Protect us from Uplands Mess

This is my third letter to the editor. After reading Cassie Norton's coverage of the last open public meeting of the ZBA, I am appalled at the public conduct and persona of Mr. Chin. I am an original member of the Uplands Study Committee and an abutter of Little Pond. Ill health at this particular period of my life has curtailed my further attendance at the scheduled meetings. So it is with great interest that I keep watch of what is happening here.

As a public official appointed in that capacity, it is Mr. Chin's duty to be above any petty remarks, however goaded by frustrated citizens who are at the meeting and passionately speak out because they want to see the best outcome for the town. We the public, the board members, townsfolk, abutters and similarly interested and affected Arlington and Cambridge residents, all want the best for our region, specifically the Alewife area that abuts Cambridge Park, Little Pond, Little River, Blair Pond and not least the Uplands.

Of particular interest as an abutter of Little Pond and a member of the entire Winn Brook neighborhood, it is extremely important that the sewage backup problem that plagues this and so many seemingly far-reaching streets not be taken lightly. Mr. Chin does himself a disservice by comparing that sewage problem and in agreement with Mr. Corridan of O'Neill Properties, as just an inevitability that we, the townspeople, will have to live with and pay for the resultant damage when, as it will happen, during fast or prolonged storms. The system will break down, all agree, as it is overloaded. How can Mr. Chin compare all the attendant health and damaging effects on present Belmont tax-paying residents to the effect on the last person in line cutting in at the movie theater, since as he and Mr. Corridan say, tying into Cambridge is just further up the line and that portion on the system is just vulnerable. The entire system is broken, and we need to fix it together with our neighbors Cambridge and Arlington, not further stress it.

It seems to me I have heard this convoluted logic before as regards the ongoing horror and mess that the innocent citizens of New Orleans are still dealing with because of the ineptitude and inefficiency of the government acting for its citizens. The ZBA is our government spokesperson just as the government of the United States working under FEMA was and is for the citizens of New Orleans. We are crying out as a town a wee bit late, but it is with a mighty voice to help us from this quagmire of problems brought on by a greedy company who only hopes to turn another quick buck and leave the citizens of Belmont wringing their empty hands alone in their dismay.

Kathleen Connolly

Oliver Road