go and welcome to the belmont journal your source for hyper local news and community updates this week was the start of our annual town meeting we'll have reports for you from franklin tucker of the belmont tony and as well us of the citizen harold we'll start first with a report from franklin on marijuana welcome to this week in the belmont tony and we have franklin tucker the editor back with us again to talk with us about town meeting yes i guess we're talking about marijuana the big big subject on wednesday that's right that was it was a long night and yeah it was a long night we went to why was marijuana before town meeting it was because there was a citizens petition now we have to go back to really we have to go back to november of two thousand and sixteen when the state passed one of the statewide   the process of regulating man marijuana sales or many many not only sales but manufacturing and distribution in belmont what we had is a number of people decided that they wanted to opt out which was which is and which was some communities outside of belmont such as lexington when in winchester had done which meaning off the route of the entire process so many communities have been opting out and just just to be clear  the original ballot measure and october of two thousand and sixteen november no i'm sorry november of two thousand and sixteen included language that provided for the ability of towns to opt out it they basically created a condition in which you know if a town had voted against marijuana in that initiative it was an easier process basically to to opt out right  but for belmont since the majority had voted for it which was a fifty three to forty seven vote right we would actually have to have a town election to opt out and so the citizens petition was actually an attempt to create a process to get us moving towards that gate which would have given the entire number of like sixteen thousand people who vote in belmont a chance to vote on that subject rather than the three hundred people in the representative meeting right now so there were an interesting series of amendments that i think you've described in your reporting as a poison pill that were offered last night that's right when the citizen petition came through it looked like there was we don't know if it was a good chance said is that we do want to opt out but for everything but retail marijuana sales so we wouldn't be intimated factual ring distribution or any other cultivation it was a really smart move because what i did is it allowed people to to say we don't want cultivation we don't want to become a marijuana town but we do want sales because we're just realistic about it when you heard the argument in town meeting you heard a lot of wire we g sales which is done by dealers to continue we can control it we can regulate it we can tell it where it's going to be rather than just having it rather than just letting somebody come in and saying i'm going to put it here there and everywhere so one of the amendments  last night basically said you know if this goes to town election we're opting out of everything except retail sales and other amendment passed last night included interesting language that limited us to made it more palatable for people to vote for the amendment saying well now we know we didn't put this before the ballot and surprisingly enough we are going to have a vote on marijuana town wide it's just going to be the language that was passed by town meeting and we will also pass legislation on the number of of retail outlets and that is through a formula basically where we take the number of a liquor licen retail liquor licenses and then there's a percentage of that i think was twenty percent that's right twenty percent and it's so it's one point two so the formula is one point two and then we have to add up so it's actually two ok so that a lot of a lot of spirited debate last night a lot of it seeming in some senses to reprise the whole set of arguments for and against marijuana a lot of people in the community uncomfortable with marijuana sales and all  and plenty of sentiment that that you know this is a low harm substance and we've we've embroiled far too many people in the criminal justice system over it and if we regulate it through through  citizen herald as well as wicked local belmont back with us this week you want to i both have bags under our eyes because a town meeting went late last night yes but among the things that were passed this week were a plastic bag ban speaking a bag right so the bat the plastic bag ban was approved to twenty eight thirty two with the first night of town meeting was able thirtieth and belmont is now one of sixty five more than sixty five massachusetts towns that has this plastic bag been a b and in effect right what it means is the thin film single use plastic check out bags with handles will no longer be allowed to be given out at retailers and belmont now what do i put my potato without that was a concern that was expressed at town meeting is what made me put my dog waste in what i put my potato skins into my weaponing suit and one of the town meeting members said that you know stores still do sell plastic bags in packaging such as bread or ever get you get them in the mail so if you really really need something to put those things in you can collect these kind of you're going to have to get into the habit of using these which are the reusable bags which are washable right some people meeting expressed concerns that these things can get dirty and collect germs right not but they are washable ok and stores will most likely be selling these with their logo on them they'll also have recyclable paper bags as an option and this will all begin for the larger retailers like star market that will begin in november right possibly soon or whenever they run out of their stock and in february for the smaller retailers that euro two thousand and nineteen so it will start so everybody's got a little bit of time having problems with new construction and additions that were oversized and out of character with the neighborhood so in two thousand and fourteen there was a citizen's petition that came to town meeting was approved for an amendment to the general residence zoning by a law which required anyone doing new construction or addition in in that district to go before the planning board plan about how to approve all those projects and there's a consensus i think since that time that that it's worked against why yes and there was proof shown a town meeting pictures that showed that since the project started going to be for the planning board they are now in character with the neighborhood they're not oversized and out of character so they prove that this will now be a permanent change where the sun the sun set there is no longer a sunset rise and they approved that project's three hundred square feet or smaller such as porches decks and dormers will now go to the zoning board of appeals to give the planning board more time to focus on larger projects now there was some concern expressed about whether they had been consulted what it would do to their work two ninety one brighton street is now a single family a historic district in belmont it's the first of its kind in belmont town meeting approved at two thirty seven to fifteen and what it means is any one who buys that house in the future will have to go before a process to get any exterior changes approved that are visible from the public way their realm of historic district commission will have to approve those changes this is one of the last examples of federal style architecture in belmont the frost family were celery farmers some people recall smelling celery in that neighborhood at one time it was originally part of a seventeen acre farm later on when the home was sold it was subdivided in arthur road was put in so this is the the final lot there and it's about twelve thousand square feet and the owner athena mcginnis spoke at town meetings she was very much