Charter Commission Outreach

9 member Amherst Charter Commission met at Police Station last night

In their 3rd meeting in a 3rd different location -- "the nomadic Charter Commission" quipped Chair Andy Churchill -- the nine Commissioners first discussed the Town Meeting request for $30,000 towards overhead expenses and came to the conclusion the amount was more than justifiable.

Although they will most likely come back to Town Meeting in the fall to change the wording of the article to allow broader interpretation of what services the money can buy.

Currently the article restricts spending to a consultant and the Commission will have plenty of other expenses like mailing, printing, and advertising.

 Motion states "for engaging consulting services

 

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The rest of the meeting was taken up with discussion of the fast approaching initial Public Hearing scheduled for May 12 at the Amherst Regional Middle School auditorium, which is also the same venue for Amherst Town Meeting.

Audience member Maurianne Adams, an unsuccessful candidate for the Commission, summed up the outreach strategy to a series of related open-ended questions:   "What do you value in Amherst?"  What would you change?  What would you not change?"; What are the major problems now facing Amherst and who would you want addressing them?"

The Commission seemed happy to let that be their guide.

Chair Andy Churchill will also prepare a brief three to five minute introduction outlining the mission of the Charter Commission (which will also appear on their webpage) since the hope is to attract a broader swath of the town rather than the "usual suspects" who live and breath town government. 

A Facebook page will allow for timely postings and public comments while the main webpage located on the town website will act as the "mother ship."  The entire Commission can be reached by email at: charter@amherstma.gov.

The first public notice for the May 12th hearing will appear in local newspapers this Friday and Commission members hope for lots of sharing on social media.

Townehouse Transformation

Townehouse west quad 2:30 PM Satruday

The final glorious spring weekend before UMass finals went well, with fewer large gatherings compared to last week where the Mill River Recreation area was trashed and the usual spots -- Hobart Lane and Townehouse Apartments -- swelled with college aged youth like an old fashioned beach party.

A ground level view

 Townehouse west quad 4:45 PM

Only Townehouse Apartments quad area grew large and loud on Saturday with a peak crowd of perhaps 1,500, a little less than last week.

A handful of Amherst police stood by most of the day to observe and interact with students coming and going but pretty much allowed the students to have fun.

UMass Community Liaison Eric Beal and APD's Neighborhood Liaison Officer Bill Laramee has spent plenty of time during the week interacting with students at the usual hot spots.

Townehouse west quad 6:30 PM

At one point late in the day a Townehouse security guard reported a bottle was thrown at him by someone who disappeared back into the crowd, but fortunately the incident did not escalate.

And, unlike last week, nobody set any furniture on fire in the middle of the quad.

 Townehouse west quad Sunday morning 7:00 AM

And The Winner Will Be?

Amherst, founded 1759, is in the final stages of choosing new Town Manager

   Amherst Town Mgr Search Schedule

Final Chance

Court is in session:  Select Board, Temporary Town Manger, Town attorney

Acting as Liquor Commissioners the Amherst Select Board last night had to balance two sometimes competing interests:  the ability of a small business to survive in an ever increasing competitive market and the protection of public safety i.e. keeping underage patrons from procuring alcohol.

Obviously the latter takes precedence.

After an hour of testimony, including that of Police Chief Scott Livingstone and Detective Brian Daley, and then another painstaking hour of discussion, they unanimously voted to suspend the liquor license of Panda East for a total of 55 days, May 4th through June 27.

Fifty days for the two new incidents and 5 days that were given in "abeyance" for the original incident in January.

 Detective Brian Daley and Chief Livingstone give sworn testimony to Select Board

Thus the Select Board softened the blow somewhat by allowing the suspension to run out during the late spring into summer, a slower time of year in our little college town.  Although they will be dry during busy commencement weekend.

At one point the specter of outright revocation was raised, and then another suggestion by Doug Slaughter of seven full months (June 1st to the end of the year) was briefly discussed.

Even after the number of days under discussion for suspension came down to a month or two, Mr. Slaughter suggested the start of the penalty be September 1st rather than the slow summer months.

Attorney Kristi Bodin attacked the most egregious incident where a 17-year-old female was allegedly served two Scorpion Bowls and required hospitalization for alcohol OD by stating all the evidence was hearsay and they were being denied the basic right to cross examine witnesses.

Ms. Bodin also pointed out after the January incident where Panda East was sanctioned for serving 17 underage patrons the recipe for Scorpion Bowls was reduced to one shot of alcohol.  And it's hard to imagine two shots could put someone into a stupor requiring hospitalization.

 Attorney Kristi Bodin, Amy Wu manager Panda East

The young women did tell investigators she went to a UMass dorm room after being at Panda East so it's quite possible -- in fact likely -- more alcohol was then consumed, pushing her over the edge.  

