Are you a Belmont Stud? Crickets from TMM’s as ADA complaint raised? Taylor Swift competition?
Winter’s Hardware closing?
According to a post from Angus Davison, Winter’s Hardware will be closing short of a hail Mary. Winters could buy some time if Governor Healey’s grant program for “woman owned small business” is extended. People are encouraged to call State Rep Dave Rogers. In case you are wondering… Winter’s would celebrate their 100th year in Belmont next year.
Not so fast Taylor Swift…
Sources tell Townie Talk that the Belmont Housing Authority is actively looking into the Belmont United Methodist Church in Cushing Square as the future site for more affordable housing. Sure, the BHA is broke but this is Belmont so we can just dig a canyon instead of a hole. I mean its not like anyone will do an audit one day and realize we are insolvent. No, Taylor Swift is not looking in Belmont so no the BHA doesn’t need to worry about the recording artist.
Townie Talk “Stud challenge” …
Those “bird nest” haircuts teen boys seem to be embracing nowadays scream two things… take a shower and shave your head. Literally, what is living inside those mop heads. Townie Talk is here to help. Any Belmont teen that goes from “birds’ nest” to a buzz cut or close will make the Townie Talk Stud List in a future edition and Townie Talk will donate $5 per head to the Belmont Food Pantry. Challenge runs through May 31. Photo’s welcome. By the love of God people its unsanitary.
Who really runs the Town? …
Select Board chair Mark Paolillo let it slip publicly what has long been known among those in the know in Belmont. The “Goden Street” neighborhood has its own set of rules and whatever they want “they get”. Paolillo stated at Town Meeting that the use of the new “rink-sports facility” and its impact on the operating budget will be determined later and the “neighborhood doesn’t want a 24/7 rink”.
So, let’s talk about the neighborhood of Paulsen and Dash. Two connected political figures who have had a disproportionate impact on so called Town decisions. Over the years the neighborhood and its allies have successfully blocked the relocation of the historic Clark Home to the greenery across from the Wellington School. They have successfully lobbied against the “public/private rink” proposal which is why the Town is now shelling out $30m for a new rink. They successfully lobbied to ban parking on their streets for anyone but contractors working at their homes to prevent children of taxpayers from parking. They successfully lobbied the new BHSMS committee to make a parking lot temporary and have it ripped up even as TMM’s now complain it’s a long walk for those with mobility issues to make it to the auditorium and even rejected SB Roy Epstein’s request for a 1 year delay to alleviate parking stress). They are currently lobbying to make Goden and neighboring streets “One way” to stop the cut through traffic from parents dropping their kids off at Chenery.
In the same time frame… think about this. The “Hillcrest neighborhood on the Hill” wanted to return their neighborhood to a public way. Denied. The Winn Brook School neighborhood overwhelmingly opposed adding another tennis court to an already grossly congested area. Denied. Neighbors abutting the Town Yard had to hire legal counsel and eventually persuade TM to prevent an above ground fuel tank from being installed.
Discuss… how much money has this one neighborhood cost the Town? Why is this neighborhood favored over all others rich and poor? Who really runs the Town? Why do we allow this? If Alex Murdaugh lived in Belmont, it would be in this small, concentrated neighborhood of political privilege.
Pickleball vs. an Ice rink…
The Town is near insolvency. Town Leaders are playing credit card roulette and their only way out is a massive override. Layoffs are growing in the key Finance and Technology sectors, Banks are failing, State Tax revenues plummeted in April, and interest rates are above 6% with new borrowers facing surcharges to help high risk borrowers. The Country is upside down and Belmont keeps feeding the insatiable desire to fulfill special interest wants.
Leadership is about having a spine and making the right decisions for the Town even when it upsets certain groups. The use of the rink/sports facility should not be about wants like areas for Yoga, Pickleball, or Line dancing. It should be about what will create enough revenue to offset operating costs after the rink fulfills its primary need. If operating costs increase, the losses will come from personnel cuts in the Schools as the Town side has no room for error. A deep analysis of a year-round rink must be performed as that very well may be the best solution for a Town on the edge of insolvency.
