Category: Waltham Times

A coalition of Needham residents has proposed a seasonal ban on gas-powered leaf blowers through a citizens’ petition headed to Town Meeting in May.

Backed by the volunteer organization Green Needham, the proposal would prohibit the use of gas-powered blowers from May 15 to Sept. 30, starting in 2026. This ban would apply to commercial landscapers, residents and property managers.

About 30 people are part of the coalition, said David Rudolph, who initiated the petition. They have been contacting landscapers for feedback, gathering signatures, researching other communities’ regulations and compiling landscapers’ contact information so they can be informed ahead of public forums.

Inspired by several MetroWest communities with similar restrictions, the ban aims to address both noise and environmental concerns, Rudolph said.

“They really are just incredibly annoying,” said Rudolph. “It’s especially bad in the fall, when they’re doing the cleanups, but even over the summer, when it doesn’t seem necessary to be doing a lot of leaf blowing, you hear them going all the time.”

Research shows these concerns extend beyond mere annoyance. Not only does noise pollution drive hearing loss, but it is also linked to cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, sleep issues and cognitive problems. Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment also emit high levels of toxic and cancer-causing pollutants, which can increase worker and public health risks, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The coalition chose summer months for the ban after considering practical limitations, said Rudolph.

“The more I talked to landscapers, the more I realized that a full-year ban is just not practical yet,” Rudolph said. “The electric equipment is not there for them to handle the fall cleanups.” 

Under the proposed bylaw, the director of health and human services and designated agents within the Public Health Division would be responsible for enforcement. The first offense would result in a warning, followed by $100 fines for subsequent violations.

The Department of Public Works and its contractors would be exempt from the ban. Additionally, the DPW director may temporarily suspend leaf blower restrictions to assist with emergency operations or storm cleanup efforts.

Asked why the DPW is excluded, Rudolph said the department is concerned about the cost. Converting to electric equipment would cost a lot of money that the town is not willing to spend right now, he said.

Timothy McDonald, Needham’s health and human services director, said enforcement would be complaint-based rather than active patrolling, given the department’s existing responsibilities.

“We have limited resources. Resources that are spent doing this priority are not spent doing some other priority,” McDonald said. “There are services we provide that have a bigger impact on health or bigger preventative factors … so it is going to be a balance.”

Local landscapers have mixed reactions to the proposed ban. Cade Hamburger, owner of Cade Hamburger Landscaping, thinks existing electric equipment isn’t yet capable of handling year-round landscaping demands as it can significantly increase service times and costs. Still, he said the proposed summer-only ban strikes a reasonable balance.

“I think for the summer, it’s definitely something that can be done,” Hamburger said. 

However, a typical fall cleanup that costs $800 with gas blowers could easily turn into $2,000 or more, Hamburger said, as jobs that might take one to two hours with gas equipment could extend to five or six hours with electric equipment.

“That’s where we get nervous, essentially, because that’s where the profits just diminish, and it honestly turns it into just a losing business at that point,” Hamburger said.

As both a Needham resident with two young kids and a landscaping business owner, James Evans of Jim’s Landscaping said he understands both sides of the issue. 

“I get it. The last thing I want is nap time to get interrupted by leaf blowers,” Evans said.

Evans said he worries for landscapers about the logistics and feasibility of using electric equipment — including purchasing new equipment, risking blowing fuses and popping customers’ circuit breakers while charging batteries. 

Hamburger said he hopes the community and town will approach conversations around seasonal bans with kindness and understanding. He suggested the town could help ease the transition by offering grants to companies needing to purchase new equipment. 

“If the cities were able to help out, or towns were able to help out in starting the process … I think people would be a lot more willing to at least give it a try, or at least hear people,” Hamburger said.

The coalition hopes to hold Zoom forums for landscapers next week and for the general public and Town Meeting members in March, and a physical forum in April, Rudolph said.

The article will be presented at Town Meeting, which begins May 5.

This story is part of a partnership between the Needham Observer and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

Before the Belmont High School girls hockey team began its quest for a state title, Coach Brendan Kelleher told his captain to “go out and write the script.”

That’s precisely what senior Sadie Taylor did.

