By Any Other Name ...

Amherst College:  Named after the town, not the General

Amherst College history professor Kevin Sweeney gave a one hour presentation -- "Smallpox, Natives, and Jeffery Amherst" --  to a packed crowd at the Jones Library on Saturday afternoon to shed light on the history of small pox, which he concluded "seems to attract dubious stories".

So did General Amherst start on purpose a pandemic with a couple of infected blankets that spread small pox like wildfire among the Native American population?

 Professor Kevin Sweeney at the Jones Library

Standing room only crowd in the Goodwin Room

Well, no.

According to Professor Sweeney small pox had been ravaging the native North American population for a hundred years before Lord Jeffery Amherst was even commissioned.

The commander of Fort Pitt, Henry Bouquet, had first suggested to Amherst that he be allowed to use small pox as a weapon.  In a letter dated July 16, 1763 -- but only as a post script -- Amherst approves the concept.

William Trent, a local militia commander inside Fort Pitt, wrote in his journal on June 24, 1763 "we gave them two Blankets and an Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital. I hope it will have the desired effect." 

Thus the deed was done three weeks before General Amherst gave his permission.

Trent's journal also mentions the return of the two recipients of the infected garments, Turtle's Heart and Mamaltee, a month later and both of them were in good health.  Small pox has an incubation period of two weeks.

Two settlers who had been captured by the warring tribes but managed to escape reported the small pox outbreak was devastating the Shawnee and Delaware in the spring of 1763, well before General Amherst and Colonel Bouquet had their small pox discussion by snail mail.  

Thus if Lord Jeffery Amherst were ever brought before a Nuremberg type trial for war crimes, aka biological warfare, he would most likely be declared innocent. 

Although that still probably would not make him worthy of being an "unofficial mascot" for the Amherst College sports teams. 
 

Lord Jeffery Inn:  Soon to be renamed (but not the College)

Downtown Development Do Over?

Archipelago paid $4.6 million for the Carriage Shops

One of the downsides of taking too long to break ground on your controversial construction project is the rules could change, kind of like moving the goal line during the Superbowl half time show.

Take One East Pleasant Street for instance.  The "mixed use" five story 84-unit project was expected to mimic the success of nearby Kendrick Place:  Mostly high-end apartments with a ground floor dedicated to commercial and space for bicycles and zip cars.

Kendrick Place dominates/anchors the north end of downtown

But Town Meeting this spring will be discussing two zoning articles that could retroactively impact One East Pleasant:  A Planning Board article describing more precisely what constitutes a "mixed use" building i.e. possibly requiring more square footage be dedicated to commercial.

And Vince O'Connor's citizens petition aimed directly at developers Dave Williams and Kyle Wilson requiring mixed use buildings be subject to the town's "Inclusionary Zoning Bylaw" requiring 10% of the units be "affordable."

The Planning Board will hold public hearings on both warrant articles early next month but both of those hearings have to be advertised in a local newspaper two weeks in advance.  On that day of publication the zoning would apply to One East Pleasant if later passed by Town Meeting in May, unless the developers receive a building permit.

Simply starting demolition of the former Carriage Shops is not enough.

 Amherst Carriage Inn:  state of the art hotel/motel (for the 1960s)

The ambitious project was approved by the Planning Board in December, 2014 but a lawsuit brought by a disgruntled competitor delayed things until mid-August when Judge Richard Carey punted it out of his courtroom .

The Special Permit was then  granted on August 14 and had another 30 days before legally taking effect.

 Firm agreement to repaint history mural also needs to be in place befor a Building Permit issued

According to Building Commissioner Rob Morra the developers then have six months to (significantly) act on that Special Permit, meaning a drop-dead deadline of March 14.  And there are still details to work out over asbestos removal and the repainting of the history mural.

Development in Amherst is never, never, never easy.  And if some Town Meeting members had their way it would never, never, never happen. 

   One East Pleasant, Amherst by Larry Kelley

Medicinal Pot vs Student Housing

55 University Drive bottom left, proposed housing across the street

Red lines indicated 300' reach

The Select Board may want to think about the "letter of support or non opposition" for a medical marijuana facility proposed at 55 University Drive since it could kill a proposed 32 unit apartment development directly across the street.