With that in mind… can anyone rightfully justify hiring new Rec department positions? Anyone else see some shady bigger plan behind these moves in the Town. Will fees go up to milk taxpayers even more. Maybe the Rec Department should takeover the library as that is the biggest albatross in our discretionary spending category. Two points for slithering for the first moron to say Police and Fire are discretionary. I’ll let them know to erase your address from the system.
Absurd it’s not being Discussed at the Warrant Committee…
Taxpayers approved a debt exclusion in 2014 for a new Underwood Pool. The cost of the pool was $5.2m. Many in Belmont remain confused why after agreeing to pay for this pool…. they are being charged $365 per family for the 3-month season. It’s called operating expenses. If you are wondering the Higginbottom pool will throw you $150 per family since hours are heavily restricted.
Taxpayers just approved a $30m skating rink debt exclusion. Free… No. public skating when available will throw you $5 for 50 minutes with a reservation. Rental ice closer to a few hundred per hour.
Taxpayers approved millions to build multiple tennis courts across all of Belmont. Those must be free right? Not really…Cost to reserve a court is $5/hr.
Town Field use requires a permit at a cost whether you are a non-profit or youth program.
Why is it then that when Belmont approved a new $40m Library that will continue to have an operating cost of around $2.4 million annually that there is no usage fee. Based on the above figures it would be reasonable for the Town to charge anywhere from $5 an hour to $1,500 a year for a family membership. A Town concerned about equity certainly doesn’t show it. More on that later.
Outdoor dining returns…
Great to see outdoor dining return to Belmont. The Town is abandoned in the Summer which makes Belmont Center a great staycation location to enjoy the outdoors. It’s not without controversy. A resident is complaining that Town resources were used to install jersey barriers in front of Conley’s Pub and Grille which while considered Belmont’s unofficial pub is in Watertown. The entire street is in Belmont though. Chalk it up to good will. We have bigger things to debate like…
Beech Street violation in broad daylight…
As a TMM representing precinct 7 but more so anyone with common sense… I was unable to make Monday and Wednesday’s meetings due to conflicts and a brief illness. At the Wednesday meeting, Town meeting voted to “stir the pot” and give ammunition to every neighborhood crank. They did this by adding an unnecessary amendment to an existing zoning bylaw. The Sidewalk article passed overwhelmingly so common sense lost which is not unusual in Belmont. The very next morning, I was leaving Dunks on Trapelo when I witnessed a gross violation of the bylaw. A women parked her double wide child stroller completely blocking the Beech Street sidewalk. It was so obstructed a jogger went into the street to avoid the stroller. As any sane person would do… I immediately made sure not to hit the jogger and then I went to my cellphone to try and dial Gi Huang, Paul Roberts and Ralph Jones to see if the bylaw gives me as a TMM citizen arrest privilege. To my dismay they were not in my contact list and the offender evaded the fine this time.
Zoning bylaws…
Anyone that is up to date on our bylaws will know two things… they generally aren’t enforced and there are tons of violators from homeowners to local businesses that will incur significant expense to come into compliance. The reality is we have been living peacefully with the occasional need for some prodding to comply be it people keeping property untidy or failing to get a permit for a playing field. TMM Cosmo Macero was spot on when he said this is an educational issue and would be better handled with an information campaign. As one of the top PR and strategic communications experts in the State and a Justice of the Peace, Mr. Macero also got in a plug for the new print newspaper coming to Belmont “The Voice”.
The Voice…
If Joanna Tzouvelis contributes to “The Voice” as she did recently in covering the Kapsalis murder trial, then Belmont is in for a treat. Her coverage was balanced, informative, and painted an accurate picture of the trial. Kudos to Joanna.
