watch and listen to the talking news every day at twelve noon and six pm on channel ninety six comcast six finity and channel thirty verizon fi o's it can also be heard mondays and tuesdays at four thirty two zones to be amended the amendments would need to be voted on at the spring town meeting twenty years ago town meeting approved a memorandum of agreement to rezone more than one hundred  of the campus of mclean hospital for development of clustered residential housing affordable housing a senior community in research and development facility since then zones have been developed forty units of affordable housing were created the town cemetery was built and more than one hundred acres has remained open space most recently from two thousand and five to two thousand and thirteen north linn residential corp built the woodlands at belmont hill which included one hundred and eleven dollars newtown hoshino its ten units in ri stored and reuse historic buildings including the stables sulf cottage and up them house michelle l on mclean hospital to vice president and chief operating officer came before the planning board last week to request slight changes to the zone for zone for research and develop building six story six hundred and two thousand square foot complex including four hundred and eighty two dollars units and four hundred and fifty parking spaces however the deal fell through pot due to the state of the economy in two thousand and nine and since then who g g on said there have not been any other proposed developments that meet the zones requirements however northwind residential the same company that developed the woodlands would like to purchase twelve dollars acres of land in zone three and bill one hundred and four dollars units including thirty four owner of not only and residential said he has been building these types of developments since one thousand nine hundred and eighty two it proves attractive to seniors looking to live independently he said he thinks it would attract retirees who want to live closer to their grown children and grandchildren he said people who have purchased these kinds of homes in the past usually do not require a mortgage and most likely have one or two other homes in new hampshire cape cried off florida this means they wouldn't live in the belmont homes three hundred and sixty five dollars days per year in the impact to traffic and services in belmont would be light he said the propose development for a zone three would be very similar to the woodlands development which generates about two million dollars in annual reoccurring tax revenues for belmont dollie estimates his new proposal for zone three mclane will generate one million four hundred thousand dollars of recurring revenue for belmont plowing and landscaping services are provided to residents in the development the proposed development would member of the belmont housing trust and chairman of the belmont housing authority said she would like to see more affordable housing and recommended dolly develop homes that would allow residents to stay in belmont and not have to move to other towns that are more affordable roger coltan former chairman like the all of the belmont housing trust said the number of fordable units in northlands proposal is too low one of the things we found is town meeting member fred paulson referred to a recent report by the council and agent for an age friendly belmont which identifies the housing needs for the aged as smaller and more affordable housing units not only is the development of lodge luxury townhouses not responsive to those needs but such a development is directly contrary to those identified needs said colton and paulson rachel hella coch of the belmont housing trust said more than twenty eight percent of belmont homeowners and more than forty four percent of renters and belmont are considered cost burt and and paying more than thirty percent of their income to housing home prices are up a scene incomes we have a tremendous need for more affordable homes in belmont for people across ages and incomes and particularly for seniors in families with children  property presents an opportunity for the belmont to mcclane to work together to help us meet this need working together one quarter of these homes could be affordable wrote heller in an email to the citizen herald following the meeting commission of father belmont housing authority said there is currently a four year waiting list for senior housing in belmont proposal for academic and residential building s academy to seven hundred and sixty six approved schools meckling currently operates as well as space for residential ancillary and research services she owns said they would need to raise the funds before it could be built they also want to build eight hundred and sixty four million two hundred and seventy six thousand square foot give separate research and developing building consistent with zone for zoning a parking structure would also need to be constructed she said the planning board will continue discuss the proposals for the mclean property at a future meeting and now over to max thank you clare meet the assistant health director diana previously served as senior public health inspector in frame by joanna cates of alice belmont's health department has in addition to its staff with the recent hiring of assistant director diana ackerman of arlington her st day on the job was january nd her annual salary is seventy two thousand dollars ekman comes to belmont from her most recent position a senior public health inspector for framingham prior to that she was a public health sanitarium before prop philadelphia this new position will allow her to use and expand her current skill set in environmental health and also learn about services she does not have as much experience with such as veteran services and animal control ekman received her master's degree  environmental health from boston university's school of public