At just about 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, annual Town Meeting officially adjourned, closing out its fifth and final night of deliberations with a vote to approve the last recommendation for Community Preservation Act funding.
That motion passed, 149-29 with eight abstentions, authorizing $429,433 for a joint project with the town to restore the softball fields west of Harris Field. Working within current conditions, the plan includes reseeding, reconditioning the natural grass playing surface, installing an irrigation system, and adding fencing. The design will also incorporate the reinstallation of the discus throwing area.
On May 12, Town Meeting approved five other community preservation projects.
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According to Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, who presented the project, construction is expected to begin this fall so the field is ready in time for the spring 2026 softball season.
There was some pushback from Town Meeting members who felt there should have been a more significant process for allowing public input, particularly compared to the public input process that came with the Chenery Park complex project that received approval from Town Meeting earlier this month. Others argued it was too much money for the project.
“To me, this is a very large amount of money to do a facelift,” said Warrant Committee member Corinne Olmsted.
School Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty commended the Chenery Park public process, but noted discussions regarding the softball field have gone back as far as 2018. Town officials also argued that, without CPA dollars, the likelihood of this project getting funded another way was unlikely.
The money is available, said Precinct 6 Town Meeting member Chris Doyle, who also serves as the chair of the Comprehensive Capital Budget Committee.
“This is a case of ‘grab the money and run,’” she said.
Special Town Meeting
Before wrapping up annual Town Meeting Wednesday night, Town Meeting members approved a series of measures on the special Town Meeting warrant aimed at improving property tax relief for seniors, veterans, and disabled members of the community.
“The size of these impacts is very minimal,” said Geoff Lubien, chair of the Senior Tax Relief Working Group. “There’s a lot of restrictions and we’re trying to ease some of those restrictions and grow with the rise of prices.”
The seven motions, which were discussed and voted on as a slate, ranged from technical corrections to bring Belmont into compliance with state law (M.G.L. Chapter 59, Section 5 C ½) to allowing the Board of Assessors to double exemptions, to reducing the qualifying age from 70 to 65 years of age.
The actions taken Wednesday night also adopt sections of state law that adjust veterans’ exemption amounts each year to be reflective of rising costs, and waive for veterans a current stipulation in state law that requires those eligible to at least pay what you paid the previous year.
Lubien clarified that these exemptions impact roughly 80 residents.
Town Meeting members who spoke expressed support for the motions before them, but advocated for the town to continue seeking ways to alleviate the financial burden on its senior residents. Members of the working group agreed.
“This is the start,” said member Kathy Keohane. “There’s much more that we can do, [that we] want to do.”
The slate passed, 226-3 with one abstention.
Exemptions are paid for out of the Overlay Release, which is managed by the Board of Assessors. A separate article on the special Town Meeting warrant, which was also approved by Town Meeting, sought to appropriate $100,000 to support the Conservation Commission’s efforts to establish a conservation restriction for Rock Meadow; $225,000 for the initial costs of a maintenance plan for field maintenance for the town’s baseball, softball and multi-purpose fields; and finally, $275,000 to be transferred to the Capital Stabilization Fund.
Despite a lengthy discussion, particularly with questions about the field maintenance plan, the slate passed, 208-4, with two abstentions.