welcome to talking news we're delighted to have you with us listening to our presentation by members of the beach street center patty marion and jonathan we will be reading local news and happenings from the community newspaper patty readers have new options around belmont last spring resident in real iter lynn thinly was driving through arlington one day and wondered what the cute little oversized bird house staked into the ground was she quickly learned it was a little free library and became even more curious about it she did research on line and learned there were fifty thousand little free libraries around the world finlay talked to the belmont public library directed to find out if she could put one of those cute little houses in front of her home on school street where people of all ages walk by daily to the wellington school the burbank school chani middle school or the underwood pool in the summer months  public library loved the idea and the friends of the belmont public library ordered two of their own one is placed in front of the beach street center and the other in front of town hall he helped finley get her book inventory storied families little free library officially opened in april two thousand and sixteen she put the books inside and sat on her front porch to see what would happen it brings me a tremendous amount of joy and it's simple to operate been stocking her library brings back memories of the time she read books to our own children such as where the wild things are and fancy nancy there are no library cards needed at operates on an honor system finlay restocks or library weekly or more often if necessary she has learned what her readers like comics books went very quickly she said sometimes people leave her notes with requests other residents have caught on to little free library craze on cedar road and hoyt world i love to see kids walking by with parents a babysitter or by themselves take a book or leave a book she said at first people were curious now they know what it is and are excited to engage heard vice to anyone who wants to start a little free library is to make sure there is enough foot traffic in the area to make it a destination it's also a good idea to let your neighbors know about it before you install it her neighbors impressed the idea visit finley's little free library at ninety three school st donations are welcome no textbooks interested presidents should visit little free library dot org to purchase their own free life a little free library the belmont public library would always be happy to get your stuff you started with a donation of books and hopefully your neighborhood would you lies the idea to loading dock approved for boring license with conditions by jack on monday night selectmen approved a pouring liquor liquor license from the loading dock restaurant at eleven brighton street contingent upon the owner's full payment of what it owes to the belmont light department and its acceptance of a permanent no transfer restriction on the license pending a town meeting vote on liquor license transfer ability issue later this year this is the second liquor license that owner for wod mccarter has sought for his belmont business here originally bought all and all alcohol license and twenty fourteen for four thousand dollars the loading dock originally which macarthur transfer transform first opened in april as a hybrid of a coffee house a market that sold out a honda restaurant but several months later it was clear the store was struggling with state laws barring hard thousand dollars selectmen approved the move on october sixth the massachusetts alcoholic beverage control commission a b c c officially approved the transfer on december second and star market opened its liquor department that month the october vote sparked controversy among many belmont residents who felt the decision was contrary to the intentions of the twenty thirteen town meeting that liquor licenses should only be granted to small retail specialty stores to increase local business and not to local enterprises like star market that would increase competition among the small businesses already holding the liquor licenses lawyer thomas opened the meeting saying his client would put voluntary conditions on the pouring license including a two year restriction on its transfer both at the present location or another  board of selectmen chairman mark political said he supported non transfer ability on a permanent not temporary basis adding not including restrictions on liquor license transfer ability in the twenty thirteen law was simply just an oversight the liquor licenses granted prior to twenty thirteen did include transfers directions during the harry during the hearing elizabeth die on  prisoner two stone meeting member urged macarthur to accept a complete prohibition on the transfer of the pouring license alexa had zilly addus madison street resident voice support from a carcass license application we need another good restaurant outside the town center i don't understand why there's such a backlash and giving it to the low loading dock she she told ralph jones a retired selectman and a precinct three town meeting member raised macarthur's outstanding bills with the belmont light department he also suggested the loading dock might provide a rundown of its financial situation in order to unity avenue she wondered why the selectmen would even consider seeking out the loading dock financial situation when such assessments had not been undertaken in the past for other belmont businesses i fully support said the loading dock has been on a payment plan with a bought belmont light department and from his perspective was eligible to receive the pouring license to cark or greece to pay debt board of selectmen vice also expressed concern about the loading docks finances and fiscal management first what they should have done was to pay to the town because they owe us a tensional amount of money he said the loading should withdraw