mm – Page 9 – Belmont Citizens Forum

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Wicked Hot Mystic Maps Summer Heat

Air Quality, Climate Change, Environment, Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2022 Comments Off

Sep 092022

Detail of a map of surface temperatures recorded by Wicked Hot Mystic, a collaborative project of the Museum of Science, Boston, in partnership with the Resilient Mystic River Collaborative (RMC), Mystic River Watershed Association, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. On August 12 and 13, 2021, over 80 volunteers joined MOS and MyRWA in measuring ground-level air temperature, humidity, and air particulate matter using special sensors mounted on cars and bikes. This data was collected August 12 at 3 pm. Note that the McLean conservation land is 10F cooler than surrounding areas. For more information see www.mos.org/explore/public-events/wicked-hot-mystic

Reflections on “Belmont’s Fiscal Cliff”

Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2022 Comments Off

Sep 092022

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Although “Belmont’s Looming Fiscal Cliff” makes several important points about Belmont’s tax base, some of the details should be clarified for BCF readers. Lexington and Watertown have both recently raised taxes, largely driven by the construction of new schools. Lexington’s most recent tax increase was in June 2022, when voters approved a debt exclusion to fund a $35.2 million new police station. The average tax bill is expected to increase by $258/year in the first year. Previously, in December 2017, Lexington voters approved debt exclusions for two new schools and a new fire station with an [READ MORE]

Why We are Running a Pro-Development Piece

Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2022 Comments Off

Sep 092022

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Long-time readers of the Newsletter may be surprised to see an article proposing more intensive development in Belmont. The Belmont Citizens Forum was created in 2000 by a group of residents who opposed the scale of development proposed by McLean Hospital on its Belmont Hill campus—initially over 1,000,000 square feet. Much of that development has not transpired, as commercial property developers have not found the McLean location attractive. The McLean development proposed in the late 1990s came with the promise of substantial new revenue. Specifically, in 1999 the town’s financial impact consultant estimated that the McLean [READ MORE]

Belmont is Sitting on a Fiscal Cliff

Construction and Housing, Newsletter, Open Space, Sept/Oct 2022, Town Committee Meetings Comments Off

Sep 092022

By Max Colice, Elizabeth Dionne, and Dan Barry Belmont is effectively insolvent. It cannot pay its operating expenses and pension debt without one-time federal aid. Compounding this problem, Belmont’s operating expenses are rising faster than its revenue. Unless Belmont increases its revenue, the town may have to cut services drastically. Like every other town in Massachusetts, Belmont’s revenue comes mainly from property taxes. The Board of Assessors assesses each property’s value, then computes the property tax by multiplying the property value by the property tax rate. Even though Belmont’s property tax rate is relatively low, its single-family property tax bill [READ MORE]

Affordable Housing: A Primer

Construction and Housing, July-August 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 212022

By Tomi Olsen The Belmont Housing Trust (BHT) is committed to enhancing Belmont residents’ knowledge of affordable housing. We would like to define some terminology to make it clearer when we talk to the community about the need for affordable housing and ways to accomplish it. The BHA and the BHT There is often confusion about the difference between the Belmont Housing Trust and the Belmont Housing Authority (BHA). Each is a distinct organization. Housing trusts are typically nonprofit organizations while housing authorities are state agencies. The BHT, like other housing trusts in the Commonwealth, is a nonprofit corporation (501c3) [READ MORE]

Belmont Porchfest to Celebrate Our Resilience

July-August 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 212022

Belmont Porchfest to Celebrate Our Resilience

By Mary Bradley Planning is underway for Belmont Porchfest’s most ambitious event yet to reflect on and celebrate our resilience as a community. Porchfest is scheduled for September 10, and registration is open at BelmontPorchfest.org. Expect to see our new “Thank You Sponsors!” signs in front of EVERY registered porch beginning in early July. A peek behind the curtain reveals plans for a Park Palooza (location TBA) featuring student musicians, a community-wide art project, and food vendors. The art project is geared toward all ages, aimed to bring out our inner painters and writers, each creating a small part [READ MORE]

