Belmont Citizens Forum

Cleaning Up Belmont’s Polluted Waterways

Environment, May-June 2017, Newsletter, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

May 122017

Cleaning Up Belmont's Polluted Waterways

by Anne-Marie Lambert Water Quality update: On May 15, 2017, the Belmont Board of Selectmen approved and signed a 2017 EPA Administrative Order for Compliance on Consent with the EPA. This Order includes EPA water sample results through March 30 2016 and makes mandatory the town’s current plan for addressing water pollution. It also includes downstream water quality measurements from Cambridge in 2014 and 2015, and references water samples collected by the town in November 2016. Belmont has also recently posted their IDDE Plan 05-19-2017. The Belmont Media Center link to the May 15, 2017 meeting of the Belmont Board of Selectmen includes a discussion of this [READ MORE]

Watering Trees in a Drought

Air Quality, Environment, May-June 2017, Newsletter, Plants Comments Off

May 122017

If 2017 is as Bad as 2016 . . . by Jeremy Marin We’ve just come through a very rainy April, but the summer of 2016 was one of the driest in recent memory. With global warming, the same conditions can occur again. If the summer of 2017 is dry, here’s how to take care of your trees. Just like there’s no single best tree for all yards, there’s no single best way to irrigate trees during periods of drought. The easiest and most effective options for one family will be difficult, frustrating, or impossible for others. Not all trees [READ MORE]

Belmont Farmers’ Market Kicks Off on June 8

May-June 2017, Newsletter, Parking Comments Off

May 122017

Belmont Farmers’ Market Kicks Off on June 8

The Belmont Farmers’ Market opens on Thursday, June 8, 2–6:30 PM, in the Belmont Center municipal parking lot, rain or shine. Now celebrating its 12th year, the Market offers a variety of organic and conventionally grown and produced food in a range of prices. Pick up fixin’s for a healthful and satisfying dinner, and make sure the visit our new neighbor, Foodie’s, to fill in the gaps. Visit www.belmontfarmersmarket.org for this season’s vendors and updates, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook. The Market is close to the MBTA commuter rail station, and #74 and #75 bus stops in Belmont [READ MORE]

Engineers Win Award for Trapelo Road Upgrade

Bicycles and bike paths, Construction and Housing, May-June 2017, Newsletter, Traffic, Transit Comments Off

May 122017

Engineers Win Award for Trapelo Road Upgrade

Belmont’s “Main Street” Gets A Facelift by Sue Bass How does a municipal project get done, in Belmont or anywhere? What’s the spark? The redesigned and newly paved Belmont Street/Trapelo Road stretch through Belmont—from the Waltham line to the Cambridge line—recently won an award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts for the BSC Group, the town’s longtime engineering consultant. “Incorporating bicycle lanes, pedestrian accessibility, and traffic calming measures, the $17.1 million roadway reconstruction project was one of the first designed in conformance with the MassDOT Highway Design Guidebook,” the citation reads. “Distinguishing project features include coordination with [READ MORE]

Cushing Village: New Name, Design Tweaks

Construction and Housing, May-June 2017, Newsletter, Parking, Traffic Comments Off

May 122017

Cushing Village: New Name, Design Tweaks

It’s Now “The Bradford” by John DiCocco At an April 27 meeting in the Town Hall art gallery, Toll Brothers Apartment Living representatives updated the community on construction and design plans for Cushing Square in the upcoming weeks and months. The developer has changed the project name from “Cushing Village” to “The Bradford.” The Cushing Square Neighborhood Association has been pressing Toll Brothers for more timely and informative input on the project’s progress and planning, particularly in regard to environmental concerns. There is a significant amount of contaminated soil to be removed (from spills by Tops Cleaners years ago), [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Annual Spring Volunteer Day

Environment, Historic Preservation, May-June 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

May 122017

Lone Tree Hill Annual Spring Volunteer Day

Tree Plantings and Pleasant Street Pickup by Radha Iyengar On Saturday, April 29, the Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF) in conjunction with the Judith K. Record (JKR) Memorial Conservation Fund held its Fifth Annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day. The rain held off and the volunteers came out in full force. This year the work was divided between planting trees along the Pine Allee, and cleaning up the trash along South Pleasant Street (across from Star Market and Artefact Home & Garden). In 2015, the JKR Memorial Conservation Fund engaged Tree Specialists, Inc. of Holliston, MA, to inspect the health of [READ MORE]

