good morning thank you for tuning in to this week's shocking news i read is claire and max well read from the local belmont citizen herald putting on belmont happenings and news from around town and now on to our show growing organic herbs and lettuce at art specialties since opening art specialties in belmont three years said his customers were asking for fresh produce through research and assistance from a business associate phil stallworth that would burn he learned how to grow produce inside a store using a so hydroponic system to grow fresh herbs and prados such as basal cell andro rosemary and romaine lettuce according to stallworth all you need is water heat and nutrients well growing medium where they will spend the rest of their life growing under the lights until they mature enough to be sold our entire system is programmed to provide our plants with optimal fourteen to sixteen hour fota korea's stallworth who want to use is recycled from the basement that basins that sits at the bottom of the system our goal is to provide the best quality organic produce for customers that is locally grown and have a stright in front of their eyes he said the system allows people to see how their food is handled but also reduces the amount of energy needed in order to get the food from farm to plate to gary and said as soon as the fresh herbs and lettuce are ready they sell out customers can buy the letters to make sell it or staff will make it for them separate area and half are teaching programs for the children star within the gerund hope to expand the pilot into a bigger program that is run for and by children and focuses on the importance of environmental stewardship by combining small businesses and teaching children how to manage their own food services we hope by providing sustainably grown produce and creating an experience where kids can be excited about making executive decisions it will impact everyone who walks into the we will change the way people look we better manage our food distribution well doing less time to the environment selected in all one is project manager dale is projects the same owners project manager for the grade seven to twelve high school building project and most recently an architect boudin zelo architecture the boston based firm has helped design twelve public libraries in massachusetts and has received national and state awards for their designs in a statement regarding their selection architect it is vitally important that we listen carefully to all of the project's stakeholders and build on the many years a strategic thinking about this project that has led us to this point helo added that the project's timing seems perfect in the context of current plans for the new high school a possible new hockey rink and parking across the street and potential infrastructure improvements to the town's pedestrian bicycle network with several key projects in the early stages at the same time there is a real opportunity to coordinate design efforts along can't get out in such a way that can result in magia benefits to belmont's public around  rodela history of the project a feasibility study from two thousand and sixteen to two thousand and seventeen determine to a new library would be the best option to meet the needs of the future library programs and services in belmont the price tag on in february two thousand and seventeen was estimated to be twenty three million four hundred thousand dollars for a thirty eight thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars square foot two story building steps now that an architect has been hired the schematic design process will begin the schematic design is due to belmont library foundation president david stiva so they need to raise private funds for the new facility our goal is to raise as much as we possibly can he said the design is expected to be unveiled by the fall which is when fundraising will begin in full force said stiva on march th a public forum will be held seven dollars to eight thirty pm in the belmont public library assembly room to share information about the schematic design process and get input on the vision for the design we are building on the strong public engagement we had with the feasibility study him looking to continue that dialogue as we look to develop the schem candidates have officially filed nomination papers for the two to three years school committee seats on the ballot in the upcoming election april nd they are incumbent andrea prestwich and newcomers amy check away and peter us we could local belmont is hosting a live debate between the three school committee candidates in the race for the three years seat at six pm on march th at belmont media center each week leading up to the election the belmont citizen herald will ask each of the three candidates in the race a question of the week this week's question what issues are you most concerned about and why incumbent and the andrea prestwich the past three years have been very good for belmont schools we have seen the effects of the override in smaller class sizes and increased staffing in areas of need for example english language learners and the town came together in a spectacular vote to the new high school my priorities are to maintain this forward momentum in particular planning for the new high school and resulting great configuration and maintaining funding for school operations healthy start times in the new high school  priority and also the availability of quality after school care newcomer amy check away some of the issues that i care about include but are certainly not limited to one ensuring that our district is helping students develop essential skills for the future including persistence leadership collaboration compassion and critical thinking to providing our school leaders and educators