‘Spectacular!’: Town Administrator Garvin Aces Annual Merit Review Going ‘5’ for ‘5’

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Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator

Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin received a “perfect” five out of a possible five cumulative score from the Belmont Select Board at her annual merit pay review on Monday, Sept 9.

“Spectacular!” said Kelli King, the town’s Human Resources Manager, after reading the results. The score is due to Garvin’s exceptional skills in finance, administration, staff development, and problem-solving, said King.

“Patrice is a patient yet courageous change agent who is creative, forward-looking, and resilient under pressure. Her integrity is unquestionable, and she quickly resolves mistakes when they occur. Her confidence in managing daily operations has allowed the Board to focus on strategic growth initiatives,” said Kelly, summerizing the Select Board’s comments. “Patrice’s ability to multitask, organize, and lead through change has been essential to Belmont’s continued success in areas of opportunity.”

King said Garvin “plays a key role in balancing challenges, changes, and investments in under-resourced departments. She navigates diverse opinions within the town diplomatically and remains insightful in her recommendations for progress and overall comments.” 

The one concern the Board has about Garvin’s performance is her ceaseless work ethic, which has the Select Board worried about “potential burnout.” But with a strong team surrounding her, “it is hoped that she can take more time to rest.” 

“Her tireless efforts have made the board more effective, and she continues to perform her duties at the highest level, and [it] is a privilege to work alongside her,” said King.

Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne added Monday that Garvin’s score, in particular, reflects her work justifying and helping the town pass this year’s Proposition 2 1/2 override.

“If that override had not passed, we would have decimated town institutions and services. The current status of the town very much owes itself to Patrice and her efforts, among many, many others, but Patrice was critical in that effort,” said Dionne.

“If the scale went to six [out of five], I would go to it,” said the Select Board’s Roy Epstein at Monday’s meeting.

Since Garvin has been a target of online criticism and social media attacks from residents, the Select Board reiterated its full support of the administrator, making clear to the public that she is executing its decisions and not acting independently. 

“I have seen Patrice at times express reservations or concerns about the course of action the Select Board decided to take,” said Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne, noting the Board’s decision to end Civil Service at the Police Department. “We asked her to do it. She did it anyway, without complaint and without ever suggesting or even hinting that she was concerned about the timing.”

Thanking the Select Board, Garvin noted that while “it’s a tough job sometimes” … “[c]learly, your support gets me through difficult evenings”, including the contentious meeting with the Council on Aging that took place one hour earlier on the organization of the new Human Services Department.

“I want the community to understand that my dedication to the position in the community is evident in the work I do with the staff I lead. If anything, I can’t do any of it without the staff that’s in place and without the volunteers. That is a team effort,” she said.

“I’ve always put my heart and soul into everything I’ve done. It’s been a privilege working here,” said Garvin. 

Dionne said budget constraints limited Garvin’s merit increase to two percent, which upped her annual salary by an estimated $216,800. The Board did provide a sweetener with a change to her contract to provide a two-to-one match for deferred compensation up to $10,000, whereas for every $100 Garvin contributes to a compensation plan, the town will contribute $200.

“And to be clear, even if she reaches the $10,000 [ceiling], she is still below market when we look at comparables for other towns,” said Dionne.

For comparison, the annual salaries for town managers/administrators in nearby communities:

  • Arlington’s Sanford Pooler received $188,583 in 2022;
  • Lexington’s James Malloy took home $238,142 in 2023;
  • Winchester’s Beth Rudolph made $215,995 when she was hired in 2023.
  • Concord’s Kerry Lafleur received $246,671 in 2023.
  • Burlington’s Paul Sagarino Jr. received $243,834 in 2023.

Town, Select Board Proposing Major Change To Town Meeting Calendar For ’25

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Photo: Belmont annual Town Meeting will be a May event

In a move away from a more than decade long practice, the town administrator and Belmont Select Board are recommending “stream lining” the annual Town Meeting from two freestanding “segments” held in May and June into a single meeting on consecutive Monday and Wednesday nights beginning the first week of May and running straight though until all articles and citizen petitions have been acted on.

“What we’re looking to do is condense Town Meeting,” said Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s Town Administrator, as she was presenting to the Select Board the town-wide “budget calendar,” a detailed schedule for developing fiscal year 2026 town and school budgets from “now until the end of June.”

Gone will be separate chunks of articles exclusively for the budget (known as Segment B) and general articles (Segment A) with several weeks of inactivity between the two. The current set up was adopted in the early 2010s to allow the Meeting to have a clearer idea of the amount of fiscal aid the town and schools would be receiving in the state budget.

