A PUBLIC MEETING ON CORRALLING LEAF BLOWERS!! ON TUESDAY, JAN. 25 AT 7 PM!!

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Photo: Leaf blowers will be discussed at a public meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 (Credit: Wolfmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Belmont Select Board returns to the contentious debate on placing limits on what many believe is a necessity and others a scourge of suburban life – leaf blowers.

The board will once again hold a public form on a proposed bylaw to control the use of leaf blowers on Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.

Want to join the fun? Here’s the contact links.

“I’ve had several requests of from people in recent months to revisit the subject,” said Adam Dash, chair of the board. Dash noted the last time the subject came before the members it “sort of yielded a Balkanized response about what to do with anything.”

The pro bylaw side says commercial portable leaf blowers cause pollution beyond their size while destroying quiet mornings and evenings by being so dang loud. The status quo is the gas-driven machines are the most effective method of moving leaves in a town with as many trees as people.

The meeting will help decide if the board will present a bylaw before the annual town meeting in May.

Belmont Records First Covid Death In 9 Months As Positive Cases Spike

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Photo: The latest update of Covid in Belmont

A resident died two week ago due to the Covid-19 virus, the first Belmont victim since March, as the number of positive cases in town and across the nation are approaching all-time highs over the holiday season.

The death occurred during the week of Dec. 10-17, the first fatality linked to the coronavirus since March 19 when two Belmontians succumbed to the virus.

The deaths comes as the number of positive Covid cases have skyrocketed to near record numbers not seen since the worst days of the pandemic in January 2021. Belmont recorded 106 new positive cases in the week ending on Dec. 24, up from 61 in the pervious week. There has been 1,741 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Belmont since the first cases in the pandemic were reported in March 2020. Currently, Belmont and Middlesex County remains at “high risk” for the spread of Covid according to guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I wish I could say we’re in a better place but we continue to in the wrong direction like much of the states,” said Wesley Chin, Belmont’s Health director, pointing to the Omicron variant of Covid-19 which is sweeping across the country. The Washington Post reported top US health officials warned that the country “will probably see record numbers” of cases as the new variant “spreads rapidly.”

Of the new cases in Belmont, 57 percent are breakthrough which is an infection that occurs to a fully vaccinated person, said Chin. A further 8 percent of those infected involve those who have received a booster, or third, shot.

The one piece of good news during this surge is that hospitalizations of those infected is quite low. “This month we’ve learned of two hospitalizations,” said Chin, with most people being able to be treated at home with mild to moderate symptoms.

“The takeaway message is it seems like the booster shots are helping, so we want to encourage people to get their … shots,” said Chin.

The Health Department is holding a “booster” clinic on Tuesday, Dec. 28 at Beth El Temple Center geared for students between 16 and 17 years old who are now eligible for the shot.

Town Kick-Starts Rink Project With Temporary Building Committee And $250K

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Photo: A conceptional design of the new Belmont Skating Rink by the architectural firm Perkins+Will

With new predictions the current skating rink is on its last legs and with $250,000 of state funds to facilitate building a replacement facility, the Belmont Select Board appointed members of a temporary committee – dubbed the Preliminary Rink Design Committee – to jump start the planning and design of a new rink a good half-a-year before a permanent committee would be named at Town Meeting in May.

The idea behind the interim panel “is to get started on preliminary rink design … and start to execute on the $250,000 that was provided to us by the state,” said Mark Paolillo of the Select Board who sits on the Skating Rink Financing Committee which is formulating a plan to pay for a single sheet of ice that will come with a $20 million price tag which was the estimate from a concept design from Perkins+Will.

The last month has seen the rink project spring to life. That wasn’t the case this past May when town officials convinced resident Alex Corbett to remove a citizen’s petition amendment at Town Meeting to begin the
formal building process by establishing a committee as it was putting the cart before the horse as the town did not have the available money.

But with a committee up and running to derive areas of founding the project and $250,000 on the table, the town has decided to push and push hard on getting the design process underway.

The major move in the comes after Town Facilities Director David Blazon reaffirmed what has been known for more than a decade; the nearly half century old building is within a couple of years from seeing its mechanicals and infrastructure collapse for a final time.

