Belmont – Page 7 – Belmont Citizens Forum

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]

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]

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]

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]

Virginia “Ginny” Jordan

May/June 2022, Newsletter, Volunteer Comments Off

May 082022

Virginia “Ginny” Sara Jordan died on March 28, 2022. Ginny was a woman of many accomplishments. She was a Phi Beta Kappa Radcliffe graduate with a master’s in applied math, and a programmer and tech expert who held instrumental roles at EG&G, NEC, and Polaroid. She was a long-time Belmont Town Meeting member, and she rallied her neighbors to found the nonprofit Friends of the Benton Library, which now operates the facility and is supported entirely by donations. But here at the Belmont Citizens Forum, we remember Ginny because she served on the BCF Newsletter Committee. Ginny was a painstaking, [READ MORE]

Belmont Community Path Costs Explained

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, May/June 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

May 082022

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. The Belmont Community Path is approaching an important milestone—a potential construction funding decision by the Boston region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Although municipalities, including Belmont, are responsible for funding path design and for securing the path right of way, state and federal governments fully fund path construction via the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Construction costs are generally about 85% of total project costs. TIP funds are allocated to cities and towns in the greater Boston area via a competitive process administered by the Boston MPO, which receives about 80% of its budget from the federal highway [READ MORE]

New Director Discusses Habitat’s Future

Climate Change, Environment, May/June 2022, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

May 052022

By Jeffrey North This interview has been edited for length and clarity. BCF Congratulations on your December appointment to the role of regional director for Metro West. We understand you will have oversight of the Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont, as well as the wildlife sanctuaries Broadmoor in Natick, Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, and Waseeka in Hopkinton. You’ve been in nonprofit management and some notable education roles. Your background includes teaching, starting a 6–12 grade school, leading a graduate school, strategy and organization design consulting with nonprofit organizations, and studying communities’ shared sense of direction. Can you [READ MORE]

Belmont Moves on Decarbonization Roadmap

Climate Change, May/June 2022, Newsletter, Solar Power, Transit Comments Off

May 052022

Belmont Moves on Decarbonization Roadmap

By Marty Bitner and James Booth In 2009, Belmont’s Town Meeting committed to reducing Belmont’s emissions of the greenhouse gasses that drive dangerous climate change. In 2019, the Belmont Energy Committee put forward the Belmont Climate Action Roadmap for achieving our town’s greenhouse gas reduction goal. The general framework laid out a two-part strategy that was strongly endorsed by a vote of Town Meeting in May 2019: Electrify everything! (adopt electric vehicles and transition to heating with electric heat pumps) Move Belmont’s electricity supply to renewable sources How are we doing with moving forward on this strategy? Vehicles We analyzed [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Watersheds Cross Many Boundaries

Environment, May/June 2022, Newsletter, Sewers, Water Quality Comments Off

May 052022

Belmont’s Watersheds Cross Many Boundaries

By Anne-Marie Lambert Here in Belmont, we live on the edge of two large watersheds—the Mystic River watershed and the Charles River watershed. Understanding our role in these watersheds is more important than ever as storms in the Northeast grow more intense and more frequent, and as the rise in Atlantic Ocean sea levels starts to affect the underground water table. The lack of alignment between our political maps and the topography of our watersheds can make it tricky to understand Belmont’s role. In the flat low-lying areas of town where there isn’t much gradient, waters flow in directions that [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Volunteers Clean, Weed, Plant

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2022, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

May 052022

Lone Tree Hill Volunteers Clean, Weed, Plant

By Radha Iyengar On Saturday, April 30, a sunny but cool day, BCF, in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, held its eighth annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day. At the Pine Allee, volunteers planted 46 white pine saplings of which 40 saplings were store bought and 6 were transplants from Lone Tree Hill. The new plants replaced some of the Allee’s missing trees as well as some of the dead saplings from the 2017-2019 volunteer day plantings. At the other end of the property, the volunteers collected 11 bags of trash, one box of recyclables and six bags [READ MORE]

Belmont Needs More Affordable Housing

Construction and Housing, May/June 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

