20 Years of Belmont Water Trouble

 Environment, January 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on 20 Years of Belmont Water Trouble
Jan 062020
 
20 Years of Belmont Water Trouble

By Sumner Brown Belmont has two types of water trouble. One is flooding during heavy rains. The other trouble comes from leaking sewer pipes. Flooding Today, as I write this, there is no flooding in Belmont. Floods are rare enough that we do not make ourselves perpetually anxious about them, but parts of Belmont are vulnerable. In both Belmont and Arlington, people live in what were swamps, and there seem to be 100-year storms every 10 years. Climate change may have something to do with this. The Belmont Citizens Forum advocates for rain gardens and other measures to slow the [READ MORE]

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20 Amazing Years of the Belmont Citizens Forum

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Environment, Historic Preservation, History, January 2020, Newsletter, Sewers, Water Quality  Comments Off on 20 Amazing Years of the Belmont Citizens Forum
Jan 062020
 
20 Amazing Years of the Belmont Citizens Forum

  By Jim Graves As a founding board member of the Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF), who has been inactive in recent years, I am honored to share these thoughts on why the BCF has been so valuable and to applaud the individuals and supporters who have sustained the BCF for 20 years. Prior to starting the BCF, the founders worked to first improve, then oppose, and nearly defeat the development and zoning changes proposed for 238 acres of open space owned by Partners Healthcare and its subsidiary, McLean Hospital. Legal challenges by the BCF and supporters slowed implementation, and notably, [READ MORE]

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Libby Atkins Remembered

 Environment, History, Newsletter, November 2019, Open Space  Comments Off on Libby Atkins Remembered
Nov 062019
 
Libby Atkins Remembered

By Roger Wrubel Many of us lost a dear friend, inspiration, and role model for aging gracefully when Elizabeth “Libby” Atkins, long-time Juniper Road resident, died at the age of 94 on August 19. I first met Libby when I interviewed to become the next director of Mass Audubon’s Habitat Sanctuary in 2000. She and her husband Elisha, who had grown up on the estate that became Habitat, let me know how much the sanctuary meant to them both, and I never forgot it. Elizabeth Potter married Elisha Atkins when he returned from the Pacific theater of World War II [READ MORE]

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Belmont Highlights Natural, Historic Treasures

 Environment, Historic Preservation, History, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, November 2019, Open Space, Plants  Comments Off on Belmont Highlights Natural, Historic Treasures
Nov 042019
 
Belmont Highlights Natural, Historic Treasures

By Mary Bradley The Belmont Historical Society hosted two events in September and October celebrating Belmont’s rich cultural and environmental history. Tracking the Wellington Hill Station through Time The Belmont Historical Society hosted an open house on September 15, 2019, to celebrate the completion of a series of repairs and restorations to the many-purposed Wellington Hill Station building the previous month. The station received a new cedar shingle roof and repairs to the decking and gingerbread trim, the interior plaster walls, and the lower wood sections. The roof was funded with Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding and donations from the [READ MORE]

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Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset

 Environment, Historic Preservation, History, Newsletter, November 2019, Open Space, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset
Nov 042019
 
Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset

By Michael Chesson Clay Pit Pond on Concord Avenue was once the site of Belmont’s largest industrial enterprise, a brickyard run by John H. and Robert A. Parry. The brothers bought 20¾ acres of land in 1888 on Concord Avenue and Underwood Street, with its valuable blue clay that turned an attractive reddish color when fired, and their yard produced 200,000 bricks a week. Just as the oil, steel, and railroad industries consolidated, the Parry brothers’ business in 1900 merged with the New England Brick Company, which owned three dozen other brickyards in the region. The firm installed new dryers, [READ MORE]

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Belmont’s Underground Pollution Problem

 Environment, Newsletter, November 2019, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Belmont’s Underground Pollution Problem
Nov 042019
 
Belmont’s Underground Pollution Problem

By Anne-Marie Lambert If only the 504 gallons of household wastewater which had been pouring into Wellington Brook and Winn’s Brook through underground culverts every day had been more visible, perhaps we as a town would have addressed the necessary repairs more urgently. That’s what Belmont did when a student noticed an oil spill leaking into Clay Pit Pond during a freeze on December 12, 2003. A ruptured return line to the underground storage tank at Mary Lee Burbank Elementary school travelled through the town’s storm drain system carrying 1,000 gallons of oil to Clay Pit Pond. Alerted to the [READ MORE]

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September/October 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Environment, Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2019  Comments Off on September/October 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF
Sep 162019
 
September/October 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

View or download the September/October 2019 issue as a color PDF here, or read single articles below.       Articles in this issue: How to Fix Belmont’s Traffic By Jessie Bennett Traffic in greater Boston has gone from an annoyance to a crisis. The recent Congestion in the Commonwealth study produced by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), outlines how increasing congestion is affecting travel times and access to jobs. Two key trouble areas are Fresh Pond Parkway and the Route 2 approach to Alewife. Read more. Community Path Progress in Belmont and Beyond By John Dieckmann Recently, there [READ MORE]

