hello everyone welcome to the bell my journal belmont's own program for hyper local news and community affairs programming i'm your host roger coulton one impact of the arrival of warm weather in belmont is the presence of workers from belmont's department of public works out fixing our streets the belmont journal recently talked with assistant department of public works director michael santoro about the need for season lasts every season we have practically every day and every season of the year moment when i would like to say to the to the public to the film residents you know please be aware of these these gentlemen are one of the working out there when you see a crew out there usually especially the d p w crews there's a big truck because of the flights there's a pickup truck behind me with lights on they're all in safety vests the idea is those lights are on for a reason they're telling you that their work is not there working that those lights are not on so that you speed by them the idea is to slow down be cautious they're out there to do you a service they're trying to to correct the road to patch the road to make it safe for you my name's glenn gill i'm working foreman for the town about what it's very dangerous we're on the road we're expose you know we only have each other and our vehicles to protect ourselves it's not a very glamorous job but it's a big public safety concern and we do our best to keep the roadways safe so it would be nice if you would be multi media journalist for the citizen her oh and we could local belmont belmont online and print source of hyper local news too and let's start talking about the high school today there are changes in or changes in the estimate of what the new school is going to cost yes big changes right the budget is two hundred and thirty six million dollars and what they did is they had three different estimators  look at the designs that the architect did to come up with a number what is this going to actually cost and the estimate came in thirty million dollars above the two hundred and thirty six million dollars budget and  to make things clear here this isn't an increase in the cost everything to do it has simply been an estimate and now now we're getting a solid cost yes bill about chairman of the belmont high school building committee told me they never you know they just told the architect everything they wanted they never knew what it was actually at a cost until now so now what they need to do is the architect's going to provide them with a list of items that could either be eliminated reduced or modified and they have to look at this list and decide what are they going what are the pros and cons of each of these items what could be eliminated modified such as such as glass for window panes i mean anything different you know grades different costs to that where do you come up with thirty million dollars are people talking about possible places to get it and i will tell you this roger and i don't know if this will be on the list of items i don't think it will the the whole energy system that they're putting into the building the you know the heating system and the cooling system i know that a lot of energy activists were were worried that they were going to eliminate that whole yes net zero system that they're putting in there but submission of the final design with the final estimated cost and it has to be on budget and we're on the cusp of starting construction right june th is when they're actually going to start the day after school ok let's stay let's stay in the schools but there are some changes that are going to occur in the coming school year for yet at the administrative level we have tell us about who people and some people that are that are leaving i'll start with the new person in wellington elementary is getting a new principal july st her name is dr heidi pays roffman and she's coming from wayland public schools where she's now in a system principal and an english learners coordinator for th cherry upper middle school principal the assistant principal for the upper chest school not dr it's torrance lewis he is moving on to brookline public schools and he's staying till june th til the end of the year and then moving on and the burbank principal is also moving on dr patricia clifford who's been with the district's for about eight years she's moving on to become the assistant superintendent for bedford public and this is just a normal turnover  mean i think dr clifford was there for quite a while tara saloons was there for two years i'm not sure what his contract was but i will tell you this burbank is only looking for an interim principal in the meantime they're not hiring for a permanent principal for a whole other year welcome to this week in the belmont tony and i have with me today franklin tucker the editor and publisher of the belmont county and now months online source for hyper local news franklin we have a new bank coming to belmont center just what we need just what just what belmont needs is another bank coming into belmont center and it's one of new york's best it's chase bank and it will be going in where the call the banker was over at seven chani very prominent could be expected for that i mean it's great for a landlord to have a bank because they pay right upfront and they're going to pad long term leases so it's a great thing for the bank but it's a good thing for belmont because really what we're seeing is a conver center into a service rather than a retail and is that was something that people in belmont want i mean you know with banking becoming so online i mean you do everything on mine in a bank and there are some banks that are just online why do you need something in your in a very small area for belmont belmont has a very small retail areas unlike a wellesley or norrington should we should should that be the preferred use there can i draw a parallel to the new mclean hospital proposal where the town or the community is really talking about what it wants to see there that's right you know the bone it was and i think it kind of took the people mclean a little off guard when they saw the number of people who stated that they want to see a much larger  taken from the residential side and then also look and also look at the business side should belmont have a special permit for businesses i code into business areas if you're service industry you know  a retail operation see old heller cleaners over twenty five channel two thousand five hundred street and is that the best use so if somebody is coming in to you put a service or an office space that really doesn't  doesn't help the retail operations of their neighbors basically should they be able to should they have a special permit that they have to to to to go through in the planning process with a strange question perhaps with because you know that that's a that's a building you know it's the headquarters of the bank that's now their people's united there in connecticut they