Just 52 seconds into the Marauders 2-0 win over Arlington Catholic in the first round of the Division 1 state tournament, Taylor’s 13th goal of the season gave Belmont the lead.

Driving the net, Taylor received a feed from freshman Alexcia Fici and beat Cougars goalie Katlin Sacco.

“Sadie’s the engine that drives this thing,” Kelleher said postgame. “Her energy and compete levels are through the roof.”

The game took a fast pace early, with Belmont forechecking hard. As a result, Arlington Catholic struggled to break the puck out.

“Today was a day that we wanted to turn the aggressive meter up a little bit,” Kelleher said.

The Cougars best look of the opening frame came with just under three minutes to play. From the slot, seventh-grader Amelia Paes rang the right post.

Freshman Amelia Long’s first goal and point of the season extended the Belmont lead to 2-0 with 15 seconds to play in the first period. She ripped a shot from the point, which made its way through traffic and beat Sacco five-hole.

“Couldn’t think of a better time,” Kelleher said. “Everyone on the team went over and congratulated her.”

The second period began much like the first ended — with Belmont pressing hard. The Marauders dominated the first half of the frame with their quick passes and team speed.

Arlington Catholic settled into its game after sophomore Elsie Lakin-Schultz was assessed a body-checking minor at 8:47. The Cougars possessed the puck in their offensive zone, peppering junior netminder Jil Costa with shots — but she stood tall between the pipes. Costa recorded her ninth shutout of the season in the victory.

Belmont continued to lock down defensively in the third period as the Cougars pushed to get on the board.

“They’ve grown up a lot,” Kelleher said. “They give us all confidence.”

Now only four wins stand in between Belmont and a first state title. Up next: the winner of Reading versus Pope Francis.

“We’ll reset, we’ll enjoy it today, and we’ll be back at the rink tomorrow,” Kelleher said.

Both hockey teams at Belmont High School have earned top 10 seeds in their respective MIAA Division 1 tournaments.

The boys finished with a record of 15-6-1 and are seeded sixth in the state tournament. The girls finished 15-1-4 and are seeded eighth. Both teams typically are competitive at the state level, but only the boys team has a state title to show for it — one in 2019-20.

The tournament kicks off for the girls team on Tuesday evening, squaring off against Arlington Catholic at 5:30 p.m. The boys, meanwhile, face Bishop Feehan at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, both at Ryan Arena in Watertown.

Both teams are the talk of the town, according to Dan Smith, the co-owner of Champions Sporting Goods on Leonard Street. He said everyone is aware of both the boys and girls teams’ success.

“It’s just on people’s minds, like, ‘Wow, the hockey teams are doing really well this year,’” Smith said.

Brendan Kelleher, head coach of the Belmont girls team, said he can’t be out and about in town without his team making its way into conversation.

For Kelleher, talking about his team is his favorite thing to do. Even his players know it.

“Nothing’s more rewarding to me than when I walk down the street and somebody goes, ‘Hey coach,’ and they stop and want to talk about my players,” he said.

One of those players is Smith’s daughter Mia, a freshman at Belmont High. When customers come into Champions, they make sure to ask Smith about it.

“Someone will come in and say, ‘Hey, our girls team is still undefeated, that’s awesome, and Mia’s on that team, right?’” Smith said. “It’s a fun conversation to have.”

Mike Carceo, the president of the Belmont Youth Hockey Association, said nearly all of the players on the high school teams played in the youth program.

“When we see the high school doing as well as they are this year, both the boys and the girls, it’s a good reflection of the work that our group and all the coaches are doing at the youth level,” Carceo said.

Carceo himself is an example of that pipeline. He grew up playing hockey in Belmont and graduated from Belmont High in 1999. He now lives in town with his family and has been on the association board for seven years.

The same can be said for Kelleher, whose family is entrenched in the Belmont hockey community. Kelleher’s father, Dan, coached at the youth program for over 40 years. Kelleher and his four brothers grew up playing through the youth program, and three of them, including Kelleher himself, graduated from Belmont High.

Now, Kelleher and his family live in Belmont. His daughter played through the program and the high school up until graduating. His son, Nolan, is currently on the boys team.

“It’s kind of a nice full circle moment for me,” Kelleher said.