The goal of the temporary committee is to hire an architect to produce a 30 percent design document which defines the major design elements of the project and refine the project’s scope, schedule and budget that the project
design team can commit to delivering to the building committee.

Since a full-time building committee can not be formulated until the town moderator Michael Widmer appoints the members at the annual Town Meeting, the town was facing a six month delay before using the funds earmarked two weeks ago.

“It’s a committee to move this forward with the money we have so it stays on track,” said Select Board Chair Adam Dash. “So rather than lose time between December and May that we can get this [process] moving.”

And the Select Board is striving to have at least a 30 percent design plan completed to present to Town Meeting as a report.

The temporary committee is made up of four members of the Rink Financing Committee and three from the Permanent Building Committee with Pat Brusch as chair. The group includes former Select Board Chair Tom Caputo, youth hockey supporter Frank French, Jr., the School Committee’s Meghan Moriarty, former Belmont High Boys’ Hockey Coach Dante Muzzioli, current Boys’ assistant coach Bill Shea, Steve Sala and former Belmont High Girls coach Mark Haley.

The first meeting of the new temporary committee will take place at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 16 on Zoom.

Belmont Secures $1.1 Million In State American Rescue Plan Funds For Something Extra

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Photo: Monies to help plan for a new library is part of the recently received $1.1 million in state funds.

With thanks to state legislators and town officials, Belmont has received $1.1 million from the state of Massachusetts to fund some of the town’s “extra” expenses that would have been waiting until the next budget cycle.

The source of the funding is from the $5.3 billion the state was allocated from President Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion funding package to promote recovery from the economic and health effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related recession. The $1.1 million is coming from a separate pot of funds than the $7.6 million in ARPA monies distributed as part of the bill’s Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.

“This is funding that the town of Belmont has been able to secure thanks to state Rep. Dave Rogers and state Sen. Will Brownsberger,” Town Administrator Patrice Garvin told the Select Board at its first meeting in December. “This is great news for the town.”

Select Board member Mark Paolillo also thanked Garvin as she started the conversation to find state funds to pay for aspects of the skating rink’s planning and design, leading to this larger allocation.

The funding will be spent on several projects in town outside of the budget:

  • $250,000, the new Belmont Public Library
  • $250,000, the new Belmont skating rink
  • $100,000, economic development
  • $500,000 public housing

The public housing portion includes:

  • $250,000, water and sewer infrastructure improvements at Belmont Village
  • $150,000, improvements at Waverley Oaks
  • $100,000, redevelopment of Sherman Gardens

Interim Regs Places A Wet Blanket On Belmont’s Use Of Fed Covid Rescue Funds

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Photo: Belmont Middle and High School is now considered the source of revenue generating debt, according to the state.

When the details were released of the Biden Administration’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan – dubbed the American Rescue Plan Act – signed into law this past March that Belmont would be receiving upwards of $8 million for the town and schools, there was a segment of the population in the Town of Homes that cheered the news, not so much as a fiscal salve to a battered budget but as a political accoutrement.

“We definitely don’t need an override now!” came the clarion call on the No Override Now Facebook page of March 16, as the austerity-based group viewed the community-based bail out as a, albeit, short term solution to the worrying structural deficit facing the town.

The news became a game changer in the override battle, making it easier for many voters sitting on the fence on the proposed $6.4 million override to check the “no” box on the ballot less than a month later.

While town executives and elected officials cautioned at the time it was far too premature to assume the funds were heading into town coffers until there was more clarity of the rules, others were eager to champion – and begin spending – the windfall.

“This money can, in part, be used to offset revenue shortfalls and operating expenses,” proclaimed the No Override Now campaign in ads and opinion articles.

Well, it turns out, maybe not.

Under recently released interim final rules written by the state for allocating ARPA funds by cities and towns, Belmont is facing the prospect of have little to no leeway to use any of the $7.8 million to offset the substantial lost public revenue the town incurred since March 2020.

“What we found was a little troubling … because what we’re showing is no revenue loss based on the state guidelines,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin at the Monday, Dec. 6 meeting of the Select Board.

And the reason the state has pulled the ARPA rug from under the town’s feet is located at 221 Concord Ave.