According to the recent Amherst zoning bylaw governing medical marijuana facilities there has to be a 300 foot buffer zone from apartments (unless they are located in a mixed use building).

The Planning Board is sponsoring a warrant article for spring Town Meeting to change the zoning on the 5.79 acre property directly across the street from 55 University Drive from Office Park to Business Limited, which would allow for the construction of badly needed student housing.

Building Commissioner Rob Morra confirmed, "As written the bylaw does not consider one use existing before the other."  In other words first come first serve.   And if you are a pot facility first, that means no housing will be developed within 300' feet of your front door.

The 300' buffer extends far enough into the open field across the street (which is already development challenged by wetlands) to make the proposed project unfeasible.

Thus a potential $7 or $8 million development, that would pay the town $150,000 annually in property taxes, is killed by a much smaller medical marijuana facility that will pay less than $20,000 annually.

So Amherst Select Board, what's more important?   Helping to ease the significant stress on our housing market -- while generating substantial tax revenues -- or providing a medicinal herb?

 Because of stringent bylaw exclusions University Drive is about the only place in town for a medical marijuana facility

Jumping The Gun?

Not until he hand in the proper paperwork

For the second time this week our local hometown newspaper has a front page above-the-fold story on something someone might do:  bring an article to Town Meeting.

And since it only requires 10 signatures to get ANYTHING on the warrant, not a very high bar to hurdle.  So yes, if someone tells you they are going to place an article on the spring warrant it's pretty easy to believe.

(At least the fall Town Meeting requires 100 signatures to grace the warrant.)

But what if they get hit by a PVTA bus or errant drone while they are out performing the arduous task of collecting those ten signatures?

Citizens have until February 29 to get the petition articles to Town Hall with the required signatures of registered voters.  So far seven individuals have taken out the proper paperwork from the Town Clerk, so it's a safe bet we will be getting a few returned with do-gooder intentions.

But I'm not going to speculate.  Especially on my front page.

DUI Dishonor Roll

Cars don't kill people, drunk drivers do

Let's hope this weekend continues to be a light one for drunk drivers.  Last weekend neither Amherst or UMass police had a single arrest.  Nearby Hadley, however, had one:

Click to enlarge/read

 Almost 2.5 times the legal limit

 In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Tuesday Daniel Tower, age 32, took a standard first offense Chapter 24D disposition

 Cost of a standard 24D disposition

Let There Be (lots of) Light

The solar array will take up about 8 acres of the 20 acre site

West Bay Road & Eric Carle Museum will be screened by dogwoods that can grow up to 12'

The Amherst Planning Board voted unanimously last night (6-0 with 3 absent) to approve a Site Plan Review for Hampshire College to construct a 2.55 megawatt solar array in a former 20 acre farm field off West Bay Road near Atkins Market, Eric Carle Museum and Applewood Retirement Community.

Since the Building Commissioner had ruled this energy operation was an accessory use to an education institute, the Dover Amendment would trump local rejection of the project.

But the Planning Board seemed impressed enough with the presentation so they probably would have endorsed it heartily anyway.

Nearby Orchard Valley resident John Boothroyd spoke loudly against the project questioning if solar really was carbon neutral and lamenting the loss of farmland and trees.  He also worried about glare endangering drivers along West Bay Road.

Developer Mickey Marcus assured the Board solar was more environmentally friendly with carbon savings (estimated at 2,000 tons annually) and that it's a myth solar panels cause glare saying, "They are designed to absorb sunlight."

This Amherst solar project combined with one in Hadley will provide the campus with 100% of its energy needs.  Construction is expected to take 3 to 4 months and will be completed by the fall semester.

And for the first time in its history Hampshire College will pay the town a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes over the solar project ($21,000 plus 2.5% annually for 20 years).  Although the house/barn at 1095 to the east of the project is slated for demolition.

 Farmhouse and barn east of solar project will be demolished soon

Hampshire  College bought the Ives Farm where the solar project will be located including the old farmhouse and barn over 20 years ago with the provision -- called a "life estate" -- Mr. and Mrs. Ives could live their until their deaths.  Both have now passed away.

Last year Hampshire College paid $6,377 in property taxes for the 1095 West Street property, but that  will go down substantially after the demolition (perhaps to zero).

