Belmont Home of the Week: Single Family Affordability in SoTra

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In Lower Manhattan, there is SoHo (South of West Houston Street).

In Boston’s South End, there is SoWa (South of Washington Street – which, of course, is an impossibility as the throughway runs north to south).

And in Belmont, there is SoTra, as in South of Trapelo Road, where you are more likely than not find housing that can be called affordable for Belmont. The housing stock “below” Trapelo – from the intersection of Belmont Street to Beaver Brook Reservation – was built to meet the rising number of middle-class home seekers who were coming to Belmont with the laying of the trolley line in 1898 and the growth of Waverley and Central (at the intersection of Beech Street and Trapelo) squares. And that trend continues today as SoTra remains one location a double income-earning family can sneak into Belmont.

Much of the housing inventory includes two-families but there remains classic single family homes, such as the one on sale at 10 Cutter St. This 109-year-old Colonial “box” – located equal distance from Central and Waverley squares – is just north of 1,600 sq.-ft. with four bedrooms and one and a half baths.

A previous owner decided to knock down a few walls on the first floor to give the interior that 70’s “open layout.” So you wander from entry way into the living room, look around a partial wall to see the dining table which is next to a wide-open wood cabinet kitchen. The lower floor has high ceilings, hardwood floors and newer windows. The full bath has a deep, oversized Jacuzzi with a shower. There is a walk-up attic and a expansive basement with high ceilings.

A nice surprise to this century old home is a large wood deck off the dining room that overlooks the backyard, is perfect for entertaining overflow and overlooks an ample level backyard.

All this for $689,000, about a hundred grand less than the medium home value for Belmont homes. There will be an open house on Cutter Street today, Sunday, Oct. 19, from noon to 2 p.m. Or call Century 21/Adams KC for more information,  781-648-6900.

Belmont Yard Sales on Oct. 18-19

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Here are this weekend’s yard/moving/garage sales happening in the 02478 zip code:

Permitted yard sales by the Town Clerk

• 92 Clark St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 130 Common St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Supports the Belmont Cooperative Nursery School.

• 227 Common St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• 421 Common St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 285 Waverley St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Not (yet) permitted sales

• 76 Becket Rd., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to noon.

• 567 Belmont St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to noon., Helps the Christ Lutheran Nursery School.

• 25 Elm St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

• 44 Harding St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to noon.

• 6 Oakley Rd., Saturday, Oct. 18, 8 a.m. but the owner will be out there earlier.

• 354 Payson Rd., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• 42 Pine St., Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• 26 Wilson Ave., Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Weekend: Broadway, Books, Balls, Boats … and Pumpkins

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It’s a busy, busy weekend in Belmont and it all start’s Friday:

• Broadway Night 2014, the annual musical theater cabaret featuring the talents of the students of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company, will raise the curtain on two shows, Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater at Belmont High School. The show, which includes solos, duets, and full company numbers, has become a wonderful tradition that opens the PAC season each year. Tickets $12 adults, $5 students.

• The annual Friends of the Belmont Public Library Book Sale begins on Friday, Oct. 17 with a sale for Superfriends and Benefactors. It will be open to the public on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Hardbacks and good paperbacks are $1.50, Coffee tables are $3, Cookbooks $3 while all children books are 50 cents. Come Sunday and fill a bag of books for some ridiculously cheap price. 

• The annual Belmont/Watertown United Methodist Church Pumpkin Fair takes place Saturday, Oct. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the front lawn of church at 421 Common St., one block from Cushing Square. Food, pumpkin decorating, crafts, games, bounces, a bake sale along with a mega yard sale.

• On Saturday, Oct. 18, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Belmontian Club will partner with Belmont Car Wash in its annual fundraiser for Belmont High School’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” team. The club, whose members will be out there drying vehicles, will receive all tips for the day and $1 per car for Belmont Car Wash.

• A rare Saturday afternoon game for the Belmont High School Boys’ Soccer team as the playoff-bound Marauders (9-3-2) take on the Tanners from Woburn High at Harris Field on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 2:30 p.m.

• Head over to the Charles River and witness the largest rowing event in the world, the 50th Head of the Charles. The Arlington-Belmont Crew boys’ and girls’ Eights will be on the water, along with 10,500 other rowers, on Sunday, Oct. 18; the boys’ from 10:10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., the girls’ from 12:45 p.m. to 1:10 p.m.

• Celebrate the Powers Music School’s 50th anniversary by participating in the season’s first Belmont Open Sings: “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave.. The chorus will be accompanied by two pianos and percussion with feature singers from Musica Sacra and area choirs. $10 per person; No reservations needed.

Special Town Meeting Limited to Belmont Center Reconstruction Pay Plan

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That was quick!