After a careful reading of the rules and regulations, the town’s auditing firm determined that during the tight 18 month window the state is using to calculate lost revenue, the 2018 voter-approved debt exclusion used to finance the building of Belmont’s new Middle and High School, as well as the state’s partial reimbursement of expenses constructing the building is seen by Beacon Hill as a revenue “gain” for the town.

So in the ultimate example of bad timing, while Belmont has shown where revenues had fallen off a cliff, in the eyes of the state which dictates the funding, Belmont was awash in dough during that year-and-a-half reporting period because it borrowed funds to pay for a new school.

As Homer Simpson would put it: “D’uh!”

“We’ve had the issue of a … short-term budget distortion from the high school because it’s such a large number just as Covid hits … seems totally unjust to be counting that as revenue because that’s not what it is,” said Adam Dash, chair of the Select Board.

As the town seeks to have its state and federal legislators attempt a hail Mary to convince the state to reconsider its regulations, the prospect of a revenue shortfall for the upcoming fiscal 2022 budget has become only all too real.

Under the provisions of the ARPA, Belmont’s $7.8 million allocation can be used in one of four ways; pay for Covid-related expenses, make premium payments to essential workers, and invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure. It was the fourth “bucket,” the replacement of “lost public sector revenue” caused by the pandemic, which austerity groups and town officials saw as getting plugged into the budget. Just how much of the town’s share can be used in an unrestricted manner is based on a formula provided by the state’s Division of Local Services.

It was this rule making from the state – dictated in the federal law – is when Garvin said she and other municipalities began “hearing rumblings” as state officials began writing the regulations.

“I had been concerned from the beginning … [that] sometimes the state does like to get involved in defining how the money can be expended,” said Garvin. One such red flag from as far back as the first days of summer was how the rule makers first defined as revenue.

Is a debt exclusion a revenue windfall? The state thinks so

“At that point, I decided it was important to get the auditors involvement” and allow them to do a “deep dive” into the town’s revenue figures in regards to the state regulations, said Garvin.

Craig Peacock, a partner with the town’s auditing firm of Powers and Sullivan, told the board that since the summer what the state has deemed eligible for reimbursement “has been a moving target” resulting in attempting to make calculations “a little confusing.”

What Peacock first had to determine the revenues in fiscal 2019 which the feds was using as the base year and compare it to losses in calendar 2020. While the town did show a decrease in its general funds of $1.6 million, there were two unexpected line items which offset that lost revenue.

One is the on-going cost reimbursements building the new school from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which is paying nearly $85 million of the $295 million project, a significant amount – $24 million – being received in calendar 2020. Even with the MSBA reimbursement figure removed, said Peacock, the state also views the $213 million debt exclusion the town is using to pay for its portion of the building’s cost as yet another source of revenue, with Belmont “collecting” an additional $11.7 million in calendar 2020. Without these items, Peacock said the town by the state’s reckoning did suffer a revenue shortfall during the 18 months.

The end result is while Belmont can use the funds for the three of the four buckets, ARPA funds will not be going into the one ARPA bucket the town most needs to fill. While the town will have $7.6 million to spend – in two $3.8 million segments with the second available next fall – “it has made it much more difficult for us to use it,” said Garvin.

The news didn’t go down well as Select Board Vice Chair Roy Epstein calling the state’s rules an accounting exercise that “frankly makes no sense to me,” pointing out that the reason the town undertook the debt exclusion was to pay for a school which can hardly be seen as a revenue windfall for Belmont.

“I think the treatment of a debt exclusion that are earmarked for particular capital projects to just really seems nonsensical,” said Epstein as Dash questioned whether the federal government understands the New England-concept of debt exclusion which could have been exempted in the ARPA law.

The Select Board’s Mark Paolillo asked Peacock who in state government can the town question how they rationalize school debt and reimbursement of expenses as “revenue.” The answer was less than encouraging.

“We are not aware of any caveat in the interim final rules that would allow us to remove the debt exclusion and we are not aware of any agency that would be willing to review and discuss that because currently it is in the rules”, said Peacock.

As it currently stands, without the ability to replenish the lost public revenue and if there are no big ticket infrastructure projects ready to go into the ground, Peacock said there is a chance Belmont will return a portion of the ARPA funds back to the US Treasury.

