Atkins Corner: Getting There

First roundabout 

First Roundabout 11/20/11

West Street in front of Hampshire College now paved

Parking lot in front of Atkins graded

A Matter of Respect

Law would not apply to private flags, but Big Y and Amherst College usually follow state protocol

It only takes but a moment to bring an American flag down to half staff ... the solemn respect it demonstrates lasts an eternity.  And since it would be honoring and remembering someone who gave up their life in the performance of their sworn duty to protect and serve the general public, is that really too much to ask?

Massachusetts Senate bill 1573 would require American flags in the Commonwealth (under state control) fly at half staff to commemorate a police officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty.  Hardly controversial -- and sure to pass -- since Governor Patrick has been especially attentive over his tenure with ordering our flags to half staff to honor those brave first responders and military personnel. 

So could we just please fast track the bill to get it passed by 9/11?  No other event in our entire history better symbolizes the dedication, determination and self-sacrifice of first responders quite like that morning.

That awful, awful morning.

AFD 9/11/08

Predator

Fox out hunting in a South Amherst backyard, near Crocker Farm Elementary School

Another Miss Emily?

 A mature Emily Dickinson?

Perhaps having only one known daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson has added to her mystery and allure over the years.  Not that she needed that, mind you.  Her poems speak for themselves. As loudly now as ever, even 126 years after she was called back.

Miss Emily, coffee at Rao's 

If my great, great grandfather Tom Kelley, Miss Emily's loyal "domestic", was still around he could give a positive ID one way or the other.   Of course he would also report that there was never anything especially notable about Emily Dickinson's physical wrappings, at least not nearly so compared to what emanated from her core.

Emily Dickinson Museum reports "breaking news."

Dickinson Homestead Museum, pride of Amherst  (College and the town). Miss Emily's room 2nd floor corner windows facing west&south

Missing In Action

Snell Street no bridge

Former Snell Street Bridge

The state made good progress on the Snell Street Bridge replacement this week, managing to remove the entire historic old RR bridge in just five days and only closing the road off from 7:00 AM till 3:00 PM.

Since state Department of Conservation Recreation is about as communicative as a hunk of metal, we do not know if the new bridge will be dropped into place starting next week or not.

First warning/blockade/detour for users is about 100 yards away

Blockade at bridge is formidable enough to stop a bike going full speed

And Another One Gone

 35 South Pleasant Street, heart of downtown Amherst

If only a business could run on heart, good intentions and enthusiasm, the enormous failure rate in the start up year would be -- like the bubonic plague -- all but eradicated.

35 South Cycle, an aerobic spin class business, opened in town center in January, peak month for the health fitness industry, and closed in late July, the worst month for the industry--especially one located in a college town.

I bumped into owner Jeff Brown during my brief photo shoot and asked him about prospective tenants -- as in what kind of business was he now seeking to occupy his former law office?  "Probably not a restaurant," he laughed.  Or fitness business.  Restaurants are  #1 for failing in the startup year and health fitness businesses are in the top five.

 Beautiful ornate brick walls, windows looking out onto Main Street USA

With a rent of $3,000 per month the age old wisdom of parents counseling their child about to leave the nest still applies:  Rent should not be more than 25% of your income.  So if you are going to open a business here, make sure your annual revenues exceed $150,000.

Yes, $3,000 per month sounds like a lot for 1,000 square feet of space, probably a little more than Barry Roberts charges but less than the Grandonico family, downtown landlords who own a significant portion of the downtown.

And this location, location, location does benefit by fairly significant foot traffic generated by adjacent icon AJ Hastings and less-than-iconic Bank Of America (unless of course Occupy Amherst comes a calling).

Opening your own business is like a being a member of the The Flying Wallendas:  It takes skill, courage and know how, where the rewards are great and the downside ... well ... death. 

Three-out-of-four of these prime downtown storefronts are now empty

Fair & Balanced Representation?

