watch and listen to the talking news every day at twelve noon six pm on channel ninety six comcast six finity and channel thirty verizon vios it can also be heard at mondays and tuesdays at four thirty p wednesday at twelve thirty pm on channel nine ix finity and channel twenty nine listen any time on the v m c podcast network on sound cloud and i tunes just search for the belmont the selectmen approved a recommendation by town administrator patrice garvan for two percent merit increase retroactive to twenty seven dollars team for the belmont police chief richard mcglothlin bringing his and nineteen inclusive of all contractual obligations such as twelve paid holidays and st responder stipend goven was in the process or even of reviewing all nonunion employees gave mcglothlin the highest smocks i find him to be one of the most most to be of the utmost integrity and overall his performance is out of a one dollar to five dollars scale exceeds expectations she said belmont's human resources director jessica porter said she believes this was the chief's st formal review in terms of it being documented and brought before the select the selectmen also approved mclaughlin's request to extend his contract to december st two thousand and nineteen from july the st two thousand and nineteen because you will be getting close to his retirement age his salary will remain flat as of july st two thousand and nineteen the bellman savings bank clock the belmont center will be getting a new clock compliments of the belmont savings bank foundation and belmont savings bank the selectmen except of the gift pending zoning and permit approvals and town administrator and planning board review and approval it will be located on the recently improved green space delta in front of the belmont savings bank in belmont santa the exact location has not been finalized and will be mutually agreed upon by the bank and the selectmen the clock will be a four sided black and gold detail and fifteen feet tall and purchased from the electric time of medfield at this time the bank does not have a timeline of when the new clock will be installed town belmont will be printed on the top of the clock face border at belmont savings bank on the bottom of the clock face border as well as a plaque that says proudly gifted by a bob belmont savings bank foundation community path project committee the selectmen approved the change charge of a new town committee to replace the community path implementation advisory committee it will also be called the community path project committee that c p p c the committee will have nine members including four ex official members and five residents of approved by the selectmen for three year terms fence viewers the selectmen appoint of the director and assistant director of community development as the town's fence viewers according to select mn chairman adam dash the fence viewer is a  party from the town who can issue an order related to fence issues in town such as disputes between neighbors or a fence in need of repair selectman vice chairman mock  as town administrator patrice garvin to look at compensation for the additional responsibility according to garden fence view is may earn no less than one dollar per day and now on to my colleague claire thank you bob this year's one book one belmont community read by jovana k s of alice the monster from frankenstein is going to be a frequent visitor to belmont over the next ten weeks as it has been selected as the belmont public libraries titled for one book one belmont two thousand and eighteen the library's th community reading program since it began in two thousand and eight according to belmont public library director peta strews e r o frankenstein is celebrating its th year since publication in two thousand and eighteen communities all over the world are celebrating mary shelley and her masterpiece with readings of the book and programs focused on its themes i've always loved this title and presented the opportunity to keep players in the effort he said deep love for the novel in fact strew zero has his own collection of frankenstein books in his office library he said when he was a child he was a reluctant reader he was destined to grow into a librarian from the beginning i had a lot of trouble reading and focusing as a child but i was also pretty stubborn and determined to find my way into enjoying books early on i connected with a series called the crestwood monster series bright orange books with lots of pictures that i'd take aged grow into longer versions of frankenstein with less pitches until as a teenager i went through the full original text in college a deep love for the book its author and the themes only grew and at this point it's the book i own the most copies of and go through routinely about every two years always learning something different in each read he said ethics philosophy creation regret solitude loneliness acceptance overcoming obstacles and up session are the themes strewn through zero said have attracted him to the story and he hopes the belmont community will enjoy it as much as he does to help with this he and his one book one belmont committee have planned a series of programs for all ages from october four through november one taking place at the library beach street center and belmont high school movies discussions and pumpkins one of the programs is a month long article here bit at the belmont gallery of art monst misunderstood studio cinema will be showing the movie young frayne frankenstein at six thirty pm on october th the human rights commission is running a talk on the experience of being an outsider called the monster within at seven pm on october th the recreation department is hosting a pumpkin decorating event in honor of frankenstein from three dollars to five pm guest speaker gordon wrote romantic outlaws the extraordinary lives of mary wollstonecraft and mary shelley and will focus her talk on life of me know mary shelley her mother mar wollstonecraft and the lasting impact of her novel to pro promote one book one belmont the committee is having photography store take photos of local town officials and reading the book at different locations around town the belmont citizen harrow will feature a poster every week through november st belmont media center is also having a read a thought on featuring thirty town officials reading a chapter of each book such as ellen schreiber and marie mahoney state sen will brownsburg or state representative david raj is and many more familiar with us the massachusetts department of public health alert at the belmont health department august th about the th human case of west nile virus in the state this year the person is a woman in her fifty's from middlesex county was never hospitalized for illness three other cases reported august th belmont is now one of eleven boston communities with