Belmont Select Board approves $200,000 water loan, spring community events

BELMONT -- February 23, 2026, Belmont Select Board approves $200,000 no-interest water loan and authorizes spring festivals as FY2027 budget shows $1.7 million gap. Meeting fully remotely due to a winter storm, Chair Matthew Taylor and Vice Chair Taylor Yates, the only members present, with Elizabeth Dionne absent, voted unanimously on six items. Town Treasurer Leslie Davidson said the MWRA no-interest loan covers the remaining available borrowing from a $3.133 million Town Meeting authorization, to be repaid over 10 years at roughly $20,000 annually beginning in February 2027. Town Administrator Patrice Garvin presented a preliminary FY2027 municipal budget growing at 2.5 percent over fiscal year 2026, with a net staffing increase of approximately $100,000 and 1.3 full-time equivalents, but flagged that the town plans to draw $1.7 million from its override mitigation fund to close a gap driven by a 15 percent health insurance increase, pension costs up $253,000, and new facilities expenses for the library and sports rink. The board also approved the Pan-Asian Coalition's fifth annual Lunar New Year Festival for March 15 and the LGBTQ+ Alliance's Pride Parade for May 31, and heard from Chief Innovation Officer Chris McClure that the town is launching a Google Maps-based public GIS platform and hiring a GIS Coordinator to build out a one-stop property information hub.