DUI Dishonor Roll

APD attempting to perform FSTs on Deborah Mercier, age 21, Wednesday 7:35 PM

If you were out and about early Wednesday night Christmas shopping, attending an Amherst Planning Board meeting, or heading to your local health club, consider yourself lucky you did not run into Deborah Mercier, age 21.   Or more precisely, she did not run into you.

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An off-duty Amherst Fire Department Captain called Dispatch to report a beyond erratic driver on Snell Street, a heavily traveled cut through to busy Rt 116 and even busier Rt 9.  Amherst police handled it from there.

 Deborah Mercier, all 90 pounds of her, stands before Judge Payne

In Eastern Hampshire District Court yesterday morning Judge Payne entered a plea of "not guilty" and continued her case until December 29th, when she will appear with her private attorney.

Not a great way to start the New Year.  But at least she's alive.

Amherst Town Gown: Moving Forward

Town Gown Steering Committee co-Chairs Nancy Buffone, David Ziomek

In its final public meeting 13 months after formation the Town Gown Steering Committee discussed and then voted unanimously to support the final letter of conveyance drafted by member Stephanie O'Keeffe that will accompany the $60,000 U3 Advisers final report -- both narrative and Powerpoint overheads. 

   Amherst Town Gown Letter

The entire package will be sent to UMass Chancellor Subbaswamy and Amherst Town Manager John Musante, and committee co-chairs David Ziomek and Nancy Buffone will also meet with them in person to go over "next steps."

One additional amendment was added by member Ken Rosenthal to the bullet point about creating an "Economic Development Director".  Forming a new committee charged with economic development to work hand-in-hand with the town hired Director and potential developers.

Even though the town already has an Amherst Redevelopment Authority, Town Commercial Relations Committee, Chamber of Commerce and Business Improvement District.

  Roughly half the Town Gown Steering Committee

Not a single member out of the 18 who showed up for this final meeting spoke against the formation of University Town of Amherst Collaborative (UTAC) an outgrowth of -- but downsized from --  the Town Gown Steering Committee.

 Or the recommendation the town (unfortunately not half subsidized by the University) should hire a "Economic Development Director."

 Other half of the Town Gown Steering Committee

The meeting as usual, was not completely free of dissent:  Rolf Karlstrom reiterated he would be issuing a "minority report" outlining key points of disagreement or "lost opportunities" with the U3 final report.  So far two other members have signed on.  Co-chair David Ziomek agreed to include it in the final package.

Now the key question is will the committee report became a vital road map to the future for two super powers, or just another dead end waste of time, money, paper and bandwidth?

No School For You!

 Crowd of students gather ARHS front entry  12:10 PM

Adult bystanders in front of school

Encouraged by a handful of adult bystanders and more than a few members of the media, hundreds and hundreds of Amherst Regional High School students walked out of school just after noon today to protest the #Ferguson non-indictment of a police officer who used deadly force in self defense.

After 4.5 minutes of silence the crowd, lead by a student with a bullhorn, headed toward town center chanting as they went.

 APD briefly blocks town center to enable crowd to cross

The crowd snaked its way down Lessey Street and up Main Street to town center where the Amherst Police Department swooped in to block traffic for the few minutes it took to amble across the main intersection enroute to the Jones Library.

Originally a dozen students signed a statement advertising the walkout, but that was amplified prominently in this morning's Daily Hampshire Gazette, encouraging a huge response.

And, of course, the weather was hospitable. 

Event promoted on Facebook, but not all that many confirmed "going"

Not to be left out even the Middle School got involved

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1 Is NOT The Loneliest Number

1 East Pleasant Street, a new downtown anchor on the north end of town center

5th time was the charm for the proposed mixed use five-story building with 84 residential units located on the north end of downtown, as the Planning Board last night, finally, gave Site Plan Approval with waivers for 1 East Pleasant, Archipelago Investments 4th commercial Amherst development in just the past few years.

 Kyle Wilson, Dave Williams (behind)

Determined opposition had switched tactics for this final meeting suggesting the Planning Board hold off giving final approval of the project until September of 2015. That way, they reasoned, nearby Kendrick Place with 36 rental units would be open and clientele demographics could be ascertained.

 Kendrick Place under construction next door

Only in Amherst do NIMBYs micromanage private developments right down to the target customers.

