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 wednesdays 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 on to the talking news twenty five of households eligible for affordable housing by joanna k tzouvelis the belmont housing trust recently completed a draft housing production plan which determined nearly twenty five of belmont's current households are eligible for affordable housing since two thousand and nine belmont's housing prices have increased by more than forty making the town increasingly inaccessible to households with low and moderate incomes according to gloria leipzig cochairman of the belmont housing trust belmont currently has three hundred and sixty five affordable units of housing which are considered affordable but two thousand four hundred whole households that are eligible for affordable housing in particular there's a need for senior housing and housing for young and newly formed families in belmont the housing production plan identifies locations throughout belmont where development opportunities exist that would help increase affordable housing options on january ten the community preservation committee approved the belmont housing trust's cpa application for two hundred and fifty thousand to be set aside to help accomplish the goals of the housing production plan this is a stepping stone we need to lay the foundation to build on going forward said gloria leipzig leipzig then said there was three key elements of the plan an assessment of the town's housing needs a demographic analysis goals they are trying to meet and strategies towards achieving those goals people think of belmont as the town of homes and don't realize the thirty five to forty of residents are renters and about twenty five of households are eligible for affordable housing i think that's a pretty significant statistic said leipzig only sixty seven of homes in belmont are affordable including apartments she said in two thousand and thirteen belmont revised its exclusionary zoning bylaw currently a development of six to twelve units must make ten of it's units affordable a thirteen to forty unit development must be twelve affordable a development with more than forty units must be fifteen affordable however a mixed use development is only required to have ten of its units affordable the belmont housing trust would like to work with the planning board to revise the exclusionary zoning bylaw to increase the affordability requirement to be comparable to similar bylaws in neighboring communities said leipzig two new developments royal belmont which is partly completed and the bradford which is under construction will add seventy two more affordable units to belmont's inventory sixty units of affordable housing will be created at royal belmont and twelve at the bradford someone who is making up to eighty of the area median income will be eligible for subsidized units however three hundred and thirty seven units are still needed to meet belmont's affordable housing quota under the state's chapter 40b law which sets as a goal that at least ten of a town's housing units be set aside for affordable housing leipzig said creating affordable house ownership and affordable rental units in belmont is difficult the cpa grant will give the belmont housing trust the ability to work with developers who might be amenable to adding affordable units if the housing trust offers them additional funds he might be able to buy down a number of units the developer might normally think of as market rate units if we offer funding upfront the developer might make additional units affordable said leipzig the funds could also be used for predevelopment site work to identify areas in the community where an affordable housing development could be built near public transportation most important leipzig said approval of the cpa grant tells other statewide agencies who may be lenders on affordable housing projects the town of belmont is committed to affordable housing and now over to claire thank you bob arlington native starts inhome chef service for seniors he'll come to your kitchen and cook for you once a week by abby matheson when arlington native john o'neill lost his job cooking in the tewksbury hospital kitchen he took the opportunity to start his own business we were thinking about a food truck actually i bought the food truck for dummies book that's a really young guys game now it's the same as having a restaurant said o'neill having left the restaurant business for a business cafes o'neill wasn't looking to get back into the long hours required for that kind of cooking while listening to the national public radio one day he found his inspiration i came across this story on npr about chefs for seniors and i thought wow this would be just the perfect fit i could do as much work as i want per day you can do three to four clients a day so i'm not working until twelve at night he said and then also just being able to help them that's the biggest thing it's fun to cook for people people that really liked it and appreciate what i'm doing with the help of his brother christopher mccormick o'neill purchased a franchise of chefs for seniors a meal service bringing professional chefs into the homes of the sixty five and over community there's nobody else doing this there's meal services you can call uber and have them deliver meals there's senior meal service centers aside from meals on wheels there's more upscale ones but they're just dropping off said o'neill we're in there we're hanging out telling jokes other chefs for seniors locations include florida georgia and wisconsin o'neill's franchise is the first to hit the northeast covering arlington lexington winchester and belmont for now o'neill would be the only chef working for the franchise over the next few months he and mccormick will look to bring on more chefs to help expand their team finding people is going to be key that are personable and good cooks said o'neill to be able to hang out with somebody and engage and build relationships that's going to be key how it works seniors or caregivers interested in hiring o'neill can set up an initial consultation session they will sit down and discuss the senior's likes and dislikes and dietary needs o'neill will then go through the kitchen and take an inventory of what is already there that way when he purchases groceries for the meals seniors