welcome to talking news we're delighted to have you with us listening to our presentation by members of the beech street center cindy jonathan and irene we will be reading local news and happenings from the community newspaper repeated a task she has been doing for so every spring for years most of us started at the old church and we've worked together from there she said the old church was located at seven thirty five massachusetts avenue for nearly forty years before the parish migrated to the current location at four appleton st paris in the ladies as their affectionately called toiled in the saint athanasius the great greek orthodox church kitchen on a recent tuesday as they prepared for the upcoming greek festival beginning in june to the four day celebration of greek food culture and music through june five hosts offers a host of greek delicacies from aki in the kitchen and out in the church hall nearly twenty women worked in harmony creating the baklava with table set across the room pairs of women worked together to create the classic  like a well oiled machine the ladies placed layer after layer of layer of filo joe painting each layer in melted butter before finishing them off with a mixture of nuts after the trays are stacked the baklava is cut into the customary triangles and rushed into the kitchen for baking as father nicholas christakis strolled through the room he gave the women a pep talk in a mixture of greek in english he acknowledged that a festival of this magnitude couldn't happen without an enormous amount of work from a host of volunteers this is a lovely community event that benefits the parish as well as the community of arlington he said of the festival we have over two hundred volunteers t contribute in multi faith multifarious ways each table is responsible for producing their own tray of baklava so the recipes aren't exact back in the kitchen paris said with a smile that it takes the  test to determine exactly the right taste for each step in the process with the stir of the simmering syrup paris added a sprig of cinnamon here and there as she saw fit a second later she turned her attention back to the of melting butter that blankets the filo dough as one steaming pot when out to the rest of the ladies paris whirled around the kitchen and her already had already filled to the next part before she cast a glance at the confection mothers prepared food and pastries for various events then as now the recipes aren't always exact their recipes but a lot of us have learned from our mothers she said the group of women preparing food have grown close from years of service planning board members told applicants proposing to build a new home at nine westland road to revise their design as they would have denied the project had they voted that night the board cited the fact that the new home would have one of the largest structures in one of the smallest lots in the neighborhood that same night planning board members told applicants proposing a second story addition at forty eight middle caught street to revise their plans as well citing similar reasons the owner of the property is now selling it rather than revising the plans and attempting to get the planning boards approval again a vote by town meeting monday june sixth will determine if the planning board continues to have this discretion on building projects in belmont single residence see zoning district in an effort to rein in additions and new houses that are out of scale with neighborhoods a package of zoning that amendments has been proposed according to planning board chairman chairwoman elizabeth allison once the board advertises proposed changes as members did in february the state allows them to take effect until the next  meeting if town meeting rejects the admission of the amendments the rules go back to the way they were applicants attempt to construct to construct a large addition or new house on a non conforming lot that increases gross floor area by more than thirty percent would need to obtain a special permit from the planning board among other provisions the amendments would restrict the building height of a house to thirty feet to the midpoint and thirty four feet to the highest point in addition they would limit the front set back of the house to the average of the setbacks of the adjacent houses the proposed amendment comes one year after town meeting overwhelmingly passed a moratorium on the construction of houses over thirty two feet high in district c which expires at the end of june we started our group about two years in response to a rash of very large homes going up in our neighborhoods and all over belmont said stephen pinkerton one of the leaders of the belmont says first responsible zoning group if someone is going to come in and change the neighborhood that is going to have big an impact pinkerton said the year before the thirty two foot height moratorium was instituted in two thousand and fifteen there were seven tear downs in his neighborhood the reason for this he said was because there was no prior limit to total height of a house because so many lots in the district are non conforming the weather zoning code was set up made it easier for homeowners and developers to build a very large new house then a conforming additions pinkerton these little and consistencies were allowing people to come in and really change the character of the neighborhood he said but the developer in town said he believes new height restrictions could hurt development especially with single family houses you're limited in what you can do under the new bylaws he said other things come into effect once you start lowering the roof it becomes hard to construct something that is visually pleasing james sabas of century twenty one adams lawndale said while he agreed with the restriction on height to prevent monstrosities from being built next to a small cape style house he disagreed with us paschal permit provision the special permit ration would not affect a large number of building permit applications according to jeffrey wheeler the town senior planner of the four hundred eighty three building permits issued between may first and november first of twenty fifteen the busiest time of construction season only six additional applications would