Lone Tree Hill Annual Spring Volunteer Day—Come Join Us April 29, 9AM-1PM

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Mar 152017
 

Belmont Citizens Forum in conjunction with the Judith K. Record Memorial Conservation Fund invite you to: 5th Belmont Citizens Forum Annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day Rain or Shine! On Saturday, April 29, from 9 am­–1 pm, the Belmont Citizens Forum in conjunction with the Judith K. Record Memorial Conservation Fund is sponsoring its fifth annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day, and we invite you to participate—rain or shine! This year, we are having two different work sites, one to plant white pines along the Pine Allee, and a second to clean up the trash along South Pleasant Street, in [READ MORE]

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Update: The MCRT Rail Trail

 Bicycles and bike paths, Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Traffic, Transit  Comments Off on Update: The MCRT Rail Trail
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]

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Environmental Events March-April 2017

 Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Environment, March 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Recycling, Water Quality  Comments Off on Environmental Events March-April 2017
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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Belmont Drives Electric Campaign Continues

 Air Quality, Environment, January 2017, Newsletter, Transit  Comments Off on Belmont Drives Electric Campaign Continues
Jan 192017
 
Belmont Drives Electric Campaign Continues

A Cleaner Town, One Driveway at a Time by Madeleine Barr Lara Hirner and Jason Reed, the first Belmont residents to purchase an EV through the Belmont Drives Electric program, with their new Chevrolet Volt. Join the movement. Belmont is one of the top five towns in Massachusetts for electric vehicle adoption. Belmont Drives Electric (BDE) is a community initiative launched in October 2016 designed to highlight the benefits of driving electric vehicles (EVs) and make it easy for you to get behind the wheel. Through this initiative, Belmont residents in cooperation with several local dealers have taken test drives [READ MORE]

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Idling Harms Your Car and Your Health

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Jan 192017
 
Idling Harms Your Car and Your Health

No Idle Threat Compiled by John DiCocco Idling your car—leaving the engine running while the vehicle is parked or standing—is bad for your car, your wallet, your own health, and the environment. One of the unfortunate inventions of the past few years is the auto ignition feature that allows owners to start their cars remotely (to “warm up the engine”), without having to step outside. With new car technology, it’s totally unnecessary. But beyond that, it’s dangerous, because it allows carbon monoxide to build up in your driveway, and may even seep into the car. Everyday in the US, millions [READ MORE]

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Pay As You Throw—More Information.

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Jan 192017
 

Response To Reader Comments by Kim Slack In our last issue, we published an article by Belmont resident Kim Slack, a member of the town’s recycling and waste committee, advocating for the Pay As You Throw (PAYT) approach to trash collection. One hundred and forty-three Massachusetts communities use PAYT. With PAYT, you pay for each trash bag you want to have collected. The BCF Newsletter received a few notes that offered dissenting views and we invited Slack to respond. I appreciate everyone’s feedback. I hope this will clarify the benefits of PAYT. Hiding the cost in our taxes for trash [READ MORE]

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Mass Central Rail Trail’s Westward Progress

 Air Quality, Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Environment, January 2017, Newsletter, Traffic  Comments Off on Mass Central Rail Trail’s Westward Progress
Jan 192017
 
Mass Central Rail Trail's Westward Progress

Go West, Young Rider by John Dieckmann When completed, the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) will stretch 104 miles, from North Point Park (opposite the Museum of Science at the Boston-Cambridge line), all the way to Northampton. The Belmont Community Path would eventually be a segment of the MCRT. As the community path feasibility study moves forward here in Belmont, several towns to our immediate west are making ongoing progress developing segments of the trail. The epicenter of trail progress today is Wayland, which is likely to be first to complete the projects listed below. We’ll describe the plans town-by-town [READ MORE]

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Environmental Events Jan-Feb 2017

 Air Quality, Environment, Historic Preservation, January 2017, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Water Quality  Comments Off on Environmental Events Jan-Feb 2017
Jan 192017
 

Friends of Fresh Pond Reservation Annual Meeting and Potluck Supper Sunday, January 22, 5-7 PM Help us celebrate over 15 years of educational programs and stewardship. Enjoy good food and learn about the activities of the Friends group. Following supper, we will briefly review the past year, then share ideas for future programs and projects at Fresh Pond in a relaxed roundtable discussion. Guests and newcomers welcome. RSVP to Catherine Pedemonti at friendsoffreshpond@yahoo.com. Basement of Neville Place, 650 Concord Avenue, Cambridge Winter Nature Storytime at Fresh Pond Friday, January 27, 10-11 AM Friends of Fresh Pond host children and their [READ MORE]

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E-Bikes: Your Next Mode of Travel?

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Jan 172017
 
E-Bikes: Your Next Mode of Travel?

