A Simple Act Of Kindness

From my mailbag (late Friday night):

Hi Larry,

I am hoping to let the Happy Valley know about a very sweet act of kindness from the Amherst Police Department.

My 8 year old boy had his bike stolen from our home yesterday.

We looked for hours last night for it and again this evening. We covered every nook and cranny of our neighborhood and then drove around Amherst hoping to find it.

I filed a police report online just in case, and then called the police because I thought I might have spotted it but didn't want to go up to it in case it wasn't actually my son's bike.

I hesitated to call the police because I worried they had better things to do than deal with a kids lost bike, but Officer Corsetti showed up within moments and he took it seriously.

My two little boys were with me in the car and were so upset about the stolen bike and officer Corsetti let them know it mattered and was important.

He looked on foot for it for a long time, asking people he saw if they saw it, and then when we lost hope and went home, he still called me and update me on his search this evening. He asked me more questions about the bike, told me he hadn't given up.

My boy, Levi, was so touched that the officer cared that he wrote him a thank you note for caring and helping him look for it. (He also put some chocolate chip cookies in a bag for Officer Corsetti in case he got hungry while working).

We figured he would be out of a bike and I can't afford another bike for him. As a mother, I felt devastated and so sad that something my boy loved SO much and rode every day, was gone. It broke my heart.

Then, an hour or so later (at 8 tonight), there was a knock at our door and it was Officer Corsetti and Officer Ting. They had a brand new bike for Levi. And a lock!

 Sergeant Gabriel Ting, Levi on his new bike, Officer Dominick Corsetti.  Levi was getting ready for bed when officers arrived (hence no shirt) and they only put him on the bike sans helmet to adjust the seat

Levi was SO happy, he was glowing and over the moon excited. We had looked for so long for his bike and Levi thought he wouldn't be riding a bike for a long time. But now, because of the kindness of the police, Levi has a bike, a really nice one!

They told us that all of the police chipped in and got him this bike and lock. This is something my son will never forget.

It's an act of kindness that will live on long after he outgrows the bike because they gave him the gift of compassion, of kindness, of belief in doing good.

Levi promises to pass on the kindness and I believe he will.

Someday, when Levi is an old man, he will look back on this and remember it and still be passing on this act of kindness.

He says so himself.

Kettie L.

UPDATE Saturday morning:

Story (deservedly so) goes viral on Facebook

UPDATE Thursday Oct 1st 4:00 PM:

Ascertain This!

Final speaker Jim Lescault, Director of Amherst Media, addresses Amherst Select Board

The Amherst Select Board and Cable Advisory Committee hosted their first of two "Cable Ascertainment Hearings" last night with the second one scheduled for Wednesday September 30 at the Bangs Community Center at 11:30 AM.

The Select Board voted to adjourn their meeting after hearing an hour-and-a-half of testimony but they kept the public hearing on all things cable open until their October 5th routine Monday night meeting so citizens have plenty of time to provide them with written comments.

The ten-year contract with Comcast expires in October, 2016 and Federal law requires two public hearings as part of the Request For Proposals targeted to Comcast.  Rates and programming are off the table as is anything related to Internet or phone service.

Cable Advisory Chair Kris Pacunas:  These public hearings are "The most important tool for our committee."  

A couple dozen citizens showed up, many of them associated with Amherst Media to champion our local cable assess entity that operates channels 12,15, and 17 -- aka, the local government beat.

Amherst School Committee member Vira Douangmay:  "Amherst Media is important for our Democracy.  People freak out when School Committee meeting are not televised."

Amherst Media is funded by a 5% cut of Comcast's overall Amherst revenues ($6.5 million) from its 7,000 subscribers, which came to $317,000 last year.

And once every 10 years a "technology upgrade" capital expense for new equipment, which came to $450,000 ten years ago.

But more than a majority of the audience came to complain about various service issues with Comcast -- either billing, quality of product or just overall customer service.

Wendy Jones Boisseau:  I own a house on Pulpit Hill Road that's hard to rent because Comcast wanted $8,000 to install cable/internet service.

Staff liaison and town I.T. Director Sean Hannon said the Comcast fiber optic access is "very valuable," but the equipment used by Amherst Media is "very old and should be replaced."

The Cable Advisory Committee will come up with a ten year contract proposal that must first be approved by the Town Manager and then final approval rests with the Amherst Select Board.

