How to Help Belmont Survive Climate Change

 Climate Change, Environment, March/April 2021, Newsletter, Open Space, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on How to Help Belmont Survive Climate Change
Mar 012021
 
How to Help Belmont Survive Climate Change

by Anne-Marie Lambert Flooding caused the collapse of the Trapelo Road culvert over Beaver Brook in 2010, and inundated the train tracks at the Waverley MBTA commuter rail station. Belmont is expected to see its share of future big intense storms, extreme heat, and other disasters from climate change. If it’s any comfort, our town now has a preparedness plan, thanks to a state-funded program. The Town of Belmont Hazard Mitigation-Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Plan identifies local vulnerabilities to flooding, pollution, and traffic jams, and proposes mitigating actions, short-term and long-term, to help vulnerable populations safely shelter from extreme heat, rain, [READ MORE]

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2021 Select Board Candidate Answers BCF Questions

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Board of Selectmen, Climate Change, Environment, March/April 2021, Newsletter, Open Space, Select Board, Sewers, Stormwater, Traffic, Transit, Water Quality  Comments Off on 2021 Select Board Candidate Answers BCF Questions
Mar 012021
 
2021 Select Board Candidate Answers BCF Questions

Each year, the Belmont Citizens Forum asks Select Board candidates questions about issues facing our town. This year, Mark Paolillo, who is running unopposed, provided answers. He was limited to 1,200 words. Describe your vision for preserving and enhancing Belmont’s quality of living, learning, working, and connecting. Preserving and enhancing Belmont’s quality of life must begin with making town finances stable and sustainable. This will require a more in-depth approach to long-term structural reform.  Belmont should consider the use of performance management budgeting which measures resource input against the resulting output of services for each department. That will help us [READ MORE]

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Jerry’s Pond May Have A Chance to Shine

 Environment, History, Newsletter, November 2020, Open Space, Water Quality  Comments Off on Jerry’s Pond May Have A Chance to Shine
Nov 062020
 
Jerry’s Pond May Have A Chance to Shine

By Greg Harris Since developers have targeted the Alewife area for rapid development, with housing interests erecting massive apartment complexes and life sciences companies rushing to turn the area into a second Kendall Square, long-time residents have feared the trampling of their history, quality of life, community health, and the remaining natural environment. But these changes present opportunities as well as risks. If a coalition of long-time residents and neighborhood activists get their way, life science developer IQHQ’s $125 million dollar acquisition of land next to the Alewife T Station may result in the resurrection of Jerry’s Pond. This neighborhood [READ MORE]

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Carrots and Sticks Nudge Belmont’s Cleanup

 Environment, Newsletter, November 2020, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Carrots and Sticks Nudge Belmont’s Cleanup
Nov 062020
 
Carrots and Sticks Nudge Belmont’s Cleanup

By Anne-Marie Lambert Two key drivers are nudging Belmont to clean up our waterways and protect us from the storms coming with climate change: the threat behind an Environmental Protection Agency Consent Order and the tempting Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Program (MVP) Every six months, Belmont is obliged to file a report with the New England region of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to demonstrate compliance with a 2017 consent order under the Clean Water Act. The town has to show steady progress cleaning up the sewage pollution Belmont has sent to Boston Harbor due to the intermingling of Belmont’s [READ MORE]

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Belmont Waterways Get Failing Grades

 Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2020, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Belmont Waterways Get Failing Grades
Sep 032020
 
Belmont Waterways Get Failing Grades

By Meg Muckenhoupt The Mystic River’s most recent water quality report card, released on August 13, gives Winn’s Brook an F for 2019—and the Little River and Alewife Brook earned Ds. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) creates the  annual report card in collaboration with the Mystic River Watershed Association. It grades segments of the Mystic River’s lakes, river, and streams on how frequently they meet bacterial standards for swimming and boating. The Upper Mystic Lake and the Chelsea River got an A grade; they met boating and swimming standards 90% or more of the time in 2019. Winn’s Brook [READ MORE]

