(Repeat) Party House of the Weekend

 1190 North Pleasant Street, Saturday afternoon

With the official inauguration of UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, SoccerFest, Amherst's Sustainability Festival, events at Amherst College and the Ice Stars for Warriors event at the Mullins Center, our quaint little college town was in overdrive this past weekend.

As was revelry of the obnoxious kind. 

 

APD heading toward N Amherst bus stop for throng of students acting up

 

APD swoops in to suggest students get off the roof of former Watroba's

In all, Amherst Police made 38 arrests!  All but two for rowdy activity fueled by alcohol:  13 for noise  at numerous party houses, 13 for open container or underage drinking, 7 for "disorderly conduct" and one for DUI.

First up, the Bad Boys at  62 Summer Street -- all six of them!  

Arrested for noise violations Saturday night around 11:00 PM:

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220 North East St, Amherst

Next up, and about an hour later  (midnight Saturday) but in another part of town, 220 North East Street:

owned, naturally, by an LLC. 

 

Late Friday night into early Saturday morning Towne House Apartments --  #87 in particular -- was once again the scene of a large enough party to attract a police response. And four arrests:

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Alpha Tau Gamma, 118 Sunset Avenue

And of course what would a rowdy weekend be without some assist from a Frat: Alpha Tau Gamma, where an outdoor party was warned by APD Saturday at 1:00 PM and again at 5:00 PM.   Still, in the early morning hours of Sunday, one overly combative Jacob Scott Dennis, 15 Aztec Way, Sharon, MA, age 22, was arrested for Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest and Simple Assault. 

The Hobart Hoedown failed to materialize (stationing a cruiser at the entrance to the complex helps) but an altercation did occur at 51 Hobart Lane 2:30 AM Sunday morning with police arresting perps for Disorderly Conduct:

Dominick M Ferrante, 88 Old Greenfield Road, Shelburne Falls, MA, age 21 and Tyson Dowdy, 4 Chapman, Greenfield, Ma, age 23

Once again a ubiquitous police presence -- UMPD, APD and State PD -- managed to keep a lid on any major disturbances, although if you are a neighbor to any of these cited party locations, not much consolation.

 

State Police K9 unit responds to disturbance near Old Towne Tavern

Mullins Center Command

 Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ...

Once again local fire departments successfully came together in mutual aid to work as a team, only this time fire or carnage of any kind was not involved.

Using Ladder 1 from AFD, a really big flag from NFD  and a lot of coordination from UMass Campus Safety and Fire Prevention Department, Old Glory was proudly raised high above the Mullins Center for the fantastic benefit show, Ice Stars for Wounded Warriors, held this past weekend.

Giving good reason for crowds to cheer -- even before getting into the venue.

Photos courtesy Ed Mientka

Titans Times Two

Stan Ziomek "Mr. Baseball"

One ran the Amherst DPW for 40 years, where he worked with less than pleasant materials daily, where multi-million dollar projects going right could be offset by a nickel-and-dime pothole repair going wrong;  while the other ran Amherst Town Meeting for 19 years, where bread-and-butter local issues can take a back seat to national and international affairs.

And everyone wants to have their say, about everything.

 

Amherst went all out in town center for Stan Ziomek Day

Saturday was "Stan Ziomek Day" here in Amherst, and the gorgeous spring day culminated in a gala reception in his honor at the glamorous Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Hadley.  The hall was packed with town and UMass officials, sports enthusiasts and just plain salt of the earth folks.  

Harrison Gregg, keeping control

My tenure in Town Meeting spanned about three quarters of Harrison Gregg's time as moderator.  And while I never saw him as "the enemy" the competitor in me viewed him as an obstacle to overcome.  So we kind of went at it like Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee.  I of course was the confederate.

But I never thought he was willfully unfair or capable of anything underhanded.  His love for the institution of Town Meeting could match General Grant or President Lincoln's love for the Union.

And THAT, I always find worthy of salute.

The Morning After ...

166 College Street, Amherst

166 College Street, parking

263 College Street, Amherst

26 Allen Street, Amherst

 

45 Phillips Street, Amherst

27/29 Phillips Street, Amherst

19/21 Hobart Lane, Amherst

Jesse James Rides Again

The only thing worse than a starving artist is a crispy dead artist.

Today the Gazette picks up and runs with a story I broke over three weeks ago about an underground music venue in an old time traditional middle class neighborhood in South Amherst.  The above-the-fold article is a cross between what traditional journalists would brand a "puff piece" and flat out girlish romanticism.