a high risk level for west nile virus  according to the press release from the massachusetts department of public health investigations conducted by state public health officials indicate that at least two of the four cases were exposed in the greater boston area leading them to raise the risk level from moderate to high for eleven communities in the area those communities are arlington boston belmont brookline cambridge chelsea everett medford newton somerville and watertown it is extremely important for people to take steps to avoid mosquito bites including using repellents wearing clothing to reduce exposed skin dumping standing water and moving indoors when you notice mosquitoes biting fifty are at higher risk for severe disease most people infected with w a v will have no symptoms when present w n v symptoms tend to include fever and flu like illness in rare cases more severe illnesses can occur people can take steps to protect themselves and their loved ones from illnesses caused by mosquitoes over to you bob thanks max getting ready for the belmont porch vest anyone driving through belmont between the hours of eleven am and seven pm on september the th will surely hear or see one or more of the seventy five performance performers who have signed up for this town's st annual belmont porch fis fest the rain date is sunday september the th sixty two home owners from precincts one through eight have volunteered they a porch is a patios for one of the  three time slots throughout the day between eleven am and five pm according to mary bradley president of the belmont porch fest incorporated and executive director of the belmont porch fest planning committee th pm the idea behind the zones is to celebrate the different neighborhoods and it courage is much foot and bike traffic as possible we hope people walk or bike relying minimally on vehicles town said bradley there will be volunteers at belmont porch fest tables in each zone where visitors can get water ask questions or buy a sylvania to benefit belmont porch fest incorporated the grand finale will take place at grove street park from five to seven pm and will feature performances by the belmont high school moron as much in band and the school of honk at seven pm the entire town will be invited to participate in a song together and what we are calling one town's sound said bradley bradley's st experience with a porch fest was in arlington was in arlington last year she loved it so much that she formed her own committee one year ago to get it started in belmont she said it's been positive but challenging we were all really unprepared for how much time it was going to take and how many details there were going to be said bradley her hope is for this to become a music and not a vent for everyone in the community to enjoy and participate in bradley in the belmont puts fest planning committee adopted multiple strategies to encourage people to participate such as opening the event to any kind of performance occluding readings and dancing bradley is also pleased at how many young members of the belmont community will be put to supporting she said they have well over one hundred youth registered to participate local businesses and organizations have also been very supportive of the belmont porch fest such as belmont savings bank realtor and the home the massachusetts cultural coun gallagher remodelling adeline's store a photography and belmont against racism bradley said stonehearth pizza has offered to provide a free slice of pizza to wally elementary through high school porch festival and tea is and performers at the grand finale and will have pizza are available for purchase for the rest of the audience and no claire thank you bob the honest to behind puts fast logo by shelley bertolli now and mary bradley hopefully you have seen the whimsical yard signs and banners around town advertised in belmont's st porch fast he is the back story on how these eye catching announcements came to be designs were solicited from belmont middle and high school students the entries were sent to representatives from the recreation department porch st donors and people from the porch st planning committee the directions were simple choose the logo you think best represents poor to fast though many creative submissions were received six grader  performer is welcome at this kind of an event and the audience is as integral to the event as the performers as kira's seal lion dog and frog attest for cure is logo to make its way onto bareness t shirts water bottles and yard signs are graphic designer was needed luckily for porch st organizes  came into the picture mary bradley one of the principal organizers was at the belmont art gallery visiting with the director rebecca richards stewart just happened to be there in richard's introduced them store a volunteered on the spot stora has been doing graphic design work for the belmont community for decades primarily for the library where she has done graphics for one book one belmont and the belmont art gallery where she is on the board she is a biologist by training but her deep interest in photography led her to learning adobe photoshop and illustrator story spoke of the importance of a strong visual hook to draw the viewer in and felt kira's characters had real energy primary colors were chosen for the background to mimic a child's painting kids make things very readable stories said here is the sky it's blue here is the grass it's green story describes her personal work as being at the intersection of photography and graphic arts some of her favorite projects involve making photoshop collages of people's pets above all she believes in creating creating community through art here's max now thanks cl interview burgess cox was recently reluctant to school committee what do you think will be the greatest decisions the school committee will be to make this coming this year the school committee will work with the bill high school building committee  financial forecasting for the district in town will also be a long term project for the school committee and it ministration what will what will be the most important items on the september th meeting agenda one of the most important items will be update from the belmont high school building committee on the work they have accomplished over the summer this group works tirelessly to ensure this new building will be a wise investment for belmont what do you hope to accomplish as chairman of the school committee this academic  i look forward to working with a group that will move some important projects forward such as the new school building addressing long term issues related to after school care and continuing discussions of school start times what do you think is the most important thing a parent can do to prepare their children for the year ahead showing support and understanding as children