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New Rock Meadow Parking Plan Proposed

 Air Quality, Environment, July-August 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, Plants, Stormwater, Traffic, Water Quality  Comments Off on New Rock Meadow Parking Plan Proposed
Jun 302020
 
New Rock Meadow Parking Plan Proposed

By Jeffrey North and Mary Trudeau The Belmont Conservation Commission recently engaged a team of Northeastern University students to explore parking lot and stormwater drainage improvements for Rock Meadow. As visitors to Rock Meadow can attest, the parking lot is inefficient, rutted, partially paved, and often filled with pockets of standing water. Improvements have been called for since at least 1968, when the report, A Program for Renewing Rock Meadow, stated the obvious: “The entrance is not attractive and does not do justice to the beautiful area beyond.” The arrival experience is incongruent with Rock Meadow’s value as a treasured [READ MORE]

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Cleaning Belmont’s Water Means More Work

 Environment, May/June 2020, Newsletter, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Cleaning Belmont’s Water Means More Work
May 032020
 
Cleaning Belmont's Water Means More Work

By Anne-Marie Lambert There is good news and bad news in Belmont’s January 31 Report on Compliance to the EPA. On the one hand, the town decided to go ahead and reline or replace many sewer laterals and rehabilitate significant sections of the sewer system in certain Belmont neighborhoods as part of a comprehensive construction project planned for spring 2020. On the other hand, the report indicates that while there was a lot of investigation work (dye testing and sampling) and design work between July 2019 and January 2020, there was no significant mitigation work during the fall construction season. [READ MORE]

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Belmont Tackles Climate Vulnerability Planning

 Environment, May/June 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Belmont Tackles Climate Vulnerability Planning
May 032020
 
Belmont Tackles Climate Vulnerability Planning

By Catherine Bowen Take Belmont’s municipal vulnerability survey now. How is Belmont preparing for the impacts of climate change? As we are in the midst of a public health crisis, we are seeing the vulnerabilities and strengths of our community similarly to how we may experience them in a climate-change related crisis. It is timely that Belmont is now in the first phase of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program (MVP), a tool Massachusetts created in 2017 to enable local governments to prepare for the weather-related impacts of climate change and address vulnerabilities, including emergency communications. Modeled on the state’s Green [READ MORE]

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Tree Loss Harms Urban Environments

 Air Quality, Environment, May/June 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Water Quality  Comments Off on Tree Loss Harms Urban Environments
May 032020
 
Tree Loss Harms Urban Environments

By Florence DiTirro The National Land Cover Database from 2001 estimated Belmont’s tree canopy was 27% of Belmont’s land. From 2003 to 2008, Boston’s urban tree cover declined from 29% to 28%. This downward trend continues if we look at our state, our country, and our globe. The Massachusetts urban tree cover declined between 0.32% and 0.24% in the five years from 2009 to 2014, and the United States overall lost 1.0% of urban tree cover. Global loss was measured as -0.2%. It’s a sad state that we are losing our trees. What is there not to like about trees? [READ MORE]

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Arlington Group Opposes Mugar Site Plans

 March/April 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Water Quality  Comments Off on Arlington Group Opposes Mugar Site Plans
Mar 022020
 
Arlington Group Opposes Mugar Site Plans

By Meg Muckenhoupt The Mugar wetlands are 17.7 acres of open land in East Arlington. Oaktree Development has proposed constructing a 207-unit apartment complex and six duplex townhouses on this site, to be renamed Thorndike Place. The Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands opposes building on the site, which is bordered by Route 2, Thorndike Field, and Dorothy, Edith, and Burch Streets. The following interview with Clarissa Rowe, one of the founders of the Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands, was edited for length and clarity. Why is the Mugar site important? I think the reason Arlington and Belmont residents [READ MORE]

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