we will be really really in local news and happenings from the community newspaper rates down taxes up increased assessments over five main berkowitz despite a lower tax rate with higher assessed property values and a four point five million proposition a two and a half override set to lock in the owner of an average single family home in belmont can expect to pay more than seven hundred dollars than last year in fiscal year twenty fifteen the average bill on a single family home was roughly ten thousand nine hundred thirty seven dollars based on a tax rate of twelve point ninety per  valuation and the average assessment of eight hundred forty seven thousand nine hundred dollars this year that bill jumped to about eleven thousand six hundred  fifty five based on a lower tax rate of twelve point fifty six per one thousand dollars and an average assessment of nine hundred twenty eight thousand dollars average assessment is the highest ever recorded belmont did not split the tax rate meaning the twelve point fifty six rate applies to all residential and commercial property belmont chooses to only have one rate because of its small commercial tax base the tax levy increased by approximately six point nine million approximately one point eight one million from the annual is allowed and and the and from the annual increase of two and a half percent new growth of earlier this year thomas verizon they got his car and drove to the end of all over road and made a right on the garson road as he had many times before suddenly hearing a loud bang he got out of the car to find he had pop one of his tires after hitting a large piece of granite resting close to the curb that invaded his view while turning out to talk didn't think much of it when the same thing happened three days later to his he says has not been an accident or received a parking ticket since he met her thirty five years ago he thought this is ridiculous what ensued was a long battle to receive compensation for an accident bures believed the town to be responsible for eventually after what verizon i described as frustrating process here were received reimbursement from a construction company that did work in that area after selecting donnie went out of his way to speak to the company with potholes everywhere and construction a regular occurrence in the greater boston area the incident raises the question of what types of damage towns are liable for when someone calls claiming to their vehicle was was based on damage caused by the road the department of public works instructs them to contact their insurance company and to also send a picture if possible of the damage and all pertinent information to the office of the board of selectmen stated d w d p w director j mark and in an e mail marcotte along with linda vine deputy town manager in lexington said claims received are submitted to the town's insurance carrier to determine whether there is liability vine stress that claims need to be submitted in writing according to mass general law chapter eighty four so section fifteen a town is only liable for damage sustained to one's property if it had adequate prior notice to make repairs and did not do so in a reasonable amount of time in other words damage resulting from a pothole or defect in the road does not automatically qualify for embarrassment the law it can however get a bit murky for instance one person can report a pothole just before another resident damages a vehicle on it it can also be hard to determine where the fault lies for damage whether it is a town or construction company it really varies on a case to case basis said caitlin pin tyrus president of bury insurance in franklin who also wrote a blog post on the topic every town has different bylaws but typically if the town has a reasonable amount of time to correct a pothol they are liable however she continued most reimburse the coal reimbursable claims end up being covered by construction companies doing work in the area or who have in the past in the end the mar says many claims do not qualify for reimbursement vine says every year lexington receives eighty to one hundred percent claims varying from potholes to freak accidents like a tree limb falling and striking someone's vehicle they really have to show we were negligent said via also said she encourages people to submit claims so they can be heard regarding damage for state own roads and highways according to the state department of transportation the commonwealth is not liable for property damages caused by a road defect but if your incident occurred in active construction zone your claim will be forwarded to the contractor of record towns are active in addressing road related compliance in fiscal two thousand and sixteen not including state aid marcotte said belmont is spending nearly seventy thousand dollars on road maintenance repairs and nearly two point four million appropriated from a pavement management plan vine said once a complaint goes in officials try to get repairs started within twenty four hours although some find the law a bit surprised and local and state officials contend it actually protects taxpayers each year vine and lexington budgets just fine said lexington budgets just under seven hundred thousand dollars from the tax levy for general insurance to cover all personal and municipal claims for which it is liable if the town had to cover every pothole claim submitted said by the insurance underwriter who determines annual insurance costs is likely to increase the amount which gets passed on taxpayers at a public policy level in a nutshell leaving venice apologies open to a lot of claims reasonable and unreasonable is not in the interests of the taxpayers state senator will brownsburg or democrat of belmont told burroughs on in an e mail today your climate but you're a taxpayer every day so the rules do work to protect me to much of the time marion long time member resigns by bram berkowitz school committee member laurie graham has resigned from her post after eight years of service including three years as the committee's