Garvin said while going over the that several of the annual meeting’s processes were “very cumbersome and just seem to go on and on for pretty much forever.” Working with Jennifer Hewitt, the town’s finance head/assistant Town Administrator, schools Superintendent Jill Geiser, Town Moderator Mike Widmer, and Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the recommendation calls for the upcoming 2025 annual meeting will begin on May 5 and run for a proposed six meetings over three weeks, ending before Memorial Day. Garvin said at the request of the schools, the budgets will be taken up during the later part of the newly-schedule Town Meeting.

Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne noted that “those [June] evenings turned out to be really hard for people whether it was in terms of travel, or family, or graduations events.”

“Because it would be more efficient not to start and stop, we hope that we wouldn’t have quite as many sessions of Town Meeting, and ease the burden on Town Meeting [Members],” said Dionne, who supports the Garvin recommendation. She also noted when Town Meeting runs deep into June, it’s difficult for the town to close its books before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

The recommendation was seconded by the official who has presided over the past 16 Town Meetings.

“It makes a lot of sense for all the reasons you’ve laid out,” said Widmer, who will retire from his post in April, 2025. “It will take some changes and cooperation but on balance these are the right steps.”

The Select Board delayed a vote on the recommendation until the School Committee discussed the proposed budget schedule.

The Town Meeting change will also impact the budget process of both the town and schools, which Dionne said would create “challenges” for the schools. Geiser said the change will actually be helpful by reducing the time distance between the release of the schools “final” budget in late March and a likely vote by Town Meeting in middle May, as it will be “further along” than in previous years.

Amy Zuccarello, school committee member and chair of its finance subcommittee, told the Select Board that in her opinion – the School Committee has yet to discuss Garvin’s recommendation – would like to come before Town Meeting in May with an article that “is very close to what our final budget is going to be.” A prompt deadline, she believes, will result in “more shifting” within its budget “as we won’t know earlier about staff resignations … and other things we haven’t accounted for.”

“The balancing act is that its a good thing to bring something before Town Meeting which represents the best efforts of the school administration and School Committee where we are at that moment. While [a budget] is a living document and there is potential of change, I would like to see it be as close to the budget we ultimately end up with,” Zuccarello said was her concern.

Breaking: Property Owner Eyes Building 225 Apartments At Purecoat Site On Hittinger St.

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Photo: The Purecoat North site which the owner the Tosi family hopes to build 225 apartment units on the three acre site adjacent Hittinger Street and Brighton Avenue.

The property owner of the Purecoat North Plating manufacturing site on Hittinger Street and a dog daycare business facing Brighton Street in east Belmont has presented to the town a preliminary design to redevelop the 126,726 square foot parcel into a 225 unit apartment complex with four floors of residential units above street level retail stores.

“I think we have a bonifide offer to proceed with a very major investment in Purecoat by the owner of Purecoat,” said Select Board member Roy Epstein. Under this redevelopment “scheme”, the property tax on the site will increase “by a factor of 10.”

While details – revealed at Monday’s Select Board meeting – remain vague, the Tosi family from Belmont who own the property approached Town officials in June with its plans to transform the three acre location into the largest mixed use development in Belmont’s history. In comparison, the Bradford complex in Cushing Square that opened in 2019 has half the number of units as what being proposed on Hittinger and Brighton streets.

One detail that has emerged is for two thirds of the complex, or 150 units, to be two-bedroom suites with the remaining units single bedrooms and studios.

More details are expected when the Planning Board meets on Tuesday, July 23.

The sites, currently occupied by Purecoat and the dog daycare business Crate Escape, are located adjacent the driveway to Belmont Middle and High School and across Hittinger from a residential neighborhood. The site also fronts Brighton Street at the corner with Flanders Road and runs along the commuter rail tracks.

The Tosi’s have told Epstein the project is conditional on being a by-right development, which means that the town’s planning staff or the Planning Board cannot deny the project as long as the proposal meets the criteria of the the Zoning Bylaw. While a by-right project means the project will require no waivers, special permits, or any other approvals, it’s still required to go through the normal development processes including Site Plan Review and the regular building permitting approvals.

The parcels are zoned as “General Business” which allow developer much greater leeway to build the complex they envision, a proposition that promoted Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne to say that the Tosi family “has the town over a barrel.” Dionne criticised the proposal as a long-term money loser for the town as it will increase the cost of town services, a jump in traffic, and an unknown increase in student enrollment in the public school district.

“No, we make money, this is cash-flow positive,” said Epstein.

It took Town Administrator Patrice Garvin to end the verbal tit for tat by saying the town is currently working with the Tosi family “to run some numbers” on the project’s revenue and expenses.

“We want to get the information to the Planning Board to really see what this project means,” said Garvin.

