watch and listen to the talking news every day at twelve noon and six hundred pm on channel ninety six comcast xfinity and channel thirty verizon fios it can also be heard mondays and tuesdays at four hundred and thirty pm and wednesday at one thousand two hundred and thirty pm on channel nine xfinity and channel twenty nine fios listen any time on the bmc podcast network on soundcloud and itunes just search for the belmont media podcast network now onto the talking news five things to know about marijuana in massachusetts by jerry tufte one year after massachusetts voters passed a ballot question legalizing marijuana legal pot sales remained several months away state legislators are working to lay the groundwork for new retail pot industry and lawmakers in july passed a new law that tweaks the measure of voters approved last year here are five things to know about the legal status of marijuana one year after the two thousand and sixteen vote possession of limited quantities of marijuana has been legal in massachusetts since last december but it remains against the law for anyone without a retail license to sell pot for recreational use since the cannabis control commission is still setting regulations retail sales are unexpected to begin until july of two thousand and eighteen it's legal under state law to give up an ounce of marijuana as a gift as long as no compensation is received when retail sales begin pot will be subject to up to twenty in combined state and local taxes in cities and towns where the majority of voters oppose the two thousand and sixteen ballot question to legalize marijuana the municipal council or board of selectmen can ban retail sales in communities where the majority of voters favored legislation in two thousand and sixteen a popular referendum is required to ban or limit retail pot sales adults twenty one and older can legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana on their person but no more than five grams of a marijuana concentrate you can have up to ten ounces of pot in your primary home but it has to be locked in a secure location five quarters collectively weigh approximately one ounce and a nickel weighs five grams the public consumption of pot is illegal period state law prohibits people from using the drug in places that have banned tobacco use the employers are allowed to ban marijuana use at the workplace you can legally smoke pot on your own property but it can get complicated if you rent landlords are allowed through lease agreements to explicitly prohibit smoking and growing marijuana on their property the state law however does not allow landlords to bar tenants from consuming smokefree marijuana products such as edibles on the property unless failing to ban such consumption would cause the landlord to violate federal law state law allows adults to grow their own marijuana at home there's a limit of six plants per adult over twenty one or twelve per household the plants must be grown in an area that is equipped with a lock or secure device they can not be visible from a public place with an unaided eye or without the use of an aircraft people processing their homegrown plot at home to make an extract cannot legally use a liquid or gas other than alcohol that has a flashpoint below one hundred degrees smoking pot while driving or operating a vehicle while under the influence of marijuana products including edibles remains illegal it is also against the law to have an open container or unsealed package of marijuana or marijuana products in a car unless it is in the trunk and now over to claire thank you bob community preservation funds sought for six projects by joanna k tzouvelis and kristi armstrong there are six applications seeking funding from the belmont community preservation committee for fiscal year two thousand and eighteen ranging from five thousand for a designs for a payson park musical festival bandstand to seven hundred and eighty thousand to construct an intergenerational walking path at grove street park grove street intergenerational walking path donna ruvolo is spearheading a proposal for revitalizing the grove street park to improve the overall look and feel for everyone in the community to enjoy we'd like to create improvements while preserving as much open space as possible said ruvolo included in the renovations would be reworking the parks main entrance to make it ada compliant and accessible to people with mobility issues implementing a new landscaping plan to provide more shade and creating more integrated ways for people to socialize including a sixfoot wide walking path benches and the seating area belmont's recreation commission and belmont youth baseball have also been involved in plans for a batting cage and warmup box the thirty five thousand construction site plan was approved last year by the cpc and the grove street renovation committee has been working with the belmont department of public works to bring the project to fruition town field's playground restoration the playground at town field last had an update in one thousand nine hundred and ninety seven and with so many people using town field especially during the spring and fall soccer seasons a group led by belmont resident courtney eldridge is requesting one hundred and eighty thousand to replace the old playground with new ada compliant equipment eldridge said that the scope of the project will be kept small with the renovations happening only within the footprint of the existing playground area and the fence being replaced on three sides as the fourth side has existing tennis court fencing the recreation department and the community preservation committee are supportive of the proposal mclean barn belmont's office of community development historic district commission and land management committee for lone tree hill jointly filed the application seeking two hundred thousand of cpa funds to implement emergency work to stabilize the building envelope ensuring it is protected and arrest for the deterioration the mclean barn located on forty six acres on mill street directly south of rock meadow is a historic structure built circa one thousand nine hundred and fifteen and formerly part of the mclean farm it is listed on the national register of historic places as part of the mclean farm national register district according to lauren meier cochairman of the historic district commission in two