UPDATE (Friday afternoon):

The ducks are starting to align in the march towards K-12 Regionalization as Leverett and Shutesbury are on a fast track to secede from Union 28 so they can join Amherst/Pelham in a proposed mega merger.

Meanwhile former Amherst School Committee Chair Irv Rhodes posted a response on my very public Facebook page to this article:  "When all is said and done, either the school committees/ and or towns will correct this situation on their own -- or be forced to by legal actions of concerned citizens."

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Before the venerable Amherst Regional Public School system decides to expand regionalization to the elementary level (currently the Region is middle and high schools) they should get their own administrative house in order by bringing the current nine member Regional School Committee into compliance with state law. 

According to Mass General Laws Chapter 71 section 14E:  "Electing committee members by voters in member communities with each community’s representation apportioned according to population."

In Amherst all five elected School Committee members automatically become members of the nine member Region.

Thus Amherst, population 37,819, has a 55% say in governing the expensive Regional school system ... although we make up 88.4% of the 42,762 total population.

The other three school committees do indeed appoint members to serve on the Region.  Pelham, oddly, the smallest of the three, with a total population of only 1,321 has two members serving on the Region.

Leverett, population 1,851, and Shutesbury, population 1771, have only one each chosen from their 5 member school committees.

Hmm...

But yes, according to that same state statute, another way to populate the Regional Committee is  "appointing committee members by locally elected officials such as school board members."

So then who decided itsy bitsy Pelham should have two members?

Either way, Amherst is getting shortchanged. And let's not even talk about the Union 26 "partnership" we currently have with Pelham to govern the elementary schools; where Amherst provides 90% of the students -- and pays 94% of the overhead -- and has only a 50% say in governance. 

Where's "no taxation without representation"  Daniel Shays when you need him?

Our neighbor, Frontier Regional School system, does the right thing

What $ They Make

Amherst Town Hall, in the morning

So I've been pissing people off as of late with my public documents dumps ... this one could go either way.

Every city and town in the state should do this so a) employees could compare their salary with comparable communities to see if they are being fairly compensated; and b) taxpayers, who pay everybody's salaries, could decide for themselves if people are fairly compensated.

I do have a Public Documents request in with the Amherst Regional Public Schools (their total salary expenditure will be a lot larger), made at the same time as my request to the town, but -- to be fair -- HR director Kathy Mazur was going on vacation, so a subordinate is going to get me the data ... eventually.

Town of Amherst $15 million salary database (via Google Docs)

All Amherst Employees Pay 2012

All American Tweet

 Everything about Big Y is BIG, including their flag

One of the great things about Twitter is how seriously practitioners usually take it.  And now that more and more institutions are embracing Twitter as a 21st century two-way suggestion box, customer service can greatly benefit.

 Big Y Amherst 8/14/12

Now if you live in the Happy Valley you know first hand that Big Y Supermarkets proudly trumpets its "all American" image as a "family owned" business since 1936.  The quintessential American success story.  In fact, if Senator Scott Brown needed a poster business for the "I built this" campaign, he could not do any better than Big Y World Class Market.

Obviously they have embraced social media and use it well.  Within 5 minutes of my original tweet I had a response and within two hours the problem was solved.  God bless America (and free enterprise).

New Sheriff in Town

 

UMPD Headquarters

Congratulations to John K. Horvath who will assume command of UMass Police Department just in time for the September/October uptick in hijinks.

This now makes the second top official assuming leadership roles at the flagship Amherst campus.  Kumble Subbaswamy replaced Bob Holub as Chancellor after he was run out of town June 30th.

UMPD, unlike the political bureaucracy that runs higher education, is of a military mindset.   A great department in a top-of-the-line new building.  And fortunately, the vast majority of students they oversee are hard working, mature, responsible adults. 

I hope Chief Horvath continues to maintain the strong, mutually beneficial partnership his predecessor, Johnny Whitehead, enjoyed with the Amherst Police Department. 