If the town or the Planning Board pushes back on the Tosi demands, the family is said to have made an old chestnut of a threat. “If it [isn’t] by-right, he’s making money [as a plating manufactor] and they’ll just leave it and nothing will happen,” said Epstein.

The parcels possible development is a blow to a number of town officials and residents who sees the location as a hub for commercial development. In fact, during its recent review of maps during the MBTA Communities Act discussion to determine areas to change zoning requirements to permit greater opportunities to develop multiunit housing, the Planning Board removed the Purecoat site for consideration for residential projects, replacing it with an area along Belmont Street near the Cambridge city line.

That decision by the Planning Board is being seen as one reason the Select Board in a 2-1 decision not to reappoint Planning Board Chair Jeffrey Birenbaum, to his role leading the five-member group, a move that surprised many in town.

In the past decade and a half, the town had been interested in the property for various projects. The Tosi family rejected a $6 million offer in 2011 to allow the construction of a Belmont Light substation. The station would eventually end up on Flanders Road. In 2019, a 60-day negotiation period between the town and the Tosi family failed to secure the ownership of the property or create an easement to allow the community bike path to run along the south side of the tracks. The path is now proceeding along the northside of the commuter line.

Dionne Takes On Role Leading Belmont’s Select Board

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Photo: Elizabeth Dionne, new chair of the Belmont Select Board

You’ll never have to ask Elizabeth Dionne her position on an issue. The Select Board’s new leader will tell you exactly where she stands, and sometimes she acknowledges, it done standing on someone’s toes.

During her 15 months on the board, colleagues, town officials, and committee heads have been on the receiving end of one of Dionne’s frank assessments on how they are performing their job (or lack thereof) or if they appear to be impeding forward progress in what she believes is Belmont’s future.

“What I ran [for the Select Board in 2023] I was trying to put the town on a secure financial footing so that we can provide excellent services and world class schools. And that’s going to be uncomfortable, because it’s going to require some major change,” she said.

While eager to express her opinion, Dionne isn’t seeking to initiate a dust-up.

“I don’t love making people uncomfortable. I’m uncomfortable when I make others uncomfortable,” she said Monday. “That’s not fun, but sometimes it’s just the right thing to do.”

Since July 1, Dionne has been the third woman to chair Belmont’s three-member elected executive board, following Ann Taubes Warner (1994) and Ann Marie Mahoney (2004).

“I have really big shoes to fill,” said Dionne. “Ann Paulson [who served from 1986-1992] and Ann Marie Mahoney are both remarkable women and leaders, and I’ve learned a lot from both of them.”

Dionne’s ascendency to the top rung of town governance—which is preordained as board members rotate into the post during their second year—presents the opportunity to highlight an agenda that heavily focuses on reconfiguring the town’s fiscal base.

“Finances, finances, finances … that’s the foundation on which everything else rests,” she said. And while the town administration has effected meaningful efficiencies through policy changes including those recommended in the Collins Report, “at a certain point you need more bodies. We need more asphalt. We need more concrete.”

Those changes included revamping the zoning bylaws to promote a “friendlier” environment for businesses and developers by promoting commercial investment and attracting retail to Belmont’s business centers.

“We can’t say ‘no’ to new business and ‘no’ to new taxes and have good schools. You’d have two or three, but not all three. So if we want to try to moderate the rate of tax increases, we’ve have to have commercial and business development because everybody wants good schools. Nobody wants to say, ‘oh let’s have poor schools that we keep our taxes low.’ That’s not where Belmont is.”

To achieve this overriding goal, Dionne is committing to a far-reaching strategic approach. She accepts that for many years, the select board and town officials had to be reactive due to the pandemic, various overrides, and continual budget cuts. But past excuses are now seen as self-imposed barriers to the required change.

“I’m really tired of being reactionary and really tired of constantly chasing the next override,” she said.

“I think we’re all really trying to look at a future vision and to ask questions to which we may not have the answers, but at least asking those questions will guide the decisions that we make and where we try to lead the town. And it’s always a balance. I have ideas and I want to lead on those.”

Some of those include partnering with the Planning Board to create a retail vacancy bylaw, protect open space, and develop a traffic-controlling plan. In the long term, Dionne points to rewriting bylaws to promote hotel construction and overhaul the zoning map in West Belmont.

In some areas, change has already arrived. She notes zoning bylaw reform in the past year including restaurant zoning and restaurant parking, removal of specific special permits on business improvements, and the ongoing MBTA Communities Act plan that will come before a Special Town Meeting in November.