health her interest in the field of public health grew well she was an intern for the massachusetts department of public health and the new department of health and human services mike and conversations with individuals working in local public health gave me insight into the wide range of services that are provided by local health departments as well as the joys and challenges of working directly with the public to benefit the health of the community wrote ekman in the email to the citizen herald to help the belmont community get to know ekman the citizen herald recently ask her a few questions via email what do you see as the major challenges of belmont's health department and how will your role be dealing with those challenges the court task of any help local health department is the day to day work to meet mandated requirements for services in belmont that work includes communicable disease monitoring permitting and inspecting licensed establishment such as food establishment pools and camps responding to housing and nuisance complaints providing veterans services and benefits and the care and control of domestic animals my role will be primarily on the environmental health side performing it establishment inspections taking and foresman action for violations of state or local regulations etc i will also be working closely with staff and other rules both within our our departments and in other departments in town to coordinate where our service or educational areas overlap what are your goals slash ideas related to this part of your job description education preventative health programs i am looking forward to working with other staff in our department to create an to create educational programs and seminars for community members establishment and agencies as the need or community interest arises we are currently working on putting together materials for an educational seminar for our food establishment as we transition into the new version of the food code that the state adopted late in two thousand and eighteen what do you think are your greatest skills which will benefit you in this position for belmont i have a range of training and skills from my previous work in local public health that will directly support my work in belmont equally important i highly value the opportunity to be constantly learning new things which is important as the science and practice of public health is frequently changing what do you love about what you do my favorite thing about working in pope local public health is getting to work directly with members of the public every day there is always something new to learn as our community is constantly growing and changing our understanding of how to spend serve the community has to change with it over to you bob thanks max and bubble tea now being served sweet propeller road in belmont between studio cinema and belmont pizza there's a new place to get what is becoming a popular beverage known as bubble tea it's sweet hot owned by shooting lee of lee moved from china to america in two thousand and four with her family she became a medical assistant but said it wasn't fulfilling while studying for her certificate certification she worked in a store that sold milk tea with boba gluten free tapioca pearls no more commonly as bubble tea the drink is made with black tea mixed with milk fruit toast and boba or fruit jelly in different flavors lisa said she loved drinking bubble tea from the time she was a child she said is now getting popular all around the world it became her dream to open her own store selling bubble tea a friend who lives in belmont told her about a storefront vacancy at three hundred and eighty six trip fellow road and this past november early was able to make her dream a reality putting sweet at the store design depicts sweethearts logo of a young female asian cartoon character inside a red heart the store name is spelled in bold chinese in english lettering in addition to a variety of milk teas sweethearts menu also office movies milk foam ice cream and classic tea as well as a few other asian treats including cake and vegetable chips since they opened for business residents from belmont and neighboring communities have come to the shop and expressed their excitement at seeing the bubble tea available e said information visit sweetheart dash cafe dot business dot site forward slash for more information and now over to my colleague claire thank you bob belmont launches business survey the of belmont and the metropolitan area planning council map to see our undertaking in economic development initiative to focus on business retention in expansion policies with an emphasis on strategic growth locations in town as well as developing a unifying and consistent vision for town business friendliness the town finds this to be essential for understanding how to best approach commercial development in belmont's three commercial areas and beyond maps east staff town officials the belmont business study group and interested stakeholders are currently distributing a town wide to business survey which can be found at belmont's town's website at w w w dot belmont mass in may dot gov the town is asking for information about what businesses in belmont would change to stimulate the town's economy including their insights into how to create jobs support business development and strengthen the community as a whole all responses are optional will be kept confidential and will only be published in aggregate the survey should take about fifteen minutes to complete per business all the i and guidance provided through the survey will be included in the belmont economic development action plan this plan will evaluate the town's opportunities in a holistic manner which will guide the town the th annual dr martin luther king jr community breakfast on monday organized by the bill maher human rights commission this year's keynote speaker was dr emmett price professor of worship church and