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Belmont Citizens Forum’s Questions to Candidates for Selectman

 Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Construction and Housing, Environment, Historic Preservation, March 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, Solar Power, Traffic  Comments Off on Belmont Citizens Forum’s Questions to Candidates for Selectman
Mar 152017
 
Belmont Citizens Forum’s Questions to Candidates for Selectman

Election for Belmont Selectman and Others: Tuesday, April 4 Compiled by John DiCocco Each year we ask candidates for selectman about issues they will likely face in the next three years. This year Guy Carbone and Adam Dash are running for the seat of Sami Baghdady, who retired after three terms as selectman. They were allotted 1,000 words each to distribute as they saw fit. Belmont Citizens Forum: Now that development pressure is growing again, how can Belmont improve its planning process Guy Carbone: Belmont is a neighborhood of residences. Town committees should consider the opinions of Belmont residents concerning [READ MORE]

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Cushing Village Makeover Begins

 Air Quality, Construction and Housing, Environment, Historic Preservation, March 2017, Newsletter, Parking, Uncategorized  Comments Off on Cushing Village Makeover Begins
Mar 152017
 
Cushing Village Makeover Begins

Hoping The Cleanup Is Clean by Virginia Jordan and John DiCocco “The CVS has come down.” Or for Belmont residents of a certain age, “Highland Farms,” or even “the A&P” has come down. Each of these businesses once occupied the building at 527 Common Street (at the corner of Belmont Street). But that 6,200 square foot space in Cushing Square has been left vacant for years. Acton resident and developer Chris Starr, operating as Smith Legacy Partners LLC, owned that parcel, and with it and other parcels he acquired, created the initial proposal for the Cushing Village development in 2012. [READ MORE]

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Belmont Historical Society Call for Nominations 2017

 Historic Preservation, March 2017, Newsletter  Comments Off on Belmont Historical Society Call for Nominations 2017
Mar 152017
 

David R. Johnson Preservation Award Submission deadline: April 15 The Belmont Historical Society invites you to nominate projects that have furthered preservation efforts in Belmont for the David R. Johnson Preservation Award. Awards for projects will be presented at the Belmont Historical Society’s Annual Meeting, May 17. Properties throughout the town, not just in the historic districts, are eligible. The categories for nomination: • Private residences • Commercial properties • Publicly owned properties • Properties owned by nonprofit institutions • Landscape projects • Preservation of Open Space & Land Conservation • Nominations for individuals, companies, or institutions that have made [READ MORE]

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MyRWA Measures Belmont’s Water Quality

 Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on MyRWA Measures Belmont’s Water Quality
Mar 152017
 
MyRWA Measures Belmont’s Water Quality

Volunteers Monitor Every Month by Anne-Marie Lambert Almost every month for more than 16 years, Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) volunteers have been monitoring water quality at the location where the Winn’s Brook culvert flows into Little Pond.     In the early morning of August 17, 2016, I walked to the end of a public path off Brighton Street, near the intersection with Hoitt Road. I watched as Roger Wrubel and Doug Matson took out their MyRWA sampling gear and carefully scooped water samples into test tubes. They were measuring dissolved oxygen, turbidity (a measure of suspended particles), nutrients [READ MORE]

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Boston’s Driest Summer and Hottest Year

 Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Water Quality  Comments Off on Boston’s Driest Summer and Hottest Year
Mar 152017
 
Boston’s Driest Summer and Hottest Year

The Impact of Drought on the Mystic Watershed by Andy Hrycyna People living in the Mystic River watershed have been relatively unaffected by the recent historic drought. Cities and towns have not demanded use restrictions, like bans on watering lawns, for instance. But don’t let that fool you. The absence of mandates to conserve is an accident of where our towns’ water supply happens to originate. It does not mean that our area is immune to the drought. First, some background. An Historic Drought 2016 was the driest summer ever recorded in Boston, with 3.92 inches of rain in June, [READ MORE]

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Lone Tree Hill Annual Spring Volunteer Day—Come Join Us April 29, 9AM-1PM

 Newsletter  Comments Off on Lone Tree Hill Annual Spring Volunteer Day—Come Join Us April 29, 9AM-1PM
Mar 152017
 

Belmont Citizens Forum in conjunction with the Judith K. Record Memorial Conservation Fund invite you to: 5th Belmont Citizens Forum Annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day Rain or Shine! On Saturday, April 29, from 9 am­–1 pm, the Belmont Citizens Forum in conjunction with the Judith K. Record Memorial Conservation Fund is sponsoring its fifth annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day, and we invite you to participate—rain or shine! This year, we are having two different work sites, one to plant white pines along the Pine Allee, and a second to clean up the trash along South Pleasant Street, in [READ MORE]