chair woman the school committee announced tuesday december fifteenth the resignation will go into effect january thirty meaning there will be three open seats on the school committee heading into april elections the person who fills graham seat will serve the one year remaining on graham's term whereas the other two winners will serve normal three year terms it was a very hard decision i love being on the school committee said graham who has seen five superintendent since she arrived in two thousand and eight it's been a huge part of my life for eight years and very important for me but this is best thing for me for my family and easier for the school committee so they don't have to fill an appointment mid term in november graham began a new job as an office manager at a tax firm near quincy market in downtown boston with at least a forty five minute commute and tax season on the horizon graham said the next few months will be very busy and will not allow her to adequately perform her responsibilities on the school committee graham said she thinks the school committee's biggest accomplishment during her service was passing the four point five million proposition two and a half override earlier in the year the override was the culmination of years of hard work that began when graham first started with the committee when i came on it was very stressful for us she said we were facing massive budget cuts that would seriously affect the school system going forward word threw a lot of effort which included failed override attempts graham said the school committee and superintendent john failon worked really hard and succeeded in showing residents why an override was justified she said she has also been pleased with the school committee and failand attention to addressing the whole child and looking at what we can do to help them thrive and be successful looking ahead graham believes the new high school must take priority coincidentally belmont became just one of twenty six towns tuesday to be recommended to the m s b a board of directors for funding to overhaul the high school the greatest need is space said graham w increased in rome and we have run out of existing space we will also be dealing with an influx of students from belmont uplands and cushing village it's not something easily solved ultimately graham said she will miss the people she has worked with since two thousand and eight martha building permits pulled for two illinois one to three zero one belmont st sprinkler system in the up stairs and basement of every store in the building that wasn't there before said sure who said the prior building did not have sprinklers because it was built in the nineteen twenty s so if there is a fire it will not get very far it is going to be a nice building once it's done three alarm fire broke out the night of april sixt ninety three belmont street them haney said she will be operating now out of two ninety three to pelosi road under the name looks by sarah pac kokopelli se he could reopen at the time saying needed to generate income sooner rather than later because the fire had wiped out all inventory in the store and he needed to pay back its lenders for the other's business owners despite being in better shape it has not been easy year burns had to renovate his space and just between cleaning the smoke filled basement and replacing lost inventory he said it took a lot of the effort to get back up and running business is not what it was before because this area looks like it is not occupied said burns a tenant of thirty five years i don't work as many hours because the foot traffic is not like it used to be speaking on behalf of cutie then owner shine on little bit of insurance money not enough to cover total losses but some assistance in this trying time it is every bit her intention to go back to this place said at last she has so many wonderful customers kids in the public schools and invested in the town atlas said she thinks the long delayed construction can like the odds of revamping belmont high school just got a lot better belmont became one of the twenty six towns on tuesday december twenty second to be recommended to the massachusetts school building authority the seven communities amid requests for core school building projects it's a huge process we had sent m s b a spokesman matt donovan they looked at fifty different data points for each prospect it was exhaustive list we are looking for the worst and the most urgent the m s b is board will meet on january twenty seventh to vote on whether to grant funding for a new belmont high school and the twenty five other projects up for consideration donovan told the arlington advocate that the m s b a voted to fund sixteen projects and to twenty fifteen he said each year the m s b a has a specific cap that limits the number of projects  define the project for john failand superintend of the belmont public schools recommendation is a step in the right direction this is great news for the town of belmont as it represents a unique opportunity for our community as we have submitted an application for this project annually for over ten years he stated in an email although this is not a final decision it is very good to know that our proposal is moving forward in the process town officials have fourteen statement of interest submitted by the town to the m s b a for the project says virtually all components of the building's mechanical and electrical systems need attention it also says the interior of the building is in major need of renovation or siding floor tiles throughout the building that contain asbestos which while posing no threat perturbed do need to eventually be taken off space is another issue in the statement of interest the proposed project is requesting an additional thirteen point five percent of space to the existing two hundred fifty seven thousand square foot building however with an rolled up such a moving target year to year it is unclear what the actual project would look like if it is moved into the m s b as capital pipeline in an enrollment and in