This One's For You

Amherst Town Flags at half staff for former Town Manager Allen Torrey

Perhaps one of the reasons Amherst still has a Town Meeting/Select Board/Town Manager form of government is because our very first Town Manager -- Allen Torrey -- was such a good one.  

According to current Town Manager John Musante:  "Consistent with the Town's policy and past practice of lowering Town flags to half mast upon the death of a current/former Select Board member or current Town employee, Town flags were lowered in his honor."

Stability At (almost) The Top

 
 Co-Principal Derek Shea at Crocker Farm concert

Probably of equal importance to last night's announcement that Michelle Tesauro has been named the new principal of Amherst's Crocker Farm Elementary School is the news that current interim co-principal and former assistant principal Derek Shea will return to his position of assistant principal next year.

According to Superintendent Maria Geryk, "Derek is amazing in both roles, and we are all fortunate that he remains at Crocker Farm. He and Michele are a very strong and balanced team. I look forward to seeing where we move with their leadership."

Current  interim co-principal Anne Marie Foley status is still to be determined.  Ms. Foley was a finalist for the position of principal.  According to Superintendent Geryk:

"Annie was asked to come in for one year interim- I will work with her over the next few days to discuss next steps. Annie is excellent and we would be fortunate to continue working with her in whatever capacity."

Rental Permit Passes BIG Hurdle

Jonathan Tucker, Stephanie O'Keeffe, John Kennedy 

Amherst Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe deemed the draft document the Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods Working Group has been toiling over for a dozen public meetings, "Not absolutely perfect regulations, but pretty damn good!"

And with that, after a little clarification help from Phil Jackson who seconded the motion, the committee came to a lopsided 8-2 vote in favor (2 property managers voting no) of forwarding the draft document (part 4.a.1. was taken out today, so it no longer exempts owner-occupied rentals) to the Town Manager, who will craft it into a warrant article for Amherst Town Meeting. 

The Residential Rental Property Bylaw will require a rental permit that is exceedingly easy to get and conversely, very hard to lose.  

As a General Bylaw it will only require a majority vote at Town Meeting rather than the difficult to achieve two-thirds vote that all zoning articles require.

Because we are a "college town," Amherst has a far different housing market than national average:  out of 9,621 year round units 4,258 -- or 46% -- were owner occupied, and 5001 -- or 54% -- were rentals.   National average for owner occupied units is 67%.

Also synonymous with being a college town, college students comprise 59.4% of Amherst's population.  And while the vast majority of college students are industrious, hard working, solid citizens, a small percentage who live off-campus make life miserable for average working families and retired citizens. 

With a permit system in place Amherst will have a new weapon to control irresponsible slumlords.  Like the nuclear arms race of the 1950s and 60s, weaponry town officials hope never to use, but the threat will act as a defining deterrent to bad behavior.

DUI Dishonor Roll

DUI isn't always alcohol 

On Sunday night around 10:00 PM, near 301 South Pleasant Street, about halfway between Amherst town center and my house, Amherst Police stopped a green 1997 Dodge Avenger for an expired inspection sticker and defective equipment.

The driver, Micheal Drake, age 29, made "furtive movements" (suspicious) so the officer called in for back up. The driver and vehicle was searched for weapons.

He was found to have a revoked license for being a "Habitual Traffic Offender" and in possession of a class E substance (narcotic prescription).

Click to enlarge/read

Expensive Takings

Spring Town Meeting Warrant articles only require 10 signatures

Amherst Annual Town Meeting will discuss and vote on two warrant articles calling for the "nuclear option," i.e. taking by eminent domain two very expensive parcels -- one a forest about to be developed for student housing in North Amherst and the other an apartment complex in East Amherst that formerly catered to low income, Section 8 tenants.

If taken, the Cowls property would cost the town $6.6 million (not to mention significant annual tax revenues by removing property off the tax rolls) and the Echo Village Apartments a little less than half that, for a total expenditure of $9.6 million.  

In 1987 Amherst did take by eminent domain the Cherry Hill Golf Course for $2.2 million, the most expensive taking in town history, in order to kill a 134 unit development proposed by Cambridge architect Robert Kreger. 