thousand and five mclean hospital transferred the property to the town of belmont now here's part two with max thanks claire yes veteran's memorial restoration and enhancement the belmont veterans memorial committee is seeking one hundred and three thousand to help restore and enhance the memorial dedicated in one thousand nine hundred and forty located at clay pit pond in the park that designed by loring underwood it is one of several veterans memorials in belmont but it is the only one located in an area suited for quiet contemplation the historic memorial shows the wear and tear of its seventy seven years the wall is falling stones are discolored and mortar is chipping out brush is also growing over the structure and could compromise the integrity of the wall the flagpole is also aging and the bronze plaque is pitted the fundings will restore the existing monument to its original condition the wall will be taken down stones preserved and cleaned where possible and the walls will be rebuilt to the same specifications the flagpole will be replaced with a historically accurate pole and then an identical bronze plaque will replace the one that cannot be restored housing trust according to judith feins of the belmont housing trust a draft housing production plan was recently completed which shows that nearly twenty five of belmont's current households are eligible for affordable housing more than forty of renters and nearly thirty of current homeowners are costburdened meaning they pay more than thirty of their income for housing belmont's housing prices have increased by more than forty since two thousand and nine feins said the housing production plan also identifies locations throughout belmont where development opportunities exist to meet these housing needs fit within the towns neighborhoods support economic development and preserve open space payson park music festival bandstand tomi olson founder of the payson park music festival is requesting funds for a design study to construct a bandstand for the payson park music festival to provide performers with coverage and electricity and to protect their instruments and equipment from sudden changes in weather a concrete slab for the performers was put in about thirteen years ago but the issue remains that last minute cancellations due to weather are problematic and costly according to olson this belmont concert series has been going on for twenty seven years with a large number of concerts per season eleven evening concerts and four friday morning concerts bringing in three hundred to four hundred residents for each evening event the bandstand structure would go over the existing concrete slab and would have a woodland look to keep the area as parklike as possible it would include an acoustical ceiling and have handicap access olson is requesting five thousand for an architectural design study and will seek community input to create a design that abutters can support once the design study is complete the project will be costed out and olson will come back to the cpa next year for project funding over to you bob thank you max a look at the highlights of two thousand and seventeen interim town administrator reflects on the major accomplishments in two thousand and seventeen by joanna k tzouvelis the belmont citizenherald asked interim town administrator phyllis marshall to reflect on what she believes belmont's major accomplishments were in two thousand and seventeen and what future major initiatives and issues the town will address in two thousand and eighteen marshall provided the following list of highlights for two thousand and seventeen the belmont high school building committee formed the project team as required to complete module two of the massachusetts school building authority msba building process the owner's project manager is daedalus projects inc and the designer is perkins and will these firms are experienced in working with the msba process and have been working with belmont officials and the community as we move forward through the feasibility study process with the msba module three for the belmont high school said marshall belmont municipal light continues to plan the work to complete transmission line work and retirement of the three substations located at four hundred and fifty concord avenue hittinger street and next to the chenery middle school over the next five years the blair pond substation project was completed at the end of two thousand and sixteen the community path implementation committee worked with pare pare consulting to present a recommendation on the feasibility of optional routes for the community path from the cambridge line through belmont to the waltham line and possible funding options that may be available the result of their work was presented to the board of selectmen for approval funding will be required for the next steps the belmont water department for the third year in a row has received an award from the massachusetts department of environmental protection for its outstanding performance as a public water system the town adopted and implemented the twenty five mile per hour speed limit the construction of a new press box at harris field was completed special home rule legislation prohibited alcohol license transfer was approved going forward all alcohol licenses will return to the board of selectmen building committees were appointed for a schematic design for shortterm solutions at the public works and police station facilities and a new library building renewal of the cable television license with verizon new england incorporated for a fiveyear term was executed the town received the bronze award for design of the belmont street and trapelo road transportation improvement project the belmont center parking management plan was implemented solar parking meters are now being used along leonard street signage was installed in the claflin street parking lot with instruction and fee information the former incinerator site located on concord avenue was conveyed to the town by the state was convened to the town by the state future uses will be determined the town needs to pay for the capping of the site board of selectmen chairman jim williams also weighed in on the major happenings for belmont in two thousand and seventeen and at the top of his list is the more than fifty reduction of the opeb liability by nine hundred and sixty seven