culture dean of the chapel and founding executive director of the institute for the study of the black christian experience and gordon kron well theological cemetery seminary in south hamilton price who is also an author editor and contributor to several television and radio shows and founding pastor of community of love christian fellowship in allston inspired the crowd to remember their personal narratives and challenge them to learn the personal narratives of others price shared his own personal narrative about growing up in los angeles in the height of gang warfare and what led him to change the course of his life to be a force for good there's something miraculously wonderful about the fact that we are so different that helps us to revel in the fact that this divine ecosystem is much larger than we could have ever imagined and it's that that propels me forward to not only be a staunch advocate against hate an anti semitism but also a staunch advocate for us to learn how to see each other to hear each other and to feel each other said pryce selectman adams chairman adam dash also moved the crowd with his words during the breakfast in response to the government shutdown and increase in hate speech we need to follow dr king's example by peacefully but in no uncertain terms stating our beliefs we then need to listen to the other side find areas of agreement attempt to persuade on areas of disagreement and keep on trying said dash there were musical performances during the breakfast one in particular may have stolen the show students from the belmont after school enrichment collaborative basic records choral group performed an were border girl black or white all this is just not right i sing this song to tell you why hatred makes people cry this is really supposed to be a free nation not a place for declaration attendees clapped along to the beat and gave it a standing ovation over to you bob thank you max candidates pulling papers for the upcoming town election the annual town election is less than three months away which is on april the  nd there are several positions up for grabs and contenders are already pulling nomination papers the deadline to submit nomination papers is february the th top positions with a one or three year seats these include moderator vote for eleven year seat board of selectmen vote for thirteen years seat town clerk vote for thirteen years see members of the housing authority vote for fifteen years seat trustees of the public library vote for twenty three years seats members of police partner with communities far restore it of justice the belmont police department recently entered into a partnership with communities for re storage of justice a community police partnership that office restored of justice to those affected by crime the organization driven by a group of trained fallen tia's is guided by a fourteen member board that recognizes crime is a violation of people and relationships not just a violation of law see for r j is a nonprofit organization that builds communities by responding to crime in ways that he'll hold accountable and put right see for r j listens to victims and holds offenders accountable the organization's focus is to assist victims and often and a crime through a healing approach outside the court system through see for r j as process victims of a crime respond to an incident by directly addressing the person who committed the crime turn offenders are given the chance to rectify their actions and avoid a potential criminal conviction on their record partner police departments like the belmont police department recommended cases to see for r j and if the victim in the offender agreed to the process the matter is given to see for r j which facilitates a meeting between both parties putting the decision making into the hands of those directly affected under the guardians of the board of directors in law enforcement officials the victim the offender and their loved ones and supporters along with community members discuss the crime and find a way to move forward the process is as follows victims of crime address the person or people who have harm to them to ask questions in a safe environment and to support for the process addressing that is a public safety and strengthening connections with the police department at the end of the meeting the offender pledges to change his or her actions which are often accompanied by opportunity to express themselves in a safe environment we can have a dialogue that yields positive results for both sides said everyone free born executive director of c four j the next preparers will give a presentation on the federal tax law changes and acted in december two thousand and seventeen and how they affect the two thousand and eighteen tax year this talk is intended for low and moderate income taxpayers who are the focus of the tax aid program tax law changes that affect high income taxpayers where rules change once various income freshens are crossed will not be covered at the end of the program you may ask questions attendance is free free tax preparation with a r p tax aid free tax preparation will begin on february th the preparers will be at the beach street center on mondays and fridays from february  through april th this program is for low and moderate income tax payers preparers cannot prepare complicated returns involving such items as rental income cancellation of mortgage debt depreciation moving expenses extensive investment transactions and casualty losses to the him a few general assistance such as answering questions will be provided to anyone regardless of income level assistance is offered free of charge preparers cannot accept payments but we will send you a list of documents you will need to bring back to you bob along with my colleagues clara max we thank you for listening to the talking news and hope you've enjoyed the show where we return next week for another edition of local news happening was around belmont