Thank You!

American Legion Post 148 & Amherst VFW Post 754 Color Guard

About 50 people braved the lousy weather to congregate on the historic Amherst North Town Common this morning to honor all the men and women who have served our country over the past 239 years.

Select Board member Andy Steinberg assisted by Chair Alisa Brewer thanks veterans on behalf of the town

And when all is said and done, while the 25 minute ceremony was a nice gesture, all that's really needed is a simple, but heartfelt, "Thank You."

Veterans Day 2013.  Two good men no longer with us:  Arthur Quinton and John Musante

Lonely At The Top?

Town Manager John Musante in happier times (2013)

Interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek (center) October, 2016

Undoubtedly the sudden shocking death of John Musante left a cavernous hole to fill in town government's top position.

And for anyone having known and worked beside him for a good number of years, I can see why they would think twice about it even if it is the 2nd highest paid position in town.

I was a bit taken aback on Monday night when Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer, her voice shaking, announced that Interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek would not be seeking the job permanently so he could return to his Assistant Town Manager/Conservation Director position by January 31, 2016.

Having just sat through a two hour heated discussion over a beer/wine permit for a local convenience store in the north end of downtown I should have been more prepared for that bombshell announcement.

Because there's a distinct connection between the two issues.  The main reason Amherst Center Store was granted a controversial liquor license by a 3-2 vote is that Glenn Hamill is a mom-and-pop small business owner with a solid reputation for hands-on management.

 Glenn Hamill countering NIMBY criticism at Monday night Select Board hearing

When you own a small business there are a thousand details a day to occupy your undivided attention and not enough time during a 24 hour cycle to attend to all of them.  And if you're really lucky, you maybe get Christmas or Thanksgiving off for a very brief reprieve.

 Amherst Center Store, one of three convenience stores owned by Glenn Hamill

Although since Mr. Hamill's  new Amherst convenience store is open 24/7, probably not for him.

Running a $80+ million college town is probably almost as hard, even with the top shelf department heads currently in place.

 Assistant Chiefs Don McKay, Lindsay Stromgren (ctr) and Chief Tim Nelson

A few years ago when AFD Chief Keith Hoyle retired number two in command, Assistant Chief Lindsay Stromgren, was a shoe in to replace him.  Except he did not apply.  As with Mr. Ziomek there's personal life beyond the job, and where the buck stops eats into that all the more.

Chief Livingstone at Select Board beer/wine permit hearing Monday night:  "I have zero concerns on this particular license."

When APD Chief Charlie Scherpa retired in 2009 there was an in house competition for his replacement by two very good men, Scott Livingstone and Mike Kent. And when Mr. Kent did not get the nod he soon left the department for the Chief's job in Burlington, Mass.

So in house competition does have its draw backs.

 Ad to appear in tomorrow's Amherst Bulletin

Especially now with the Amherst For All Charter change enthusiasts fast closing in on enough signatures to bring the idea of altering our form of government to the ballot this coming spring.

The big mistake the last Charter Commission made a decade ago was to cater to the popularity of then Town Manager Barry Del Castilho by retaining that position while replacing Select Board/Town Meeting with a (weak)Mayor and Town/City Council.

 Barry Del Castilho attending John Musante's funeral service ceremony in town center

This time around it's unlikely that major mistake will be repeated, so the new Town Manager will be out of a job, or demoted.  Thus it's very likely to impact the search for a new "permanent" Town Manager coming up over the next few months.

After all, who wants to apply to be captain of the good ship Titanic? 

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Bad Boys On The Bus

PVTA is meant to provide safe transit

For many, many years now APD has assigned the weekend PVTA buses as a patrol beat unto itself.

Last weekend at least two officers rode aboard the buses to keep them from becoming the wild-wild-west, and in so doing made two arrests for stupid, disruptive behavior.  Alcohol related of course.

Not a good idea to call a police officer the N word

Jordan Le Guyader, 20, case continued to next month

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Nicholas Riselli, age 22, case continued till next month

Party House of the Weekend

45 Phillips Street

Once again a weekend that was relatively quiet compared to the bad ol' days of just two or three years past.  Our only Party House, with two arrests for Noise & Nuisance, occurred on Phillips Street the most notorious street in Amherst.

