Bring It Home AC

 New Field House

When the unbeaten Lord Jeffs take the field later this afternoon for their home opener against Bowdoin, they will be playing second fiddle to their spectacular playing field as today marks the first time Amherst College Pratt Field will host a football game after a mega-million dollar renovation. 

 

What's left of mainstream media will have nifty new press box

 

Newly realigned banked running track 

Best seats in the house

 

Amherst:  Where only the h is silent (or, even the h)

Camperdown Elm almost became collateral damage but was gently moved (at $100K cost) out of the way

Lost Weekend

Substance abuse comprises 17% of EMS calls to Amherst College so far this year

Let's hope Amherst College President Biddy Martin is a light sleeper, so the emergency flashing lights of the ambulance that came to that 175 South Pleasant street location (not the actual President's House) in the early Sunday morning hours for a young Amherst College ETOH student, awakened her.

   AFD Sept Busy Wknd by larry_kelley_1

Furthermore, let's hope she awakens to the problem of alcohol abuse that can lead to so many other serious problems, like sexual assault and suicide, something Amherst College should have been awakened to last year.

Better yet, let's hope all of our institutes of higher education start taking this problem more seriously.

 

Substance abuse comprises 23% EMS calls to UMass/Amherst

Substance abuse comprises 14% EMS calls to Hampshire College

On The Other Hand:

 

Substance abuse comprises 5% EMS calls for town of Amherst

Substance abuse comprises only 4% of EMS calls to the town of Hadley

#2 times 2

 Amherst College (named after the town, not the General)

Amherst College is rated #2 for top liberal arts college in American behind arch rival Williams College.  And now they are rated #2 in the state for "safest school."

One logical reason is of course Amherst, the town, is pretty safe.  And the Amherst Police Department does a great job of keeping it that way.

Amherst College also has a fine professional police department made up of 7 full-time patrol officers, 3 sergeants, a deputy chief and highly regarded Chief, John Carter.

Back in December of 2011 Amherst Police had their hands full with a student party house on College Street just off Amherst College campus (none of them AC students) that had spiraled out of control, with a major fight that resulted in a stabbing.

UMass police were too busy on their campus to provide mutual aid.   But Amherst College police were a big help, arriving quickly on the scene to help control vehicular traffic and party goers cascading out of the house.

I emailed a brief thank you note to Amherst College President Biddy Martin and received this reply:

I am glad to hear that the Amherst College police were helpful to you on Saturday. Having worked closely with university police at Cornell and at UW-Madison, I count on campus police to be well-trained and highly competent. I agree. The assumption that campus police are "mall cops" is totally misplaced. Responsibility for thousands of young people and unique facilities requires that every campus have police or safety departments that can handle any kind of emergency, often in cooperation with colleagues off campus. It is a relief to know from you that our campus police have a good relationship with your department. 

Another contributing factor keeping Amherst College safe and sound is the full time protection provided by the Amherst Fire Department. Amherst College donates $90,000 annually to the town in lieu of taxes for ambulance/fire protection.

AFD responses in 2013 thus far by location

 

Graph courtesy of Amherst Firefighters Local 1764 

A scenic campus, well maintained buildings and a low student teacher ratio are all important factors in choosing a school. But it's hard to learn if you don't feel safe.

A Curtain No More

Marsh House last week

Marsh House this morning

Repaving Paradise

Marsh House lawn 81 Lessey Street. 

Amherst College, the town's largest property owner and #1 taxpayer, is on a building boom, with current projects underway in the downtown -- the  Fiber Art Building rehab -- and the massive overhaul at Pratt Field.

 Fiber Arts Building heart of downtown

After the $19 million setback with the Science Center it must be nice to have a construction project go quickly and easily.

Like this sidewalk renovation that bisects a lush green lawn that flows down a steep hill, practically all the way to  Sweetser Park.

According to Facilities Director Jim Brassord:  "The sidewalk was in serious disrepair so we are replacing it.  In doing so, we'll make it a bit wider, perhaps a foot, to ensure that it is consistent with the width of our standard sized sidewalk plow."

