We're #7!

Umass Library was once the tallest in the world

I suppose this is one ubiquitous Internet top ten listical you will not see UMass Office of News & Media Relations extensively hyping.

 Southwest Towers (a 6th was planned but never materialized) built circa 1963 for high density housing

Towers look prettier at night

But hey, if you have traversed the UMass campus much at all you certainly have developed a sense of humor about some of the "brutalist" cold war East German architecture.

 Fine Arts Center goes long rather than up

I'm reminded of the Barnes Air National Guard A-10 warthog jets that used to routinely fly over Amherst:  exceedingly functional, but ever so ugly.

So ugly they are kinda cute.

A-10 warthog, brtttttt, doing its thing

Of course it could be worse: Hampshire College made #3!

 Hampshire College:  With that counter-culture 1960s and 70s style of architecture 

 Safe bet Amherst College will never make this list

Can't Forget

 Commemorative flag flies from downtown utility pole

The commemorative flags went up in the downtown yesterday at the crack of dawn to mark Labor Day, and for the first time in 14 years I hope they come down on Tuesday.

That way, when they go back up on Thursday or early Friday morning it sends the clear signal that they are returning to their perch to remember 9/11, a morning unlike any in our history.

Today is one of those 9/11-like days: late summer, our little college town swelling in size with an influx of college aged youth, all under a severe clear blue sky.  The bright yellow sun slowly arcing east to west.

Perhaps if the weather had not been so stunningly beautiful that morning the untested kamikaze pilots may have had a tougher time hitting their otherwise hard to miss targets.

Yes, we could probably come up with a few "what if" scenarios that could have changed the outcome that fateful morning, which only adds to the sorrow. Life moves on -- it always does.

So when you see those 23 commemorative American flags in town center on Friday (no matter what the weather is like) pause for moment to remember our innocent dead, perhaps say a prayer.

And hope it never happens again.

The main town flag will fly at half staff on 9/11 as will all municipal flags nationwide

Sudsy Saturday & Sunday?

1st year students moved into Southwest Friday

Scroll down for most recent updates

Not to be a killjoy prognosticator of dire outcomes but my Twitter buddy ZooMass does have a scary point:  By Sunday all the on-campus UMass students will be moved in --13,500+ of them ... with nothing much to do.

For the entire night.  With the weather predicted to be perfect.  And no school on Monday.

Yikes!

Saturday morning mist quickly burning off 

Phillips Street late Friday night

Crowd gathered westernmost quad Townhouse Apartments, North Amherst 4:45 PM Saturday

DUI Deluge

APD arrested five (5) impaired drivers over the weekend

The sad/scary thing is if APD had the staffing I'm sure we would see five drunk driving arrests practically every weekend rather than just when state grant money provides the extra coverage.

Either way, last weekend too many great white sharks shared our ecosystem.   Although fortunately nobody was hurt. This time. 

With UMass dorms opening on Friday and no school on Monday because of Labor Day, this long weekend could be a potential record breaker for DUIs.

   Brian Kenney, age 29

Mark Emery age 21

Kyle Coffee, age 23

 #####

Four of the five were arraigned before Judge Payne and released on their personal recognizance with trial dates set for later this month or October.  Juveline Tavares age 39 required a Portuguese interpreter so he was arraigned later in the day (hence no photo).

Ruth Castonguay failed to appear in District Court on Monday and Judge Payne issued a bench warrant for her arrest.  He is holding it until Friday because a friend called to say she had checked herself into a medical detox center after her arrest.  

   Just Another Amherst DUI

Thanks Amherst College!

Amherst College knows how to be a good neighbor

Yeah, yeah, yeah cynics will say  -- after all this is the Internet -- that when you have an endowment over $2 billion, anything measured in mere tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands is chicken feed.

But the point is Amherst College is a tax-exempt entity and as such is not forced to pay anything for Amherst Fire Department's high quality service.

Besides, they do pay property taxes on all the houses they own and maintain so nicely.   As well as the two commercial businesses that have been around forever:  Downtown anchor Lord Jeff Inn and the 9 hole Amherst Golf Course, which unlike our own Cherry Hill, actually makes money.

Last year those total taxes came to $502,080, or a cool half million.

