Round 3: Support the Library Tonight at 7:00 PM!

Talking back to Planning Board

At an August 1st meeting, a resident expresses opposition to a Planning Board scheme to relocate the Public Library to privately owned land in Waverley Square.

Hey Blogging Belmont readers. I’ve been trying to keep you updated about the ongoing and somewhat strange proposal, by our Planning Board, to relocate the Belmont Public Library from its current location to the site of the Belmont Car Wash on Trapelo Road in Waverley Square. That summer saga takes another turn this evening when the Planning Board will meet with the Belmont Library’s Board of Trustees.

Just some background: this is effectively “round 3” in a this bizarre effort to move the Belmont Public Library from its current location. That idea was first floated at a Planning Board meeting on July 11th, raised with the Board of Selectmen and then taken up again at a Planning Board Meeting on August 1st. Despite the fact that the Library Board of Trustees is elected by voters and has fiduciary responsibility for the Public Library, this is the first chance the full Board will be given to hear and weigh in on the Planning Board proposal, more than a month after it was first unveiled. That speaks volumes about how back-a**wards this whole effort has been.

In any case, this is a great opportunity to come out and show your report for the Library, voice opposition to any plans to relocate the Library and to the Planning Board’s questionable “lease back” idea that would make Belmont beholden to a private landowner with no clear benefits to the town or taxpayer.

The meeting starts at 7:00 PM at the Assembly Room in the Belmont Public Library. The Waverley Square Library idea is pretty much all that’s on the agenda and there is space for public comment. You can view the full agenda here. Let’s put some bodies in the room and make sure that the Library Board of Trustees know that Belmont supports their work. Let’s also send a message to the Planning Board that their idea for moving the Library to private land in Waverley Square is not supported.

See you there!