have been subject to a special permit of the proposed amendment but sabah said leaving the fate of a project in the hands of the planning board could result in subjective decisions that can really be influenced by the neighbors what they're doing is affecting people's property rights he said s fine with concrete controls in the zone eco but wants to take the power of the board's hands he pointed to the recent construction of three single houses at one twenty two waverly terrace saying the four houses that could have been built back in that area had neighbors who were adamantly opposed not intervened i see it all the time in different neighborhoods some of us time is a lot of money if you start having to go in front of bars however alison said the planning board worked collaboratively with many residents to ensure that this was the solution they wanted if i view the planning board responding to a very clear desire from the resident she said all of zoning infringes on property rights that's the definition of zoning allison added that the purpose of zoning is to prevent things that might yield short term benefit one for one neighbor while detrimental to the rest of the neighborhood city members to take up financial articles cell phone antenna by bram berkowitz town meeting will convene monday june sixth to vote on a package of zoning amendments and twelve financial articles a special town meeting will assemble wednesday june eighth to take up citizens petition that would require those seeking to install cell phone antennas or towers to obtain a special permit both meetings begin at seven pm at chancery middle school formerly known as interior wireless telecommunications facilities devices such as cell phone towers or intent as can currently be erected within a building or structure by church for allowing it to use its steeple currently applicants must go in front of the planning board for to sit for design and site plan review a process that can lead to the planning board imposing conditions on a project if the petition passes applicants would also need to obtain a special permit from the zoning board of appeals in order to install devices like a cell phone in tennessee town meeting will be asked approve a number of appropriations for the proposed hundred six point three million dollars fiscal to two thousand and seventeen budget fiscal two thousand and seventeen which starts july first is the second year after voters passed a four point five million dollar proposition two and a half override last spring allowing the town to increase the amount of property taxes collected in excess of the maximum allowed by the state in fiscal two thousand and sixteen the budget was initially around ninety seven million after the override the budget will and year slightly more than one hundred million public schools approximately fifty point one three million dollars public safety approximately thirteen point three three and public services approximately thirteen point zero nine million are the three largest appropriations town meeting members will be asked to make for fiscal two thousand and seventeen also part of the budget appropriations is an approximately two point six three million dollar request in order to fund public safety equipment site improvements public works equipment equipment for town facilities and more among the highlights our approach to appropriations for fire station building and low preparers approximately one point four five million dollars garage ventilation improvements for public works two hundred fifty thousand ambulance replacement hundred sixty six thousand and funds for sidewalk maintenance three hundred thousand town meeting will also be asked to approve five hundred thirty five thousand and eighty nine dollars in chapter nine highway funds from the state repaired town ways one point six million for road paving projects and one hundred twenty five thousand for the installation of a press box at the harris field bleachers a citizen position petition has been brought forward by robert sarno precinct three in order to transfer one point one million dollars from free cash into the general stabilization fund the channel also requests the raising and appropriation of one hundred fifty thousand dollars to the general stabilization fund according to michael levens and chairman of the warrant committee the town has this money as a result of the override and it is being set aside for expenditures such as in the school system  roads which were the premise of the overwrite another request will be made for a town meeting to transfer roughly three hundred forty three thousand dollars from free cash to the other post employment benefits stabilization fund o p represents the retirement benefits other than pensions that federal state and local governments provide to their employees the majority of these benefits involve health care but other benefits under the old umbrella include insurance disability and legal like many communities in massachusetts has a sizable debt at roughly one hundred seventy one million dollars town meeting loss will be asked to transfer approximately four point four two million dollars from a number of fronts including one point seven million of free cash to finance a portion of the fiscal two thousand and seventeen operating expenses something leave enson said the town typically does every year said after these free cash appropriations in addition to that one point four five million dollars a special town meeting transferred from free cash in may to fund modular classrooms at the tender a middle school the town will be left with roughly three million dollars in free cash lastly town meaning members will be asked to authorize approximately three hundred sixty thousand dollars for revolving accounts in two thousand in fiscal two thousand and seventeen of which the main expenditures are one hundred fifty thousand the council on aging for program costs and one hundred fifty thousand to community development for stormwater consulting and improvements irene link found between cancer and cell phones by ron creamer in a just released explosive finding according to friday's wall street journal a major twenty five million dollars u s government study found a link between cell phones and two types of cancer according