The Prosecution Rests

 Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods meeting 3/19

At their lucky 13th and final meeting, the Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods Working Group voted 12-1-1 to specifically add "bad behavior" as a legitimate reason for enforcement action under the proposed bylaw, which in the most egregious of cases can result in the revoking of a rental permit.

Obnoxiously loud disruptive party houses that erode the quality of life in Amherst neighborhoods far and wide are the main reason the Safe & Healthy Neighborhood Working Group came into being.

Although vociferous neighbors are still concerned the new General Bylaw -- if endorsed by the Town Manager and then Town Meeting -- will not be ironclad enough to solve their problems with unruliness.

 

Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek Chaired SHNWG

The Select Board will decide, obviously yes, at their April 8 meeting whether to place the new General Bylaw on the warrant for the Spring Town Meeting, where it will require a simply majority vote.  Over the years Amherst has flirted with rent control and rental registration, neither of which proved effective.

Although this time around, the seriousness of purpose is almost palpable.

Maurianne Adams still has reservations

Development Delayed

Map of proposed development (click to enlarge)


Due to a trivial paperwork error neighbors in North Amherst will get an extra couple weeks to raise the $6.6 million required to match the developer's offer via the town's "right of first refusal" that goes hand in hand with property protected by the state's Chapter 61A conservation law.

Last night the Select Board voted to send a letter to W.D. Cowls, Inc informing them of the bureaucratic boo boo and advising company president Cinda Jones that the 120 day clock has not started ticking.

NIMBYs have filed a petition article with Amherst Town Meeting calling for the use of eminent domain to take the property from Cowls to sabotage the land sale/development deal that will bring desperately needed, taxable student housing to Amherst with convenient access to UMass.

Proponents request Town Meeting appropriate only $1.2 million for the hostile taking, and it's unclear how the other $5.4 million would suddenly materialize.

Rising Sun Over Amherst

To commemorate the arrival tomorrow of middle school students from Kanegasaki, our Sister City for past twenty years, the flag of Japan now shares a town hall turret with Old Glory and the Massachusetts state flag.

Not far from Amherst Town Hall the weathered United Nations flag flies from a dedicated pole, and underneath the flag of Tibet recently flew freely to symbolize a yearning to be free.

But of course this coming 9/11, the commemorative American flags will not be allowed to fly in the downtown.

Blarney Blowout Fallout Continues

 Did the "Blarney Blowout" downtown cause riot in North Amherst?

The normally staid Amherst Select Board became uncharacteristically animated this evening when discussing the events of last weekend where riotous behavior on the day of the now infamous "Blarney Blowout" pushed our first responders to the breaking point.

And with all our ambulances and police patrol personnel tied up dealing with drunken college aged youths, average citizens who fund both departments with their tax dollars would have been left waiting if an emergency had occurred.   

 

Vice Chancellor for University Relations John Kennedy

Select Board member Jim Wald seemed to think UMass was trying to blame the town for the riotous event at Townhouse apartments simply because the "Barney Blowout" bar promotion was allowed to occur downtown this year.  SB member Alisa Brewer went so far as to say it was "flat out ludicrous"  and she was "ashamed" of the Letter to the Editor penned by administrator John Kennedy making that association.



The always sedate town manager announced a set of initiatives to address the problem as we head into peak springtime weather:  Musante has asked UMass to keep Health Services open later on weekends to help deal with drunken students, and to provide two staffed ambulances.

He has also requested increased joint patrols between APD and UMPD around the problem areas such as Townhouse Apartments and has authorized AFD Chief Nelson to use overtime to add staffing during the problems weekends coming up.

Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe pointed out that even after her strong lobbying effort prior to the Blarney Blowout, the University did not send out a mass email to all students warning about bad behavior.  She said they were afraid it would serve to "advertise" the event.  

O'Keeffe said the charges and counter charges now ricocheting between the University and the Town demonstrate a "sign of frustration."