“Change can’t simply come from the Select Board’s initiatives; it will require a commitment and agreement from all stakeholders in town,” said Dionne. One of her first initiatives as chair will be meeting with committee chairs, and “both tell them what [the board] wants to prioritize but also hear from them so that it’s a two-way communication.”

“There is no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all approach to financial challenges. It must be a multifaceted effort,” she said. She will continue to seek town committees to find solutions or write the changes, as she did utilizing the Vision 21 Implementation Committee and Economic Development Committee on the new restaurant bylaws.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m very wide but not very deep because I can’t do both. So I really try to identify people who I know are going deep into a topic who I trust to give me accurate information and have the integrity to be honest. Because if I can trust information from those sources, then I can start to strategically put the pieces together for a larger vision for the town,” she said.

During her year at the board’s helm, Dionne said she is eager for residents and business owners to see her as a listening post with their concerns or suggestions.

“What I bring to the position is maybe a certain humility in terms of a willingness to listen and learn from others, and also a certain sensitivity as to people who feel maybe left out or not heard,” Dionne said.

sugar coating her views

“I don’t love making people uncomfortable. I’m uncomfortable when I make others uncomfortable,” she said Monday. “That’s not fun, but sometimes it’s just the right thing to do.”

In a generational moment, Dionne becomes just the third woman to chair Belmont’s three member elected executive board, following Anne Warner (1994) and Ann Marie Mahoney (2004) in that post.

“I have really big shoes to fill. Ann Paulson and Ann Marie Mahoney are both remarkable women, and leaders, and I’ve learned a lot from both of them.”

Dionne’s ascendency to the top rung was preordained since board members rotate into the post during the second year of their tenure. She will direct

“What I bring to the position is maybe a certain humility in terms of a willingness to listen and learn from others, and also a certain sensitivity as to people who feel maybe left out or not heard,” Dionne said. One of her first one initiatives as chair is to start meeting with committee chairs, and both tell them what [the board] wants to prioritize but also hear from them so that it’s a two-way communication.

1:12
like that. Absolutely. That’s very important too. I will do my best to be at as many of them as I can. It’s honestly a lot of what my job is is talking to people.

Various people have have different strengths.

My strength is a strategic view. So sometimes I feel like I’m very wide but not very deep because I can’t do both. So I really try to identify people who I know are going deep into a topic who I trust to give me accurate information and have the integrity to be honest. Because if I can trust information from those sources, then I can start to strategically put the pieces together for a larger vision for the town.

1:54
If anybody has been following the Select Board, they know that you’re somebody who is willing to speak your mind and speak it very clearly and very strong. How are you going to be leading the board? Is it going to be an activist board or is it going to be more of a let’s do something board you know,

2:13
well aren’t an activist outlet do something kind of the same? How would you distinguish them?

2:18

The board has had to be reactive, the pandemic, the various overrides, having to continually cut budgets. So there have been a lot of really challenging situations. I think both when Mark Pula was still on the board when I first joined a nail with Matt Taylor, we have become a much more strategic active board. I think we’re all really trying to look at a future vision and to ask questions to which we may not have the answers, but at least asking those questions will guide the decisions that we make and where we try to lead the town. And it’s always a balance. I have ideas I want to lead on those. So

3:14
what are some of those goals?

3:16
Well, you heard them to lead it’s what I ran on.

What I ran on was trying to put the County town on a secure financial footing so that we can provide excellent services and world class schools. That’s going to be uncomfortable, because it’s going to require some change. We can’t We can’t say no to new business, and no two new taxes and have good schools. You’d have two or three but not all three. So if we want to try to moderate the rate of tax increases, we’ve got to have commercial and business development because everybody wants good schools. Nobody wants to say oh, let’s have poor schools that we keep our taxes low. That’s not where Belmont is.

you’re willing to put a red line

4:12
on commercial, right, because I promised I promised that to the voters. That’s what I said I

4:37

Special Town Meeting Approves Revised Traffic Plan, Sets Stage For Development of McLean Parcels

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Photo: A screen shot of the final vote

The annual Town Meeting came to an end on Wednesday, June 26, when members overwhelmingly approved a Special Town Meeting article to alter a quarter-century traffic management agreement between the town and McLean Hospital that was stalling the financing of a pair of developments on two parcels of land.

The 192-25-5 result easily passed the two-thirds margin required to modify the existing plan, dubbed the Traffic Management and Mitigation Plan (TMMP). Before the final vote, members defeated an amendment by abutters that sought to delay implementing the changes sought by McLean and supported by the town.

With the new agreement in place, developer Northland Development can proceed with construction of 150 units of residential housing in Zone 3—accessed from Olmsted Drive off of Pleasant Street—as well as create a building to house two schools run by the hospital while setting aside 60,000 square feet for a future research and development facility in Zone 4.