don't wind up with two of something they control the cost of the food said o'neil so if they want filet mignons or lobster tails i'll buy whatever they want and cook whatever they want seniors select from a list of twelve menu items to rotate through over a fiveweek period while menu items don't feature calorie counts they do note which meal options are best for diabetics contain low sodium and are hot healthy some menu options include lemon chicken orzo soup swedish meatballs apple sage pork tenderloin and classic shepherd's pie they choose four of those entries and i'll come in and i'll prepare three to four servings of each entree so there will be ten to twelve servings by the time i'm done are four entrees o'neill said the meals are then packaged and put in the client's fridge or freezer after he finishes cooking o'neill was sit down with the seniors and discuss the menus for next week now here's max thanks claire farmers market plans delayed selectmen asked belmont farmers market to address concerns of belmont center businesses by joanna kate tzouvelis the belmont farmers market entering its 13th season is facing a delay in the approval of plans for its two thousand and eighteen season suzanne johannet president of the belmont food collaborative which runs the belmont farmers market said she was disappointed not to have the group's plans for the two thousand and eighteen season approved at the january 22nd board of selectmen meeting chairman jim williams said the belmont food collaborative needs to meet with the belmont center business association to address the concerns of belmont businesses about parking and the day the market is held the selectmen committed to vote on the two thousand and eighteen belmont farmers market at the next meeting on february 5th selectman vice chairman mark paolillo said the market made a commitment in two thousand and seventeen to have a dialogue with business owners in the fall and it wasn't done johannet had said she sent a letter to the selectmen on november 15th which was never responded to the letter includes a bar graph of the average number of parking spaces available at the claflin street parking lot at three hundred pm and five hundred pm on each day the two thousand and seventeen farmers market was open they did not count available spaces in the locatelli lot only the municipal lot there was an average of twenty seven open spaces at three hundred pm and fifty eight open spaces at five hundred pm we believe that even with the businesses that have not yet opened there is adequate parking on market days the letter states referring to the minutes from the april 3rd two thousand and seventeen board of selectmen meeting johannet said they were never asked to meet with locatelli properties or the belmont center business association before the two thousand and eighteen season just to meet with the board in the fall which is why the november 15th letter was sent asking to open the discussion about the two thousand and eighteen market season locatelli manager parking regulations hurt kevin foley manager of locatelli properties which owns forty nine through eighty nine leonard street said filene's and macy's former tenants got really hurt by the parking regulations the town implemented over the last twenty years this is a critical moment for the center i want to make sure the new businesses do well there are steps we could work on together so it helps both of us the issue we have is the parking the last five years may be very different than parking this spring or next spring or the year after said foley alexa hadjiliadis addressed foley at the meeting asking if his tenant foodie's market supports him speaking against the farmers market you are here and it makes it seem that foodie's is against the farmers market but i know for a fact that they are not she said foley said he is not speaking on behalf of all of his tenants business group suggests new market day gerry dickhaut president of the belmont center business association bcba said his group supports the farmers market and thinks it's good for the town but we are also concerned about the new businesses in the center having enough parking for their customers he said referring to cambridgewear didriks and local route which opened in the fall and the wellington restaurant which is opening in the spring dickhaut said bcba would like the belmont food collaborative to consider changing the day of the market to monday or tuesday because it's a slower retail day over to you bob thank you max all alcohol license approved for wellington by joanna k tzouvelis the de magistris brothers plans for a new restaurant are moving forward the board of selectmen approved their application for an allalcohol liquor license on january eight filippo dante and damien demagistris coowners of il casale in belmont and il casale in lexington and dante in cambridge are opening a new restaurant in belmont called the wellington to be located in the newly renovated seventy five leonard street building formerly part of belmont center's macy's damien said he hopes the restaurant will open in the spring construction is underway the restaurant will serve modern american fare offer seasonal menu with locally sourced ingredients and include vegan and glutenfree options it will have one hundred and thirty three seats with twenty one at the bar similar in size to il casale in belmont there will be three thousand five hundred square feet on the first floor where the restaurant will be and a little more than two thousand square feet in the basement for office storage space and restrooms the selectmen approve the allalcohol license contingent upon the new restaurant's certificate of occupancy and final inspections and approvals by all necessary departments and issuance of common victualler license i am very happy very relieved that the selectmen were deliberately ready to move it along and get us on our way to build this restaurant and open up said damien they chose the name because of its significance to the town's history the wellington tavern used to be located next to wellington station and now over to claire thank you bob grade seven to twelve option is favored the design option narrowed down to major addition with renovated pool and field house by joanna k tzouvelis after months of public meetings the belmont high school building committee voted unanimously in favor of