welcome to talking you know who's we are delighted to have you with us listening to our presentation by members of the beach street center jane and jonathan we will be reading local news and happenings from a community newspaper talking cell phone towers members discuss citizen pissed titian requiring permit by bram berkowitz are though indicating a generally favorable view planning board members took no action may twenty third on whether to endorse a citizen petition that would require those seeking to install self phone antennas or towers to obtain a special permit formerly known as interior wireless telecommunications facilities devices like cell phone towers and or in tennis can currently be erected within a building or structure by right the petition was spurred by a group of neighbors frustrated with an earlier proposal by for eyes in wireless to install a cell phone in ten to within the steeple of the plymouth congregational church pleasant street verizon would pay the church for allowing it to use its steeple we allow cell towers and wireless communication devices in every district in belmont said judith and any in sarno who supports the petition this will not prevent or stop installations of these devices it will just give you a voice if the petition passes at special town meeting june eighth for rising wireless would need to obtain a special permit from the zoning board of appeals in order to install the cell phone antenna this would be in addition to the design and site plan review approval rising received from the planning board may third a special permit process allows for open discussion it allows for neighbors and other interested parties to voice their opinion said boy planning board member munchkin right now said planning board member charles clarke the zoning code does not specify where and devices like a cell phone intent can be erected he asked if they go up in regular houses or in schools by right it the petition makes it clear that you can do what you can do and what you can't do said clark other residents on hand supported the petition martin steff in an engineering professor at boston university said the world health organization states that the radiation the radiation from cell phone in tennis is potentially karajan nick adding a special permit is good risk management because it shows the town did good due diligence if someone living near a cellphone in tanna contracts cancer and then tries to sue the town he said won kramer another resident behind the citizen's petition said towns like lexington require special permit across the board for all interior wireless telecommunication facilities plymouth congregational church members presented their opposition to the pacific titian weaving a letter on behalf of the church joseph green discuss under the current zoning the church made numerous revisions to the design of the cellphone in town are based on comments from a potter's we feel that in this case the workings of the original by law produced on a good result for the town in a reasonable amount of time he said adding that interior installations serve in an important infrastructure that also prefer preserves the stork character of neighborhoods the by law if left an amended will continue to do saw for future wireless installations at other locations in belmont jane my article is backers seek extension for construction project attempts to belmont voters playing in the article is by new green haven with the current status of the minuteman vocational technical high school building project up in the air school administrators are seeking an extension on a key milestone from state officials and hoping of winning over opponents currently blocking the plan when bellman town meeting members voted down their town's portion of the project's funding made for minuteman officials were forced to back to the drawing board to design a way for the project to advance the massachusetts school building authority agreed march fifteen to pay for a forty four point seven five percent of the eligible cost of one hundred forty four point nine million project provided minute me and leaders could line up all sixteen member towns in the district to support their share of the project costs by may twenty seven all those six hands voted this year to leave the district since they don't actually leave the district until july twenty seventh teen all sixteen had to vote to not reject their portions of the funding for the project to go forward a statement from minuteman superintendent edward sent to the end as be amy eighteen asked for a one hundred eighty day extension on the deadline in order to persuade belmont officials in town meeting members to support the project in order for the project to move forward all of the member towns must not  reject paying for their share of the construction costs allocated in proportion to the number of students it sends to minuteman high school the decision to reject assuming the debt by any single town meeting had the power to essentially stop the project by law the minutemen regional school committee against dil call a district wide vote in which case residents in all sixteen a number towns vote in a majority of the aggregate vote to terminus whether the debt for the building project is approved based upon the extraordinary support for the project from a fifteen member towns and their recognition of the adverse consequences of a field vote community leaders throughout the district are willing to assist us in efforts to further in gage the town of belmont and reverse a decision in that town failing that desired outcome the district will move forward with a district wide referendum he owns a letter or the application for extension is currently in the hands of the m s b a administration for review said m s p a spokesperson maria poor polo she said that i'm a twenty four the m as be a grants the m s b a grants extensions on a case by case basis when  district notifies of us of mitigating circumstances when it comes to a proposed project we continue our collaborative partnership with them and looking for a solution choose the decision to grant an extension rests with the m s and other minuteman leaders will have to minimize concerns over the project's costs and the size of the school must be received and this funding during the belmont town meeting debate speakers repeatedly expressed concerns regarding the school's size cost differences between building a new school versus renovating the existing one the credibility and longevity of the new state approved capital be in  twenty eight students school is a smaller school that will still retain the quality of education communities expect jonathan remembering richard but by he was the child engineer and author a veteran a devout historian a magician a church goer a highly decorated resident a beloved husband and father and partner and a dear friend richard dick baps was a great many things indeed some residents refer to him as mr bellmore a backbone of the community whose list of accomplishments is as large as an astute oracle like knowledge of the town but his greatest legacy perhaps will be the countless lives of residents he enriched and the hearts he touched in