A Bridge Too Far

CPA Committee was unanimously in sync last night

North Town Common in front of Town Hall will see major renovations

The Community Preservation Act Committee voted unanimously last night to recommend funding two major capital projects to the fall Town Meeting, including $190,000 -- contingent on a state grant of $400,000 -- to renovate the North Town Common and $240,000 to  expand/renovate the Crocker Farm Elementary Playground and make it handicapped accessible.

 Crocker Farm's sad little playground will expand by 33% and become ADA compliant

Vince O'Connor's pitch to spend over a million in town money, including hundreds of thousands in CPA historical preservation funds, to renovate the Mill Street Bridge (scheduled for state renovation at no town expense in 2017) was firmly rejected by the Committee.

 Mill Street Bridge this morning

When member Marilyn Blaustein made a motion to "not recommend" the crazy proposal other members said simply not taking a vote is the same thing.  So the Committee unanimously pocket vetoed the proposal by not taking a vote.

 Little Red Schoolhouse will be demolished by Amherst College to make room for new Science Center

And Carol Gray, a mother on a mission to save the pre-school building her child attended, sent a letter of withdrawal to the committee for her $200,000+ request saying she could not find a location for the building after it's moved.  At the last CPA meeting she stated she was in negotiations with UMass.

 Carol Gray email to CPA Committee (click to enlarge/read)

When CPA Chair Mary Streeter quipped that UMass officials do not move as quickly as Ms. Gray, Assistant Town Manger Dave Ziomek confirmed that UMass Chancellor Subbaswamy made it very clear to him that UMass was not in the least bit interested in the structure. 

 Crocker Farm pre-school playground

Chestnut Hill Elementary School playground, Belchertown

Regionalization Round Up Continued

Regional School Committee voted last night to get busy in October with Regionalization

The cattle drive merging the four-town Regional School District from current grades 7-12 all the way down to pre-Kindergarten, after four years of pretty much behind closed doors discussion, will pick up the more public pace in October.  Somewhat dramatically.

Last night the Regional School Committee voted to ad an October 1st meeting to their busy schedule and to form a sub committee (Kip Fonsh, Trevor Baptiste and Stephen Sullivan) to create a Public Relations "Presentation" to sell Regionalization to the general public.

The idea is to have "Public Forums" in all four towns -- Amherst, Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury -- with each of the forums being an official meeting of the Regional School Committee (thus requiring at least 5 of nine members present).

The presentation will be the standard powerpoint variety based on the document to amend the current Regional Agreement, and school administrators (Superintendent Maria Geryk and Assistant Superintendent Mike Morris) will be on hand to answer questions.

All the public forums will be held close together in October to create, according to Chair Trevor Baptiste, "A rolling momentum of the scuttlebutt of Regionalization."

The Regional School Committee has also kicked around the idea of hiring a PR firm to handle outreach although member Vira Douangmany Cage keeps reminding members the in-house 'Amherst Together' initiative should be assisting with the public relations.

Long time audience observer Marylou Theilman suggested the proposed Regional Agreement be posted on town and school websites ASAP and also pointed out the current document lacked the stamp identifying it as a "draft".   It would also be helpful if the pages were numbered.

After the four public forums in October the Regional School Committee will have a few months to discuss any changes and resubmit the proposal to the School District's attorney for a final rewrite in time for presentation to all four Town Meetings in the spring.

In order to amend the Regional Agreement and make this happen all four towns must vote yes.  Shutesbury officials, however,  continuously telegraph they will vote "no."

   Regional Public Schools expansion

So Far So Good

APD having a chat with college aged youth carrying a 12 pack Townhouse Apartments

The long weekend went a l-o-t better than I thought it would as far as (serious) rowdyism goes.

Sure there were the usual problems associated with our annual spike in population, returning Amherst to a "college town" after a quiet summer:  zombie herds traipsing up and down Phillips Street, North Pleasant and Fearing Streets, large gatherings in the west quad of Townhouse Apartments and of course old standby Hobart Lane.

Townhouse Apartments Saturday afternoon

But there were no serious incidents of drunken mob mentality manifesting itself in the form of rocks, bottles and cans being hurled at police officers, aka Blarney Blowout.

Although Amherst Fire Department had the usual tie up in services due to drunk runs with ETOH students. 

Amherst police stepped up their game as they always do.  APD Neighborhood Liaison officer Bill Laramee worked with UMass Neighborhood Liaison Eric Beal to keep a lid on the usual pressure cooker areas.

The Rental Permit Bylaw ordinance that went into effect 18 months ago is making a significant difference by holding landlords accountable for the (late night) activities of their tenants.

And UMass, by building newer plusher accommodations on campus -- North Apartment (800 beds) and Commonwealth Honors College apartments (1,500 beds) -- gives young tenants a reason to be proud of their humble abode and much more likely to treat it with respect.

Revived my Twitter audience

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