Because at no point does the lengthy article consider the major public safety concern about these pack them in underground late night commercial ventures:  fire safety.  In the past year Amherst has had two basement fires in student rental properties that violate zoning law with overcrowded illegal bedrooms.

Either of them could have been a tragic replay of February 17, 1991. 

And these non profit commercial ventures, which can pack up to 250 people in a low ceiling basement designed for nothing but storage, could easily become a tragic replay of the Station Nightclub fire February 20, 2003.

Consider this quote from the Gazette:  "It was a lot of fun.  A packed, sweaty basement where it's hard to move around makes for the best shows."  That's what they thought in Brazil, until ...

Coincidentally -- or maybe not -- last night around 11:00 PM Amherst Police cited for noise violations due to a band one of the houses mentioned in the lead paragraph:  Babetown.  Yes you would think a hip, young successful female reporter would you know, comment on that, but hey it's the Gazette.

And these particular bad boys are repeat offenders.  Twice last month they were warned for noise, not to mention the tickets from last year.

 

621 East Pleasant Street, Amherst:  BABETOWN Yeah the band can park on the lawn

A few weeks ago the boys at Dad City held a fundraiser concert at UMass to help cover the $1,800 in fines slapped on them by the Amherst Police.  Which kind of underscores the solution to this "problem" of not having a place to stage these hip, underground concerts.

Or could it be that half the allure is simply that they are "underground"?

And why would a commercial above-ground business like Iron Horse want to open in Amherst if they have to compete with these undergound operations that charge little or nothing?

Kind of hard to compete with free, especially when your overhead costs for insurance, rent, advertising and the occasional inspection from Amherst Fire Department needs to be covered.  Kind of like why print newspapers are on death row: they can't compete with free social media, blogs, and all-digital hyper-local news websites.

Rather than encouraging irresponsible behavior the Gazette needs to remember a simple journo prime directive, borrowed from the Hippocratic oath:  Above all else, do no harm. 

Our Small Town Hero Is Gone

Stan Durnakowski in town center holding Ground Zero flag on 10th anniversary of 9/11

Stanley Durnakowski, proud father, husband, army veteran, Polish farmer, and long-time Amherst College employee died yesterday at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital, where he was spending way to much time over the past few years, reporting for dialysis three times per week.

Over the course of my lifetime I have met many a person caught up in worthy causes who exhibited unflinching determination to meet a goal, but none that could compare with Stan The Man.

Thirteen years ago, with nothing but a clipboard, pens, folding table and a limitless yearning to make a difference, Stan Durnakowki singlehandedly shook the very foundation of Amherst town government.

Proving the pen is mightier than the sword, Stan collected 2,512 voter signatures required to force a ballot question on retiring our antiquated Town Meeting/Select Board government.

Mr. Durnakowski was then elected to the 9-member Charter Commission and deliberated for almost two years to come up with a professional Mayor/Council replacement government, except -- against Mr. Durnakowski's strong wishes -- the Mayor was more ceremonial with a town manager retained.

In 2003 the revolutionary binding ballot question stimulated an unusually high turnout -- at least for a local election -- of 30.8 %, and lost by less than 1%, only 14 votes.

Undeterred Stan went back out over the next two years and once again collected the signatures required to bring back the question for a second bite of the apple. In 2005 it failed by 214 votes.

But the close brush with death brought about a change in attitude of Amherst town officials. The Select Board has become far more normalized, almost to the point of boring, and Town Meeting has actually become more efficient, although still dominated by diehards who block progress at every turn.

Thanks Stan. If Heaven is is not to your liking, start a petition.

If anyone can keep God on his toes, you can.

Parity At The Top (sort of)

 Maria Geryk center, John Musante left

The race between the town's two highly prized thoroughbred greyhounds for Best In Show employment contract continues, although now there will be a five-year lull.  

Actually six years, since the School Superintendent's is good for five but if the Regional School Committee does nothing in the fifth year it automatically continues for one addition year.

And our Regional School Committee is nothing if not "do nothing."

Not really a photo finish since School Superintendent Maria Geryk wins by a length, with a salary of $147,000 vs Town Manager John Musante's $142,100. Although in solidarity with a tough budget year Ms. Geryk decided to forgo any raise of cost of living adjustment in the coming year. 

