Breaking: Two Planning Board Members, Including Former Chair, Resign

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Photo: (left) Barbara Fiacco; Liz Allison

Former Chair Liz Allison and member Barbara Fiacco suddenly resigned from the Belmont Planning Board since Monday, Oct. 23.

The departure of the pair comes less than a fortnight after associate member Raffi Manjikian angerly resigned on Oct. 13 due to a “hostile work environment” created by newly-elected Chair Charles Clark. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, the board has three members – Clark, Karl Haglund, and newly appointed Stephen Pinkerton – efficiently making it redundant to make decisions as it needs a fourth member. It will be up to the Board of Selectmen to appoint replacements.

Allison, Fiacco, and Clark could not be reached at this time. The article will be updated if they decide to respond. 

Allison and Fiacco’s letters – received on Monday, Oct 23 and Tuesday, Oct. 24 – were brief statements that did not elaborate the reason for their decisions.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with some very fine people and served a fine town,” said Allison.

Fiacco was more specific for her resignation, noting her “current workload and travel schedule. I am unable to dedicate the time necessary to address … challenges [facing the board] effectively this year.”

Allison and former member Manjikian were accused by Clark of abuse of power in September after it was revealed the pair had advocated moving the Belmont Public Library to a public/private Waverley Square development to revitalize the once-vibrant business center. The scheme, dubbed the ‘Big Idea,’ turned controversial when supporters of the library said they were never informed of the project or the move.

In the past month, a group of residents submitted a citizens’ petition to be heard at the Nov. 13 Special Town Meeting to consider changing the Planning Board from an appointed to an elected body.

Professionally, Allison is a noted economist who has served on the town’s Warrant, and Finance committees and Fiacco is a partner at the Boston law firm Foley Hoag. 

Make Way for Hinckley: Town OK’s Call For New Street Name

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Photo: Steven Wheelwright (right) with Glenn Clancy before the Board of Selectmen.

Good-bye Frontage Road. Hello Hinckley Way.

Belmont will soon have a new street name for the roadway best known as the exit ramp from Route 2 as members of the town’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints community filled the Board of Selectmen’s Room on Monday, Oct. 16 to support changing the byway’s moniker to Hinckley Way.

Glenn Clancey, director of the Office of Community Development, said the “new” road will run from the end of the state highway – there’s a sign noting its location – just before Ledgewood Place to the intersection of Park Avenue.

The reason for the change, according to Steven Wheelwright who presented the proposal to the Selectmen, is to end what has become an all-too-common occurrence for out-of-state visitors who have come for a family reunion or meeting friends at the “Boston” Temple.

“Unfortunately, there is a Frontage Road in Boston so when you put into your GPS ‘Boston Temple, 86 Frontage Road,’ the first thing that pops up is the Boston address,” Wheelwright told the Belmontonian before the meeting.

So rather than a stately temple of Olympia white granite, some visitors have found themselves outside the MBTA’s bus washing facility in the city’s South End neighborhood.

Since the only address on Belmont’s Frontage Road is the LDS Temple, the name change would not impact any home or business nor would it replace a prominent or popular street name, Wheelwright told the board.

“It was named Frontage Road by the state when it built the modern Route 2. It’s a town road, but no one ever got around to give it another name,” said Wheelwright, who is the current Temple president. The former Brigham Young University–Hawaii president, Wheelwright was one of the principal movers in the 1970s in purchasing the land where the Temple and the LDS Meetinghouse stand as well as overseeing the temple’s construction in the late 1990s.

Wheelwright told the board he and others in the community solicited comments from Belmont Hill residents on nearby connecting streets to gauge if there would be any issues with the new name. 

With no opposition and with the town’s blessing, the selectmen approved the request unanimously to the applause of many in the audience.

And why Hinckley? Wheelwright said there are no other Hinckley Way in the state thus avoiding any future GPS confusion and that Hinckley is a “good sounding New England name” referencing Thomas Hinckley, the governor of the Plymouth Colony in the late 17th century.