their application and reapply in six months after the selectmen have had an opportunity to bring the non transfer ability issue to the fore the town meeting he added however an agreement was reached in which the selectmen after checking with town council george hall regarding its propriety approved a pouring license with the conditions that the loading dock take care of its outstanding debt with belmont light and accept a complete restriction on the transfer of the liquor license until town meeting votes on how to handle liquor license transfers macarthur agreed and said he would pay the loading docks bill to belmont light this week the select decide whether this issue will be taken up in a special town meeting and from board or at the scheduled annual town meeting later this year marion behind the plate moseys in belmont satisfies more than sweet tooth joanna known to all his friends as much owns mousie's ice cream and yogurt emporium to topola road belmont his name familiar around belmont trucks for his landscaping business d associates inc are spotted around town daily he coached hockey for belmont high school for forty years and was inducted into the massachusetts state hockey coaches associations hall of fame last year almost five years ago most iole saw an opportunity and went for it brigham's which was one of the longest running businesses in belmont closed its doors after eighty years rather than let it turn into a bank mostly only pursued one of its many dreams renovated the space into a much brighter colors scheme with bright orange and green but maintaining some of its original features like the extra long ice cream counter since then movies menu has expanded offering self service frozen yogurt stations and a full service menu serving breakfast lunch and dinner items with catchy bel tonia names such as the oakley a hot panini sandwich with sliced lean pastrami swiss cheese sauerkraut and russian dressing or the when rick cold sandwich made with grilled chicken shaved promise on cheese chris brown mane lettuce creamy caesar dressing back up p c the belmont resident famous for winning the world marathon challenge this year has been managing the store since it opened on april fourteenth two thousand and twelve she took the time recently to talk about the business and how it evolved over the years and her hopes for its future what do you think is the secret to mov e success we have something for everyone on our menu we know how many of our customers we know many of our customers on a first name basis and we know their favorite flavors names of their kids  we really enjoy talking to them it's kind of a has it kind of has that cheers feeling we even have a bar for seating we have a very clean store hardworking friendly staff and our is made from the freshest ingredients what are your future hopes for movies we are very involved in our community and love being part of it and included in events we want to continue to grow and perhaps expand what's your favorite item on the menu and why my favorite ice cream flavor is the back seven ice cream which is smores made with seven ingredients recently i made history by becoming the first american female to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days mostly and the entire staff and town of belmont went above and beyond to support me most he came to cheer me on in the miami marathon and i got a flavor named after me that my daughter taylor got to choose come try it and don't forget the chocolate  specialities we have steamed hot dogs like you would see it then wait park we make ice cream cake in three different sizes there are a huge hit the butter cream frosting is delicious and our cake decorator susan is phenomenal what's the most popular breakfast lunch dinner item cushing sandwiches are number one selling sandwich on the menu served on a fresh chicken  and tomato with chips and a pickle patty rs across the state could be penalize with a ticket of up to fifty dollars for stopping in a bike lane under legislation sent to the governor's desk on tuesday this last day of the b state and local officials have increasingly turned portions of roadways into bike lanes and minister paladins have imposed their own fines against drivers who use bike lanes for parking or stopping and may two thousand and fourteen a new bike lane obstruction penalty went into effect in cambridge with a thirty five dollars charge according to the city's website which sais that previously previously vehicles obstructing bike lanes were ticketed for double parking or other offenses boston also take its first drivers for stopping a parking in a bike lane according to its website senator william brownsburg or belmont democrat in a bicycle commuter who drafted the language that passed the house and the senate told the new service there is not really a statewide rule against stopping in bike lanes the bill exempts driver stopped in the bike lane for an emergency and specifies that a violation would not be considered a moving violation for the purposes of determining a surcharge on car insurance premiums mass pike is thrilled with this news said lauren le claire communications director for mass bike the bike la protection bill is critical to making our way certainly develop bicycle infrastructure a safe place to ride many cities and towns have similar local ordinance innes's governor charlie baker has ten days to toll brothers hopes to be in demolition for the pushing village project in belmont by the end of january told brother submitted applications for the demolition and foundation permits to the community development in early december but according to belmont senior planner jeffrey wheeler there are documents the town needs from the department of environmental protection before they can issue the permits currently toll brothers has been provided with a list of documents the town needs in order to sign off on the demolition permit one of the things is the handling of hazardous material said wheeler he said