to the scientific american christopher j portier ph currently at the c d c injury tired head of the and i h's national toxicology program n t p which led the study under the national institutes of health this is by far far and away the most carefully done cell phone bio essay a biological assessment this is a classic study that is done to try to understand cancers in humans it actually has me concerned and i'm an expert according to the wall street journal article where people were saying there's no risk i think this ends that kind of statement said ron melnyk who ran the n t p project until retiring in two thousand and nine the current f c c safety limits are based on a thirty minute exposure they don't take into account any potential cumulative effect of longer term exposure over extended periods the most alarming aspect of the study is that it now shows even relatively low levels of r f radio frequency energy  incidence of cancer even at levels below those limits currently believed to be safe by the f c c the study indicates a likely cumulative effect of low level r f causing harm when exposures occur repeatedly over an extended period this whole body low level r f exposure for several hours a day over many days is strikingly similar to what neighborhood children would experience in their bedrooms just eighty nine feet away from the eight foot tall exterior grid for rise and antennas currently proposed forty feet up in the plymouth church steeple and what about the potential effect of the dramatically increased levels of involuntary r f that would be cascading down on the nursery school aged children and children of the after school and night school programs on the church grounds for dozens of hours per week over potentially several years back in two thousand and fourteen when virus and the plymouth church first proposed installation of the cell tower in it belmont citizen herald commentary we argued that the science was incomplete and asked you to reconsider out of an abundance of caution since then we have been ridiculed for not having peer reviewed us government studies showing any link between  afraid and health issues this study changes everything the old for arise and plymouth church safety studies showing razor thin safety margins are now based on invalid and obsolete standards and data again and now with urgency we respectfully ask that for arisan in the plymouth church immediately withdraw their plans to site the cell antennas in the steeple and work with its neighbors toward an alternative solution jonathan restoring the path around clay pawned by matthew reports the leafy green trees dirt past secluded from the traffic of the and the moving water of clay pit have created an environment which has been a favorite for joggers dog walkers and arness and more for more than seventy years many belmont residents of gotten use of the nearly twenty brothers company bought the land on which the met to manufacture bricks after in one thousand nine hundred merger with the new england brick company the brick yard began producing around fifteen million bricks per year however the company abandoned the after the clay of the best quality was exhausted and left an eight hundred eighty eight marion steam shovel at the bottom in one thousand nine hundred twenty seven belmont bought the pit for twenty two thousand five hundred dollars and subsequently began using a large this large hole as a dump for a few years before the waste was moved in the plot of the current high school in one thousand thirty three the town decided to divert the wellington broke into the now empty pit filling it it serves as a clay pit and a dump in the past many i've wondered about the pond itself whether it's safe recently elected board of health member joy i'm a is keenly interested in this question do it or a background in environmental health including five years with the massachusetts state department of public health specializing in human risk assessment according to a may the most significant health issues surrounding clay pit pond relate to the bio accumulation of the chemical chlorodyne this chlorine based compound was commonly used from one thousand nine hundred forty eight to nine hundred eighty eight as a pesticide and due to the ponds function to collect drainage runoff prevalent in the pond during that forty year period there are even reports about twenty years ago that measured high levels of chlorine in chlordane in the pump due to the circumstance the environmental phenomenon known as bio accumulation has taken place in which an organism whether plants through the soil or animals insects through consumption of those those plants take up toxin at a faster rate than the substance can be broken down this is why the signs around the forbid the consumption of any plants or fish taken from the pond or corners and if people are not going into the clay pit pond then it is unlikely that they would be exposed and it chlordane that might be present she also said the levels of chemical found in the water are in all likelihood mush lower than in the settlement at the bottom of the pond in order to prevent further contamination of the water residents are urged to avoid littering in any way s participating in the minuteman house household hazardous product drop off dates throughout the year which can be found at belmont dash am a dot gov slash health department as  does not appear to be directly hasn't just a careful users of the ponds environment they all want has been looking into upgrading the outdated path around the water according to conservation agent merritt trudeau a master plan was developed through a twenty fourteen community preservation act grant with the goal of creating a multigenerational fully accessible recreational facility at a recent town meeting the project receive the full amount of trying it two thousand three hundred fifty dollars originally requested to create a twenty five hundred linear foot walkway around the thirteen and a half acres of parkland on the south side of clay pit pond the new path accessible to people with disabilities including two water viewing features which reach out slightly over the water on opposite ends of the pond for an enhanced viewing experience the veterans memorial and ruth  will be expanded