Historic Indeed

321 Main Street Amherst, neighbor to Emily Dickinson 

While the current parking lot reconstruction probably would have distracted Miss Emily from her writing 130 years ago (although her room was on the other side of the neighboring Homestead, farther away) this does demonstrate rather concretely that the new Amherst Local Historic District is not a hindrance to owners within the district doing basic maintenance or renovations on their property.

And since local landscaper Taylor Davis is doing the work, safe bet it will be completed within the next week, in plenty of time for the students return.  

Even better: I'm told Rob Morra, the new building commissioner, is very easy to work with, helpful and proactive.  That too is historic.

UPDATE: Saturday morning 8/18/12 Parking lot finished and operational

Failure to Communicate

 Snell Street, Amherst:  Go away (or something like that)

Early this morning the boys in white hats fanned out to both ends of Snell Street from their portable trailer, located on that road about half way between busy Route 9 and equally busy Route 116, to take up guard duty and close off the popular road to only those who live or try to do business there (Hampshire Veterinary Hospital).

Chain link fence surrounds trailer (to keep out citizens with torches and pitchforks)

Sure we locals all knew it was coming ... generally speaking. But this was the first indication the road would close today.  Kind of short notice. 

I guess when you are the Department of Conservation Recreation, customer service is not too high on the list.  Right up there with Western Mass Electric Company.

UPDATE:  6:00 PM

By 3:05 this afternoon the guards and signs were gone without a trace, and the road reopened.   No notice as to whether this will be the daily routine or not. 

UPDATE: 8:00 AM Tuesday morning

They're baaaaaack ...

Party House of the Weekend

 173 Pelham Road, Amherst

So yes, already it has begun -- even before the main army of youth returns to our little college town and turns it into a ... big city.  Well, almost.

Two houses were cited over the weekend for violating the anti-noise Town ByLaw (bringing a $300 fine per person) but the party house winner was easy to choose.  All women for one.

According to APD logs (9:45 PM Saturday night):

Upon our arrival on scene, loud music and voice could be heard coming from inside the residence at 173 Pelham Road.  I spoke with a resident of that address who stated they were all underage and had been drinking.  Alcoholic beverages were visible throughout the house.  The resident stated that a live band was playing inside the house and that was the reason for the noise.  All five (5) placed under arrest for TBL noise.

All of them, gasp, UMass/Amherst students:

Jessica Gibbon, Oakhurst, NJ, age 20

Kate Werder, Narberth, PA, age 19

Lindsey Leistinger, Marshfield, MA, age 19

Sarah Ricciarelli, Pembroke, MA, age 19

Rosa Topping, Belmont, MA, age 20

Jumping Ship at ARPS

 Irv Rhodes former School Committee member (left), former principal Mike Morris (right)

One of the downsides to principal Mike Morris abdicating his leadership position at Crocker Farm Elementary School is the scuttling of plans to become an "innovation school" to help the Amherst public schools compete with charter schools that are currently eating their lunch.

Six months ago the state awarded the Amherst schools $10,000 to support "planning activities" to turn Crocker Farm into an innovation school, a first for Amherst --  and hopefully a transformative template for more.

Not much of a chance now. According to Mr. Morris, "Crocker Farm decided not to go forward with applying for the ($75,000) implementation grant."

As a founding member of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School, I know all too well the rigors involved with taking an innovative concept and making it happen.  But with Mr Morris at the helm, Crocker Farm had a good chance for achieving that goal.

Interestingly, PVCIC did not get the coveted state education charter in its initial year (2006) of application. The state, however, was impressed enough to award -- for the first time ever -- $10,000 to help make the not-ready-for-prime-time concept, ready.  And that did the trick.

Now PVCIC is the number one competitor to ARPS siphoning away children from Amherst elementary schools at $16,413 per child, while Pioneer Valley Performing Arts continues to drain away kids at the middle school and high school level at a whopping cost of $17,144 per student.