 

Marsh House built 1835

The Marsh House at the top of the hill is plenty historic in its own right.  Built in 1835 for Luke Sweetser (of Sweetser Park fame) the house acted as a fraternity for Amherst College students.  Its most famous pledge was none other than Calvin Coolidge, who graduated cum laude before going on to become our 30th President.

The property is bounded to the south by the Dickinson Homestead and The Evergreens, built for Austin Dickinson, Miss Emily's brother.  Both also owned by Amherst College; and all of these properties are pretty much located dead center in the new Dickinson Local Historic District.

Since driveways, terraces and sidewalks are excluded as long as "any such structure is substantially at grade level," Amherst College did not have to seek a "Certificate of Appropriateness" from the DLHD committee.

The entire project was completed within a week, despite the tropical temperatures.  Ah, if only all of them went so well.  Now that would be historic!

That Which Survives

 Camperdown Elm: A priceless $100,000 shade tree

The majestic Amherst College owned  Camperdown Elm seems to have weathered the recent relocation just fine, knock on wood. 

Three months ago a bevy of trained workers gingerly moved the ancient but healthy shade tree a distance of 90 feet to avoid being run over by a running track.

Amherst College officials must be relieved, since the tree is irreplaceable ... and the lifesaving procedure is said to have cost $100,000 or just over $1,100 per foot.

 Pratt Field, Amherst

But then Amherst College is our #1 landowner.  Even though a tax-exempt institution the #2 liberal arts college in America is still the town's #1 taxpayer.   The Pratt Field renovation project was budgeted at $12.5 million, although rumor has it the cost of the project is over by half. 

But, like the Camperdown Elm, Pratt Field will be pretty stunning when completed. 

Lighting The Way

Crosswalk bollards that light up now straddle Snell Street

The Public Works Committee meets next week and will discuss "Amherst College placing bollards on Snell Street," in the public way.  Safe bet they will support the safety move and then pass on that recommendation to the all powerful Select Board who will then vote to approve the project, which is pretty much completed.  

While the more expensive regular full sized pole mounted lighting do a better job illuminating the crosswalk and immediate area, the stubby bolards illuminate just the pedestrian and create a contrast that is more visible to a driver.

Elaborate crosswalk below President's House S. Pleasant Street

A few years ago Amherst College also installed major crosswalks on South Pleasant Street and College Street contiguous to their campus.

Although Amherst College is, like UMass, a tax exempt institution it is also the town's number one taxpayer ( to the tune of $491,364 last year) due to all the houses it owns that are rented to staff, and two businesses that also are on the tax rolls:   Lord Jeffery Inn and Amherst Golf Course.

In addition the College donates $90,000 annually for Amherst Fire Department services. 

Meanwhile the Amherst DPW is installing new LED lighting in all town streetlights, a project funded by a $300,000 state energy grant.  Town Meeting recently voted $130,000 in capital funds for a new bucket truck that could help speed up the project. 

DPW relamping South Pleasant Street

Aerial Heirloom

Camperdown Elm at Pratt Field briefly slips the surly bonds of earth 

After spending pretty much the whole day yesterday preparing the precious Camperdown Elm for its brief but important journey of 30 yards, but then deciding to bring in a bigger 100 ton crane, today's effort went off perfectly.

A BIGGER 100 ton crane did the trick

About a dozen workers from Bartlett Tree Experts demonstrated why "experts" are part of their name and made the successful move this morning in a little less than two hours.

Only one branch from the top of the Camperdown Elm snapped off at the initial start of the launch, bringing an audible reaction from the small crowd who gathered to watch the spectacle.

 Relocation of the Camperdown Elm completed

Handle With Care

A bevy of workers prepare the Camperdown Elm for a safe move 

A large crew from Connecticut based Bartlett Tree Experts spent pretty much the whole day trying to move the stately Camperdown Elm from the center of harm's way at Amherst College Pratt Field, but in the end gave up for the day and sent out for a bigger crane.  Yes, I said a b-i-g-g-e-r crane.

Work is expected to resume tomorrow, if the crane arrives.

Crews abandoned the effort today to await a BIGGER crane

Camperdown Elm, all wrapped up and ready to go

Tighter Housing Market

Amherst College (named after the town, not the General)

So the already squeaky tight rental housing market in Amherst, everybody's  favorite college town, will get a little tighter this upcoming school year as the construction projects at Amherst College, our #1 landowner and property taxpayer, displaces 60 students from on-campus housing.

