Belmont Prepares Plan to Lessen Flooding Impact

Belmont has done a good job of addressing hazardous situations caused by inclement weather and is on its way toward having a plan in place that will bring the town grant money to keep it even safer.

That's what representatives from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) told the Belmont Board of Selectmen at a July 12 meeting where they provided an update on Belmont's pre-disaster mitigation plan that will fulfill the requirements of the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000.

The act states each community must adopt a local plan in order to apply for certain grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to be used for lessening the impact of natural hazards such as flooding, hurricanes, storms, brush fires and earth quakes.

"The primary local hazard here is flooding," said Martin Pillsbury, manager of regional planning services for MAPC.

"The town has done well addressing hazards for floods and has an active tree-trimming program, excellent snow removal and prohibition of open fires."

After working with a number of town departments for approximately six months, Pillsbury said Belmont now has a detailed plan that specifies ways to strengthen the hazardous mitigation that is already in place.

Steps leading to the plan, he said, included identifying 91 critical facilities, infrastructure and natural hazardous sites; and using statewide data to map flood plains, average snowfall and wind speeds.

Pillsbury said areas of utmost concern for flooding are Clay Pit Pond at the High School, Trapelo Road and Acorn Park Road.

Other areas that pose concern for hazardous situations include open space at McLean Hospital, Beaver Brook Reservation and The Audubon Society's The Habitat as well as areas where re-development has been proposed such as the Belmont Uplands and Waverley Woods.

The study identifies high priorities for Belmont: to study further flooding mitigation solutions at Clay Pit Pond, enlarge the Trapelo Road culvert and purchase brushfire firefighting equipment.

Moderate priorities are to have more frequent maintenance of town-owned drainage facilities, study groundwater-sourced flooding of basements in town and conducting a feasibility study of a storm water utility.

"The plan addresses areas where we've had issues in the past," said Assistant Fire Chief Angus Davison who worked with MAPC along with the representatives from the Police Department, Health Department, Department of Public Works, Emergency Management, Building Services, Council on Aging and Town Clerk's office.

"The plan now goes to FEMA for approval and will come back to the Board of Selection for adoption in a few months."

Currently, Pillsbury said, a little more than half the communities in the state have adopted a pre-disaster mitigation plan. Towns and cities surrounding Belmont are in the process of doing so.