Capping the Incinerator

What further delay and what taxpayer cost? 

Having previously received a mandate from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to cap a portion of the 25-acre Belmont incinerator ash landfill site on Concord Avenue, the town Select Board began studying potential next uses for the site in 2012 (14 years ago).

The Select Board received briefings on potential uses of the land post-capping of the site in 2012, 2014, and 2018. Permitted non-commercial uses included passive recreational/open space, baseball and softball fields, public works operations, police station relocation, and a solar photovoltaic panel.

In March 2019 the Select Board voted to remediate the site as a solar farm and battery storage, to be owned and managed by Belmont Light (BMLD).

This year, at the February BMLD board meeting, the discussion focused on clarifying the scope, responsibilities, and financial implications of BMLD’s possible involvement in the cap. Also discussed was erecting a BMLD building on the site, vacating the current building.

Belmont is not in a strong financial position: the town  is carrying $278 million in debt (10% of Belmont’s FY27 budget is for debt service), its reserves ( free cash and stabilization funds ) as a percentage of operating budget, are the lowest among 17 peer towns,  the town’s non-teacher pension funds are 76% funded, and an operating override is being discussed for FY29.

Clear, economical, timely decisions are needed, particularly if another debt exclusion is to be proposed. The Comprehensive Capital Budget Committee (CCBC) 2026 report to Town Meeting states that: “The planning for the Incinerator site through Belmont Light is a gating item for progress on large town capital projects (completion of the landfill closure and planning for a new public works facility).”

So here we are, 14 years later, awaiting a decision.