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45 Phillips Street to be exact, owned by the most notorious absentee landlord in Amherst, Stephan Gharabegian, who also owns another three houses on Phillips Street, #37,#33, and #11.

Only one house out of all nine on the street is owner occupied.  And the front bookend on North Pleasant Street is a fraternity.

Phillips Street located adjacent to UMass

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning both underage individuals took the standard plea deal offered by the Commonwealth: Pay one of the $300 tickets and stay out of trouble for the next four months.

Adrian Lech, age 20

Jason Rubenstein, age 20

Major Business Sold

Center For Extended Care at Amherst, 150 University Drive

The graying -- or some cynics would say decaying -- of America is a growth industry, as baby boomers head into their twilight years. And it must be pretty good when a business would suddenly be worth 400% over the current building valuation.

The Center For Extended Care at Amherst, a 122 bed sprawling long term care facility on University Drive (opposite CVS) just sold for $13 million. The town had the building valued at $3,192,700 or four times less than the property's recent selling price.

I asked assessor David Burgess if that means the valuation will go up for the new owner, and at $20,000 tax revenue per million in valuation it would add up to a significant sum should he bump the value by a few million.

Since the deal is so recent he has not interviewed the main players, but he said it's quite possible the sale number was a "corporate financing price", which for lack of a better term is phantom money.

Thus the valuation will probably not go up at all.

 The Dakin Estate, now fallen into ruins

Kind of like a dozen years ago when Amherst College purchased the Dakin Estate near their golf course for $4.3 million to prevent Barry Roberts from developing it. The assessed value did not jump at all, and today is still valued at way less than $1 million. 

Either way, it's still good to see major business deals happening in our town.

Turmoil In Public Education?

Merging Middle School into High School does not seem to be going well

The public schools can't seem to do anything right these days.

The "Hurricane Revisioning Summit" on Saturday unconvered overwhelming opposition to merging the Middle School into the High School for budgetary reasons and the Amherst School Committee recently backed away from voting on the administrations request for an expensive shiny new mega school. At least until January.

And the Regionalization expansion from grades 7-12 all the way down to kindergarten seems more and more unlikely -- especially since it only takes one town of the four to vote no.   Something Shutesbury seems destined to do.

On Halloween, appropriately enough, I published an exchange between Amherst Regional Middle School Principal Mendonsa and former teacher now parent of a child in the system Alfie Alschuler.  Since over 5,000 read the exchange I figured you would be interested in his follow up.

Let the conversation continue ...

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Showing Up

Town Meeting takes a ten minute standing vote

If as Woody Allen asserts, "80% of success is showing up" this past session of Amherst Town Meeting was almost a success as 78% of members showed up for both nights, with 53 of 240 not showing up at all, or 22%.  Another 43 missed one of the two session.

The Amherst School Committee -- all of them ex officio voting members of Town Meeting -- manged to be just the opposit of Woody's assertion as four-out-of-five (80%) did not make either session.  And the public schools do consume the lion's share of Amherst $80+ million budget.

Yes, the school budget is voted in the spring but there was an important school related capital item on this warrant: $240,000 for a new ADA compliant playground at Crocker Farm Elementary School.

One of the many nice things about a professional full-time Mayor/Council form of government is it's a lot easier to keep an eye on attendence and how they vote on the important issues of the day.

The Amherst For All Charter change enthusiasts are now at the half-way point (1,600 of 3,200) for signatures needed to get the ditch-Town-Meeting question on the ballot for next spring.

This coming weekend they will be hosting "Signature Saturday," with the ambitious goal of 500 signatures.

Something worth showing up for.

Renewing North Amherst

Pine Street yesterday looking east

Pine Street looking west

With the road rebuilding at Cowls Road and Pine Street all but done, the town will turn its attention to the somewhat trickier task of reworking the main North Amherst intersection of five roads within the blast range of a hand grenade:  North Pleasant, Meadow, Pine, Sunderland Road and Montague Road.