Well at least they are not throwing cans and bottles at each other ... yet.

The Republican Reports/Suggests

Fireground: East Hadley Road Command

 The Boulders, South Amherst

A fire broke out on the upper floor apartment of the The Boulders Apartment complex in South Amherst around 1:30 this afternoon.  The complex has been undergoing exterior renovations over the past few months but the apartment that caught fire was occupied.

Fortunately no injuries to tenants or firefighters.

AFD Chief Tim Nelson in command

AFD equipment on scene

 

 Muddy conditions and a construction container inhibited access

Firefighter mopping up

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A couple hours later AFD responds to a brush fire on Bay Road in deeper South Amherst. Careless disposal of ashes

DUI Dishonor Roll

U Drink, U Drive, U Need A Lawyer (or a Mortician)

While Mr. Sermeno was not charged with driving under the influence, he was arrested for driving in the heart of downtown Amherst after his license had been suspended for refusing to take a chemical test only the week before.  Yes, APD is sagacious when it comes to potentially impaired drivers.

Amherst police seized the license plates, had the vehicle towed, and escorted Eneida Aracelli Sermeno to jail.

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On March 13 at 1:00 a.m. Mr. Pavlenkov made a right turn on red where he should not have, and that turned up all sorts of other problems:

 

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And run of the mill speeding by Joshue Baldwin early on the morning of 3/14 led to a bevy of charges, including DUI:

On March 15 around 1:35 a.m. a lights violation brought added attention to Rob Orlando on South Pleasant Street, not far from town center. He was arrested for DUI:

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And at almost the exact same time in the heart of the North Amherst commercial center, a failure to stop/yield led to a bevy of more serious charges for Matthew Caliri:


 

There's A Place For Us

"Most Fabulous Story Ever Told"  has certainly stimulated "discussion"

A High School announces a play, adults are insulted, controversy rages: letters to the editor, editorials, the ACLU -- via Bill Newman -- enters the fray, and before the curtain rises folks form picket lines holding signs championing both side of the issue.

Sound familiar?

Well if you're from Amherst, the PC capital of the Happy Valley, all too familiar.  But what I find fascinating is the Amherst Regional High School principal in 1999, Scott Goldman, allowed "West Side Story" to be cancelled because of "racial stereotyping."   Really.

Yes, for the first and only time in history a production of "West Side Story" was censored.  In overly enlightened Amherst, of all places.  Although a few years later it went on without controversy at a high school in nearby Holyoke, which has a much higher Hispanic population.  

Whereas only five years later Amherst became the only high school in the nation to allow teenaged girls to perform "The Vagina Monologues."

But now 14 years later Mr. Goldman, principal of Pioneer Valley Performing Arts charter school, stands firm defending "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told."  I wish he had shown that kind of backbone 14 years ago.

Why is it okay to censor art as "sensitivity" to perceived racism but not to protect against perceived blasphemy?

What high school kid does not like to tweak adults, create controversy, and garner their 15 minutes of fame early in life?  

Of course "art" should stimulate discussion and challenge the status quo, but sometimes it seems high schools pick their plays simply for the side benefit of free advertising brought on by all the controversy.

A generation from now "The Vagina Monologues" and "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told" will be long forgotten.  "West Side Story" however, will still be dancing up a storm. 

Aerial Heirloom

Camperdown Elm at Pratt Field briefly slips the surly bonds of earth 

After spending pretty much the whole day yesterday preparing the precious Camperdown Elm for its brief but important journey of 30 yards, but then deciding to bring in a bigger 100 ton crane, today's effort went off perfectly.

A BIGGER 100 ton crane did the trick

About a dozen workers from Bartlett Tree Experts demonstrated why "experts" are part of their name and made the successful move this morning in a little less than two hours.

Only one branch from the top of the Camperdown Elm snapped off at the initial start of the launch, bringing an audible reaction from the small crowd who gathered to watch the spectacle.

