who became famous in cambridge in the spring of twenty ten when they built a foot wide nest on the fourth floor ledge of an office building located at one eighty five a parkway the nest became like a tourist attraction for anyone driving or walking by who wanted to watch this pair as they took care of their three chicks lucy laurie and lucky belmont resident wendy dragster a poet and freelance editor recalls the day when she was driving by one eighty five  e parkway and saw the crowds of people in the parking lot next to the building with binoculars and telescopes and soon became hooked making it a frequent stop in her weekly routine as the chicks grew and began to flap their wings and practice helicoptering the drama kept building the nest  crowded who went flat first lucy larry are lucky and would pee or she make it in that first all or nothing in flight said she suggested to her friend special education teacher joan fleece catherine peabody that it might be a great story and he she agreed thus starting their journey of writing buzz ruby and their city chicks a children's book for ages five to eleven which hit store book shelves on september twenty first they are officially celebration its launch at four pm on nov sixth at hotel tria two twenty alewife brook park in cambridge with john harrison one of the four photographers whose photos of the hocks graced the pages of their book paul roberts a hawk expert who  consulted with will also be there in this to this day buzz and ruby's nest remains at one eighty five live for parkway ruby last laid eggs in twenty fourteen but died in twenty fourteen from eating poisoned rats before the eggs could have according to paul roberts a hawk expert from medford and director of the hawk migration association of north america the belmont citizen her aunt had the opportunity to meet with dexter and kaplan recently and i asked them about the process of writing their first children's book how did you write buzz ruby and city chicks drexler laboriously draft after draft probably  hundred drafts we stopped counting when our pronouncement draft was finished we asked paul am roberts hock expert and director of the hot migration association of north america to vet the specific details and to and had an update about buzz and ruby since twenty ten ruby died in twenty fourteen in from heating poisoned rats highly talks at road road to go dentist sides as sorry kill a great number of yes and it is important that cities like cambridge and belmont that must control rats use the least toxi pesticides as they can anyway paul sharpened and corrected every fact in our story and had it wonderful update that places buzz and ruby's story in the broader context of how arcs thrive and survive in urban settings why should someone read your book anyone who watched buzz and ruby rays and flips their chicks will want to relieve relive the drama excitement and sense of community in being there in that strong a fan fans witnessing the parents difficult work and their devotion to their chicks and also their devotion to getting them to leave the nest is this the origin of the tara empty nester for those who didn't see the birds leaving reading them surveys of well scientific details about raptor life and about how to raise their young in urban settings in a last moving story i'm sorry in a fast moving story with started in may of twenty fifteenth by rearranging some of the collections in the building to improve how space is being used new tile has also been installed to replace the original as best as tile and high traffic areas of the building more comfortable seating and more updated and usable shelving throughout the wiring is been added new carpeting will soon be installed into the reference room little by little street c r as making positive changes in the existing building library is contributing to and titian all forty five thousand dollars for the study which started this past july with the hiring of architect johnson roberts associates incorporated and if your library needs to be the library the community wants and strewed zero this is what makes the process different from the past twenty years all the work that has gone on before didn't end with a new library he said past studies of what potentially moving the  entirely different site in two thousand and nine the town considered moving the library to the high school soccer field and run of it being the inside of the library for a new police department headquarters but that plan eventually fell through the current community committee is looking at only the existing site at three thirty six conqueror the second big difference they will not be applying for a state grant when the state ran the process in the past they controlled everything they tell you they told you how much you need per square foot control the size of the building and that's why in the past we ended up with elaborate libraries he said instead of forty five library feasibility committee johnson roberts associates has presented five options which the library feasibility company present cup committee presented at a public forum in september and to several town departments and committees one option is to run of the building existing twenty nine thousand six hundred fifty square foot building repurchasing existing storage and mechanical spaces with additions and expanding parking another option run of a's the existing building and adds a three level eight thousand eight hundred fifty square foot rear addition a third option as a three level eight thousand  square foot addition to the front of the building a fourth option adds two to level eight thousand eight hundred fifty square foot addition to the side of the building the fifth option is for a brand new two story thirty eight thousand five hundred square foot library with a new expanded parking lot for approximately sixty cars street c r s and the committee will win and one of the down the options and hopes to make a recommendation to the board library trustees by the end of the year for the best option pursue renovating the existing building or building a new one is necessary because the existing fifty year old building is not compliant with the american disabilities act a new or run of a bill and would have more space to prop accommodate shorter bookshelves and add additional seating in addition would love for the addition of three study rooms were to existing building does not have an addition could also allo zero would like to see children's area that is six thousand eight hundred square feet comes out of the car two thousand two hundred square feet which grew include a