Substation Talks Stall Waiting For School's Action

The ball is now in the Belmont School Committee's court as the Belmont Municipal Light Department decided in executive session early today, June 31, to delay negotiations on its possible purchase of the controversial Purecoat North site adjacent Belmont High School and the commuter rail tracks as the future home of a badly-needed electrical substation.

The stumbling block is whether the School Committee has the ability to transfer a parcel of land including part of the High School's tennis court to the Light Department.

And the chairman of the Light Department committee created to determine the best available site said it needs an answer quickly, even though the School Committee is not expected to hold a meeting until the Fall.

"We will need a speedy decision from the School Committee by at least August 1," said Robert McLaughlin, chairman of the Light Department's 115 kV Site Selection Committee after the close of the executive session.

A message was sent to Anne Rittenburg, chairwoman of the Belmont School Committee whether the school committee can meet soon.

Noting that the committee is not expected back in business until the beginning of the upcoming school year, McLaughlin said he will ask for the committee to meet in special session to discuss the substance of the subcommittees vote. 

"We can't hang around and wait for them. This needs to be done soon," said McLaughlin who noted that representatives for Purecoat will not wait through the summer without some progress. 

Speaking earlier to the subcommittee, School Superintendent George Entwistle said the School Committee has been "enthusiastic and cooperative partners" with the town and the Light Department's subcommittee and saw this "willingness to work together" continuing.

Earlier, at the public meeting, the subcommittee was intending to vote on which location the Light Department would begin talks on purchasing the land for a new substation. 

Entwistle and Library Trustee Hal Shubin attended the meeting to hear from Town Counsel Jeanne McKnight that several issues of title of land along the railroad tracks has turned in Belmont's favor. 

Discussion turned to the Purecoat North site on Hittinger Street which the Light Department would prefer to place the modern substation, a needed addition to the town's aging electrical system. 

The school department would need to part with the tennis courts but would gain with a new turf field - which would serve as an environmental barrier between the hazardous Purecoat site and the school - and 5,000 square feet of additional academic space.

But McLaughlin said that too many issues concerning the school department and school committee are still unanswered that the subcommittee could not recommend any one site to begin the purchase process. 

One question is whether the School Committee has the legal right to transfer the land and would transferring the land to the Light Department for its substation reduce the footprint of the High School so that it would jeopardize their ability to win state grants to renovate the school.

"And until those are answered, we can't move forward," said McLaughlin.