After Tax Dispute Resolved, Town’s Substation Sold to Eversource for $45M

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Photo: The 60-megawatt Blair Pond substation off Brighton Street.

After being delayed for several days to resolve a last-minute tax dispute, the most expensive transaction in the Town of Belmont’s history was approved Dec. 15 when the Light Board OK’d the sale of the newly-constructed Belmont Light’s 60-megawatt Blair Pond substation off Brighton Street and three new 115kV transmission lines to utility giant Eversource for $45 million.

The push back of the agreement’s closing date was due to an objection initiated by Selectman Sami Baghdady – the Board of Selectmen makes up the Light Board – who questioned Eversource’s assumption it was exempt from paying local taxes on contractual services which would reduce its tax burden to the town by nearly 90 percent.

In the end, the town’s contention made by Town Assessors’ Chair Robert Reardon that Eversource would be required to pay the full tax won the day as the utility will send an estimated $350,000 in annual taxes to the town.

The $45 million for the new cables and the 10,000 square-foot electrical substation off Brighton Street on Flanders Road on the Cambridge line will be used to pay off the $26 million in short-term loans used to construct the project.

The town’s new system that is connected to New England Electric Grid at Alewife will provide “an effective energy distribution solution for Belmont residents and businesses for the next forty years,” stated a press release from Belmont Light

In February 2012, Belmont Town Meeting voted unanimously to authorize $53.7 million in new bonding capacity to finance the new system which doubled electrical capacity increasing reliability for Belmont customers.

In its Joint Development Agreement, Eversource reimburses Belmont $45 million for the cost of constructing the transmission line and for the utility to take permanent ownership and maintenance responsibilities for the transmission line moving forward.

With the transfer of ownership, Belmont’s construction costs for the Blair Pond Substation and Transmission Line project, anticipated to be $53.7 million, closed out at $26.1 million, a $27.6 million savings for Belmont ratepayers.

A corresponding rate increase associated with the cost of this project that was initially anticipated to be approximately 14 percent for Belmont Light customers is instead 6 percent, an increase that has already been factored into rates, according to Belmont Light calculations.

“At the end of the day, in working with Eversource, we [can] deliver a critical project for Belmont electric users that addresses our serious capacity concerns, skyrocketing maintenance costs and power quality issues, in the most modernized and efficient manner,” said Belmont Light General Manager Jim Palmer in the press release.

“Just as important, due to our agreement with Eversource, we are able to do so substantially under the original cost estimates approved by Town Meeting and save the Belmont ratepayers $27.6 million while providing the best possible solution for our future needs.”

GOP Stalwart Guy Carbone Pulls Papers for Selectmen Race

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Photo: Guy Carbone (courtesy photo c. 2010)

Guy Carbone, a perennial candidate for statewide and congressional offices, is eyeing a much more down ballot race in 2017 as the former head of the Metropolitan District Commission has taken out nomination paper to run for Belmont Board of Selectmen.

If he submits signatures from 50 registered voters by Feb. 14, the octogenarian attorney will join incumbent Sami Baghdady and challenger Adam Dash as likely candidates for the one Selectmen’s seat up for grabs this year.

The 2017 town election takes place on Tuesday, April 4.

A call to the Woodfall Road resident was not returned as of 5 p.m.

While a bit of a surprise for Carbone to run for the seat – he made no recent statement on issues or concerns he had that would prompt him taking out papers – earlier this year Carbone was part of a contentious hearing before the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals in 2015-16 when a relative sought a special permit to replace a large bay garage on Holt Street with a storage space. After challenges by neighbors, the ZBA denied the permit which Carbone took considerable issue.

Carbone, who holds several engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a degree from Suffolk University Law School, is a long-time member of Belmont’s Republican Town Committee who served as commissioner of the Metropolitan District Commission for two years, from 1979 to 1980. He also served on the Noise By-Law Review Committee in 2002.

He is best known for committing to several quixotic runs for statewide office, campaigning as a Republican in a very blue state. He ran – and lost – three times for the Republican nomination for Attorney General, was barely defeated by Jonathan Raymond in the Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district Republican primary in 1996 (Raymond later was dispatched by Barney Frank), and lost 75 percent to 25 percent in the 1998 Middlesex and Suffolk Massachusetts Senate district general election to Steven Tolman.