Click photos to enlarge

 Lord Jeff pays property taxes like any other business in town

On Monday night just before the 9/11 flag controversy came up for discussion, Comptroller Sonia Aldrich mentioned that Amherst College, our #1 landowner in town,  had increased their "gift" last year from $90,000 to $130,000 .

They don't like to call it a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes because it then ties them in to an expected annual payment but they have been paying it annually for almost ten years now.  The first year it was $120,000 but all the other years it has been $90,000.

The payment is for Amherst Fire Department services, so as far as I'm concerned if it looks like a pilot, and flies like a pilot, then it's a PILOT.

That extra $40,000 -- a 44% increase over last year -- is enough to fund one new starting firefighter position (not counting employee benefits).

UMass on the other hand is now over three years behind for re signing the previous "5 Year Strategic Agreement," which currently pays us around $375,000 for the over $1 million in services they get from overworked AFD.
 

 New Amherst College Greenway Dorms (4 residence halls) will be protected by AFD as will the new 230,000 square foot Science Center

Sign Of The Times?

Parking enforcement on scene Town Hall for beheaded sign (left).  At least they left the pole

Yes one of the more minor aggravations we will have to put up with as our population begins to double with the return of "college aged youth": stolen street signs.

 Sign near Hastings still there

Why you would want a "15 minute parking" sign in your dorm room is beyond me -- especially if you  place it near a bed.

Property owner Jeff Brown is hoping the town will install those 15 minute (free) parking signs in front of his commercial building on Triangle Street immediately adjacent to Kendrick Place.

 Jeff Brown owns the concrete contiguous with Triangle Street

This would keep tenants and or contractors of the new building from tying up valuable parking spots.

And with the town's highly efficient Parking Management doing the enforcement, increasing revenues to the town over violations.

Living in the shadow of Kendrick Place

A double win.

A Presidential Expansion

Presidential Apartments, nine new buildings with plenty of parking

Kendrick Place, with 36 units/104 tenants, wasn't the only new apartment complex to open for business yesterday.  Presidential Apartments, built back in the 1960s, opened an entire new cluster of nine buildings holding 54 units/96 tenants.

But unlike Kendrick Place, six of those units will be "affordable" thereby adding to the town's Subsidized Housing Index which currently stands at 11.18%.

Any community in Massachusetts with an SHI lower than 10% is open to a Ch40B development that allows bypassing of local zoning ordinances for a housing project with at least 20% of the units subsidized.

 Moving in yesterday

"College aged youth" currently make up 59% of Amherst's population because of course UMass, our #1 employer. 

Kendrick Place and Presidential Apartments are, like bookends, conveniently located on either side of our flagship of higher education. 

Kendrick Place: Open For Business

Kendrick Place, Saturday

Kendrick Place, Sunday

The mixed-use five story building that has forever changed the face of downtown Amherst's north end is now open, having been issued a Certificate of Occupancy last night by Building Commissioner Rob Morra.

Phased move ins for the 36 badly needed housing units began this morning.

 Kendrick Place Monday:  Front Check in station (minus the ladder of course)

 Hallway art:  painting of an aerial view of salt mine (different view on each of five floors)

In addition to paying the town $150,000 in property taxes (based on a value of around $7.5 million) the upscale building will also house 100 tenants who are potential customers for nearby businesses.

 Kendrick Place, Tuesday:  moving in day

The revitalization of downtown Amherst is now off to a good start.

As It Always Should Have Been

 Commemorative flags in town center

The one hour discussion last night at the regular Monday meeting of the Amherst Select Board was one of the more heart wrenching experiences of my 30+ year involvement in civic engagement.

I had thought about bringing along the Ground Zero flag but thought one of my Trolls would say I was using it as a prop, or contacting a couple dozen people to show up as a sign of public support.   

But in the end decided to let the issue speak for itself. Let the reminder of that day -- that awful, awful day -- take center stage.  The spirit of 3,000 slaughtered Americans can't be ignored.

I took a quick photo of the Board with my iPbone from my front row seat about half-way through the discussion and grudgingly prepared my 1st breaking news bulletin:  "Select Board votes 3-2 NOT to fly the commemorative flags annually on 9/11."

