Affordable Housing: A Primer

 Construction and Housing, July-August 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Affordable Housing: A Primer
Jun 212022
 
Affordable Housing: A Primer

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]

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Belmont Porchfest to Celebrate Our Resilience

 July-August 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Belmont Porchfest to Celebrate Our Resilience
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]

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Gas Leaks Are a Civil Rights Issue

 Climate Change, Environment, July-August 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Gas Leaks Are a Civil Rights Issue
Jun 212022
 
Gas Leaks Are a Civil Rights Issue

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]

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

 Environment, July-August 2022, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants  Comments Off on What is a CISMA, and Why Do We Need One?
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]

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Belmont’s Invasive Species: Black Swallowwort

 Environment, July-August 2022, Newsletter, Plants  Comments Off on Belmont’s Invasive Species: Black Swallowwort
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]

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Restoration Resumes on Lone Tree Hill

 Environment, July-August 2022, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space  Comments Off on Restoration Resumes on Lone Tree Hill
Jun 202022
 
Restoration Resumes on Lone Tree Hill

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]

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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]

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Do We Need a New High School Parking Lot?

 July-August 2022, Newsletter, Parking  Comments Off on Do We Need a New High School Parking Lot?
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]

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Belmont Hill School Plans To Pave Woodlands

 Construction and Housing, Environment, July-August 2022  Comments Off on Belmont Hill School Plans To Pave Woodlands
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]

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July/August 2022 Newsletter

 July-August 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on July/August 2022 Newsletter
Jun 202022
 
July/August 2022 Newsletter

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]

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 Posted by at 11:36 am

Belmont Path Solar Array – Full Version

 July-August 2022, Newsletter, Solar Power  Comments Off on Belmont Path Solar Array – Full Version
Jun 202022
 
Belmont Path Solar Array - Full Version

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]

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