Last year Amherst College paid us $130,000 in PILOT for the vital services of Amherst Fire Department, while UMass paid around $450,000 (for ambulance service).  Hampshire College paid nothing.

 Hadley solar array

Party Apartment of the Weekend

Let's hope these three young men learn to listen to Amherst police the way they probably do their football coach. 

Click to enlarge/read

In Eastern Hampshire District Court yesterday all three took the standard diversion deal offered by the District Attorney's office:  Pay the $300 town noise bylaw fine and stay out of trouble for the rest of the semester.

The 4th individual on the list had charges dropped because his name was not on the lease as a resident of the apartment.

All seven arrests by APD over the long weekend involved alcohol and most of them were UMass students.  UMPD, by contrast, had zero arrests. 

Fire & Ice

AFD on scene 409 Main Street for burst sprinkler pipes

The recent arctic weather brought even more work to an already overburdened Amherst Fire Department with calls for help dealing with burst water pipes numbering around 40-- many of them in large commercial or academic buildings where the sprinkler systems were the culprit.

 AFD on scene UMass Goodell Library for burst sprinkler pipe

Yes, commercial sprinklers are located in the ceilings of buildings and heat does rise.  But a sprinkler system is designed to cover everything so all it takes is one small area where insulation is sub par.

Kind of like a frozen pond that has a tributary stream entering it so the ice is a lot thinner at that one spot and far more dangerous for an unsuspecting skater.

 AFD on scene Applewood Retirement Community for burst sprinkler pipe

Atkins Market, Applewood Retirement Community, UMass Goddell Library, Amherst College Merrill Science Center and a bevy of smaller commercial buildings all suffered the major hassle of freezing water raining down from above.

   AFD Valentine Weekend

In addition AFD had two almost simultaneous box alarms during the lunch hour on Tuesday that tied up the entire on duty shift, one at UMass North Village family housing and a chimney fire in a residence on Flat Hills Road.

 AFD on scene for box alarm UMass North Village Apartments

AFD on scene Flat Hills Road for a chimney fire

An emergency medical call for an elderly woman needing transport to Cooley Dickinson Hospital had to be handled by an ambulance from Northampton Fire Department because the two box alarms tied up all available AFD personnel. 

 Pine tree fell on car South East Street 4:45 PM Tuesday

NFD mutual aid would be required two more times before Tuesday was done.

 Severe 1 car crash into utility pole sent 4 occupants to Baystate Hospital closing Rt 9 overnight. Photo via Hadley PD Facebook

A severe one car crash into an Eversource utility pole on Rt9 in Hadley last night required three AFD ambulances and one from NFD.  All four victims were transported to Baystate in Springfield rather than nearby Cooley Dickinson Hospital because of the severity of their injuries.

So no, it's not just weekend drunk college students that overwhelm the Amherst emergency response system.

 UMass and Amherst College heating plants were working overtime

Simple Questions

9 member Charter Commission could have new town government ready for 2017 vote

As promised Amherst For All has issued a short survey to all 20 Charter Commission candidates who will appear alphabetically on the March 29 local election ballot, thanks to the four month campaign that snagged the 3,215 required signatures.

 Click to enlarge/read

If anyone refuses to answer all 5 questions, voters should immediately eliminate them in favor of ones who did take the time to fully respond.

And anyone who refused to sign the petition to get the vote on the ballot in the first place should also be automatically rejected.

As should at least half of any husband and wife combinations.

And The Children Shall Lead?

Today's Gazette hyping a Town Meeting advisory warrant article from 8th-graders

So here's yet another good reason to do away with antiquated Amherst Town Meeting as a legislative body overseeing our $75+ million college town: time wasting advisory articles.

According to today's Gazette Amherst Regional Middle school students will collect the (only) ten signatures required to get their rename Columbus Day article on the warrant.

Geeze, maybe Amherst College students will file one calling for the renaming of our town, and by extension Amherst College.

Or maybe ten rowdy UMass kids will file one suggesting we officially recognize the "Blarney Blowout."

Two of the most egregious public relations nightmares that made us the laughing stock of the nation were hatched by 17-year-old high school students: the cancelling of 'West Side Story' and then 5 years later being the only high school in the nation to perform the R rated 'Vagina Monologues'.

Sometimes -- like the medieval Children's Crusade -- it's best not to let the kiddies lead.