Even with all the buzz and talk around time, the high school teams don’t even have a home rink — a new municipal rink on Concord Avenue is under construction. But that hasn’t affected attendance or the atmosphere. Ryan Arena hosted Belmont’s “home” games this season.

“A lot of those games have been filled,” Smith said. “Really exciting to watch and really loud.”

The Belmont High social media channels stream the games on YouTube, said Smith, so people who are unable to attend in person are able to watch.

“My mom can watch her granddaughter play,” Smith said. “It’s really cool that Belmont media does that.”

Smith and his wife, Jessica, who is the field hockey coach at the high school, have been involved in Belmont sports before they even lived in town.

Like Kelleher, it’s a full circle moment for Smith.

“There’s a lot of pride, there’s a lot of feeling of community that we have, and it’s fun to be able to share that with people,” Smith said.

Eli Cloutier is a journalism student at Boston University. This story is part of a partnership between the Belmont Voice and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

In one of his first acts in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Paris Accord, a global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to mitigate the impact of climate change.

More recently, the administration placed a freeze on wind project approvals.

At the local level, however, efforts to meet climate goals continue forward.

In 2023, 68% of Belmont Light’s power supply came from Renewable Energy Certificates, which are proof that a certain amount of electricity came from a renewable source. About 26% of them were Class I, which are generated from high-value renewable sources such as solar and wind, putting Belmont Light above the state-required threshold of 22%, said Dwayne Breger, director of the Clean Energy Extension at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This year the requirement is 27%.

In addition to the Renewable Energy Certificates, 21% of Belmont Light’s 2023 power supply came from hydropower, 9% from wind, and 4% from solar.

Breger said it’s important for utilities to obtain as much energy as they can from renewable sources. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which accelerates climate change and causes long-lasting damage to the planet.

“We’ve got a climate emergency,” he said. “We have an existential threat.”

Despite the challenges posed by the new presidential administration — which has been hostile to renewable energy — Belmont Light General Manager Craig Spinale and Belmont Light Board Member David Beavers aren’t worried about the future of Belmont Light.

Belmont Light, the nonprofit utility that provides electricity to the town’s residents and businesses, is twice as reliable as big, investor-owned utilities, yet charges customers far lower rates.

How does it do it?

Unlike big for-profit utilities like Eversource and National Grid that need to return profits to shareholders, municipal electric companies are typically nonprofit entities governed by the communities they serve. Founded in 1898, Belmont Light is one of Massachusetts’ 41 municipal light plants and now serves a population north of 26,000.

The typical Belmont Light customer experiences 0.53 outages a year lasting an average of 56 minutes. The average investor-owned utilities customer faces almost double the outages (1.02 per year) and more than triple the outage times (174 minutes), according to the American Public Power Association.

“Why exist as a light department or a utility if you can’t keep the lights on?,” said Spinale.

With dedicated line crews working strictly for Belmont customers, it can test underground lines and repair overhead lines faster, Spinale said.

Spinale worked for National Grid for 15 years in engineering operations before joining Belmont Light in 2012 as the director of operations. In 2020, Spinale became Belmont Light’s general manager.

Spinale has lived in Belmont for around 13 years, and he says he’s never lost power for more than 24 hours — even that’s “a stretch.” In his time at National Grid, Spinale covered areas such as the North Shore and the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts and the central western area of New Hampshire.

But it’s not only reliability that distinguishes municipal light plants from the for-profit companies — it’s also the prices. On average, municipal light plants rates are 42 percent lower than traditional investor-owned utilities such as Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil, according to data provided by Belmont Light.

In 2023, Belmont Light customers’ average monthly bill was $127.55. By comparison, National Grid’s was $190, Eversource’s was $188 in eastern Massachusetts and $175 in western Massachusetts, and Unitil’s was $216, according to the Massachusetts Alliance for Municipal Electric Choice.

Municipal light plants enter into contracts while investor-owned utilities are allowed to change their rates at six-month intervals. That can make a big difference in the rates.

Belmont Light has contracts of up to 25 years, which helps avoid seasonal price swings. It tries to keep rates stable for customers, which is why it tends to use longer contracts, Spinale said.

