Nov. 1, 2018, whichever is later and would initially apply to stores with more than 30,000 square feet of retail space. Carthy said it would likely first impact the Star Market on Trapelo Road. The remainder of stores will have until nine months after Town Meeting approval or Feb. 1, 2019, to make the change.

The selectmen’s unanimous vote supports the initiative from the 15 resident group that formed in November seeking to end Belmont merchants use of the thin bags to check the harm it does to the environment – plastic bags harm animals and sea life that eat or are entangled by them – while also clogging storm drains and burdening solid waste disposal and recycling facilities. 

“The thin-film plastic bags are incredibly cheap so there is little incentive for merchants to make a change,” said the group’s spokesperson Mark Carthy of Stone Road and a Precinct 6 Town meeting member.

Carthy said the group submitted a Citizen’s Petition that was certified by the Town Clerk on Monday as a backup plan if the Selectmen had not accepted their proposal. 

“We are very pleased with [the selectmen’s] vote as it will make it an easier process under their guidance,” said Carthy.

Under the new bylaw, retailers will have two choices for customers; recyclables paper and reusable check-out bags made of natural fibers (cotton or linen), with stitched panels and can carry 25 pounds for more than 300 feet. The Belmont ban would include all plastic bags including the heavier, sturdy plastic examples which towns have allowed – an example is bags used by Russo’s in Watertown. Exceptions will include plastic bags without handles such as those covering or containing dry cleaning, newspapers, produce and meats, and bulk or wet foods.

For retailers who violate the ban, a written warning will come with the first offense. A second violation will be accompanied by a $50 fine and any further offense a $200 fine will be imposed and the fines will be cumulative and each day a violation occurs will constitute a separate offense.

Belmont is following the lead of more than 60 municipalities around the state which have installed bans in the past five years. Neighboring Cambridge has banned most plastic bags and charge a fee for paper bags since 2015 while Arlington’s ban on single-use plastic bags goes into effect on March 1 for retailers over 10,000 square feet and on July 1 for all other retailers. 

Belmont will not be able to impose a fee for bags as Cambridge does since state law prohibits towns from imposing a surtax on bags but does allow cities, said Carthy.

While popular in Massachusetts, bag bans have been less than accepted elsewhere. State legislatures in South Carolina, Utah, Arizona and Florida have voted to prohibit municipalities from banning carry-out bags. 

While the selectmen and Board of Health, which the bag ban group visited Monday evening, support the proposal, each noted a concern the bylaw’s enforcement powers which are ceded to the Belmont Health Department, will place an additional burden on its small staff. Health Board member Dr. David Alper told the group executing the laws compliance rules “will not be high on our things to enforce.”

Alper advised the group to reach out to the Department of Public Works and Mary Beth Calnan, the town’s part-time Recycling Coordinator, which would “give you a better bang for the buck” as “they can educate the stores and be punitive” when needed.

Garbage Giant Named Belmont’s New Trash/Recycling Hauler

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Photo: A WM side loading collection truck.

A giant in the waste removal industry was officially named Belmont’s trash and recycling hauler on Monday, Feb. 26 after winning a five-year contract with the town.

Waste Management of Houston was selected by Department of Public Works Director Jay Marcotte and approved unanimously by the Board of Selectmen at the board’s Monday morning meeting. Waste Management’s winning bid of $12.2 million over five years was $2.3 million less than the only other accepted bid from Casella Waste Systems of Rutland, Vermont.

Waste Management services approximately 21 million residential, industrial, municipal and commercial customers in US, Canada, and Puerto Rico with the largest trucking fleet in the waste removal industry with 26,000 collection and transfer vehicles.

The contract includes fully automated trash and recycling collection using 65-gallon (for trash) and 96-gallon (recycling) wheeled barrels, yard waste removal, the collection of Christmas trees and other bulky items as well as a fee for recycling processing. The contract begins on July 1. 

While Waste Management takes over trash and recycling in four months, it will continue collecting curbside waste and recycling manually until the firm has purchased the new trucks that will service Belmont.