Then even more ominously, Chair Alisa Brewer expressed doubt about the Board reaching consensus and asked almost rhetorically if they should even come to a vote because avoiding a formal vote would simply keep the current once-every-five-year policy in place.  I reedited my tweet:

"Select Board pocket vetoes annual flying of commemorative flags every 9/11, avoids taking a vote."

But then Chair Alisa Brewer, who is the most experienced member of the Board, threw down the gauntlet by making the motion to support annual flying.  An unusual break in protocol as the Chair never make motions.  Runner up most experienced Board member Jim Wald seconded the motion.

Now I thought they would return to a 3-2 vote against annual flight, but at least it would be a matter of public record.

Then, thankfully, Connie Kruger came up with the idea of adding the President's call for a "National Day of Service"  (Town Manager Musante calmly crafted it into the motion) and a sea change took place.

The three least experienced Select Board member, who previously expressed doubt about annual flying, almost instantly came into the fold.  The motion passing unanimously.

In the end, a margin far better than I expected.

But still, bittersweet.  What happened that terrible day is forever seared into our memories and nothing will ever change that.

The presence of 29 commemorative flags, I hope, will bring us some small degree of comfort -- just as it did those three firefighters who raised a borrowed flag over the smouldering rubble of what was only hours before, those majestic Twin Towers of glass and steel.

For the youth now flocking to our college town, I sincerely hope the flags will serve as a simple reminder, so they pause for a brief moment to acknowledge the pernicious price we paid that otherwise bright & beautiful morning ... simply for being Americans.

The cost of freedom.

Amherst Select Board votes unanimously to fly commemorative flags EVERY 9/11 rather than once every 5 years. pic.twitter.com/GBlb0mcpzp

— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) September 1, 2015

Western Mass News reports

MassLive reports 

AFD annual 9/11 ceremony is at Central Station 9:45 AM

The North Will Rise Again

Atkins North, open for business in North Amherst

As promised over a year ago, Atkins North -- a smaller version of the iconic South Amherst flagship  -- will officially open its brand new doors today after total transformation of a 4,000+ square foot cow barn into a shiny new, long needed, food business.

Inside is even brighter and shinier than you would expect

The operation will complement the 12,000 square foot Trolley Barn just down the street and provide further incentive for North Amherst residents to shop closer to home.  Cowls Road will be repaved this fall and a sidewalk installed from Montague Road directly to Atkins North.

 A nod to the past

The town is also planning to tweak two intersections that make up of the North Amherst Village Center where five roads all converge almost on top of each other.  Meanwhile, Pine Street (one of those 5 roads) is now, finally, nearing completion of a $4 million major renovation.

North Amherst is fast returning to its former glory days when it was known as the "dirty hands district" because of a plethora of mills, factories, farms and loggers.

W.D. Cowls, Inc, the largest private landowner in the state, has now successfully recycled their l-o-n-g history in that area into a shiny new "clean hands district,"  aka The Mill District.

North Amherst Village Center: Sunderland and Montague Road branch off after intersection of Pine/Meadow/North Pleasant

A Final Request

Monday night marks my 14th annual visit (the 1st being in October, 2001) to the Amherst Select Board to request 9/11 be added to the permanent short list of events the 29 commemorative flags fly in the downtown to commemorate, both celebratory -- like July 4th -- or Memorial Day, which is somber.  

And over the course of my lifetime days just don't get any sadder than the morning of 9/11, which dawned as bright and beautiful as any day in the history of our country. 

But this will be my last such visit.

The board will either agree to allow the flags to fly every year rather than once every five years, thus ending the need for such annual visits; or they will say "No," to finally -- irrevocably -- suck the vital essence from my soul.

Because if this particular Select Board (where 4 of 5 individual members have previously supported annual flying) can't now come together to do the right thing, then all hope is lost.

Click to enlarge/read

@amherstac so soon ? #sarcasm

— 413Tweets (@413Tweets) August 29, 2015

Amherst Town Meeting, 2007 (another good reason to nix Town Meeting)

Select Board packet material on the sad saga of 9/11 flag commemoration

A Lot Off The Top

DPW Tree crew strategizing how to safely take down large tree off Triangle Street

This massive 100' poplar tree is coming down piece by piece in what can only be described as a challenging removal.  Mainly because it's so BIG, and its location next to a commercial building.   

