Newsletter – Page 20 – Belmont Citizens Forum

Belmont Can Support Business Better

Newsletter, November 2019, Town Committee Meetings Comments Off

Nov 042019

By Katherine Venzke Around town there is constant talk about the state of business in Belmont. How is Belmont Center faring with the new-ish parking meter system? What’s with all the new development in Waverley Square? And how will the Bradford development affect commerce in Cushing Square? These discussions happen on the sidewalks, in cafes, at Town Hall, and in the local media. They also happen, often, at my shop. This “talk” found some direction and mission last year with the formation of the Belmont Business Study Committee (BBSC). The town pulled together business owners from each of the Belmont [READ MORE]

Belmont Highlights Natural, Historic Treasures

Environment, Historic Preservation, History, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, November 2019, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Nov 042019

Belmont Highlights Natural, Historic Treasures

By Mary Bradley The Belmont Historical Society hosted two events in September and October celebrating Belmont’s rich cultural and environmental history. Tracking the Wellington Hill Station through Time The Belmont Historical Society hosted an open house on September 15, 2019, to celebrate the completion of a series of repairs and restorations to the many-purposed Wellington Hill Station building the previous month. The station received a new cedar shingle roof and repairs to the decking and gingerbread trim, the interior plaster walls, and the lower wood sections. The roof was funded with Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding and donations from the [READ MORE]

Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset

Environment, Historic Preservation, History, Newsletter, November 2019, Open Space, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Nov 042019

Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset

By Michael Chesson Clay Pit Pond on Concord Avenue was once the site of Belmont’s largest industrial enterprise, a brickyard run by John H. and Robert A. Parry. The brothers bought 20¾ acres of land in 1888 on Concord Avenue and Underwood Street, with its valuable blue clay that turned an attractive reddish color when fired, and their yard produced 200,000 bricks a week. Just as the oil, steel, and railroad industries consolidated, the Parry brothers’ business in 1900 merged with the New England Brick Company, which owned three dozen other brickyards in the region. The firm installed new dryers, [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Underground Pollution Problem

Environment, Newsletter, November 2019, Sewers, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Nov 042019

By Anne-Marie Lambert If only the 504 gallons of household wastewater which had been pouring into Wellington Brook and Winn’s Brook through underground culverts every day had been more visible, perhaps we as a town would have addressed the necessary repairs more urgently. That’s what Belmont did when a student noticed an oil spill leaking into Clay Pit Pond during a freeze on December 12, 2003. A ruptured return line to the underground storage tank at Mary Lee Burbank Elementary school travelled through the town’s storm drain system carrying 1,000 gallons of oil to Clay Pit Pond. Alerted to the [READ MORE]

September/October 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Environment, Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2019 Comments Off

Sep 162019

View or download the September/October 2019 issue as a color PDF here, or read single articles below. Articles in this issue: How to Fix Belmont’s Traffic By Jessie Bennett Traffic in greater Boston has gone from an annoyance to a crisis. The recent Congestion in the Commonwealth study produced by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), outlines how increasing congestion is affecting travel times and access to jobs. Two key trouble areas are Fresh Pond Parkway and the Route 2 approach to Alewife. Read more. Community Path Progress in Belmont and Beyond By John Dieckmann Recently, there [READ MORE]

Belmont Roots September/October 2019

Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2019 Comments Off

Sep 162019

Now comes the fall. Summer vacation is over, and it’s time to get back to work. If that thought does not fill you with glee, perhaps it’s time to consider a new career that will help preserve, protect, and promote our planet at the Massachusetts Green Careers Conference. If a wholesale career change isn’t in your future, you can still take some time to consider how to help people interact with the natural world in a way that helps both nature and humans—by building trails, using space wisely, or simply taking a mindful walk in the woods. 11th Massachusetts Green [READ MORE]

Ground Source Heat Pumps Make Heating Easy

Jan/Feb 2019 Comments Off

Sep 162019

Ground Source Heat Pumps Make Heating Easy

By James Booth One of the best options for home heating that doesn’t burn oil or natural gas is a heat pump. Heat pumps reduce the amount of energy you need to heat or cool indoor air. If you use fossil fuels to heat, a heat pump will let you use less fuel, which means fewer climate-changing greenhouse gases and less local and indoor air pollution. Heat pumps work by using electricity to move heat between the inside and outside of a house, allowing efficient heating or cooling. There are two ways to do this: air-source heat pumps and ground [READ MORE]

