A Week of Road Closures, Parking Restrictions Set During Golf Tourney

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Photo: The map of street closures set for June during a golf event in Belmont.

A popular travel link between Route 2 and Belmont will be closed for nearly a week in early June and residents living close to Belmont Country Club will have daytime parking restrictions in their neighborhoods while a major golf tournament takes place, according to Belmont Police.

During the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour’s Constellation Senior Players Championship, taking place at Belmont Country Club next month, initial plans call for Winter Street from Route 2 to Marsh Street to be closed during the day to through traffic from Tuesday, June 9, through Sunday, June 14, 2015, according to Belmont’s Assistant Chief James MacIsaac.

Residents should also expect daytime parking restrictions in the neighborhoods abutting the club.

These are initial plans that still need to be finalized, said MacIsaac. 

The news comes a few weeks since the PGA initiated, then rejected using Rock Meadow Conservation Land for up to 1,000 parking spaces. Currently, the PGA acquired parking, outside of Belmont, for employees and spectators who will be transported by shuttle bus from parking areas to the club. 

Belmont Police will host a public meeting at 7 p.m. on May 14, in the Wadsworth Room of the Belmont Hill School Athletic Center. This meeting will provide residents with information pertaining to traffic and parking plans. The meeting will also provide residents with the opportunity to ask questions to law enforcement.

Those interested in obtaining future announcements on the PGA’s event at Belmont Country Club should follow the police and town’s social media accounts and websites.

It Must Be Spring: Limited Snow Parking Ban Lifted, Park Anywhere

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Spring has arrived.

Despite receiving two inches of snow on Sunday night, Saturday morning which resulted in the region breaking the most snowfall in a winter season with more than 108 inches, the Belmont Police Department and the town of Belmont  “are pleased to announce” the end of the limited parking ban “effective immediately.”

The ban, which has been in effect along with an emergency parking ban, for nearly seven weeks since Jan. 27 when the first in a series of blizzards/winter storms past through the metro-Boston area.

“Although the roads are significantly wider due to melting we do ask that you use care when parking to make sure there is enough room for emergency vehicles to pass,” according to police. 

‘Grim’ News for Heroin Dealer Arrested in Belmont

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Photo: Belmont Police K9 Officer Corey Taylor and Grim.

A Boston man was arrested Friday morning, Feb. 27 by Belmont police – with a big assist from the department’s K9 officer, Grim – for allegedly selling heroin in Belmont.

The arrest of Harrison Soto-Zuazo, 34, of Jamaica Plain, came after Belmont police received complaints from resident of street-level drug deals being conducted in town, according to the Belmont Police.

Belmont Police Det. Michael Pugliese, along with members of the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force, conducted a investigation that led to a search warrant being issued for Soto-Zuazo’s motor vehicle.

At 11:43 a.m. Friday, detectives observed Soto-Zuazo operating his vehicle on Pleasant Street. After stopping Soto-Zuazo’s vehicle and not finding any illegal narcotics, detectives called Belmont Police K9 Officer Corey Taylor and Grim. The K9 officer performed a search of the vehicle and Taylor reported to the detectives that Grim had given an indication that there were narcotics in the rear portion of the center console. Examining the console closer, detectives discovered an aftermarket modification that revealed a “hide” inside the vehicle. Inside detectives discovered 68 grams of heroin.

Soto-Zuazo was charged with trafficking in heroin, furnishing a false name, refusing to identify himself, use of a false RMV document and operating on a suspended license.

 

Belmont’s New ‘Smart 911’ Now Ready for Residents

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A new free service is now in place to provide detailed information from residents to dispatchers as soon as a 911 call is placed.

As reported in the Belmontonian back in January, Smart911 is a national service that allows citizens to create a free Safety Profile for their household that includes data they want 911 and first responders to have in the event of an emergency. 

Beginning this week, residents can visit www.smart911.com to sign up and create a free Safety Profile for their household, providing information such as the names and photos of family members, health conditions, medications, pets in the home, vehicle details and emergency contacts.

All information in each profile is voluntary, and each household can determine what details are important to include, as each household is different and therefore the potential rescue needs will also vary.

The information is also available to public safety departments across the country which uses the Smart911 system, allowing first responders to know about allergies and pre-existing conditions for those with a profile.

 

The Voice of Belmont: When the Town Wants You to Know, Dan MacAuley is On the Call

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There are some people whose voice you immediately associated with a place or time.

The voice of the Fenway Park for old-timers will always be Sherm Feller while recent generations remember the late Carl Beame.

Cantankerous Johnny Most is still the radio heart of the Boston Celtics.

And the voice of Belmont is a life-long resident you’ve heard a great deal in the past month.

“This is Dan MacAuley of the Belmont Police Department.”

Since the first of nearly a dozen calls since the last week of January when the first of four major snow storms began, adults reactively begin reaching for shovels and students leaping for joy as MacAuley’s unmistakable Boston accent rattles off yet another list of snow emergencies, parking bans and school cancellations over the phone.

Turns out MacAuley is a natural for the job.

