hello and welcome to the belmont journal your source for the most local of news and community updates i'm mike crowley your host this week a couple of quick notes ernie the agnelli was a long time belmont resident and a ritual fixture around the recreation department sadly he passed away december st he'll be missed by many also the belmont information technology advisory committee is conducting a survey and wants your import there looking to see how town can better serve us using technology and you can find their survey on their facebook page welcome to this week in the belmont turn in and welcome back franklin tucker editor of the beaumont on him how are you just fine thank you so what have we got this week was a lot of things have been going on in belmont one is that we've had the  rd variation of the community path group but this one is looks more like a building committee ok it's it's was it was created by the by the board of selectmen and what they in it really does look like a building committee are either familiar with the path or residents who have building experience so these are people who are looking to do so this latest committee is in essence the committee that's charged with getting this thing built that's right they're going to be the ones who are going to put an r f p request for proposal for an inning study hire a project manager and just get the get the you get the project going and but the one thing that it's really not a building com current wreck director and arlington his name is john marshall he was he's been there for two years in arlington and for the law before that he was eleven years a natick in the rec department now this is he is the only finals who was brought in to talk going to be revamping and really promoting the wreck department because there's been a lot of communicators all the lack nine of communication because a wreck apartment works a lot with the school comedian in the town so he's going to go out there and really revamp it and make it a much where a during the st the st game of the adult softball league unfortunately a non resident who was playing on one of the teams drop dead of a cardiac arrest and that promoted the rec department to really think about putting the figure later in parks in in the end here in town at four or five at four or five of the playgrounds it would be we would be if this does occur and it's moving forward we would be the st municipality in massachusetts to do this so how soon might we see this or what decision making it still in the it's still in planning process but the funding is there looking for funding they're getting funding and it's going to go forward all right and so franklin i and the average has been about ninety five dollars to one hundred dollars carrier a year but as of october st which is which they use as the dateline for this this year we've only seen thirty seven well so we're missing some kids ye maybe we didn't see that high school on i'm sure we needed the high school in fact i know we needed the high school but but but this is curious and we don't know whether whether this is just could be an anomaly it could just be something like that when i asked the school department why did it happen they just threw up their arms and said i don't know very well thanks so much franklin and we'll talk with you next time thank you general school student coun is looking to help kids struggling with boeing by creating opportunities for unity and belonging students with the belmont after school in richmond collaborative an afterschool program  hancock student council member about how and why these programs were started they did the kids also did the work to research report film and edit this piece hello this is stephanie upcoming orange these are two i'd like to add that the decorations on the lockers and the decorations outside the lockers and things like that those orange butterflies they're made to show that these people care about you and i since they're everywhere in the school it shows that wherever they are they are it's like somewhere somewhere in school they don't have to worry about being bullied because there's going to be somewhere people out there that will protect and that it's time they get pushed around that someone is going to be there just to help them that the effect will be that people won't feel scared and that people will start opening up and being happy how does it make you feel to be part of this i feel that makes me really happy because allows me to show that if someone's going her i'll be there to stand up for it yes thank you very much this is this week in the citizen herald belmont's online print and news resource and welcome back joanna jubilance senior multimedia journalist with the citizen held also available at we could local belmont happy to be here and my st topic today is about the wellington elementary school so this is belmont's newest school it is it's a seven year old building it was our most recent miss be funded project before the high school and it's in good shape a good shape but the exteriors doesn't look as good as many people think it should ok it's so it's an award exterior that's called i which is a brazilian walnut based sting and this is a wood that is really it really fares better and salt water climates i think is really more for salt water kinds steve believes that oil based stain would have been a better choice but what he's going to do is he's going to consult with an architect and see how they can make this better because the longer you wait the more costly it's going to be to fix current and they can't leave it the way it is so he's going to look into that and it could potentially be a capital budget idea of how things are going to change once people united takes over which will be in april and they are retiring right they are retiring as part of the deal that's part of the deal and a lot of other upper management will have to move on however all the customer facing staff will still be there at the ranch as will remain the same the loan officers and the credit analysts will remain the same the difference is they're going to have more improved services better online tree lighting as well as a major downer ok for me or all kinds and several causes so bob told me that he invited a representative from peoples united to come to the tree lighting and he said seven of them came because he wanted them to see it to believe it seeing is believing to see it firsthand experience it firsthand to know how important this event is to belmont and he said they were really amazed they they could clearly see this is an event that should continue ok helmont so that's good news and the belmont savings the foundation will remain independent and its stock value has actually gone up since the news of the acquisition