Pike narrowly beat Condodemetraky & voters will allow waste transfer station

Published Date

BELMONT — Despite a year of fending off accusations of living elsewhere and controversy about taking a settlement from the town over money he believed owed to him over health insurance premiums, incumbent Selectmen Jon Pike defeated challenger George Condodemetraky yesterday and earned a third three-year term as selectman. Pike won the election by a mere 25 votes of the 509 cast.
Garnering spots on the Planning Board were incumbents Ward Peterson and Michael Leclair, while Marshall Ford and John Froumy will serve on the Zoning Board.
Diane Johnson bested Sheila Sullivan for a spot as a library trustee by a vote of 271 to 162.
The town passed a change in the zoning ordinance (Ballot Question 2) that will allow household waste to be collected at facilities built in industrial zones.
There were two distinct sides to the Ballot question 2.
The town through its Planning Board supported passing the a zoning ordinance that would include household waste as a permitted use in the industrial zone.
In a letter of support, Town Administrator Jeanne Beaudin said a community can often benefit financially from having a household waste transfer station in its community.
She noted that Belmont has budgeted just over $500,000 for household waste disposal for 2013 and with tipping fees on the rise, a solid waste facility in town coupled with more voluntary recycling could save the town money in future trash disposal costs.
The Conservation Commission was on the fence on this one. While any proposal that may come from Casella Resource Solutions would likely include a request for household waste, members of the Conservation Commission were split about having the facility above the aquifer.
Chair Ken Knowlton said that while he has no reason to believe Casella would be anything but good tenants, he personally was reluctant to support the change, as was Condodemetraky who feared adding household waste at a site above the aquifer could present dangerous environmental concerns down the road to the towns' drinking water supply.
Voters defeated a ballot question by a margin of 269 to 223 an article that would have added two library trustees and bring the board total to five.