A Tribute to a Conservationist

 Environment, Lone Tree Hill, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Open Space, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on A Tribute to a Conservationist
Mar 032022
 
A Tribute to a Conservationist

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]

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Healthy Lawns Works to Limit Leaf Blowers

 Air Quality, Environment, March/April 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Healthy Lawns Works to Limit Leaf Blowers
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]

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Historic Clock Project Seeks Donations

 donations, Historic Preservation, History, March/April 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Historic Clock Project Seeks Donations
Mar 032022
 
Historic Clock Project Seeks Donations

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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CPC Recommends Funds for Seven Projects

 Construction and Housing, Environment, Historic Preservation, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Open Space  Comments Off on CPC Recommends Funds for Seven Projects
Mar 032022
 
CPC Recommends Funds for Seven Projects

By Juliet Jenkins The Belmont Community Preservation Committee (CPC) voted to recommend funding seven projects totaling $2,058,554 for FY 2023, to be voted on at the annual Town Meeting, through the Community Preservation Act (CPA) current funding round. Following the CPC’s public hearing and vote on December 8, 2021, the proposed projects were filed with the Belmont Town Clerk and set for voting by Town Meeting in May 2022.  Projects supported with CPA funding must create or preserve affordable housing, historic resources, open space, or recreational facilities. All CPA proposals are developed and created by Belmontonians, and each project directly [READ MORE]

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Select Board Candidates Answer BCF Questions

 Board of Selectmen, March/April 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Select Board Candidates Answer BCF Questions
Mar 032022
 
Select Board Candidates Answer BCF Questions

Each year, the Belmont Citizens Forum asks Select Board candidates questions about issues facing our town. This year, Roy Epstein and Jeffrey Lasseter provided answers. They were limited to 1,000 words. What do you consider the top three concerns for the town after the challenges of the past two years? Epstein: The operating budget, including funding of essential capital projects, remains my chief concern. The changes last month that allow Belmont to make use of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds do not address our structural deficit. We cannot ignore the fiscal cliff that will be there when the ARPA [READ MORE]

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March/April 2022 Newsletter

 Newsletter  Comments Off on March/April 2022 Newsletter
Mar 032022
 
March/April 2022 Newsletter

Read the March/April 2022 BCF Newsletter now! In this issue: What is the Future of the Royal Road Woods? The trees lining both sides of Royal Road cool the street and create a welcome woodsy respite from the more urban Concord Avenue and Leonard Street. It was the secluded environment that made construction of the bike jumps possible. Read more. Royal Road Dirt Jumps Made Lives Better My whole life I have walked, biked, and driven by a plot of land on Royal Road… That is, until the summer of 2020, when my friends and I brought our shovels, rakes, [READ MORE]

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 Posted by at 2:50 pm

Royal Road Dirt Jumps Made Lives Better

 Bicycles and bike paths, Board of Selectmen, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Open Space  Comments Off on Royal Road Dirt Jumps Made Lives Better
Mar 032022
 
Royal Road Dirt Jumps Made Lives Better

By Erik Rosenmeier         My whole life I have walked, biked, and driven by a plot of land on Royal Road. I would see it on my way home from school, practice, or rehearsal, but, like most other people in the town, it never occurred to me that it could have any utility. That is, until the summer of 2020, when my friends and I brought our shovels, rakes, facemasks, and buckets down to that plot of land to build dirt jumps on which to ride our bikes. Most of us spent four to five hours a [READ MORE]

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What is the Future of the Royal Road Woods?

 Environment, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Open Space  Comments Off on What is the Future of the Royal Road Woods?
Mar 032022
 
What is the Future of the Royal Road Woods?

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Skip to Bonus Material In 1844, when the Fitchburg Line was built, the Clark family owned a triangular lot bounded by the new train line, Common Street, and Clark Street. Wellington Brook ran along the north side of the triangle, just south of the Fitchburg Line. Royal Road and Dunbarton Street did not exist. After more than a century of Clark descendents the land was sold in 1931 to the Glendower Trust, a vehicle of real estate developers John Hubbard and Donald Kenyon. Hubbard and Kenyon laid out plans for Dunbarton Street and Glendower Road (shortly [READ MORE]

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Rock Meadow Receives Funding for Mowing and Maintenance

 Environment, January 2022, Newsletter, Open Space  Comments Off on Rock Meadow Receives Funding for Mowing and Maintenance
Jan 042022
 
