Final Say: Tim Flood, Board of Selectmen

Photo: Tim Flood

By Tim Flood

I’m running for Selectman to provide a neutral perspective in all matters Belmont faces. The angst I have heard throughout town is that nothing will ever change. I want you to be able to share your opinions and concerns and have your voice truly heard.

I am running because our leadership has lost the trust of our community.  Town leadership is supposed to be stewards to our $120 million of public funds we give them. These funds are supposed to be used for basic services that should be providing safe and thriving neighborhoods and a prosperous business community. Belmont is not thriving fiscally. Mismanagement has led us to $166 million deficit where the apparent plan is to raise taxes every four to five years, starting next year. Without change, we will continue to lose local businesses and we will not be able to afford to live in our homes.

What can we do to improve our situation? We need to change our culture. You may have noticed I have not mailed literature with lists of supporters, nor have I solicited for campaign contributions. I not running for Selectman to represent a few, I want to represent all 25,000 residents of this town. I am here on my own merit, not on the merit of others.

Despite several e-mails circulating by other campaigns attacking my character during this race,  as voters, you must decide what to believe. I know what is true because I have lived it. However, I would ask you: Do you trust those who would disseminate falsehoods to gain power? Are those the actions of a true leader? This is not Belmont, this is not leadership.

I moved to Belmont to provide my daughter the best I could. I want her to thrive in school, be safe walking on our streets and have her grow up with a strong sense of community. I believe many of us share these values. We want leaders that will bring us together to overcome our challenges and create a vision for our future, not to divide us. We need to prepare for our future keeping in mind our shared values of community, education, family, and inclusion from our past.

We need a leader that will be fiscal responsibility. Relying heavily on our taxpayers is especially burdensome to our young families and seniors. I will work to provide more strategic and creative planning and budgeting for our future. I will do this through open discussion and working to understand differences of opinion – I will welcome all input. Every person in our community matters, just as every vote matters.

We need a leader that will support local businesses. As a local small business owner, I will use my 10 years of experience to establish more business-friendly town policies to increase community support and strengthen our tax base. I will work to encourage businesses to open and stay in Belmont using a more streamlined process to help create a more vibrant community.

We need a leader that will address our traffic. Using my military and law enforcement experience, I will work to implement new solutions to address traffic congestion and improve safety, such as four-way stops at every intersection surrounding our schools. We can make Belmont a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly town.

We need to have a diversity of leadership experiences on the board of selectman. I differentiate myself as a military veteran and local small business owner.

As your Selectman, I will work tirelessly to thoughtfully and collaboratively represent our community.  While providing a fresh, new voice to the persistent problems Belmont faces, my primary responsibility will be to represent our town. 

What’s In A Name? Plenty As New School Building To Get A Moniker

Photo: Could this be the new Hogwarts School, Belmont Campus? 

With groundbreaking for the new 7-12 grade school building just 10 weeks away, there’s one thing still missing from the $295 million project.

What’s it called? And like a newborn, you need to get it right off the bat as you’re not getting a second chance. 

Belmont Superintendent John Phelan told the Belmont School Committee on Tuesday, March 26, the Belmont High Building Committee will accept a name from the Policy Subcommittee for the building by May 1 with students and teachers being asked over the next week to contribute to the list of names and assist in whittling down the hopefuls to a handful.

Collecting and coordinating the naming effort are Belmont High Building Committee members Chenery Principal McAllister and Belmont High educator Jamie Shea.

With the countdown starting for when the five-year project commences in late May, Phelan said the Massachusetts School Building Authority – which partnered with the School District in building the new school – knowing that signage and written material will need to be ready by groundbreaking gave the Building Committee “complete permission” to come up with a name that “we would be moving forward.”

After Belmont High sophomore Grace Kane asked if the name change would be effective on May 1, Phelan said “out of respect” for the students at the current school will continue attending “Belmont High School” for the remainder of their schooling.

Phelan read out the names that have been collected over the past two years from teachers, students, and resident in visioning sessions held early in the design process.

The current list includes:

  • Belmont High School
  • Belmont Middle/High schools
  • Belmont High School Upper School/Lower School
  • Belmont High School, Lower Division/Upper Division
  • Belmont Secondary School, Upper school/Lower school
  • Belmont 7-12 School, Upper School/Lower School
  • Belmont High School Academy/Belmont Junior Academy
  • Belmont Academy Upper School/Lower School
  • Belmont Academies
  • Belmont Junior/Senior High schools

“They all revolve around trying to capture that Belmont High should be part of the branding but also with the full acknowledgment that we have a middle school that will now accompany the school,” said Phelan. A name should provide “middle school students a name of their own to call where they go to school,” he noted. 