Electricity prices rose significantly after the invasion of Ukraine, but Belmont residents were protected because of the longer contracts, said Beavers.

“We are diversified. A lot of these are flat rates — they don’t go up,” Beavers said. “We were padded because we had these fixed-rate contracts.”

Customers of investor-utilities, on the other hand, can experience more price fluctuations.

“They’re beholden to the market at any given time,” Spinale added.

Not only do municipal light plants like Belmont Light have significantly lower rates than traditional investor-owned utilities, but its energy supply comes entirely from renewable sources, according to its website.

The utility company remains ever active in the community, even in ways one might not expect a municipal light plant to be. It helps move wrestling mats at Belmont High School and installs the town’s Christmas lights.

“The fact that we’re able to help the community more than what an [investor-owned utility] does,” Spinale said. “That’s the biggest win with a [municipal light plant].”

Eli Cloutier is a journalism student at Boston University. This story is part of a partnership between The Belmont Voice and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

The latest show to come to Burlington’s Park Playhouse is a dark comedy that cast members hope will give the audience a two-hour respite from real life.

The Burlington Players will be performing Kate Danley’s unpublished play, “Working for Crumbs,” from now until March 8. Director Chris Rose said the show is a dark workplace comedy centered on two coworkers who are competing for the same position.

Rose said he first heard about the play when Danley, a Seattle playwright, sent a copy to the Players in 2020. The theater’s play reading committee thought it was great and presented it to the membership, which voted to make this one of the four productions for the 2024-25 season.

“This is an unpublished draft that she sent, and it’s rare to find something like that,” said Rose, a Burlington resident who has worked with Burlington Players since 1994, doing jobs including set design, acting, and directing. Professionally, he works as a data analyst for LogixHealth.

Danley said this is her second major full-length play and one of eight registered on the New Play Exchange, an online catalog of self-published plays, though none of her works is officially published. She said she started writing “Working for Crumbs” in 2016 while doing commercial production in New York, and the play has a lot of “biographical elements to it.” There have been five full productions of the play, but this will be the first time it will be performed in Massachusetts; Danley said she’s excited.

Rose said he and Danley communicated via directly throughout the show’s process. She answered any questions he or the actors had and discussed different suggestions, such as changing one of the characters originally written as a male to a female because the character is being played by an actress, Rose said. He also had a couple of Danley’s old drafts and talked to her about reverting certain things back to an earlier idea.

“It’s true of every production that an actor and a director can bring whatever their vision is to that production or role, but with an unpublished play, you have even more license,” said Jacey Rutledge, who plays Grace, one of the lead characters. 

“It’s exciting too because the audience doesn’t really know the show, and when you’re giving the elevator pitch ‘It’s like “9 to 5: meets “Weekend at Bernie’s,”’ they’re like, ‘Oh, that sounds interesting,’ but nobody knows what’s gonna actually happen in the show,” said Angel Rossi, who plays the other lead character, Amy.

Rossi lives in South Hamilton and Rutledge in Billerica, and they both have been members of the Burlington Players for over 20 years. Rossi said they were in a Burlington Players’ show together in 2002, but this is their first show together since then. 

A big reason they have not done a show together in so long, said Rutledge, is because there are not a lot of female roles and if they both auditioned for a show, they tended to compete for the same part. 

“There are not a ton of comedies like this, written for female characters,” Rutledge said. “I’ve done a lot of Shakespeare where I’ve played male characters who are the clown roles, so it’s nice to have that kind of comedy written specifically for not male characters.”

Rossi added that there are not many female roles that lean into physical comedy, and usually when female characters do take on that type of role, they are “scantily clad.” 

Danley said her favorite thing about collaborating with The Burlington Players is how much they love the script and respect playwrights.

“I wrote the script because I really believe that we need more funny women on stage,” Danley said. “They understood it, and they really sought out performers who had that spirit.”

“It’s just a show where you go to laugh,” said Brit Barone, who is playing the supporting role, Molly. “Sometimes it’s nice to just see a show where your takeaway is that you had a good time.”

Barone, who lives in Salem, is the director of student life for summer programs at Berklee College of Music. This is her first show with the Burlington Players, and she said she is the only person involved in the show who did not know anybody before she joined the cast. 