million thanks to the hard work and efforts of the accounting department and opeb study committee led by retired selectman ralph jones and segal consulting and now over to claire thank you bob town in school's facility director retires by joanna k tzouvelis director of facilities gerald boyle sixty two officially retired on december 29th from his position created after the consolidation of the town and school facility departments he was hired four years ago with thirty years of previous experience in the field most recently for the town of winthrop his biggest responsibility has been maintaining the buildings and managing capital improvements for the town and belmont public schools boyle describes himself as a stickler for the details a fast learner and good at juggling multiple projects he uses the analogy of spinning plates on sticks from the ed sullivan show to describe his position he compares it to how the guy would spend one plate then put the second one on and spin it and the third one on and spin it the first one would start to wobble and slow down and he used to go back and wiggle the stick to make it spin again when you have too many projects to manage you really can't give each one the appropriate amount of effort that it should have and you sort of end up running from spinning a plate and spinning a plate and just getting it before it falls apart that's been the biggest burden we've had here is that we just haven't had the people to give the full effort of management and it's been a real struggle to have to run from plate to plate said boyle cindy papa has been working as boyle's administrative coordinator for the facilities department since two thousand and fourteen quote i'm going to miss his sense of humor his consistency and the ease about him even under stress he is very respectful to people and tries to juggle all the projects at once and give everybody the same attention which is difficult said papa she said boyle is definitely one of the best managers she has had accomplishments boyle feels gratified about what he was able to accomplish in four years understanding that there is still a lot more to do he said one of the greatest highlights during this time has been helping belmont become part of the state green community program which has helped the town become eligible for up to two hundred and fifty thousand in grants annually this year grant money helped fund the boiler replacement at the burbank in windbrook and ceiling insulation at the library his office has also helped apply for a grant for electrical vehicles from the state which are currently being used by his departments the health and water departments for intown trips there are many other projects he helped with including the harris field press box and currently the restoration at the fire station challenges boyle faced many challenges in his career with belmont such as updating the fire alarm system at the belmont high school adding six modular classrooms at the chenery middle school and most recently working on the contract for four additional modular classrooms at the burbank elementary school when chloramine levels at the belmont high school higginbottom pool we're testing high the summer of two thousand and thirteen the entire pool needed to be drained cleaned and repaired an ultra violet filter was added to the water line for the pool which has helped reduce the chloramine levels he said the pool should be drained and cleaned every five years another challenge boyle dealt with most recently was lead testing of all the fixtures in the belmont public school buildings his department did a representative sample of all the water in the belmont public school buildings to test for lead when the issue was first in the news and now here's max thanks claire veterans memorial receives one hundred thousand matching grant by ellen schreiber once again the belmont savings bank foundation has left an indelible mark on the town last month a one hundred thousand check was given to the belmont veterans memorial committee when the committee successfully raised another one hundred thousand to match the foundation's challenge grant the grant will fund a significant portion of the three hundred and fifty thousand project to restore and enhance the veterans memorial at clay pit pond and with the matching donations it puts the committee well past the halfway point qoute the belmont savings bank foundation understood the importance of the memorial for belmont's veterans their families and the entire belmont community unquote said angelo firenze chairman of the belmont veterans memorial committee and a former belmont selectman bob morrissey chairman of the foundation board pointed to the vision of the veterans memorial committee as the inspiration behind the one hundred thousand matching grant the memorial is for the entire belmont community said morrissey the project is bringing people together to pay tribute to belmont's veterans and create an important public space for belmont residents we are a community bank with a long history in the belmont community and this is exactly the kind of support we want to support sorry kind of project we want to support excuse me at seventy seven years old the existing veterans memorial at clay pit pond is showing its aged the stonewall is largely concrete patches the structure is compromised and the brass plaque is beyond repair in its current shape the memorial does not properly honor the memories of our service men and women the memorial project will restore the historical monument to its original condition and new memorial stones will honor the contributions of belmont veterans in each individual military conflict since the town's founding in one thousand eight hundred and fifty nine the enhanced memorial will also be a focal point alone the soon to be built intergenerational walking path around clay pit pond with benches for quiet rest and contemplation over to you bob thank you max clean water advocate flow of info a public health risk by dan atkinson and jordan graham the state keeps mostly paper records that are not readily accessible on when and where millions of gallons of raw sewage pours into bay state rivers a public health failure that needs to be fixed clean water advocates said about twenty eight billion gallons of untreated wastewater runs into the state's rivers every year despite decades of efforts to fix antiquated