Ground Source Heat Pumps Make Heating Easy

 Jan/Feb 2019  Comments Off on Ground Source Heat Pumps Make Heating Easy
Sep 162019
 
Ground Source Heat Pumps Make Heating Easy

By James Booth One of the best options for home heating that doesn’t burn oil or natural gas is a heat pump. Heat pumps reduce the amount of energy you need to heat or cool indoor air. If you use fossil fuels to heat, a heat pump will let you use less fuel, which means fewer climate-changing greenhouse gases and less local and indoor air pollution. Heat pumps work by using electricity to move heat between the inside and outside of a house, allowing efficient heating or cooling. There are two ways to do this: air-source heat pumps and ground [READ MORE]

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January/February 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

 Jan/Feb 2019, Newsletter  Comments Off on January/February 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF
Jan 142019
 

View or download the January/February 2019 issue as a color PDF here, or read single articles below.   Articles in this issue: Critical Community Path Decisions Route, Design, and Funding to be Determined in the Next Six Months By Vincent Stanton, Jr.  The design of the Belmont Community Path has moved closer to reality in the last six months and further important decisions loom in the next six months. Read more.   How Laterals Get Lined Fixing Water Pollution at the Sewer Source By Sumner Brown Sewer leaks get fixed only by physical work on sewer pipes by people with [READ MORE]

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Critical Community Path Decisions

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Board of Selectmen, Jan/Feb 2019, Newsletter, Traffic, Transit  Comments Off on Critical Community Path Decisions
Jan 142019
 
Critical Community Path Decisions

Route, Design, and Funding to be Determined in the Next Six Months By Vincent Stanton, Jr. The design of the Belmont Community Path, last reviewed in the May/June2018 and July/August 2018 issues of the BCF Newsletter, has moved closer to reality in the last six months with leadership from the Belmont selectmen and financial support from Town Meeting. However, further important decisions loom in the next six months. The selectmen will make a final decision about the route in eastern Belmont (the focus of this article); Annual Town Meeting will vote on design funding for the path segment from Brighton [READ MORE]

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The BCF Newsletter Team Grows

 Jan/Feb 2019, Newsletter  Comments Off on The BCF Newsletter Team Grows
Jan 142019
 
The BCF Newsletter Team Grows

By Sara McCabe Welcome, Mary Bradley, Co-Editor Last year when I was working on the July/August issue of the newsletter, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mary Bradley, the founder of Belmont Porchfest. I was struck by her enthusiasm for all things Belmont, not even knowing at the time that she was also a Town Meeting member, a Recreation Commission board member, and co-president of the Belmont Dolphins swim team. I immediately envisioned putting all that energy to work for the Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF) and somehow managed to convince Mary to lend her talents to the newsletter. After working [READ MORE]

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Frozen Water in Belmont: Stories of Imagination and Unexpected Consequences

 Environment, History, Jan/Feb 2019, Newsletter  Comments Off on Frozen Water in Belmont: Stories of Imagination and Unexpected Consequences
Jan 142019
 
Frozen Water in Belmont: Stories of Imagination and Unexpected Consequences

By Anne-Marie Lambert Belmont would not be the town we know today without ice. Glaciers a mile high carved local hills and valleys to create a wetlands attractive to migrating wildlife. The unusual behavior of frozen water molecules ensured not just game-hunting but also ice fishing would support a substantial Native American population for thousands of years. Harsh winters necessitated both innovation and cooperation among tribes to ensure survival. By 1820 local ice men descended from European settlers started to innovate in different ways. They shipped ice to warm places as far away as Calcutta, employing local farm hands to [READ MORE]

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How Laterals Get Lined

 Construction and Housing, Environment, Jan/Feb 2019, Newsletter, Water Quality  Comments Off on How Laterals Get Lined
Jan 142019
 
How Laterals Get Lined

Fixing Water Pollution at the Sewer Source By Sumner Brown Sewer leaks get fixed only by physical work on sewer pipes by people with tools. For years Belmont has been lining leaking sewer pipes in the streets, to keep sewage out of our streams. The down-and-dirty of sewer work has been described in this newsletter (“How do Sewers Get Relined?”, BCF Newsletter July/August 2007), a counterpart to former BCF director Anne-Marie Lambert’s articles on the top-down issues of environmental motivation, legal pressure, schedules, progress, and costs. Many of the leaks in streets have been repaired, according to Glenn Clancy, director [READ MORE]

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Readers Respond to LimeBikes

 Bicycles and bike paths, Jan/Feb 2019, Newsletter, Transit  Comments Off on Readers Respond to LimeBikes
Jan 142019
 
Readers Respond to LimeBikes

By Evanthia Malliris The article about LimeBikes in Belmont in our November/December BCF Newsletter issue drew several responses from our readers. Authors Sumner Brown and David Chase—both engineers, expert all-weather cyclists, and BCF board members—took a LimeBike out for a spin and reported on their experience. Rachel Berger expressed her concern that bike-sharing services don’t include helmets, and she encouraged potential LimeBikers to buy a helmet before taking their first ride. Sumner responded that he wore a helmet during his LimeBike test drive, though he “may be the only one.” Helmets are not expensive and are a handy place to [READ MORE]

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Belmont Roots, Jan/Feb 2019

 Environment, Jan/Feb 2019, Newsletter  Comments Off on Belmont Roots, Jan/Feb 2019
Jan 142019
 
Belmont Roots, Jan/Feb 2019

By Meg Muckenhoupt Environmental News, Notes, and Events Ah, January and February—regularly voted “months most likely to make me want to move far, far away from Massachusetts.” January’s cold and February’s snow are hostile to human undertakings (continually testing our mettle, as mentioned in the “Frozen Water” article in this issue), but January is also the month when five different species of witch hazel trees bloomed at the Arnold Arboretum in 2017. If there’s more than six inches of snow on the ground, voles, mice, and other rodents get busy digging subnivean tunnels in places like Rock Meadow and Habitat. [READ MORE]

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