Ms Geryk's salary is only about 10% higher than the runner-up employee in the schools, ARHS Principal Mark Jackson at $135,000.  While Mr. Musante is more like 45% higher than #2, Assistant Town Manger David Ziomek at $97,904.

If the committees who make these contract decisions (Select Board for Town Manager, Regional School Committee for Superintendent) really wanted to make the top dog responsive to the consumers who fund these high paying jobs, perhaps they should come up with a matching fund strategy:

Half the annual salary is guaranteed and the other half has to be raised by private donations, presumably by satisfied consumers.  Set up an indiegogo program, or put a Paypal donation widget on the town and school's website.  

Heck, I would give them a couple bucks.  Maybe. 

   Maria Geryk ARPS Superintendent contract

 

The Retreat Moves Forward

 Can Salamanders read?

The i's have been dotted and the t's crossed (in triplicate) as the town on Wednesday received both by certified mail and delivery in hand the official notice of intent to remove property in northeast Amherst from Chapter 61 conservation for the whopping sale price of $6.5 million.

Yes THAT property off Henry Street -- the one that has aroused the fires of indignation from nearby residents in the historic village of Cushman and a few more from all over Amherst and a surrounding town or two.

The town of Amherst, upon receipt of the documents, has two deadlines:  30 days to question the notification process as flawed, and then another 90 days (assuming the paperwork is in order) to decide if they wish to invoke the "right of first refusal", or pass it on to another non profit land trust.

Either way, an intercepting entity would need to match the current offer of $6.5 million.  Yes, dollars.

Kind of like the epic blunder the town made 25 years ago taking by eminent domain the Cherry Hill Golf Course in North Amherst, costing taxpayers $2.2 million.  The largest land "purchase" in town history, and to the best of my knowledge the last time the town has wielded the potent power of eminent domain.  What some might refer to as "the nuclear option."

Adjusting for inflation the cost of Cherry Hill today would be $4.4 million, still a far cry from the $6.5 million cost of taking the 154 acres of woodland currently owned by the largest private landlowner in Massachusetts, W.D. Cowls, Inc.

And that of course does not include the legal bills resulting from a crossfire of attorneys from two major corporations.

This is one battle the town doesn't need:  sound the retreat!

Measuring The Damage

Alan Snow, Division Director Tree and Grounds for the town of Amherst, measures off the damage from last weekend's "Extravaganja" that attracted 6,000 pairs of feet to the town common.  

Mr. Snow confirms that our "loved to death" common will be reseeded after the town's "4th Annual Sustainability Festival" this Saturday.

A Most Deserving Honor

Stan Ziomek at the grand reopening of War Memorial Pool last summer

If institutional memory is worth its weight in gold then Stan Ziomek, with 89 years and counting under his belt, represents the motherlode.

Over 40 years as DPW Chief, one of the town's more hands on management positions, and sixty seasons of service to Amherst youth baseball, a program he founded, it would be hard to find someone who has shown more dedication to public service than Stan Ziomek.  Ever.

And the history of this town he loves so much stretches back a l-o-n-g way.

In addition to a scoreboard and playing field named in his honor, and being named Grand Marshall at the town's 250th Parade a few years back, the illustrious Select Board has designated this Saturday "Stan Ziomek Day" the only time in my institutional memory that such an honor has been bestowed.

In conjunction with that special day a banquet at the prestigious Marriott Courtyard hotel in Hadley -- "An evening to honor Stan Ziomek" -- will be held this Saturday at 6:00 PM.  Tickets are $75 and seating is limited.  Contact Tony Maroulis at the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce ASAP and tell him Larry (a former Little Leaguer) sent you.

Amherst Pharmacy Robbery #2

APD Shift Supervisor on scene Amherst Pharmacy 6:00 PM

UPDATE:  They got him!  Great job APD!

APD reports

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Original Post Wednesday late afternoon

The second pharmacy robbery this week (CVS in town center was hit Monday) was called in a little after 5:00 PM this afternoon. This time Amherst Pharmacy on College Street was the victim.

Amherst police are now searching (with a K9 provided by Orange PD) for a white male, wearing light blue jeans, purple sweatshirt, brown sneakers possible associated with a Subaru station wagon with Vermont license plate.

No weapon was used in either robbery and in both cases a note was passed to a sales clerk.

