Vision for a Better Belmont: Elizabeth Dionne

 Board of Selectmen, Construction and Housing, History, Newsletter, November/December 2023, Select Board, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on Vision for a Better Belmont: Elizabeth Dionne
Nov 012023
 
Vision for a Better Belmont: Elizabeth Dionne

This is the first of a new series of interviews with Belmont stakeholders about their vision for Belmont’s future. This interview was conducted by Jeffrey North. It has been edited for length and clarity. – Ed. BCF: Congratulations on your election to the Select Board earlier this year. What have you learned about how Belmont works—either well or not so well? Overall, having served in an official capacity in Belmont for the past seven-and-a-half years (Town Meeting, Warrant Committee, Community Preservation Committee), I am pleasantly surprised that there are not many surprises. While municipal governance can be daunting and sometimes [READ MORE]

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Opinion: Parking, People, and Money

 July/August 2023, Parking, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on Opinion: Parking, People, and Money
Jun 302023
 
Opinion: Parking, People, and Money

By Max Colice A typical parking space takes up about 300 to 350 square feet. In Belmont, if you want to open a retail business or office, you’ll need one parking space per 250 square feet of retail or office space. That’s right: in Belmont, your parking lot will have to be bigger than your business. If you want to open a restaurant, you’ll need one parking space for every two seats. Again, that’s more land for parking than for people.  Providing all of this parking makes opening a business in Belmont more expensive than it should be. Consider how [READ MORE]

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Unauthorized Bike Route and Vandalism at Lone Tree Hill

 Bicycles and bike paths, McLean, Newsletter, Open Space, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on Unauthorized Bike Route and Vandalism at Lone Tree Hill
Apr 302023
 
Unauthorized Bike Route and Vandalism at Lone Tree Hill

An unauthorized bike route off the Hillside Trail on the Lone Tree Hill, Belmont Conservation Land (LTH) property was reported on April 21, 2023. The route goes down a hill, over a rock ledge and lands below on a very steep hillside. The builders of the route cut down trees, broke branches, removed rocks and vegetation (trees and native perennial trout lily) from the hillside and excavated dirt by digging and leaving dangerous pits. There has been earlier unauthorized bike activity at Lone Tree Hill, but this is the most dangerous and damaging. At the ninth annual LTH volunteer day [READ MORE]

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Have You Read the Collins Center Report?

 Newsletter, November 2022, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on Have You Read the Collins Center Report?
Oct 312022
 

By Jeffrey North Belmont is a relatively affluent community. Massachusetts Department of Revenue figures in FY2022 show that Belmont’s income per capita was $98,942. This figure is very close to the average income for residents of six comparable towns and significantly higher than the Massachusetts per capita income of $46,062. Yet Belmont is the 10th most expensive place in Massachusetts to own a home, while per-capita incomes ranked only 22nd in the state.  The average Belmont homeowner can expect to pay $15,568 annually in property taxes, or approximately 15.73% of Belmont’s per-capita income. Among 12 comparable towns, Belmont has the [READ MORE]

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Regionalization Could Boost Services

 Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2022, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on Regionalization Could Boost Services
Sep 092022
 

By Aaron Pikcilingis and Paul Rickter Providing high-quality town services amid budgetary constraints requires us to use every strategy at our disposal. The Structural Change Impact Group (SCIG) was charged with evaluating potential strategies that could reduce costs, improve efficiency, or improve the quality of service for our town. Of the strategies we evaluated, regionalizing town services is one of the most promising. Belmont already participates in several regional arrangements, but the SCIG identified new opportunities for consideration.   Benefits of Regionalized Town Services Reduced costs  Regionalized municipalities can benefit from group purchasing because individually, smaller municipalities don’t buy enough [READ MORE]

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Belmont is Sitting on a Fiscal Cliff

 Construction and Housing, Newsletter, Open Space, Sept/Oct 2022, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on Belmont is Sitting on a Fiscal Cliff
Sep 092022
 
Belmont is Sitting on a Fiscal Cliff

By Max Colice, Elizabeth Dionne, and Dan Barry Belmont is effectively insolvent. It cannot pay its operating expenses and pension debt without one-time federal aid. Compounding this problem, Belmont’s operating expenses are rising faster than its revenue. Unless Belmont increases its revenue, the town may have to cut services drastically.  Like every other town in Massachusetts, Belmont’s revenue comes mainly from property taxes. The Board of Assessors assesses each property’s value, then computes the property tax by multiplying the property value by the property tax rate. Even though Belmont’s property tax rate is relatively low, its single-family property tax bill [READ MORE]

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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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Neighborhood Opinion: Tank Process is Flawed

 Board of Selectmen, Environment, March/April 2021, Newsletter, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on Neighborhood Opinion: Tank Process is Flawed
Mar 012021
 
Neighborhood Opinion: Tank Process is Flawed

Local Residents Challenge Tank Location, Planning By Judith Ananian Sarno and Lisa Oteri At a cost of over $500,000, Belmont is launching an initiative to replace two underground storage fuel tanks located at the Department of Public Works (DPW) yard adjacent to a residential neighborhood—but local residents still have many questions about the tanks’ effect on the neighborhood, and whether the tanks should be in that location at all. The current tanks, which serve Belmont’s fleet of vehicles, need to be replaced as they are single walled and no longer comply with state regulations and are no longer insurable. Town [READ MORE]

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25% Belmont Bike Path Design Presented

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2020, Town Committee Meetings, Traffic, Transit  Comments Off on 25% Belmont Bike Path Design Presented
Sep 032020
 
25% Belmont Bike Path Design Presented

By Jarrod Goentzel Recent meetings offered a first look at the official 25% draft plan for the Belmont Community Path, which should include most significant features, and continued conversations with state leaders about how and when it can be built. On July 16, the Community Path Project Committee (CPPC) held a virtual public meeting for the design firm, where Nitsch Engineering presented draft 25% design drawings for the first two construction phases (bit.ly/20200716BCPpresentation). A video of the full meeting, including public questions and feedback, is available at Belmont Media Center (bit.ly/20200716BCPvideo). Phase 1 includes the rail trail from Brighton Street [READ MORE]

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Belmont Spreads Compost Townwide

 Environment, Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2020, Town Committee Meetings  Comments Off on Belmont Spreads Compost Townwide
Sep 032020
 
Belmont Spreads Compost Townwide

Town puts out RFP for preferred vendor program By Julie Wu Since its inception in 2018, Belmont Composts!, a project of the nonprofit Belmont Food Collaborative, which also runs the Farmers’ Market, has urged curbside composting to reduce Belmont’s trash, saving both town funds and the environment. Using online and in-person outreach and leveraging collective bargaining power to obtain bulk discount rates, Belmont Composts! has made it possible for more than 600 households to sign up with curbside compost companies. With approximately 10,000 households in Belmont, there is potential for much more participation. In October 2019, the cities of Newton [READ MORE]

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