“The start date will be when they meet their comfort level,” said Marcotte, which could happen in the early fall. Before then, the DPW and town will reach out to homeowners and residents to educate the town on the new automated system. 

The breakdown of the payments over the five years are:

  • Fiscal ’19: $2,224,296
  • Fiscal ’20: $2,355,554
  • Fiscal ’21: $2,442,192
  • Fiscal ’22: $2,531,867
  • Fiscal ’23: $2,624,685

The first year of the new contract is approximately $350,000 more than the fiscal ’18 fee paid to Somerville-based Russell Disposal. 

Marcotte told the board if there are any changes in the current market for recyclables beneficial to the town, “[Waste Management] promised to renegotiate the contract.” 

Size Matters: Committee Recommends Selectmen Increase Number On Board

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Photo: Not enough according to the committee set to review the number of selectmen.

Just how thorough the Committee to Study the Number of Selectmen took its mission, the appendix which documents the details of studies, interviews and raw data comprises more pages, 41, than the 32-page final report.

“It’s a big relief to finally get this report out after so much work by the members of the committee,” said Committee Chair Paul Rickter.

After seven months of discussions with the 16 current and past selectmen, speaking to countless elected representatives from outside of Belmont, leaders from municipalities that went through a similar process as well as gathering copious amounts of data – one of the first set of facts it compiled was a set of data from the 44 towns in Massachusetts with populations between 19,000 and 31,000 residents – in January the committee voted 9 to 4 to recommend increasing the number of selectmen from three to some number to be determined by Town Meeting

“My sense of the committee is that we found the town to be generally well-run, but that some felt that there are opportunities to improve town governance by increasing the size of the Board,” said Rickter.

Read the committee’s recommendation here.

The committee was created at the annual Town Meeting this past May and made up of 13 members – selected by Town Moderator Mike Widmer – representing each of the town’s eight precincts. Its charge was straightforward: to recommend whether or not the Board of Selectmen should be expanded from three members. After months of meetings – starting in June and really got going in October – the committee produced 11 arguments both pro and con on changing the status quo which has been in affect since Belmont’s founding in 1859.

On the pro side, the committee saw greater stability for town government in policy, planning, and hiring; an increased representation, diversity, and viewpoints; less likelihood of one Board member being isolated or dominating others; the potential for wider range of skills and experience on the Board; and permits members to use one other member as a sounding board.

For those in favor of keeping the current board size, all Board deliberations remain transparent and open to the public; elections would remain competitive; three members are more apt to reach a consensus, meetings are efficient and reasonable in length; and there is too much at stake for a change of this magnitude right now.

For Rickter, the most convincing arguments that swayed the majority were “the ideas that a larger board could be more broadly representative of the town as well as the potential for a wider variety of skills and experience benefiting a larger board.”

“The minority also saw those ideas as … benefits, but they thought they were only potential benefits,” he said, while expressing concern about the transparency of board deliberations – the state’s Open Meeting Laws requires a quorum of three for the three-member board to legally discuss issues brought before it – and competitiveness in elections with a larger board.

“As we said in the report, we all see valid arguments on both sides — we simply weighed them differently,” said Rickter, who added that the committee will attend Town Meeting in May to answer questions rather than “holding any advocacy role … going forward.”

Rickter said an important byproduct of the report is that a majority of members on both sides of the size question believe the town must consider strengthening the role of Town Administrator, whether or not Town Meeting increases the board’s size.

“But that topic was outside of our charge, so we limited ourselves to making only observations in that area,” he said.

For Rickter, the committee’s comprehensive reporting will allow for an honest discussion on the issue without the specter of bias.

“This was a conscientious group that worked together well, gathered tons of information, and engaged with the work of compiling this report in a truly collaborative way,” he noted. Even though the decision was not unanimous, “we never wavered from the goal of giving Town Meeting members a detailed snapshot of both sides of the issue.”