the roman present taishan made in october  said the administration was forecasting roughly an additional four hundred students entering the school system in the next four years and a lack of space was inevitable we are very much at the end of the different types of creative internal footprints we can gain at gaumont public schools fallon told the school committee at the time while too far right in no one an overhaul of belmont high school looked like officials have previously estimated the cost of such a project at one awarded an excellence in intergenerational programs award to the butler school for their spring two thousand and fifteen program life when you were a kid and today on december fifteenth through this program fourth grade classes at the butler school learned more about aging and the senior center developed questions to ask seniors and interviewed senior volunteers in small groups it's not just putting children and seniors in a room together said council on aging director nab and vocal the seniors left feeling dignified and the kids experience something meaningful this is excellent quality intergenerational programming teachers recounted how students enjoyed and remembered the seniors they interviewed finding family connections and comparing what each of the other groups learned to several years the town executed the sale of the would fall wrote property for one million seven hundred fifty thousand the completion and opening of the new underwood pool took place in august replacement of outdated public safety radio and communication system to continue to ensure effective emergency response completes an expected in early twenty sixteen additional resources allocated for roads and sidewalks as part of the override approved by the voters in april twenty fifth dean the a consolation senior players championship was held at the belmont country club into this major event allowed the town to demonstrate its ability to successfully managed such a large event in a professional and coordinated manner which included town departments p g a state and others outside agencies substantial completion of the trip helo road project and belmont center project with final completion anticipated in the spring of twenty sixteen the replacement of the base basketball court at the high school through a public private partnership affirmation of the town's triple a rating from moody's investment services in conjunction with the april some of the future major initiatives and issues the belmont role for us and twenty sixteen the proposed new regional agreement and building project for the minuteman vocational high school if approved by the massachusetts school in other major capital projects completion of a recreation strategic plan implementation of a new we would tell of the billing and collection planned execution of a new cable t v franchise and continued collaboration between the board of selectmen school committee committee and capital budget committee on developing a fiscal twenty seventeen operating and capital budget marian learning leadership skills through ballroom dance the signature roles adopted in ballroom dance those of leader and follower require a skill set that is applicable in the workplace according to joe weiss a management professor at bentley university there are powerful themes common to both fields said weiss he's earned a bronze status in the art form through lessons at the fred astaire dance studios in belmont his students from a graduate level leadership class learned about these parallels on the dance floor to on lookers the class may have resembled an awkward junior high dance but to prepare participants it was an intellectual exercise as earl battle co owner of the dance studio walked him through the steps the students did their best to take in business lessons learning ballroom dan teach several points about leadership skills one understanding job expectations is as key in the ball room as it is in the boardroom to succeed in any endeavor leaders must clear about work tasks and expectations as well as their own goals and responsibilities and in turn what is required of the people they do they lead in ballroom dance performers can't succeed if they don't understand their roles in relation to each other and the nature of the dance within set part parameters the leader decides how they will move the direction the timing the rhythm followers are expected to mirror the leader successful leaders make confident and masterful choices by knowing what must be done and by whom to relate to employees as smoothly as dance partners in any leadership position leaders must know how to communicate with employees and tell them what they want body language and movement as important if the lead dancer in the foxtrot for instance fails to articulate with body movement what must be done the dance falls apart the beauty of the movement is realized only if the leader pose pose a high level of communication skills spoken and non verbal communication such as body language is the foundation on which success and in dance as an as in enterprise is made possible teaching an individual how to lead well is one of the greatest challenges said jacqueline keating a lead teacher at the dance studio who joined in the lessons it takes so many things you must know the rules and develop a sensitive awareness of the other dancer followers need strong leadership they get upset if the leader is not leading she said other dancers are easier to learn because leading another person gracefully a ballroom dance requirement is a difficult task it's easier to ask an individual to lead themselves she said it takes it to another level if you can lead others three learn to draw out the best in the follower both dance partners and coworkers in any undertaking you must mentor those who  lead you those you leave if you want them to be in sync the followers role cannot be minimized as has been said about ginger rogers she had to do everything  only backwards and in high heels martha thank you for joining us for this episode of docking lives please join us next