“I think my favorite thing has been getting to know this completely new space and new production company and new group of people,” Barone said. “Everyone’s been really welcoming and cool.”

There will be nine performances of “Working for Crumbs” from Feb. 21 to March 8 in the 85-seat theatre. Tickets are $20; students and seniors pay $18. 

The Burlington Players, an all-volunteer community theater group of adults from Burlington and surrounding towns, was established in 1965 and has been using the Park Playhouse as its permanent residence since 1985.

Rutledge said people should come to see “Working for Crumbs” because the show is funny and “epically ridiculous,” and people need a break from reality. 

“Laughing is key to being alive, so we need to laugh a lot, especially these days,” Rutledge said.

This story is part of a partnership between Burlington Buzz and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

A plan to replace the parking lot at the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House nonprofit with affordable housing met resistance Wednesday at a meeting with around a dozen residents, several of whom wondered where the parking would go.

The project, led by the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority and designed by Studio G Architects, would include eight to 12 units at 71 Cherry St. that could be apartments, townhomes or three-story condos. The developers are gathering community input to decide. The homes will be on the back side of the 9,000-square-foot lot facing Pine and Eaton streets, where the CRA hopes to begin construction by 2027.

It would be built under the rules of Cambridge’s Affordable Housing Overlay, zoning intended to make it easier to build affordable housing citywide. The 6-year-old idea to build on the parking lot, with construction once expected to start in 2023, was reintroduced in the spring, bringing this first community meeting.

“The CRA has made a public commitment to deliver at least 20,000 square feet of affordable homeownership housing,” said Kyle Vangel, the redevelopment authority’s director of projects and planning. “And we see this project as a way to deliver some of that commitment that we’ve made here.”

The project’s goal is to provide residents with affordable homeownership opportunities, the CRA says – in a way, a continuation of the work of the Margaret Fuller House to meet the needs of its neighborhood. Built in 1807, it was the childhood home of Margaret Fuller, the first female war correspondent, and has served as a community center since the Industrial Revolution. The Port community has relied on it to host events, a food pantry and recreational activities.

New pantry space and a community meeting facility would be part of the project, the CRA says.

Support and concerns

Neil Miller, 29, a longtime resident of Cambridge who recently moved to The Port, said he is proud of how much Cambridge has done to provide affordable housing opportunities and feels that the addition will be good for the community.

“Cambridge has done so much to encourage affordable housing,” Miller said. “It’s so great that this is taking advantage of the Affordable Housing Overlay to create homeownership for people in my neighborhood.”

Dorothy Lane, who lives near the Fuller house, said she is concerned that the city is putting more low-income housing in crowded low-income neighborhoods where there is a parking shortage.

“I’m 75 years old,” she said. “I work three days a week. When I come home at 7 or 8 I can’t find parking, and that is a concern. It’s just very unpleasant day to day to have to struggle to find parking two or three blocks away.”

The Fuller house parking lot is shared by many businesses in the area. Lane fears that the new units will cause people to look for parking along her street – making it even more difficult for her to park near her home.

Answers through design

She and her neighbors also shared a flurry of other concerns, including the “heat island effect” – higher temperatures in urban areas as trees and other greenery is paved over – as well as safety issues and a rat problem at the food pantry that could be worsened with more population density.

“Our neighborhood has some of the highest percentages of gun violence and shootings in the city,” said Daniel Jeffs, who opposed the lot as a location for the project. “We have a lot of rats from the food pantry, and that has been an ongoing problem ever since I lived here. So my question is, if you’re going to subdivide a lot, how is Margaret Fuller going to expand their food pantry capabilities? If they can’t currently run it on their footprint.”

A Studio G representative said the firm plans to work with the city to address residents’ environmental, safety and parking concerns.

“We’re meeting the city’s main factor requirements, and that is all about cool streets and heat island effect and planting trees,” said Rashmi Ramaswami, Studio G project manager. “Our hope is that by being able to design buildings that have reflective roofs, that have planted areas, in combination with the DPW shared streets initiative, some of those concerns that you have will improve things for the better.”