Adrianna Poole…
I have never met Adrianna, but she was the talk at Dunks a couple days ago and not in a good way. If you recall, Townie Talk had a guest editorial that was critical of Town meeting members “to vote for lists”. Many people in Town don’t like the lists because they are either left off the list or in some cases included. Anyways, apparently according to an email provided to Townie Talk, Adrianna takes it a step further and adds “who not to vote for in Precinct 1” distributed to a large group of residents in Town and some TT readers. It’s not a crime but it isn’t sitting well with a not insignificant group of people in Town who find it odd a realtor would denigrate fellow residents and potential customers of hers while tainting the firm she is at. In the day of cancel culture its important to know that real estate agents are usually independent salespeople, and their views are not necessarily endorsed by their employer. No real estate firm would actively encourage disparaging potential clients.
Belmont is no stranger to punishing people for their politics. Poole’s perceived lapse in judgement would be considered self-inflicted but that’s not always the case. In the last couple years, Jeff Lasseter’s “Jamaica Jeff’s” restaurant, had a coordinated online attack of phony reviews by some left-wing crazies from Belmont, for the sin of challenging then Governor Baker and his destructive Covid lockdowns. Lasseter was right and the Covid lockdowns are proving as damaging if not more so than the great Depression. An even more recent example I can think of is the coward from the pro-library campaign who complained to the employer of the “Repair not Demolish” engineering expert to try and bully them into silence.
$386,000.00 Tax break complaint….
A recent Boston Globe story mentioned the Belmont Country Club taking advantage of a tax break that lets it avoid $386,000 in property taxes to the Town of Belmont. Some residents are upset with the Country club and cite the club’s wealth. That’s an absurd position unless you are one of the few… extremely few, who check off the optional higher State Income Tax rate. Only a moron would pay more than they are supposed to. If you don’t like it, then look in the mirror as you likely voted for State rep Dave Rogers (has anyone ever seen him in Belmont outside of election season?) and Sen Will Brownsberger. Maura Healey maybe? This is a Democrat run State. It is the Democratic party that is holding up PILOT bills (as Will said the bills go into committee to die and that’s where these bills are).
Tell a lie enough times….
The BHSMS Building is on budget lie came up again during building committee chair Bill Lovallo’s speech to Town Meeting with the latest update on the building. Here are some zingers… Lovallo spent the first 5-10 minutes of his presentation high fiving himself. Went so far as to say they added the platform above the chorus in the auditorium even though it wasn’t in the design. The last couple minutes Lovallo informed the Town that the $295m figure included about $1.5m in ARPA funds from the Town and excluded the Work West of Harris Field ($5.2m or so). He also added that the MSBA would be reducing Belmont’s grant money by over $1m. This is mind numbingly stupid to say you stayed on budget when you took extra funds from ARPA and reduced the planned project by millions of dollars. That is not on budget that is over promising and under delivering by several million.
Note: Toilet paper dispenser protrudes outward interfering with access. Should be recessed.
How bad is it that Lovallo had to speak two days after a TMM member on the Disability Access Committee told Town Meeting the new bathroom at the High School does not allow for a person in a wheelchair to maneuver. We just spent $295m on a new building that doesn’t properly accommodate handicapped individuals. I will have more on this subject as I investigate further as there seems to be a common person involved in multiple building projects in Town that may give the ADA community the short stick. Town Meeting members response…. Crickets.
National news… The Hillary Clinton approach to release bad news like a slow dripping faucet seems to be playing out with that monster Jeff Epstein. Several new names came to light this week as being with Epstein post first arrest. What a shame.
Belmont Trivia…
In 1973, There must have been a shortage of barbers in Town as about every male at Belmont high school had long hair. Long hair is reserved for Rock stars and heavy metal fans only. I digress… This sport/club activity was offered at BHS for Women and while long ago discontinued it remains although somewhat modified as an Olympic event?