While unsaid by the proponents, Hinckley Way could also be a lasting tribute to Gordon Hinckley, the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who, during his 12-year tenure, accelerated the construction of Mormon temples around the world. Hinckley’s goal of building 100 temples by 2000 was reached when he came to Belmont to dedicate the Boston temple in October of that year.

Gordon Hinckley, center, at the dedication of the Boston Temple in October, 2000.

 

Manjikian Blasts New Planning Board Chair in Resignation Letter: ‘Hostile Work Environment’

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Photo: Planning Board Chair Charles Clark (left) and former member Raffi Manjikian.

In a tempestuous letter sent to the Belmont Board of Selectmen on Friday, Oct. 13, Raffi Manjikian abruptly resigned as an associate member of the Belmont Planning Board, eight days after fellow board member Charles Clark was named the body’s new chair.

Manjikian said he could not support the selection of Clark to lead the board after he treated him and then Planning Board Chair Liz Allison in “a hostile and threatening manner” and “creating a ‘hostile’ work environment” for future Planning Board meetings. 

“I have lost all confidence that I can make any meaningful contribution to our community as your appointee to the Planning Board,” he told the Selectmen.

Clark’s response to Manjikian’s attack was short and concise. 

“I wish him the best,” Clark told the Belmontonian.

Clark was elected chair in a 3-2 vote on Thursday, Oct. 5 with newly-appointed Stephen Pinkerton selected as vice chair.

Manjikian’s resignation came less than three weeks after the Selectmen reappointed him to the board for a term ending in 2019.

The bad blood between Manjikian and Clark goes back to a Sept. 5 Planning Board meeting where Clark accused Manjikian and Allison of an abuse of power in presenting a controversial proposal dubbed the “Big Idea” moving the Belmont Public Library from its current home on Concord Avenue to Waverley Square as part of a public/private revitalization of the business center.

“It’s not a ‘Big Idea.’ It’s a big lie,” Clark said at the Sept. 5 meeting. “I also think as a result [of] the actions that you’ve taken, you should resign as chair of the Planning Board and remove yourself from this process because I think you violated your responsibilities,” Clarks said to Allison. 

“[T]he manner in which Charles Clark, took upon himself to use our public meeting to attack a colleague [Allison]; to air his ill-tempered rant, for the public to watch, was deliberate and calibrated,” said Manjikian.

He noted the Sept. 5 incident was the second – the first at the Beech Street Center in August – “attacking this same colleague in an affect-laden outburst” then quoting Clark as saying “‘… you have not heard the last from me …’ [(W]hile pointing his finger towards [Allison’s] face.[)]

“In a work setting, this behavior would likely result in a terminiation of employment,” Manjikian wrote.

Manjikian is calling on the Selectmen to “take clear decisive action to address this misconduct.” 

“My volunteer service has long been guided by a principle ‘with each other, for each other,'” Manjikian stated. “I fail to see that I can uphold that principle in the face of such disregard for some people with whom you do not agree.”

Girl Ruggers Feted by Town For Historic State Championship

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Photo: Girls Rugby state champions with the Board of Selectmen.

It’s been three months since a group of Belmont High “ruggers” captured the historic first-ever state-sanctioned girls rugby championship in the US on a warm late spring day in Beverly.

This week, the victory was hailed officially by the town as the Board of Selectmen issued a proclamation celebrating the victory at Monday’s board meeting, Sept. 18.

Belmont High School Girls’ Head Coach Kate McCabe and a good number of the players attended the reading of the declaration by Chair Jim Williams, received a nice round of applause and got their photos taken afterward. 

Belmont High School Girls’ Head Coach Kate McCabe and captain Sara Nelson speaking before the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

Selectmen Back Library Trustees’ Move To Create Building Committee

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Photo: Library Trustees’ Chair Kathleen Keohane (left) speaking to the Belmont Selectmen

In a significant step on the future of the Belmont Public Library, the town’s Board of Selectmen agreed Monday night, Sept. 18, to add an article in the Special Town Meeting warrant in November to create a building committee to construct a new library.