Presenting for the town, Town Engineer Glenn Clancy took a detailed dive into the history of the traffic plan and the proposed development in Zone 3. The TMMA was meant to address how the property’s owner and residents will comport with the traffic limitations identified in 1999, which included a sizeable 486-unit assistant living facility. Violating the volume ceiling would require fines and removing parking and access to the site, which financing firms reportedly pointed to as an impediment to the project’s funding.

Clancy noted the mitigation plan is no longer relevant for the latest residential plan for a smaller all-residential project, so “I think you can begin to understand why someone investing in a development like that would be troubled by something like this.” Roy Epstein, chair of the Select Board, told the meeting that a “no” vote on the article would kill the current residential plan and allow Northland to construct a project without improvements to affordable housing and other amenities the town had negotiated with Northland.

In an effort to resolve the funding impediment, the town agreed to remove the 1999 traffic limits and penalties in Zone 3 and 4 while receiving improvements to traffic signals at Olmsted and Pleasant and upgrading the signal at the intersection of McLean Drive and Mill Street through its negotiations. 

The principal critics of the revamped agreement said the town was losing an important deterrent to traffic sprawl in both Zones which would impact the surrounding neighborhoods.

Jolanta Eckert of Precinct 3, who authored the amendment, said rather than bring an article before the Town Meeting, the Select Board could simply sign a formal commitment with Northland declaring that it would not enforce the current management and mitigation plan in Zone 3, which would be sufficient to allow the necessary financing to be obtained. By retaining the TMMA, the town would hold a strong hand when McLean comes before the Planning Board with its plans in Zone 4, including a 90,000 sq.ft. She said that the educational building could house up to 2,000 students.

“[While] I strongly support the Northland Zone 3 proposal and and plan to vote to ensure its success, at the same time, I don’t want the town to unilaterally cede a key negotiating chip in the upcoming negotiations with McLean concerning Zone 4,” said Vince Stanton, precinct 2.

Yet it did not appear Eckert’s amendment had garnered support as the town and officials had countered the claims via email messages prior to Wednesday’s meeting. Belmont Counsel George Hall refuted Eckert’s claim a Select Board’s promise on not impose penalities or sanctions would meet the needs of financiers who required a change in the agreement that only the Town Meeting could impose. 

As for Zone 4, Clancy said the project will come before the Planning Board which will the final say on parking and traffic. In addition, several Town Meeting members pointed out some failings in Eckert’s argument pointing out that the Arlington School’s enrollment is currently 35 students, with the likelihood of a 2,000-student capacity “nonsensical.”

A majority of members voiced their support for the change in the agreement as it would keep the present Zone 3 housing plan which is seen as advantageous for Belmont. Rachel Heller, who is a member of the Housing Trust which led the Zone 3 negotiations for the town, said it would be hard to duplicate the concessions they received from Northland in 2019.

“Today, a 25-year-old traffic mitigation agreement created for a different development that was never built stands in the way of delivering on housing that will add revenue for Belmont affordability for residents downsizing options for seniors, and preserve Belmont’s ability to make development decisions in accordance with the state’s affordable housing law chapter 40B,” said Heller.

“We asked a lot from Northland,” said Heller, including 25 percent affordability throughout the development, the inclusion of rental units, no restrictions on household types purchasing or renting units as well as a commitment to all-electric dwellings.

“So I urge you to vote yes. Let’s give the green light to the homes that we need,” said Heller.

After nearly an hour of debate, the questioned was called and the amendment was soundly defeated. The vote on the article was a foregone conclusion.

The next Town Meeting will take place is mid-November as the town will seek to ratify Belmont’s MBTA Communities map.

McLean To Propose Schools Building, Future R&D In Zone 4 Overlay District

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Photo: The current Arlington School (Arlington School Facebook)

McLean Hospital will submit a proposal to build two buildings totaling 150,000 sq.ft. in the McLean District Zone 4 Overlay District to house an school building and research and development space.

The 11.58 acre development will be presented before the Select Board on Wednesday, June 26, and comes the day a Special Town Meeting vote to alter a traffic management and mitigation agreement the hosptial has with the town for a residential development in the district’s Zone 3.

This project would complete the build out of the 238 acres McLean set aside for development in a 1999 Memorandum of Agreement between the hosptial and Belmont.

“I have to admit I haven’t seen anything updated,” said Town Engineer Glen Clancy before a June 17 public meeting with the Select Board on changes to a traffic mitigation plan in a neighboring zone. “There may very well be something that I’m not aware of, [but] conceptually, this is pretty close.”

