Intersection Of Alternatives

Intersection of Sunderland and Montague Roads just before North Amherst Library

Option D

So it looks like Option D will be the chosen one out of four possible proposals for the funky intersection of Sunderland and Montague Roads less than a field goal kick from the intersection of Pine/Meadow/North Pleasant Streets in the heart of North Amherst center.

Last night the Public Works Committee joined the Planning Board and Transportation Task Force in signaling their "preponderance of approval" for Option D, which terminates the final length of Sunderland Road running past the North Amherst Library and turns it into green space contiguous with the town owned playing field.

Montague Road, which is a state road, and Sunderland Road will both remain two way and the intersection behind the library may get a traffic signal or could simply become a four way stop. 

The three influential committees did not take a formal vote as they all wish to wait for more public input at the December 8th public hearing which is a follow up to the June 24th well attended hearing.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring also told the Public Works Committee last night the $500,000 renovation of the traffic control signals at Pine/Meadow/North Pleasant was turned down by the state for a MassWorks grant so they are coming up with a make due method costing around $200,000 which could happen next year.

Sign, Sign Everywhere A Sign

New design for "wayfinding" signs highlights the town's terrific name front and center

Let's hope the Amherst College students calling for the termination of Lord Jeff as their unofficial mascot don't come picket the Amherst Select Board Monday night where they will be receiving a report about the new improved "wayfinding" signs for the downtown.

 Amherst Planning Board

Jonathan Tucker told the Planning Board last night "The brand itself is the name of the town, and not a historic building or image." 

Although in the background is the unmistakable outline of historic Town Hall and the Holyoke Mountain Range, which of course does not tower over Main Street.

Amherst College is wicked quick to point out they are named after the town rather than Lord Jeff, although the Lord Jeff Inn -- owned by Amherst College -- is kind of another story.

 Lord Jeffery Inn, name after you know who

And yes there has been talk -- more like muttering -- about changing the name of our town because Lord Jeff may have been a tad too zealous trying to exterminate the enemy who was trying to exterminate his people. 

'Twas hard to do the business of war in the pre Geneva Convention era.

The Planning Board signalled their unanimous approval for the design when all five raised their hands (two positions on the board are currently unfilled and two members were absent) although Chair David Webber did not call it a formal vote.

I guess the only thing I would change is to add a strike through to the H in AMHERST.  Or put a blanket over it.

Nothing To Ho Ho Ho About

What kind of message will SantaCon drunk Santas in the downtown send our children?

You would think after the downtown bar promotion that forever changed the way Amherst views St. Patrick's Day -- and dare I even breath its name? -- our illustrious downtown dens of debauchery would give up on pernicious promotions ... period!

But Nooooooo, and now they are after the most blessed holiday of all, Christmas. Where, Only In Amherst, is it celebrated with a Merry Maple tree on the town common.

Click to enlarge/read

Rather than coinciding with the last day before Spring Break for a Blowout this Christmas promotion coincides with the last day of classes, which is celebratory enough as it is.

Let's hope the Grinch has a chat with "Event Mavericks."  Soon.

UPDATE: Saturday morning
Now that the Gazette has, finally, caught up with this story it will be interesting to see if it actually happens or not. Especially since the promoter's own former place of employment -- Club Lit -- has pulled out.

Get Your Goat

#goatsofthemilldistrict

It's not all necessarily bad stuff Amherst police have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Although it does provide for comic relief, the freedom loving herd of goats out on Sunderland Road in North Amherst do tend to pull a Houdini a tad too often.  Like around noon today for instance:

 Police officer and farmer chase the goats back home

And since they always seem to  head for the green pasture adjacent to busy Rt 116, it will be a sad day in Amherst should they ever get hit by a car.

Aerial drone video of our freedom loving goats

Meanwhile Hadley police late this afternoon managed to capture and return an escaped horse to his barn after a scary run down Middle Street (Rt 47) headed towards ultra busy Rt 9.

Lunch Time Warriors

Marching students pause to pose in front of Student Union

Why is it protests at UMass always seem to start at high noon an end pretty much by 2:00 PM?

At least the one at Amherst College went on for a few days and actually occupied a building (Frost Library) with students of color pulling a good old fashioned sit in. Of course that ended recently and a month from now pretty much everyone will forget what it was over in the first place.

The UMass protest this afternoon was well organized, although the followers could have used enunciation lessons as they marched to the Student Union, as it was hard to understand what they were chanting.