But the second incident where a 20-year-old used a fake Rhode Island license to successfully acquire alcohol was pretty much beyond reproach and even acknowledged by Attorney Bodin that her client "dropped the ball."

Although interestingly the night of the second incident APD was doing a sting operation using four 20-year-old UMPD cadets and all four were denied service after being carded.

In her closing argument, like any good defense attorney who is cornered, Attorney Bodin threw herself on the mercy of the "court" saying her client desperately wants to stay in business.

After the last incident in January she has been trying to change the image of the business back to a restaurant rather than a drinking establishment.

And after these most recent incidents Ms. Wu purchased a $5,000 electronic scanning machine to detect fake I.D.s  Although Temporary Town Manger Peter Hechenbleikner pointed out you still need to use commons sense since a real license can be used by the wrong party.

In addition to pulling their liquor license for 55 days the Select Board also gave Ms. Wu until that June 27 end date to have the liquor license transferred over to her name from that of current absentee owner Isaac Chow.

The Select Board also told the Town Manager to come up with a 11" by 17" sign to be prominently posted in the front entry of the eatery displaying the dates their liquor license is suspended. 

So does the punishment fit the crime?  Well, yes and no.

Since the Select Board let them off easy for the first incident back in January by only immediately pulling the license for two days -- a Monday and Tuesday no less -- this 55 day sanction seems rather stern.

But I have to wonder if one of the downtown bars involved with the infamous Blarney Blowout were involved rather than an iconic restaurant would the punishment have been a tad more severe?

Either way, it's getting harder and harder for small businesses to survive in the downtown.

And after the slew of publicity this incident has now generated combined with the real threat of revocation for another incident -- with APD on the watch -- I think Panda East has, finally, learned a hard lesson.

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd ..."

The Empire Strikes Back

Amherst Media is main beneficiary of Comcast ten year contract

Comcast, the mega media giant who owns the sole cable franchise for Amherst, responded to the town's 10 year renewal RFP with an in-your-face comeback.

While the 5% cut of $6.2 million in annual revenues ($317,000 to Amherst Media for local access this year) is pretty much a given, the only real negotiation will be over the one-time equipment upgrades.

The town requested $2.2 million and Comcast responded with $450,000 -- the exact same amount they provided ten years ago.  Ouch!

And they hired their own consultant to counter the two "ascertainment hearings" the town held to get feedback on Comcast services.

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So yes, this is going to get interesting.

And if not resolved by mid-October, the town's 7,000 subscribers could see their televisions go dark.

Although our Temporary Town Manager assured the state oversight authority that the town expects to come to a deal before deadline.

DUI Dishonor Roll

Amherst -- at least the part not under UMass -- was pretty safe over the long weekend with APD not taking a single impaired driver off the road.  Maybe everybody is using Uber these days.

 Luke O'Malley, age 20, stands before Judge O'Grady

UMass police did arrest one student for impaired driving, in a parking lot.  One that was loaded with a couple thousand tailgaters.  O'Malley had his case continued until next month so he could hire his own private attorney.

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UMass Stadium 6:45 PM  More at parking lot tailgate than in the stadium

Party House of the Weekend

287 Grantwood Drive

In spite of the perfect weather that prompted large outdoor gatherings of alcohol fueled events over the long holiday weekend the individual party house scene was pretty tame, only one.  Although APD had a total of 20 arraignments in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Tuesday, mostly alcohol related.

 5 young ladies stand before Judge O'Grady but are not arraigned

Judge O'Grady insisted the Assistant District Attorney deal with all the students who did not have a record prior to arraignment in order to keep their records squeaky clean.  But the deals he made for all five residents who were arrested at 287 Grantwood Drive was the usual plea deal:

Pay the town's $300 Noise Bylaw fine, take the UMass "Brains at Risk" program, and stay out of trouble for the next four months and the original arraignment will not even take place although all of them have to return to District Court on August 19th. 

When Products Compete

William Fraser long time City Manager Montpelier Vermont

While it has now become somewhat of a joke the correct pronunciation of Amherst minus the h actually served a purpose a generation or so ago before social media and a t-shirt slogan let the cat out of the bag.

My Irish mother pointed out to me that it was a simple way of telling townies from outsiders, from folks who had roots in our little town (even back then a "college town") and folks who may not care as deeply as we do.

Last night the Select Board held an interesting public discussion of questions they will ask the three Town Manger wannabes next week.

 Amherst Select Board reading interview questions for 3 Town Manager finalists

Interesting because they were in open public session and did not want to divulge the actual questions since the three candidates could simply watch the Select Board meeting over the next few days on Amherst Media and prepare themselves for the questions.

But one word from one question was divulged --"outsider" -- because Connie Kruger wanted it changed to "newcomer."  Fair enough.  All three candidates are on level ground because, unlike Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek, none of them are townies.