If there is a glimmer of hope, the guidance is being written by the state and there are several communities feeling the same pinch by the state’s rules writers, said Peacock.

“As they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease so I don’t think it ever hurts to try to contact” state legislators, advised Peacock. “I do know other communities that are contacting their state reps who have very similar attributes” that are preventing them from reporting revenue losses and are “trying to change the rules before the final rules become final.”

As Belmont’s ‘22 Property Tax Rate Rises By Pennies, Higher Assessments Will See Average Bill Increase

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Photo: You’ll be paying more in taxes next year on your Belmont castle.

The Belmont Board of Assessors announced an increase of a couple of pennies to the fiscal year 2022 property tax rate from last fiscal year’s charge during its annual property classification tax rate presentation before the Select Board on Monday morning, Nov. 29.

“The Board of Assessors propose a tax rate of $11.56 per $1,000 of assessed value. That’s up two cents from last year,” said Charles Laverty III, the board’s vice chair stepping in Chair Robert Reardon who due to a scheduling conflict missed making the board’s presentation for the first time in nearly three decades.

Dan Dargon, the town’s assessing administrator who made the presentation, said the town’s total assessment has reached $9.001 billion with a total tax levy of $111.7 million, which includes $12.3 million in current total debt exclusions (for everything from the Beech Street Center to the new Middle and High school) resulting in the two cent increase to $11.56. Dargon noted that without the debt exclusions, Belmont’s tax rate would be $10.29 per $1,000.

New growth in the past year was higher than anticipated at $1,034,000 vs the estimated $840,000 as the Bradford apartment complex in Cushing Square was completed. [The town’s 2.5 percent increase and new growth are both added to the prior year’s levy limit to reach the current year’s levy limit.] But Dargon said it doesn’t appear the town will benefit from new large commercial growth for at least the next two years.

While it would appear the minimal rate increase would be a little bit of good news to rate payers, due to a modest four percent increase in appraised values over all classes of real estate – multi families and condominiums saw “stronger” jumps in value – homeowners will see their annual tax bill climb starting in January as the town increased the tax levy by the allowable 2.5 percent from $96 million to $99 million.

For example, on the average home in Belmont now valued at an eye-opening $1,346,700 (up from $1,326,300 last year), property owners will be handing over an additional $262 in fiscal 2022 with the total annual real estate bill now exceeding $15,000.

Last year, the average residential bill increased $706 when the rate rose by 56 cents per $1,000.

Dargon told the Select Board around 14 to 15 percent of all homes in town are inspected annually by his department for updating their value but all properties are revalued each year.

While the Assessors vote to approve the rate, the Select Board decides on two related issues: whether to implement a singular “split” rate for commercial and residential properties and to approve a residential exemption that would reduce the rate on owner-occupied properties at the expense of non-occupied residences.

As in past years, the assessors recommended and the selectmen agreed to a single tax classification and no real estate exemptions. With barely five percent of total property inventory commercial, Dargon said Belmont does not have anywhere near the amount of commercial and industrial space (Reardon has stated in multiple presentations that commercial property must at a minimum be at 30 percent to make a difference for residential rate payers) to creating separate tax rates for residential and commercial properties.

When asked by resident and Town Meeting Member (Pct. 3) Joseph Bernard asked if there was empirical evidence that municipalities which set a higher commercial tax rate reduced development or commercial activity, Dargon discussed his own experience as chief assessor for Framingham saying he witnessed the suppression of commercial activity as the then town had a high rate for business properties.

“In most lease agreements, taxes are passed on to the tenants. In the case where I was, they would often go to Natick which has a single rate,” he said.

As for residential exemptions, the administrative costs to run such a program would be prohibitive for a revenue neutral imitative. And as with the split rate, the majority of taxpayers would see little in reductions or increases in their tax bill, according to Dargon.

Because many homes in Belmont fall around the average price, a 10 percent exemption “doesn’t really benefit many people,” Dargon said. Adam Dash, the Select Board chair, noted that residential exemptions are popular in more densely populated urban municipalities such as Boston, Somerville and Cambridge with a very high percentage of absentee landlords.