 Relocation of the Camperdown Elm completed

Handle With Care

A bevy of workers prepare the Camperdown Elm for a safe move 

A large crew from Connecticut based Bartlett Tree Experts spent pretty much the whole day trying to move the stately Camperdown Elm from the center of harm's way at Amherst College Pratt Field, but in the end gave up for the day and sent out for a bigger crane.  Yes, I said a b-i-g-g-e-r crane.

Work is expected to resume tomorrow, if the crane arrives.

Crews abandoned the effort today to await a BIGGER crane

Camperdown Elm, all wrapped up and ready to go

Our Next US Senator Comes A Calling

Curt Shumway, owner of the Marriott Hotel talking to Dan Winslow on right/center

Good crowd turned out to welcome Winslow back to the Happy Valley

Dan Winslow center:   Hard to miss in a green tie

The Republican Reports

Gray Street Command

 Three car garage behind 106 Gray Street is  a total loss

A fire broke out shortly before 4:00 PM Thursday afternoon in a garage at 106 Gray Street immediately adjacent to Amherst Regional High School, which was not in session.

Amherst Fire Department made quick work knocking down the blaze.  There were no injuries, but the garage was a total loss.

AFD Chief Tim Nelson (X1) on the scene

Video and action photo below by John Edwards with permission (unlike Gazettenet)

 

 Ladder 1 on the scene

The High Cost of Safety

Dare I even breath the word?

Dare I remind you of that stunningly sad Friday morning when our run of the mill routine was suddenly and forever broken.  By a madman ... with a gun.  Unleashing barrage after barrage of .223 caliber bullets on our most innocent, priceless possession: Children.

And the teachers and staff parents entrusted them with, who died defending their helpless young students in a heroic attempt to uphold that trust. 

Newtown.  Sandy Hook Elementary School.  A tragedy of epic proportions now forever known by either moniker.  What 9/11 did for airline security, Newton has done for school security. 

Take Amherst's three elementary schools for instance.  This morning the schools director of facilities and maintenance Ron Bohonowicz paid a visit to the Joint Capital Planning Committee to defend capital item requests for the upcoming fiscal year.

Ron Bohonowicz, Director of Facilities and Maintenance, right 

One such item is $150,000 for new "columbine" locks on all doors in the town's three elementary schools (average cost $300/lock) ) as well as panic bars for the inside of doors.  Currently the Middle School and High School have such locks. 

In addition to physical upgrades the schools have also instituted new security procedures for parent pick up, lock the main doors and use security cameras to screen visitors, plus have periodic security inspections with APD and AFD.

$150,000 for locks and panic bars is, indeed, expensive.  But so are the cost of funerals.  

A Little On The Top

Former Fiber Arts Building downtown Amherst this morning 

Work continues on the building Amherst College purchased four years ago for $2.3 Million, even though it was only assessed at $1 million.

Activist Vince O'Connor tried to get Amherst Town Meeting to take the property from Amherst College via eminent domain but like a lot of Vince's initiatives these days, the best laid plan did not go very far.

Amherst College planes to turn it into office space.

Expensive Parking

Machines are poorly lit, confusing, batteries die, and are slow to respond (uses 2g technology)

Actually the price of parking in downtown Amherst is relatively cheap, fifty cents per hour. But if you use the convenience of a credit card, which accounts for 34% of our revenues, the bank transaction fee gobbles up 27% of that, a significant portion.

And since the town is tied into the current machines, which run on proprietary software, there's no way to switch vendor's now.  So rather than raise the bridge the Select Board is thinking about lowering the water:  instituting a two hour ($1.00) minimum charge for use of credit cards.



Although, as Finance Director Sandy Pooler points out, it would almost be cheaper to make very short term parking free -- except of course the town generates significant revenues on parking tickets.

The old stuck between a car and a parking meter.

   Amherst Parking Costs: Credit Cards

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