Chapter 61 rules and regulations (Cowls property is currently Ch 61)

Click to enlarge/read

Blarney Blowout Epilogue

Blarney Blowout aftermath

Was this year's Blarney Blowout really "less trouble" than last year?  Well, no.  Sure the downtown bar scene was a tad more controlled, but compared to the debauchery on display last year, not a very high bar to hurdle.

Amherst Police tell their side of the (sad) story

 Daily Hampshire Gazette Break Page 3/11/13

And while the downtown merely simmered, the north end of town boiled over.  Yes, another Meadow Street marauders incident.

 Blarney Blowout taxed our first responders

Part of the problem is the bars naming that which should remain nameless, thus giving impressionable youth more of a reason to party into unconsciousness (not that some of them need a reason).

And giving immature cheerleaders who profit off such boorish behavior, a reason to celebrate.

As Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe pointed out last week, the "Blarney Blowout" has taken on a life of its own.

The only good news in all of this is town officials can get the attention of rough-and-tumble business owners by threatening to pull their permits.  It worked a dozen years ago when these same bars (under previous management) were flagrantly violating the town's groundbreaking smoking ban.

Amherst and State Police in riot gear prepare to break up Townhouse Apartments "party" 

So I hope the Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods Working Group is paying attention.  Do you really want to get the attention of Party House landlords and give them an incentive to enforce civility?

Enact a rental permit system which allows the town -- in extreme circumstances -- to pull the permit, shut down the business, end the pox on our neighborhoods.

And yes, it's also time to end the "Blarney Blowout."

Amherst firefighters union did not appreciate Gazette coverage

WGGB CH 40 TV reports

CBS CH 3 reports  

WWLP CH 22 reports

Bostino reports

The Republican reports 

  Gazette Front Page (above the fold) 3/12/13

Blarney Blowout 2013

And so it begins: Friday afternoon delivery to Stacker's.  My Anon photo contributor tells me there were at least three dozen kegs that came off this one truck.

SCROLL DOWN FOR MOST RECENT UPDATES

APD checking up on Stackers 10:55 AM Saturday morning

Hide the women and children, the 2013 Blarney Blowout has begun! And, unfortunately, the weather is fine.

Yeah, sounds like I'm writing a song.

I don't wake up this early for class but ill sure wake up this early to drink #blarneyblowout
— Tim Collins (@m0hawk_f0_sH0) March 9, 2013

Crowd waiting at The Pub much larger than Stackers or McMurphy's 10:30 AM

 Amherst Town Center 1:30 PM Post Office Bus Stop

 

 North Pleasant Street just outside Town Center

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4:00 PM

Townhouse Apartments Meadow Street North Amherst

Townhouse Quad area starting to look like Woodstock (including the mud) 

APD and AFD on scene for 18-year-old female passed out drunk

Couple thousand students cram into the Quad area Townhouse Apartments

#####

5:00 PM 

And we just knew this was gonna happen.  Amherst and State Police, including a K-9 unit break up the party.  Rather quickly.

Somebody is going to have a major clean up tomorrow 

How many cop cars do you count? This was shot just after Amherst and State PD broke up the party.

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The Morning After

45 Phillips Street 

20 Allen Street

However ... According to the venerable Daily Hampshire Gazette:

BUSY DAYS FOR AFD

Disposable Art

Hastings & Amherst Human Rights Commission celebrate Black History Month

 Worker cleans Hastings window this morning

Leader Of The Pack

Amherst Crocker Farm Elementary School is in the final stage of acquiring a new principal to replace Mike Morris, who was kicked upstairs into Central Office to head up teacher evaluations, a new state mandated protocol. 

Originally 20 candidates -- 9 men and 11 women -- applied for the position.  A volunteer screening committee interviewed 9 semi- finalists and whittled the field down to five finalists, all women.

Earlier in the week the finalists met with parents and other stakeholders.

Two of the final candidates are from out of state so ARPS paid their travel expenses, roughly $3,000 total.