 

Perp who hit CVS on Monday

Badly Needed Competition

 356 College St.  From Pizza to Pizza

The number one reason Amherst has such a high property tax rate (well, besides the gold plated schools) is simple math:  half of all the property in town is owned by tax exempts and the other half is disproportionally make up of homeowners and rental units which shoulder 90% of the tax burden.

Commercial property makes up a desultory 10%.

So it's always sad to see commercial property become residential such as the old Watroba's General Store in North Amherst Center.  Which to be fair, happened a long time ago, well before the recent purchase by Jamie Cherewatti.

 

Watroba's General Store circa 1960s

From the book North Amherst and Cushman

But I find it telling that this 100 yard swap is taking place in East Amherst where Pioneer Valley Pizza is moving from 20 Belchertown Road, to 356 College Street.  Sure, maybe it's that they need less space than their previous 1,350 square feet spot, or maybe they got a better deal on rent.

10 Belchertown Road, former location Pioneer Valley Pizza

Or maybe it's because the building itself is in much better repair.

Yes it's the oldest saying in the evil book of capitalism: "When products compete they get better".  And what Amherst desperately needs is competition in the student rental business.  Because now, with such huge demand and a strangled limited supply, the competition is at best token.

If developments like The Gateway, now dead, or The Retreat, now under attack, were allowed to happen off-campus students would flock to them like swallows to Capistrano.   The Mom-and-Pop operations that do a despicable lousy job of upkeep would have to step up their game to compete, or sell out to a more responsible investors. 

Either way, increasing the supply of safe, quality and affordable housing is the answer.  And we need it now. 

Sunderland Barn Fire

AFD Engine 1 joined brethren fire departments from Hadley, South Deerfield and Montague assisting Sunderland FD put down a barn fire late this afternoon.  The barn was a total loss, but fortunately no injuries resulted.

 AFD Engine 1 on scene

South Deerfield FD Ladder truck

A Call For Back Up

Finally, a family oriented event for the rest of us at the UMass Mullins Center. 

Every day police, fire, and military personnel put their lives on the line for all of us civilians regardless of race, creed, color or social standing, allowing us to go about our daily routine without having to worry about outside intrusions, including catastrophic occurrences.

Or at least be comforted to know that should one of those events suddenly happen, trained individuals will run towards the disaster.

So it's only natural I guess for all those public servants to act like a big family when it comes to taking care of their own.  The Ice Stars For Wounded Warriors event at the Mullins Center this weekend is a prime example.

Even after an exhausting highly emotional week scouring the streets of Boston for cold blooded killers some of Boston's finest will make their way to Amherst on Friday for the hockey game portion (5:00 PM) of the benefit extravaganza. 

Yes police, fire, military and grateful talented members of the general public are all coming together to put on a show.  And I'm sure it will top anything Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland came up with back in the day.

All proceeds will be split equally between the Wounded Warrior Project and The One Fund Boston.

   Flyer for Ice Stars 2013

Hockey Teams Include:

Boston Police Department
    Belchertown Police and Fire Department
    Holyoke Firefighters
    Franklin County Deputy Sheriffs
    MAANG Red Legs
    Mass Fallen Heroes
    Worcester Fire Department
    Rhode Island State Police

In Lieu Of Experience: Education

 Trailer for sale or rent, rooms to let 50 cents ...

Perhaps the major problem with the highly lucrative rental industry in a college town like Amherst is an overabundance of rookie renters who flood the market.  Annually.

And just as carnivorous coyotes can smell fear, Amherst slumlords can smell naivete. 

Enter UMass/Amherst, like the Lone Ranger on his trusty white horse, doing what they do best:  education.

Now students can take an online course designed to enlighten them about taking up residence in a rental unit away from home and the university.  Probably for the first time.

And this innovative online program is not just for students moving into off campus housing, but also for the landlords who will rent to them.  A win win situation.

Now students can learn from experienced professionals rather than learning the hard way, and landlords can show off their Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval from UMass, thus creating trust that they will uphold minimum standards of quality control.

Sort of like the Rental Registration & Permit Bylaw Amherst Town Meeting will enact next month.

The tide is changing. 

Party House of the Weekend?

 APD Mobile Command Center on Phillips Street around midnight Saturday

There wasn't one! How cool is that?

Yes, the Extravaganja festival that attracted a massive crowd of "college aged youth" to the heart of our most public Amherst Town Common for the entire day and a sold out techno concert at the Mullins Center that started packing them in around the same time Extravaganja shut down probably had a lot do do with it.