Sure, losing 15 apartment units out of total rental stock of 5,000 doesn't sound like much, and since the apartments normally rent for $2,540 + utilities, not overly affordable for families.

But in a town with a vacancy rate of only 3.5%, described by the Housing and Sheltering Committee as "well below state and national levels and representative of extremely tight market conditions," every unit matters.

At least the neighborhood will not have to worry about rowdyism. 

Professional Help For Crime Victims

Amherst Police Department 111 Main Street

While the town recently lost a $900,000 federal grant to benefit low and moderate income residents and a $4.2 million state grant for road improvements in North Amherst, a potentially lifesaving Amherst Police Department regional program designed to aid those devastated by the horror of sexual assault or domestic abuse snagged a $300,000 grant from the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

The money will continue to fund a full-time counselor who splits her time between UMass and the town, add a part-time counselor for Northampton PD, increase training for all three departments and fund an additional full-time Amherst police officer whose exclusive beat will be sexual assault and domestic violence cases.

The renewal/expansion of the program, originally founded two years ago with $174,000 Justice Department grant, comes soon after our comfortable college town was rocked by a series of sensational sexual assault cases.

A long-form narrative first-person piece published on the front page of the Amherst College student newspaper shone a glaring spotlight on the inadequate system the prestigious college used for handling such sensitive matters.

Followed by a shocking incident of alleged gang rape at a UMass dormitory.

And just when you thought it could not get any worse, the heartrending story of yet another Amherst College student ill-served by an in-house amateur response to a situation requiring highly trained professionals.

Trey Malone committed suicide, leaving behind a devastatingly poignant final farewell blaming his self-induced death on the sexual assault by a fellow student, made even worse by the way Amherst College (mis) handled it.

Could this regional civilian advocacy program have made a difference for Trey?  Although funding is provided by the "Office on Violence Against Women" men most certainly are not excluded.

But, since Amherst College didn't report the incident to local police or the district attorney's office, we will never know.

This essential service program has helped hundreds over the past two years, and will now continue to help hundreds into the future.

A Toast To Survival

Camperdown Elm, Amherst College Pratt Field

Friends, neighbors, Amherst College faculty, Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee members and a couple of long-time columnists for the Daily Hampshire Gazette gathered round the historic Camperdown Elm on Pratt Field Amherst College yesterday and raised a glass of champagne to celebrate a reversal of the pernicious plan to kill the Camperdown. 

Instead, Amherst College will pay -- or I should say an "anonymous benefactor" will cover -- the $100,000 relocation cost to move the iconic beauty out of harm's way:  the $12.5 million major renovation of 122 year old Pratt Field.

A realignment of the track directly intersected with the plot of earth the stately tree has occupied, probably since Pratt Field was founded in 1891, and if not for the great concern of arbor aficionados the Camperdown was destined to become kindling.

Since this photo was taken in late July, Amherst College has enclosed the Camperdown with fencing to protect its roots, trimmed it, and is being extra careful with watering and fertilizer

$aving a Camperdown? Yes!

 The stately Camperdown Elm on Amherst College Campus released from Death Row

Amherst College has wisely decided that you can't really put a price on a majestic historic treasure like their almost one of kind (in Amherst anyway) Camperdown elm.

Yes, Amherst's largest landowner and second best liberal arts college in America will pay the $100,000 cost to safely relocate the Camperdown to a new spot on Pratt Field rather than simply cut it down and chalk it up to collateral damage in the $12.5 million renovation project.

 Trees on both sides of the Camperdown will not survive realignment of track

Amherst College Director of Facilities Jim Brassord announced the stunning news last night to a group of concerned neighbors (concerned about the Camperdown, noise, traffic, etc) while giving them an update on plans for the major construction project impacting their neighborhood. The project starts after the football season finishes this fall. 

 Camperdown Elm will provide shade for generations of Amherst College students to come

Nobody knows for sure when the tree was planted, but just over a 120 years ago, when Pratt Field was first constructed is a pretty good bet.  And yes they can easily live to be 200 or more years old.

Sure $100K is a lot of money, but less than 1% of the overall budget for the project.