Currently Crocker Farm is being run by co-principals Derek Shea and Anne Marie Foley.  Ms Foley is a finalist for the permanent position of principal.

With two young children of his own and a coaching commitment to Amherst College in the Fall, Mr Shea opted not to put his hat in the ring, but said he "looks forward to coming back next year as Assistant Principal."

Kathy Mazur, Human Resources Director, is currently checking references on the finalists.  Superintendent Maria Geryk will review the feedback forms and then make her decision.  Any offer will of course be contingent on passing a criminal background check.

The new principal will start July 1.

Expensive Tools

 US Navy has Battleships, AFD has Ladder Trucks, and the DPW has Dump Trucks.  Big ones

Today's snowstorm would have provided a better backdrop for Amherst DPW Director Guilford Mooring's appearance before the Joint Capital Planning Committee, initial gatekeepers for all capital equipment purchases in the upcoming fiscal year.

Yesterday morning Mooring pitched the needs of his department (besides $2 million in operations) with the most expensive item, "the backbone of his fleet," a $150,000 dump truck.

Those really B-I-G dump trucks.  And his #1 priority.  Plus $20,000 for sander & plow attachments.

The town currently has six of these trucks on the road.

The new truck is to replace an 17-year-old dead one that lost its firewall due to corrosion. The steering wheel fell into the drivers lap -- while he was driving!

 Rotted out firewall

Also high on the list and expensive @ $130,000, is a bucket truck used to change light bulbs and perform other work that requires a safe stable platform high in the air.

Amherst recently received a $302,000 Green Community award energy grant, and will be relamping the entire town with energy efficient LED lights.  So the current, tired, ten-year-old bucket truck may not survive.

 Bucket truck at rest

Coming in 3rd on the list and a lot less expensive is a $40,000 special trash/recycling bed for a one ton pickup truck to make downtown clean up more efficient.  A natural compliment to the renewed effort via the Business Improvement District to attract consumers to the heart of downtown Amherst.

With 28 square miles of terrain to maintain, Amherst upkeep is a 24/7 endeavor.  You may not notice the routine work the DPW performs day-in and day-out, but you notice it instantly when it does not get done.

And doing a job right requires the right tools.

Another Sad Story

Amherst College flag on Chapel Hill today

Yesterday in a statement to the Amherst College community President Biddy Martin broke the sad news of the sudden passing of popular employee Pema Tsering, and today their majestic flag atop Johnson Chapel is in mourning.

And since Amherst College is a private entity they are entitled to do whatever they want with their American flag, unlike state of federal institutions.

Either way, flag police are forgiving when the cause is just.

More Unintended Consequences

One of the (many) downsides of having an internationally lousy reputation with American flag related protocol is that people are quick to believe the worst.  So yes, last week the Amherst Select Board refused the people of Amherst the right to vote on whether commemorative flags could fly in the downtown on 9/11.

And as far as I'm concerned the only thing more unAmerican than not flying the commemorative flags on 9/11 is not allowing The People to exercise their most basic American right to VOTE on it.

However:  NO, No, no -- a thousand times NO!  The town of Amherst did not lower its flag to half staff to honor Hugo Chavez, even if Howie Carr (sort of) said so:

“…It was a sad day for the moonbat community. The People’s Republics of Cambridge and Amherst rushed to lower their flags to half staff first. A spontaneous candlelight vigil erupted in Muddy River. Funeral dirges played endlessly on the NPR stations, like Radio Moscow when Uncle Joe passed. Someone dimmed the lights at the Globe, causing an immediate panic in the newsroom, where the fops assumed the newspaper was finally being shut down….”

 UMPD

Yes UMass flags are currently at half staff, but that is to honor and remember the passing of former Chancellor Randolph Bromery.  Although someone should tell the Chancellor Subbaswamy that only the governor can order state flags to half staff.

##### 

UPDATE:  As I have said all too many times, sarcasm requires its own special font (even for Howie)

Although, one major corporation is lowering the American flag for Chavez.  

If You Do Not Build It ...