If Crocker Farm had become an "innovation school," maybe those losses could be mitigated, keeping all that money in the district.

B-I-G problem #2 is ARPS is known for being top heavy with highly paid administrators, spending  $697.73 per student vs. state average of $445.97.   A difference of $252.76 per student, 57% higher than state average, or in real dollars $388,969.20!  And this was before they added this new $100K position.

Interim co-principals (don't you just hate that term?) Derek Shea and newcomer Annemarie Foley, I'm told, will have "revenue neutral" budget impact once they agree on a contract, since Mr. Shea will make less than Mr. Morris's previous $87K and Ms Foley will make less than Mr Shea was currently making as Assistant Principal.  

While Mr. Morris was already a member of the $85K Club, he will now move into the more exclusive 100K club in an entirely new position.  Amherst Regional schools will now have eleven (11) employees in the 100K Club compared to Northampton's, umm, one (1)!

And God help anyone who dares to mention it!

Special Olympics Torch Shines Brightly

 Special Olympics Saturday Night Dance around the Olympic Flame of Hope

Threatening clouds and the rumble of thunder didn't dissuade dozens of law enforcement personnel and a few of their family members from running the distance between Amherst Police Department headquarters on Main Street and the UMass Southwest Quad area three miles away, where they were warmly greeted by hundreds of exuberant and thankful Special Olympics athletes.

All the money raised goes towards supporting the Special Olympics ... the good will goes everywhere.

Group shot just before the gun goes off

Amherst town center

AFD in front of Central Station stands and salutes

Group runs by former "Frat Row" just outside campus

University Drive with Southwest towers looming.  Final stretch

Form of Flattery?

WGGB Ch 40 website

Originally Published 7/13/12

Usually it's bloggers who are said to steal from main stream media, so imagine my surprise when I went to WGGB Ch 40 TV's website today to check out their Atkins Corner road reopening story (which has now been taken down) and spied a familiar photo.  Mine.

No permissions sought, and no credit for its usage.  Kind of uncool.

But what really bothers me is their lousy lead.  Talk about a "phoned in" story.  The new 2nd roundabout area is still a disorganized, unfinished mess -- as I demonstrated in my story this morning.  Hardly what you would describe as "traffic can now flow through the area as normal."  Especially for bicycles, motorcycles, or pedestrians.

If that's "normal" I would hate to see their version of abnormal.

My reliable source tells me the state, feeling pressured, told Baltazar on Monday that Atkins Corner was to open on Thursday no matter what.  Then on Thursday afternoon the state faxed a press release to the usual bricks-and-mortar media and they fell all over themselves publishing the "good news."

The newest roundabout is really not finished, thus it requires attentive, on-the-ball drivers for safe passage.   My concern now is for when a drunk driver tries to negotiate it for the first time later this weekend ...

Atkins Corner Electronic Sign 8/11/12 Hey, they updated

Not Ready For Prime Time

Yes, the barriers have come down around Atkins Corner and the extensive detour signs have all been covered with black executioner hoods, but the electronic road sign on the busy section of West Street leading into the mess this morning still says "Road Closed Ahead."

When they get around to changing it perhaps "Travel at your own risk" would be a better statement. Because not too far down the road the pavement ends as the stretch of road immediately in front of the main entrance to Hampshire College is still torn up.

The first roundabout was usable a couple months ago and the center greenspace could already use  mowing.

And foot traffic around the new second roundabout? Forget about it.

Yes, after surviving the dusty gauntlet you can still find Atkins Farms Country Market, just don't dawdle in their front yard.

With the masses set to return to our college town in a couple weeks, let's hope Baltazar works double time to "finish" this important project.

Hidden Cost of Higher Education

 Amherst College (named after the town, not the General)

In addition to the $491,364 Amherst College paid the town last year in property taxes for faculty housing, Lord Jeff Inn and Amherst Golf Course --making them Amherst's number #1 taxpayer-- AC also voluntarily donated $90,000 Payment In Lieu Of Taxes specifically for fire/ambulance protection.

