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BCF Asks Path Experts Three Questions

Mar 012024

To prepare for the upcoming Design Public Hearing on Phase 1 of the Belmont Community Path, the BCF asked three Community Path experts about what they think about the Community Path project today. We spoke to Mark Paolillo, Select Board member; Holly Muson, chair of the Community Path Project Committee; and Will Brownsberger, Massachusetts state representative. BCF Since you succeeded Russ Leino as chair of the Community Path Project Committee (CPPC) last year, you have had a ringside seat as this project advances. What has most surprised you about the mechanics of advancing the project? Are there lessons from Phase [READ MORE]

MassDOT Rep Discusses March 7 Path Hearing

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, March/April 2024 Comments Off

Mar 012024

MassDOT Rep Discusses March 7 Path Hearing

By Jarrod Goentzel The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will be hosting a Design Public Hearing on Phase 1 of the Belmont Community Path on Thursday, March 7, at 7PM at the Beech Street Center Multipurpose Room, 266 Beech Street, Belmont. You can watch the meeting at home on Belmont Media Center GovTV, Ch 8 Comcast or Ch 28 Verizon, or belmontmedia.org/govtv. Visit www.mass.gov/orgs/highway-division/events for more information. The project consists of a new paved shared-use path along the Fitchburg Commuter Rail and a new concrete underpass beneath the railroad tracks at Alexander Road to provide a connection from Channing Road [READ MORE]

March/April 2024 BCF Newsletter

March/April 2024, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 012024

Read the March 2024 BCF Newsletter In this issue: MassDOT Rep Discusses March 7 Path Hearing The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will be hosting a Design Public Hearing on Phase 1 of the Belmont Community Path on Thursday, March 7, at 7PM at the Beech Street Center Multipurpose Room, 266 Beech Street, Belmont. Read more. BCF Asks Path Experts Three Questions To prepare for the upcoming Design Public Hearing on Phase 1 of the Belmont Community Path, the BCF asked three Community Path experts about what they think about the Community Path project today. Read more. Lone Tree Hill [READ MORE]

January 2024: Letter to the Editor

January 2024, Newsletter Comments Off

Jan 052024

Thank you for all your efforts on behalf of us, Belmont residents! 1. The Opinion by Max Colice on Chapter 61B [“Opinion: Why Pay Property Taxes When You Can Get a Tax Break?”, BCF Newsletter, November 2023] was an eye opener: our property taxes subsidize the Belmont Country Club! In the meantime we are discussing an upcoming override to increase the taxes we now pay. This excellent idea to contact state Senator Brownsberger and Representative Rogers needs to be pursued promptly! I suggest we collect signatures from Belmont residents in a bulk kind of letter and send it to the [READ MORE]

The Best Recycling Choices Aren’t Always Obvious

January 2024, Newsletter Comments Off

Jan 052024

By Barry Kaye, MD You are a good person. You recycle everything that you can and feel good about that. But have you wondered what happens after that big blue bin is picked up? I just assumed it was all recycled until my son told me some inconvenient truths about recycling. If you read no further—just remember that because something is recyclable, it does not mean that it will be recycled. Unless it is economically feasible and there is a market, it’s just trash. It turns out that the only things that are genuinely recycled at the present time are [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Beech Trees are Dying

January 2024, Newsletter, Plants Comments Off

Jan 052024

By Phil Perron The majestic beech tree is under attack in Massachusetts. The culprit is a microscopic nematode (Litylenchus crenatae ssp. mccannii). Beech leaf disease (BLD) has taken the state by storm, causing, in the best cases, leaf distortion and, in the worst cases, total tree mortality. All beech tree varieties are at risk, including the stately copper beech. Unfortunately, many questions about this disease have yet to be answered as the industry works to find solutions to manage this pest before it is too late. BLD was first discovered in Ohio in 2012. Eight years later, it had made [READ MORE]

Coyotes Live Among Us All Year Long

Environment, January 2024, Newsletter Comments Off

Jan 052024

By Jeffrey North As the cold winter months set in across New England, coyotes adapt their behaviors to the harsh conditions. They establish their breeding territories, and expand their range in search of food. Belmont has ample green space and conservation land where coyotes roam and hunt. For the most part, Belmont’s coyotes raise their young, contribute to the health of the ecosystem, and mind their own business. Coyotes (Canis latrans) are an important species in North American ecosystems, and their role is often overlooked. These adaptable predators play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem balance and diversity by controlling [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Julia Blatt