a grade seven through twelve option tuesday night during the january 23rd meeting the bhs building committee board of selectmen and school committee also voted in favor of the design option known as the quote bowtie or twenty four which is a major addition with a minor renovation of the existing pool and field house capacity issues cost derive the decision superintendent john phelan recommended the grade seven to twelve configuration to the school committee and gave a presentation outlining how he reached his recommendation he said one hundred new students have been enrolling in the belmont public schools every year since two thousand and eleven and he expects one thousand additional students through two thousand and twenty four a grade nine through twelve high school would not solve the capacity issues in the town's lower grades and would require renovations at the middle and elementary schools costing between fifty four million to sixty four to sixty six million these costs would not be covered by the grant from the massachusetts school building authority a grade eight through twelve school would solve the capacity issues at the middle school but would still require thirty nine to forty eight million in renovations to the elementary schools to solve the capacity issues a grade seven through twelve school would solve the capacity issues for all the belmont schools however an additional option to rightsize the middle and elementary schools would cost eighteen million to twenty five million phelan also explored the possibility of changing the grade configurations for the middle and elementary school buildings to kindergarten through grade six if a grade seven through twelve high school is built he said the butler and burbank elementary schools would only be able to have two classes per grade and the chenery middle school would have six classes per grade which he said is not educationally sound the cost would be twenty five million to thirty four million to renovate the five buildings for kindergarten through grade six phelan said a grade seven through twelve configuration at the high school supports the educational vision for teaching and learning for the entire district it would create an asset for the town and provide breathing room in all the schools financially he said there is no vehicle for funding for renovations to create more space at the existing middle and elementary schools committee members tote the benefits school committee member andrea prestwich said there a huge positives to a grade seven through twelve configuration it was standard in the uk where she grew up older students can take on supervisory and mentoring roles she said school committee member tom kaputo said belmont could make any configuration work i'm confident we can create a great learning environment that matches our vision he said phelan said the most important characteristic that makes belmont a successful district is the culture it builds for each grade configuration the bowtie design option was selected there were four options being considered for the new high school building all of which could accommodate a grade seven through twelve configuration on january 23rd the school committee board of selectmen and bhs building committee voted in favor of what has been referred to as the bowtie option this option involves a major addition with a minor renovation to the existing pool and field house it would be a linear construction along the pond further away from the railroad tracks it will have four floors and two separate entrances at each end of the building the smaller entrance will be for the middle school grades seven and eight or for grades seven through nine the larger entrance will be for the high school grades nine and ten or grades ten through twelve core space on the first floor of the building will be shared which will include a prefunction area for the auditorium theater and gymnasiums now over to max thanks claire residential snow removal bylaw information the purpose of the bylaw is to encourage owners of residential property to remove snow slush and ice for abutting sidewalks so that the town's local services and amenities are reasonably accessible by pedestrians via sidewalks a sidewalk is defined as any walkway paved with brick stone cement concrete asphalt or any other impervious material sidewalks that do not meet this definition are not required to be cleared under the bylaw snow slush and ice must be removed from the sidewalk or treated no later than eight hundred pm on the day following the end of the storm event the sidewalk must be cleared to a width of no less than thirty six inches a continuous clear path connecting to abutting property is required piling snow on the sidewalk at the property line is not allowed property owners subject to exemptions established by the board of assessors automatically are exempt from the snow removal bylaw property owners are not required to clear a path to the street clear accessible ramps or clear mbta or school bus stops corner properties are required to clear both sidewalks along their corner property enforcement the office of community development enforces the snow removal bylaw the department of public works determines when the storm ends and notifies community development property owners should wait until the storm ends before clearing sidewalks this will avoid the need to clear a sidewalk twice due to snowplowing of the roadways community development has two staff members for enforcement of the bylaw these staff members are also building inspectors and are required to continue their responsibilities as inspectors even during snow events this means they must be available to meet homeowners architects and contractors and perform building inspections snow removal enforcement typically occurs in the afternoon enforcement is focused on school walking routes and at locations where specific complaints have been filed enforcement areas are broadened as more time passes after a storm event there are areas such as the along the route to access road where the town does not do the plowing and therefore enforcement is difficult property owners are cited only once per event if a property isn't cleared they receive written notice for this first offense if the property remains unclear after the same event the owner does not receive an additional citation if the property is not cleared after