There are examples of how school districts named buildings that house more than the traditional 9-12 grade arrangement. The town of Lee has “Lee Middle and High School.” Carver, located way far away, named its school “Carver Middle High School,” West Bridgewater has a brand new 7-12 “Middle-Senior High School” and the communities of Dennis and Yarmouth is known as “Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School.”

Thinking out of the box, the town of Easton named its high school after the son of the shovel magnate Oliver Ames and Westford kept “Academy” to its high school as it was a private school until the 1920s. 

And why not HSS Academy? Constance Billard-St.Judes School? North Shore High School? And, of course, there’s Hogwarts School, Belmont Campus.

As for Phelan?

“It’ll probably be Belmont High School,” he said to the committee.

Letter To The Editor: Selectmen Need Epstein’s Creativity and Collaboration

Photo: Roy Epstein at the Belmont League of Women Voters debate.

To the editor:

Successfully completing major capital projects in Belmont requires high levels of cooperation among many boards and committees. Roy Epstein knows how the system works. He helped to save the Town at least $40 million.

Finally fixing the police station and DPW facility began with conversations at the Warrant Committee and the Capital Budget Committee. The approach gathered steam when the Major Capital Projects Working Group formed an unusual solution to address both buildings, in place. The DPW/BPD Building Committee refined the creative thinking of prior groups to present a plan which Town Meeting enthusiastically supported.

Not only is the work happening after years of inaction, but it’s also being done at a price that does not require a debt exclusion. This solution required great creativity and collaboration. Consultants repeatedly told us that new DPW and Police facilities would cost at least $50 million. The dedicated work of the many volunteers on multiple committees produced an excellent plan that should cost the Town only about $10 million.

Roy was a key contributor, working with all these groups in that evolving process. His analysis, out-of-box thinking, and financial expertise propelled the various groups to the present moment – both facilities are now out to bid.

Roy is a cooperative and creative team member. Please help elect him to the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 2.

Anne Marie Mahoney

Precinct 1

Letter to the Editor: Enthusiastic Support Of Amy Checkoway For School Committee

Photo: Amy Checkoway’s campaign poster

To the editor:

I am writing in enthusiastic support of Amy Checkoway for School Committee member.

Amy is an outstanding choice for a School Committee member. She is an intelligent, devoted candidate who will do an exceptional job helping the School Committee navigate the challenging road ahead — building a new school and the reorganization that will follow. Amy is an excellent communicator and she is a consummate professional. I can think of no one else better suited for this role than Amy.

I have known Amy for more than five years as we served together on the Wellington PTO Student Care Board together from 2014 through 2018. I had an opportunity to see Amy and her tireless efforts for the benefit of the Wellington community. Now she is ready to dedicate her time to ensure that the Belmont Public Schools are the best they can be for our kids, the educational professionals, and the community.

Working with Amy has taught me a number of things about her. First, Amy is very bright and is able to appreciate complex situations at multiple levels; she understands the finer details but is able to keep the larger goal in mind. Second, Amy is a highly effective communicator and she understands the importance of clear, open dialog with the community. Further, she has experience as an education professional and therefore knows how to communicate with others in the education field. Third, she is about as organized and dependable as one can be. Amy is the type of person that you know will get the job done, and get it done well. Finally, Amy is extremely ethical, professional, and dedicated to any endeavor she undertakes.

While Amy is just about one of the nicest people you will meet, that doesn’t mean she won’t stand up to do what she believes is right for our schools, our children, and our community. I completely trust that Amy will always do the right thing for Belmont Schools.

Please join me in voting for Amy Checkoway for School Committee member on April 2.

Brooke Bevis

Cedar Road

Belmont Officers Want Insider For New Chief

Photo: Belmont Police Department’s Todd Benedetti speaking before the Belmont Board of Selectmen

Representatives from the Belmont Police Department’s rank and file and their superiors were speaking from the same hymnal at Monday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting, asking the board to limit its search for a new chief from within the force.