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July/August 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

 Environment, July-Aug 2019, Newsletter  Comments Off on July/August 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF
Jul 162019
 

View or download the July/August 2019 issue as a color PDF here, or read single articles below.   Articles in this issue: From Here to There: Belmont’s Roadmap to Decarbonization By Roger Colton The Belmont Energy Committee’s 2018 “Roadmap for Strategic Decarbonization” will allow periodic measurement of progress toward the objective of reducing emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Read more.   Buying Local: Electricity from Belmont Light By Marty Bitner In Belmont, there are clear benefits to buying local when it comes to energy usage, and that means powering our lives with electricity whenever possible. Read more.   Belmont Energy [READ MORE]

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From Here to There: Belmont’s Roadmap to Decarbonization

 Air Quality, Environment, July-Aug 2019  Comments Off on From Here to There: Belmont’s Roadmap to Decarbonization
Jul 162019
 
From Here to There: Belmont’s Roadmap to Decarbonization

By Roger Colton The adage is timeless: think globally, act locally. On climate change issues, Belmont has taken that advice to heart. In 2009, a Belmont Special Town Meeting approved the goal of 80 percent emissions reduction by the year 2050. The following year, the Belmont Energy Committee was organized and appointed to pursue that goal. In 2016, the committee examined the change in CO2 emissions between Belmont’s first greenhouse-gas inventory of 2007, and the most currently available data, 2014. They estimated that total emissions from electricity, transportation, and heating fuels declined by 5 percent in those seven years. Energy [READ MORE]

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Buying Local: Electricity from Belmont Light

 Air Quality, Environment, July-Aug 2019  Comments Off on Buying Local: Electricity from Belmont Light
Jul 162019
 

By Marty Bitner In Belmont, there are clear benefits to buying local when it comes to energy usage, and that means powering our lives with electricity whenever possible. In contrast to the investor-owned corporate utilities serving many of our neighboring communities, where financial benefits primarily flow to shareholders who live far away, Belmont Light is a municipal electric utility, operated in the public interest. In Belmont, we are both the customers and the shareholders, and doing what is best for ratepayers is always the objective. Our electric rates are determined not only by the amount of money needed to purchase [READ MORE]

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Belmont Energy Reference List

 Air Quality, Environment, July-Aug 2019  Comments Off on Belmont Energy Reference List
Jul 162019
 

  REFERENCE LIST for July/August 2019 Belmont Energy Committee articles _______________________ Belmont Composts! belmontcomposts.org jwusauk@aol.com Belmont Drives Electric belmontdriveselectric.org belmontdriveselectric@gmail.com Belmont Energy Committee belmontclimateaction.org contact via web form Belmont Energy Roadmap belmontclimateaction.org/initiatives contact via web form Belmont Light belmontlight.com customerservice@belmontlight.com Belmont Light Green Choice belmontlight.com/energy-solutions/residential-programs/ HeatSmart heatsmartbelmont.org heatsmartbelmont@gmail.com  

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Belmont Light’s Role in Energy Efficiency

 Air Quality, Environment, July-Aug 2019  Comments Off on Belmont Light’s Role in Energy Efficiency
Jul 162019
 

By Roger Colton Belmont’s commitment to a long-term goal of strategic electrification will not scale back Belmont Light’s energy-efficiency programs. In Belmont, strategic electrification involves increasing electricity use primarily by electrifying transportation and home heating/cooling. Belmont Light says there’s no conflict between this effort to increase electricity use and its offer of energy-efficiency programs. According to Ben Thivierge, energy specialist for Belmont Light, the phrase “energy efficiency” has “changed its meaning. Energy efficiency used to mean simply not using electricity.” Today, he said, “there’s a larger scope. ‘Energy efficiency’ today is associated with decarbonization. It is through energy efficiency that [READ MORE]

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New Belmont School Leads Way with Zero Net Energy

 Construction and Housing, Environment, July-Aug 2019  Comments Off on New Belmont School Leads Way with Zero Net Energy
Jul 162019
 
New Belmont School Leads Way with Zero Net Energy

By Jacob Knowles The latest climate science indicates that we must reverse the historic trend of emissions escalation and begin actively extracting CO2 from the atmosphere. Energy consumption by buildings represents 28 percent of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which means that zero net energy (ZNE) buildings are a core component of achieving a livable climate. On the bright side, there has been exponential growth in ZNE buildings, with a 700 percent increase between 2012 and 2019 in completed and emerging ZNE buildings in the US and Canada, as documented by the New Buildings Institute. This growth is happening [READ MORE]

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Roadmap Review: What’s In, What’s Out, and Why