And then when they did get to Whitmore Administration building the chanting was more understandable but did not really give a clue about what they were protesting.

 Protesters form a circle at entrance to Whitmore Administration Building

So whatever they were protesting, the assistant Chancellor promised to get back to them by Friday with an emailed response.

Polite Whitmore employee holding the door open for protesters

Otherwise the black lady with a bull horn said she'd be back.

Forest For The Trees

 36-38 South East Street (Fort River School behind)

The Amherst Planning Board and Tree Warden Alan Snow will hold a joint "Scenic Roads" hearing tonight to decide the fate of four trees on South East Street, which is of course a "scenic road."

Click to enlarge/read

The owners of the rental property at 36-38 South East Street need to reconfigure their parking lot to keep within the Rental Permit Bylaw regulations and there's pretty much nowhere to go with the pavement other than that piece of paradise.

Three of the four trees are nothing to write home about, but one of them is healthy and scenic and therefor worth saving.

And the rule is if you can't save the tree worth saving then you will most likely have to pay the town a replacement cost of $90 per inch. Which adds up with mature trees. In this case 18 inches or $1,620.

Obviously the canopy and shade created by one mature 18" tree is probably greater than that provided by nine immature 2" trees (which the town will use to replace it).

Back in July, 2013 the Planning Board overruled the Tree Warden and voted to allow the owners of a house on the other end of South East Street,  #666,  to remove ten trees for a new driveway entrance.

But because Mr. Snow did not back down on the "replacement costs" totaling $6,000 the owners decided not to go the clear cut route and today the trees are still part of the scenic byway.

Our Other Problem

Those who chase the dragon get burned

Last week the Amherst Select Board, acting as liquor commissioners, spent two hours in heated public discussion weighing the problems caused by alcohol in our little college town.

They were trying to decide if a well run small business on the outskirts of downtown should have one of many beer/wine permits still available.

 Amherst Center Store located across street from Kendrick Place near UMass

Neighbors were nothing if not united in opposition citing student rowdiness, and the closeness of Amherst Center Store to both the UMass campus and of course the new controversial Kendrick Place apartments which they claim is overly populated by students.

The Select Board narrowly approved the liquor license by a 3-2 vote.

Heroin is of course an illegal drug, and unlike marijuana it will always stay that way.  For good reason.  It is killing our citizens -- especially our youth -- at an unprecedented rate.  More than 1,000 heroin/opioid deaths last year in the progressive state of Massachusetts.

AFD Runs Mid November

I hope the three heroin overdoses over a very short period of time AFD and APD had to deal with Sunday night serve as a wake up call.

Before it's too late.   

Close The Barn Door

Colorful barn at 332 West Street, South Amherst front view

Side view

Even though Amherst Town Meeting approved $75,000 in Community Preservation Act funds almost two years ago for rehabilitation of the historic barn that's hard to miss on West Street (Rt. 116) in South Amherst, the barn may not survive much longer.

The town tax money was never spent and the property just changed hands at the beginning of this month.

And the barn today looks sadder than it did two years ago when the CPA committee was told the owners insurance company wanted it removed immediately because it was a liability/safety issue.

Interim Town Manager Dave Ziomek will give the Community Preservation Act Committee an update next month as town officials are trying to talk the new owner into saving the landmark.

I asked town assessor David Burgess if renovating the structure would increase the valuation of the property hence increasing the tax burden on the homeowner:

If the barn is restored then the value would probably go up and, in anticipation of your next question, no not by $75,000.  I imagine if that much money was set aside it would be to replicate what how the building was originally, i.e. historical materials, whereas assessments are based on replacement costs in today’s materials for the same use.  

The assessor was more concerned about why the property just sold for well under his current assessed value.

DUI Dishonor Roll

Just to show how extraordinary three cases of heroin OD over a 1.5 hour period Sunday night was, Amherst Police arrested only one impaired driver over the entire weekend.  Hadley PD also bagged one. 

AFD & APD responding to a North Amherst Apartment complex for yet another heroin overdose, 3rd separate one this evening.

— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) November 16, 2015

 Thornton Benjamin, age 20, arraigned before Judge Payne

Both had a plea of not guilty entered in their behalf, and will return to Eastern Hampshire District Court on December 10th with their private attorneys.

Rachasima Tran, age 22, arraigned before Judge Payne

 Click to enlarge/read

A Queen Falls Hard

Holly Holm threw 8 kicks total and they all landed 

You know an athlete has reached the tipping point for media saturation when their choice of a presidential candidate makes national coverage, even if it is Bernie Sanders.