With several officers with extensive professional development and advanced degrees in criminal justice, “I honestly don’t believe you’ll find any finer leaders then what we have in this department,” said Belmont Police Sgt. Ben Mailhut representing the department’s Superior Officers Association 

At the end of the meeting, the board authorized the writing of a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking a consultant to assist the town in finding a replacement for Chief Richard McLaughlin who is retiring on Dec. 31, 2019.

In a March 14 memo to the Selectmen, Belmont’s Human Resources Director Jessica Porter wrote that while there are arguments to keep the search inside the department – cost, consistency of departmental operations and morale – including external candidates will allow for a greater pool of professional applicants. She reminded the board it has had success selecting from outside including the appointment of the Town Administrator, the Belmont Light General Manager and Town Accountant.

“There’s pluses and minuses [when including an external search]. On the one hand, you don’t want to discourage people who are internal from moving up and on the other hand you really don’t know what’s out there until you start looking and we’ve made several hires from the outside,” said Selectmen Chair Adam Dash.

In an attempt for a compromise, Selectman Mark Paolillo put forth a two-step approach in which internal applicants would be vetted and only if no one meets the criteria for the position, only then would outside candidates be brought forward.

Belmont Police personnel made it clear their preference where the next chief should come from. Belmont Police Department’s Todd Benedetti said officers like himself, supervisors and the public “are watching this meeting and are very concerned with the possibility that the town spending thousands of dollars on an outside search when there are viable candidates inside the department.”

“Why not interview these candidates first then go to the outside if it is necessary,” said Benedetti, noting that closeby communities such as Watertown, Lexington, Waltham and Arlington are staying inside the department as it will ease the transition and keep morale high. With the renovation of police headquarters soon to be underway, “this is not the time” for an outside hire  “to come in and get used to the department.”

“Our officers believe in our internal candidates and believe it will allow in an easy transition through these tough times,” he said.

Porter presented a four-part recruitment process to the board:

  1. Hiring a consultant/search firm to assist the town.
  2. Whether or not the consultant conducts an assessment center; ie mock exercises involving real-life situations which the candidates would resolve a problem or
  3. Create a nine-person screening committee consisting of  Mark Paolillo, who is leaving the selectmen in April, Belmont Schools Superintendent John Phelan, a representative from the schools such as a principal, a president or member of a PTO, two residents, someone representing the Council on Aging, and a current police chief from a neighboring town.

Under the plan’s timeline, the issuance of the RFP will occur in July, and the screening committee appointed in mid-September. Finalists for the position will come before the selectmen in November and a final vote among the candidates in mid-November.

If all goes to plan, Belmont’s next police chief’s first day will be Jan. 6, 2020.

Brownsberger Appointed State Senate President Pro Tempore

Photo: The new Senate President Pro Tempore, Will Brownsberger 

State Sen. Will Brownsberger has got a new job up on Beacon Hill.

The long-time senator and Belmont resident has been appointed by State Senate President Karen Spilka to be President Pro Tempore of the Senate as he will now help her move the Senate’s agenda forward.

“I fully endorse the agenda that [Spilka] has defined for the Senate,” said Brownsberger. “Her agenda speaks directly to the concerns that have motivated me to serve in public office.”

Brownsberger said he agrees with Spilka’s top legislative priorities including adequately funding of the education system, the close relationship between housing, transportation, and environmental concerns, and supporting the Criminal Justice Reform package that was moved forward last year.

“An agenda of this breadth requires a strong leadership team and I’m very pleased that she has asked me to be part of her team. I’m looking forward to all of the important work that lies ahead,” he said.

Belmont’s ‘Triple A’ Worth Millions In School Bonding Market

Photo: Selectman Mark Paolillo signing the 30-year bond note.

Some may ask what’s the big deal if Belmont is a double or triple A? “Is there any real difference by having an added A to your name?” referring to the agencies which assign credit ratings for issuers of debt obligations, or bonds.

In Belmont’s case, that single letter was worth a cool six million in savings to property owners, according to Belmont Town Treasurer Floyd Carman who attended the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, March 18.

“Let me start by saying we should all be proud of these results, we all contributed,” said Carman, referring to town and school officials and the board.

“This is why it is important for people to know the importance of the triple-A bond rating,” said Board Chair Adam Dash. 

Carman’s Monday visit was for the three-member board to sign off on 30-year bond notes that took place on March 12 totaling $108,100,000 that included $100 million in the first of three payments to build the new 7-12 school building which starts construction this June, $7.4 million for the renovation and expansion of the Belmont Police Department police station and $700,000 for the multi-year water main replacement program. The bonds attracted seven bidders and were sold at a 3.31 percent interest rate locked in for 30 years to JP Morgan.