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Mr. Fraser will by carrying additional baggage, however, since some people will see his recent actions as playing one community -- that he has served for 21 years -- against another.

Others will simply note he would be coming to our awesome community with a 50% raise, so more power to him.

Vermont Times Argus reports

High Tech By The Slice

Iconic Bank building bottom right adjacent to Jones Library

The stunning former First National Bank building located in the heart of downtown will soon be a beehive of entrepreneurial activity, as Boston based WorkBar is expanding to our little college town.

The bank building, owned by Barry Roberts, has been empty since last summer when TD Bank consolidated into their Triangle Street building in the north end of downtown.

WorkBar is kind of like a health club for entrepreneurs whereby you pay a membership fee to come in and use the facility whenever you need it.  They offer full and part time memberships payable by the month and will be featuring high speed wireless gigabit service.

The center of town is about to get a much needed shot in the arm!

Strike Two!

Panda East, in the heart of downtown

For the second time this year Panda East Restaurant will be hauled before the Amherst Select Board acting as Liquor Commissioners on Thursday evening, for the serious charge of serving underage patrons.

Made even more serious since this is the 2nd offense in only three months and the underage minor was only 17 years old!

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Back in January the Select Board voted unanimously to suspend their liquor license for two days -- January 25 and January 26 -- for the 17 counts of serving minors brought by Amherst Police.

But they also gave them an additional 5 days worth of license suspensions if the infraction should happen again within two years.

Apparently, it did.

Downtown Gains A New Business

 35 South Pleasant Street, heart of downtown Amherst

Londonwest, which will be selling "specialty food products, sports memorabilia, gift-ware" and house a small cafe that serves coffee, tea, and soft drinks goes before the Select Board tomorrow night for approval to serve beer and wine.

In addition to being the town's Sewer Commissioners, Select Board members are also Liquor Commissioners.  The "Wine and Malt on premises" permit costs $1,000 annually, but since there are none available they will seek an "all alcohol license" that costs $3,500.  

The location, in the heart of downtown Amherst, has been vacant since September when Art Alive died and prior to that it was 35 South Cycle, a spin class studio.

Amherst has seen in increase in empty storefronts over the past few years, so it's nice to now see one coming alive.

UPDATE:  Tuesday night.  

 The Select Board continued the Hearing to May 11th due to concerns about how the retail portion of the store would be kept separate from where the alcohol is served, training of staff, and where the alcohol would be stored.

Chair Alisa Brewer was particularly concerned and at one point chastised the rest of the Select Board for not sharing that concern.

Party Potential Part 2

Crowd of 1,000 behind 17 Hobart Lane Sunday 3:30 PM like leaves on a tree

Townhouse Apartments Sunday 3:15 PM

The party scene on Sunday shifted from the west quad at Townhouse Apartments in North Amherst to Hobart Lane somewhat around the corner off North Pleasant Street.

As they did the previous day Amherst police made individual arrests for "liquor law violations" (open container and underage drinking) but pretty much let the crowd, who were gathered on private property, have their day in the sun.

 Mill River Recreation area Sunday afternoon

Police also responded a number of times to the Mill River Recreation area for noise and parking complaints from a large student related gathering that had a permit to use the town property.

The Spring Concert at the Mullins Center Sunday night was designed to keep students on campus so they would not be a burden on town first responders.

But the two extra outside detail ambulances that Chief Nelson requires of them were not enough to handle the slew of substance abuse cases, five of which happened within an hour.

All told Mullins Center Command had 30 patient contacts, with 8 transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital (three by AFD and five by special detail ambulances) and another patron taken into Protective Custody by UMPD.

Although, sadly, these numbers were pretty much in the predicted range.

Monday Morning aftermath:

17 Hobart Lane

North Pleasant Street across from Hobart Lane

Mill River Recreation Area parking lot

 Townhouse Apartments (from Saturday)

There's a reason they call it @ZOOMASS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6EGarnPt5l

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 18, 2016

Townhouse Apartments late Saturday afternoon

First Responders Day

Ironically enough our first responders are busy as usual on this day dedicated to them by the stroke of Governor Charlie Baker's pen.  Such is life for the dedicated men and women who have chosen to perform public service in a college town.

 APD station back lot

The folks who freely run into danger while everyone else is sprinting away, who see things not meant to be seen in an effort to help any and all citizens, even those who don't always appreciate them until suddenly they're needed.

 AFD Central Station

Thin red & blue lines, that stand squarely between chaos and order.

Party Potential

Townehouse Apartments 2:30 PM

Townehouse Apartments 5:30 PM

In the span of just a few hours the crowd of college aged youth at the westernmost green space at Townhouse Apartments in North Amherst grew from a couple dozen to a couple thousand.  Fair enough, considering the beautiful spring weather and this being a l-o-n-g holiday weekend.