No one has done more for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts than Ronda Rousey.  She became a revered symbol -- a unique combination of brains, beauty and bravado -- in a sport where bloody violence sometimes turns off mainstream viewers.

Going into her latest title defense with Holly Holm she was the overwhelming favorite, and obviously she believed the hype.

But this is America, and we love the underdog.  Thus her stunning loss via knockout -- a head kick no less -- was widely celebrated.

Football aficionados use the term "On any given day" to promote parity in that other sport that can also be a tad violent.

If outcomes were all but guaranteed it kind of spoils the thrill of watching.  And paying for those rights to spectate.

As John F Kennedy once said, "Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan."

I hope Ronda takes her loss to heart, trains harder, and comes back with a renewed respectful attitude we can all be proud of. 

Afflict The Comfortable

Amherst College:  Named after the town, not the General

At least they didn't vandalize the sign

The irony is probably lost on Amherst Uprising -- a cadre of students of color suddenly energized about how evil their expensive college of choice is -- but one of the prime jobs of journalism is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

Combine that with my favorite saying, "If a tree falls in the forest and a digital journo is not there to cover it, it does not make a sound," and you will understand why I shake my head over the First Amendment issues that seem lost on student protestors.

 Blood was spilled on the streets of Chicago

When Chicago police were beating the daylights out of Hippie/Yippie protestors at the Democratic Nation Convention in 1968 the bloodied youth started chanting, "The whole world is watching, the whole world is watching."  And indeed it was.

Just as they were in the early 1960s when the Freedom Riders were being persecuted by southern mobs as good old boy police stood by and did nothing.  But the images beamed back to middle class America awakened the silent majority thus giving "voice to the voiceless."

Indeed "The pen is mightier than the sword" -- especially now in the digital age -- but your ideas still need to hold up in the open marketplace provided by the mainstream media where they receive wider vetting.

 Click to enlarge/read

 More than a majority of AC students are non white

Preaching to your already converted followers on Twitter or Facebook and holding closed-to-the-media events defeats the purpose of an "uprising."

Besides, if can't deal with criticism or the challenge of a debate then maybe your cause is not all that sustainable.

And here's the other "intentional parody" account, that has since been terminated:

I'm still trying to figure out of this is a parody Twitter account

The good news is the Lord Jeffs beat arch rival Williams and went undefeated for the season

Signature Saturday Success

 Amherst For All starts the campaign 8/27/15

 

Amherst For All 8:45 AM this morning

The Amherst For All Charter change enthusiasts report a whopping 700 signatures collected throughout town today, well over the target goal of 500. 

That now puts the effort at 2,400 signatures or 75% of the  way to the final goal of 3,215 signatures.

That enormous number represents 15% of the registered voters in town, and is required to get a Charter change question on the ballot for the annual election coming up March 29. In addition voters will elect a 9-member Charter Commission to hash out a new and improved form of governance.

Steering Committee member Jerry Guidera is confident the group will have the required number of signatures by Thanksgiving, giving the entire town something extra to be thankful for on that most revered holiday.

Feed Me!

Moving truck was heading west on Snell Street 8:20 AM

The truck eating bike path bridge scored another meal this morning as a moving van found out the hard way about the narrow, not-overly-tall bridge over Snell Street.

Fortunately no injuries to the occupants or the bridge but the truck will need some tender loving care before it rejoins the fleet.

 More damage caused by coming out than going in

The state replaced the old Central Mass Railway bridge in the summer of 2012 ,which did raise it one foot from 9.6 feet high to the current 10.6 feet, although the narrow width stayed the same.

Looks like the truck made it pretty far under the bridge before contact took place so it was probably not like hitting a solid brick wall.

 State should think about placing their sign a tad higher up

Although if the driver had tried this three years ago when the bridge was a foot lower the impact would probably have been a tad more explosive.

 Mass Dept of Transportation bridge inspector arrives 10:20 AM

Sweating The Contract

Amherst Media is main beneficiary of Comcast ten year contract

Even though the Comcast ten year cable license -- worth $6.3 million last year -- does not expire until October, 2016 the Cable Advisory Committee started off this morning's meeting somewhat in panic mode.

Co-Chair Kris Pacunas is worried a deadline or two in the complicated process could have been missed which would give Comcast added bargaining strength whenever they do finally sit down at the negotiation table.