The vote to approve was 6-0 with 2 abstentions.  Since two members were not present at the original hearing that started w-a-y back on October 1st, they could not legally vote on the project.

 Building abuts sacred West Cemetery

The approval comes with a boatload of conditions but the developers thus far have been overly attentive to details so it's unlikely they will not keep up their side of the agreement.  The developers are also pursuing LEED-Gold certification, which also comes with a great number conditions.

 A couple dozen residents showed up for "public comment" period

The Planning Board showed extra concern for how the new building would be managed.  Archipelago responded that they are "developers not property managers," and they were in the final process now of picking a management company that would handle all four of their Amherst developments.

1 East Pleasant will have an on-site manager living in one of the units and a front desk will be operational during peak hours.   The lease will not allow rental by the room, only by the unit, and anyone not on the lease will be subject to sanctions.  

The specter of rowdy student behavior clung to this project like a wet blanket.  Fortunately with the town and UMass joining forces to reign in such bad behavior that concern is getting less and less valid.  Although hard to convince neighbors of that.

Wilson and Williams in the not-overly-hot seat before Planning Board last night

Kyle Wilson repeated stressed this building would be well-managed ... something to make the town proud.  The Planning Board unanimously agreed.

Remember

On 9/11, we remember the 343

Today, or more precisely tonight, marks the 15th anniversary of the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire in a hulking windowless beast of a building perfectly described by District Chief McNamee as "the building from Hell."

Six firefighters perished, just doing their job.  They were searching for a homeless couple who, it turns out, started the deadly inferno. 

RIP:

Lt. Thomas E. Spencer
Lt. Timothy P. Jackson Sr.,
Lt. James F. Lyons III
Firefighter Jeremiah M. Lucey,
Firefighter Paul A. Brotherton
Firefighter Joseph T. McGuirk

See The Light

Vince O'Connor

So if grandma gets run over by a reindeer and it happens in a downtown crosswalk this holiday season, after dark, Vince O'Connor thinks the town will be liable.



Yes this is the same Grinch who brought before Amherst town meeting a "Dark Sky Initiative" back in 2007 that would have fined downtown businesses for keeping their lights on after 11:00 PM.

Town Meeting quickly said "Bah, humbug!" to that.

CVS crosswalk (on a dark and story night)

Hastings crosswalk

Post office crosswalk

Kendrick Park crosswalk

Alcohol Induced Disruption

1 of 5 cars deliberately damaged by Jason Fortin, age 41

Anytime someone asks me to remove a post or to stand down from publishing one relating to an alcohol related crime, I think about Danny -- especially now with the holidays fast approaching.

Alcohol is not the answer.  It never is.

Over the weekend public safety personnel dealt with a couple disruptive incidents -- and no, neither of them perpetrated by "college aged youth."

The only two arrests by APD to be arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday were both a by-product of actions taken while under the influence of alcohol, a potentially deadly OUI and a rampage on foot in town center.

 Jason Fortin appears before Judge John Payne from the "lock up"

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Judge Payne released Mr. Fortin on his own recognizance and scheduled a pre-trial hearing for January 30. Since the Assistant District Attorney pointed out to the Judge that he "appears to have a serious alcohol problem," the Judge did require Fortin attend two Alcoholics Anonymous meeting per week.

In other more dangerous alcohol related matters Judge Payne accepted the standard 24D disposition (only available to 1st time offenders) from Kristin Hill, arrested by a Massachusetts State Trooper on November 1st.  She will lose her license for 45 days, pay $600 in fines and her DUI case is "Continued Without A Finding for one year," when it will then be dismissed providing she stays out of trouble.

More recently arrested, Kathleen Brennan, age 50, also took a standard 24D for her Saturday night ride that went wrong.

 Kathleen Brennan stands before Judge John Payne

Tech Titans

Wi-Fi emitters dangle from a streetlight in Amherst town center

The town of Amherst scored another award for being on the cutting edge of all things Internet, this time for "Improving Government Services," via the town website.  The award was presented to outgoing IT Director Kris Pacunas and his assistant director Sean Hannon on behalf of the entire department at the 20th annual Digital Government Annual Summit held at the Boston Park Plaza today.