with the supports and resources they need to effectively serve diverse learners three focusing on the district strategic priorities and budget with attention to both immediate needs and longer term planning and for ingate or two way conversations about key issues and decisions with school leaders educators students and family families along with belmont residents who are less directly connected to the district especially as we implement a complex plan to build a new school and transition our current schools to new gr configurations newcomer peter pan his office in gauge and influence the belmont police department slash school committee with security plans for student safety review the district memorandum on security in conjunction with the belmont police department and the superintendent of the school john feal and to formalize a solid security policy with the new high school based on best practices and lessons learned nationwide pros and cons with open campus environment versus a locked down school for children the population of children are growing in belmont more younger families are moving into belmont to get their children into the belmont school system we need to have the foresight of this growth of this growth trend to accommodate appropriate classroom sizes state of the art learning facilities and other amenities that our town is known for and our children deserve over to you bob thank you mayor for things to know about the paramount television may be filming i view road location manager for a new television series being produced by paramount television is looking to do exterior filming for one week ivy road in belmont in the approximate timeframe of people twenty nine through may nd the set will be located at sixteen ivy road the prep crew will park at st paul lutheran church on the concord turnpike the base camp will be set up at saint camille is parish in arlington on the concord turnpike location manager ryan cook as permission to hold a meeting with the neighborhood at seven pm on february th to inform them about the plan he said will be five days of filming as well as prep and wrap work before and after the filming much of the filming will be needed to be done at night said cook it could be done in five days if the film if they film until ten or eleven pm every night or four days if they go later each night he hopes to get a better sense of how the feels about it on february th the television series is based on a new york times best selling book which referred to as an unsexy drama with no car chases or explosions he said the main actor is someone who has played a superhero on the big screen and has roots in massachusetts he said the main characters house would be an ivy road which represents squin and into sensual new england he should the selectmen he would work with the neighborhood and black out windows if requested so homeowners aren't by the by the light he said he recognizes residential neighborhoods  challenging development especially at night he believes he can saw of any problem and work with the community cook will communicate with the residents and i for payment if a house will be involved in any of the scenes or parking is neighborhood cook will appear before the selectmen again on march th depending on the outcome of the meeting with the neighborhood to provide more detailed plans about the filming the location team is the same team who scouted a home in beverly for the movie the judge starring robert downey and frankly thank you brian that movie was filmed on fletcher road for two days in july two uses for the former incinerator site is smaller now with just three potential uses open space solar storage for a bike and state skate park after several months of public discussions eight thousand two hundred and fifty dollars spent on a feasibility study far and in a rollback digester and upset so many people neighbors surrounding the town own land on the farm or incinerated site on conk it out the selectmen learned a rd party would not be allowed to develop the site to generate revenue the division of capital asset management in maintenance sent a letter on february  garden and response to a letter she sent them on january th asking them to confirm if a rd party developing a structure on the site to generate revenue would be allowed according to the letter from palace deputy director asset management based upon a review of the original unable in legislation which provided for the sale of the property to the town of belmont for recreation public other municipal purposes it is our view that any proposed use that resulted in the generation of revenue to the town would be inconsistent with the stated intent of the legislation so that it goes on to say if the town were to pursue any commercial development of the property it would st be necessary to obtain amended or new legislation that would allow this to occur an would likely require a pre reappraisal of the property consider any planned commercial use resulting in a higher valuation with additional monies due to the commonwealth although the selectmen approves spending additional seven thousand nine hundred dollars on february for to determine if building a hockey rink on the incinerator site is feasible garvan said she put a halt on the study as soon as she got a lot of from d cam and the money will not be spent gavin said she tried to learn from de kim the types of uses they would approve prior to spending any money on exploring the different uses we tried was knocking non committal it wasn't until we begin in earnest to pursue these ideas that de camp was finally compelled to take a position she wrote in an email to citizen harold  dash told the citizen herald in an email following the meeting there is risk and the timing issue going back to the state to try to change the municipal