transition from the summer into the school year is important the new school year is a change for everyone and those st few weeks can be difficult what's your advice to new families in belmont with school age children attending belmont public schools well we are all busy with work and other activities participating in school related events can be rewarding as well as a great way to meet other families several of the p t a p t o is have events over the summer for new families and post information on their group facebook page a website the leaders and members of these groups are a great resource for new families and work hard to make everyone feel thanks x looking at the impractical cost of preschool sherman as summer ends and school begins families a busy making plans for last minute trips to the beach backyard barbecues weekend getaways and back to school shopping but if a sum those with young children the end of summer will be spent saving money to pay for the coming years preschool were the reality is that the cost of childcare o p s is what families can afford said kid kim davenport managing director a birth to rd grade alignment at edgewood street child services a nonprofit in worcester it's a huge percentage of families cost of living so it becomes very difficult to make ends meet when they have one child and even more often when they have to without tax payers support massachusetts families pay between one million two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars per child for preschool and early childhood care per year and while low income families receive subsidies through programs such as heads advocates argue it's not enough for families that don't qualify there's little support the lower middle class is experiencing this challenge especially as minimum wage  rises davenport said in two thousand and sixteen the economic policy institute reported early childhood care expenses in massachusetts exceed the cost of a college the think tank calculated the average annual cost for a four year old totaled twelve thousand seven hundred and eighty one dollars which is nearly twenty percent more the manual cost of in state tuition for a four year public college the expense is likely contributing to the fact that sixty seven thousand four hundred and seventy dollars orrible thirty percent of preschool aged children in massachusetts don't currently receive any formal education according to strategies for children titus dos remedios the director of research and policy at the belmont nonprofit says most families don't have the means across massachusetts people are ready for more preschool dos remedios said parents want this learning opportunity for their children but often can't afford to be can't afford it or are on a waiting list action program incorporated a state funded program that provides financial support for families in need of child care d d a roy director of the christ lutheran nursery schools said she advises parents to send their children to preschool children benefit from socializing with peers problem solving and education as well as learning how to do things on their own these things are required when a child  kidney and she said christ lutherans preschool curriculum is designed to prepare children to make the transition to kin to godan with the developmental milestones needed said arroyo including recognizing number and letters following a schedule comprehending the concept of time math and science experience fine motor and logic motor skill development socializing communication and also problem solving and now over to my colleague claire thank you bob belmont's more affordable option there are several other preschool programs in belmont including the belmont integrated preschool housed in the wellington elementary school this preschool has programs for mornings a week for three year olds and four afternoons a week for four year olds as well as six limited slots for full day nine am to one pm four days per week according to ken cramer director of student services for belmont public schools the cost is much more reasonable than regular preschools three thousand five hundred and fifty dollars per year for half day students five thousand one hundred dollars per year for extended day there are fifteen students per class eight who are typical and no more than seven who have individualized education plans with three adults per class the student teacher ratio is one dollar to five dollars brianna wall director of the belmont integrated preschool said typically developing students who attend learn tolerance and that not all students are the same they learn that you're going to have kids that may look or act different talk different and learn differently but it's ok she said preschool expansion grant making preschool more affordable nonetheless has garnered some support over the years in two thousand and fourteen the state received a four year sixty million dollar preschool expansion grant or pig from the u s department of education the money went toward expanding preschool programs in boston holyoke lawrence lowell and springfield and has helped about eight hundred and fifty dollars children each year attend preschool in those communities building off those results the state allocated grant funding from fiscal two thousand and sixteen through fiscal two thousand eight hundred for cities and towns to create preschool expansion plans the plans are supposed to serve as blueprints for what it would take to set up the infrastructure for private private public systems should more money be made available dollars communities have received the grants including after all brockton fall river new bedford some of zero was store and salem eighteen massachusetts communities have solid plans for preschool expansion and are waiting for new public dollars to begin implementation dos remedios said state in local funding can help level the playing field for young children and provide more families with access to injuries and was transported to beth israel hospital bill what police closed the intersection traffic was detoured for approximately two hours the victim's name has not been released the pedestrian crash is being investigated by the belmont police and conjunction with the massachusetts state police coalition collision analysis and reconstruction section according to mcisaac pending the conclusion of the investigation no charges have been filed raised tables were added to reduce sentence street in late summer two thousand and sixteen according to glenn clancy director of community development since then mcisaac said the number of accidents has gone down in two thousand and sixteen there were seven accidents at that intersection in show additionally we would like to thank our colleague thomas for his help over the summer we will return next week for another edition of local news happening around belmont