The proposal will see the hospital build two structures: a 90,000 sq.-ft. facility to house a relocated Arlington School, a college preparatory high school founded in 1961, and Pathways Academy, an off-site school aimed at helping students with autism spectrum disorders. In addition, a future 60,000 sq.-ft. research and development facility will join the schools, but which it has yet to attract a partner.

Clancy said McLean will seek site plan approval to develop within Zone 4 in advance of an application to the Planning Board in July. 

According to Stephen Kidder, an attorney representing McLean, the project will be a taxable development.

If the proposal sounds familiar, the hospital presented a nearly identical plan before a joint meeting of the Select and Planning boards in March 2020, within weeks of regular activity being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The original plan has yet to receive a formal vote by town officials.

The current four-year delay was due to the hospital’s determination to move forward with the school project using philanthropic funding, which was time-consuming.”McLean is now at a point where it can go forward.”

According to Kidder, while the hospital has been interested in finding a developer for the R&D for the past two decades, despite a single inquiry in 2008, “there’s essentially been no further interest articulated.”

After 20 years of frustration attracting a research and development partner for the site, the hospital decided in 2020 to “establish a child and adolescent program on the site to deal with the incredible rise in mental health issues that are faced by children and adolescents these days,” said Hitter, a partner at Hemenway & Barnes.

Kidder noted that the town will tax both facilities as commercial property due to existing agreements between the town and the hospital.

“It’s clear any development on zones three and four is a taxable development. So even though the use would be an otherwise charitable use, and under Massachusetts state law would qualify for a tax exemption, this would be a fully taxable use because that’s the agreement that the claim made with the tenant,” said Kidder.

With the announcement made during a meeting to review changes to a traffic plan affecting Zone 3, Kidder noted, “The primary generator of traffic under this proposal for Zone 4 is the Arlington School. And that’s traffic that is already coming to the area.” With the transfer of the schools to their new site, traffic that currently takes Mill Street “will be shifted to Pleasant Street … but it is not new traffic being generated in the area.”

Select Board Votes To Return To A Live Only Annual Town Meeting

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Photo: The newly organized Select Board: (from left) Member Roy Epstein, Chair Elizabeth Dionne, and Vice Chair Matt Taylor.

For the first time since 2019, the annual Town Meeting will be in person without a virtual component to assist members who may find it difficult to attend due to medical concerns or competing interests.

The vote on what format the town meeting will use—required by a state law that will sunset next year—was held at an abbreviated Friday morning session on April 5, during the board’s yearly organizational meeting. Elizabeth Dionne was selected as the group’s Chair, Taylor as vice chair, and Roy Epstein reverted to being a member. Epstein will continue to chair the board to allow for continuity during the two Town Meeting segments in April and June.

Dionne will take the middle seat at board meetings beginning July 1, the first day of the fiscal year.

The newly constituted board’s initial business was determining the setup of the annual Town Meeting. Town Moderator Mike Widmer and Town Clerk Ellen Cushman—the two officials who manage the Town Meeting—were asked for their recommendations on whether the meeting should be held in person, in a hybrid setting, or virtually, as has been the case for the past four years.

Widmer emphasized his own “strong feeling of the importance of an in-person meeting,” citing the value of community engagement and active debate, which has been tempered ever since the meetings were held virtually due to restrictions on large gatherings after the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.

When the town switched to a hybrid mix of live and virtual attendees at the 2023 annual meeting, more than 25 percent of members chose to stay at home rather than venture to the high school auditorium. This high number of virtual attendees “undermines the in-person nature of the event,” Widmer said, begging the question of even having an in-the-flesh gathering.

“Because if you think a remote meeting is the equivalent to a live meeting, you may as well dispense with live meetings,” said Epstein.

Cushman acknowledged the challenges of hybrid meetings on the time of town staff and the added cost of $2,100 per hybrid session. Like Widmer, Cushman believed that a live meeting allows members to “read the room” during debate on articles.

“And it’s not just the social aspect … it’s deciding to listen a little more closely when you hear that people are in favor of someone, it’s deciding to understand a little bit better when people aren’t in favor,” said Cushman. “I’m leaning towards, in person [Town Meeting], for connections, community, and understanding.”

Dionne said that in addition to the fact that the quality of debate is better in person and an important piece of community building, “[u]nfortunately … during remote-only meetings, it was fairly clear that often times people were not paying attention to the presentations, based on questions that were asked that had clearly been already answered.”

While the virtual component of a hybrid format was meant for emergencies. “that’s not how it was used,” said Dionne.

He said that he “love[s] in-person town meetings. I think everyone should give it a try,” Taylor told his colleagues that the issue facing the board is “access to being a representative … the ability to attend town meeting still, if you have an illness, or mobility concerns or caring for family or other needs, that might otherwise need you to miss Town Meeting, and not be able to represent our precinct,” which a hybrid option can make a difference.