May 052022

By Tomi Olson and Rachel Heller Belmont has great schools, restaurants, and local businesses and is located near job centers in Boston, Cambridge, and the MetroWest area. The Boston area’s burgeoning life sciences industry alone is projected to create up to 40,000 new jobs by 2024, but our region’s economic engine is hampered by a lack of housing near jobs—and Belmont’s limited housing supply is part of that problem. Population growth, together with housing production that hasn’t kept pace, has made housing shortages in appealing parts of the country like ours front-page news. Our region builds much less housing every [READ MORE]

Letter to the Editor: January 2022

Environment, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Plants Comments Off

Mar 042022

To the editor, With increased mowing in Rock Meadow, does that mean that all that lovely milkweed which grew so wild, lovely, and plentiful will be lost to the mowers? We need that milkweed for the butterflies! That would be so sad. Where is the mowing to take place? Carlee Blamphin Dear Carlee, Mowing at Rock Meadow has not increased, except for the trails. Meadow mowing occurred just once, on October 21. This was intentionally late in the growing season so as to leave the milkweed intact for the monarch butterfly migration, which is mid-August through late September and early [READ MORE]

Belmont Was a Town of Market Gardens

Environment, History, March/April 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 032022

By Jane Sherwin For about a century, areas around Boston that are now suburban housing were in many cases devoted to market gardening. Arlington, Lexington, Belmont, Watertown, Brighton—all grew produce very profitably. A market garden, sometimes known as a truck farm, produces on a small scale a variety of fruits and vegetables for local markets. Around Boston, this intensive form of farming was supported by heated greenhouses. The market gardens were so close to Boston that they had no need to pay railroad charges, using their own trucks and wagons instead. The gardens were profitable, and families could afford the [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Cleanup Saturday, April 30

BCF Events, Lone Tree Hill, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Mar 032022

Lone Tree Hill Cleanup Saturday, April 30 Join us in stewarding Lone Tree Hill! After a two-year hiatus, the Belmont Citizens Forum, in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, is holding its eighth annual tree planting, cleanup, and trail maintenance day on Saturday, April 30, from 9 AM to noon. For more information, email bcfprogramdirector@gmail.com. Help complete the planting of saplings along the Pine Allee, cleaning up at the Mill Street parking lot and the Coal Road area, and removing invasive species on the property. Students can earn community service credits. Bounded by Concord Avenue, Pleasant Street, and Mill [READ MORE]

A Tribute to a Conservationist

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Open Space, Town Committee Meetings Comments Off

Mar 032022

By Anne Paulsen, Martha Moore, and Heli Tomford with contributions from neighbors Nanny Almquist, Jacquie Dow, and other Belmont friends and committee colleagues who knew and worked with Joan Campbell. When Joan Louise Campbell died on December 15, 2016, Belmont lost a citizen whose life exemplified devotion to her community, especially its open spaces. Joan moved to Belmont with her parents in the late 1930s, and except for some years working as a librarian in Seattle, she lived in the same Prospect Street home for most of her 92 years. We are honoring Joan Campbell because of her involvement in [READ MORE]

Healthy Lawns Works to Limit Leaf Blowers

Air Quality, Environment, March/April 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 032022

Healthy Lawns Works to Limit Leaf Blowers

By Barry Kaye, Dean Hickman, Ruth Smullin, and Thomas Nehrkorn Gasoline-powered leaf blowers are not only a nuisance to anyone trying to enjoy a peaceful time in their backyard or a neighborhood walk, but they also present real risks to human health, most significantly to the operators. These are detailed in previous BCF articles published on this subject (See “Leaf Blowers Damage Belmont’s Environment,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, September/October 2021.) The town is trying to address this issue. Healthy Lawns Initiative Sustainable Belmont recently started hosting a Healthy Lawns Initiative to promote more environmentally sustainable lawn care practices. Currently, we [READ MORE]

Historic Clock Project Seeks Donations

donations, Historic Preservation, History, March/April 2022, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 032022

By Michael Flamang The First Church in Belmont Unitarian Universalist is seeking funds and a qualified contractor to restore the historic clock in the church’s tower on the town green to functioning condition. In December, the Community Preservation Committee approved a grant application for the repair funds and included it in the projects to be considered by Town Meeting. (See “CPC Recommends Funds for Seven Projects,” in this issue.) There is a great deal of precedent in our area for cities and towns successfully using Commonwealth-designated Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to implement this type of project in religious buildings. [READ MORE]

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