Strategic Partnership Backstory

UMass is by far the town's largest employer

The 3.5 year Strategic Partnership agreement hurriedly signed around Christmas is pretty much a status quo deal -- which is to say lousy -- and only provided $120,000 in new monies for "various services the town provides to the university and its faculty, staff and students, including educating K-12 students who live in tax-exempt housing and first responder services."

The combined budget of Amherst Public Safety Departments (Police/Fire/Dispatch) comes to $10 million and about 20% of those resources go towards dealing with UMass students on and off campus, or about $2 million.

In addition School Superintendent Maria Geryk told Town Meeting last year there were 56 children coming into Amherst Public Schools from tax exempt family housing at Umass for a cost to Amherst taxpayers of $1.2 million.

Interestingly in the original 2007 Strategic Agreement UMass clearly stated that if Mark's Meadow Elementary School should close (which it did soon thereafter) they would come back to the bargaining table to discuss the cost of educating children from their tax exempt housing.

Not only did they not come back to reopen the agreement after they took back the School of Education building, but just a few months ago UMass demolished the $200,000 town owned portable classrooms that were located to the rear of the building.

So I wondered how much work went into the new Strategic Partnership that was 3.5 years overdue when finally signed.  My sources told me Nancy Buffone, Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations, was the main point person on the academic side.

And of course Town Manager John Musante and his sudden replacement Dave Ziomek were in charge on the town side.

I'll let you decide ...

Took six weeks and cost $275

   UMass Amherst Strategic Partnership

A Historic Cold Month

February has been a good month for remembering & honoring cultures that help make our little college town what it is today.

We started February with the 2nd annual St. Brigid's Day to remember the Irish in a way as diametrically opposite as possible to the unsanctioned Blarney Blowout, and today it was the 3rd annual flag raising combined with a well attended ceremony at Town Hall to remember Black History Month.

Although it was bitter cold and the ceremony was advertised as an outdoor event, about four dozen citizens crowded into Town Hall to hear Jim Wald read the Select Board proclamation and poet Xinef Afriam perform a passionate piece remembering 150 years of black suffering.

The crowd did brave the weather, marching slowing out of Town Hall and assembling on the front steps while singing the black national anthem, "Lift Every Voice & Sing."

No Ballot For You

Helen Berg collecting signatures last weekend

After a brief conversation with the Town Clerk this afternoon Select Board wanna be candidate Helen Berg was satisfied with most of the names disqualified from her nomination papers, but she remained  adamant about only two of them which she will attempt to appeal to a higher authority.

Berg had handed in her papers on the final day less than an hour before deadline with 64 names.  The Town Clerk's office disqualified 16 of those names for a variety of reasons leaving her just two shy of the 50 needed.

There is no option available to appeal the Town Clerk's decision to the Board of Registrars or any other local authority other than bringing a lawsuit before a Hampshire Superior Court judge.

Last year Vince O'Connor and Mary Wentworth tried to have signatures thrown out from School Committee candidate Phoebe Hazzard because multiple signatures appeared to have been signed by the same person.

The Board of Registrars does get involved with a properly filed challenge/appeal over nomination signatures but does not get involved if it was the Town Clerk who threw them out.

Berg came in a distant third two years ago for Select Board and threatened a lawsuit because the Town Clerk did not put the names on the ballot alphabetically (where her name would have been first).

Turns out the town had been granted special state legislation in 1975 to allow names to appear by drawing from a hat, letting luck be the deciding factor.  That applies only to town wide contests.

The 20 Charter Commission candidates still fall under normal state guidelines, so their names will appear alphabetically on the March 29 ballot.

Taking On Water

Maria Geryk, Sean Mangano, Mike Morris at last night's Finance Committee meeting

Amherst school officials gave the Finance Committee a sneak peak at their fiscal 2017 Elementary and Regional School budgets, both of which are described as "level services," and both of which require sizable cuts simply to attain that treading water status quo:

$428,897 from the elementary schools and  $280,823 from the Region.

 Charter Schools cost as much as employee Step/COLA and projected raises next year on Elementary budget Control Accounts

And in both cases the number one cause of budget strain comes from the competitive drain of students by Charter Schools, mainly Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, which is now a full service grades 1-12 enterprise.