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Update: The MCRT Rail Trail

 Bicycles and bike paths, Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Traffic, Transit  Comments Off on Update: The MCRT Rail Trail
Mar 152017
 

DCR Pays for Paving According to Larry Kiernan of the Friends of the MCRT (Mass Central Rail Trail), the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) plans to pave the rail trail for the entire length of the Eversource access road, from the Wayland Library to the bridge at the far end of Weston, with a plan for completion in 2017. Including the town center piece (completed already in stone dust) there will be almost five miles of a bike and pedestrian-friendly path between Wayland and Weston. DCR, Eversource, and the towns are still discussing amenities, additional landscaping, and more, [READ MORE]

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Environmental Events March-April 2017

 Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Recycling, Water Quality  Comments Off on Environmental Events March-April 2017
Mar 152017
 

Featured Event: Poetry Walk at Rock Meadow Saturday, April 29, 2-3:30PM Anne-Marie Lambert will be joined by Kevin Gallagher, local poet and author of the recently published book Loom, about the Massachusetts textile industry and its relation to the surge in demand for slave labor in the South in the 19th century.    “Through poetry,” says Lambert, “we will explore the landscape and history of this part of Belmont and Waltham.” Meet at the small Rock Meadow parking lot on Mill Street. Bike racks are available and there is more parking across the street. Woolapalooza at Drumlin Farm Friday, March [READ MORE]

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Belmont Drives Electric Campaign Continues

 Air Quality, Environment, January 2017, Newsletter, Transit  Comments Off on Belmont Drives Electric Campaign Continues
Jan 192017
 
Belmont Drives Electric Campaign Continues

A Cleaner Town, One Driveway at a Time by Madeleine Barr Lara Hirner and Jason Reed, the first Belmont residents to purchase an EV through the Belmont Drives Electric program, with their new Chevrolet Volt. Join the movement. Belmont is one of the top five towns in Massachusetts for electric vehicle adoption. Belmont Drives Electric (BDE) is a community initiative launched in October 2016 designed to highlight the benefits of driving electric vehicles (EVs) and make it easy for you to get behind the wheel. Through this initiative, Belmont residents in cooperation with several local dealers have taken test drives [READ MORE]

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Idling Harms Your Car and Your Health

 Newsletter  Comments Off on Idling Harms Your Car and Your Health
Jan 192017
 
Idling Harms Your Car and Your Health

No Idle Threat Compiled by John DiCocco Idling your car—leaving the engine running while the vehicle is parked or standing—is bad for your car, your wallet, your own health, and the environment. One of the unfortunate inventions of the past few years is the auto ignition feature that allows owners to start their cars remotely (to “warm up the engine”), without having to step outside. With new car technology, it’s totally unnecessary. But beyond that, it’s dangerous, because it allows carbon monoxide to build up in your driveway, and may even seep into the car. Everyday in the US, millions [READ MORE]

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Pay As You Throw—More Information.

 Newsletter  Comments Off on Pay As You Throw—More Information.
Jan 192017
 

Response To Reader Comments by Kim Slack In our last issue, we published an article by Belmont resident Kim Slack, a member of the town’s recycling and waste committee, advocating for the Pay As You Throw (PAYT) approach to trash collection. One hundred and forty-three Massachusetts communities use PAYT. With PAYT, you pay for each trash bag you want to have collected. The BCF Newsletter received a few notes that offered dissenting views and we invited Slack to respond. I appreciate everyone’s feedback. I hope this will clarify the benefits of PAYT. Hiding the cost in our taxes for trash [READ MORE]

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Mass Central Rail Trail’s Westward Progress

 Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Environment, January 2017, Newsletter, Traffic  Comments Off on Mass Central Rail Trail’s Westward Progress
Jan 192017
 
Mass Central Rail Trail's Westward Progress

Go West, Young Rider by John Dieckmann When completed, the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) will stretch 104 miles, from North Point Park (opposite the Museum of Science at the Boston-Cambridge line), all the way to Northampton. The Belmont Community Path would eventually be a segment of the MCRT. As the community path feasibility study moves forward here in Belmont, several towns to our immediate west are making ongoing progress developing segments of the trail. The epicenter of trail progress today is Wayland, which is likely to be first to complete the projects listed below. We’ll describe the plans town-by-town [READ MORE]

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Environmental Events Jan-Feb 2017

 Air Quality, Environment, Historic Preservation, January 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Water Quality  Comments Off on Environmental Events Jan-Feb 2017
Jan 192017
 

