UPDATE: Thursday 7:30 PM
The Springfield Republican catches up
UPDATE: Wed 2/23 7:00 PM
The venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette is reporting that town officials have, mercifully, ditched the idea of blockading Lincoln Avenue. I of course had extreme strong suspicions yesterday that was case when I first learned the town had postponed yet again the public hearing from 3/1 to 4/5, but could not get corroberation.
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Original Post: Tuesday 2/22
So the March 1st public meeting to hear, err, discussion from the general public on erecting a Berlin Wall separating Umass from its multitudinous employees who use that public road (constructed circa 1860 or so) has been postponed yet again--this time until April 5 in the Town Room at Town Hall, a prime location.
The DPW Projects page on the town website has also posted the most recent comments received to date on this latest round of indulgence to all things NIMBY. This one is my favorite, as they manage to weave in the threat from speeders texting while driving, Level 3 Sex Offenders, and track teams running in packs. Yikes!
How can we comment to the appropriate authorities? Do you have the relevant email address? Thanks for being on top of this.
ReplyDeletepublicworks@amherstma.gov
ReplyDeleteOr better yet:
selectboard@amherstma.gov
As they will have the final say.
I suppose the town should pay for new deadbolts for the Lincoln elite, due to the sexual predators. if they are so worried about kiddie rape they should move out.
ReplyDeletethe first place I lived in town back in 89 was 318 Lincoln. those idiots were trying to get it closed back then. 22yrs later how much town money have they wasted?
my landlords were total loons. one day I came home and Marie was in our house (no call or 24hr notice) sweeping our living room, and proceeded to tell me to put the nasty rug they provided back in the room. I called the cops, one showed up and he refused to hear that she was trespassing, and he took her side. they also wouldn't let us keep our bikes on the porch or in the house, rather they forced us to use the unlighted, unsecure shed in the back yard.
if this is any indicator of the type of landowners on lincoln, it is a sad state of affairs
'bach
If the above post is any indication of the level of intelligence in our community, it is a sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeletesorry to disappoint you, I moved out of that rathole town years back
ReplyDelete'bach
they do have good pizza and burritos though
No one's disappointed.
ReplyDeleteyes, I had such a big influence in town. no one is disappointed since noone knows me.
ReplyDeleteI guarantee the jones aren't disappointed though, considering I spearheaded the movement which cost them tens of thousands cleaning up their environmental pollution.
perhaps one of my greatest achievements. look at the sawmill now....laid to waste.
Bach
Bach, please climb back under your (salamandor) rock.
ReplyDeleteThe Gazette at least suggests that blocking the road entirely is no longer on the table -- have they got it wrong?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gazettenet.com/2011/02/24/proposed-amherst-street-closing-plan-lincoln-sunset-avenues-scra
DaveMB:
ReplyDeleteNo, the venerable Gazette,amazingly, probably has it right (for a change).
Has anybody noticed that there is a Level 3 Sex Offender that LIVES ON LINCOLN AVENUE???? Go down to the post office or police station or anywhere and you will see the poor sob's picture up everywhere.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe he is dangerous. So we shut off the street so fewer people are driving by, which means fewer eyes watching for suspicious activity, which means fewer cellphones to dial 911, which means he can go perping again with impunity because no one will notice him.
Yep, that is how we make children safe in Amherst....
Since Level 3 sex offenders are designated with that Scarlet Letter (number) by our illustrious state authorities because they are "likely to reoffend," my theory is they should not be released into civil society in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI was interested in this comment in one of the letters:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Stephen, for taking on this task.
Yes, I'd be in favor of barrier on Sunset as well as Lincoln Ave. And yes, I'm in favor of
real "speed tables" and not merely bumps or cut-through cushions."
Is that Stephen Braun she's referring to... chair of the Public Works committee? And if so, isn't his involvement in this as a Lincoln Ave. resident a potential ethics violation? I thought committee members with a conflict of interest on an issue under consideration were supposed to recuse themselves from deliberations, not spearhead them, as this letter writer seems to be indicating.
Yeah that would indeed be Stephen Braun, Chair of the Public Works Committee and Lincoln Avenue resident.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he does step down as Chair whenever this matter comes up (which has been all too often over the past four or five years)
Quite frankly I also have problems with Lincoln Ave resident Phil Jackson leading the charge on this fiasco when he's also on Amherst Town Meeting and an appointed member of the Amherst Finance Committee.
I don't know whom to be angrier at:
ReplyDeleteThe White Racists of Lincoln Avenue, or the White Racists of Pelham.
What should I do?
A couple beers at the ABC?
ReplyDeleteConflict of interest?
ReplyDeleteEthics violation?
When have they been a problem for the folks in charge
One of the problems is some people get appointed to these positions with the promise to help improve the town. Then what ultimatly ends up happening is they become more concerned with the improvement of their own needs then the town as a whole. As we are seeing with this situation.
ReplyDeleteYes Dale,
ReplyDeleteThere's no interest like self interest.
Has anyone following this blog attended any of the UMass Master planning meetings?
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of talk about Ped and Bike safety on Nort Pleasant Street. I heard the idea of closing North Pleasant Street is coming up again.
I say we build the "Trans Quabbin Expressway" -- six lanes wide, straight from Whitmore to Worcester with everything in the way being bulldozed, including a swath right through downtown.
ReplyDeleteI support deferring business traffic from this residential road. I feel the parking lot entrances on Lincoln and Sunset should both be closed with top locking bollards. UMass has a responsibility to the community and should respect its neighbors. It's sad what UMass alone has done to the town of Amherst.
ReplyDelete