Belmont Under Wind Advisory Through Friday AM; Increased Chance of Outages

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Photo: Trees could come falling down.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for Belmont and Eastern Massachusetts from 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29 to 6 a.m. Friday, Dec. 30, with near gale force winds buffeting the region and creating conditions that could lead to electrical outages.

The NWS is forecasting sustained winds out of the West between 10 to 20 mph with gusts reaching 50 mph with the strongest winds coming between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.

Gusts have the potential of downing trees and large limbs possibly causing isolated power outages.

While a major winter storm is expected to dump up to a foot of snow in the western part of Massachusetts into Friday morning, Belmont and the Boston region should only see a few inches of the white stuff before precipitation ends late Thursday night.

Below are telephone numbers to keep at the ready during the storm:

Belmont Light (to report outages): 617-993-2800.

The Town of Belmont SNOW EMERGENCY HOTLINE: (617) 993-2698.

Unless it is an emergency, do not call 911.

 

Sports: Girls’ Hoops Fall Into Loss Column After Lowell 4th Quarter Blitz

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Photo: Belmont could not stop Shyan Mwai (#5) in the fourth quarter.

For the first 25 minutes of its Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 28, game with Lowell High School, Belmont High girls’ basketball was cruising to a huge (YUGE!) early season “statement” win.

Fast breaks, sharp passing, team defense, three pointers, free throws; it was all going the Marauders’ way as the team took an 11 point lead, 48-37, over the visiting Red Raiders, a Divison 1 powerhouse which last season took an 18-2 record to the number one seed in the tough North Sectionals.

“We did look good. Everything was clicking,” said Head Coach Melissa Hart, as her team outscored Lowell in each for the first three-quarters.

But in high school basketball, a game consists of 32 minutes, and for Belmont, Wednesday’s final seven turned into a reality check. Lead by star junior point guard Shyan Mwai – who is considered one of the top ten female non-prep players in the state – Lowell simply ran over their hosts, outscoring Belmont 27-10 in the final seven minutes to finish with an emphatic 62-58 come-from-behind victory.

It didn’t help matters that Mawi scored her 1,000 career point (still a junior, mind you) from the free throw line – the game was halted for a presentation and celebration – in the middle of Lowell’s 9-0 run to erase the Marauders’ hard-earned advantage in just 90 seconds.

The loss is Belmont’s first of the season while Lowell matches the Marauders with a 4-1 record.

“I think we got tentative and a little scared and [Lowell] is too good of a team to let up on,” said Hart.

For the Marauders, the loss swept aside some of the best basketball from a Belmont team since last season’s wild four-game postseason run when Belmont defeated the two, three and four seeds in the Division 2 North Sectional tournament.

Quarterbacked by all-star junior point guard Carly Christofori (18 point, 6 steals), Belmont saw seven players score in the first quarter led by junior forward Jenny Call (10 points including two 3s) and sophomore guard Megan Tan (9 points and 5 steals) with five points each.

Coming into the game with a height advantage, the Marauders’ big players contributed on both ends of the court with senior forwards Margaux d’Arbeloff and Riley Haight (4 points each) scoring a pair of baskets off offensive rebounds in the first half and sophomore center Jess Giorgio (7 points, 6 rebounds) grabbing misses under the Marauder basket.

With Giorgio, fellow sophomore Ella Gagnon and starter Riley Haight making life difficult for Lowell’s forwards, the Raiders were forced to rely on Mwai who kept Lowell within striking distance scoring 16 of her team’s 28 first half points as Belmont lead by seven, 35-28, at the midpoint.

The third quarter turned into a one-on-one battle between the two junior point guards as Christofori defensively matched up on Mwai as each attempted to maneuver around the other for open shots.

With Mwai shut down for the moment (3 points in the third), Belmont grew its advantage. A Giorgio free throw, a Tan steal and basket followed by a Christofori driving bucket then a big three from the top of the key gave Belmont its first double-digit lead at 44-33. Junior forward Greta Propp’s uncontested shot with less than a minute in the quarter upped the Marauders lead to a dozen, 46-34.

And when junior guard Alexa Sabatino (4 points) hit a pretty mid-range jumper in the first minute of the final quarter to increase the lead to 48-37, it appeared the Marauders were on their way to a big time victory.

But Sabatino’s hoop was the last basket Belmont would make Wednesday (scoring on eight free throws) as Lowell showed why it returns to be a force in the top division. Lowell began to double and at times triple team the ball in the forecourt just as Belmont players started passing up shots to move the ball around the perimeter.