In a 3-0 vote, the selectmen backed a decision by the Belmont Board of Library Trustees made earlier to move forward with the recommendations of a 2017 feasibility study calling for a structure placed on the library’s current site on Concord Avenue.

“It is the right time for the library,” Trustees’ Chair Kathleen Keohane told the Selectmen. She said the establishment of a building committee would allow the trustees to commission a schematic design of the new structure which will enable private fundraising to begin.

The library article will include both language creating the building committee and an amount to fund the schematic drawings. It will then be brought before Town Meeting which votes on whether to support the Trustees’ vision or reject it.

“We live in a representative form of government and I think it’s time for Town Meeting to weigh in on this issue,” said Selectmen Chair Jim Williams.

Keohane said the trustees would be seeking from the town half of the estimated $300,000 needed to draw up the schematic designs, with $150,000 donated by the Belmont Public Library Foundation.

“It is a town asset so it is important that the town shows its support and share the cost,” said Keohane.

The successful petition for a building committee article comes five months after the trustees agreed to withdraw its initial article they had prepared for May Town Meeting at the request of the Selectmen and the then recently formed Major Capital Projects Working Group.

The Working Group told the Trustees it required time to analyze the town’s major capital projects – High School, Library, DPW, Police Station and Incinerator Site – in order to define a sound plan for building, sequencing and possible financing. Keohane and Selectmen Adam Dash said for the delay, a promise was agreed to between the parties to reintroduce the building committee article before the Special Town Meeting in the fall.

Keohane and Selectmen Adam Dash said for the delay, a promise was agreed to between the parties to reintroduce the building committee article before the Special Town Meeting in the fall.

Dash said while the selectmen are supporting the article, “this is not a commitment to build [the library] or even create a building committee. This just means putting it on the docket for Town Meeting to have a say.”

“We told [Town Meeting] that this is for fundraising and it’s hard to say, ‘go out there and fundraise without the tools to do that’,” said Dash, who added that by having a building committee doesn’t mean the library will “jump the line” in front of the other projects.

While supportive of the building committee, Selectman Mark Paolillo – who is the selectmen’s representative on the Major Capital Projects group – said it didn’t make sense for the trustees to move forward on the library before the Working Group has presented its plan.

“How do Town Meeting members debate an article for a building committee when they haven’t yet heard a report from the Working Group?” quired Paolillo.

But both Williams and Dash said at the November Town Meeting, the Working Group will give its report, the Town Moderator will open the meeting for debate and then move on the building committee article.

Keohane interjected, telling the selectmen “there is a clear need for us to take action.”

“As an elected official and steward of the library … we need to move forward in a methodical, purposeful way to make changes to the library,” she said.

Selectmen Place Two On Planning Board Seen Supporting Status Quo

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Photo: The Board of Selectmen Monday.

A divided Belmont Board of Selectmen Monday added two members to the Planning Board seen as favorable to the board’s current leadership which was attacked by one selectman for exceeding its authority and fostering a ponderous permitting process. 

“You’ll be sorry,” charged Selectman Adam Dash as the board voted 2-1 to re-appoint sitting member Raffi Manjikian and while selecting Dalton Road’s Stephen Pinkerton to replace Joseph DeStefano on the five-member board at the Selectmen’s meeting held Monday night, Sept. 11.

Dash, who backed Edward “Sandy” Sanderson for the board, said the town had missed the opportunity to change the direction the Planning Board which has come under withering criticism from residents and the elected Board of Library Trustees for advocating in July a proposal to move the Belmont Public Library to Waverley Square as part of a public/private partnership to revitalize the once vibrant business hub.

Pinkerton is one of the leaders of Belmont Citizens for Responsible Zoning which led the successful campaign to restrict the building of oversized single-family dwellings in the Shaw Estate in 2015. 

Sanderson was a city planner for the City of Los Angeles and is currently an urban and transportation planner in the Boston office of a New York-based civil engineering firm.

“If you were posting this job and you got these applications … how do you not hire [Sanderson] for this job when he’s exactly perfectly qualified for this,” said Dash, adding that he would consider placing Pinkerton as an associate member “to get his feet wet” on the board.