Of course if you the customer don't like the final contract, the alternatives are pretty slim.  All the more reason to make your voice heard NOW.

Another 1 Gone: Carriage House Demolition

Circa 1860 Carriage House, 1081 South East Street

After more than an hour of discussion punctuated by a few pregnant pauses and four votes taken, the Amherst Historical Commission, finally, decided unanimously NOT call a Demolition Delay Hearing which would have resulted in one-year protection for a historic circa 1860 South Amherst carriage house.

Architect John Kuhn was forthright with his presentation saying, "Let me be clear:  We don't want to have a hearing.  The building is not worth putting money into."

Kuhn presented the replacement building (already approved by the ZBA) which will serve as a garage and office to the current owners, but is designed to allow for a better view to the rear of the main house onto land recently purchased by the owners.

After filing a demolition permit the Historical Commission has 35 days to call a Demo Delay Hearing, which requires time to post legal notices.   So the 9/21 meeting was pretty much the last chance to call that Hearing.

The Commission's concerns were of the standard "vanishing landscape" variety.  This carriage house was a "contributing structure" to the South Amherst Common Historic District, and the only one left of its kind in that District.

Commission members were also unhappy with the new design not matching the original structure it would be replacing.

Kuhn responded somewhat indignantly: "I didn't think this was a design critique kind of meeting.  The building is set back from the house so it does not dwarf it.  My clients have already spent a lot of money on design so we are not here to look at alternative designs."

Kuhn also pointed out the Zoning Board of Appeals had already approved the new design.

The first vote on the motion NOT to call a Demolition Delay Hearing was met with total silence.  On the second attempt two voted yes to not calling a Hearing and two hesitated.  Again.

The Chair then offered to write a letter to the owners expressing their concerns and requesting their presence at a Commission meeting.  The motion to table a decision until next meeting passed 3-0 with one abstention.

But then Senior Planner Nate Malloy pointed out the next meeting would be too late to hold an official demolition hearing (as the deadline will have passed) so they took yet another vote on simply writing a letter of concern but NOT holding a demolition delay hearing.

That passed 3-0 with one abstention.  Kuhn promised to take the official letter "seriously."

Carriage House at 1081 South East Street is currently used as garage and office

Skin Of The Earth

Sculptured artwork "Essential Voyage" Amherst North Common

Perhaps it's fitting that in one of his final acts as Town Manager John Musante approved the placement on our historic North Town Common the fragile artwork "Essential Voyage," a life sized sculpture made of raw clay, hemp fiber, chicken wire and wood.

Artist creator Valerie Gilman sees it as microcosm of life and, all too inevitably, death:

"As the clay dries it will shrink and crack and as the rainwater falls on it, it will wash away the clay.  This process of decay is part of the piece.  We are part of the skin of the earth and our lives are temporary here."

Ms. Gilman has dedicated this timely public art project to the memory of John Musante, gone from this life far too soon.  

There will be an open reception during the Chamber of Commerce Art Walk on Thursday, October 1st with the artist and her collaborator Margaret Bowrys, who was the model for the sculpture.  Bowrys will also perform an improvisational dance.

Over the course of the next few months the artwork will, by design, degrade.  And on December 1st, that which remains will be removed. 

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

   Amherst "Essential Voyage Artwork

Busy Fall Weekend

Saturday noon September 19

This weekend -- especially Saturday -- will be another busy one as our little college town has now fully shaken off the final remnants of a slow but all too brief summer.

The weather is expected to be borderline perfect for outdoor activities so the 28th annual Apple Harvest Crafts Fair on the town common will easily attract an overflow crowd to town center.

In addition, the always popular Amherst Farmers Market will be in the usual spot set up on the Spring Street lot between the North and South Town Common.  And Amherst Regional High School, located nearby, is having its homecoming.

 Grace Church, Boltwood Avenue, Amherst town center

And of course a somber, once in a lifetime event will also attract a standing room only crowd to Grace Episcopal Church next door to Town Hall: the funeral ceremony to remember/commemorate beloved Town Manager John Musante, who passed away suddenly on Sunday morning.

Public Safety departments will be in all-hands-on-deck mode after the sun goes down.  The Fire Department "impact shift" -- extra staffing for two ambulances funded by UMass, a deal brokered by Mr. Musante -- will bring total AFD strength up to 13.