As the Marauders’ cooled off, Lowell turned up the heat to “high” as junior forward Yodelis Paulino scored 8 of her 15 points in final quarter joining Brittany Mota (two big baskets during the 9-0 run) who stepped up.

But it was Mwai who dominated Belmont. Moving smartly from teammate picks which threw off Christofori, Mwai used her quickness to hit layups or be fouled, ending the quarter with 15 points and a game-high 34.

The Marauders didn’t help themselves when they could not get a shot off on four consecutive trips down the court just as Lowell tied the score at 52 on a Mwai runner with 2:20 remaining.

Two free throws from Paulino and a quick steal, bucket and foul on junior guard Princess Emenogo with just 1:49 to go found Belmont looking up at a four-point deficit, 56-52. A pair of free throws by Mwai to increase the lead to 58-52 with less than 90 seconds remaining effectively ended the afternoon for the Marauders.

“We need to play against good competition. All the credit to them, they had great energy in the fourth quarter. We just lacked a certain confidence and energy down the stretch,” said Hart.

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Residents Give Good Tidings (and Coffee) to Town Crews Working Christmas

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Photo: Brighton Street on Christmas Eve.

It was already a cold and dank Christmas Eve afternoon as the sun was setting on two crews from Belmont Water Department’s Distribution and Maintenance services.

After spending hours digging up Brighton Street next to the Hill Estates seeking a major water main leak, the workers discovered the break was not in the 10-inch main but a six-inch pipe – bearing the date “1888” – on the other side of the street.

“It occasionally happens that our best guess is wrong,” said Mike Bishop, the Department of Public Works’ Water Division manager on Tuesday, Dec. 27. It would mean filling in the first trench and dig a new one in the dark hours before Christmas.

Around the same time, homeowners on Washington Street called the town to report a “geyser” of water was gushing out of a manhole cover directly across from the entry of the Chenery Middle School.

‘That turned out to be an eight-foot long slit in a 10-inch main,” said Bishop, likely caused by air in the system introduced into the pipe from recent work along Common Street.

“That pocket of air was just looking for a weak point in the system,” said Bishop.

Two major breaks at the same time which just happened to be on Dec. 24th.

“Unfortunately we can’t predict when these will happen. We just have to send the crews out and get the job done,” said Bishop.

As the employees began breaking up the street for the second time, word got out among those living on Pond Street, Hill Road and Brighton Street of those workers preparing for a long night to provide town services.

First one, then another and still more came by to drop off coffee, pastries, food and a “thank you” to the half-dozen or so digging for a pipe in the dark. The Brighton Street work was completed just before St. Nick flew into Belmont around midnight.

When the crews came to make the repairs on Washington in the late morning of Christmas Day, residents from around the site stopped to wish them Merry Christmas and leave off gifts of food and drinks.

For Bishop, the response of residents was gratifying.

“It was phenomenal,” he said of the gestures of good will.

“It’s the little things that go a long way for the crews,” said Bishop, who used social media to thank the town folks.

“Sometimes [the employees] don’t see how appreciated their work is. But this one time that [residents] just coming by did a lot of good.”

Christmas Eve, Christmas Services in Belmont

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Photo: St. Joe’s in Belmont.

St. Joseph’s, 130 Common

  • Dec. 24: 4 p.m.
  • Dec. 25: 10 a.m.

St. Luke’s, 132 Lexington

  • Dec. 24: 4 p.m.; 6 p.m.
  • Dec. 25: 8:30 a.m.; 11:30 a.m.

All Saints Episcopal Church, 17 Clark (at Common)

Dec. 24: 5 p.m. 

Dec. 25: 10 a.m. 

First Church in Belmont, UU, 404 Concord

Dec. 24:

  • 2 p.m.: Junior Choir 
  • 4 p.m.: Chancel Choir
  • 6 p.m.: Youth Choir (lessons, pagent)
  • 11 p.m.: Alumni Choir (lessons, carols)

Belmont-Watertown United Methodist, 421 Common

Dec. 24: 

  • 5 p.m.: Led by Light service
  • 7 p.m.: Candlelight service

First Armenian Church, 380 Concord

  • Dec. 24: 5:30 p.m.
  • Dec. 25: Joint service with Armenian Memorial Church, 32 Biglow Ave. Watertown

Payson Park Church, 365 Belmont

  • Dec. 24: 5:30 p.m., Candlelight seervice 
  • Dec. 25: 10:30 a.m.: Combined service with Plymouth Congregational Church

Plymouth Congregational Church, 582 Pleasant

Dec. 24: 

  • 4 p.m.: Family service with Brass Quintet
  • 11 p.m.: Candlelight service

Dec. 25: 10:30 a.m.