 Amherst Shade Tree Committee wrote to College President Biddy Martin pleading for  Camperdown's salvation

All the Camperdowns in existence today emanate from a single tree created by grafting a mutant alien branch found on the forest floor to a Wych elm on the estate of the Earl of Camperdown in Dundee, Scotland circa 1835.

Combine that unique pedigree with the weeping nature of Camperdown canopy and it's no wonder it attracts an almost religious like following among tree lovers.

Historical preservation at its finest

Man Down ... Way Down!

 AFD and Amherst College PD attend to fallen worker trapped in a manhole

Late this morning a contractor performing work at Amherst College fell down a manhole bringing a swift coordinated response from Amherst Fire Department, APD, Amherst College Police --including Chief John Carter and Director of Facilities Jim Brassord -- as well as a bevy of concerned fellow workers.

AFD called in their "technical team" (climbers who usually go in an upward direction) and the rescue took less than an hour.  The rescuers were talking to the trapped man the entire time and it appeared at no time was the situation life threatening.

 He's out!

Still, a tremendous effort by first responders.

AFD Press Release 

Hidden Cost of Higher Education

 Amherst College (named after the town, not the General)

In addition to the $491,364 Amherst College paid the town last year in property taxes for faculty housing, Lord Jeff Inn and Amherst Golf Course --making them Amherst's number #1 taxpayer-- AC also voluntarily donated $90,000 Payment In Lieu Of Taxes specifically for fire/ambulance protection.

Last year AFD responded to the campus 180 times (58 fire, 122 EMS), or an average of $500 reimbursement per run. 

UMass pays the town $325,000 PILOT under a 5 year strategic agreement that expired July 1st, but was e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d for one year because UMass was once again playing musical chairs with its leadership and the new Chancellor just started only this summer.  Last year AFD responded to the campus 915 times (234 fire, 681 EMS), or an average of $355 reimbursement per run.

 Hampshire College

Hampshire College, one of the most expensive schools in the country and the town's third largest landowner, required 178 AFD runs last year (107 fire, 71 EMS) and paid the town zero for PILOT, or an average of zero per run.  Yes, I said zero.

The town of Amherst required 3,189 AFD runs (956 fire, 2233 EMS) and paid $4 million in taxes to fund the entire department, or $1,254 reimbursement per run.  And yes, insurance receipts for ambulance runs totaled $2 million so the net cost to taxpayers is cut in half--but that still works out to $627 cost per run.

After 20 years of discussion the town is finally getting serious about building a new fire station in South Amherst to bring better response time to deep South Amherst, including Hampshire College and any new development that springs up around the Atkins Corner reconstruction (if it ever finishes).

The new fire station will not be cheap, $10 million minimum, and will require an increase in staffing, also not cheap.  Currently however, AFD is understaffed and Central Fire Station is falling apart.  All of this will be expensive.

But one way or the other we're going to pay:  either in actual dollars now, or an unforgettable tragedy in the near future.  

Thus, everyone who benefits --and everyone will benefit-- should pay their fair share.  If all the non profits on this list simply paid the $500/run Amherst College paid (and in this current year they are contributing $92,000, so reimbursement per run may actually go up slightly) it would have amounted to an additional $332,675 this past year.  And that's real money!

Tale of the Tape:

Hampshire College 178 runs @ $500/per equals $89,000

UMass Fraternities & Sororities 86 runs equals $43,000

Sunbridge Care & Rehab in Hadley 136 runs equals $68,000

UMass campus extra $145/run for 915 runs equals $132,675

AFD Annual Report Fy12

Like loaves & fishes

 249 South Pleasant Street, Amherst

The Planning Board will discuss this cute Amherst College owned house in my neighborhood as AC goes before them on June 6 for the easy to attain site plan review permission to double from a one to a two family dwelling thus allowing, duh, two families--or as is the case with conversions in most other parts of town, eight unrelated housemates (code for "college students").

This makes the third Amherst College owned house (out of 31 formerly "single family") to recently double in ocupancy, although planner Christine Brestrup confirms it will be the last for a while.  Amherst College is also busy building the new $200 million science center, and a bevy of renovation projects including a dormitory, Pratt Field, and the old Fiber Arts building in downtown Amherst.