Rock Meadow Receives Funding for Mowing and Maintenance

Acting on intelligence provided by the Belmont Citizens Forum, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin and Conservation Agent Mary Trudeau collaborated in October to apply for state funds for mowing and maintenance at Belmont’s Rock Meadow conservation area. Belmont was able to secure a budget earmark, facilitated by State Representative Dave Rogers, for the Rock Meadow conservation area in the FY2022 budget for an amount of $60,000.  The funds will be distributed to the town through the Department of Conservation and Recreation. In working with Garvin to identify funding needs for the town, Commonwealth officials noted that use of this important community [READ MORE]

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Letters to the Editor January 2022

 January 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Letters to the Editor January 2022
Jan 042022
 
Letters to the Editor January 2022

To the Editor: Just a quick note to say thank you for the latest edition of the Citizens Forum (Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, November/December 2021). Nicely done. I’m a raptor fan, and I have been following articles about poisonings for a few years. There were quite a few sick and dead squirrels found on the Town Field/Waverley area (including my backyard) a few years ago. Just today, I saw a new post on the Belmont Parents Facebook page about a sick squirrel — symptoms of a larger problem. Sadly our local red tailed hawk hasn’t been seen in months. Thank [READ MORE]

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Whither the Royal Road Woods?

 Bicycles and bike paths, Environment, January 2022, Newsletter, Open Space  Comments Off on Whither the Royal Road Woods?
Jan 042022
 
Whither the Royal Road Woods?

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Last spring, as playgrounds were being closed statewide to contain the emerging COVID-19 outbreak, a new Belmont pocket park came into existence where COVID restrictions didn’t apply. Conceived and built by a group of Belmont boys, the park is hidden from casual passersby by its topography and tree canopy. However, it is well publicized among its users, who have documented their exploits on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media (search for “Belmont Dirt Jumps”).  Created for bicycle jumping, a sport that emerged from BMX bike racing, the park initially consisted of a network of crisscrossing paths [READ MORE]

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Belmont’s Invasive Species: Glossy Buckthorn

 Environment, January 2022, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Plants  Comments Off on Belmont’s Invasive Species: Glossy Buckthorn
Jan 042022
 
Belmont's Invasive Species: Glossy Buckthorn

By Joe Hibbard Take a walk on the north side of the Great Meadow at the Lone Tree Hill Conservation Land and you might notice some recent changes in the landscape. A broad area along both sides of the Pitch Pine Trail, which was until recently an impenetrable thicket of invasive plants, is being cleared and on its way to a healthier forest/meadow edge landscape. The clearing is part of a long-term project to restore ecological balance to degraded landscapes that are part of the Lone Tree Hill Conservation Land. The project is led by the Land Management Committee for [READ MORE]

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Clean Green Belmont Cleans Up

 Newsletter  Comments Off on Clean Green Belmont Cleans Up
Jan 042022
 
Clean Green Belmont Cleans Up

Last November, Clean Green Belmont (CGB) hosted a cleanup event adjacent to the high school and along Concord Avenue. In less than an hour, Pat O’Dougherty, Joanna Epstein, Anna Churchill, Marty Bitner, Weston Gibney, Dean Hickman, and Lindsay Levine filled their trash bags (recycled plastic and repurposed garden soil bags). The most common items they removed from the land were all single-use plastics. Visit www.sustainablebelmont.net/clean-green-belmont/ to learn more about CGB and to join their next cleanup.

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 Posted by at 9:51 am

Lone Tree Hill Restoration Shows Strong Start

 Environment, January 2022, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants  Comments Off on Lone Tree Hill Restoration Shows Strong Start
Jan 042022
 
Lone Tree Hill Restoration Shows Strong Start

By Jeffrey North Late last year, field technicians engaged by the  Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill (LMC) and the Judy Record Conservation Fund began a multiyear campaign to restore select parcels of the Lone Tree Hill conservation land. These stewardship projects focused first on invasive plant removal at Area A1. Restoration specialists from Parterre Ecological Services hand-cut the bittersweet vines that were smothering the trees there and deployed a forestry mower to obliterate (if only temporarily) the buckthorn and multiflora rose.  The forestry mowing radically altered the appearance of that portion of the property, prompting the few visitors to ask if [READ MORE]

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NEMBA at Lone Tree Hill

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Jan 042022
 
NEMBA at Lone Tree Hill

The New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA) hosted a volunteer workday this past November at Lone Tree Hill. Fourteen volunteers spent a little over four hours helping to improve the property, about 56 hours in total.  New kiosks were installed at the entrances at Mill Street and near the cemetery on Concord Avenue. An anonymous donor provided the funds for the new kiosks. The signs on the kiosks were jointly donated by NEMBA and the Judy Record Conservation Fund. Drainage work was completed in the eastern woods to remedy erosion along the access road.  