the next event a fifty fine is sent the bylaw does not give the town the ability to compel a property owner to clear their sidewalk property owners are subject to fines up to three hundred and fifty per winter season if they do not clear the sidewalk but they can choose not to clear the sidewalk over to you bob thank you max fire damages three storefronts by joanna k tzouvelis a onealarm fire which broke out inside pilgrim shoe repair four hundred and forty eight common street in belmont and damaged neighboring stores the spirited gourmet and fred astaire dance studio was quickly extinguished by the belmont fire department on the evening of january the 14th the cause of the fire is under investigation according to belmont fire chief david frizzell at about eight hundred and twenty three pm on january fourteen a belmont police officer noticed the fire alarm sounding in the business block of four hundred and forty eight common street joint public safety dispatch received a call shortly after from the central station monitoring company reporting an alarm activization he said upon arrival smoke was visible from inside the common area where the fire alarm panel was located and after further investigation a fire was seen inside pilgrim shoe repair companies forced the front door to gain access and fire was visible in the back of the store upon entering the automatic fire sprinkler system activated he said the fire damage was contained to the pilgrim shoe repair and there was smoke damage in the common hallway and water damage to the shoe store and fred astaire dance studio in the basement directly below the shoe store the spirited gourmet suffered minor water damage the fire is under investigation but appears to be accidental in nature said fire chief frizzell his department cleared the scene in three hours this fire was a great example of how important early detection and activization of a single fire sprinkler had resulted in saving a significant amount of property had these elements not been in the building the fire would have been much worse said frizzell chris benoit owner of the spirited gourmet said he feels very lucky his store was able to open on january the 15th we suffered some water damage but you'd never know it today the servicemaster guys came in last night to clean it up literally took about a half an hour he said and now over to claire thank you bob it's time to license your dogs and cats it's time to do the annual renewal of your pet license both dogs and cats to comply with the massachusetts general laws chapter one hundred and forty and the belmont general bylaws make sure you license by the march fifteen deadline to avoid the automatic increase in fees and the possibility of a fifty enforcement violation if your pet has an uptodate rabies vaccination currently on file with the town clerk renewal of the pet license can be accomplished in fewer than two minutes by renewing and paying online the convenience fee for a twelve pet license is just a dollar twenty two more first time licenses for new pets must be by paper application with the veterinarian certificate of rabies vaccination pet licensing applications both online renewals and fillable pdf are available on the town clerk's webpage at wwwbelmontmagovtownclerk a paper pet license application will also be included with every census mailing to belmont households during the months of january beginning march 16th the fees increase significantly fees applicable are january 1st through march 15th spayed or neutered cats and dogs are twelve or nine if the owner is sixty years or older unaltered cats and dogs thirty seven or thirty four if the owner is sixty years or older now here is max thanks claire teacher to debut first novel book incorporates the magical realism of childhood by abby mathison thompson fourth grade teacher sarah marie jette wrote the first draft of her novel in three months but it would be another six years before she was offered a book deal i always wanted to get there but i wasn't sure if i would said jette the belmont residents started her novel what the wind can tell you in two thousand and eleven two kids later she dedicated herself to refining the draft taking advantage of nap time and the evenings after her kids were asleep in the summer of two thousand and seventeen jette's signed her deal with islandport press a maine based publishing company her novel will be available in may the thin line between magic and reality jette tells the story of two siblings isabelle and julian who both love the wind julian has a severe form of epilepsy and the novel opens with him having a serious seizure when julian comes home from the hospital isabelle sits with him in his room around them the room transforms into the magical world of las brisas in this world julian has no physical limitations i teach fourth graders the line between real and magic is very thin for them said jette for them it's very real the rest of the novel explores the contrast between las brisas and the real world the love between siblings and between parents and their children the novel is is inspired by a family jette nannied for whose son had epilepsy after she nannied for the family for several years they had a second child on her drive home from visiting the little boys new sibling she was struck with the idea and pulled over on the side of the road to write it down on a napkin as a parent you want to protect your kids said jette isabelle's parents want to love julian and then protect him and keep him safe but his sister loves him in a different way inspiring students a teacher for ten years jette was used to giving her students edits on their work getting edits it's really affected me as a teacher she said i've seen the other end jette showed her students how her draft changed over time how the deleted chapters and characters made it better in the end it's great for kids to see grownups doing lots of things said jette as a mexican american jette looked to fill her classroom library with books featuring diverse characters growing up she struggled to find herself represented in literature originally from maine jette said she would get excited when a character had brown eyes like her but there were never any with brown skin and over 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 return next week for another edition of local news happenings around belmont go patriots