 UMass Southwest Towers: 6 were proposed, 5 built

The overwhelming influence of our local Juggernaut, the University of Massachusetts, comes shining through in the "Town of Amherst , Massachusetts Housing Production Plan" unveiled last night at the Housing & Sheltering Committee public forum.

Simply put, the oldest law in capitalism at work:  supply and demand.  UMass provides an overwhelming supply of college aged youth (now comprising 59.4% of Amherst's population), which drives up demand for too few housing units, which sends average prices through the roof. 

Population increased 2.75 times vs housing only 2.3 times

And anytime someone tries to build anything bigger than a dog house, the neighbors sharpen their pitchforks and fire up the torches.

Most impacted are what's left of the classic nuclear family:  According to the report, adults age 25 to 44 saw a staggering drop of 45% since 1990.

The housing picture could soon change, however, as the consultant's report illuminates how precariously close Amherst now is to the dreaded 10% threshhold for affordable housing (10.8%).

And with 204 units at Rolling Green Apartments threatening to come off the affordability list, that would bring overall percentage down to well under 10% (8.5%).

And then, via a Ch 40b comprehensive permit, BIG time developers get pretty much a blank building permit, as long as 25% of the units are affordable.  

Even just the eviction of low-income Section 8 tenants from 24 units at Echo Village Apartments by housing kingpin Jamie Cherewatti, AKA Eagle Crest Management, will reduce our affordable housing index by one-quarter of one percent.

The clock is ticking. 

DUI Dishonor Roll

DUI where the D could also stand for Deadly

On Saturday night around 10:30 PM Amherst Dispatch recieved a call from Granby PD to be on the lookout for a vehicle piloted by an "erratic operator" heading north into Amherst on RT 116.

In short order the vehicle was "located, stopped and the operator arrested for OUI Liquor." Again.

James Arnelle Hicks, 12 Longmeadow Dr #22, Amherst, MA, age 32 was arrested for OUI Liquor Second Offense, Marked Lanes Violation, Driving with Suspended License.

Later School Start

One of the more notorious quirks of the Amherst Elementary Schools -- half day on Wednesdays -- is about to go the way of dogs swimming at Puffer's Pond:  Abolished. 

In order to come into compliance with state law for "time on learning" but not disrupt the busy schedule of the average family, starting in September the elementary schools will start ten minutes later (8:50 AM) every day of the school week.   Dismissal will be  at the normal 3:10 PM, so the only major difference is no longer having the 1:20 PM release on Wednesdays.  

Or a net gain of one hour of school time.  Yeah.

This realignment/normalization of hours will probably also make Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury look a tad more favorably on the elementary school regionalization effort currently on a fast track. 

Blarney Blowout: Unintended Consequences

McMurphy's Uptown Tavern 9:45 AM

The Select Board last night, sort of, addressed the Public Relations nightmare caused by the "Barney Blowout," one of the more juvenile celebrations hosted in downtown Amherst.

In fact, it used to be called "Kegs 'n Eggs" but came under such criticism two years ago for boorish bad behavior that they simply changed the name rather than the behavior.

Call me a prude or a cranky old reformed drunk, but I have serious problems with a downtown public promotion that encourages heavy drinking before noon.

Especially when that production abuses Irish heritage.

Email back story

Back in Quarters

 AFD Engine 2

The Quint is back!  Out for repairs since just after the Rolling Green fatal fire five weeks ago, the quint returned to service late last week.    AFD is now back to full strength with aerial platform trucks, all two of them.

Both Ladder 1 and Engine 2 (the quint) are housed at North Station, the more modern of our two fire stations, circa 1975.  Central Station in town center was built in 1928 when firefighting equipment was a l-o-t smaller (and far less effective).

 AFD Ladder 1

Alcohol O.D. Continues

This past weekend the batting average for Amherst Fire Department was only .500 or 5-out-of-10 Emergency Medical Services calls to our #1 employer to the North for alcohol overdose, far better than the previous weekend's 9-of-11 calls.

Please note, however, one ETOH call was far more serious, as the alcohol contributed to a college aged male falling and hitting his head.  Something that sometimes is fatal. 

