Stop! Residents Bring Tear-Down Moratorium to Belmont Special Town Meeting

Citizens can bring their own articles to the "Special" on May 29 by submitting 100 signatures to the Town Clerk by 4 p.m. on May 3.

It earned, unfortunately, a number of nicknames: the "Bunker," "Subterranean Suburban," and "Bomb Shelter."  And anyone who had been inside the unique earth-sheltered house built in 1991 along Waverley Street can attest to the dark, underground feel of the surprisingly smallish (about 1,600 square feet with only two bedrooms) residence. When the property was sold in December to Robert Pelletier for $634,000, it was expected that a new family would be moving into the building. But by the end of the year, two families will occupy the former "Bunker" as Pelletier received permission from the town to demolish the single-family house and is currently building what appears to be two-family townhouse construction on the lot. Pelletier's action of…

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Interact Live With Belmont Patch at Town Meeting

Patch's Cover It Live broadcast allows readers to have their say about Town Meeting as it happens.

Think the electrical substation is too expensive? Dying to find out the answer to some burning Town Meeting question? I know I am.  But for the most part, whether you're sitting at home or will be in the Chenery Middle School auditorium, Town Meetings are typically sober gatherings where you wait your turn to speak and then sit back down. But now, Belmont Patch is giving representatives and the public the chance to attend the meeting and interact with fellow residents and just about anyone else interested in the proceedings. Bring your laptop, tablet or smartphone to the restart of the Special Town Meeting at the Chenery Middle School tonight, Feb. 8, and join the conversation beginning at 6:45 p.m. as Belmont Patch uses the live-event …

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Light Board Adds Amendments to Substation Article

Final additions to Article 2 allows for talks with NSTAR, caps bonding authority to $53.7M.

The Belmont Light Board dotted the 'i's' and crossed the 't's' as it added wording to the measure going before Special Town Meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 8, that will authorize the sale of more than $50 million in municipal bonds to create a new electrical substation. The Light Board – made up of the three-member Board of Selectmen – approved Monday night, Feb. 6, an amendment to Article 2 to allow the Selectmen to negotiate with utility-giant NSTAR on its offer to continue working with the town's independent electric company as supplier to the current 13.8 kilovolt system. The design, construction and installation of an electrical substation will be determined by the Light Board "after due consideration of all options including but …

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Letters to the Editor

Town Meeting Should Turn Off Solar Power Amendment

Proposed zoning change goes against existing state law promoting solar energy systems.

To the editor: The special Town Meeting is considering the adoption of a Solar Power Generation by-law zoning amendment, Article 8. The zoning by-laws do not need to be amended to address these systems in detail. Also, the draft fails to abide by both the spirit and letter of Massachusetts General Law 40A Section 3, which states that “no zoning ordinance or by-law shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy, except where necessary to protect the public health, safety, or welfare.” If there is a potential nuisance arising from the use of these systems, then the problem is best addressed by amending the nuisance elements of …

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Eight Articles Await Special Town Meeting

The future of the Clark House, $60 million for lights, limited restriction on solar panels and more.

The fate of one of Belmont's oldest homes will be in the hands of Town Meeting members at next month's Special Town Meeting. And in the starkest terms, it is in the hands of the nearly 300 representatives whether to "murder (the Thomas Clark House)," according to Board of Selectmen Chairman Ralph Jones at Wednesday's Warrant Committee meeting. The future of the 1760's-era house will be the third warrant article of eight presented before the Special Town Meeting beginning on Jan. 18, 2012 as the Belmont's Board of Selectmen signed off on the warrant this week.  Download and read the warrant on this page. The representatives will vote on the Clark house, the town's electrical utility's request to spend $60 millions on updating its …

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Residents Rain on Planning Board's Solar Power By-law

Question reasonableness of limited restrictions; aesthetics or carbon footprint on center stage.

Members of a Belmont town committee and residents concerned with a maiden attempt by the Belmont Planning Board to place limited restrictions on the installation of solar panels are seeking to stop the measure from coming before January's Special Town Meeting. In an e-mail dated Nov. 14 and presented to the board for its Tuesday, Nov. 15 meeting in Town Hall, Roger Colton, co-chairman of the town’s Energy Committee, said that the language in the Planning Board's proposed "Solar Power Generation By-law Zoning Amendment" is "unacceptable as written." Despite Colton's and others objections, the Planning Board is forging ahead with amending an existing by-law to regulate how solar energy structures can be installed on homes and businesses. But…

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New Wellington Likely to Come in $400K Underbudget

Special Town Meeting warrant opens Wednesday, Oct. 19, closing on Friday, Nov. 4.

Wellington School Building Committee members Joseph Barrell and Mike Healy met with the Belmont Board of Selectmen to provide a project and financial update. “I’m grateful to be part of this,” said Barrell in reference to the smooth opening of the school and how well the construction schedule has run. “There are a lot of loose ends we need to accomplish but it’s happening,” he said, explaining that the modular units at Belmont High School are scheduled to be demolished and removed before it snows; the contractor is still finishing landscape work on the east side of Orchard Street; and that work continues on the roof screen and the two entrances. “We still meet with the contractor every Monday afternoon to review the work he is doing that …

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It’s a ‘Save the Date’ for Town Meeting: Jan. 17, 18

The town expecting a little extra from the state, moving forward on roadwork and Zipcar's coming.

The special ‘fall’ Town Meeting is now all but certain to take place on Tuesday, Jan. 17 and Wednesday, Jan. 18, according to Belmont Town Administrator Tom Younger. After speaking with Town Clerk Ellen Cushman and “all the major players,” the gathering of the town’s governing body will take place at the Chenery Middle School. While usually scheduled in the fall, this year’s special meeting was first delayed until December by requests from the Belmont Municipal Light Department that will be bringing the major article before the representatives: a proposal to purchase the Hittinger Street location of Purecoat North to construct a $50 million electrical substation the Department has said it needs to meet future power demand. A further push …

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Ho-Ho-Ho: Special Town Meeting Tentatively Set For Dec. 12-14.

Original October date pushed back to the holidays due to requests by Light Department.

Nearly 300 representatives to Town Meeting, town officials and employees will be adding "Special Town Meeting" to their holiday and Christmas "to-do" lists as Town Administrator Thomas Younger said the annual fall meeting will likely be held a week before Hanukkah and a fortnight before Santa comes to town. Originally tentatively set for late October, a combination of requests by the Belmont Municipal Light Department, school holiday and Thanksgiving has pushed back the date of this year's special Town Meeting to Dec. 12 and Dec. 14, said Younger. The town's electric utility has been asking for the delay as it prepares a request to the town's governing body to approve the purchase of land on Hittinger Street as well as the issuance of a …

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