“Believe it or not, I usually get it done in one or two takes,” MacAuley told the Belmontonian.

“I’m pretty hard on myself, and if it’s not close to perfect, I’ll do it again,” he said.

And when you come to think about it, MacAuley is a perfect person to represent the voice of a town living here nearly all of his life.

MacAuley has lived 53 of my 55 years in Belmont, straying only to Waltham for two years after marrying his wife, Jackie.

“I grew up on Sherman Street and attended the Winn Brook School, the Chenery Middle School, and graduated from Belmont High School in 1978,” said MacAuley, who went on to obtain his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from Middlesex Community College.

His involvement in town began when he was elected to Town Meeting while still a high school student (where he is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame.) You have likely seen MacAuley selling Christmas tree during the holiday season at the Lions Club where he is a past president.

He has also led the Belmont Boosters Club (past president and treasurer) and Belmont Recreation Committee (past chair).

He and Jackie have a son, Danny, a senior at Adelphi University on Long Island, and Katie, their daughter who is a junior at Belmont High School.

“I have only had two jobs in my life,” he said; working part time at the First National Grocery store in Belmont Center until it closed in the early 1980’s then being hired – along with current Belmont Police Sgt. Kevin Shea – as one of the first full-time police dispatchers in August, 1982.

In his four decades on the force, MacAuley has worked as a police dispatcher, fire alarm operator, communications supervisor, and now 9-1-1 Operations Manager where he is in charge of the entire dispatch center that includes eight full-time dispatchers, a full-time communications supervisor and three per-diem dispatchers.

It was through his involvement in selecting the present company, Blackboard Connect, which runs the town’s “Community Notification System” (similar to the popular “Reverse 9-1-1” operation which is a trademark term of a competing company) that he became the town’s “voice.”

“When they were chosen [in July 2008], [Belmont Police] Chief [Richard] McLaughlin asked me to be the coordinator and voice of the program,” MacAuley said.

Scheduled calls are approved by Town Administrator David Kale, Police Chief McLaughlin or Fire Chief David Frizzell while emergency notifications are sent out with the approval of the Police Officer or Fire Captain in charge.

Approximately 11,000 residents, businesses, and employees are contacted by MacAuley for weather-related issues, missing people bulletins, road closures, power outages and small items such what streets will have their hydrants flushed.

And in the past month, MacAuley has been coming into Belmont homes at a rapid clip due to snow emergencies, school closings and whether residents’ trash will be picked up on its scheduled days.

With that exposure has come a bit of notoriety.

“When I am around and about, and people see the name tag on my uniform, I almost always get ‘Oh, you’re the guy that calls us all the time,'” he said.

“And my daughter and wife get asked all the time if I’m the guy who makes all the calls,” said MacAuley.

 

Water Main Break Halts Traffic on Brighton/Blanchard, Repair by 4 PM

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A major water main broke around 9 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10, on the north side of Brighton Street at the commuter rail tracks, causing the closure of an important cross town thoroughfare.

Belmont Police detoured traffic off of Blanchard Road from Concord Avenue to the commuter tracks and Brighton Street to Vale Road and the tracks to allow Department of Public Work crews to remove and repair the pipe that spewed water onto the roadway for a short time.

“We found a major crack in the pipe so it had to be removed and a new section cut at the DPW yard,” said Mark Mancuso, operations manager of the DPW’s Water Division.

There was some concern from the MBTA the water from the leak could freeze onto the commuter rail tracks, said Mancuso. That problem did not materialize, he added.

Mancuso said the pipe should be replaced and the road reopened by 4 p.m.

 

Show of Support: Saturday’s Rally Thanks Belmont Police

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Photo: Participants at Saturday’s rally in support of the Belmont Police Department. 

Despite a brilliant, cloudless day, the sun’s warmth was wanting Saturday, Jan. 10 as winter’s deep freeze arrived in Belmont.

The frigid conditions did not stop between 30 to 40 residents from rallying across Concord Avenue from the Belmont Police Stations at Town Hall to show and voice their support for the town’s law enforcement officers.

With signs proclaiming “Thank You,” “We Support Our Belmont Police” and “My Dad, My Hero,” the participants waved to vehicles passing along Concord Avenue just past noon, receiving honks and thumbs up from the motorists.

Thirteen-year-old Conner Shea was with his mother “supporting my dad” who is a Belmont Police officer. Karen Davison said, “all lives matter, including the police.”

For Belmont’s Lynne Mailhot, whose husband is a BPD sergeant, the few hours in the cold holding signs of support was worth the discomfort to show local law enforcement that their work is not being forgotten.

“With all the negative news directed at cops, we just want to come out to show that we support them,” said Mailhot, who helped organize the rally with fellow Belmont resident Kathleen Cowing whose husband is also on the force.

The rally comes after several high-profile incidents in which unarmed African-American men died during confrontations with law enforcement sparking a wave of protests and civil actions across the country – including in Belmont – for the past several months directed towards police and the justice system.

“They need a morale boost because the public perception of the police is not very good at the moment,” said Mailhot, who added Saturday’s action was not a counter-demonstration to those who have an opposing view.