Fiber Arts Building, downtown Amherst

Amherst's BIG 3

31 Spring Street, Amherst

Two weeks ago the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals approved the conversion of 31 Spring Street to a two family abode, thereby doubling its legal occupancy. The house, contiguous with the newly renovated Lord Jeff Inn, is owned by Amherst College, the largest landowner in town.

The President's House, home to Biddy Martin, is tax exempt

Last year Amherst College, a tax-exempt education institution, paid the town $491,364 for the small part of their vast empire that is on the tax rolls: 31 single family, 5 two-family and 3 three-family houses, the profitable (unlike the town's own Cherry Hill) Amherst Golf Course on South Pleasant Street, the Dakin Property (purchased for $4.3 million in 2005) contiguous with the golf course and the scenic overlook at 69 South Pleasant Street.

In addition last year the college donated $90,000 in unrestricted funds to the town General Fund mainly for emergency services protection provided by Amherst Fire Department.

Although a couple years earlier, before the endowment took a major hit, Amherst College had donated $120,000 to the town they are named after.

Those donations have traditionally (if you call three or four years a tradition) taken place at the start of the New Year.  This past January/February, however, no announcements were forthcoming.  Odd, since their endowment is now comfortably at a historic all time high, $1.64 BILLION.

Meanwhile the "5 year strategic agreement" with UMass/Amherst expires next month.  That Payment In Lieu Of Taxes generated $325,000 per year (plus the regular $100,000 the state always gives Amherst for all state owned land in the town). Umass is the second largest landowner in Amherst--all of it tax exempt except for the Campus Center Hotel that, grudgingly, pays the local option hotel/motel meals tax.

Of course the closing and return of Mark's Meadow Elementary School to the University is a major change.

Former Mark's Meadow Elementary School

According to the expiring 5-year Town/Gown "strategic agreement":

“If, in the future, the Town builds a new elementary school and vacates the Mark’s Meadow facility, the Town, AES, ARPS and the University will negotiate a new agreement in which the University may reimburse the Town for a portion of the net costs of educating students living in University tax-exempt housing. "

Estimates of the number of children attending Amherst Public Schools from our tax exempt flagship University are somewhere between 50 and 60 (two of them Chancellor Holub's children), with our current average cost to educate at $16,413 per student, significantly over the $13,055 state average.

In other words, the $1 million it costs us to educate children coming from UMass tax exempt housing is more than double the amount they currently pay the town.

Last week Amherst Town Meeting approved an Elementary School Budget $218,000 in the red, which had to be made up by tapping reserves, currently around $6 million, but less than 10% of general fund operating revenues. 

The Fire Department also spends about 25% of its time dealing with University related emergencies; and with the AFD budget at $4 million, that too comes to a cool $1 million annually. Recently the firefighers union called upon the town and Umass to consider as part of the negotiations enough (extra) money to fund the addition of two new additional firefighter positions.

Considering the stress placed on AFD just from recent Mullins Center concerts (run by a for profit company cloaked under a tax exempt entity) a reasonable request.

Last night Amherst Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved the town operating budget (police/fire/DPW etc) without a single mention of negotiations with UMass, a guaranteed six digit amount for the FY13 budget.  And no questions concerning the supposedly imminent deal with Blue Wave Capital for placing a $10 million solar farm on the old landfill, thus generating six-digit savings in electric costs on top of $200,000 in annual property taxes.

And then we have the runt of the litter, Hampshire College, who pays the town zero in Payment in Lieu of Taxes and a grand total of $61,613 in property taxes for a few houses and the Bay Road Tennis Club.  Yet expensive trips to Hampshire College are as routine as rain for the Amherst Fire Department.

Black Walnuts near Hampshire College main entrance.  College gave the state a bike lane easement to save trees, but charged the town $200,000 in paving for an easement for Atkins Corner Project

All in all tax exempts own just over half of Amherst, meaning the other half--homeowners and to a minuscule extent, businesses--have to make up that dramatic imbalance. And on top of that we have the most expensive average school costs in the region at $16,413 per pupil, spending a whopping $12 million more per year than our sister city Northampton.

But town officials still act like beggars, pleading with our tax exempt institutes of higher education to "spare a dime." It's time to get serious...and ask (nicely) for real money.