This development comes as Cambridge continues to change its zoning to create more housing. The Affordable Housing Overlay was updated in October to allow higher affordable-housing buildings by right in squares and along major traffic corridors; a vote this month allows four-story residential buildings to go into areas once limited to single- or two-family homes, and to go up to six stories if buildings include affordable units.

“The city has had success with some affordable homeownership projects in the past, including inclusionary units that are affordable homeownership and larger condo projects,” Vangel said. “But it’s relatively scarce. We’re excited to contribute to the housing ecosystem in the city for a project like this.”

This story is part of a partnership between Cambridge Day and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

This article was originally published on February 21, 2025.

Thomas Gibbons presses the button on the illuminated walk sign, then runs back and forth to help people cross. He raises his hand high to signal drivers.

As the children and their parents reach the other side, he calls out “Take care!” or “Have a nice day!”

The 69-year-old wakes up at 5:20 a.m. every weekday. He wants ample time to prepare for his first shift of the day and drive the 3 miles from his home in West Roxbury to his intersection in Brookline Village.

The Boston area is experiencing a shortage of crossing guards. According to the city of Boston’s website, 54 crossing guard positions are open in the city. This is not the case, however, in Brookline, where all 26 positions are filled and the hourly wage for crossing guards is 30% higher than in Boston. Crossing guards in Boston earn up to $22.47 an hour, while all crossing guards in Brookline earn $29.14 an hour.

Gibbons said he doesn’t do the job for the money, though. The position keeps him busy and gives him a mission each day.

“If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to be committed,” Gibbons said.

Gibbons starts his shift at 7:30 a.m. at the busy intersection of Boylston, Washington and High streets.

Sally Cohen said she knows her daughter will be safe walking to the William H. Lincoln School when Gibbons is at the crosswalk.

“He is a stickler for the rules, which I appreciate,” she said.

Every time a group of kids stands close to the edge of the sidewalk Gibbons watches intently.

He doesn’t try to learn their names and has two reasons for that.

“Number one is I’m bound to forget,” he said.

He also figures that if he calls some kids by their names, others will feel hurt.

Gibbons grew up in Brighton, studied law enforcement at Boston State College, which has since been absorbed into the UMass Boston, and moved to Houston after graduating.

He worked at Southwestern Bell, where he spent his time knocking on doors and in manholes installing telephone lines.

“I loved it,” he said. “It wasn’t even like going to work.”

During a stint as a telephone repair technician, he met his wife, Kathleen, who was working as a phone operator for the company.

The couple moved back to Boston. He found a job at the New England Phone Company.

They had two children. Their son, Patrick, is completing his annual training as a captain in the Army Reserves in Japan. The daughter, Kelly, works as a speech pathologist in the Walpole school system.

Gibbons has worked odd jobs since retiring in 2017. None of them stuck for long. He became a mail carrier for a week before quitting.

Four years ago, Kathleen was working in the office for the now-demolished Pierce School on Washington Street. She heard they needed a crossing guard outside the William H. Lincoln School on Walnut Street. Gibbons filled in – and fell in love with it.

“I am providing a service, and it’s rewarding,” he said. “It’s not like a job.”

He was stationed in front of the Lincoln school for a year and a half, then moved further down Walnut Street to the intersection with High Street. He moved another 100 feet down High Street to his current post this December.

Kids are more respectful of traffic etiquette than adults, he said. If a child tries to cross without the sign illuminated, Thomas educates them on how to be more safe. He does not do the same with adults.

“Jaywalkers don’t make it easy,” Thomas said. “I can’t tell adults how to cross the street.”

Drivers can also be reckless, of course.

“Everyone is trying to get somewhere,” he said. “They are desperate to get out of town or wherever people have to go.”

Gibbons said he once witnessed a negligent motorist drive on the High Street sidewalk to avoid backed-up traffic.

Kids often give him gifts. As much as he loves Dunkin’ gift cards, there are the “little notes” thanking him for helping them cross the road and the silly jokes he makes.

When his morning shift is over, he drives back home for a break. Gibbons eats lunch with his wife. If there’s time, he’ll work out at the YMCA.

He will be back 40 minutes early for his afternoon shift.

This story is part of a partnership between Brookline.News and the Boston University Department of Journalism.