But the main factor was more than likely a very heavy police presence throughout the town with particular attention paid to the usual suspects.  For instance on Saturday APD simply stationed a black and white patrol car at the entrance to Hobart Lane and another at the intersection of Phillips and Alan Streets.

In addition to nearly a half dozen patrol cars they also mobilized the Personal Transport Vehicle (not to be confused with Paddy Wagon) and a Portable Command Center. UMass police were also out in force as they were last week helping to patrol town territory.

But the other new impressive presence was provided by Massachusetts State Police.  Lots of them.  While I heard a Hadley police officer report back to dispatch "a dozen MSP units" converge on a party house in Hadley, I only spotted a half dozen around Amherst over the course of Saturday night early Sunday morning.

But kind of like the Texas Ranger motto "one riot one ranger," a few state troopers go a l-o-n-g way. 

Mullins Center Rusko concert lets out just after midnight Saturday

And Another One Falls

 1190 North Pleasant Street, Amherst (taken from Meadow Street)

The man with more LLCs than M&Ms have colors just added another trophy to his growing collection of Amherst rental units, this one in the heart of North Amherst center on the corner of Meadow and North Pleasant, two street names synonymous with student rentals and the all too familiar aftermath:  Disruption.

Jamie Cherewatti, aka Eagle Crest Management, aka East Pleasant Street Partners LLC,  just purchased 1190 North Pleasant, formerly Watroba's General store before they moved down the street a short ways and indeed, a student rental for the past few years anyway.

This makes the second time in a row he has coughed up well over assessed value for a property, paying $3 million for Echo Village Apartments (valued at $2.1 million) back in January.  And now this property, paying $495,000 -- more than ten times what Watroba paid for it in 1972 -- and $113,400 over its current assessed value.

Of course the assessor does not instantly increase the valuation based on this selling price, so the taxes paid to Amherst will remain around the same:  $8,000 next year.  But if he should buy the property next door and overpay by 33%, then perhaps the assessed values would increase.  "A rising tide lifts all boats"

Or if he should do renovations, but since the property is already a "two family," highly unlikely.  For instance Cherewatti purchased 156 Sunset Avenue for $350,000 two years ago as a "one family" dwelling, but then subdivided the home, added a little landscaping and morphed it -- with ZBA permission -- into a two family home, where 8 unrelated residents can legally reside.

The valuation has since increased to $404,000 or $8,000 in taxes paid to the town annually -- but the rental income doubled.  And with average rents in Amherst almost $2,000 per month, that doubling adds up pretty quickly.

Meanwhile just down the road in the historic neighborhood of Cushman, also located in North Amherst, red stop signs are springing up everywhere opposing "The Retreat," a 170 unit high-end student housing development.

The Village of Cushman

But the real enemy is not large corporate owned, professionally managed dense developments like "The Retreat".  It is instead the steady sprinkling of Mom-and-Pop operations that have creeped in under the radar.  The enemy within.

Concert Consequences

Easthampton FD, one-half of "Mullins Center Command"

So yes, the Rusko concert at the Mullins Center went much better than it did last year when AFD was completely overwhelmed with a tsunami of ETOH calls.  

This year AFD had convinced Mullins Center management (not be confused with UMass management) to hire two ambulances from surrounding towns hand-picked by AFD, to handle the by-product of a combination of strobe lights, loud music, energetic dancing, alcohol and drugs ... usually dubbed, ETOH.

Click to enlarge/read

   Mullins Center Rusko Concert

DUI Dishonor Roll

 

2010 fatal DUI crashes, 64% involved drivers ages 21-34 

I can now put a name to the face of the driver APD pulled off the road only a hundred yards from a packed downtown at the height of the Extravaganja "celebration" late Saturday afternoon:  Brien Michael O'Connor, age 21, a UMass student.

And since he's majoring in Finance maybe he can better calculate the economic impact of a DUI on his record (should the judge agree of course).

Brien Michael O'Connor

Runner up winner for this disturbing distinction of "most dangerous" DUI goes to someone who should know better:  local businessman Emmanuel Proust ... bagged only a mile from town center, speeding, and his car showed damage from a possible accident just prior to being pulled over.  Second offense no less.

And to round out the list, two more UMass students, both pulled from their potentially deadly weapons just after the bewitching hour early Friday and early Sunday morning.  

APD administers a Field Sobriety Test in the heart of downtown early Sunday morning.  Small amount of class D (pot) was confiscated