Belmont’s Special Town Meeting, scheduled for Monday, Nov. 17, will be a singular affair as town officials set an extremely tight window for residents to add anything else to the warrant.

The warrant, which is the agenda of items to be brought before and voted on by Town Meeting members, was officially open for a single hour, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15, for citizens to submit petitions to be taken up by the town’s legislative body. 

“No one filed a citizen petition, though a couple of people had inquired last week how it could be done,” said Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman on Thursday, Oct. 16.

With nothing added to the agenda, members will have only one item to discuss, the $2.6 million Belmont Center Reconstruction Project.

Members will hear from town officials that while the blueprint for the long-awaited revamping of parking, pedestrian and traffic patterns in Belmont Center is complete, the financing is far from set after both state aid and the expected sales of the Cushing Square municipal lot and residential parcels off Woodfill Road – the sale of the town-owned parcels was anticipated to bring in approximately $2 million – never materialized. 

The Town Meeting will essentially determine if, and, or how money for the reconstruction will be secured.

“This is about a vision for your Town Center and that is what we really want to focus on,” said Belmont Selectmen Chair Andy Rojas at a September public meeting on the subject. 

That need for Town Meeting members to concentrate on an important infrastructure project resulted in the quick, open and shut, warrant.

“Town Meeting Members and citizens received several notifications from me that the Board of Selectmen were anticipated to call a Special Town Meeting for a specific purpose, the Belmont Center redevelopment.” The members also received an invitation to a public meeting on that topic, she said.

Arlington/Belmont Eights Row Sunday at The Head of the Charles

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Both the Arlington-Belmont Crew’s Girls’ and Boys’ Eights are hoping to build on their month of successes with a strong race against some of the best youth rowing crews from around the world as they participate in the 50th Head of the Charles Regatta,the world’s largest two-day rowing event, taking place Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18 and 19, along the Charles River in Boston and Cambridge.

The A-B crew (shortened to ABC at events) is a club sport made up of students from Arlington and Belmont high schools. The team practices on the Charles River and Spy Pond in Arlington.

Along with 10,500 fellow rowers, the A-B crews will take on the twisting and challenging – and always daunting – three mile (actually 4.8 kilometers) course known for the 400,000 spectators that line the river and stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the six bridges from the start just before the Boston University bridge to the finish at Christian Herter Park in Brighton.

The boats will take between 18 and 21 minutes to complete the course.

The A-B’s Men’s Youth Eight will start 59th in the race in which the leading boats will take off at 10:08 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19. The boat will carry cox Brenna Sorkin; stroke Max Halliday; seat 7 is Louis Pratt; seat 6, Adrian Tanner, seat 5, Liam Lanigan; seat 4, Nicholas Osborn; seat 3, Eryk Dobrushkin; seat 2, Brendan Mooney and bow Alexander Gharibian. The boys’ are coached by Mark Grinberg.

The A-B’s Women’s Youth Eight will be racing with 46 (out of 85 boats) on its bow. It’s race begins at 12:48 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19. Cox Ellen Cayer will steer the boat with Catherine Tiffany in the bow, seat 7 is Sara Hamilton; seat 6, Jessica Keniston; seat 5, Sophia Fenn; seat 4, Bridget Kiejna; seat 3, Alena Jaeger; seat 2,  Catherine Jacob-Dolan and Julia Blass pulling stoke. Laura Rothman is the Eight’s coach. 

Both boats are coming off some impressive results including the boys’ taking first and the girls’ third in the New Hampshire Championships last week. And there is no rest for the crews as next weekend they will be at the Massachusetts Public Schools Rowing Association Championships where the boys’ go out to defend their gold medal.

 

Town, Schools Set Nov. 12 Application Deadline for School Committee Vacancy

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Interested residents will have just about a month to submit applications for a place on the Belmont School Committee.

But the person selected by the Selectmen and the School Committee will have to keep their running shoes on because they’ll need to win their seat all over again five months later.

In a joint letter released today, Friday, Oct. 17, the chairs of the Belmont School Committee and Board of Selectmen announced the deadline for applications to fill the vacancy left when Kevin Cunningham resigned earlier this month will be Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 4 p.m.

The School Committee’s Laurie Slap and Andy Rojas of the Selectmen said the two boards will meet five days later, on Monday, Nov. 17, in a joint committee to hear from and interview candidates before voting to appoint a new member to fill the vacancy left when Kevin Cunningham resigned earlier this month.

The selected appointee will be sworn in by the Town Clerk Ellen Cushman before the School Committee’s meeting on Nov. 18.

Under state law, the appointee’s term only lasts until the next Town Election; in Belmont that occurs in April, 2015. The person elected for that committee seat will serve a two year term, which is the remainder of Cunningham’s tenure.