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North Amherst center.  Upper Y intersect of Sunderland & Montague Roads main concern

The Planning Board, Select Board (who has the ultimate authority), and Public Works Committee will host a public forum at the Bangs Community Center on December 8th to discuss the redesign of the Montague and Sunderland Roads intersection.

Even my drone was confused

 Cowls Road connects Montague and Sunderland Roads up from the funky intersection

W.D. Cowls will install sidewalk on their property to complete connection to Montague Road

The Sidewalk ended up on the south side of Cowls Road on W.D. Cowls private property to protect the two stately Norway Spruce trees at 150 Montague Road

Sprucing Up The Town's Living Room

Jones Library:  "The town's living room"

Downtown anchor and all around gem in the bag of treasured municipal buildings, the Jones Library is a destination spot that attracts thousands of customers of all ages and socioeconomic standings.

One of the many attractions is the comfortable interior that allows one to settle in for concentrated study of important historical documents, the latest non-fiction best seller, or just a casual reading of the local newspapers (all two of them).

Like The Case Of The Purloined Letter, a real treasure lurks in the background that quietly contributes to the Jones overall ambiance: paintings, statues and rugs.

 Cindy Harbeson (far left) waiting to present to Jones Library Trustees Thursday morning

Recently hired Special Collection Director Cindy Harbeson updated the Board of Trustees on her department which included the public relations outreach, increased security for priceless collection materials and a current appraisal for all the furnishings scattered about the entire Library:

The Library will be unveiling a half-dozen paintings that were recently restored via $10,000 in Community Preservation Act monies Town Meeting approved in 2011, on Sunday, November 22nd.

I can't think of a better way of bringing brightness to an otherwise sad anniversary.

Teen Angst

Wednesday, 1: 45 PM

Turns out the female "driver" of the black SUV that barreled into the Miss Saigon Restaurant Wednesday afternoon is only 14 years old.  Yikes! 

She has been cited by APD for "Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Operating To Endanger, and Wanton Destruction of Property over $250."

The Amherst Regional Middle School has "early release" on Wednesday that floods the town with teens.

This is the way it's supposed to be done

Too Clever By Half

Attorney Tom Reidy leans in to his Hail Mary presentation to ZBA last night

While probably good for increasing his billable hours the formal appeal of the Building Commissioner -- hand delivered to the Town Clerk at the last minute -- came back to bite his client, Clifford Laraway, in the butt at the Zoning Board of Appeals Special Permit hearing last night.

Chair Mark Parent immediately told attorney Tom Reidy, "You put us in an awkward position here because of the appeal you filed.  We need to act on it by December 3rd but now we can't address those circumstances here tonight."

To which attorney Reidy responded, "What happened in the past is the past.  The appeal may be withdrawn on December 3rd.  We wish to move forward."

Of course what attorney Reidy was angling for is having the ZBA issue the Special Permit declaring the structure a two family unit (8 maximum tenants) which would then be used as evidence at the December 3rd hearing to overturn the Building Commissioner's declaration that the house has too many tenants.

   382 N Pleasant Appeal Violation

Another major mistake made by the petitioners was not appeasing Amherst Fire Department, who also found the building to be more than a simple two family house, deeming it a "rooming house" and as a result requires sprinklers.

But ZBA member Tom Ehrgood said he was "impressed at the changes" he saw on their site visit the previous day and did not see why the regular Special Permit hearing "could not continue".

Planning Department senior planner Jeff Bagg responded "Deciding on a Special Permit tonight would be premature.  So many elements relate to the appeal."

Building Commissioner Rob Morra agreed, "At the last hearing the board gave the petitioner clear directives to figure out the occupancy issue.  You need to address the appeal first."  And Mr Morra reminded the board of the Fire Department's clearly stated requirement for a sprinkler system.

Neighbor Joan Burgess told the board during public comment that she "Appreciated the changes, however the management plan required should be updated to show specifically what they are doing for better management.  It has to be quantifiable."

The board gave the petitioners a directive to bring back a parking and management plan that convinces them no more than eight tenants will occupy the building and to work out an agreement with Amherst Fire Department.