Monday’s well-attended meeting, which set aside 15 minutes for several appointments on multiple boards, quickly became a surrogate of the ongoing dispute between the Planning Board and the Library Trustees, whose chair Kathleen Keohane and member Gail Mann attended the meeting. 

Liz Allison, Planning Board chair, was in the audience as was Manjikian with a few supporters backing her. Nearby sat Planning Board member Chuck Clark, who last week sharply denounced both Allison and Manjikian for formulating the proposal to move the library – dubbed the “Big Idea” – without informing the entire board.

Before the vote, Dash spoke at length criticising the Planning Board calling for it to take a new direction which would have begun with Sanderson elected to the board.

“I get a lot of emails from people complaining about roads and sidewalks, parking and all of those emails complaints added up don’t equal the number I get complaining about the Planning Board,” said Dash.

Dash said while keeping an open mind to the proposed library transfer when it was initially presented; Dash said his major concerned was Allison’s unwillingness to cede to overwhelming public sentiment and abandon the scheme. Rather, Dash said he could see the Planning Board presenting the “Big Idea” at a future Town Meeting even if the Library Trustees – who are elected by residents to represent the interests of the library – were opposed to it.

“I get concerned that in the face of the facts … that moving the library to Waverley Square is DOA, there’s a continued push, push, push for that,” he said.

With some major projects coming before the Planning Board shortly – a new High School, revamping general residence zoning and commercial development proposals – Dash said too much emphasis had been placed on projects that are beyond the jurisdiction of the Planning Board.

“It’s taking up a lot of time when there are a lot of things on the plate that gets kicked down the road,” he said.

Overly Bureaucratic 

Also, Dash related that many applicants who have appeared before the Planning Board had expressed their frustration at the deliberative and overly bureaucratic nature of the board’s process. Critics point to the 18 months approval process for the formerly named Cushing Village development and the recent Boston Day School site and design review in which the applicant was required to resubmit documents and undergo delays on seemingly trivial matters.

While he said some of the problems facing applicants arise from the zoning code, Dash said the level of micromanagement from the Planning Board is akin to “death by a thousand cuts.” 

“I feel bad about it because I served with [Planning Board members] and I like them. It’s not a personal thing. Just observing it and the way things are moving forward, [the Planning Board] is not working for the town,” said Dash.

“It just seems to me that it’s not going to change unless we make some changes and this is a place to start,” said Dash.

Asked by Selectmen Chair Jim Williams to speak on both Dash’s comments and who should be  Allison came to the defense of her committee noting that in the past four years all the substantial articles it presented to Town Meeting have been approved. “You can’t pass major bylaw changes … if you are that unpopular.”

The chair also said the issue that has produced “by far” the most correspondence to the Planning Board over the past three months had concerned the Day School proposal, leaving the impression the library is not registering with the greater community.

“Do we get complaints? Yes, because … it is one of the committees where you have to balance the equities,” said Allison. 

Allison told the board she was strongly in favor of reappointing Manjankian who has knowledge of environmental issues and is committed to civil and respectful processes while being able to tell people ‘no’ in respect of things people want to do.”

While not coming out in favor for the second selection, Allison did say Pinkerton had attended many planning board meeting as a zoning campaigner and would be as ready as anyone could be to step onto the board.

Clark reiterated his call for significant changes to the Planning Board. Rather than recall what he said a week earlier, Clark said it was time to “restore confidence in the Planning Board” which required a change in leadership. One avenue towards transforming the group would be not to reappoint Manjikian “because that would change the dynamics on the board and you’d have new leadership elected.”

“There is a lot of work that has to be done by the Planning Board, but we need to get past the problems of being distracted from the important issues,” said Clark, noting that the board has lost six months on moving forward on the future of Waverley Square and South Pleasant Street. 

Selectman Mark Paolillo said he would seek to change the current bylaw to expand the number of board members from five to seven to allow a greater diversity of views

“Every year we have some qualified individuals,” said Paolillo, hoping opening up the board to a higher number of residents will allow for greater diversity of thought.