 Height of tree pushes the limits of the bucket truck

The tree was recently hit by lightning and could not be saved. 

Shot from 150' up

Viva La Revolucion!

Amherst Town Government comes up for voter scrutiny ... again

1st of 3,500 signatures 4:35 PM today

The most epic local political battle in the entire history of our town will see a return engagement in 2016 as Amherst For All, has initiated the movement to place before voters formation of a Charter Commission to study and present a new improved form of local governance.

In other words, a death sentence for 257 year old Amherst representative Town Meeting, which many people now think is no longer "representative."

Amherst, a "college town", has the lowest median age in the state (22) where the majority of residents are renters; but Town Meeting is mostly populated by a gray-haired crowd of homeowners.

Who yell at the 22-year-olds to "get off their lawn!"

While self absorbed NIMBY/BANANA zealots have never reached a majority level in Town Meeting, the problem is they only require one-third-plus-one minority to stop any reasonable pro-development zoning article. And that low benchmark was reached a long time ago.

 Amherst Town Meeting last May

Amherst's tax base is 90% residential and only 10% commercial, with over half the property in town owned by tax-exempts, mainly our higher education entities:  Amherst College, UMass and Hampshire College respectively.

On April 3rd, 2001 Amherst voters -- with a voter turnout of 17% -- endorsed the formation of a Charter Commission which came up with a mayor/council form of government, but one that also retained a town manager.

Question 1 (binding): Charter formation?  Question 3 (non binding): Should we dump Town Meeting?

In April, 2003  -- with a voter turnout of 31% -- that ballot question to change our form of government failed by only 14 votes, 2414  to 2400 (with 21 blank ballots cast).  Two years later -- with a voter turnout of 35% -- the same question lost by 252 votes, 2,953 to 2,701.

Fast forward to this afternoon.  According to Town Clerk Sandra Burgess:

The petition must contain the signature of 15% of the number of registered voters in that city or town at the time of the last state election.

Because this is state law, the number of registered voters includes inactives.

The total number of registered voters at the last state election (2014) was 21,430.  So if you were planning on filing a petition to place a charter question on the 2016 Annual Town Election Ballot you would have to collect 3,215 signatures to force the question on the ballot.  

Town Clerk Sandra Burgess accepts Ballot Committee papers from Adam Lussier

To make the deadline for the 2016 annual election ballot all the signatures must be confirmed 100 days before the election (the exact date has not yet been set) so roughly by mid-December.  Considering the Charter Commission created at the annual 2001 election required almost two years to collect the (2,600) signatures, an ambitious time line.

Back then, however, the signatures were collected pretty much single handedly by one very determined man, Stan Durnakowski, using the tagline Amherst needs a (strong) Mayor.

Mr. Durnakowski was also elected to the Charter Commission but he couldn't convince a quorum of fellow commissioners to support a strong mayor.

The Charter Commission instead opted for a weak mayor, maintained a "professional" town manager but did at least ditch town meeting in favor of a city council.

The 9-member Charter Commission is elected on the same ballot that voters approve forming said Commission, so it's important Amherst For All put up a slate of candidates who will represent their views for reforming town government.

Under Massachusetts Home Rule Amendment to the state's constitution the newly elected Charter Commission then has 18 months to produce its "Final Report," aka a blueprint for a new & improved government.  During that time period the Commission must hold at least two public forums.

The BIG difference today vs 2003 when the Charter change failed by only 14 votes is Social Media (why you're reading this here first).  Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin were not even born, and blogs were in their infancy.

Thus the power of the web will be a key factor this time around.

And when the cyber-smoke clears I foresee Stan Durnakowski looking down from above, giving us a thumbs up ... with his bespectacled face glowing with a broad grin.

Select Board member Jim Wald (who would be out of a job) and concerned looking Town Meeting aficionado Vince O'Connor (who would also be out of a job) look on as the Town Clerk briefs Amherst For All Steering Committee

#####

Official Kick Off Signature Drive Launch Party is September 2nd @ The Pub from 5-7PM 

   Amherst Mayor/Council Charter 2003