 382 North Pleasant Street

 Facebook post UMass Alpha Epsilon PiPhi chapter fraternity

Note similarity with mailbox on right

The Special Permit hearing was continued to December 3rd at 7:00 PM while the appeal of the Building Commissioner's ruling will be heard at 6:30 PM.

Previous coverage

Hampshire College Bright Idea

Land located north side West Bay Road between Eric Carle Museum and Rt 116

Last night Amherst Town Meeting gave interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek the authority to engage in discussions with potential owners of large solar arrays for a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes.

Interestingly enough that authority covers not just the deal on the town owned landfills but also extends to private landowners like Amherst and Hampshire Colleges, both in the top three for land ownership in town.

After a year of planning, Hampshire College is poised to start construction on a 2.5 megawatt array on the old Ives property off West Bay Road, directly opposite Atkins Country Market, who also installed a solar array three years ago to satisfy their energy needs.

The deal on the table with Hampshire College would generate $560,000 over the life of the 20 year project, or $28,000 per year.

Currently Hampshire College pays the town nothing for AFD services while Amherst College pays us $130,000 and UMass/Amherst about $455,000.

Vince O'Connor, in one of his more lucid moments, asked from the floor of Town Meeting if the authority of the Town Manager would extend to UMass/Amherst our #2 property owner in town.

 Solar array will save UMass $40,000 per year

And he pointed out the new 300 kilowatt solar canopy over the parking lot at the Robsham Visitor's Center as an example.

Finance Director Sandy Pooler shrugged his shoulders saying, "It's complicated."

UMass recently stopped paying the town's local option hotel tax on the Campus Center Hotel and they are holding hostage the $200,000 collected and put in escrow trying to coerce the town into signing a three year overdue "Strategic Partnership Agreement."

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

Amherst Town Meeting 7:01 PM (almost ready to start)

Proving the old adage about a stopped clocked being occasionally correct, Amherst Town Meeting managed to make it through an entire session without screwing up, completing the 15 article warrant last night in record time, two hours and forty five minutes.

Although the usual voices from the margin gave it a good college try.

Newer of ye old landfills already has a commercial Transfer Station located there

Best news to report is a large scale Solar array will come to the newer of the old landfills as that project has near unanimous support.

Ye old landfill

Despite the usual complaints from neighbors living in the upscale area next to the other, older, landfill Town Meeting gave the Town Manager, described by offbeat member Carol Gray as a "blank check," the right to negotiate Net Metering Credits, lease the newer/old landfill to SunEdison and negotiate with them a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes.

Let's hope the Town Manager does the same with ye old landfill and maybe throw in a few extra tall wind turbines as well.

North Common in front of Town Hall has not had major work in a generation or two

With little discussion Town Meeting voted almost unanimously for Community Preservation Act spending of  $190,000 for renovation to the historic North Common and $240,000 for an ADA pre-school playground at Crocker Farm Elementary School.

 Amherst Regional Middle School: currently grades 7&8 (used to include grade 9 as well)

The $150,000 spending item to renovate the Amherst Regional Middle School to allow Leisure Services and Supplemental Education (Rec Dept) to relocate from the Bangs Community Center so a community health center can move there did stimulate a bit of discussion although it still passed overwhelmingly.

Member Janet McGowan asked if this would preclude using the Middle School as a Kindergarten through 8th grade in the controversial restructuring now being considered for Amherst elementary education?

One of the excuses for not tapping the underused Middle School is that it is "owned by the Region", even though Amherst makes up more than 80% of the Region.

And this move of a town department into a region owned facility makes it look like recreation is more important than the education of children.

Ms. McGowan's question went unanswered.

Town Meeting concluded with an easy one, spending $170,500 (matched by a state grant) to purchase 141 acres in Pelham, aka "Romer Woods," adjacent to Hills Reservoir.  Amherst is nothing if not careful with its drinking water supply.

Romer Woods abuts Hills Reservoir, Pelham

Although, considering the controversies Amherst is famous for, many outsiders wonder what exactly is in our water supply.