Yet Belmont will only be financing $102,030,000 of that debt. According to Carman, the difference of $6,070,000 is what the town received in “premium money.”

“This is the best possible outcome you could have had with a sale of bonds,” said Dash, which Carman called a combination of “luck and our excellent ratings.” The luck part due to timing as recent actions by the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in stop hiking up the discount rate which impacts interest rates.

For instance, Belmont taxpayers will not be financing $100 million for the new school, but $94,428,000, which will result in a savings of $1.2 million from the town’s operating budget. Preserving the town’s AAA rating will “save” taxpayers between $50 to $60 a year from the initial cost projection for the school project.

Belmont’s credit score was confirmed by two rating agencies – Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s – which assessed the town had an exceptional degree of creditworthiness and could easily meet its financial commitments. The highest rating is a rare honor as only 9 of 350 cities and towns in Massachusetts hold a AAA rating. 

The process of retaining the bond rating began in February when the town’s finance team made up of Carman, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, Town Accountant Chitra Subramanian, Assistant Town Administrator Jon Marshall, Belmont Assessor Dan Dargon, School Department Director of Finance, Business and Operations Tony DiCologero and Glen Castro, the town’s budget analyst, spent the better part of the day on rating calls with S&P and Moody’s, answering questions “to make sure this financing was first rate.”

“They really harped on good financial management and good fiscal and retirement policies. They don’t want any surprises,” said Carman, who told one of the rating agencies last April that the town was coming in with the three large projects.

“It’s a team effort,” said Carman on gaining and then maintaining a triple-A rating. “You have to have all your key financial people together. This didn’t just pop up overnight. We’ve been planning for this for two years.” 

Paying for the debt on the bonds will see real estate taxes increase annually by $760 on the average single family home (in 2019 valued at $1,090,000) effective on Jan. 1, 2020.

Feed Me, Seymour! Belmont High Presents ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’ March 21-23

Photo: Poster for this year’s musicial, Little Shop of Horrors

Don’t feed the plant!

For its spring musical, Belmont High School Performing Arts Company presents “Little Shop of Horrors” produced and directed by Ezra Flam.

Performances will take place on:

  • Thursday, March 21 and Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. and
  • Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Tickets:

  • ADULTS: $15 in advance, $18 at the door
  • CHILDREN/STUDENTS: $10 ($5 tickets for high school students for the Thurusday Mar. 21 show)

Tickets on sale at bhs-pac.org and at Champions in Belmont Center

All performances will be in the Belmont High School auditorium.

An off-Broadway hit 35 years ago which was turned into a cult-favorite rock/horror/comedy film, “Little Shop” has become a contemporary musical theater classic. The show featured a catchy score inspired by 60’s rock, doo-wop and Motown, written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the duo responsible for “Beauty & the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin.”

The show features a giant, talking plant puppet – operated by three students – a chorus of singing and dancing street Urchins and a crowd-pleasing score, including “Suddenly Seymour,” “Somewhere That’s Green,” the Dentist’s over-the-top rock song (made famous in the movie by Steve Martin) and more.

The big test that faced producer and director Ezra Flam was taking a show that orginiated on a cramped stage Off-Off-Broadway and ramp it up to include a cast of thousands (well, nearly 100.)

“One of the fun challenges of this show has been expanding a show that traditionally has a small cast of nine performers, to work for our cast of almost 90,” he said.

“We have widened to world of the show, expanding the trio of street urchins to ten, adding a group of dancers who serve as a bridge between the gritty world of Skid Row and the fantasy of a glamorous life Seymour finds himself in, and filling out the world of Skid Row. Every character in the show has some part in pushing Seymour down his dark path, culminating in a huge finale song ‘Don’t Feed the Plants’ that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.” said Flam.

“This production showcases what the Performing Arts Company does best: give our actors and stage crew the chance to learn about theater by creating a fully realized production,” Flam noted.

“The set will bring the world of Skid Row to life, and then open up to reveal the inside of the flower show; the costumes capture a colorful 1960s aesthetic; as always, the singing and dancing are sure to be a highlight of the show, especially with incredibly fun songs serving as a creative springboard, and a Pit Orchestra made up of mostly of students, under the direction of Arto Asadoorian.”

