Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Keeping The DPW In Check

Work has been ongoing near this intersection since late Spring

Everybody's favorite aging activist Vince O'Connor filed two citizens petition articles for the upcoming Fall Town Meeting, both of them directed at disrupting public works projects:  Blocking a new home for the DPW and the roundabout at Triangle/East Pleasant Street, a main gateway to our #1 employer UMass/AMHERST.

 Click to enlarge/read.  Each petition required certified 100 signatures 
 

And last night Mr. O'Connor was at the Select Board meeting to speak against their letter of support for the 130 unit Beacon Communities mixed-use affordable housing project in North Amherst, even though he admitted he had not yet read the letter because he doesn't use the internet. 

Yes if you are going to stand in the way of progress there's nothing better than using a quill pen to write by the light of a whale oil lamp and frequenting on foot ye old gathering places to acquire signatures to bring petitions before our archaic branch of government, Town Meeting.  

12 comments:

  1. GREAT IDEAS, Vince! I do not always agree with all your ideas, but this is a winner! The DPW is not and should not be a construction company. Big projects should be sent out to bid to commercial contractors. The jobs would be completed in a timely manner, we would have less need for more town employees and we would not need to purchase or maintain so much expensive heavy equipment. This is all a burden to the taxpayers.

    These proposals are such great ways to save the taxpayers money and improve all our roads and sidewalks. Cutting back brush and trees would also be quite helpful. DPW should be for maintenance, not construction.

    I am going to vote for these ideas. Thanks Vince for all the good work putting this together.

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  2. Well since you're an Anon I would usually guess you are Vince.

    But since he doesn't use the internet ...

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  3. When Vince dies we can bury him in the center of the roundabout.

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  4. I disagree with Vince on the roundabout. It's a much simpler solution as evidenced by the north end of campus. And a roundabout is more sustainable as it does not constantly consume electricity, buzzing pedestrian signals, and lights shining into abutting properties. It's also much safer in the event of an extended power outage.

    I agree 100% with Vince on the DPW. And it probably needs a purge. There must be someone who actually knows how to maintain a town that could take over the management and operations there.

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  5. I never agree with Vince but this time I do. I just wish he would grow the mustache!

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  6. Neither is worth the paper they are written on. 1) "To see if the Select Board will vote" -- didn't they already? What, again? And, 2) "Be it resolved" as in "nonbinding resolution", SO WHAT!!! When these things were about world peace or some such, it was charming. Now they are just signs of dementia. Please, can we all go home? Please?

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  7. The roundabout is a devo way to contain drunks- road ragers - and speedsters ! Now for a true one in residential / commercial inner city North Amherst - a defacto speed bump !!!

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  8. Anon 5:08 & 5:35......HUH?

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  9. Let's not forget that the only reason the DPW needs a new building is because the central AFD fire station will be taking the DPW's property and demolishing the building to put up a new fire station. The DPW is being kicked off of the property, so a new building is a necessity in order for the AFD to get a new fire station.

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    1. That's not true anon 6:11. They are not being kicked off the property and that is just one option. If AFD wants to have the new station built soon, they sure as hell should build it elsewhere instead of waiting for the site to be cleaned up.

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  10. didn't these used to be called rotaries?

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    1. Technically speaking, rotaries and roundabouts are two difference classifications of traffic circle and designation is based on the factors of size and complexity. The northeastern US has just defaulted to calling every traffic circle a 'rotary'

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