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 Posted by at 9:22 am

Community Path Passes Phase 1 Milestone

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, January 2022, Newsletter  Comments Off on Community Path Passes Phase 1 Milestone
Jan 042022
 
Community Path Passes Phase 1 Milestone

By Jarrod Goentzel, Sara Smith, and Eric Batcho  The town recently passed a major milestone in the development of the Belmont Community Path when town consultant, Nitsch Engineering, submitted the 25% Design for Phase 1 to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Phase 1 is the section of the Belmont path from Brighton Street to the Clark Street Bridge just beyond Belmont Center, including a spur to the Belmont High School and Middle School via a tunnel under the MBTA Fitchburg line (bit.ly/BCP-P1-25). The Belmont Community Path is a critical two-mile link in the Mass Central Rail Trail, a 104-mile, [READ MORE]

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How Can Belmont Reduce Single-Use Plastics?

 Environment, January 2022, Newsletter, Recycling  Comments Off on How Can Belmont Reduce Single-Use Plastics?
Jan 042022
 
How Can Belmont Reduce Single-Use Plastics?

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. The United States generates more plastic waste than any other country in the world: 42 million tons, or 286 pounds per person, in 2016. That includes plastic waste the US exports to other countries with weak recycling systems (see links at end of article for details). Plastic waste lasts a long time and has many noxious effects (See “Think Twice About Single-Use Plastics,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, November 2021). The Massachusetts legislature, a recycling leader in 1981 when it passed the “bottle bill” over Governor Ed King’s veto, has become a laggard. (See “Time To Pass [READ MORE]

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Time To Pass An Updated Bottle Bill

 Environment, January 2022, Newsletter, Recycling  Comments Off on Time To Pass An Updated Bottle Bill
Jan 032022
 
Time To Pass An Updated Bottle Bill

By Janet Domenitz and Julia Blatt We need to stop kicking the can down the road.  Since its passage nearly 40 years ago, the bottle bill has created a successful recycling program in Massachusetts.  But time is catching up to the law, and it needs updating to deliver the best results. A lot has changed in Massachusetts since the original bottle bill was established in 1983. First, our waste problem has worsened. According to the new Trash in America report released by MASSPIRG and other regional public interest groups, the average American throws out nearly 1,800 pounds of trash each [READ MORE]

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Belmont Awarded Climate Change Grant

 Environment, January 2022, Newsletter, Stormwater  Comments Off on Belmont Awarded Climate Change Grant
Jan 032022
 
Belmont Awarded Climate Change Grant

By Jeffrey North Belmont has received a $195,000 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant from the Massachusetts Climate MVP Program to identify Belmont’s current and future stormwater flooding risks from climate change. The project, known as the Stormwater Flood Reduction and Climate Resilience Capital Improvement Plan, will include the development of a 2-D stormwater model to assist in locating flood risk areas and evaluating how to make those areas more resilient.  The primary goals of this project are to understand the town’s vulnerability to flooding and climate change on a street-by-street basis using an enhanced town-wide 2-D drainage hydraulic model, and [READ MORE]

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Watershed Modeling Enhances Flood Resilience

 Climate Change, Environment, January 2022, Newsletter, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Watershed Modeling Enhances Flood Resilience
Jan 032022
 
Watershed Modeling Enhances Flood Resilience

By Julia Hopkins and Julie Wood Climate change isn’t coming—it’s here. Sea-level rise, drought, blistering heat; the tangible effects of global warming are already happening in Massachusetts, and our highly urbanized watershed and those who call it home are increasingly vulnerable to its impacts. It also means extreme weather and severe inland flooding are some of the greatest threats to our watershed and our lives. In the northeastern United States, precipitation during heavy rain events increased by more than 70% according to the Fourth National Climate Assessment released in 2018. This trend is expected to continue as our climate warms. Today’s [READ MORE]

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