Last year AFD responded to the campus 180 times (58 fire, 122 EMS), or an average of $500 reimbursement per run. 

UMass pays the town $325,000 PILOT under a 5 year strategic agreement that expired July 1st, but was e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d for one year because UMass was once again playing musical chairs with its leadership and the new Chancellor just started only this summer.  Last year AFD responded to the campus 915 times (234 fire, 681 EMS), or an average of $355 reimbursement per run.

 Hampshire College

Hampshire College, one of the most expensive schools in the country and the town's third largest landowner, required 178 AFD runs last year (107 fire, 71 EMS) and paid the town zero for PILOT, or an average of zero per run.  Yes, I said zero.

The town of Amherst required 3,189 AFD runs (956 fire, 2233 EMS) and paid $4 million in taxes to fund the entire department, or $1,254 reimbursement per run.  And yes, insurance receipts for ambulance runs totaled $2 million so the net cost to taxpayers is cut in half--but that still works out to $627 cost per run.

After 20 years of discussion the town is finally getting serious about building a new fire station in South Amherst to bring better response time to deep South Amherst, including Hampshire College and any new development that springs up around the Atkins Corner reconstruction (if it ever finishes).

The new fire station will not be cheap, $10 million minimum, and will require an increase in staffing, also not cheap.  Currently however, AFD is understaffed and Central Fire Station is falling apart.  All of this will be expensive.

But one way or the other we're going to pay:  either in actual dollars now, or an unforgettable tragedy in the near future.  

Thus, everyone who benefits --and everyone will benefit-- should pay their fair share.  If all the non profits on this list simply paid the $500/run Amherst College paid (and in this current year they are contributing $92,000, so reimbursement per run may actually go up slightly) it would have amounted to an additional $332,675 this past year.  And that's real money!

Tale of the Tape:

Hampshire College 178 runs @ $500/per equals $89,000

UMass Fraternities & Sororities 86 runs equals $43,000

Sunbridge Care & Rehab in Hadley 136 runs equals $68,000

UMass campus extra $145/run for 915 runs equals $132,675

AFD Annual Report Fy12

Recreation Train Wreck

Leisure Services & Supplemental Education website (note outdated pool event) 

If Amherst Police, Fire and DPW departments suddenly vanished, chaos would soon ensue. But should our recreation department disappear, most people would not even notice...and the private sector would quickly and easily fill the void.

In addition to the $43,000 lost last fiscal year on the luxurious game of golf, the recreation department--also known as Leisure Services and Supplemental Education--lost an additional $92,792 on other sport/fitness programming.

Overall LSSE expenses topped $1.1 million with revenues at $977,514...far short of break even .  This $122, 486 in red ink combined with the $197,000 hidden cost of employee benefits, paid from a separate part of the town operating budget, brings losses last year to a whopping $319,486.  For RECREATION.

And this is far from an anomaly as LSSE budget deficits demonstrate a downward trend over the past few years.  Unlike the decline of the Roman Empire, the excuse will be weather and the economy. 

Last spring Town Meeting approved a new $400,000 revolving fund for LSSE "after school programs". The schools kicked out private programs that had been in place for a generation and cost the taxpayers nothing, to be replaced by this same failing business model. 

Interestingly the government sponsored program at Crocker Farm--"Prime Time"-- that had been competing head-to-head with the private "Crocker Care", missed budget projections by a significant amount (budgeted at $27,000 but only generating $15,000).

If LSSE can't handle recreation--its core business for 30 years now--how well is this expensive new after school business going to fare?

Another hidden cost of government sponsored programs is that they are tax exempt.  Simply put, private business generates tax income while government programs consume them.

For instance, Hampshire Athletic Club, which has to unfairly compete with LSSE rec programs, paid the town $36,000 last year in property taxes.  And their employees are for the most part full-time professionals trying to make a living at sports/recreation rather than the part-time, independent contractors LSSE relies on.