I hope it's enough.

After all a (relatively) quiet weekend would be a fitting tribute to the memory of our Town Manager, who prioritized and helped implement the paradigm shift towards safe and healthy neighborhoods. 

DUI Dishonor Roll

Michal Wojewodzic, age 22 (photo courtesy APD)

Great weather over the weekend brought out droves of college aged youth to all the usual hot spots near UMass for foot traffic  -- Phillips, North Pleasant and Meadow Streets.  Which is what makes this drunk driving incident all that much scarier.

What if he had hit a tender body rather than a solid tree?

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 Meadow Street/Townhouse Apartments late Saturday afternoon

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday Mr. Wojewodzic had his case continued until next month.

Wild Women Weekend

51 Phillips Street

Three 21-year-old women, all UMass students, became the first "Party House" arrests of the Fall  semester.  And seven of nine (one of my favorite Star Trek characters) UMass ETOH drunk runs over the weekend were women, as were both Amherst College drunk runs.

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Ain't equality great?

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday none of the three women jumped at the Commonwealth's usual plea deal offer (which has about a 98% acceptance rate):  Criminal case is "diverted" to civil with payment of $300 town bylaw noise fine, and if they stay out of trouble for four months the case is dismissed.

All the young women wished to consult with a private attorney so their cases were continued until next month.

And all the ETOH women recovered and will be paying (or their parents will) around $1,000 each for their ride to Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

   AFD Runs Mid-September

Digital Age Change

 

Mandi Jo Hanneke, Sean Hannon (left) Sandra Burgess, Jim Pistrang (right)

The Town Meeting Electronic Voting Study Committee voted unanimously 4-0 with 3 absent this morning to send to Amherst Town Meeting a $26,000 warrant article that will purchase 260 hand held digital voting devices to try to speed up the snail-like pace of Amherst's 257 year old political institution.

 Click to enlarge/read

Warrant Article will be vetted by Joint Capital Planning Committee and then requires only a simply majority vote at Fall Town Meeting

Meanwhile the Amherst Select Board voted unanimously last night to set the annual town election for March 29, 2016, which could actually be an interesting election for a change.

Charter enthusiasts now have until December 21st to collect the 3,215 signatures required to guarantee placement of the controversial question to change our form of government on that annual ballot for voters to decide.

The main motivation for Charter enthusiasts is to abolish antiquated Town Meeting by switching to a more professional Mayor/Council form of government.

Thus this $26,000 electronic voting purchase could end up being the equivalent of buying a new saddle for a dying horse.

Remembering John Musante

Amherst Select Board met briefly this Monday morning

Scroll down for updates

In a brief sorrowful meeting this morning in the Town Manager's office the 5-member Amherst Select Board came together in an emergency meeting more for grief therapy than policy work. 

Chair Alisa Brewer, her voice cracking, thanked town employees and the general public who have stepped up in this time of sadness and grief.

The town flag was lowered to half staff yesterday at her order and will stay in that somber position of mourning until interment, which has yet to be finalized.

 AFD Central Station in mourning over the loss of John Musante

Just prior to the scheduled 8:30 AM meeting SB member Connie Kruger apologized to the press for the confusion and slightly late start of the meeting saying, "None of us have ever been here before."

During the meeting Ms. Kruger asked if other symbols like black bunting could be placed on Town Hall so people coming in today would understand the somber atmosphere or maybe even decide not to do routine business today.



The Select Board will still meet tonight at 6:30 PM and their first order of business will be to appoint Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek interim Town Manager.

Chair Alisa Brewer closed the meeting at 8:51 AM saying, "I hope we all can find a place and space to talk about our friend, John."

 Snow globe occupying Town Manager John Musante's office chair

#####

UPDATE:

 Dave Ziomek Interim Town Manager, SB Chair Alisa Brewer 

The Select Board voted unanimously at their regularly scheduled -- although far more somber than usual -- 6:30 PM meeting to make Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek Interim Town Manager.

Hopefully after the shock of losing John Musante somewhat subsides they will also vote unanimously to remove the term "Interim".

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Masslive/Republican remembers John

A Sad, Sad Sunday Indeed

Amherst Town Manager John Musante 1961-2015

Some days I wish I did not listen so closely to first responder radio traffic, or know the town and town officials so well.