use restriction if that is even something that would get approved now over to max thank you clear to continue number three temporary home for police station on february th the selectmen authorized the police and public works building committee to use the water department property thirty five woodland street in belmont as the temporary location for the belmont police department during the renovation of the current police building on concord have a view which is expected to begin in june they also approved using town hall auditorium for live storage during the construction which is expected to take about one year building committee chairman and marie mahoney said four thousand dollars to five thousand dollars square feet of trailer space would be placed on the water department property for staff office base and public access a trailer for dispatch and ninety one responders will be located directly outside the current police building mahoney said they will rent the trailers for eighteen months with the option to end the agreement sooner access on to water department property will need to be determined prisoners will not be housed in any of the trailers arrangements have been made with the watertown arlington the middlesex county sheriff's department according to belmont police chief richard mclachlan also there will be no sirens used on the property town meeting member area and goodman bill cody representing residents who live on woodland street presented a petition to the selectmen expressing their concerns about using woodland street as an exit goodman bill cody said there is an agreement between the town and woodland street residents that dates back to two thousand and four which states only water department vehicles are allowed to use woodland street she said they would feel compelled to take legal action in disagreement is not here to public works director jason market said he had been has been searching for a copy of the agreement and has not found one in any of the town records or minutes town administrator patrice garvin said she would continue to look for the agreement before select vote two to one in favor of south side for community path route belmont is on its way to securing funding through a grant from the mass deities transportation improvement plan to build a community path however the route design needs to be finalized which connects brighton street at the cambridge line to the clark street bridge although the selectmen approved the route which requires bicyclists and pedestrians to cross over the railroad tracks on brighton street recommended by the pair corp one year ago they asked the consultant if they would still recommend the same route if they knew then what they know now over the past year the selectmen are seeing a letter from the m b t a start stating that they were concerned about the bike path changing sides of the rail line at brighton st they also learned that the state would fund the construction of the alexander avenue underpass even if it is not part of the community path and in the future cambridge may be developing land on the south side of the tracks amy archer of the pair corp said after reevaluating the possible routes with the new information she still recommends the south side which crosses over the tracks she said it can be designed appropriately with no fatal flaws she said the intersection at the railroad crossing needs to be redesigned and signalized to be made safer for motorists and pedestrians regardless of whether or not the route is located the selectman chairman adam dash said he was in favor of changing the recommended route to the north side which does not cross over the tracks it continues the path in a straight line and is also more user friendly he also is concerned that the state may not farm the south side route due to the safety concern expressed by the m b t eight selectman vice chairman mark polo and selectman tom computer voted in favor of the south route continued upon negotiations with the pure coach north building at thirty nine dollars hitting your street and approval of the school committee and belmont high school building committee within the next sixty days the south side route would require an exterior wall of the pure coat building to be taken down to accommodate the path and cuts through the high school campus property over to you bob thank you for the question of the week for housing authority candidates there are two candidates running for the five year housing authority seat in five year terms while the th is appointed by the state the full time salaried executive director supervises and coordinates programs according to belmont's town website the beaumont housing authority minute just programs which provide housing assistance for low income families veterans and the elderly it presently manages a total of two hundred and fifty six dollars units of conventional housing which includes one hundred dollars units of veterans and family housing one hundred and fifty four dollars units of elderly and handicapped disabled housing and two units of housing for the development league disabled section eight housing vouchers difficult every week leading up to the election the belmont citizen harold well ask page and also the question of the week to help voters decide which candidate is the best choice this week's question is what do you think of the current top three most important improvement or renovation projects that need to be made to the low income housing properties in belmont  olson we spent much of the slashed year getting exterior staircases at sherman gardens completed coordinated the purchase of new computer systems and updating administrative systems we also corrected past due income certification for all residents we need to continue to address the exterior as a chairman guidance and