Three years after rejection, Light Board, BMLD win approval for $53.7M project.
When the vote was called, the Special Town Meeting expressed its opinion on building a proposed $53.7 million electrical substation with overwhelming silence. The absence of comment when Town Moderator Mike Widmer asked if anyone opposed the article allowing the bonding authority to build the largest infrastructure project in Belmont's history stunned many of the substation supporters who looked around to the representatives in the Chenery Middle School's auditorium as Town Meeting approved the measure unanimously. The vote, which drew a round of applause by the representatives and congratulatory handshakes from members of the Belmont Municipal Light Department – the town's independent utility – and its Light Board Advisory Committee, …
42.38652
-71.17051
W. L. Chenery Middle School
95 Washington St, Belmont, MA
/articles/unanimous-town-meeting-says-yes-to-substation
157120
/locations/6343972
42.39532
-71.15751
20 Flanders Rd, Belmont, MA
/articles/unanimous-town-meeting-says-yes-to-substation
/locations/6343973
42.389682
-71.182587
Belmont Municipal Light Department
40 Prince St, Belmont, MA
/articles/unanimous-town-meeting-says-yes-to-substation
230754
/locations/6343974
Financial watch dog gives OK to bond $53.7M, asks selectmen to negotiate with utility giant.
The last-minute insertion by energy giant NSTAR into the four-year debate on building a new electric substation has thrown a curve into the vote before the reconvened Special Town Meeting on Wednesday on the town’s largest capital project in decades. Representatives at the meeting Feb. 8 will not only be voting to approve a $53.7 million bond authorization to purchase land on Flanders Road and build the electrical substation, but will now allow the Belmont Board of Selectmen to negotiate with the electrical and natural gas utility monopoly on the continued use of the current electrical standard, the 13.8 kilovolt system. “It is a surprise that they came forward" with an offer, said Ralph Jones, chairman of the Light Board and Board of …
42.38652
-71.17051
W. L. Chenery Middle School
95 Washington St, Belmont, MA
/articles/last-minute-surprise-nstar-enters-substation-debate
157120
/locations/6311858
42.39531
-71.15736
25 Flanders Rd, Belmont, MA
/articles/last-minute-surprise-nstar-enters-substation-debate
/locations/6311859
Waverly Watchdog
12:08 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Or, it might be way to save the ratepayers of Belmont some money. But saving Other Peoples' Money is not Mr. Bowe's thing. "But we should be very careful how we proceed in negotiations" with the company, said Brown, who worked in utility regulations. We should also be very careful of what Brown says. I would very much like to hear him explain why the BMLD is, and has been, exceeding the State … more ›