At their initial mid-June meeting, their 1st since 2006, Peter Epstein, their $200/hour legal counsel, did say he wished to send Comcast an "initial contract offer" by November 1st.  And as of this morning the Committee was miles away from having that contract prepared.

In fact their attorney has not even yet provided them with a contract template that contains all the boiler plate language that is standard with any cable contract.  And the all important timeline is now out of date.

Attorney Epstein at 9/24 Ascertainment Hearing (and Comcast stenographer)

The Committee will be sending attorney Epstein a memo outlining their complaints about his performance to date and they will also be contacting the Select Board, who has final authority to sign the lucrative contract, as well.

He did attend one of the two required "Ascertainment Hearings" co-sponsored by the Cable Advisory Committee and Select Board but does not keep in close touch with the committee.

Mr. Epstein came highly recommended by Amherst Media who benefits by the 5% cut of Comcast revenues ($317,000 last year).   That 5% amount is written in stone, and these days may not even be a slam dunk.

The main bargaining issue seems to be the one-time capital upgrade to equipment that comes once every ten years.

In the last 2006 contract that amounted to $450,000, and this time around Amherst Media is looking for many times over that for the ability to broadcast their 3 channels in high definition.

Left to rt: Adrienne Terrizzi, Kris Pacunas (Co-Chair), Joan Golowich, Demetria Shabazz (Co-Chair)

In addition, one Cable Advisory member of the five has showed up to only one meeting so far,  and now that the heavy lifting has started Co-Chair Pakunas said he would contact him to find out if he will stay on the committee or not.

Next meeting the agenda calls for the Committee to have from attorney Epstein a new timeline with specific dates, a one page "summary of community needs" which includes the 5% cut of cable revenues, amount of one time capital needs money, maintain local customer service office, etc.

The Committee will also discuss having the Select Board file a complaint with Comcast over breach of the 2006 license which required all town buildings to be hard wired for live broadcast capability.

Over the years parts have been cannibalized from other locations like Jones Library, DPW, Police Station or High School in order to prioritize Town Hall and the Middle School (where Town Meeting takes place).

So not only do a majority of town buildings no longer have the ability to live broadcast, but even the two major buildings (Town Hall and the Middle School) where all the important meetings occur, the outdated equipment teeters on the brink of ruin.

Next meeting is scheduled for Monday November 30th.  But before the Committee adjourned Co-Chair Pakunas told fellow members, "I feel better now."

One Is The Loneliest Number

Chancellor Subbaswamy is proud of being #1 (out of 1858)

It will be interesting to see if Chancellor Subbaswamy gets to keep his top dog #1 UMass license plate, which actually does look lovely on his Lexus.

The Globe says: only 1554 UMass license plates sold. I say: only 1,500 more to Go @AlumniUMass Go UMass! http://t.co/ACIg5CueEy

— Kumble R. Subbaswamy (@KSubbaswamy) May 25, 2015

Chancellor was unconcerned with Boston Globe May 24 story on slow sales 

Although I would have liked it a tad better if designers had made room for "Amherst" somewhere on the plate.

The UMass license plate program, making UMass the first university in the state to have one, has been fraught with problems since first being seriously discussed over ten years ago.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles will not even fire up the presses until 1,500 have been preordered and even then an additional 1,500 need to be sold by the end of the second year bringing the total on the road to a minimum of 3,000.

That two year anniversary just passed in October and the current number of plates on the road is only 1,858.  Not even close to the 3,000 required.

The Alumni Association had to put up a $100,000 performance bond to guarantee 3,000 plates would be sold so now the state can keep all or part of that.

The University only makes $28 per plate sold and for a while the AA was paying the $40 plate fee and $20 swap fee in order to stimulate sales but even that failed to move numbers in the right direction.

 Click to enlarge/read

 6/6/15 minutes of Board of Directors meeting

In June the Alumni Association Board of Directors by unanimous vote allocated $150,000 to "support the license plate business plan" to reach the 3,000 goal by October 1st. 

Coincidentally enough the Boston Globe did a story on 5/25/15 shining a light on lousy sales using the total figure of 1,554.

Thus an entire summer plus September and October -- and a $150K -- only managed to bring the number up to the current 1858

Will be quite a while before this # sees the road, if ever

And with only 1858 plates sold in our state boasting 120,000 (hopefully proud) UMass/Amherst graduates, that makes for a 1.55% market penetration.  I give that an F.