But when you mix that large a crowd in an enclosed area with copious amounts of alcohol, there's bound to be trouble.

Townehouse Apartments 6:30 PM: plenty of debris available

Around 6:30 PM a 911 call came in reporting a debris fire in the middle of the large crowd.  AFD responded and staged until APD, who had already put a mutual aid call to Hadley and Northampton, could secure the area.

 Townehouse Apartments 7:00 PM: clean up in aisle 5

And secure it they did, even though outnumbered hundreds to one.

 Sunday afternoon, the following day

At the 2013 Blarney Blowout, the year before the one that made national news but still compelling enough to be my "Story of the Year",  AFD had to respond to the middle of the crowd for an ETOH (alcohol poisoning) college aged female.

They were greeted with a hail of ice, cans and bottles (some of them full), thus APD was forced to wade in to break things up, resulting in six arrests.

The following year was even worse with 58 arrests resulting in enough national publicity to give the town and UMass a black eye and a renewed sense of purpose about killing the Blarney Blowout.

And in 2015 and 2016 with the assistance of 225 police officers, stern messaging from the University combined with a parking and overnight guest crackdown and a Mullins Center concert, the Blarney Blowout is no more.

But anytime there's nice weather late in the spring semester the potential for an (unnamed) blowout is pretty high.

Financing The Revolution

The sun could be setting on our current form of government 

The $30,000 request for tax monies to support the work of the 9-member Charter Commission over the next year smoothly straddled a major hurdle on Thursday night by garnering the unanimous support of the Finance Committee after a brief presentation from Commission Chair Andy Churchill.

 Andy Churchill (center) Chair of the Charter Commission

The Finance Committee is an independent watchdog group appointed by the Moderator charged with advising Town Meeting on any and all financial related articles.

Thus if the Charter Commission should propose a governmental restructuring that retires Town Meeting -- as the last Commission did -- the Finance Committee could be no more.

The first major outreach event by the Commission is scheduled for May 12th at the Amherst Regional Middle School where they will take public comment for two hours (7-9PM).

The fate of Town Meeting, which starts May 2nd, will be the top topic.

Banned In Pelham

Pelham Elementary School has Maria Geryk for Superintendent but is not in the Region

Over a dozen supporters of Aisha Hiza, a mother who has been banned from school grounds for advocating in behalf of her child, read a statement of support at the Regional School Committee on Tuesday night during Public Comment.

Committee Chair Trevor Baptiste tried not to let the discussion go very far because as he rightfully pointed out it's not a Regional School Committee issue (Middle or High School), but in fact a Pelham School Committee issue since the child attends Pelham Elementary School which is currently not part of the Region.

By the sounds of Attorney Tate's letter to Ms. Hiza the Pelham School Committee, which only meets once per month, will take up discussion of her complaint against Superintendent Maria Geryk at their May 4th meeting.

And since it's an Executive Session it will be hard to tell if Pelham School Committee Chair Tara Luce recuses herself, since she is employed at Amherst Crocker Farm Elementary School thus, technically, Maria Geryk is her boss.

   Parent Banned Pelham School

School Consolidation? Park it

Kathy Mazur tells RSC it's back to the drawing board on school consolidation

The Amherst Regional School Committee heard a defeatist update from HR Director Kathy Mazur, who was charged with scoping out the merging of Middle School students into the High School building, which represented a complete turn around from her optimistic presentation back in late January projecting annual cost savings of $800,000.

The High School was expanded/renovated 20 years ago and has a current capacity of 1,700 while the projected population of both High School and Middle School grades 7-12 this coming September is only 1,340.

But Ms. Mazur said after viewing comments from over 960 individuals she has changed her mind:

"There are very few grades 7-12 schools in Mass with over 1,000 kids.   It's a LOT of students.  Our cafeteria is challenged now."

Mazur said there was "great interest" from a variety of groups in reusing the building, but the Region cannot make a profit by renting out space.

The Middle School is currently used by Greenfield Community College after regular school hours and the town's Leisure Services and Supplemental Education recently moved into an unused portion of the building.

And The Beat Goes On

West entrance Whitmore Admin building around 6:30 PM

UMPD did not waste any time today in day three of the UMass sit in at Whitmore Administration building to protest their fossil fuel investment portfolio.

Just after 6:00 PM, official closing time for the building, they gave the dispersal order which about 150 took to heart and marched out of the building.  But 19 did not, and were summarily arrested.

 Students line up along main ramp around 5:30 PM to support protesters inside

They will all be arraigned tomorrow in Eastern Hampshire District Court probably before Judge Estes, who was in a good mood this morning, joking about his Prius and whether the defendants took a bus or bicycle to get to his courtroom.

Tomorrow, with another 19 crowding the courtroom, he may not be as jovial.