“We just feel that our voices should also be heard,” she said.

Mailhot said Saturday’s gathering was proposed after about a dozen Belmont officers attended the funerals for New York City Police Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, who were shot on Dec. 20.

“It was really hard going to the services. You can imagine how much it hurt because they belong to this brotherhood,” Mailhot said.

Joan Seaver said unlike the work most people do for a living; the police live with an uncertainty that few would want to take on.

“A lot of us go to work in front of a computer with financial spreadsheets. These men and women don’t know if they are coming home at the end of their shift,” she said, saying that more police officers have been killed on duty in 2014 than in the previous decade.

For Mailhot, the rally was one way for those who support the police “can be more visible to the public.”

“And for those guys in the building in front of us.”

 

Rally to Support Belmont’s Police Officers Set For Saturday Noon

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Inspired and modeled after rallies including a recent example in Boston, Belmont residents will be meeting in front of Belmont Town Hall at noon on Saturday, Jan. 10 in a show of support for the men and women of the Belmont Police Department.
A rally organizer, who wished not to be named, said the rally is in response to a recent increase in “anti-police rhetoric” and the murder of New York Police Department officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu on Dec. 20. 
“[I]t is a difficult time for law enforcement and their families and we want them to know that for every person condemning them, there are folks out there who appreciate them too,” the organizer said.
She said last week many officers from Belmont attended the funerals of the slain NYPD officers “and we just felt it would be nice to feel as though they have community support following a difficult time and endeavor.”
“After seeing similar rallies in Dorchester and surrounding towns, we, the organizers, felt that it would be nice for anyone in town to take a moment to show our support for the men and women who keep us safe,” she said.
A march and demonstration seeking change to how law enforcement and the justice system views African-American men was held in Belmont on Dec. 14.
There will be no speakers at the rally and sometime after noon, the group will head for locations residents hold political signs during election times including the Town Common facing the commuter rail tunnel and the intersection of Concord Avenue and Leonard Street.
“We welcome folks to bring signs of support or just [show up],” she said.

Belmont Joining Smart 911 Network

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Many Belmont residents own smartphones. Smart watches are just around the corner.

And beginning in the next few weeks, Smart 911 will be available to every Belmont resident.

That’s the word from Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin after he presented what was an upgrade to the town’s existing 911 system to the Belmont Board of Selectmen at its Monday, Jan. 5 meeting.

“We want to get as many people as possible onto the system,” said McLaughlin, calling it “an enhancement to community policing.”

Smart911 – currently being used by the Massachusetts State Police, in Watertown, Medford, Chelsea and Stoughton and on the campuses of Boston College and MIT – allows citizens to create a Safety Profile at www.smart911.com for their household that includes any information they wish first responders to have in the event of an emergency.

“It is all voluntary; residents can provide as much or as little information to the system,” said McLaughlin, adding the profile is secured, and password protected. The company – Rave Mobile Safety of Framingham – also verifies the information every six months to keep it up-to-date.

When a citizen makes an emergency call, their Safety Profile is displayed to one of the two Belmont dispatchers located at the Police headquarters on Common Street, allowing them to send the appropriate response teams with the right information for those making the call.

“Right now, we only have the phone number and address. We don’t know what to expect,” said McLaughlin.

Police, fire and EMTs can be aware of a greater amount of information that is not known under the current system: fire crews can arrive at a house fire knowing how many people live in the home and the location of bedrooms including children’s rooms, EMS can be advised of allergies or specific medical conditions and police can have the photo of a missing child in seconds rather than minutes or hours.

McLaughlin said that the system can include all phones used at the location including cell phones, emergency contacts, vehicle identification and even the number of pets.

The chief said an added benefit is the personal information is “portable” which allows it to be used in other communities served by Smart911.

“Let’s say you are in Orlando [Florida] and need to contact 911, [the dispatchers] there will have the callers information because the caller is using a cell phone that is linked to the system,” said McLaughlin.

Outstanding restraining or protection orders can not be placed into the system by residents, said McLaughlin, indicating that local police are informed of those court-issued judgements.

The Smart911 system costs $9,000 annually – $4,500 for each dispatcher – with a three-year contract. The town will begin promoting Smart911 through its website and through social media in the upcoming weeks.

The Selectmen gave their support for the town to join Smart911.

“This is exciting for our community,” said Chair Andy Rojas.

Belmont Police Collecting Toys for Area Tots

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The Belmont Police Department will once again be a collection point for the annual Toys For Tots campaign.

The Police’s HQ is located across Concord Avenue from Belmont Town Hall at 460 Trapelo Rd. at the corner of Pleasant Street.

The United Sates Marine Corps Reserves, which runs the program each year, is asking for new, unwrapped toys which are needed for children in Belmont and surrounding communities. 

(Here’s some trivia: The “Toys for Tots” logo was designed by Walt Disney.)

Donation bins are set up in the department’s main lobby and are accessible seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Donations made before Dec. 15 will be helpful to ensure the toys are distributed on time. Please call 617-993-2550 if you are in need of assistance or have any questions.