For Dionne, it is up to members to decide if they can be full-time Town Meeting members.

‘There are different points in your life that you can take on this challenge. ‘Can I give eight nights?’ ‘Can I do that for my community?’ Or is it just not the time I can do that because I care for an elderly parent or children at home. I’m a single parent, and I fear I cannot make childcare arrangements. So [members] need to make that choice long before the Town Meeting happens. Whether they really can do that and I appreciate that it’s not everyone can do it all the time,” she said.

While the board was open to setting aside a small number of hybrid slots for members who need medical care or have unexpected events, the cost and how to allocate the virtual spots could not be resolved.

The board voted 2-1 (Taylor voting no) that the 2024 annual Town Meeting be held in person only, starting with Segment A, the non-budget articles, on April 30 at 7 p.m.

“Put [the date] in your book,” said O’Brien.

Town Election: Yes On Override; Wins For Taylor, Widmer, Moriarty And Kraft; Assessors Question Too Close To Call

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Photo: Warden Robert McKie reads out the preliminary results from precinct 2 on Tuesday night

Belmont voters approved a record $8.4 million Proposition 2 1/2 override by a comfortable 1,000-plus vote margin at the annual Town Election held on Tuesday, April 2.

The final tally was 5,120 in the yes column and 4,050 nos as voters accepted the positive argument from the “yes” campaigners to preserve public services and safety and protect Belmont schools from losing educators and maintain its outstanding reputation.

“I think it’s that people love their community,” said Erin Rowland, the campaign manager for Invest In Belmont, the “yes” campaign, when asked the compelling reason voters where willing to increase the property tax just three years after rejecting a smaller override request.

”We want the to see the town thrive and continue to be successful, and that’s the reason people came together. What was so heartwarming about working on the campaign was the outpouring of support from a wide range of residents,” she said in a crowded second floor lobby in Town Hall where candidates, observers and many candidates came after the polls closed at 8 p.m.

Invest in Belmont Chair David Lind said the town has “been through a hard few years and we were in a tough spot financially. I believe that [the override] gets us back onto a better track so we can all work together and keep Belmont as the town that we all know land love.”

Rowland, who was a winner in her race to be selected to Town Meeting from Precinct 6, said she fully understood that Tuesday’s results will be difficult for many residents, especially senior on fixed incomes.

”We are one community and we want to do everything we can to see Belmont implement senior [property] tax relief. We understand that need and it’s very real and we’ll do everything that we can to promote that,” she said.

In the night’s nail biter, voters approved making the Board of Assessors an appointed body by a mere eight votes, 4,218 to 4,210. With 50 ballots – from residents overseas and in the military as well as provisional ballots – yet to be counted, the race is too close to be called.

Final results will be released by the Town Clerk’s office by Friday or Saturday. Unofficial results as of Tuesday at 10 p.m. can be seen here.

In the race to replace Mark Paolillo on the Select Board, Matt Taylor defeated his Warrant Committee colleague Geoff Lubien by 600 votes, 3,851 to 3,248, with newcomer Alex Howard taking home 659 votes.

“I began [this campaign] genuinely wanting to connect with people and doing that in a deeply personal way,” said Taylor after feeling “so separated from our local government and our residents coming out of the pandemic. So I knocked on nearly 1,700 doors. I had a lot of one-on-one conversations. It was very grassroots.”

”I have a lot of hope and I’m ready to work because this is a level where you get to make a real positive difference about the people around you,” said Taylor. “We have to reach out to residents and invite them in to have a broader two-way discussion. It brings us together. This is an “us” thing.”

Voters acknowledged incumbent Meg Moriarty’s successful tenure as the two-term chair of the School Committee by returning her to the board. Moriarty topped the three-person field for the two available three-year seats garnering 5,354 votes.

“[Winning] means I get to keep talking about all of our great students and it’s all about doing best for every single student in our schools,” Moriarty said at Town Hall Tuesday night after the results were read by Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

With her return to the School Committee, Moriarty will provide a continuity on the six member body “that helps tremendously” as it “helps keeps the momentum moving forward” on several of initiatives that Superintendent Jill Geiser has proposed.

Joining her on the committee will be first-time candidate Matt Kraft. The Brown University professor took home 5,176 votes, while recent Belmont High School graduate, current Emerson College student and Town Meeting member Angus Abercrombie collected 2,792 votes.

“I hope to take the opportunity to listen and learn both from my fellow school committee members and Belmont residents about our priorities and build on the three year strategic plan that the district is developing,” said Kraft who arrived to Town Hall with his wife and two kids after enjoying Taco Tuesday.