while sitting areas will be added with with kiosks which will be installed provided to provide an educational opportunity for residents the new pass will be six to eight feet wide of permeable stone theater guild announced nominations for its initial musical theater awards and belmont high schools urinetown was recognized in several categories nearly fifty high schools across the state submitted productions for consideration this year each production was seen by three educators who scored the shows in a number of categories in each category the five or six highest scoring productions individuals were nominated for their work and five shows were selected by a panel as nominees for best overall production here in town was nominated in the following categories best lighting design an execution best set design an execution best sound design an execution best choral ensemble best dance ensemble best student orchestra best overall production adam alper co designed the set and oversaw much of the building and painting process michelle kornberg was a sound designer and leader mosque and ian o'malley seen it designer and technical director along with terry goldberg technical assistant and laila west costume designer the emmy awards ceremony is set for june thirteenth at the cutler majestic theater downtown all the nominees are recognized with an award presented to the top scoring school in each category irene student writers receive lily and blacker prices sophie clima smith  pierce hoffman and abigail judge received the twenty fifth annual lillian f blacker prizes for excellence in writing on may eighteenth in a set ceremony in the belmont high school library the black prizes awarded by the bee h s english department are presented each year to three belmont seniors for their senior theses each senior at belmont high school reads researches and writes a thesis paper investigating a literary topic the thesis is a graduation requirement at the school members of the high school english department select the winners who receive scholarship money as prizes for their work lindsay written or director of english presided at the event with the assistance of dan richards principal of belmont high school at the award ceremony the winners read from their papers and discussed the evolution of their ideas clima smith discussed her first prize paper speaking to each sure duality and division in or hahn promote him appears hofmann discussed her second prize paper a story to pass on narrative paradise and oppression in toni morrison's beloved the bluest eye jazz and paradise third place winner abigail judge discussed her paper titled the wilderness within women and the land in barbara kingsolver his novels all three winners reflected on how much they learned from the process of writing the senior thesis in their english education it is winter so for sophie clima smith said her english teachers taught everything from how to use a semi colon to how to see the world through literature jonathan reminder to file for yard sale permits for the return of the yard sale season the belmont town clerk's office reminds residents to file for free yard sale permits by visiting the town clerk's website belmont dash may go of before the start of the sale resident residence can meet the bylaw requirements and receive a bit of free advertising in exchange yard sale hunters can easily search for belmont sales as a as a list or on map in order to hold a private sale in belmont residents must first register for free private sale permit according to the new belmont general by law sixty dash nine hundred two apply fill out the online form and have the following information available last name first name phone number email address the address where the private sale will be held and the start and dates and times of the sale for neighborhood sales each address must file for its own private sale permit applicants will receive the permit via email from town clerk at belmont dash and a dot gov private sales unlimited to three per address per calendar year calendar year so the fund raising underway for a new veterans memorial by joanna civil is the man does not have one location in town commemorating all belmont veterans from all the wars since the civil war including the war with spain world war one world war two the korean war the vietnam war the persian gulf war the iraq war and the afghanistan war but in twenty seventeen the committee behind the efforts to create a bellman veterans memorial at clay pit pond hopes to make the site a reality the current veterans memorial at clay pit pond is a small plaque mounted on a stone dedicated may tenth  with a flagpole is located near the corner of concord avenue and underwood street working with the same designer as the conservation committee for the clay pit pond walking path the veterans memorial committee develop plans to repair the rock wall surrounding the flag and some stone improve the past leading to and around the site and add individual granite stones noting each of the nine wars around the site with memorial benches and inscribed brick pavers with messages honoring veterans who served in the country's wars and conflicts the project is estimated to cost two hundred fifty thousand dollars according to committee member angelo frenzy former selectman i had a lot of friends that went to vietnam and suffered this is a way of giving back to those who deserve to be recognized need to be recognized and should have recognition it's time for about to have a vets memorial recognize all recognizing all the wars collectively in one location said frenzy who served in the u s army reserves his son peter is a lieutenant commander in the u s navy his daughter in law paul is also commander they're both currently stationed in washington d c brigadier general kevin ryan chairman of the veterans memorial committee said he hopes it will be a place where residents of all ages to visit visit to play run jog walk or reflect he wants it to be as inclusive as possible and doesn't want people to feel left out the reason i'm passionate about this project is i want a place for future generations in belmont to go where they can reflect on the better ins and people who volunteer in service for their country those who served those who died and educational