 Environment, July-Aug 2019  Comments Off on Roadmap Review: What’s In, What’s Out, and Why
Jul 152019
 
Roadmap Review: What’s In, What’s Out, and Why

By James Booth Belmont’s Climate Action Roadmap focuses on promoting electrification of vehicles and heat-pump heating, coupled with carbon-free electricity. For an individual Belmont resident, is it enough to convert to clean electricity to help fight climate change? No. Here’s why: First, in addition to shifting our energy use to clean electricity, it will remain as important as ever to take every opportunity to use less energy through conservation and efficiency, as discussed elsewhere in this newsletter. This includes walking, biking, carpooling, and taking public transit when possible to move ourselves around. Weatherizing our houses to stay comfortable with less [READ MORE]

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Electric Vehicles: One Owner’s Perspective

 Air Quality, Environment, July-Aug 2019  Comments Off on Electric Vehicles: One Owner’s Perspective
Jul 152019
 
Electric Vehicles: One Owner’s Perspective

By Marty Bitner New cars today offer an array of features and options. The most important option, however, is how your car is fueled, and lately options for electric vehicles (EV) are getting better. Today, enough fully electric and plug-in hybrid models are available to meet the needs of most people. You owe it to yourself to consider making the switch from a gas-powered car to an EV. My family did over a year ago; we’ll never go back.     EVs are fun to drive. When you step on the accelerator, the car responds instantly: it just goes. This [READ MORE]

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Letter to the Editor, July-Aug 2019

 Environment, July-Aug 2019, Water Quality  Comments Off on Letter to the Editor, July-Aug 2019
Jul 152019
 
Letter to the Editor, July-Aug 2019

More on disposing in the kitchen sink As a resident of Newton for 20-plus years and an activist in Waltham as well (Waltham Land Trust), I salute Belmont on your newsletter. It stands out, in my experience, as the best suburban NGO volunteer-run information medium. I’ve used its articles in my teaching at Brandeis. So, bravo and well done. I have a question for Mary Bradley, the compost fanatic (I am one, too, and refer to the May/June 2019 article, “Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down,” typical of BCF articles in its detail and usefulness), and it’s this: has she [READ MORE]

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Belmont Roots, July/August 2019

 Environment, July-Aug 2019, Newsletter, Volunteer  Comments Off on Belmont Roots, July/August 2019
Jul 152019
 

Environmental News, Notes, and Events By Meg Muckenhoupt Reducing emissions can begin in your own backyard—but how? Well, if you’re tired of mowing your lawn, you have a good excuse to stop. Although grasses, like all plants, remove carbon from the air when they grow their leaves and roots, the greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer and pesticide production, mowing, and leaf blowing make grass a poor proposition for our climate. You still have to do something with that land, but there are many other good choices that will look good and keep more carbon in the ground and out of [READ MORE]

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May/June 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

 BCF Events, Construction and Housing, Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Recycling, Traffic, Volunteer, Water Quality  Comments Off on May/June 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF
May 062019
 

View or download the May/June 2019 issue as a color PDF here, or read single articles below.   Articles in this issue: New Plans for McLean Land Density is key issue as town considers proposals for two McLean campus parcels By Sue Bass Twenty years ago, Belmont voted to allow development on McLean Hospital land on Belmont Hill. Now McLean is coming back to the town with new proposals for two parcels of land that are still undeveloped. Read more.   Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down By Mary Bradley Composting is no longer just a backyard hobby for the ardent gardener. [READ MORE]

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New Plans for McLean Land

 Construction and Housing, Environment, History, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Open Space, Traffic  Comments Off on New Plans for McLean Land
May 062019
 
New Plans for McLean Land

Density is key issue as town considers proposals for two McLean campus parcels By Sue Bass Twenty years ago, Belmont voted to allow development on McLean Hospital land on Belmont Hill. The town-wide referendum of July 1999 endorsed the previous Town Meeting vote to change zoning for 238 acres. The largest portion for new construction became the Woodlands, 121 luxury townhouses on twenty-six acres. Another portion became Waverley Woods, 40 units of affordable housing on an acre and a third. Some land was preserved from construction. One hundred and twenty acres were set aside for open space, and fourteen acres [READ MORE]

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Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down

 Environment, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Plants, Recycling  Comments Off on Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down
May 062019
 
Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down

By Mary Bradley A Virtuous Cycle Composting is no longer just a backyard hobby for the ardent gardener. It has Facebook groups and a following from environmentalists, politicians, and scientists. Most praise compost as a means to keep food waste out of landfills and reduce release of methane. While consensus ends there, composting has evolved from a tale of worms, microbes, and bacteria to the realm of politics, emerging technologies, and scientific disputes. For me, however, composting is about magic: Wave one hand over an orange peel clutched in your other hand, and reveal a fistful of dirt. If that’s [READ MORE]

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