Speaking as the new body on the committee, “I think part of the hard work is to work collaboratively and collectively. And I look forward to those conversations that I know some will be difficult. But that’s the job. We all have a shared commitment towards strengthening our schools for all the students and in building towards, frankly, a brighter future.”

Challenged for the first time in 16 years, long-time Town Moderator Mike Widmer defeated former Warrant and School Committee member Mike Crowley, 4,656 to 3,248.

”People understood that experience is really important, and that running Town Meeting is very demanding. I’ve done it for all these years and voters felt that I had done well in the position,” said Widmer who announced earlier in the year that this term would be his final one as moderator.

Town Raises Senior Property Tax Work-Off Amount To $2,000

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Photo: Flag with the town seal of Belmont

After discussing the move for a better part of a year, the Belmont Select Board voted unanimously Monday, March 25, to raise by $500 to $2,000 the amount seniors can work for the town to pay off a portion of their local property tax bill.

The town’s Senior Citizen Tax Work-Off program is available to seniors 60 or older, Under this “work” initiative, cities and towns appropriate funds to employ seniors who perform needed work for the community at an hourly rate equal to the state’s minimum wage of $15 per hour, according to state documents.

Currently, eight homeowners participate in the program. The additional $4,000 expended in a full year with the same participants will come out of the overlay/free cash line item.

Details of the expanded program will be sent to seniors via inserts in town bills and through contacts at the Beech Street Center.

The state has recently given select boards and city councils the local option to raise the exemption to the $2,000 threshold amount without requiring Town Meeting approval, Patrice Garvin, town administrator, told the board.

When Board member Mark Paolillo, in his penultimate meeting before leaving the board after serving 12 years, asked what other municipal programs are available for senior tax relief, fellow board member Elizabeth Dionne said creating such a plan would require “the full and active participation of the Board of Assessors.”

“We would need to know what the cost shift [from seniors to the greater taxpayer base] and how many [seniors] are likely to take advantage of it,” she said. Since such a proposal would change every property owners’ tax rate, the town would need to send a home-rule petition to Beacon Hill for state legislature approval and finally for it to be placed on the town ballot for an up or down vote.

Even though the shift would likely be small, unless there is a specific dollar amount attached via the Assessors, “it’s probably dead in the water.”

Board Chair Roy Epstein said senior tax relief was actually a doable proposal in the past two years, only to falter due to inaction by the assessors in drafting the language to present to the legislature which was promised to Epstein.

“I think this is a question for, maybe, after April 2,” said Epstein, referring to after the town’s annual Election where a ballot question will determine whether the Board of Assessors will remain an elected committee or revert to an appointed one.

Belmont Town Election Ballot Set With Three Competitive Town-Wide Races And Two Big-Time Questions

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Photo: The town election will take place on April 2

It’s official. Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman announced last week she had certified the candidates who will be on the ballot for the annual Town Election on Tuesday, April 2.

Voters will ponder over three competitive town-wide races with half of the eight Town Meeting precincts along with two big-time questions on the ballot.

In the race for the all-important town body, two well-known members of the town’s financial watchdog will take on an absolute newbie. Colleagues Geoff Lubien and Matt Taylor on the Warrant Committee are out campaigning along with newcomer Alex Howard.

There’s an exciting mix for two seats on the school committee. Incumbent and current chair Meg Moriarty is seeking to return for her second stint on the board. At the same time, first-time candidates for town-wide office, Gen Z Town Meeting member Angus Abercrombie and noted education economist and professor Matt Kraft, are in the three-person race.

In his first competitive race on the ballot in more than 15 years in the post, Mike Widmer will face former school and warrant committee member Mike Crowley for town moderator.

On the legislative side of the ballot, half of the eight precincts – in a weird coincidence, they are the first four precincts, 1-4 – have exactly 12 residents running for a dozen three-year seats. A single precinct, number 5, came up short with only ten on the ballot. Surprisingly, precinct 7, which historically had difficulty finding candidates, will have 14 running with five non-incumbents, while precincts 6 and 8 will have 13 seeking 12 seats. Some of the best races will be for several partial-term seats: three will be running for a single-year post in Precinct 1, with two campaigning for the seats in Precincts 6 and 8.

In many ways, it will be the ballot questions that will bring out the voters in April. The outcome of the $8.4 million Prop 2 1/2 override to supplement the capital budget and the town and school operating budgets – Question 1 – will have long-term consequences for town and school services as well as personal finances. There are advocacy committees for yes and no votes. The second question will change the elected board of assessors to an appointed one. That measure passed at the January Special Town Meeting.