Of course all the exuberant youth thinks it only happens to someone else.  Until it happens to them. 

   AFD 1st Weekend March emergency runs by  

Party House of the Weekend

 62 Summer Street, North Amherst

This time we have a repeat offender, although the first offense was 18 months ago so the new regulations being promulgated by the Safe & Healthy Neighborhood Working Group would not kick in. 

The SHFNG will put forth a rental registration permit system so that a property attracting multiple noise or nuisance tickets over the course of a year could not only bring a $300 fine to the owner, but also the loss of their rental permit.

The current Noise/Nuisance by-law already has a provision for fining a landlord on the 3rd offense in a calender year and Chief Livingstone recently told the Amherst Zoning Board that it was sure to happen this Spring, as some of the usual suspects have two violation each.

But when the new rental registration/permit system goes into effect, the town will have f-a-r bigger and f-a-r sharper teeth to enforce the peace. 

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Amherst police responded to a call for "four to five gunshots in the area" of North Amherst just after midnight early Sunday morning.  Upon arriving at 62 Summer Street "Loud music and yelling heard."  The gunshots turned out to be fireworks. 

Although, tenants were -- for the most part -- cooperative, police did make one arrest:

Colin Murphy, 24 Eden Street, Charlestown, MA, age 19 for Disorderly Conduct,  and using a False Liquor ID card.

Radiant In White

Amherst History Museum displays Emily Dickinson's only surviving article of clothing: white dress (photo by Jim Wald)

On March 14 the Amherst Community Preservation Act Committee will decide the cosmetic fate of Emily Dickinson's simple, unlike her, white dress ... which has not been cleaned since the early-1980s. And even then, a task probably not all that properly performed.

What is the cost of professionally dry cleaning Superman's cape?  $1,000.  Yes, pocket change.

Although the Amherst Historical Society is also requesting an additional $20,000 for improvements to the Strong House, home of the Amherst History Museum.  The museum is located next door to Amherst's other downtown gem, the Jones Library.

Town Meeting will have to approve the CPA committee's recommendations, but they usually do.

Via the CPA Amherst has been good to our resident icon over the past few years, appropriating money to renovate/preserve the black ornate iron fence around her final resting place in West Cemetery, improving lighting and signage around the cemetery itself, and helped with a small amount of seed money for the transformation of the landscape around Miss Emily's home.

While our reclusive poetic genius was indeed, wrapped in white for her funeral then lovingly ensconced in a white coffin for her final journey to West Cemetery, it's more of an urban legend that she dressed only in white.

Still, this simple -- but priceless -- white dress is all we have.  Also priceless?  Respect!

Legal Sunshine Needed

Shawn Williams, Director
Public Records Division
One Ashburton Place, 17th Floor
Boston, MA 02108

Dear Mr. Williams,

I wish to once again appeal the decision of the Amherst Regional Public Schools to stonewall my public documents request for legal settlements that have cost Amherst taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As you may remember your office sided with me last year on a previous complaint regarding ARPS settlement agreements with terminated employees totaling over $200,000.  The schools continue to refuse releasing those documents.

Now I wish to appeal the 2/26/13 decision of Rob Detweiler, Director of Finance and Operations, to withhold settlement agreements totalling $229,300 from recent "Special Education" legal cases.

Obviously I understand certain information -- names of students for instance -- should be redacted to protect privacy, but certainly with that much settlement money involved the taxpayers have a right to know how many cases it represents and the details of those cases.

Even if the money was paid by an insurance carrier a Hampshire Superior Court judge found the settlement agreement between the Phoebe Prince family and South Hadley Schools were still a pubic document even though the $225,000 payout came from liability insurance. 

Your office has also repeatedly stuck down the concept of "non disclosure agreements" citing Washington Post ., 690 F. 2d at 263 ( a government agency cannot circumvent the Federal Freedom of Information Act with a private agreement).

Please remind the Amherst Regional Public Schools that the general public has a right to know.

Sincerly,

Larry J. Kelley

   Amherst Schools legal Bills FY13 by