Those interested in seeking appointment should write a letter of interest that will include:

  • The reasons for seeking the appointment,
  • Expertise, skills and perspectives they will bring to the committee, and
  • Identify the most pressing issues facing the committee, both through the April election and beyond.

Letters should be sent to:

Cathy Grant

Belmont Public Schools

644 Pleasant St.

Belmont, MA 02478

or via email at:

cgrant@belmont.k12.ma.us

Opinion: Halt the Automatic Gas Tax Hike by Voting ‘Yes’ on 1

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Letter to the editor:
Ballot Question 1 offers taxpayers the opportunity to repeal the automatic gas tax, an increase put in place by the Legislature last July while we were enjoying the summer.

This tax is egregious on many fronts. First and foremost, it is a regressive tax, costing the poor, those with less money,  to spend more of their income on getting to and from work. Conversely, our legislators who voted for this tax increase, do not have to pay for their own gas, or the new tax. We pay them to travel to their work through “per diems,” a daily payment for going to their job.

But what makes this tax so insensitive to the people (us) is that the tax is linked to inflation; that means that the tax will go up without our Legislators even having to go to work to vote on it. This tax is automatic every year. It can never go down.

Funding for the advertising of this tax has come from big business, unions and trade associations. We the people/taxpayers are David. Those who might benefit from government spending are Goliath.

Opponents of this initiative will tell you that that we need the $1 billion to be  raised by this tax to pay for roads and bridges. But just in the past two fiscal years, the Commonwealth raised even more than it expected by $1.1 billion for roads and bridges. They have a surplus. They already have enough. But they still want more.

Send a message to greedy legislators. Vote yes on Ballot Question 1. Repeal the automatic gas tax hikes.

Tomi Olson

Bay State Road

Belmont Savings Named Best Commercial RE Lender by Peers

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In 2010, the new leadership at Belmont Savings Bank – a small lender with $650 million in assets without much of a business presence in the area – made a decision that the institution’s future would be tied to lending. As larger regional and national banks tightened requirements or simply ignored the mid-sized borrower, Belmont Savings would fill the void by being, as CEO and President Robert “Bob” Mahoney said at the time, “the most admired bank in the Metro West.”

One of those lending area would be commercial real estate; from office space, retail sites and multi-unit housing. In 2011, the bank loaned $9.1 million in construction financing for a 37-unit apartment project, 7 Cameron, in Davis Square, Cambridge. While far from the biggest loan made that year, the bank was willing to work hard to complete the deal.

“[The bank] was a pleasure to work with,” says developer Paul Ognibene, president of Urban Spaces.

“They really took a sensible business approach to the loan,” he said, putting in language in the loan to enable the owner to convert the units to condominiums if the market switch in that favor.

Since then, the bank continues making loans – from a $1.6 million mortgage for a small multi-family on Columbus Avenue in Boston to making a $35 million loan on three office buildings in Waltham – seeing lending growth increase in double digits each year as the bank has doubled in size in less than five years.

That commitment to this core business resulted in the Belmont-based bank winning the “Best Commercial Real Estate Lending” category in Banker & Tradesman’s “Best of 2014” poll.

Banker & Tradesman, New England’s leading real estate and lending business publication, asked leading lenders and real estate pros to choose the best service providers to the real estate and industrial sectors in Massachusetts.

“It is a privilege to be recognized by Banker and Tradesman as their rankings underscore the immense strides we have made in our commercial lending services,” said Mahoney.

“The Best of 2014 distinctions are a clear signal that Massachusetts real estate companies prefer the personalized service offered by Belmont Savings over even some of the nation’s largest financial institutions.”

Earlier this year, Mahoney was honored by the Boston Business Journal as a “most-admired CEO,” an award voted on by BBJ readers in an online poll. The bank has also had recent success increasing its assets twofold over the past three years to $1.2 billion dollars and opening three new in-store branches in Shaw’s supermarkets.

Belmont Savings Bank is a $1.2 billion, full-service Massachusetts savings bank dedicated to quality, convenience and personalized service.

Flash Flood Warning in Belmont Until 10 PM

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Just before noon, Thursday, Oct. 16, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for eastern Massachusetts including Belmont as torrential rains are expected to arrive in the area coinciding with the afternoon rush hour.

The warning will continue until 10 p.m.

Bands of heavy rain showers will deliver about one to two inches of rain in the afternoon and early evening, according to the NWS. There is a potential that some localized areas could see three to four inches in a short time period.

Be aware of areas that flood during these weather events. They include the Concord Avenue underpass of the commuter rail bridge in Belmont Center, areas of Waverley Street and along Common Street near the Wellington brook.