But as Williams noted, an expanded planning board that would be constituted next year “doesn’t help us now.” 

In the end, Williams and Paolillo selected Manjikian and Pinkerton with the promise to have Sanderson on a short list of candidates to fill the next opening on the board. 

Selectmen Chair Williams Not Seeking Re-election (Caveats Included)

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Photo: Jim Williams

The question to Belmont Selectman Jim Williams was straight forward as was his answer.

Are you running for re-election?

“No, I am not,” said the chair of the selectman.

But, as Williams would tell the Belmontoian as he was walking home from attending the welcoming session for teachers and education staff at Belmont High School on a warm, Tuesday morning, Sept. 5, his answer has three parts. 

“The second sentence is everything is subject to change,” said Williams with a chuckle.

OK, so is the former Wall Street banker just hedging his bets? What gives? 

“But honestly, I don’t want to run. Guess how old I’ll be in June? I’ll be 72 years old. That means serving until I’m 75,” Williams said, adding the job puts limits on his travel and family plans.

“So what I’m saying is that I’m not running. I’m not forming a committee, not raising any money,” said Williams

But it was the third part of his announcement that turned out to be the most intriguing 

“It’ll also depend on who’s running,” said Williams. He would not name names of those who would run which would trigger his re-entry into the political fray. 

Williams said he felt that he’s accomplished much since winning a seat on the board in 2015 with a major upset of Andy Rojas, beating the incumbent by 500 votes while topping the 4,000 vote mark. The Indiana native and US Navy veteran point to the number of homeowners who have installed solar arrays with his promotion of alternative energy and the restructuring of the town’s pension funding structure which will save Belmont $15 million.

“I think those are significant changes to the town,” said Williams.

Belmont Joins Opposition To MBTA Wi-Fi Poles

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Photo: MBTA commuter rail station at Waverley Square.

Belmont is joining a growing number communities in opposition to the installation of 320 75-foot tall mono-poles by the MBTA along commuter rail tracks including one slated for Thayer Road in Waverley Square.

Dubbing it a “silly idea,” Selectmen Chair Jim Williams joined his colleagues in voicing concerns to the regional transportation authority’s plan to construct the towers to improve Wi-Fi service to passengers riding the rails.

The pole in Belmont will be located adjacent to 33-39 Thayer Road on the Waltham side of the tracks, said Jefferey Wheeler of the Office of Community Development who attended a recent community meeting by the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board to discuss the $150 million project.

While the tracks are 20 feet below the street’s grade, the pole will still be as tall as a five-story tall building when installed.

The MBTA said the project – which is an underground fiber-optic cable which utilizes the pole to project the wireless network to the trains – will eliminate “dead spots” along the four commuter rail lines it services. 

Wheeler said the MBTA told the meeting it only needs the first 35 feet of the pole to send its signal while the remaining 40 feet is expected to the rented to mobile phone carriers to supply their service to trains and the surrounding neighborhoods.

The MBTA entered into an agreement in 2014 with a private company which will share revenue from sponsorships, infrastructure leasing, and a premium wireless service.

Selectman Adam Dash was critical of the lack of transparency from the MBTA stating the authority only sent the notification to the town of its intentions through the Belmont Historic District Commission and not the Selectmen or Town Administrator.

While the town can express its opposition to the project, the MBTA is exempt from local zoning bylaws restricting height and appearance as the structures are being constructed on the authority’s right of way along the tracks. Wheeler pointed out that cell phone carriers which will have the right to use the upper half off of the pole – up to three carriers will able to use that space – are likely to have extending “arms” and wires.

The selectmen are advising residents who are opposed to the project to contact the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board, Gov. Charlie Baker, Mass. Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack, State Rep. Dave Roger, and State Sen. Will Brownsberger to share your concerns with this proposal.