in favor of this the only thing that came up war committee chairman said if a community preservation project is approved for this house to repair something to the armory i marry my damage would the new homeowner down the road when the house is sold have to pay you'll be coming back next time yes to talk more about the number the results of the vote on the number of select when that is the next big article to be voted on on me seven expected to be voted on that night and so we'll see we'll boosters we have more for you on this the m fundraising work hi everybody we're here with your community calendar for this week before we get into our regular segment we have a special guest with us this is susan black she is the secretary of the belmont boosters thank you for being here you're welcome and we're going to talking about a little bit the belmont high school athletic department how we fund things outside of the regular budget you know frank great and some projects that you were mentioning you do you did goose to turn so he said so a lot of what we do is we fund grants that coaches talk with jim davis about and then they come to us so we fund a lot of grants and one of the more recent ones was i think it's about six or seven they're  goose deterrents and they're they're placed out on the field people are by the high school field not on here as field but really it's where the geese are and they're emits a light and moves the geese along so that our student athletes don't come home with as much goose stuff on their clothing is perfect but you've also done some to support the swim teams on the rugby teams and things like that and we've got like the coaches come to us and so we support like volleyball clinic for the volleyball coaches we've done practice gear mainly practice equipment for the girls and boys track department rugby softball we just got them a pitching machine so we're helping really with you know kind of adding on to their practice practice gear great and so obviously all these things take money can you talk a little bit about some of your fund raising events that you do in the fall you had mentioned you know golf stuff yeah so we kicked off the year with our in your old golf outing which is up at oakley and and that's followed in october by rb drive many citizens or residents in belmont probably have had people come knock on their door we divide up all of belmont into fifty group and we send out student athletes knocking on doors and if you don't see someone come to your door you probably have gotten something that is left at your front doorstep that's in the fall and then this spring we just recently had t and then we'll have the new england patriots come play basketball against our belmont all stars on may twenty third at six thirty at belmont high grade and can people still get tickets for that so if you come out if you go to the belmont high school right but there's a phone number people may have already gotten phone calls because they do call throughout the town great you know some tickets are still available perfect so those are some of the biggest fundraising events that you do but people are also more than welcome i'm sure to donate throughout the year yes so we have a website and we've got a big big pay pal button on there that you can log on twenty four seven and don't e perfect and you're a completely volunteer run a lot of parents are mostly all parents yeah  belmont high school or even like an eighth grade no parent parent or guardian to participate in terms of our member meetings we you know go throughout the town in a lot of our fundraising so everybody in belmont is you know contributes to the belmont registers so we've had member meetings and we get maybe about twenty people going and then we've got a working board of about you know seven people so we really need to try to get some of our members to move over to be you know working on the belmont throughout the month of may and discover just how walkable the town is the belmont health department's golden shoes program encourages residents to become more active by taking walks around town and finding golden shoes hidden throughout belmont find a shoe when a prize contacts the belmont youth and family services program with any questions robert frost is one of the most celebrated poets in america spend an afternoon with robert frost in a unique interactive performance by steven collins a cambridge teacher and performer if you read at tufts of flowers mending wall birches and after apple picking come to discuss these works alongside dramatic readings on tuesday at one fifteen meet ellen and her service dog at a special service dog story time at the library on tuesday at three thirty hear stories about people and their assistance dogs and ask questions about service animals this program is recommended for ages four and up also on tuesday at the beach street center enjoy a concert by the belmont community chorus this spring concert will feature tunes and singalongs of popular songs from yesterday to today also on tuesday you can enjoy a reception for gene would mers photography exhibit history and low light jams work is also on display throughout the month of may belmont books is bringing you a say atkins on tuesday for a book reading and signing acronyms of the new york times best selling author of books like the fallen the innocents and robert  parker's little white lies on wednesday joined a panel of boston area authors for a book chat and signing both events take place at belmont books at seven pm and on friday habitat is visiting the big trade cent what the new animal babies need in order to survive find out at one fifteen and at two thirty join the habitat intergenerational program with volunteers of all ages preparing materials for habitats nature education summer camps he attempts to cheer up his brother by preparing him a bowl of delectable soup a chimpanzee sits at a typewriter and produces hamlet the annual student directed festival of short plays take place on friday and saturday in the be a little theater tickets are available on the as packed website and champions sporting goods in belmont center chinese brush painting is a beautiful and traditional art form visit the library on saturday for a free workshop with master landscape painter and traditional japanese a brush artist learn about the art and attendees sixteen and up can have their hand at painting belmont world film wraps up their international film series on monday the fourteenth was jam the story  young and spirited greek woman who meets in one thousand year old french girl whose plans to help migrants at the syrian border backfire get your tickets at belmont world film dot org intergenerational promenade twenty seventh a really fun about organized by the belmont council on aging with the assistance of belmont high school students we have more for you on that and now we have our sports segment narrated by franklin tucker welcome to the belmont journals of our sports update over at boys lacrosse the marauders are now currently five and five battling for a playoff position for the second year running they played melrose with bit outplayed in losing thirteen to three girls across at three and six the season over a track the girls won by a four by one hundred relay finish second in the state in a very impressive performance boys baseball is a currently at three five and three winning and losing games where one run softball wanted second game of the year which is a great a constant for the girls and over at rugby the boys are currently to a no having defeated to the top teams in the state and the girls are currently undefeated at three a no but had a very close match against lincoln sudbury winning in the very last play of the game we end our show with a programming update for your belmont media center channels please be sure to watch also remember the belmont journal depends on you if you have any new or updates you'd like to share with us or if you'd like to get involved in the show please