Belmont – Page 4 – Belmont Citizens Forum

PILOT Program Could Ease Tax Burden

July/August 2025, Newsletter Comments Off

Jun 302025

By Max Colice Belmont’s annual budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, approved by Town Meeting in May, is $166.23 million. Of that, $138.85 M (83.5%) comes from property taxes and debt exclusions. The rest comes from state aid ($15.5 M), auto excise taxes, and a variety of lesser sources. Just over 95% of property taxes come from residents, the remainder from businesses. The 2022 Collins Center Report on municipal best practices recommends that Belmont should develop new sources of revenue to mitigate the burden of property taxes, including a program for payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT). How much revenue [READ MORE]

Another Successful Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day

BCF Events, Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2025, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Apr 292025

Another Successful Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day

By Radha Iyengar On Saturday, April 26, a day with steady rain, the Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF), in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, held its 11th annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day. The volunteers included Girl Scout Daisy Troop 63278, Cityside Subaru employees, volunteers from Habitat, and citizens from Belmont and the surrounding communities. Many hands made light work. At the Meadow Edge Trail, volunteers removed garlic mustard and planted 50 white pine saplings, 10 eastern red cedar saplings and also replaced five white pine trees that did not survive the planting from last year. Volunteers also transplanted [READ MORE]

Make Your Yard an Avian Oasis

Environment, May/June 2025 Comments Off

Apr 292025

You can bring joy to your backyard flocks without going to the trouble and expense—and to some, imagining the specter of surreptitious nocturnal rodents—of up-keeping bird feeders. Birds are opportunistic feeders—a bug in the beak is worth two in the bush—even if cannier species maintain acorn and seed caches. Nor are they circumspect about having a quick drink: a drop of dew, sip from a puddle, draft from a drainpipe—all afford vital hydration. In times of freeze or drought, refreshed watering oases are lifesavers and bird magnets. If you put out birdbaths, even makeshift ones, a sip of Adam’s ale [READ MORE]

Belmont Drive Electric May 10

May/June 2025 Comments Off

Apr 292025

Belmont Drives Electric May 10 Belmont Drives Electric will host its next EV Ride & Drive event on Saturday, May 10, from 11 AM to 3 PM at Chenery Middle School. Belmont residents are invited to come test drive, ride along in, and check out a number of all-electric vehicles from different manufacturers. The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources will be there to talk about current state and federal incentives for new and used EVs. Car dealerships will have EV models available to test drive in a no-pressure environment. Local residents will bring their own EVs to discuss what it’s [READ MORE]

Attune Yourselves to the Voices of Spring, Tra La!

Environment, May/June 2025 Comments Off

Apr 292025

Attune Yourselves to the Voices of Spring, Tra La!

An Informal Cornucopia of Nature’s Natterers By Fred Bouchard Now we’ve shed our muffled-up, gray brumal months and can wake up to the myriad bright voices of spring that surround us. Some are tiny, and too intimate: the house fly zizzes angrily to escape your bedroom; a drone mosquito whines by your ears. Some are shrill and chattery: from a tree fork a gray squirrel scolds in a chitter; a chipmunk goes tuk! tuk! as she scoots underfoot. The Eastern cottontails burrowing under your yard—normally silent—may emit petulant squeals if alarmed or attacked. A red fox, skunk, or raccoon can [READ MORE]

Belmont Reduces Rodenticides on Town Land

Environment, May/June 2025 Comments Off

Apr 292025

Belmont Reduces Rodenticides on Town Land

By Jeffrey North Belmont is preparing to vote on a home rule petition at the May Town Meeting to seek local authority to regulate use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) on private property. Belmont has largely eliminated SGARs on public property, recognizing their dangers to wildlife, pets, and children. Town departments, including the Health Department, Public Works, Facilities, and Housing Authority, have adopted safer alternatives such as electric traps, carbon dioxide treatments, and snap traps. This initiative reflects Belmont’s commitment to environmentally responsible pest management and aligns with statewide efforts to curb the use of the most toxic rodenticides. Rodenticides, [READ MORE]

OPINION: Understanding America’s Food Systems

Environment, May/June 2025, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Apr 292025

OPINION: Understanding America’s Food Systems

By Tom Phillips With ambitious promises being made by the new Secretary of Health and Human Services to challenge “big ag” and reduce the country’s reliance on processed foods, and with significant actions already being taken by the Trump administration that impact agriculture on a national level—including the attempted layoffs of federal workers at USDA and FDA—it is crucial for Belmont citizens to understand the complexities of food systems. Growing up in the suburbs of Boston without any family ties to farming, I find it challenging to grasp the financial struggles, social issues, and environmental impacts inherent in food production. [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Hal Shubin