there's about five million dollars of funds in there still to give away and that's part of the deal though they are very independent and the belmont savings bank foundation has actually been the source of charitable contributions sure hasn't really things on the like two hundred thousand dollars to the underwood pool for example and eighty five thousand dollars over the park road one day three the residents had macbook laptop stolen another resident had ten thousand dollars worth of gold coins stolen then there was another break in on lawndale and there was foreign currency and jewelry their lights on lock their doors use a long arms you know but in some cases the doors were busted open even if they were locked now so so we're seeing these happen it seems paradoxical  that that were happening these happen and major traffic areas you know it's during rush hour there's a lot of traffic on the streets good point so i don't know but it is getting dark at that time it is it  isn't someone's caught on you know and that this might be a good time to all right well so people should also be concerned about package that after this time of year absolutely packages there's this people going around looking for packages on people's doorsteps or just if you're expecting a package me to keep track of it all right joanna we'll talk to you next time ok the belmont the belmont public libraries children's room was affected by renovations over a period of three weeks during the last month deborah borsak the library's corner of children's services explains why over the past year or so really since early in twenty  we've been discussing just some changes we can make to the children's room and so we closed briefly for just three weeks it was a pretty fast closure not even quite three weeks to get a new carpet a new coat of paint but because we were not close permanently we just moved temporarily we were in a temporary space in the assembly room which is typically used as a programming room and we moved not our entire collection but almost our entire collection down with us the other one high capacity carts and we were still open during that time so we were still there we couldn't provide everything but we came as close as we could even just just what the carpet looks like now versus what it looked like before and it's actually a little bit darker than it was which will help just because of that with winter coming in wet broods things like about we wanted to work you know have a  too but there is it's really this has much more blue whereas our old one it had been pretty faded it was starting to look just a little bit on appealing and show where and tear things like that you and we thought that while we were getting the new carpet that we might as well just get some color on our wall since it had been a pretty a pretty lifeless color before not a very family friendly or child friendly color and we've also gotten a new check out task which we have been very excited about and so we are happy in patrons have complimented us and told us that they really like it which is what's most important now it's time for our community calendar with jane peters dream house updates for us and all the interesting things happening in belmont this week hi everyone i'm jane and this is your community calendar for next week author robert bea charles will speak on his book eagleton evergreens a rural maine childhood on monday at eleven am as part of the library's books and bytes program over four seasons charles describes maine half a century ago moose encounters and learning from world war two vets refreshments will be provided and books will be available for purchase and signing female cyclists can take a couple hours to me other female writers and learn about bikes at belmont will work women's night on tuesday from six  smack down pitting breweries from massachusetts against the tri state area on thursday at six this friendly competition features beer advocate columnist and author of great american craft beer and the crouch and john hall senior editor of the craft beer and bring magazines and author of drink beer think beer crouch and hall with the audience through a tasting of five rounds in different styles after vying for their respective regions the audience will vote after each round and crown the winner register for the smack down on event bright frosty the snowman needs your help help decorate the winter landscape solve puzzles and play games at r s m's massive blizzard and snow flakes workshop on friday from four to six visit our ascends belmont location with family and friends for this free and open event someone has left candy canes all over town field bring your flashlight in the hunt for them on friday from four to five hundred and thirty you may even find a special candy cane that can be exchanged for a prize enjoy hot cocoa at the beach street center while you craft holiday ornaments and decorate bags for the hunt and afterwards parents can enjoy and night out kid free from six to nine pm at the beech trees that are parents can drop their kids off at the rec staff for a fun day of activities including a craft project fun and games and a movie pizza juice and cookies will be provided free registration is required for both events you can sign up on the rec department website come participate in performances of the great master works for chorus an orchestra empowers music schools belmont open saying on sunday at seven  all ages and experience are welcome to join in singing g f handel's messiah at the pace and park church st timers are welcome focal scores and a choral warm up are provided learn more about belmont open sings on powers website and nov th the annual tree lighting ceremony that launches belmont's holiday season santa was there as were and man and mike tim in this segment edited by julie  she loves so much that you do this for us every single year what are we doing here tonight girls were selling bracelets for our project pantry says guys it's a wonderful time of year for families but it's a tough time for some people who are struggling and we want to make sure there's enough food on the table for our whole population end our show with a programming update for your belmont media center channel's be sure to watch and if you missed the gifts of hope telethon to benefit the food pantry you can still make a donation make a pay pal or credit card donation through the belmont through the food pantries website you can also mail a check payable to belmont food pantry incorporated at two hundred and ninety one i'm sorry p o box t ninety one belmont massachusetts two thousand four hundred and seventy eight or you can make a donation in the drop off barrel of the star market of a nonperishable food item well that's all for now and i hope to see you next time