Waltham Trail RFP Update

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Newsletter, Traffic Comments Off

May 122017

Still Awaiting Beaver Street Right of Way by John Dieckmann Late in March, the city of Waltham released the request for proposals (RFP) for the detailed design of the Waltham segment of the Wayside (aka Mass Central) Rail Trail. I attended the bidders’ meeting, which was held at Waltham City Hall on April 13. It was well attended by about a dozen engineering and design firms, along with two Waltham city councilors, the executive director of the Waltham Land Trust and two board members, and the chairman of the Waltham Conservation Commission. Design firms asked a variety of questions, primarily [READ MORE]

Community Path Route Alternatives Viewed

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Environment, May-June 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Traffic, Transit Comments Off

May 122017

Community Path Route Alternatives Viewed

Happy Trail to You by John Dieckmann On April 26, the Community Path Implementation Advisory Committee (CPIAC) and Pare Engineering, the Community Path Feasibility Study contractor, held a public meeting to present their final evaluation of route alternatives for the path, construction cost estimates, and potential funding sources. From west to east, the end-to-end route that ranks highest in the evaluation methodology consists of the following segments: • At the Waltham city line, the path would be on the north side of the commuter rail tracks, then as it approaches Waverley Square it rises to street level and crosses Lexington [READ MORE]

Poetry Walk at Rock Meadow

Environment, May-June 2017, Newsletter Comments Off

May 122017

Anne-Marie Lambert (far left) and Kevin Gallagher (sixth from the left, with sunglasses), local poet and author of the recently published book Loom, about the Massachusetts textile industry and its relation to the surge in demand for slave labor in the South in the 19th century, led a walk at Rock Meadow on April 29. “Through poetry,” said Lambert, “we explored the landscape and history of this part of Belmont and Waltham.”

Environmental Events, May/June 2017

Air Quality, Environment, May-June 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Solar Power Comments Off

May 122017

Belmont’s Semiannual Big Recycling Day Saturday, May 13, 9 AM–1 PM The semiannual Big Recycling Day is your chance to clean out all that stuff you didn’t want and includes paper shredding, electronics, rigid plastics, eyeglasses, books, CDs, DVDs, propane tanks, and bicycles (no cardboard or styrofoam). Info at belmont-ma.gov/recycling-trash-information, or 617-993-2689. Note: Belmont Residents only. ID required. Town Yard, 37 C Street, Belmont. Fresh Pond Day Saturday, May 20, 11 AM-3 PM Celebrate the land, water, wildlife, and people that make Fresh Pond Reservation a unique and vital part of Cambridge. Fresh Pond Day is the Cambridge Water Department’s annual [READ MORE]

Belmont Citizens Forum March-April 2017 Newsletter PDF

Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Construction and Housing, donations, Environment, Historic Preservation, March 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, Recycling, Solar Power, Stormwater, Traffic, Transit, Water Quality Comments Off

Apr 242017

View or download the March-April 2017 20-page issue here as a color PDF. View or download the March-April 2017 20-page issue here as a black-and-white PDF.

Mugar Wetlands Project Stalled—For Now

Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Construction and Housing, Environment, Historic Preservation, March 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, Stormwater, Traffic, Water Quality Comments Off

Mar 152017

Neighborhood Fears Water Displacement by John DiCocco The Mugar Wetlands in East Arlington is a triangular parcel that borders Route 2 westbound, adjacent to the Thorndike Park playing fields, and just across Route 2 from the Vox on Two apartments and Lanes & Games Bowling. The Mugar family, owners for more than 50 years, wants to develop it with townhouses and an apartment building. Residents in the town of Arlington, led by the Coalition to Save the Mugar Wetlands (CSMW) are opposed. In dispute is whether the land can handle the water displacement, whether the neighborhood can handle more people, [READ MORE]

Belmont Citizens Forum’s Questions to Candidates for Selectman

Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Construction and Housing, Environment, Historic Preservation, March 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, Solar Power, Traffic Comments Off