Environment, January 2024, Newsletter Comments Off

Jan 052024

by Elissa Ely Shortly after the pandemic began, when the only response within anyone’s control was isolation, Julia Blatt and her husband bought kayaks. They had canoed as a family for more than 30 years—Montana, Idaho, Maine, Colorado, Florida, Vermont, New Hampshire—and for years her professional work had taken her kayaking through the Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet rivers. Sometimes she brought politicians with her (a form of visual education) and sometimes it was a form of solo field research. But this was different. The sky doesn’t know a pandemic is raging; birds and turtles have no idea and less interest. [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Saw Improvements in 2023

Environment, January 2024, Lone Tree Hill, McLean, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Jan 052024

By Radha Iyengar Belmont’s Lone Tree Hill Conservation area benefited from another year of conservation, restoration, and stewardship, thanks mainly to the efforts of the Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill (LMC). Many Belmontonians and visitors enjoy this 119-acre conservation property for walking, biking, viewing wildlife, and being out in nature. The LMC was created through a memorandum of agreement between the town and McLean Hospital in 1999. The agreement outlined the development restrictions for the McLean Hospital campus. It also reserved approximately 119 acres of the campus as publicly accessible open space, including a new municipal cemetery, and [READ MORE]

Japanese Culture Center Comes to Belmont Hill

January 2024, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Jan 052024

Japanese Culture Center Comes to Belmont Hill

By Fred Bouchard Drive up Concord Avenue from Belmont Center this winter, glance left after the big curve, and you’ll see an eye-catching sight behind the driveway opposite Sumner Lane; cherry trees and rhododendrons, a garden, and—rising behind the house—a half-built, huge-timbered barn. What, a barnraising on Belmont Hill? This property belonged to the late Anne Allen and now bears a conservation restriction encompassing 3.3 acres of forest, fields, and meadows. Allen donated this property’s conservation restriction and the Maple Allee conservation restriction across the street to Belmont in 2004. These two conservation restrictions contribute to the town’s open spaces [READ MORE]

What’s in a Name? Walking and Biking

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, January 2024, Newsletter Comments Off

Jan 032024

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Data from various retrospective observational studies show that bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure enhance residential property values (reviewed in the article “Impact of Bike Facilities on Residential Property Prices” and in Chapter 6 of the Belmont Community Path Advisory Committee report). However, some of the most persuasive evidence comes from the simple observation that real estate agents—who are paid to market properties effectively and knowledgeable about what works—consistently mention paths when they are nearby. The easiest way to measure that practice is to scan the 100 to 150 word property descriptions near the top of listings. An [READ MORE]

Community Path Could Have Bridge, Box

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, January 2024, Newsletter, Transit Comments Off

Jan 032024

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Last May, the consultants hired by Belmont to design Phase 2 of the Belmont Community Path (extending from the Clark Street Bridge to the Waltham border) recommended a final route to the Community Path Project Committee (CPPC), which endorsed the recommendation and sent it on to the Select Board (see “Belmont Community Path Route Takes Shape,”September/October 2023 Newsletter, for details). The Select Board asked for more details on the right of way, which is the focus of current work. The Pare Corporation-Toole Design team proposed two audacious Phase 2 design choices: a new bridge over the [READ MORE]

January/February 2024 Newsletter

January 2024, Newsletter Comments Off

Jan 032024

Read the January / February 2024 BCF Newsletter In this issue: Community Path Could Have Bridge, Box The Pare Corporation-Toole Design team proposed two audacious Phase 2 design choices: a new bridge over the Fitchburg Line and a potential “box-over” of Waverley Station, which would create space for a pocket park. Read more. What’s in a Name? Walking and Biking Real estate agents—who are paid to market properties effectively and knowledgeable about what works—consistently mention paths when they are nearby. Read more. Japanese Culture Center Comes to Belmont Hill Drive up Concord Avenue from Belmont Center this winter, glance [READ MORE]