toll brothers hopes to start demolition by the end of january once the demolition permit is approved the demolition will take about five weeks to complete he said there are also four documents the make of the erosion control plan that the planning board needs to sign off on wheeler expects the planning board will have them by january seventeenth meeting also according are additional required documents for the release basement measures planned which he and told brothers expect to have available the week of january twenty third this is relative reserve related to how they will deal with soil tops disposal a public meeting will also need to occur the date and location are to be determined but wheeler expects it to be held around january twenty third notices about the hopes to begin soil mitigation and removal by the beginning of march told brothers officially purchased the land for cushing village project from smith the legacy partners on october ninth a total of six slots are recorded on the quitclaim deed posted on mass land records dot com as having been sold for fourteen million two hundred sixty thousand dollars the law its are in belmont in belmont are on road the the horn on the horn road and common street and common street and the the cushing village development when completed is slated to be to bring one hundred fifteen new apartment residents ranging into 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 thirty seven thousand five hundred square feet of street level retail including a starbucks a courtyard roof decks open air plazas onsite fitness center and neighborhood restaurants and shops in addition the development is expected to provide belmont with an annual annuity stream of property revenues let's belmont resident jim marcantonio the crossing guard at berman burbank elementary school was struck by a motor vehicle on school street at approximately eight eighteen am january eleventh according to belmont assistant police chief james mcisaac the motor vehicle was heading west on school street when it struck the crossing guard in the cross walk at school street and sharp road in front of the burbank school marcantonio was transported by belmont fire rescue from the scene to a local hospital with non life threatening injuries the preliminary investigation indicates that speed was not a factor the vehicle driver was cited at the scene for failure to yield to a pedestrian in the cross walk burbank principal trisha clifford sent an e mail to parents informing them about this about the accident and how she handled informing the students about it i spoke with the students this morning and told them that there was an accident and that james was taken to the hospital and that he will get the care he needs i encourage them to make cards or send a note to james and that they could send those to the office and we will make sure he receives them i want you to know what i've told the children i also thank the students and the staff for being so cooperative and helpful this morning if i receive more information i will share it with the burbank community she stated burbank elementary also had a fire alarm go off it at eight thirty five am due to steam in the boiler room many students who are still outside and some were still walking to school at the time of ellerbee she said belmont firefighters checked the building and determined it is safe last fall burbank parents started a campaign to get drivers on school street to slow down they posted signs along school street in the vicinity of the school that read drive like your kid lives here on october fifth international walk to school day parents and students held signs in front of the school reminding drivers to slow down one of the parents katie say said she is shaken up about what happened to the crossing guard as you can imagine we are feeling frustrated and angry that we feel unheard by the police about the dangers on school street i think if anyone had interviewed jim before this happened he would have told you that he has had several near misses in the past few years i know he has told me that before and i have actually witnessed it also the police are saying this accident was not about speed but i know that he's almost gotten hit by cars because they come whipping around the corner said spay another parent heather barr who lives on school street also expressed her frustration about what happened i understand that we are a small town with a limited budget but we have brought the traffic issues on school street up many times too many officials and nothing has been done we need to work quickly to have the town recognize that pedestrian safety needs to be a priority and are currently doing that some infrastructure changes need to happen in order to calm traffic i think we all know that signs are not the solution but as we work towards a solution they are a good way to show that residents are concerned she said mary lewis another burbank parent said she has written to the town repeatedly about safety on school street out of concern for her own and for other children among many incidents in september a car literally drove into the opposing lane around them so that it wouldn't have to stop at the crosswalk the intersection is extremely dangerous even when people aren't trying to be reckless in this way she said the director of community development glenn clancy said his capital budget committee request for fiscal twenty eighteen which starts july first includes funding for sidewalk and curbing construction and school street across from the burbank school and for two speed limit signs that will be installed on either approach to the school zone if funded the work will occur over the summer and be completed before school begins in the fall he said i don't know the details of what happened this morning so i'm not certain these proposals would have made a difference i do believe these eagle scout we juvenile belmont community garden the belmont community garden located in rock meadow is