children's story our craft room renovating the existing building without adding on would not allow for additional study rooms or expansion of the children's rooms and streets here in marion told brothers closes the deal belmont officially sells parking lot property  and chairman mark polo announced the sale of cushing village at the special town meeting on october nineteenth the town closed on the sale of the municipal parking lot to toll brothers for one million dollars and three hundred thirty five thousand dollars in extension fees according to town administrator david cale the applicable documents were recorded october nineteenth at the registry of deeds between chris starr smith legacy partners and toll brothers a total of six slots are recorded on the quit claim deed on mass land records dot com as sold for fourteen million two hundred sixty thousand dollars the lots in belmont are one zero two two zero one zero four trip hello road one twelve pro seven horn rogue four ninety five to five zero one common street five zero five to five o seven common street and five twenty seven common street and the municipal parking lot toll brothers an award winning fortune one thousand company has built luxury communities in canton cohasset norwell and westboro in february twenty sixth dean the company was named by fortune magazine as one of the top ten world's most admired companies in quality of products services along with apple walt disney amazon and nordstrom among others the cushing village development when completed is slated to bring a hundred fifteen new apartment residences ranging in size from studios to two bedroom residences fifty municipal parking spaces newly created open space and several new neighborhood retail opportunities to cushing square high end amenities will include a courtyard roof jacks open air plazas on site fitness center and a walkability two restaurants and retail in addition the development is expected to provide the belmont with an an annuity stream of property tax revenues the town of belmont is an ideal place to continue our expansion into the boston metro area said charles elliott managing director toll brothers apartment living we're excited to work with the town and seeing the vision through and appreciate the efforts of the belmont board of selectmen and planning board starr said smith legacy partners is retaining an option on the thirty seven thousand five hundred square feet of retail space and fully expects him plans to buy back the retail when it's completed he said they will also own and manage a portion of the parking spaces some of which are under a parking agreement with the town the parking spaces will be available to cushing village residents and visitors as well as the broader cushing square visitors according to starbucks according to starr starbucks will be one of the tenants and they fully intend to have a grocery store similar to a large trader joe's or a small whole foods but this has not been finalised we are talking very seriously with one very large grocery store operator and going to look into that and see what makes sense we may look at it other option said star he also hopes to have one or two restaurants the five thousand square foot tavern owned by belmont resident kevin trainer and mark and tara go rate which starts in september two thousand and fourteen were signed on to be part of the pomona building on the trip ella roadside is no longer part of the project due to the delay according to starr i feel very comfortable handing over the larger development to such a high quality firm and i'm excited to work with them said star mary wescott tom agend owner of wescott mercantile and founder of the cushing square merchants association looks forward to a partnership with toll brothers that will allow them to work together to manage the concerns and issues that surround our square before during and after this project we know that i a development top this scope and size will allow for more growth for small businesses in the area once it is completed in the meantime we will need the town support as well as the support of toll brothers to ensure that during the next three years of construction we have transparent communicate ssion and that mutual partnership to ensure that our businesses don't suffer further during this three year construction and the sale of the municipal parking lot located jason to starbucks in cushing square was originally supposed to close in march when starr was the developer however in march star announced he was selling smith legacy partners interest of the project to toll brothers apartment living the apartment development division of toll brothers as part of the sale toll brothers would acquire the municipal parking lot the transfer which would require approval from the selectmen martha tom kirk and mt says remaining early voting dates and hours thanks to recent changes to the massachusetts general laws any registered voter of massachusetts may choose to cast a ballot for the presidential and state of election before november eighth twenty sixteen election day the new law permits registered voters to cast ballots during the designated period of early voting now underway and continuing through four pm on nov fourth early voting is the no excuse though i had the option that is available to all registered vote only during the state's early voting period in belmont many voters already have been to see as to curry embrace the opportunity to cast their ballots during our extended hours and by voting early at belmont town hall our designated early voting location no events application is necessary to vote in person you can decide the date and time to cast your ballot in person at town hall during early voting hours once the voter has cast an early voting ballot that voter may not vote at the polls election day or receive an absentee ballot only residents who are rich registered to vote by october nineteenth twenty sixteen are eligible to vote in this  presidential state election for this state election a voter who has moved within the commonwealth of mass the two since the last six months and has changed her his voter registration to the new address can actually vote to her or his former community in other words if you moved in belmont after may eighth and haven't yet registered in belmont you can still return to your former community to vote it's important to vote where you're registered so your vote cut count jonathan playground designer percents draft concepts want to join our consumables water field designs the designer hired to create designs for the renovation of across a playground