All Electric: Selectmen OK Power Storage, Solar Farm At Incinerator Site

Photo: An example of a battery storage site.

Where once Belmont burned its trash will become an electrical park as the Belmont Board of Selectmen voted to install a combined battery storage facility and solar farm at the former town’s incinerator on Concord Avenue near the Lexington town line.

“That’s the beauty of this use. It’s not tall, it’s not noisy, it’s not disruptive and it will not cause issues,” said Belmont Selectmen Chair Adam Dash.

But the public will need to wait upwards to three years before the new electrical hub is up and running; the town will need to design a “cap” over the contaminated ash produced over nearly 20 years the incinerator was in operation. In addition, the town is looking at a $800,000 gap between the $3.6 million cost of the barrier and $2.8 million in a community stabilization fund to pay of the cap. 

Installed in what resemble cargo shipping containers, the battery storage units will be used to both store electricity from both the solar panels and from the electrical grid during times when energy costs are low – the middle of the night – and distribute it during “peak” hours such as the late afternoon and evening.. 

By using the entire parcel with the exception of land used by the town’s Department of Public Works, the solar segment could generate the two megawatts of electricity that would make the facility financially viable for Belmont Light, the town’s electrical utility which would manage the operation.

The selection process which began in 2017 with 17 options came down to three; the storage facility, a bike/skate play area and open space. Two more controversial uses; an anaerobic digester and a multi-rink ice skating rink, where deemed unacceptable in February by the state’s Department of Capital Assets and Management Maintainance – which transferred the site to the town in 2015 – as both would generate revenue for a third party and was not seen as a municipal use.

The open space was attractive as the town is wanting of recreational space but it is a polluted site, the topography is challenging and the DPW will actively be on site for composting and other uses. While Dash described it as a “great idea”, maintaining and cleaning a “remote” bike/skate park would be a handful as the town is overburdened with patrolling the existing inventory of parks and playgrounds. 

The battery storage/solar farm was seen as the most practical use with the greatest upside. It is a passive use, was not opposed by homeowners on the backside of Belmont Hill and has the added advantage of meeting the town’s climate action goals and both the solar array and storage units can be replaced when technology improves.

“I just love the idea of having a use that can help solve so many issues,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo who has long been a support of the energy storage concept.

In addition, Belmont will have some expertise in the installation of electrical solar power. Belmont Light General Manager Christopher Roy led the Concord utility in the building of a solar facility on an old land ll, which generates up to 1.7 megawatts of electricity. Roy also submitted data to the Belmont Selectmen of the potental of cost savings with the creation of a combined solar and storage park. 

Planning Board Shelves McLean Residential Project As Affordability Takes Center Stage

Photo: The Planning Board in session.

A proposed 125 unit residential development on one of the last large parcels of open space in Belmont was shelved by the Belmont Planning Board as questions of affordability, density and other issues were raised by residents and board members.

“We don’t have the time” to satisfactory review the proposal before a Town Meeting vote, said Board Chair Chuck Clark at the Thursday, March 14 meeting as the board voted unanimously to not bring six bylaw changes to the town’s annual legislative gathering.

The postponement is a victory for affordable housing campaigners who contend the McLean Hospital Zone 3 project is the one best and likely final opportunities to bring a substantial number of accessible units into the town’s housing inventory.

“Let’s slow this down so we all can get to and work together,” said Rachel Heller, co-chairman of the Belmont Housing Trust, which has been advocating for greater income diverse housing through public policy – securing the town’s Housing Production Plan – and with growing activism. 

The delay is a blow to property owner McLean Hospital and Northland Residential, the proposed developer, which were seeking a positive vote at the annual Town Meeting in May to expedite the construction of what a Northland executive called an “age directed” project on nearly 13 acres of land set aside for housing when Town Meeting approved a mixed-use development plan with McLean nearly two decades ago in July 1999.

While the proponents pointed to the success of the nearby Northland-developed The Woodlands as being replicated on Zone 3, board vice chair Stephen Pinkerton said: “there are a lot of issues in terms of density and interest in affordable housing that need to be vetted among a half a dozen entities in town.”

“This won’t pass [Town Meeting] by a two-thirds majority” as Pinkerton motioned to the residents filling the Selectmen’s Room, suggesting the process be “paused.” 

Clark told the Belmontonian the Planning Board will ask the Belmont Board of Selectmen to create a task force with “everybody” including the Housing Trust, residents in addition to McLean “to figure this out.”