May/June 2025, Plants Comments Off

Apr 292025

By Elissa Ely Height comes with advantages (which many of us low to the ground wish we had). In Hal Shubin’s case, it’s one way to recognize him at the Belmont Farmers’ Market, where he’s chairman of the overseeing committee. You might already have recognized him, though, from his work with the Belmont Food Collaborative, or his three terms on the Board of Library Trustees, or his early involvement on The Belmont Voice, back when the weekly newspaper was still a list of suggested names. As he wrote on his LinkedIn page, “no rest for the retired.” Hal’s farm awareness [READ MORE]

There is More to Restore on Lone Tree Hill

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2025, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Apr 292025

There is More to Restore on Lone Tree Hill

By Joseph Hibbard and Jeffrey North A crew of 30 field technicians, crew leaders, and one or two landscape designers kicked off the Lone Tree Hill work season on Lone Tree Hill on March 14 with a day of training. For the second consecutive year, the Land Management Committee (LMC) for Lone Tree Hill (LTH) granted permission for the Parterre Ecological Services “Class of 2025” to conduct an invasive species removal training session for field technicians. The trainees’ target area was a section in the northeast corner of the Great Meadow. The training area provided a hands-on workspace for training [READ MORE]

Conservation Commissions Protect Our Water

Climate Change, Environment, May/June 2025, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Water Quality Comments Off

Apr 292025

By Dorothy McGlincy and Jeffrey North Belmont is home to the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC), a vital nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Massachusetts’s natural resources by supporting conservation commissions across the Commonwealth. Since its founding in 1961, MACC has been a cornerstone of environmental advocacy, providing resources, training, and support to the state’s 351 conservation commissions and promoting the protection of natural resources for future generations. MACC is headquartered at Mass Audubon’s Habitat property on Juniper Road. A mission rooted in conservation At its core, MACC’s mission is to assist and empower local conservation commissions, which serve as [READ MORE]

How to Save Our Soil and Waterways

Climate Change, May/June 2025, Newsletter, Sewers, Water Quality Comments Off

Apr 292025

By Anne-Marie Lambert It takes a village to clean up our waterways and rejuvenate the soil beneath our feet. I have been soaking in this topic for over a decade, studying the town’s annual reports describing efforts to eliminate pollutants leaking into our waterways and thinking through what makes a real difference. Step one is to care enough about the communities and ecosystems that we are a part of to realize that clean waterways and healthy soil matter. In the 1970s, citizens cared enough that Congress passed the Clean Water Act. This new regard for clean water resulted in regulations [READ MORE]

OPINION: Belmont is Walking a Tightrope

May/June 2025 Comments Off

Apr 292025

By Michael Widmer “We’re being taxed out of our homes.” “Belmont’s special character is disappearing.” “The town is at a crossroads.” In one variation or another, these are consistent refrains from residents who are worried about their future in Belmont. While no two individuals share the precisely the same concerns, it’s fair to group them into three broad, interlocking categories: The escalating property tax burden from the combination of the 2024 operating override and three large capital projects—high school/middle school, library, and rink. The fear that pressures for additional housing and commercial development will overwhelm the town, exacerbate traffic, strain [READ MORE]

Belmont Cultural Council Awards Ten Grants

Arts & Culture, March/April 2025 Comments Off

Feb 272025

By Vicki.Amalfitano State Representative Dave Rogers, State Senator Will Brownsberger, and Belmont Cultural Council Chair Vicki Amalfitano recently announced the award of 10 grants totaling $9,100, for cultural programs in Belmont during 2025. The Belmont Cultural Council (BCC) has focused largely on supporting Belmont organizations which enrich the Belmont community with music, fine arts, interpretive science, and humanitarian initiatives, as well as applicants sponsored by a Belmont organization, in awarding grants for 2025. The 2025 grantees are: Belmont Art Association, Transforming Belmont 2025, $1,400 Belmont Celebrates AAPI Heritage Month 2025, $700 Belmont Community Chorus, $750 Belmont Porchfest, $1,800 Belmont World [READ MORE]