Pre-XMas Cardboard Drop-Off Set For This Holiday Season At Belmont DPW Yard

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Photo: Cardboard drop-off will occur on Dec. 18 at the DPW Yard

With a record number of packages set to be delivered to US homes this holiday season, it’s expected Americans like those living in Belmont will be desperate finding a way to depose of the mountains of cardboard boxes their gifts came in.

“I already have cardboard piling up,” admitted Select Board Chair Adam Dash.

In fact, calls and texts to Belmont town and elected officials on just that subject began in October, Department of Public Works Director Jay Marcotte told the Board at its Monday, Nov. 15 meeting.

Well, the town has heard those pleas and announced it will hold its cardboard “event” in which residents can relieve themselves of the burden of corrugated fiberboard by coming down to the DPW with the cardboard in tow. And this year, it will take place before Christmas.

“We’re trying to say ahead of the curve,” said Marcotte of the predicted tsunami of spent packaging.

The drop-off will take place on:

Saturday, Dec. 18 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the DPW Yard. A $5 fee will be required when residents sign up for the event. The sign up process using the Recreation Department’s website will be announced in the next weeks.

Select Board’s Vice Chair Roy Epstein advocated for the fee and at least 100 pre-registrants as a threshold for holding a drop-off.

“I’m not looking to make money just trying to cover costs,” said Dash.

A fee and minimum required participants shouldn’t be a problem if what occurred 10 months ago is any measure. At last season’s only drop off on Jan. 9 at which time the $5 fee was first introduced, 348 vehicles left a whopping 10 tons of cardboard filling five box containers and several of the DPW’s loading bays. The combination of the fee revenue and the amount received on the sale of the cardboard, Belmont made a $250 “profit” over expenses of $2,640.

“That was a lot of cardboard,” said Marcotte.

Breaking: Epstein Files Papers For Re-Election To Select Board

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Photo: Roy Epstein at the rededication of the Belmont Police Headquarters in October

Belmont Select Board Vice-Chair Roy Epstein announced Friday, Nov. 12 that he’s running for re-election for a second three-year term to the town’s executive branch.

“I wanted to let you know that I’ve filed my campaign committee with the Town Clerk,” said Epstein in an email. He also announced his campaign team: Chair Ralph Jones and treasurer Elizabeth Dionne.

The 2022 town election will take place on Tuesday, April 5.

Known for his professorial approach towards issues facing the board during his initial term that could rub some the wrong way, Epstein earned high praise this summer from local officials and residents leading the town’s efforts to halt and amend the Chapter 40b affordable housing project at 91 Beatrice Cir. authoring two letters pointing out a myriad of problems generated by the developer’s first set of designs.

Welcome Back: Jones To Fill Vacant School Committee Seat; Will Not Seek Full Term In April

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Photo: Ralph Jones

Venerable town official Ralph Jones returns to the public stage after being appointed to fill the final five months remaining of Andrea Prestwich’s term on the School Committee.

Jones received five votes from the combined members of the Belmont Select Board and School Committee, outdistancing resident Jeff Liberty who garnered three votes at the joint meeting held on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

“I am prepared to serve as required and anytime it is necessary to get the job done,” said Jones.

Jones was also emphatic that he will not use the temporary five month post as a springboard to a full term.

“It takes a big person to take on this job in this climate,” said Adam Dash, chair of the Select Board. “You’re basically parachuting onto a ship that is in the middle of a hurricane.”

Jones’ extensive town experience was a chief factor in his selection, having once chaired each of the “Big Three” governmental bodies in town; the Select Board (then known as the Board of Selectmen), and the School and Warrant committees. Jones’ selection is a return for him to the committee he served on for three terms and also headed two decades ago.

“I understand the authority and responsibilities of the committee,” he said, noting his role in creating past budgets and twice leading bargaining between the committee and the teachers’ union. “I believe that my experience in negotiating those contracts would be a contribution to the committee as it enters into that final negotiation process.”

Jones said starting a conversation on diversity, equity and inclusion would be a priority of his with the hope that the hiring of Chon’tel Washington, the district’s first DEI director will bring immediate improvements to the issues.