Schools Move to Remediate Faucets With Elevated Lead Levels

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Photo: 14 taps and faucets have been shut off at Belmont schools for action level of lead in the water.

With a total of 14 school-based water faucets identified with elevated lead levels under specific conditions, the Belmont Public Schools has begun working with town and state resources to remediate the problem.

“We will continue to work together as a [t]own to provide healthy school environments for all students in Belmont,” Belmont Superintendent John Phelan in a letter sent to parents and guardians on Dec. 19.

The school district is joining with the Belmont Board of Health, Water Department, Facilities Department and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to review the tests and come up with steps to resolve the worrisome spigots located in five of six public school buildings.

In a Friday, Dec. 16 email sent to parents; Phelan revealed that the second round of testing of all faucets used by staff or students showed nine taps exceeding “action limits” for lead exposure.

They included:

Butler Elementary School, 6
Wellington Elementary, 1
Chenery Middle, 1
Belmont High, 1.
On Monday, Dec. 19, an additional five faucets were placed on the list of troublesome outlets:

Belmont High, 3
Burbank Elementary, 2
Only Winn Brook Elementary was free of suspect faucets.

The 14 taps were shut down, and the town departments led by the Facilities Department are determining if each valve can be brought within state safety standards or if any needs to be replaced or decommissioned permanently.

The School District compiled a spreadsheet with specific health data from the 14 effected faucets in addition to information from each of Belmont’s six schools. 

Phelan noted that of the 14 problem taps, water from 10 faucets fell below the “action level” once they are “flushed” by allowing the water to run through the pipes for “some time.”

“This tells us that those ten faucets … are producing ‘clean’ water” after the flushing process, said Phelan, who said the town’s Board of Health has determined that the town’s water source “has a good and clean sources.”

Belmont is one of 164 public school buildings in the state reported at least one sample with lead levels above regulatory limits, the DEP said.

With water quality regarding lead contamination – the most prominent being the crisis in Flint, Michigan – making headlines across the country, the Belmont school department in the Spring 2016 requested the town’s Facilities Department test the water at Belmont’s school buildings.

Fifty faucets were randomly tested throughout the school buildings, with all coming back to safe levels.

Around the same time, the DEP sponsored $2 million in grants for municipalities to have their water levels tested. Belmont applied for and received this award, said Phelan.

The second sampling was conducted this fall testing all 180 drinking water and food preparation faucets in Belmont schools using more detailed DEP guidelines. On Wednesday, Dec. 14, nine were found to have results exceeding “action levels” for lead.

“I appreciate that support of all the [t]own departments that work together every day, year-round, to support our school children and staff,” said Phelan.

For questions or concerns, please contact the Belmont Health Department at 671-993-2720 or email the district at jphelanblog@belmont.k12.ma.us

Belmont Festival Orchestra Performs Thursday, 7 PM at Beech Street

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Photo: Cristina Basili and Nathaniel Meyer.

Start the holidays with great music made by young musicians.

The Belmont Festival Orchestra led by Belmont’s own Nathaniel Meyer (Belmont High ’09, Yale ’13) returns on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. to give another Winter Concert for the Belmont community.

Meyer will conduct a program includes Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Fantasy-Overture and the Dvorak Cello Concerto, featuring the young Greek-Viennese cellist, Cristina Basili, who will be making her North American debut.

Born and raised in Vienna, Basili has performed as a soloist throughout Europe and is one of the most talented and charismatic rising stars in the international music scene.

Rehearsals are open to the public at 7 p.m. through Wednesday, Dec. 21.

The orchestra’s summer concert had more than 200 in attendance so come early. 

Cost is free but donations are accepted.

Sports: Calling Carly; Christofori Answers Scoring Need as Girls’ Hoops Wins Opener

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Photo: Carly Christofori (3) heading up court.

With Belmont High Girls’ Basketball team having a collective hiccup on the offensive side of the court in the season and home opener with Melrose on Friday, Dec. 16 – a total of 26 points after three quarters – junior captain Carly Christofori decided the final eight minutes would be a good time to answer the scoring call.