the beneficiary of chris mcmullan's two thousand and sixteen eagle scout project mcmullin a seventeen year old belmont high school senior has been a member of troop three zero four since fifth grade he decided he would like to offer his project to benefit the community garden and approached kathy martin the volunteer garden coordinator with several proposals together they determined that building raised beds to allow for standing position gardening for gardeners who have difficulty kneeling would be an appropriate useful and mutually beneficial project working with scout master ken kevin wenzel former scout master in visor and stephanie warner advisor mcmullan began the planning of the wooden structures mcmullin with the guidance of his father custom designed the tables to hold planters capable of containing the appropriate depth of story medium and with supporting leg sturdy enough to support these planters meanwhile martin research potential beneficiaries of the work product long time gardener dick corsi quickly offered a home for the raised garden beds within her rental plot she also requested that the scouting troop could help her with the removal of a few overgrown shrubs in her plot heavy work  that she was thrilled to delegate mcmullin and his father completed the design and mcmullan began organizing his construction team using scouts from his troop three zero four he planning executed the work day required to construct and complete the installation his research showed the need for durable long lasting wood to mitigate for the impact of new england weather he was able to find a source of white cedar obtaining a donation of the specialized wood from a fellow scouts grandfather a forest the professor operating a small sawmill in upstate new york scouts that participate in the construction installation of the project included sean cavanagh marcel roach papa hugh amman khan oliver leap zach bizarre and ben ackerson the raise the garden beds have been built in are in place the troublesome shrubs cleared from garden plot and the project is complete mcmullan was gracious enough to offer it the services of his team to replace the ink on the garden identification tags on each of the hundred forty garden plots we have pillitteri the products of a former eagles project jonathan community policing a two way street by rodger called the belmont police department is a step ahead of much of the country in the connections that exist between the police and the community sure part of that can be attributed to the fact they were a small town even in a small community however the connections between the community residents and the police don't just happen specific conscious actions are taken to promote the feeling that the police and community are we and  one important part of this connection involves stability at the top police chief richard mclachlan will soon reach his tenth anniversary of being belmont's top cop such longevity in police leadership results in a web of personal relationships that would not otherwise exist it has been some time since chief mclaughlin could count on his fingers the number of them oriel day parades he's marched in the number of p t o meetings he's attended  number of light up the town and town day events he has helped celebrate such events are a way for the chief to meet belmont residents and for those residents to meet him this process works best however only one resident valium sells of the opportunity in a recent conversation i had of chief mogul often he encouraged belmont residents to introduce themselves to him or to any other belmont officer on the street or at of at events a handshake and a hello he said is not an intrusion in the offices job rather individuals in gauging in such small personal interactions make belmont a stronger safer healthier place to live highlight film on its approach to the community policing regardless of the town or city in which they reside belmont police department community policing mission statement says community members should have to have a say in what kinds of services they received from the police the belmont police department mission statement states the problems of terrorist threats school shootings and identity theft add new challenges to local policing in addition other community problems of speeding cars in neighborhoods domestic violence vandalism and school bullying are still major issues that need to be addressed in and responding to such challenges the mission statement goes on to assert i not only agree wholeheartedly agree making community members active participants in the process of problem solving the question of course is how to do this belmont police department acknowledges that some residents may have rest reservations about approaching the police for concerns they may have the police department however defines part of its job as seeking to knock down some of the barriers between police and citizens one action pursued by the belmont police several years ago direct exchange of information that such an imp an opportunity for personal cons conversation can provide the concerns that face the community members in two thousand and eight however may differ from those facing belmont residents today hate speech an opioid i dition addiction for example are concerns that many present themselves today in a way they would not have back to back in two thousand and eight the police department's approach to community policing posts that one community members are active participants in the problem solving equation the level of service and quality of life for the communities improved much of that active participation depends on personal interaction which is a two way street flowing from the community to the police department as much as from the police department of the community ripping a town hall meeting between town residents and  would be an additional important action that can be taken marion for joining us for the separate set of talking news please join us next week