Invasive Plants Harm Belmont’s Environment

Plants, Sept/Oct 2019 Comments Off

Sep 162019

Invasive Plants Harm Belmont's Environment

By Roger Colton Belmont is under invasion. By air, land, and water, the town is experiencing the influx of non-native plants which outcompete our native species, threatening our wildlife and our waterways. The sooner that town residents begin to respond, the sooner the invasion can be thwarted. One of the most noticeable and harmful invasive plants in Belmont is Japanese knotweed, which is growing along waterways including the Wellington Brook. Japanese knotweed threatens to displace the existing trees, shrubs, and other native plants that line the waterway. Unlike those other species, knotweed does not effectively prevent erosion or filter pollutants [READ MORE]

McLean Barn Gets Scrubbing, Stabilization

Sept/Oct 2019 Comments Off

Sep 162019

McLean Barn Gets Scrubbing, Stabilization

By Radha Iyengar The historic McLean Barn has been vacant and deteriorating for many years—but thanks to Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds approved last May, the barn is finally being cleaned and stabilized. The barn may also get a new electrical line to support exterior lighting and cameras to deter vandals. Located at 248 Mill Street, the McLean Barn was built around 1915. It was used by the McLean Farm until it was transferred to the town in 2005 as part of the memorandum of agreement with McLean Hospital. The McLean Barn is a New England-style banked barn that sits [READ MORE]

Does Living in Belmont Promote Our Health?

Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2019, Sept/Oct 2019 Comments Off

Sep 162019

Does Living in Belmont Promote Our Health?

By Tammy Calise Where we live shapes our behaviors and influences our physical and mental health. While everyone deserves to live in a neighborhood that supports healthy lifestyles, it is especially important for youth and older adults—and compared to the state overall, Belmont has a higher percentage of the population under 18 years (21 percent vs. 24 percent) and over 65 years (15 percent vs. 24 percent). The University of Virginia’s Center for Design and Health and Hart Howerton, an interdisciplinary design firm, endorse nine principles that ensure the design of our neighborhoods promote health: smart locations, integrated nature, mixed [READ MORE]

Community Path Progress in Belmont and Beyond

Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2019 Comments Off

Sep 162019

Community Path Progress in Belmont and Beyond

By John Dieckmann Recently, there has been great progress in developing the Community Path in Belmont and the segments of the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) in Waltham, Weston, and Wayland. Belmont The Community Path Project Committee selected Nitsch Engineering at their July 15 meeting to be the design contractor for the design of Phases 1A and 1B of the Community Path. Phase 1A is the Community Path extending from Clark Street to Brighton Street. Phase 1B is the pedestrian tunnel under the Fitchburg commuter rail tracks at Alexander Avenue and the short path connecting the tunnel to Concord Avenue. [READ MORE]

How to Fix Belmont’s Traffic

Newsletter Comments Off

Sep 162019

By Jessie Bennett Traffic in greater Boston has gone from an annoyance to a crisis. The recent Congestion in the Commonwealth study produced by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), outlines how increasing congestion is affecting travel times and access to jobs. Two key trouble areas are Fresh Pond Parkway and the Route 2 approach to Alewife. High congestion in these areas causes the cut-through traffic noted in Belmont’s Town Wide Traffic Study, presented by BSC Group in April. If cars are gridlocked in one area, drivers will look for other ways around it, either by using GPS apps or [READ MORE]

July/August 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

Environment, July-Aug 2019, Newsletter Comments Off

Jul 162019

View or download the July/August 2019 issue as a color PDF here, or read single articles below. Articles in this issue: From Here to There: Belmont’s Roadmap to Decarbonization By Roger Colton The Belmont Energy Committee’s 2018 “Roadmap for Strategic Decarbonization” will allow periodic measurement of progress toward the objective of reducing emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Read more. Buying Local: Electricity from Belmont Light By Marty Bitner In Belmont, there are clear benefits to buying local when it comes to energy usage, and that means powering our lives with electricity whenever possible. Read more. Belmont Energy [READ MORE]