the community no matter where i go in belmont when i say i'm with the historical society they asked me do i know betts said victoria during a historical society meeting wednesday may or may eighteenth that honored bets a member of society since the one nine hundred sixty s richard was part of belmont's fabric first began in one nine hundred forty three when he was recruited in high school to work as a meter reader for the belmont municipal light department it was during this job or hospice bet's learned the ins and outs of the town wants said who i know who's doors were unlocked the dogs to avoid and one of the cutest girls lived in town betts would go on to work in the engineering department for many years eventually serving as the town engineer he held until he retired in one thousand eighty seven after retirement betts became a planning board member and served as a selectman for twelve consecutive years he also served on a range of town committees over the years ranging from the cable access committee and the metropolitan state hospital task force to belmont cisco central commit a celebration committee as haas noted for all of the work and volunteering  there probably is not an award he didn't receive that's receive the community achievement award from the belmont town club in one thousand eight hundred eight a resolution for fifty years of service to the town in nine hundred ninety six and a lifetime achievement award from the belmont historical society in two thousand and eleven but beyond his accomplishments those who knew betts best say it was the little idiosyncrasies and charming personality that made the northeastern university graduate a pleasure to be around has read aloud email from clan gansey glassy director of community development who worked under bets in his first few years of employment with the town who described his then boss as a true showman and as always mr betts did not disappoint magic played a major role in best life not only was him member of the society of american magicians for more than sixty five years but has publicly perform magic tricks and able unable bet's to overcome a stutter he had as a child that's was also a sebastian figure in collector and appraiser one after betts first wife barbara died of cancer in one nine hundred eighty one martin who dressed up as a country wench and brought a live go to the contest grabbed the first place at the event of the the event to the dismay of bess he was so upset said martin with a laugh and then there was the great historian betts anchored four books several about the history of belmont one about the history of the church where he was a lifelong member and another of our little neck ipswich a place bets frequently vacationed there wasn't a straight in town the bets didn't know in two thousand and eleven betts donated an eighty volume collection of indexed about the history of elements of historical society i don't like to live in the past that's not good but i want to make sure the past isn't lost that it's recorded somehow bast bets  million morrow past president of the historical society said he can always remember the passion and invest voice once discussing with the young visitor the claflin room a room in the town's library that houses important items and local history his love of history and all he did for velma outside the organization is a dream demonstration of civic pride that is exceptional so tomorrow every time he did something he did a lot of research added marion scalia a long time resident if it had something to do with the history he knew all about it that's really not just be a part of history however the people they influence will carry his memory along with them for the rest of their lives ninety two year old starts own website kitty haas wants to educate today's youth on how to prevent glaucoma by bram berkowitz there are weekly yoga classes parties with friends and email account she checks regularly and a large gallery of garden photos stored on her samsung smartphone which is incased in a bright pink case for ninety two year old woman katie haas is pretty active with her to determination upbeat attitude haas has made a website to educate today's youth on how to avoid glaucoma and i disease that leads to vision impairment hosp was diagnosed with more than thirty years ago young people from fifteen to twenty four should wear u v protection glasses and that could prevent glaucoma said hyrst during a recent interview at her home if they wear that they most likely will not get it after her diagnosis despite trying multiple treatments such as eye drops and laser treatment has said nothing has worked that well this struggle led the strain native to approach her dr louis pascal director of both the glock coma service and the author apology menace in program at the massachusetts eye and ear treatment facility i told him we should do something to try and prevent this horrible thing said haas who wears a necklace with a magnifying glass attached to it to help her see better and he encouraged me from their relative helped us connect with dot org the website tells haas the story about how she got coma and addition to providing an assortment of information on the disease while hasa myths she can at times have difficulty with technology she always tries to him brace it i'm a very old lady but i like things that are new she said next haase wants to put pictures of celebrities wearing u v sunglasses on her website to attract young people and have a party to spread awareness none of the kids are going to listen to me on my own she said so we want to get high schools everywhere to promote this the more younger people that know about this and the more people that wear u v sunglasses the better people will be off and that's why i'm doing it at a hass but we need everybody's help reaching the younger generation can be difficult for any cause but haas who lived in vienna for two years after the nazis occupied austria in one thousand nine hundred thirty eight is not the least bit deterred she is already planning her next mission after gluck home after her glaucoma campaign to get young people to listen to opera music jane the title of this is traffic changes ahead in christian square and it's the author is senator william brownsburg for a major traffic pattern change will occur in christian square on tuesday may thirty one as you may recall last fall we tried unsuccessfully to change the light phasing in christians where after several weeks of confusion and some near misses we went back to the original preprocess conference figuration so currently that intersection is working as it has for many years cars and common street headed towards watertown green left and green straight at the same time while cars headed down the hill and development get red then that reverses this is very inefficient because most of the traffic in both directions would like to go straight one wants one wants to street movements to share green time after a lot of debate a new approach has emerged which should be clear for drivers it is actually more efficient than any of the previously attempted can and the engineers explanation of this new approach appears below with the some