“I see this come back to Town Meeting in the fall,” said Clark, referring to an anticipated Special Town Meeting that typically takes place in November. “I suspect we’ll come to an agreement, it will just take a while.”

While campaigners did not have specific numbers or percentages of units, advocates said they are available to assist McLean and Northland either by introducing established affordable developers to partner with the proponents or work independently.

“A task force will create the opportunity for all these voices to be heard and then really think how to develop something that’s beneficial for McLean meets the town’s needs,” said Heller.

The question now hanging over the stalled development is if McLean and Northland will accept a new round of negotiations that could result in a greater affordability component.

McLean and the developer both noted in their presentations Thursday night the nearly 13 acres is currently zoned to accommodate approximately 500 apartment-style units in a high-density complex that includes buildings upwards to six stories tall and generating considerable vehicle traffic.

But it’s unlikely McLean would go that route and the developer admitted the “bankability” of such large assisted living/care complexes has waned considerably in the past decade.

The development – located on the southern ridge of the hospital close to Star Market and Pleasant Street – would be a “senior directed independent living residential community” consisting of 34 large 2 to 3 bedroom townhouses with a sales price of upwards of $1.5 million similar to those in the adjacent Woodlands along with 91 “flat” 1 to 2 bedroom apartments located in four-story buildings. The complex would provide town coffers with $1.6 million in added tax revenue.

Under a revised plan, 20 apartments would be designated “affordable” for those making 80 percent of the area median income (for a two-person family, an 80 percent AMI would be $63,050), an increase from a proposed 9 units that target buyers with an AMI as high as 120 percent ($94,550 for a two-family household). 

When the meeting was thrown open to public comment, it was quickly evident that despite a doubling of the number of affordable units in Zone 3, housing advocates felt, as Heller noted, “we can do a lot better.”

With Belmont still 337 units short of the state’s goal of 10 percent affordable housing. McLean is “one of the few if the only way for the town to get to that 10 percent,” said Heller, who said that rather than townhouses, the community needs more rental units as more than 40 percent of Belmont renters are “cost-burdened” as housing costs take more than a third of their income.

Gloria Leipzig of the Belmont Housing Authority noted the 40-unit Waverley Woods, designated in the 1999 agreement for low and moderate income housing, was built on 1.4 acres, “eight times” the space being proposed for the Zone 3 development.

“Certainly more than 34 large townhouses and 90 [apartments] can be built on this property,” she said.

Squandering The Potential 

As the land was “laid aside for specific community needs,” once a development proposal is adopted, “we can’t take this zoning back,” said Joseph Zarro, pastor of Belmont’s Plymouth Church. “I think we’d be squandering the potential of this land” under the proposed project.”

One resident commented on a statement by a Northland executive who said the new townhouses that would likely sell for $1.5 million was built “for folks that look like me and you.” Elizabeth Lipson of the Housing Trust said she is sensitive to “dog whistle” comments that housing in Belmont should be built with a certain income level in mind.

“One of the objectives of many of us is to diversify our town by income and … also by race,” said Lipson, who found the comment “upsetting.” 

Throwing another wrench into the works was a legal ruling brought forth by attorney Roger Colton who noted a 2002 ruling by the state’s Land Court against the town’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals (American Retirement Corp vs  et al) limiting both boards “to make its own interpretation of what was ‘best’ for the town” which should be left “to the legislative process.”

With issues of housing diversity, density and a sticking point that the bylaw changes would benefit the current proposal but not alter the existing zoning map, leaving the possibility of a future developer to build to the approved level of nearly 500 units, Clark said there was no chance the board could resolve any of the outstanding issues by the end of the month.

“There are too many moving parts,” he said.

Nearly lost in the residential development discussion was McLean’s earlier proposal to construct a campus for children and adolescence education and a research and development center on an adjacent parcel located to the northeast. Known as Zone 4, the development will not start for upwards to five years as the hospital raises funds for the project, said Michele Gougeon, McLean’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Eventually, the site will include a combined academic and residential building and a “small” Research and Development building which will fit inside a 150,000 sq.-ft. envelop.

Clark noted in past agreements, due to the R&D portion is being reduced by more than half of the original, the town could be obligated to pay McLean for that change, a statement Gougeon said would need to be reviewed.

By the end of the night, Clark believed there will be a solution to the issues face all parties.

“I think McLean can do better. I think Belmont can do better,” said Clark.