Power to the Pedal by David Chase If you’d like to bike more but are put off by hills, a relatively long commute, or the need to combine children or other cargo with a long or hilly commute, you might consider an e-bike—a bicycle with a battery-powered electric motor assist.   The BionX motor is integrated with the gears. This unit can be added to a non-electric bike. A modern e-bike adds a compact battery-powered motor to a regular bike frame (though many are designed specifically to be e-bikes). The electric motor provides extra oomph. The e-bike motor, sized between [READ MORE]

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Belmont Electric Vehicle Campaign Revs Up

 Air Quality, Environment, Newsletter, November-December 2016  Comments Off on Belmont Electric Vehicle Campaign Revs Up
Nov 032016
 
Belmont Electric Vehicle Campaign Revs Up

First Goal is 50 New Electric Vehicles in Town By Jan Kruse. Photos by Emily Woods. BDE co-chair Marty Bittner (left) and volunteer Ade Baptista check out a Tesla Model X electric car. Experts predict that electric vehicles (EVs) are the wave of the future, but for Belmont, the future is now. Belmont Drives Electric (BDE) is a new community-driven program to promote the benefits of EVs, and is supported by the Belmont Energy Committee, Belmont Light, Sustainable Belmont, and other Belmont EV enthusiasts. Why Promote Electric in Belmont Now? In 2016, the Belmont Energy Committee updated the assessment of [READ MORE]

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Waltham Solicits Bids for Design of Rail Trail

 Bike Paths, Environment, Newsletter, November-December 2016, Traffic, Transit  Comments Off on Waltham Solicits Bids for Design of Rail Trail
Nov 032016
 
Waltham Solicits Bids for Design of Rail Trail

Will Belmont Follow Suit? By Vince Stanton Jr. In September, the city of Waltham issued a request for proposal (RFP) for 100% design of a community path extending approximately three miles from the Waltham-Belmont border (about 1,000 feet west of Waverley Square) to the Weston border (about 1,500 feet west of Route 128, just south of Main Street). (“100% design” refers to a fully specified set of construction drawings.) Proposals were due on October 20. At a bidder’s conference on October 5, city officials expressed the hope that design work could be completed this winter, allowing construction to begin in [READ MORE]

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Environmental Events Nov-Dec 2016

 Air Quality, Environment, Newsletter, November-December 2016, Water Quality  Comments Off on Environmental Events Nov-Dec 2016
Nov 032016
 

Belmont Drives Electric Ride & Drive Day Saturday, November 12, 1:30-4:30 PM Come test drive and learn about several models of electric vehicles, as well as incentives by local dealers and tax benefits. Learn more at: belmontdriveselectric.org  or email info@bostoncommittee.org for more information. Belmont High School parking lot and cafeteria. MIT Water Summit 2016 Thursday & Friday, November 17, 8 AM to November 18, 3:30 PM The MIT Water Club and its sponsors are thrilled to announce the fifth edition of the MIT Water Summit, a gathering of not only students and faculty from MIT and the greater Boston area, [READ MORE]

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Environmental Events

 Air Quality, Environment, Newsletter, September 2016, Uncategorized, Water Quality  Comments Off on Environmental Events
Sep 142016
 
Environmental Events

Board of Surveyors Hearing–Postponed The Board of Surveyors will hold their hearing of the proposed road adjacent to Habitat at 178 Marsh Street. Homer Art Gallery, Town Hall, 19 Moore Street, Belmont. NOTE: The September 19 meeting has been postponed to a future date. The town engineer is asking the applicant to first apply for a hearing before the Belmont Conservation Commission to resolve any wetland issues. We will update this post when we have more information. 350 Mass Cambridge Node Meeting, Tuesday, September 20, 6:30–8:30 PM Join discussions with a grassroots climate network in Massachusetts. Newcomers welcome. First Church Cambridge, 11 [READ MORE]

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Staycation 2016: A Successful Experiment

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Sep 142016
 
Staycation 2016: A Successful Experiment

A Student’s Citizens Forum Project by Shodai Inose When I announced the concept of the Belmont Staycation, some people snickered at the name and doubted that we would have any success. Well, that didn’t stop me. When we first began this project in June, during my internship with Anne-Marie Lambert, a director of the Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF), to lay out we laid out a few major goals. We wanted to learn how to increase interest in local Belmont sights and businesses, and how to reduce energy use from vacation travel by substituting a family “staycation” in Belmont. We were [READ MORE]

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Lower Speeds for Belmont?

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Sep 142016
 
Lower Speeds for Belmont?

My Long, Long, Long, Short Journey Across Town by Sumner Brown In a July 14, 2016, post on his website, state Senator Will Brownsberger alerted citizens to a proposed law, since passed, that makes it easier for local communities to lower speed limits. The motivation is improved safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Belmont seems to be a relatively safe place for pedestrians and bicyclists. Data available from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, for example, show that more serious bicycle accidents occur in Waltham. This is why the Waltham segment of the Central Massachusetts Rail Trail has a higher priority for [READ MORE]

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Can “Small-Town” Belmont Add Housing?

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Sep 142016
 

Current and Former Town Officials Comment by John DiCocco In our last issue, (BCF apage 1), we addressed the need for more housing in Greater Boston and the state legislature’s proposal of state-wide zoning requirements. If such a law passed, it would require more housing—and more affordable housing—in almost every community inside Route 495. What would that mean for Belmont? We asked several town residents who have served or are still currently serving on various committees and boards to share some brief thoughts on the following question:  “Can Belmont increase housing without altering our small town feeling?” Judy Feins, co-chair, Belmont Housing [READ MORE]

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Conservation Land and Development

 Environment, Newsletter, Open Space, September 2016  Comments Off on Conservation Land and Development
Sep 142016
 
Conservation Land and Development

Habitat Wetlands at Risk by Vincent Stanton Jr and Roger Wrubel Notice: the Board of Surveyors meeting originally scheduled for September 19 to discuss the Chiofaro property has been postponed. The town engineer is asking the applicant to first apply for a hearing before the Belmont Conservation Commission to resolve any wetland issues. In densely settled communities like Belmont, few real estate marketing pitches ring a louder bell than “abuts conservation land.” Indeed, what could be more salable than guaranteed backyard tranquility in perpetuity? Unfortunately, as the perimeter of conservation land becomes densely settled, the value of the land for conservation [READ MORE]

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