Gas Leaks Are a Civil Rights Issue

Climate Change, Environment, July-August 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 212022

By Aditya Jain Governments have embraced natural gas as a “bridge fuel” to completely renewable energy sources, yet natural gas is far from a clean energy source (“It’s Time to Switch from Gas to Clean Energy,” BCF Newsletter, August/September 2021). Natural gas leaks in streets and homes cause significant public health hazards and environmental damage. Across Massachusetts, gas leaks are often underestimated by officials and underserved by gas companies. While numerous gas leaks in Belmont are listed and mapped, other communities of underrepresented minorities face the heaviest burden of this pollution. Massachusetts-based energy researchers analyzed gas leaks in different geographic [READ MORE]

What is a CISMA, and Why Do We Need One?

Environment, July-August 2022, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Jun 202022

What is a CISMA, and Why Do We Need One?

By Jeffrey North New York state has eight very large ones. Oregon has 10. Michigan has more than 20 (required by law for every county). The number of Comprehensive Invasive Species Management Associations (CISMAs) across the country is approaching 400. Massachusetts has one. But that number is likely to increase. With the likely passage of the invasive species bill (H4595), financial and administrative resources will be available for CISMAs and a host of other programs, plans, and projects for controlling invasive plants. The bill would establish an invasive species trust fund. A statewide invasive species coordinator would be appointed, along [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Invasive Species: Black Swallowwort

Environment, July-August 2022, Newsletter, Plants Comments Off

Jun 202022

Belmont’s Invasive Species: Black Swallowwort

By Jeffrey North Black swallowwort is a killer. Monarch butterflies mistake the plant for native common milkweed, and lay their eggs in the non-native invader, where the larvae die. Besides threatening the population of migrating monarch butterflies, it is toxic to mammals, and by crowding out food for wildlife, worsens wildlife habitat. Vincetoxicum nigrum, also known as Louise’s swallowwort or black dog-strangling vine, is a species of plant native to Europe and found primarily in Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain. Black swallowwort was probably introduced to North America as an ornamental plant in the 1800s. The first sighting of Vincetoxicum [READ MORE]

Restoration Resumes on Lone Tree Hill

Environment, July-August 2022, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Jun 202022

By Jeffrey North A crew of field horticulture technicians returned to the Lone Tree Hill conservation area for their first visit in 2022 on May 20. Begun in late 2020, the work to enhance the ecological integrity of Belmont’s 80-acre conservation land site addresses the most egregious infestations of biodiversity-erasing invasive plant species. (See Restoration Projects Approved for Lone Tree Hill, BCF Newsletter, May 2021) The mission this time was to cut or pull and spray garlic mustard in bloom. As garlic mustard is one of the first plants to start actively growing in late March, leaves can be sprayed [READ MORE]

Mass Central Rail Trail Continues Expansion

Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 202022

Mass Central Rail Trail Continues Expansion

By John Dieckmann Progress continues on the Wayside section of the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) from I-495 to Boston. Two paved segments were recently completed: five miles, from the Waltham-Weston town line to Route 20 in Wayland at Russell’s Garden Center, and approximately three miles from Brighton Street in Belmont to Lowell Street in Somerville. In addition, two major segments are under construction. The Somerville-Cambridge section being constructed along with the Green Line Extension will open in late summer and will complete the MCRT from Brighton Street to Boston in the vicinity of the TD Garden. Construction has [READ MORE]

Could the Community Path Host a Solar Array?

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, July-August 2022, Newsletter, Parking, Solar Power Comments Off

Jun 202022

Could the Community Path Host a Solar Array?

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Additional material—including calculations of how much energy could be generated—is available in the full version . Below is the version which appeared in the print newsletter. – Ed. The imminent arrival of the Belmont Community Path prompts the question: what other productive uses might be devised for the Fitchburg Line corridor? One possibility is siting a south-facing solar photovoltaic (PV) array along the tracks. Conditions for a PV array Aspects of path layout relevant to design of a PV array include length, orientation to the sun, and the presence of a substrate to which PV panels can [READ MORE]

Do We Need a New High School Parking Lot?