Belmont Roots, July/August 2019

Environment, July-Aug 2019, Newsletter, Volunteer Comments Off

Jul 152019

Environmental News, Notes, and Events By Meg Muckenhoupt Reducing emissions can begin in your own backyard—but how? Well, if you’re tired of mowing your lawn, you have a good excuse to stop. Although grasses, like all plants, remove carbon from the air when they grow their leaves and roots, the greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer and pesticide production, mowing, and leaf blowing make grass a poor proposition for our climate. You still have to do something with that land, but there are many other good choices that will look good and keep more carbon in the ground and out of [READ MORE]

May/June 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

BCF Events, Construction and Housing, Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Recycling, Traffic, Volunteer, Water Quality Comments Off

May 062019

View or download the May/June 2019 issue as a color PDF here, or read single articles below. Articles in this issue: New Plans for McLean Land Density is key issue as town considers proposals for two McLean campus parcels By Sue Bass Twenty years ago, Belmont voted to allow development on McLean Hospital land on Belmont Hill. Now McLean is coming back to the town with new proposals for two parcels of land that are still undeveloped. Read more. Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down By Mary Bradley Composting is no longer just a backyard hobby for the ardent gardener. [READ MORE]

New Plans for McLean Land

Construction and Housing, Environment, History, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Open Space, Traffic Comments Off

May 062019

Density is key issue as town considers proposals for two McLean campus parcels By Sue Bass Twenty years ago, Belmont voted to allow development on McLean Hospital land on Belmont Hill. The town-wide referendum of July 1999 endorsed the previous Town Meeting vote to change zoning for 238 acres. The largest portion for new construction became the Woodlands, 121 luxury townhouses on twenty-six acres. Another portion became Waverley Woods, 40 units of affordable housing on an acre and a third. Some land was preserved from construction. One hundred and twenty acres were set aside for open space, and fourteen acres [READ MORE]

Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down

Environment, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Plants, Recycling Comments Off

May 062019

By Mary Bradley A Virtuous Cycle Composting is no longer just a backyard hobby for the ardent gardener. It has Facebook groups and a following from environmentalists, politicians, and scientists. Most praise compost as a means to keep food waste out of landfills and reduce release of methane. While consensus ends there, composting has evolved from a tale of worms, microbes, and bacteria to the realm of politics, emerging technologies, and scientific disputes. For me, however, composting is about magic: Wave one hand over an orange peel clutched in your other hand, and reveal a fistful of dirt. If that’s [READ MORE]

WEEDS: Plants in the wrong place

Environment, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Plants Comments Off

May 062019

By Lucia Gates All photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Like gardeners everywhere, we Belmontians struggle with weeds. While it might be tempting to take the easy approach and eliminate them with herbicides and chemical weed killers, as gardeners we also know that we have to protect everything in our garden. There are ways to manage weeds safely. This article focuses on flower beds and not lawns, although some of the information will be useful in grassy situations. Also, some weeds, such as wild grape vines and wild multiflora roses, are unlikely to be a problem in a flower bed, but [READ MORE]

Painstaking Progress on Belmont’s Multi-Decade Environmental Emergency

Environment, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Open Space, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

May 062019

Painstaking Progress on Belmont’s Multi-Decade Environmental Emergency

By Anne-Marie Lambert Belmont is working under a federal consent order to reduce the pollution it sends into Boston Harbor from leaks and connections of underground sewer pipes into the storm drain system. Cleanup According to the town’s January 30 Compliance Report to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Belmont redirected an additional 126 gallons per day (GPD) of sewage from our brooks and ponds to the Deer Island treatment plant in Boston Harbor. Sources included leaking sewer service laterals and sewer segments on Brettwood Road and Pierce Road (84 GPD) and three leaking sewer service laterals along Hoitt Road [READ MORE]

Belmont Roots, May/June 2019

Environment, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Recycling, Volunteer, Water Quality Comments Off

May 062019

Environmental News, Notes, and Events By Meg Muckenhoupt Well, it’s spring, sort of. The average last frost date in Belmont is somewhere between May 1 and May 11, depending on which website you believe—the Old Farmer’s Almanac? Plantmaps.com? But my grandmother in Newton never planted her tomatoes before Memorial Day. Warmth-loving plants such as tomatoes and peppers are sensitive to soil temperature as well as air temperature. They can suffer “transplant shock” and become stunted and grim if roots are a bit too chilled. Seeds are more secure in their identity, and will simply sit and shiver in the soil [READ MORE]

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