The point guard who has played every varsity game in her three years on the Marauders scored 8 of her game-high 17 points in the final stanza to help Belmont pull away from the Red Raiders and leave the Wenner (Field House) with a less than beautiful 42-31 victory.

But a win is a win for the Marauders (1-0).

“Everyone was really nervous in the first game as everyone would be. I could see that everyone was jittery,” said Christofori who finished the game with 9 rebounds and 5 steals

“The game was a lot closer than we thought it would be we needed someone to step up and help control the game,” she said.

Christofori broke a 26-26 tie a minute into the fourth quarter on a fade away jumper then grabbed a defensive rebound and drove the length of the court before being fouled. After making one of two from the line (she would go 10 for 12 from the charity strip), she and backcourt partner sophomore Megan Tan (8 points) pressured Melrose to commit a turnover.

After a put back basket from sophomore forward Jane Mahon (3 points) and another offensive rebound hoop from junior forward Greta Propp (2 points), sophomore center Jess Giorgio (6 points) threw in a sweeping hook as the shot clock buzzer went off building Belmont’s lead up to 35-28 with 2:20 left in the game. A succession of trips to the foul line for Christofori put the game out of reach.

“After the third quarter, we said ‘we can beat this team. We just need to relax” That’s when everyone settled down, and people were stronger with the ball,” said Christofori.

If Belmont’s offense showed opening night nerves, the defense was in mid-season trim as the hands-up two-three zone was quite active with Giorgio swatting away three Red Raider shots. When Head Coach Melissa Hart partners Giorgio with either of the Haight twins – seniors Reagan and starter Riley (2 points) – Mahon and the athletic big forward sophomore Ella Gagnon (who played her first varsity game and put in 2 of 4 free throws), it is one of the tallest defensive back three around the Middlesex League.

“Defense will be our strong suit this season. We always talk in practice to work hard on defense and the offense will come by itself,” said Christofori.

“We’re a taller team and have stronger kids so focusing on rebounding, steals and anticipating passes will get us our points,” she said.

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Selectmen Considering Feb Special Town Meeting To Tackle Transfer Loophole

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Photo: Alcohol transfer on the agenda.

The Belmont Board of Selectmen is considering calling a February Special Town Meeting to resolve the controversal inability of the town to control the transfer of alcohol and liquor licenses.

“We want to tackle the non-transferability of [alcohol] licenses sooner than later,” Mark Paolillo, selectmen chair told the Belmontonian at the end of the board’s meeting on Monday, Dec. 19.

“There’s a lot of folks in town that are concerned about … these licenses,” he said. “And there is unanimity on the board to follow that recommendation,” said Paolillo.

When asked when the meeting could be held, Paolillo said: “it would be in the February time frame.”

The proposed action comes on the heels of a controversial 2-1 vote by the Selectmen approving the transfer in October of a full-retail alcohol license from the Loading Dock to Star Market for a $400,000 fee. It was discovered during the public hearings that legislation from 2013 increasing the number of liquor licenses in town did not have the same limiting language on transferring licenses as in the first retail liquor licenses approved in 2006. 

Paolillo said a memo to the board from Town Counsel George Hall recommended moving forward with a special home rule petition that would request the Massachusetts legislature to approve a Town Meeting article creating “an umbrella” bylaw covering regulations including transfer limitation overall alcohol licenses including full, pour, retail, and wine and beer.

A home rule petition would be required as the town is taking action that will effect liquor licenses which are granted by the state to municipalities.

The Selectmen can call a Special Town Meeting at any of its public meetings with the agenda posted with minimum 48 hours notice to the public.

Selectmen must then sign and or post the warrant with at least 14 calendar days notice to the public before the Special Town Meeting. For instance, if it signs the order on a Monday, Tuesday is day 1 of 14. There is no requirement that the warrant stays open for any amount of time – it can open it and close it right away – and it does not have to accept another article a resident or Town Meeting member may want to add to the warrant.

The estimated cost of a three hour, one night Special Town Meeting would cost approximately $2,776, according to the Town Clerk’s Office.

Paolillo acknowledged the expense of holding a meeting but deemed the issue important enough to push for an early resolution.

“We certainly appreciate the cost of having a Special Town Meeting, and we will take that into consideration,” said Paolillo. “We have to weigh that against the expense of a possibility of another transfer happening before the [annual Town Meeting which begins in May 2017].”

“Lots of folks have expressed concern that legislation in 2013 didn’t have a non-transferability provision within it and they want to see that reinstated,” said Paolillo.