located off maybe and bartlett street's presented draft concepts at the second public input meeting on october twentieth town meeting approve the community preservation funding of twenty five thousand dollars for the park bike slash trikes live scooter slash walking loop the new design will create an additional loop to spread out the usage and increase safety said crockett also in the news i'm there will be separate areas for younger toddlers aged two to five and older school age children ages five to twelve many new trees additional picnic space benches and a hill slash mound inspired by the existing mound she said water field designs use community input they received at the first public meeting in september to come up with designs present over twentieth meeting and includes features that will fit into a the overall goal is to build a playground that will serve the belmont community for years to come and waterfield has been purposely avoiding costly high in the sky ideas or play areas filled with bells and whistles the want to keep to spoil the score for ghost on new engaging playground equipment walking slash bike paths for all ages as well as any necessary flooding remediation crocket the community craft fair bender's and volunteers wanted to photograph for the craft fair the friends of the council on aging will hold its annual craft fair on nov nineteenth at the beach street center are looking for vendors have you seen interesting items and volunteers do you have ideas and some time to play or to plan or publicize the faire no experience necessary this is a fun time for those of all ages in the belmont community and beyond to do early holiday shopping and support local craps people and to socialize over lunch or coffee and homemade pastries the proceeds help with programs at the beach street center second annual veteran's breakfast wednesday november night nine to ten thirty am as a thank you to our local veterans the belmont council an aging well hosted second annual veterans breakfast free for veterans meet belmont veterans service officer bob council on aging staff and local representatives over coffee and breakfast belmont hill schools be flats will perform and students from the facing history class will share the meal breakfast is limited to seventy five please call six one seven nine nine three two nine seven zero to reserve your seat this event is generously supported by east cambridge savings bank protect your security on the internet friday november fourth at one fifteen pm have you encountered pop up warning while you browse web pages are unwanted emails how about fishy calls from quote computer support quote technicians at microsoft are you worried about ransomware in this session you can learn about identifying and protecting yourself cybersecurity news website cost free martha oh so up on beacon hill driverless vehicles governor baker signed an executive order creating a special working group on consummated fear of kills the a v working group would encourage the development of driverless vehicles in the bay state and work with companies to support innovation and development of these goals it would also consider proposing changes to state law or regulations that would facilitate the widespread employment of highly automated vehicles in the state while ensuring the safety of the public the group would include the secretary transportation secretary of public safety secretary of housing and economic development registry of motor vehicle highway administrator and for members this invaded by the house and senate leadership the commonwealth is home to many world class innovation companies and academic institutions intimately involved in a ton o to foster innovation and economic growth said governor baker the guidance the a v working group provides will be instrumental in ensuring companies can further for the past three years since june twenty third belmont has been one of several massachusetts committees communities affected by changes the f a a and m frequent flights using route thirty three over neighborhoods in belmont arlington cambridge and watertown myron casa ramos dominant representative for the local community advisory committee and massport community advisory committee reported a major breakthrough at last night's selectmen main mast power has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the f a a to study the issues with r and if the procedures that have affected communities throughout the country as part of their next deployment of next gen i switch to satellite navigation logan has been selected as the test site for the r n a the study announced last week our hope is that there will be opportunities to increase the dispersion of the flight paths to be closer to the pre our navy operations that spread the flights over many communities and neighborhoods and the flights are able to ascend to higher a directly without leveling ideally most of these things could be used to decrease the impact residents who currently live under the new flight the affected communities are looking forward to participating in the process to ensure that other issues are well understood by the r r n a the study teams and council rama the process will be approximately six months runway for our arrival is that approach to leg logan from the south over melton and runway thirty three l departures that take off to the west over east boston chelsea everett and medford split into four hour a navy flight paths will be studied using resources at the massachusetts institute of technology and can touch in conjunction with massport and the f a a in response to a letter sent to the f a a on august ninth signed by twelve state representatives and senators in affected city's leadership it's a positive positive development for the region i think massport has put itself in a leadership position working with the f a a to try to mitigate the new systems they are using nationally said state senator william bro murder he he commanded the work of the citizens who form the boston west fair skies group and reached out of their state representatives and senators airplane noise pollution can be a serious quality of life issue said congresswoman katherine clarke in a press release issued by massport october seventh families i've met are concerned and frustrated with the persistent noise pollution that interferes with essential activities like sleeping studying and doing business she said on the old radar system prior to june twenty third teen the routes were dispersed so flights went over more neighborhoods and velma and other communities but less frequently now using our n a v