finished the roofing project believe oaks we must identify funding for making the community room a german gardens more accessible for physically challenge residents and guests through the housing trust of which am a member a housing production plan was developed it was determined that as many as twenty five percent of our seniors are housing cost burdened recognizing their way using c p a money that we have been granted to a dental file where and how we might add additional affordable housing here in beaumont because sandra paige currently the family housing units are in serious need of renovations  st molt the abundance of mold poses risks to both health and structural damage especially to young children elderly and those with weakened immune systems we need new siding and windows which would also help with my nd issue better insulation some units are so drafty in the winter that turning the heat up all the way still doesn't keep the unit above fifty degrees weatherstripping do installing better windows and increasing the number of baseboards downstairs will help resolve the issues last ventilation currently approximately five out of a one hundred units don't even have a fan over the stove also the bathroom fans are not seem to be super effective which adds to the amount of mold in the bathrooms tenets i've spoken to and myself feel there are some of the these are some of the more pressing issues who currently face standing some small renovations now would be beneficial to improve the health concerns and lower tenants heat electric bills and to farm funding becomes available for bigger projects unfortunately in the past some projects were done poorly and have contributed to the current conditions and now need to be redone claire thank you by public hearings to be held public will have a chance to comment on zoning amendments that upcoming hearings by diane mcglothlin belmont town meeting will decide this spring whether to amend the rezoning bylaws and the public will have a chance to comment on the proposals upcoming hearings belmont's planning board will hold a public hearing on tuesday march th for amendments affecting the single residents  district and affordable housing guidelines on thursday march th representatives from mclean hospital will discuss proposals for two sections of the mcclane zoning district followed by public comment mclean amendments during the planning board meeting on february st chair charles klock said he expects a long and extended hearing for the discussion about the mclean property one hundred and twenty five housing units for individuals age fifty five and older approximately thirty four dollars units would be in multifamily townhouses and the remainder in apartment buildings at the build a residential and academic building this change would affect mclean district for a single residence be in two thousand and sixteen town meeting approved changes to the zoning by law for the single residency district and will consider this year whether to adopt similar changes in single residence be planning board member stephen pinkerton has been part of a working group reviewing the proposed changes he said the bylaw would include language that recognizes the top within the single resident be block we are a house from one angle could look like it has two and a half stories but from another neighbor's angle it has four stories among the items being considered under the proposal is requiring a special permit from the planning board of building alterations increase the structures grows floor area by thirty percent or three hundred square feet whichever is less alterations that could affect sunlight and shadows on neighbor's property would also be addressed in the amendment we certainly don't want to prevent people from building expanded houses pinkerton said we have to respect the rights of the a butter's and we're trying to balance that the working group is also considering requiring a special permit for alterations that would exceed would result in the gross floor area exceeding two thousand six hundred square feet but pinkard said he was reluctant to put a specific figure in the bylaw pinkerton said that the proposal should specify that the bylaws would apply to both new and existing non conforming structures adding that he would also suggest including his language in the single residence see by law the zoning board of appeals is currently handling a case that raised questions about whether the two thousand and sixteen by law amendment applied to exist  structures inclusionary housing the public will also be able to comment during the march th hearing on proposals affecting inclusionary or affordable housing the zoning by law currently requires projects with twelve or fewer housing units to make ten percent of the units affordable while projects with thirteen to forty units require twelve percent affordable planning board member edmund starr's eric said a working group has proposed lowering the twelve percent th twenty units and any project with twenty one dollars or more units would require fifteen percent of these units to be affordable these thresholds would also apply to mixed use projects eliminating an existing by a law that allows them to have a lower percentage another proposal would clarify language within the bylaw that lets developers who do not meet the affordable housing requirements to instead make payments to the town under the proposal developers could make a payment equal to five percent of the retail value of all  within the project the proposed amendment would also apply to mixed use projects the amendment would affect projects with us for sale not rental building back to you bob thank you max we hope you've enjoyed this week's episode you can also view talking news anytime on the belmont media center pipe gas network thank you