Buy Rain Barrels to Conserve Water, Environment

March/April 2025, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Feb 272025

Buy Rain Barrels to Conserve Water, Environment

By Dean Hickman I have seven rain barrels, three around a detached garage and four around the house. Needless to say, I am a proponent of the humble rain barrel. These barrels collect water when it rains and provide “soft” chlorine-free water for the garden, including my fruit and vegetable plots when it’s dry. Some folks even wash their cars and windows with collected rainwater. Rain barrels include a spigot so you can access the water, and a mesh mosquito barrier. Rain barrels are not only a water conservation tool; using rainwater instead of your domestic water supply will also [READ MORE]

Akebia (Chocolate Vine) Invades Belmont

March/April 2025, Plants Comments Off

Feb 272025

By Dean Hickman and Leonard Katz Akebia quinata, also known as chocolate vine, is an evergreen ground cover and climbing vine with compound leaves, typically having five leaflets with notched tips. It is invasive in our area, and has taken over as ground cover and climbed and smothered trees in two forested conservation areas in Belmont: Beaver Brook Reservation, northeast of the upper Mill Pond off Mill Street; and in the Pleasant Street area of Lone Tree Hill, across the brook from the Coal Road Trail, on the hill above the back entrance to the Star Market parking lot. Akebia [READ MORE]

Amateur Owling: Meet the Eastern Screech Owl

March/April 2025, Newsletter Comments Off

Feb 272025

Amateur Owling: Meet the Eastern Screech Owl

By Fred Bouchard Owls have pop cred and cool cachet. These regal predators of the dark hours are icons of wisdom and spookiness: secretive, inscrutable, hair-raising. Kids are drawn to their candid, piercing, surprised eyes. They are harbingers of the occult and the unknown. With feather-soft wingbeats, owls are inaudible in flight, the better to sneak up and snatch unwary prey with razor-sharp talons. Owls’ amazing eyes have huge corneas and pupils. Their retina’s plentiful rods are super-sensitive to light and movement though a paucity of cones limits perception of color. Yes, they really can rotate (not spin) their heads [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Pat Brusch

March/April 2025 Comments Off

Feb 272025

By Elissa Ely If you want to reach Pat Brusch, here’s a recommendation: do not text her. Call on the landline, which is the only phone she will answer. If you decide to email her, there’s no need to type fast. Get a cup of coffee and a good meal, because it may take some time to hear back. “I’m stuck in the 50s,” she explains. “I am a horror with electronics. The non-electronic paper world is my world.” This is someone who cheerfully admits she once contacted the publishers of Computers for Dummies because the book hadn’t explained what [READ MORE]

Town Meeting to Vote on Rodenticide Article

March/April 2025 Comments Off

Feb 272025

Town Meeting to Vote on Rodenticide Article

At the upcoming May Town Meeting, members will vote on a warrant article requesting that the Select Board file a Home Rule Petition with the Massachusetts Legislature. This petition would grant Belmont the authority to prohibit or restrict the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) within town limits. Once the authorization has been granted, a bylaw or other rodenticide restrictions will be presented to future sessions of Town Meeting for approval. SGARs are potent rodenticides that disrupt blood clotting, causing prolonged internal bleeding in rodents. However, these poisons also have unintended and harmful effects on Belmont’s wildlife. Predators such as [READ MORE]

Select Board Candidates Answer BCF Questions

Board of Selectmen, March/April 2025, Select Board Comments Off

Feb 262025

Select Board Candidates Answer BCF Questions

Each year, the Belmont Citizens Forum asks Select Board candidates questions about issues facing our town. This year, Paul Joy and Taylor Yates provided answers. They were limited to 1,000 words. BCF About 95% of the property tax levy in Belmont comes from homeowners and 5% from business owners, a ratio that has varied little in decades. a) Is the development of more business space a realistic solution to Belmont’s financial challenges, with much of the existing commercial space empty or underutilized? Taylor Yates There’s meaningful revenue potential in rezoning our business districts, but we must be realistic about the [READ MORE]

Vision for a Better Belmont: Julie Wu

March/April 2025, Newsletter Comments Off

Feb 262025

This article is the seventh installment in a series of interviews with Belmont leaders about their vision for Belmont’s future. Jeffrey North conducted this interview. It has been edited for length and clarity. – Ed. Julie Wu is president of the Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition, co-chair of Belmont’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Implementation Committee, and was a member of the MBTA Communities Advisory Committee. She is also a founder of Belmont Composts! and a member of the town’s Solid Waste and Recycling Committee. Diversity, as measured by ethnicity, race, language, gender, age, income, disability, and country of origin, has increased in [READ MORE]

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