A majority of the committee and board agreed a successful candidate needed the necessary background demonstrated by past successes. Select Board member Mark Paolillo said looking at the skills and experiences the group said it would consider, “which candidate … meets all of these expectations, understanding the issues facing the school committee and has the communication skills … the only conclusion I reached is Ralph Jones.”

”[If] you have a round hole, [Jones] is the round peg that fits in the hole at the moment to do what needs to be done,” said Dash.

And Jones’ long-standing political mentoring of many residents just entering town politics was noticeable as both Dash and the School Committee’s Meg Moriarty reported before the deliberations Jones had held important positions in their most recent election runs – as campaign manager for Dash and Treasurer for Moriarty’s successful 2021 committee run – while the Paolillo noted Jones was also his campaign manager in the past.

The night started with nine candidates in the field as three dropped out and later two more did not answer the call to the gate with seven remaining. In addition to Jones and Liberty, Alessandro Miglio, Frances Leighton, Glen Robertelli, Jung Yueh and Amy Zuccarello finished off the field.

In the first round of voting to see who would go into the five questions and answer portion of the selection process, Liberty and Zuccarello each received the maximum of eight votes with Jones at seven. Yueh took in six with Leighton and Robertelli tied for the final slot with four.

Liberty’s background as a principal and district leader in Boston and now a consultant proved an interesting mix for those looking to bring change to the town.

Mike Crowley said while areas such budgets and union negotiating are some of the most important, the committee and district needs a candidate who will bring a more holistic approach to educating Belmont’s children. “Jeff was a harsh critic during this past year, but I’ve found him to be extremely thoughtful, intelligent and he’s experienced design educational matters beyond measure.”

“I think we need Jeff,” said Crowley.

When the Q&A section ended, it was clear from the remarks from the joint group that the temporary seat would either go to Liberty or Jones. It appeared the board’s familiarity with Jones as the three Select Board members voted for the former Selectman. And it was the School Board’s newest members – Moriarty and Jamal Saeh – who backed Jones providing him the margin needed to claim the seat.

Jones’ decision not to run will likely result in a wide-open horse race for the three year term up for grabs in April.

As Communities Reconsider Masks, Belmont Stands Pat On Coverings Indoors, In Schools

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Photo: Hopkinton is the first Massachusetts school district to end mask mandates at its high school (Credit: Hopkinson High School website)

As the first town in Massachusetts has ended a mask mandate at its high school on Monday, Nov. 1, Belmont will be standing pat with requiring coverings for students and public indoor activities.

At its meeting on Monday, the Belmont Select Board heard from Health Department Director Wesley Chin who discussed Covid-19 in Belmont. Chin noted 74 total cases in October, compared to 71 in September with 35 the average age of those infected. Under CDC standards, Middlesex County “still sits in high risk for transmission and Belmont is still in substantial risk,” said Chin.

Chin agreed with Board member Mark Paolillo who said, despite a plateauing of cases nationwide, with Belmont remaining in the substantial risk level of transmission, “we’re not in the position at this point based on the statistics … to lift any mask mandate.”

But Chin did tell Paolillo he believes the town could return to the mandate after the first of the year.

“I think we’re in a sort of gray zone right now. We’re … cautiously watching and eager to see what the holidays bring us. Once we get past the New Year, we should reassess and see where things are,” said Chin.

Hopkinton lifted its mask mandate at its high school for the next three weeks on a trial basis after the school in the center Massachusetts town exceeded the 80 percent Covid-19 vaccination threshold for students and staff which Massachusetts Gov. Baker’s administration set in September to end requirements.

An Oct. 15 article in the Boston Globe found Belmont and 61 other Massachusetts school districts had reached the levels to end mandates. In fact, the Globe found Belmont far exceeding the state requirement: 90 percent of students between ages 12-15 and 89 percent 16-19 have been vaccinated.

When asked to comment on the findings, Belmont Superintendent John Phelan said the mandate “was voted on by the Belmont Board of Health and School Committee. The School Department respect the decision and are following this policy” with any discussion of ending the ban should go through the Board of Health.

But Phelan did leave the door a bit ajar on reconsidering the mandate.

“All issues are open to discussion and I am sure the decisions will be in the best interest of keeping our students, staff and community safe,” said Phelan.