Friends of Fresh Pond Reservation Annual Meeting and Potluck Supper Sunday, January 22, 5-7 PM Help us celebrate over 15 years of educational programs and stewardship. Enjoy good food and learn about the activities of the Friends group. Following supper, we will briefly review the past year, then share ideas for future programs and projects at Fresh Pond in a relaxed roundtable discussion. Guests and newcomers welcome. RSVP to Catherine Pedemonti at friendsoffreshpond@yahoo.com. Basement of Neville Place, 650 Concord Avenue, Cambridge Winter Nature Storytime at Fresh Pond Friday, January 27, 10-11 AM Friends of Fresh Pond host children and their [READ MORE]

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E-Bikes: Your Next Mode of Travel?

 Newsletter  Comments Off on E-Bikes: Your Next Mode of Travel?
Jan 172017
 
E-Bikes: Your Next Mode of Travel?

Power to the Pedal by David Chase If you’d like to bike more but are put off by hills, a relatively long commute, or the need to combine children or other cargo with a long or hilly commute, you might consider an e-bike—a bicycle with a battery-powered electric motor assist.   The BionX motor is integrated with the gears. This unit can be added to a non-electric bike. A modern e-bike adds a compact battery-powered motor to a regular bike frame (though many are designed specifically to be e-bikes). The electric motor provides extra oomph. The e-bike motor, sized between [READ MORE]

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Belmont Electric Vehicle Campaign Revs Up

 Air Quality, Environment, Newsletter, November-December 2016  Comments Off on Belmont Electric Vehicle Campaign Revs Up
Nov 032016
 
Belmont Electric Vehicle Campaign Revs Up

First Goal is 50 New Electric Vehicles in Town By Jan Kruse. Photos by Emily Woods. BDE co-chair Marty Bittner (left) and volunteer Ade Baptista check out a Tesla Model X electric car. Experts predict that electric vehicles (EVs) are the wave of the future, but for Belmont, the future is now. Belmont Drives Electric (BDE) is a new community-driven program to promote the benefits of EVs, and is supported by the Belmont Energy Committee, Belmont Light, Sustainable Belmont, and other Belmont EV enthusiasts. Why Promote Electric in Belmont Now? In 2016, the Belmont Energy Committee updated the assessment of [READ MORE]

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Waltham Solicits Bids for Design of Rail Trail

 Bike Paths, Environment, Newsletter, November-December 2016, Traffic, Transit  Comments Off on Waltham Solicits Bids for Design of Rail Trail
Nov 032016
 
Waltham Solicits Bids for Design of Rail Trail

Will Belmont Follow Suit? By Vince Stanton Jr. In September, the city of Waltham issued a request for proposal (RFP) for 100% design of a community path extending approximately three miles from the Waltham-Belmont border (about 1,000 feet west of Waverley Square) to the Weston border (about 1,500 feet west of Route 128, just south of Main Street). (“100% design” refers to a fully specified set of construction drawings.) Proposals were due on October 20. At a bidder’s conference on October 5, city officials expressed the hope that design work could be completed this winter, allowing construction to begin in [READ MORE]

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Belmont Community Path Orientation Walk

 Bike Paths, Environment, November-December 2016, Traffic  Comments Off on Belmont Community Path Orientation Walk
Nov 032016
 
Belmont Community Path Orientation Walk

Photos by David Chase On Saturday, October 15, members of the Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee and consultants led a walk of about two dozen citizens to educate them about route possibilities for the western end of the community path in Belmont. Above, the group stops on Olmsted Drive, uphill from Pleasant Street. Behind the police station, the group examines grades and pinch points. The path could follow the Fitchburg commuter rail line at several locations. Above is near Cityside Subaru on Pleasant Street. The path may continue north of the railroad tracks off Pleasant Street, near Snake Hill Road. [READ MORE]

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Goodbye and Thank You to EK Khalsa

 Air Quality, Environment, November-December 2016, Water Quality  Comments Off on Goodbye and Thank You to EK Khalsa
Nov 032016
 
Goodbye and Thank You to EK Khalsa

Interview with an Environmental Change Agent by Julia Blatt EK (EkOngKar) Khalsa was executive director of Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) from 2008 until this September. His leadership has resulted in a dramatic improvement in the environment and water quality in a vital Greater Boston natural resource. We asked Belmont resident Julia Blatt, executive director of the Massachusetts Rivers Alliance and longtime colleague of Khalsa, to speak with him about his accomplishments in the region. Julia Blatt: What brought you to the Mystic River Watershed Association? EK Khalsa: I was introduced to MyRWA by an inspiring, very dynamic member of [READ MORE]

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