July-August 2022, Newsletter, Parking Comments Off

Jun 202022

Do We Need a New High School Parking Lot?

By Anne Paulsen Belmont is a small town and space is limited. Land use planning is key to maintaining a town that is walkable and bikeable with shopping, services, recreation, educational opportunities, and open space close at hand. The key is how to make the best use of this limited space. The town is now planning the completion of the high and middle schools, and plans are underway for a new skating rink and library. Parking is a big part of the plans. For the last 50 years, off-street surface parking in the area west of Harris Field has been [READ MORE]

Belmont Hill School Plans To Pave Woodlands

Construction and Housing, Environment, July-August 2022 Comments Off

Jun 202022

Belmont Hill School Plans To Pave Woodlands

By Justin Roe Belmont Hill School has always held itself out to be a good neighbor and a responsible member of our community. The Belmont Hill School Sustainability Club is proud to be “Mindful of the rising importance of promoting environmentally sustainable practices and environmental stewardship in our world today and in the future . . . to reduce our school’s impact on the environment and educate faculty and students alike about environmental issues in areas such as energy consumption, waste disposal, and climate change.” These are inspiring words. Nevertheless, Belmont Hill School has recently revealed plans to pave over [READ MORE]

July/August 2022 Newsletter

July-August 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 202022

Read the July/August 2022 BCF Newsletter In this issue: Belmont Hill School Plans To Pave Woodlands Belmont Hill School has recently revealed plans to pave over a large section of existing woodland to build a new campus site across Prospect Street from their current campus. Read more. Do We Need a New High School Parking Lot? The town is now planning the completion of the high and middle schools, and plans are underway for a new skating rink and library. For the last 50 years, off-street surface parking in the area west of Harris Field has been limited, but the [READ MORE]

Belmont Path Solar Array – Full Version

July-August 2022, Newsletter, Solar Power Comments Off

Jun 202022

Electrifying Belmont: Could the Community Path Anchor a PV Solar Array? By Vincent Stanton, Jr. A condensed version of this article appeared in the July//August 2022 BCF Newsletter – Ed. The settlement of Belmont was shaped by the opening of the Fitchburg Railroad in 1843. Today, 179 years later, the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line, now owned by the MBTA, would be recognizable to a Belmont resident of 1843. Though the 19th-century stations are gone, and at-grade crossings in Belmont Center and Waverley Square were replaced in 1907 and 1952 by a bridge and a trench, respectively, the basic infrastructure (steel [READ MORE]

Belmont Farmers’ Market Opens June 2

May/June 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

May 082022

The Belmont Farmers’ Market 17th season opens on Thursday, June 2, and will be operating on Thursdays from 2 to 6:30 PM in the Belmont Center municipal parking lot. Opening day will feature information about food assistance programs available statewide and through programs offered in Belmont and at the market. Find out about SNAP (formerly food stamps), HIP (free produce for SNAP recipients), and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program (free produce for seniors and WIC families). The market doubles SNAP funds; note that the number of SNAP households in Belmont increased by almost 50% between 2019 and 2021. You can [READ MORE]

How Can We Control Urban Rats?

Environment, May/June 2022 Comments Off

May 082022

By Fred Bouchard Plague-ridden Saxony hired the legendary Pied Piper to toot rats out of Hamelin. Other age-old tactics—trapping, shooting, pan-banging—raise fresh collateral issues in densely populated areas, in addition to mess and noise. Chicago in recent years resorted to sniper stealth by siccing 1,000 neutered feral cats on its record rat population. Passive approaches to rat control yield slow results, as city-centric man confronts Rattus norvegicus, the world’s most populous and prolific urban mammal. Rat fertility is gaining ground as shorter, warmer winters encourage them to squeeze out an extra litter or three a year. Exterminators concur that the [READ MORE]

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