 

UPDATE: Town Election ’18: Caputo In, Williams Out for Selectmen; A Race For Health Board [VIDEO]

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Photo: Tom Caputo delivers his nomination papers to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

There will be a new face on the Belmont Board of Selectmen. The question now is will there be a race for the open seat?

So far the facts are that one-term selectman and current chair Jim Williams said he will not submit papers to retain his seat for a second three-year term. 

“I’m not running. I’m certain about that,” said the Glenn Road resident this week.

As Williams exits town government, Tom Caputo made it official submitting nomination papers to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman on Friday, Feb. 2, accompanied by his campaign manager Ellen Schreiber. 

“I believe Belmont as a town have some very important decisions to make in the next three years, and they will impact our community for the next 30 years,” said Caputo. 

See the accompanying video to hear more from Caputo on why he’s running and issues before the board.

The Richmond Road resident is currently serving his first full three-year seat on the School Committee after being appointed to the committee on Nov. 2014 to replace Kevin Cunningham who resigned. At the town election in April 2015, Caputo ran uncontested for the two-years remaining in Cunningham’s term. In April 2017, Caputo was elected to a full three-year appointment with 3,014 votes running with Kate Bowen to fill two slots.

With nomination papers due to the Town Clerk’s Office in less than 10 days on Feb. 13 at 5 p.m., a challenger to Caputo will have about to week to secure the signatures of at least 50 registered voters.

Race for Health Board Now On

There will be a good race for the seat on the Belmont Board of Health as a Van Ness Road resident has returned nomination papers to take on long-time Board member Dr. David Alper who has submitted his papers. 

Stephen Fiore is an attorney in civil litigation with the Cambridge firm of Foster & Eldridge, LLP, who is a frequent lecturer on medical-legal issues and health care law. If the last name sounds familiar, Fiore’s wife is Lisa Fiore, the current chair of the Belmont School Committee, who is giving up her three-year seat to seek election for a single year, the remainder of Murat Bicer’s term. Bicer has resigned from the committee as he is moving away from Belmont.

Alper is a Podiatry specialist with an office in his Oak Street home. He is currently serving his tenth elected three-year term as a member of a three-person board the directs the seven-member Health Department staff and its $500,000 annual budget.

Editor’s note: The Health Board story has been revised due to Fiore’s submission of nomination papers to the Town Clerk on Monday, Feb. 5.

Girl Scouts Score Cookie Sales With Board Of Selectmen

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Photo: Before the board’s three-hour meeting Monday, (in front, from left) Natalie Berman, Reilly Lubien, Ava Eckman, Lucia Campisano, Nina Sheth-Voss; (in back, from left) Adam Dash; Mark Paolillo; Craig Spinale, Belmont Light’s acting General Manager, and Jim Williams.

In the bleakness of winter, when days are short and the weather intemperate, there is a sliver of universal joy that breaks through the gloom: it’s Girl Scout Cookies time.

Everyone has at least one favorite of the eleven cookie recipes – including S’mores, Shortbread/Trefoils, Lemonades and Thin Mints – being sold this year. The annual cookies sale provides funds for local experiences such as trips, stays at Scout camps and creating community service projects. It’s also the largest entrepreneurial program for girls in the world.

On Monday, Jan. 23, local Girl Scouts set up a table outside the Belmont Board of Selectmen’s Room before the board’s weekly meeting. Besides have a nice-sized crowd, the girls – Natalie Berman, Reilly Lubien, Ava Eckman, Lucia Campisano, Nina Sheth-Voss – discovered that Selectmen Chair Jim Williams is somewhat of a cookie connoisseur, buying his own supply as he urged his fellow selectmen (Adam Dash and Mark Paolillo) to dig deep and buy a box or two. 

This Saturday, Jan. 27, Scouts will be selling cookies out in front of the Trapelo Road Star Market in Waverley Square while others over the next few weeks will be at the Belmont Post Office on Concord Avenue and at special events around town. You can also find where sales are taking place by going to the website: http://www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/all-about-cookies/How-to-Buy.html