don't really need anything big and but they do have that they would love to have a portion of that maybe so we do have to think about that we have to think about cushing square you know there's an ability to see where you end up there maybe they should take the process that we're doing in south posen street a very slow but very deliberate process talking to developers and also taught into town officials what you want in and a property in a strip of land which it which could be the next a big generator of taxes and retail great thanks for bringing us up today we've been speaking with franklin tucker of the belmont county the new exhibit at belmont municipal art gallery at the homer building marks a new record for this nonprofit organization gallery co directors rebecca the belmont gallery of art this week starts a new project why did calls it's fun shop the media centers news director frederick regal who speaks with helen khanna time who is a member of the board who initiated the project we're going to have two very fun events on april th and april th so saturday and sunday both days from two pm until five pm we will contains the word work and i just on wait a minute you know you're hot you're making art this is not work it's fun so let's get rid of the word work out of it from the workshop and this is make it like an art front shop so that's exactly what we plan on doing will bring people together of all ages from the age of ten on and children under twelve should be accompanied by a parent but other than that there is no age restriction and ladies and gentlemen fun and to see people i just think that are some therapeutic and it's just so brain so much to people and i think the concept that some people are not good at i keep hearing that i don't believe in it at all i mean i i think it has more to do with self self confidence what kind of art can we create that days there's a lot you can create the idea was to make something that's three d so it basically they'll be they'll be a lot of objects and of different texture they'll be some some felt some yarn some button some i'm you know i knew or should have started the less because we have an endless list and that was the idea because we may i just say enthusiastic guidance on the st they were very lucky to have missed remick who was an art teacher at their high school formally our teacher at butler elementary school was a wonderful wonderful d i think couple of months ago i took my daughter to a workshop at art workshop one of the neighboring towns and we just had an amazing time it was just it was it was like an eye opener for me it was a wonderful  bonding experience for my daughter and i thought we wouldn't you know let's bring this to to belmont here's the belmont media centers jane peters to tell us about what there is to do in belmont in the coming week hi everyone i'm jane in this your community calendar for next week our societal use of psychiatric drugs has exploded over the past thirty years more than one in five americans now takes a psychiatric medication yet as our use of these medications has soared so too has the burden of mental disorders in our society journalist and author robert wood occur will present on new initiatives that are emerging to lessen the use of medications and focus instead on creating supports that help children and adults struggling with mental difficulties get and stay well this talk takes place at the library on tuesday at seven the bailout special education parent advisory council will present a workshop for families with an introduction to their rights and responsibilities under the individuals with disabilities education act massachusetts special delicious masterpiece kids in grades six through twelve can put their know how to the test with an array of ingredients and a timer as they try to wow the judges in the final blind taste test on thursday at three at the library registration is required on the library website saturday is independent bookstore day and you can celebrate at belmont books with a whole lineup of events kids can get their face painted from ten to three play games from one to three and you can enjoy live music from  five and grab a drink sample from craft beer seller from five to seven learn more at belmont books dot com female bicyclists can enjoy the spring air in a ride to see the ponies of pony henge in lincoln mass a ring of abandoned rocking horses on sunday at nine thirty am meet at belmont will works and ride out to this charming local oddity learn more on belmont will work says facebook page belmont against racism well not human rights commission and police department invite you for a discussion of the award winning young adult novel the hate you give and the showing of the movie based on the book the discussion will be facilitated by police warning of k w diversity inc the screening will take place at the media center at one pm followed by the forty five minute show features sheryl fayaz abigail adams and discusses her child in adulthood tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door and that's often next week if you would like your event featured in journals you need a calendar you can send your my name is sarah goldberg i'm a social work intern at the belmont council on aging i have a background at lesley university in some basic expressive our training currently i am a master of social work student at simmons university and my last year so i'm very happy about that i am leading a our expressions group every week monday one to two pm the group is set with a structured activity that the group will do together i do different activities that range from collaging painting even some creative writing this is a judge freezone it's for people of all varying skills and just  place that they feel they can be a little more creative i'm also offering people assistance those who are interested in using smartphones are already own in a smartphone i'm helping people who are interested in ride sharing apps like lift and how to get set up with that and also people who don't yet have a smartphone but would like to learn how to get one and we also have our springs for a party it'll be the st one that we're doing here is going to be on our beautiful patio outside of the high school jazz band come and play some nice relaxing music they're going to start playing bochy have some finger sandwiches light refreshments things like that it will be a lot of fun and then we have a couple weekend trips coming up may th is a sunday the mr crowd is going to be team continues to roll in this segment be emcees germy missouri highlights the broader is victory over the needham rockets where they won forty five to ten sam carries it forward nicely keeps his feet keeps his feet into contact one again into sam well that's it for this week's edition of the journal as we sign off let's watch what else is available on the belmont media centers community programming television stations i'm your host roger colton i will talk to you