 PVCIC recently added $10 million building addition

For the Region (grades 7-12) this year that includes 90 students and at the elementary level another 86 -- all of them at the high average cost per student, where Amherst is in the top 10% statewide.

 Charter School impact on Amherst elementary schools

If a student leaves Amherst via Choice it only costs us $5,000 but if they go to a Charter School or Vocational School it costs us $18,000.

And to make matters worse the state is considering lifting the cap on Charter Schools while reducing dramatically the reimbursement formula to public schools who lose students to Charters.

All in all a lose/lose proposition for an already ailing public school system once the proud flagship of education in the Happy Valley.

PVCIC recently added a $10 million addition to their nearby facility while Amherst is gambling on a two-for-one mega school that could very well be turned down by the voters because of expense, adding significant costs to Amherst's already sky high property tax burden.

School  Library supporters crashed the FinCom meeting

About a half-dozen disgruntled citizens showed up to the Finance Committee meeting last night to complain about the 3 library paraprofessionals facing the budget ax, but Chair Kay Moran told them the Finance Committee has no line item authority and simply votes the bottom line provided by School Administration.

$40,000 was recently shifted from the elementary schools operating budget to capital (paid by the town) so that alone will cover half the cost of the three library paras if approved by Town Meeting.

And the town did recently renew the lousy 3.5 year "Strategic Partnership" with UMass that provided $60,000 this current year and $120,000 next year in reimbursement money for the 56 students in our expensive public schools coming from tax exempt family housing at UMass.

School Committee candidate Vince O'Connor will be filing a "citizens petition" for Town Meeting calling for greater Payment In Lieu Of Taxes from all three institutes of higher education who dominate day-to-day existence in our little "college town."

 Comparison of local public schools losses to Charter Schools (Amherst second from lowest)

A Night Of Their Own

Town Meeting Coordinating Committee discussed upcoming town election & Town Meeting this afternoon

Since the race for Charter Commission has a large field of 20 candidates vying for only 9 seats and since this process is not exactly routine, the League of Women Voters will host a candidates night in the Middle School auditorium on March 14 at 7:00 pm.

This public forum on the Charter Commission is in addition to their usual candidates night for town wide offices (Select Board, School Committee, and Library Trustees) which will be held March 22 in the Town Room at Town Hall.

In addition the TMCC will sponsor a bus tour on Sunday April 24  for all Town Meeting members to peruse sites around town related to Town Meeting articles.  The 40 seat bus is provided by UMass at a cost of $200 but UMass Community Relations office is picking up half the cost.

Amherst school buses had been used in the past but they are not handicapped accessible and the UMass bus has room for two wheelchairs. 

$40,000 Budget Shift

Joint Capital Planning Committee this morning

The Joint Capital Planning Committee heard today about the high cost of Information Technology with town IT Director Sean Hannon requesting $298,800 in gadgets, wiring, phones and copiers and his schools counterpart Jerry Champagne seeking $247,000 for FY17, which begins July 1st.

The town has roughly 250 computers and part of the upcoming budget request will replace 40 of them.  Interestingly with all the terabytes of vital information that needs safe storage, the town does not currently use "the cloud" but relies on physical servers, like Hillary Clinton.

Currently all data resides at the Police Station with a back up server at Town Hall.  But for additional security Hannon is requesting $20,000 for another "disaster recovery" server located a lot further away in case a calamity should wreak havoc at both the Police Station and nearby Town Hall.

At Tuesday night's controversial School Committee meeting where three library paraprofessional were verbally handed pink slips, much to the dismay of parents and library lovers, Rick Hood wondered why "wireless WiFi upgrades" were coming out of the operating budget and not capital.

At Superintendent Maria Geryk's request Champagne moved the $40,000 item to his joint capital budget request, which if approved by JCPC and Town Meeting would give the elementary school budget an extra $40,000 to apply towards the library paras.

The JCPC was unanimous in affirming the $40,000 can come into the mix as capital, but they did balk at giving the item special treatment by changing their process and taking a vote now on recommending the item to Town Meeting.  Normally the Committee hears all requests from all departments over a two month period before taking a vote.

That vote will take place either March 10 or more likely March 17.  And I'm pretty sure the School Superintendent will benefit from the luck of the Irish.