Joseph Aiello, Chairman

Fiscal Management Control Board

State Transportation Building

10 Park Plaza

Boston, MA 02116

Governor Charlie Baker

Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Room 280
Boston, MA 02133

To email Governor Baker’s Office use the link below:

http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituent-services/contact-governor-office/

Stephanie Pollack

Secretary and CEO Department of Transportation

Ten Park Plaza Suite 4160

Boston, Ma 02116

Telephone: 857-368-4636

 

State Rep. David M. Rogers

Massachusetts State House

24 Beacon St

Boston, MA 02133

Dave.Rogers@mahouse.gov

 

State Sen. William N. Brownsberger

Massachusetts State House

24 Beacon St

Boston, MA 02133

William.Brownsberger@masenate.gov

Trash Talk: Picking Up on Belmont’s Garbage Options

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Photo: DPW Director Jay Marcotte modeling the possible containers Belmont residents could be using to place their waste in 2018. 

The options how Belmont will gets rid of its garbage and recycling beginning in the summer of 2018 is increasing by the day.

Single or dual stream? Use only big plastic bags you have to buy? Automated or keep it the way it is?

Who knew trash could be so complicated?

That was the feeling for many of the three dozen residents who attended the first of two – or possibly three – public discussions sponsored by the Belmont Department of Public Works held Monday, June 26 in the Town Hall auditorium.

In the presentation before the Belmont Board of Selectmen which included a wide variety of plastic trash containers as examples of possible receptacles residents could be using next year, DPW Director Jay Marcotte along with the town’s recycling coordinator Mary Beth Calnan sought to give the public the town’s choices as it prepares to signs in early 2018 a new long-term trash collection and recycling contract to collect curbside waste at nearly 10,000 locations.

“It’s a balancing act, said Marcotte on determining which of the options will best meet the needs of all the town’s residents.

The town currently is in the second extension of its 2011 contract with Cambridge’s J.W. Russell which expires on June 30, 2018. The new contract will be put out to bid in the fall with a final contractor selected in mid-January, said Marcotte. 

The DPW is seeking “direction” from the Selectmen on what option the department should pursue, said Marcotte, much relying on balancing residents’ expectations and the town’s fiscal resources.

And there is an array of ways for the town’s trash and recycling to be collected. The town will need to decide if recycled material will be included with everyday trash – known as the single stream approach – versus a dual stream which recycables are picked up seperately. 

The first option is to continue what the town is doing. The current program is collected manually four days a week with an unlimited number of barrells, yard waste and bulky items. If you put out a dozen containers and a sofa or two on the curb, it’s all going to be picked up.

Recycling is collected once every two weeks and there are Recycling Days for items not collected such as rigid plastics, textiles and DVDs/CDs.

The current seperate recycling program is quite effective in Bemont; 95 percent of residents recycle and nearly three-quarters of recyclable items are recovered.

But the cost is pricy: fiscal year ’18 expense for collection, disposal and recycling is $2.5 million.

High on the DPW’s list of options is automated collection. One need only travel south to Watertown to see a single truck with a mechanical arm pick up wheeled-trash recepticles provided to residents being hoisted up and into the container. 

Marcotte said this method – which is increasingly becoming the industry standard throughout the country – is efficient, cuts labor costs and workmen compensation claims and is neater than the current system.

There is a signficiant upfront cost of between $250,000 to $450,000 for the new “carts” as well as the liklihood that an addtional recycling truck will be neeeded. And trash pick up is limited to what’s in the barrels; bulky items will need a seperate removal at an addtional cost. But the town will see yearly cost savings by the fourth year of upwards of $200,000 versus the manual method.

Another option is Pay-As-You-Throw or PAYT in which all garbage is required to be placed in a 35 gallon bag that costs a few dollars. If you put your garbage in any other bag – sorry, it’s not being picked up.

The pickup can be done within a manual or automated system, with a state grant avaliable to subsidize puchasing carts. The bags will be a distinctive color with the town’s seal on it.

Marcotte said PAYT will decrease the amount the town will pick up and it’s a great incentive to reduce, reuse and recycle. It would also be somewhat cheaper to run. But he noted “throw” systems come with its own issues: you have to purchase bags for all waste, collection is not as efficient, recycling is not as “clean”, and there has been increases in illegal dumping – or people throwing trash in other people’s bins – from those who just won’t pay for the bags. 