Even tax exempt Amherst College paid the town $8,000 in property taxes for their Amherst Golf Course which competes with the Cherry Hill Golf Course, a ravenous White Elephant that required taxpayer bail outs of over $1 million to cover operational losses over the past ten years.

Government is vital for providing essential services--especially relating to public safety.  Recreation is a different matter altogether.

Why should hard pressed senior citizens living on a fixed income subsidize the recreational activities of the few who can--for the most part--afford to pay the actual cost of their "leisure services"?

Last year's losing financial spreadsheet

Green, Green Grass of Home

 Swaths of brown mar our beautiful town common

One of the hidden costs of allowing free use of the town common for major public events is the resulting turf damage, an ugly open sore like a hot spot on your dog.

Since the Taste of Amherst, town Fair and Extravaganja Pot Rally all enjoyed usually nice weather this past spring, the damage now showing is probably from the previous year when Mother Nature was not nearly as nice.

Our overstretched DPW is busy with construction all over town. Hopefully town officials will appreciate the "curb appeal" of a quaint--fully green--New England town common before Labor Day, when tsunami gates open to allow the students return.

Amherst Creperie craps out

 Amherst Creperie, 19 North Pleasant Street

So if you are a downtown Amherst business struggling even before heading into the Dog Days of Summer--when the college students have migrated away--the hot weather only adds jet fuel to the slow burn. And then, puff, you're gone.

Yes, this particular location is one of the highest per square foot rents in Amherst, so you better be exceedingly good with what you offer. And with Antonio's Pizza only three doors down, it probably should not be food related.

The Daily Collegian reported

Fade to Black (top)

 Big Y supermarket entrance University Drive

The road renovation/redesign at the Big Y entrance on University Drive commenced last year and only finished last month when the new traffic control signals finally switched on.  So some of you may be wondering why the white traffic lane markings are already fading?

According to one of our engineers, "There is a lot of remaining oils in the fresh pavement so the new paint doesn’t stick very well."  Which is why the state always uses thermoplastic, a special heavy duty goo that adheres better than paint, lasts five to ten times longer and is more visible...but is of course more expensive. 

And some would say a tad too slippery when wet.

No not to your car, but to bicycles and pedestrians.   A few years ago the DPW installed bike lanes around town using thermoplastic and were roundly criticized by a bicycle enthusiast or two about the lines being slippery when wet.

So ever since, when the town does a road project, the markings are made with cheap paint that easily fades: By Sisyphus with a paint brush.

Main Street Molasses

 Main Street Gauntlet

If you are heading all the way to the top of Pelham Hill from Amherst town center you now have to negotiate a new--yet another--road construction project that started today:  Resurfacing Main Street, which of course leads directly to Amherst Road.

And yes, Amherst Road is closed during weekday business hours for a sewer line construction project.

Warner Brothers won the bid for the Main Street renovation, and like almost all the projects around town it's expected to be completed by the end of the month.  The town is using Community Development Block Grant funds ($ from heaven) to pay for it.   

Meanwhile everyone keeps saying Atkins Corner second roundabout will be open for traffic by August 15.  But then town officials also said the War Memorial Pool would be open June 23rd, then June 30, then... stopped making predictions.

Let's hope this time they are correct.

Coffee Hiatus

 Dunkin' Donuts, College Street (Rt. 9)

UPDATE (Saturday morning):  Open for business already. The drive up anyway.  Too bad the state did not move this swiftly.

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Like almost everything else in Amherst the Dunkin' Donuts on College Street is under construction, although unlike the Hess Express in South Amherst (which has a Dunkin' satellite operation) they are closed until the job is complete, presumably by September when the population of Amherst about doubles.

The successful franchise opened ten years ago and was the first non bank related business in Amherst to utilize a drive up window.

Saturday morning 8/4/12