additions from me for that repel road vehicles there will be no change the southbound uphill toward watertown lights well have a left arrow and a green ball light that still turn green simultaneously but the southbound green arrow will turn to red while the south straight ball like remains green the it calls uncommon street heading towards watertown will be able to continue towards watertown but vehicles in a left turn lane and turning left  from watertown light to go green for both northbound lanes for southbound vehicles in common street in the right lane and heading toward watertown it will find that during the latter part of the green a phase traffic will start coming from the opposite direction a common street and some of that traffic will be wanting to turn left in front of them the northbound vehicles will see green balls only no left al as is c many interceptions there will be a left turn yields on green balls on again as is common in many intersections for vehicles on common street coming from watertown they will now found that find that traffic will be coming from the opposite direction of common street when they have a green indication in the vehicles turning left interpol road toward waverly square well yield to traffic coming from the other direction to walk around victoria thatcher was lived in belmont since one thousand eighty eight said she and her husband could soon be priced out of town during a record breaking snow fall that hit in twenty fifteen gosse's said snow was piled so high that no one saw her waving her cane after she slipped and fell on the ice in front of her house as belmont's population trends older the town will look to further accommodate the needs of seniors in an effort to create a more age friendly community john marshall are a professor at u mass boston was an expert on matters relating to aging populations said various projections show that more than a quarter of belmont's population will be sixty or over by the year twenty thirty five in my three years working with communities they're saying gosh our population is getting older said mushroom during a forum at the beach street center on may eighteenth i wonder what that means according to the data from the us census bureau between two thousand and two thousand and ten the number of belmont residents age fifty forty five and under has declined two percent while the segment of residents age sixty and over has increased eight percent nominative goal director of belmont council on aging said this pattern represents a turning point where the town needs to look beyond the beach streets and your center which was opened seven years ago and other needs of the seniors in the community musher said some communities in the state like newton and boston have made a strong commitment to this mission by joining the world health organization's global network of aid from friendly cities and communities the w h o characterizes these members as inclusive accessible communities that use their resources to promote health participation and security for seniors to ensure a high quality life as they age much lower said this means looking at whether a community is affordable and walkable if it's providing adequate transportation for seniors and promoting health and wellness other factors include rather seniors have activities to participate in how the rest of the population treats seniors and if there is effect of communication between a community and its senior she fleischer said communities throughout the country will need to make a culture shift it's not necessarily going out and spending large sums of money on senior only amenities she said only building facilities are offering programs that all age populations can benefit from seniors on hand said the beach street center public safety and town staff stood out among the strengths in town you push a button and the fire chief and crews are right there on the spot said mary among the librarians are so helpful to me said natalie who also spoke highly of the aesthetics in town especially all the trees in belmont but there was no shortage of improvements seniors say they wish to see grace harrington another senior in belmont said she and many of her peers believe property taxes are far too high you know what doesn't help the elderly  all these overrides so but the biggest issue said satcher is finding affordable housing which is crucial for those who want to age in place and not be forced out of their communities musher point out that every four out of ten homeowners in belmont are aged sixty or over i would love to stand belmont but i don't know how much longer me and my husband can so that you're referring to high housing costs this is an enormous issue for everybody during her situation that you're is working with residents in nearby communities to spearhead a senior co housing initiative co housing is a purposeful community of private homes group around shared space like a common area recreational space an outdoor gardens or open space farmer's market returns june ninth opening day for the belmont farmers market will be two pm june ninth rain or shine the market is held from two to six thirty pm every thursday june through october located in the rear parking lot behind belmont center the market offers a variety of organic and conventionally produced food in a range of prices sign up for the weekly newsletter during the market season for vendor updates market music story time updates chef's tastings and special events visit belmont farmer's market dot org for any changes in vendors guests vendors and performances all vendors are listed along with their websites the market except snap benefits which are food stamps and matches up to twenty five dollars for each snaps shopper each week thanks to donations benefits are processed quickly and easily at the blue market tent jane hundreds turn out for town day by joanna kitty trouville us the weather respects are perfect for town day in belmont may twenty one which organizer out president of the belmont center business association and owner champion sporting goods believes had the best turnout in years belmont savings bank was a major sponsor for the days festivities held  london street from nine am to four pm which included a classic car while a dog show pony rides a duck face painting crafts was planted two years ago said factor when she convened a group of friends to talk about their hopes and fears related to aging at end of life as baby boomers the question of who or will we live as we age and need help  looms large said c v we all dream about living in our own home in affordable safe neighborhood where people know and care about each other but does that exist when the couple learned about senior co housing an initiative model that started in denmark and is emerging now in the united states they knew they had found a master to that question their new group the watertown free public and made a library it will be holding a senior co housing take charge of the rest of your life committee conversation from two to four thirty pm on june fifth at watertown free library one twenty three main street thank you for joining us for this episode of talking news please join us next week