Mar 152017

Belmont Citizens Forum’s Questions to Candidates for Selectman

Election for Belmont Selectman and Others: Tuesday, April 4 Compiled by John DiCocco Each year we ask candidates for selectman about issues they will likely face in the next three years. This year Guy Carbone and Adam Dash are running for the seat of Sami Baghdady, who retired after three terms as selectman. They were allotted 1,000 words each to distribute as they saw fit. Belmont Citizens Forum: Now that development pressure is growing again, how can Belmont improve its planning process Guy Carbone: Belmont is a neighborhood of residences. Town committees should consider the opinions of Belmont residents concerning [READ MORE]

Cushing Village Makeover Begins

Air Quality, Construction and Housing, Environment, Historic Preservation, March 2017, Newsletter, Parking, Uncategorized Comments Off

Mar 152017

Hoping The Cleanup Is Clean by Virginia Jordan and John DiCocco “The CVS has come down.” Or for Belmont residents of a certain age, “Highland Farms,” or even “the A&P” has come down. Each of these businesses once occupied the building at 527 Common Street (at the corner of Belmont Street). But that 6,200 square foot space in Cushing Square has been left vacant for years. Acton resident and developer Chris Starr, operating as Smith Legacy Partners LLC, owned that parcel, and with it and other parcels he acquired, created the initial proposal for the Cushing Village development in 2012. [READ MORE]

Belmont Historical Society Call for Nominations 2017

Historic Preservation, March 2017, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 152017

David R. Johnson Preservation Award Submission deadline: April 15 The Belmont Historical Society invites you to nominate projects that have furthered preservation efforts in Belmont for the David R. Johnson Preservation Award. Awards for projects will be presented at the Belmont Historical Society’s Annual Meeting, May 17. Properties throughout the town, not just in the historic districts, are eligible. The categories for nomination: • Private residences • Commercial properties • Publicly owned properties • Properties owned by nonprofit institutions • Landscape projects • Preservation of Open Space & Land Conservation • Nominations for individuals, companies, or institutions that have made [READ MORE]

MyRWA Measures Belmont’s Water Quality

Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Mar 152017

Volunteers Monitor Every Month by Anne-Marie Lambert Almost every month for more than 16 years, Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) volunteers have been monitoring water quality at the location where the Winn’s Brook culvert flows into Little Pond. In the early morning of August 17, 2016, I walked to the end of a public path off Brighton Street, near the intersection with Hoitt Road. I watched as Roger Wrubel and Doug Matson took out their MyRWA sampling gear and carefully scooped water samples into test tubes. They were measuring dissolved oxygen, turbidity (a measure of suspended particles), nutrients [READ MORE]

Boston’s Driest Summer and Hottest Year

Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Water Quality Comments Off

Mar 152017

The Impact of Drought on the Mystic Watershed by Andy Hrycyna People living in the Mystic River watershed have been relatively unaffected by the recent historic drought. Cities and towns have not demanded use restrictions, like bans on watering lawns, for instance. But don’t let that fool you. The absence of mandates to conserve is an accident of where our towns’ water supply happens to originate. It does not mean that our area is immune to the drought. First, some background. An Historic Drought 2016 was the driest summer ever recorded in Boston, with 3.92 inches of rain in June, [READ MORE]

Update: The MCRT Rail Trail

Bicycles and bike paths, Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Traffic, Transit Comments Off

Mar 152017

DCR Pays for Paving According to Larry Kiernan of the Friends of the MCRT (Mass Central Rail Trail), the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) plans to pave the rail trail for the entire length of the Eversource access road, from the Wayland Library to the bridge at the far end of Weston, with a plan for completion in 2017. Including the town center piece (completed already in stone dust) there will be almost five miles of a bike and pedestrian-friendly path between Wayland and Weston. DCR, Eversource, and the towns are still discussing amenities, additional landscaping, and more, [READ MORE]

Environmental Events March-April 2017

Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Recycling, Water Quality Comments Off

Mar 152017

Featured Event: Poetry Walk at Rock Meadow Saturday, April 29, 2-3:30PM Anne-Marie Lambert will be joined by Kevin Gallagher, local poet and author of the recently published book Loom, about the Massachusetts textile industry and its relation to the surge in demand for slave labor in the South in the 19th century. “Through poetry,” says Lambert, “we will explore the landscape and history of this part of Belmont and Waltham.” Meet at the small Rock Meadow parking lot on Mill Street. Bike racks are available and there is more parking across the street. Woolapalooza at Drumlin Farm Friday, March [READ MORE]

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