drainage systems the state department of environmental protection collects annual reports on how much tainted water has passed through more than one hundred and eighty combined sewer overflows pipes that allow wastewater to dump right into rivers but that data is organized in one central not organized in one central place most of those reports are submitted in paper form and that information is not currently aggrandized said dep spokesman edmund coletta mass department is the massdep is reviewing ways that the information can be aggrandized legislation filed by state senator patricia d jehlen a democrat from somerville would require dep to alert residents whenever an overflow occurs and publicly post overflow data on daily basis and maintain that information for at least ten years providing that critical information needs to happen as soon as possible said gabby queenan of the massachusetts rivers alliance this is a public health risk having this information in a more transparent way on dep's website needs to be prioritized queenan said unfortunately dep has staffing and resource limitations which we're sympathetic too but this can't sit on the back burner any longer last autumn a storm slammed eight million gallons of wastewater into the merrimack river when laurens sewage treatment plant lost power and thirty two million gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the river after the heavy rains overwhelmed a low filtration system and now over to claire thank you bob social worker nun starts home for sex traffic survivors by maren dale news contributor although the topic is most often discussed in relation to poor countries modern day slavery also known as human trafficking exists in the united states too because of its secretive nature it is difficult to know exactly how many victims human trafficking imparts each year although estimates are in the tens of thousands one new program designed to help women survivors of sex trafficking is a residential healing home that will soon open near sioux city iowa the project is being led by sister shirley fineran licensed social worker and assistant professor of social work at briar cliff university in sioux city iowa she has taught social work for more than twenty five years and has been an active volunteer in peace justice and women's issues for more than fifty years as a catholic nun recognizing a need understanding the complexities after attending a human trafficking conference fineran realized this was an area of great need she had not been tuned into before she said she felt compelled to do more so helped form the siouxland coalition against human trafficking shortly after she met a woman who was sex trafficked at age fifteen and is now a social worker in her 50's who helps other victims she had been left for dead when she was found by the police fineran explains despite this she told me she knows where her trafficker lives and if he asked her to come with him today she might do so i was in shock and disbelief but it helped me begin to understand the deep control and trauma that victims and survivors experienced after praying about what path to take fineran felt called to form a safe home for survivors laying the groundwork mapping out a plan as a social work leader fineran had the background necessary to move the project forward but knew it would take time and hard work she set a goal of two twelve years in july two thousand and fifteen she invited community members to discuss the idea and how best to move forward the group consisted of domestic abuse shelter social workers trauma therapists law enforcement community activists residential care social work managers child advocacy center staff and others who wanted to help four immediate tasks were to develop a board of directors locate a potential site raise money and file paperwork as a nonprofit organization and to cooperate as the same they realized they were in a challenging spot when they submitted applications for grants without an existing house they couldn't get support but without support they couldn't afford a house lila mae's house in late october two thousand and sixteen a home owner interested in donating a house and thirty five acre property contracted fineran an agreement was made and the organization gained ownership of on january 30th of this year naming the home lila mae's house after the donor the house and property sit on a hill at the outskirts of our small city it is a place of healing fineran said currently they are working to raise three hundred thousand to finish the basement adding five bedrooms and two bathrooms although funding has been challenging resources are coming in from a variety of sources including foundations generous individuals and fundraisers fineran said the goal is to start construction soon and accept up to seven survivors now on to max thanks claire launch assault on bugs with plastic shotgun by johanna alvarez killing flies and cockroaches is no longer a disagreeable task after the invention of the bugasalt a plastic shotgun that fires salt at the bugs knocking them out and leaving them ready for the garbage an advertising video for the gun has become popular recently in social networks because of its humor the short commercial pokes fun at absurd television infomercials and action movies the video shows inventor lorenzo maggiore firing the plastic shotgun from various positions including from behind the tree but the product's real job is to kill flies without damaging anything around them all the shots end with a slow motion sequence of the insects being knocked out skell incorporated which sells the product hit the market in two thousand and twelve after maggiore launched a fundraising campaign on indiegogocom his video attracted clients and media reports around the world by the end of that year the californiabased company had received orders for more than twenty thousand units and raised five hundred and seventy seven thousand those are the last sales numbers made public bugasalt spelled the way it sounds which fires regular salt table salt sells for at least forty on amazon and its own webpage its latest model includes a laser scope to improve the shooter's aim back to you bob along with my colleagues claire and max we thank you for listening to the talking news and hope you've enjoyed the show we will returned next week for another edition of local news happenings around belmont