Bike Cameras Could Make Riding Safer

Bicycles and bike paths, Newsletter, November/December 2023 Comments Off

Nov 012023

By Sumner Brown Bicycling is not perfectly safe. Belmont’s approach to handling bicycles on roads is evolving, and some bicycle riders could improve their habits. But there is another problem that I have been thinking about after I spent three weeks in hospitals recovering from a hit-and-run bike incident: bicycle cameras. While I was confined to Spauldingz Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, I concluded that my mistake was that I did not have a camera on my bicycle that could have recorded what happened and the license plate of my attacker. (Incidentally, you can tell you were attacked during road rage [READ MORE]

Waltham Field Station Update

Environment, Newsletter, November/December 2023 Comments Off

Nov 012023

Waltham Field Station Update By John Dieckmann The Waltham Fields Community Farm (WFCF) has been attempting to negotiate a lease for the continued use of the acreage at the former U Mass Field Station on Beaver Street. The Waltham City Council approved the lease on June 26. However, the conditions in the lease would have left the WCFC in a financially unsustainable condition, so WFCF is attempting to negotiate better terms. Unfortunately, there has been no movement from the city in response, leaving matters in limbo. Meanwhile, WFCF has been operating its programs at a reduced scale. Stacey Daley, the [READ MORE]

How to Make Decisions About Heat Pumps

Air Quality, Climate Change, Construction and Housing, Newsletter, November/December 2023 Comments Off

Nov 012023

By Will Brownsberger Edited and reprinted with permission from Brownsberger’s blog, willbrownsberger.com/heat-pumps. Many people are seeking to shrink their personal carbon footprint. Many also seek to participate constructively in the energy systems transitions necessary to achieve net zero carbon emissions. There is a broad consensus among climate planners in Massachusetts that we need to electrify heating in buildings. However, each building raises unique challenges. This article attempts to summarize the environmental and consumer considerations for people seeking to electrify home heating. Many of these issues are explored in more depth in this heat pump outline. Several good heat pump applications [READ MORE]

Residents Restore Royal Road Woods Ecosystem

Environment, Newsletter, November/December 2023, Plants Comments Off

Nov 012023

Residents Restore Royal Road Woods Ecosystem

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. and Pamela Andrews Belmont Conservation Volunteers (BCV) formed earlier this year to work on “restoring our natural spaces for everyone to enjoy.” Volunteer efforts have focused on reining in the extensive and expanding invasive species displacing native plants which support local insects, birds, and mammals. The BCV emerged from pioneering volunteer work by Leonard Katz on Lone Tree Hill. (See “Spare a Thought for Lone Tree Hill”, BCF Newsletter, September 2022.) To expand that work to town-owned land, Katz and Sustainable Belmont leader Dean Hickman obtained permission from both the Select Board and, because many of [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Joe Rancatore

Newsletter, November/December 2023 Comments Off

Nov 012023

By Elissa Ely “Ranc’s chocolate ice cream can comfort the distressed, alleviate pain, and stand in for antidepressants if you have lousy medical insurance.” (Yelp) Somewhere in the labyrinth of Facebook, where even unwinding a string won’t help you find your way out, there is a photo of Joe Rancatore sitting on a straight chair in front of a freezer of pre-packed ice cream pints in his Belmont store. He is listening seriously to a little girl in a princess gown and accessories, and she is speaking to him with the same intensity. It’s the perfect communion between a business [READ MORE]

Opinion: Why Pay Property Taxes When You Can Get a Tax Break?

Newsletter, November/December 2023, Open Space Comments Off

Nov 012023

Opinion: Why Pay Property Taxes When You Can Get a Tax Break?

By Max Colice Over the past 10 years, the Belmont Country Club has received tax breaks totaling more than $4 million on its property tax bills thanks to a state law called Chapter 61B. Chapter 61B allows country clubs and other private nonprofit organizations to get a 75% discount on property taxes for recreational land, including golf courses. Belmont taxpayers pay for this enormous tax benefit. That’s because when one taxpayer’s bill goes down, everyone else’s bill goes up to offset that reduction. In other words, every taxpayer in Belmont has been subsidizing the Belmont Country Club’s property taxes for [READ MORE]

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