With so many options, some residents wondered why things need to change from the familiar system currently in use.

“I think the whole thing is nuts,” said Maryann Scali of Prospect Street, speaking for several long-time homeowners in the hall. “Why can’t we leave what we’re doing?” 

Several people believe the largest container at 65 gallons would prove too unwhelding for older residents and those living on slopped roadways especially in the winter. Others said that they would not need a large PAYT bag for their weekly curb-side offering.

“I would really like to see the emphasise here placed strongly on conveince and ease for the customer,” said John Gilman of Claflin Street 

Amanda Mujica of the Belmont PTA/PTO Green Alliance felt that it was wasteful for the 10,000 customers to throw out the their existing barrels and purchase new containers for a quarter of a million dollars. 

“I know that everyone is on this rally about automation but the trucks are going to take longer as they go up and down each street because they can only go up one side at a time,” she noted.

Pat Brusch of Radcliffe Road said she would be in favor of a “throw” system but only if it was accompanied by an article before Town Meeting to discuss and vote on “an underride.”

The opposite of an override which allows a community to permentaly exceed the annual 2.5 percent cap on the property tax increase, the underride Brusch is proposing would reimburse Belmont taxpayers the $2.1 million they approved in 1990 to create the current curbside trash and recycling system.

Several residents noted they were in favor of the PAYT option, including Taylor Road’s Kim Slack who brought a successful citizens petition at May’s Town Meeting to allow the Board of Selectmen to consider PAYT in future contracts. Slack told the board the “throw” option would not require an automated system which would result in more diesal fumes and would reduce the waste collected from residents “starting on day one.” 

Others, such as John O’Connor of Upland Road didn’t believe it was fair to ask homeowners – who will be facing in the next few years requests for higher taxes to pay for a new high school and other capital projects – to pay to place their rubbish in a bag when they paid for collection 27 years ago. 

A compromise between the existing system and the “throw” option which some selectmen appeared favorable with was voiced by Terese Hammerle of Adams Street who suggested that residents should be able to fill either a 35 gallon bag or container for free each week and then pay for any additional waste.

“That is a way to address the town having already paying for [collection],” she said. “You don’t want it to be unlimited then there is no incentive to reduce the garbage we produce.”

Finding Belmont’s Honored Dead Made Easier By Eagle Scout’s Work

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Photo: Belmont Eagle Scout Oliver Leeb with the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

In Belmont’s two burial grounds, those interned who served the country hold an honored place in the town.

But for relatives and historians, locating one of the 1,800 military service dead was haphazard at best as individuals would need to hunt between several sources and town departments then having to scour the sites to find the precise location.

Now those seeking the resting places of veterans have a new resource to make the task easier, all thanks to the effort of a Belmont Eagle Scout.

Belmont High School Senior Oliver Leeb of Troop 304 have created a system that will allow loved ones a database/map that reduces what formerly took three or four tasks to just one.

“It was a great project because it has a practical application,” said Leeb, before being presented a certificate of appreciation from the Belmont Board of Selectmen last wee. 

The work began as Leeb sought a local project as part of his Eagle Scout requirement which led him to Belmont’s Veteran’s Agent Bob Upton. After discussing what was on Upton’s wish list, they came up with a badly needed updating of the existing catalog. 

Before the new system, there was a rudimentary list of the dead in alphabetical order that gave only a general location of the grave. 

“It really needed to be updated especially with the number of veterans buried here and the lack of specific locations of the graves,” said Leeb, who will be graduating in June and heading to Brandeis in the fall. 

Under Leeb’s initiative, individual graves were given specific numbers that created a database corresponding to a map of the grave sites. 

“So now using the map and the database, you can find the grave of any veteran that you wanted to find,” he said.

Leeb leaves a system that can be expanded to use GPS coordinates to pinpoint a grave on a digital map and also include the history of the veteran such as dates and where they served.

“There is so much history that can be included. We have veterans from the Grand Army of the Republic who fought in the Civil War,” said Leeb, noting it could be a project for another scout to consider.