With medical calls I try not to listen all that carefully mainly because they are, usually, private and only subject to public scrutiny if it involves a high ranking pubic official.

Well in our little town they don't come any higher ranking (or nicer) than Town Manager John Musante.  And it's my very sad duty to report he passed away in his sleep, possibly from a heart attack. 

Amherst Ambulance (A4) with four aboard (usual crew is two) responded to his home Sunday morning around 8:45 AM and had a major Amherst police escort to Cooley Dickinson Hospital.  Umass and Hadley police assisted with traffic control at intersections along the way.

As many of you may remember our Town Manager suffered a head injury four years ago after falling while out walking his dog.  And in late July he fractured his foot in another accident while walking  back to his dorm room where he was attending a professional development course at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge.

 John Musante was kick off speaker at town's Solar presentation last week and seemed happy with the public response to a solar array on closed landfill

But he seemed happy and healthy of late.  I would often see him walking along Main Street around the lunch hour for exercise, and he was out mingling with the general public at the Celebrate Amherst Block Party on Thursday night.

John Musante, a long time Amherst resident, replaced Larry Shaffer as Town Manager in 2010 but had served as Finance Director since 2004.

Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek, who is in Philadelphia at the moment, will become interim Town Manager.

 Town Manager John Musante with Amherst Select Board. Chair Alisa Brewer (center)

The Amherst Select Board has a regularly scheduled Monday meeting tomorrow night.  Open Meeting Law allows for, "Topics the Chair did not reasonable anticipate 48 hours before the meeting".

And this shocking event is something nobody could have anticipated.

Well I Hate That Dirty Water

UMass dredged the Campus Pond last month

UMass Landscape Architecture students have set up a living laboratory on North Pleasant Street near the Bertucci's parking lot directly across from Kendrick Park to demonstrate a simple solution to the storm water run off that oozes into Tan Brook and then dumps into the UMass campus pond.

Plants can provide natural water filtration

Some plants actually like yucky gray water and by planting them in the flow path of Tan Brook  they would naturally absorb some of the pollutants before they do damage to the pond.

The space required is pretty minimal, as little as five square feet.   A series of these green patches could be planted along the path of the underground brook, brightening our downtown street scape while improving the environment.

 Balloons on Kendrick Park above Tan Brook represent the Campus Pond

You Can Always Go

Amherst after dark, North Pleasant Street

If the Business Improvement District keeps this up the Celebrate Amherst Block Party will become a downtown tradition, much like the Taste of Amherst or Merry Maple Tree lighting ceremony, which also brings thousands of folks to the heart of our town for a family friendly event.

 

She flew through the air ...

And have for quite a long time now.

5:30 PM

8:45 PM

While the Block Party is the new kid on the block -- with four winning events now in the record books --   the secret to success is the same:  bring lots of people together in a controlled but wide open area for a feel good event.

Kendrick Park on the far north end of town looked like Christmas

The weather of course is a major factor.   Mother Nature should win an award as best supporting actress in last night's event.

 Downtown restaurants did a booming business

 AFD Central Station is always a popular attraction

 AFD Engine 1 and A2 staged at DPW building a mile away to respond to calls

And the town too deserves major kudos for their supporting role by providing the stretch on North Pleasant street running through town center and the town employees -- Police, Fire and DPW -- to assist with making things go as smoothly as possible.

I'll Drink To That

Hills Reservoir, Pelham

Amherst Town Meeting will be asked to spend $170,500 (if a matching state grant is approved) from the water/sewer fund to purchase 141 acres of woodland in Pelham owned by Bob Romer for protection of our drinking water supply.

The land, aka Romer Woods, is currently appraised at $455,000 -- mainly because two house lots could be carved out of it.  The land is currently in the state's Chapter 61 program with numerous unmarked trails throughout.

Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek told the Water Supply Protection Committee last week that Mr. Romer is a "very willing seller who wants the property protected."

And even with the tax break Mr. Romer will get for allowing the town a steep discount, it still would not make up for the $105,000 he is taking off the appraised value.

Hills Reservoir is one of seven bodies of water Amherst uses for its drinking supply.   The town currently has 2,662 acres of land set aside as "watershed protection" and of that 1,537 acres are in Pelham.