#madgs14 Very proud to accept Improving Government Services award with Sean Hannon on behalf of #amherst first class IT team! #massit
— Kristopher Pacunas (@krispacunas) December 1, 2014

"Strong nomination" from the Big Boss

Have Drone Will Travel

Drones can quickly ascertain storm damage

The long awaited FAA rules to keep the skies safe from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles takes a scorched earth approach by requiring operators to have a pilots license, which costs many thousands of dollars, and even then restricting flights to more than 400 vertical feet during daylight hours only.

Talk about a deal killer.

Let's hope the outcry, which will mimic the sound of angry bees made by the whirring propeller blades, gets the attention of killjoy bureaucrats.

Mandating a pilots license for flying a drone is like requiring a ham radio license for operation of a smart phone, or requiring Twitter users to have a broadcast license from the FCC.

Back in the mid 1970s when CB radio interest skyrocketed and the 23 channels became swamped by avid users the FCC allowed expansion to 40 channels to deal with the rise in popularity.  And yes, a license was required but all it took was filling out a form and sending in a check for $20.

Sure, like all things in life a nitwit few can give the huge majority of responsible aficionados a bad name by doing stupid irresponsible things.  Just as a hammer can be used as a weapon, so too can a drone flying at top speed into someone's head.  Or getting too close to a commercial jet.

The recent technological improvements using GPS satellites navigation, return home failsafe features, and airport avoidance software demonstrates the industry is capable of policing itself.  DJI the industry leader, is doing for drones what AOL did for Internet usage 20 years ago -- making things simpler and less scary.

Over the past year I can think of many occasions where Amherst public safety departments could have used an eye in the sky:  The Blarney Blowout or Southpoint Apartments fire quickly spring to mind.  Or search and rescue at the top The Notch. 

A drone is fast, fearless, immune to smoke ... and the camera never blinks.  

Rather than throw a bucket of water on solid state circuitry, the FAA needs to apply simple, common sense rules to control drone usage over the land of the free. 

  

Canada keeps it simple

Fireground: 222 Belchertown Road

AFD Engine 2 (the Quint) on scene 222-224 Belchertown Road

APD blocked off busy Belchertown Road (Rt 9)

A fire -- quite possibly arson -- in the 2nd floor rear bedroom of a two family house used to shelter the homeless garnered a swift response from Amherst Public Safety personnel around 6:00 PM this busy Saturday night.

According to scanner traffic the man who fled the bedroom where the fire started was spotted in Cumberland Farms down the road in only his long johns underwear.  Another resident said he attempted to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher but it was too far along.

AFD Engine 1 taps hydrant almost directly in front of 222 Belchertown Road

APD found the possible perpetrator at a bus stop near Colonial Village Apartments and he was transported by AFD to Cooley Dickinson Hospital for a psych evaluation.  Otherwise there were no injuries to residents, firefighters or police.  The Amherst Building Inspector declared the building uninhabitable.

All off duty firefighters who responded to the box alarm were released around 8:00 PM.  An investigator from the State Fire Marshall's office arrived at the scene around 8:25 PM. State and local officials were on scene until 11:00 PM.

Smoke from rear of the building

 

Ladder 1 on the scene

The Amherst Planning Board is currently deliberating a request from Amherst Community Connections to increase the capacity of the building at 222-224 Belchertown Road from 8 to 24.

AFD Chief Nelson (rt) huddles with Assistant Chief Stromgren

The morning after

MassLive reports

Noise & Traffic & Safety! Oh My!

 Atkins North, anchoring The Mill District to the east

Spouting the usual complaints the usual suspects showed up to the 11/19 Amherst Planning Board meeting to take on their usual target: developer Cinda Jones, President of the W.D. Cowls Company, the largest private landowner in the state of Massachusetts.

Fresh from their victory of helping torpedo The Retreat student housing project to the east of North Amherst center, costing the Cowls company over $6 million in lost revenues, this time they are waging guerrilla warfare against the other development on Cowls Road, The Mill District. 

After years of concerted lobbying Ms. Jones managed, finally, to convince iconic 100 year old business Atkins Country Market in deep South Amherst to open a bookend operation, Atkins North.  In a former 4,200 square foot cow barn no less, so you would think she gets extra PC points for recycling. 

The barn sits at the outskirts of a sprawling 13 acre tract of commercial space that was once served a 14,400 square foot sawmill.  Like everything else associated with W.D. Cowls, the sawmill was historic -- having been in operation for over 250 years.

 134 Montague Road with paved driveway.  Cow barn in red

The Planning Board is discussing Site Plan Review for the conversion of the cow barn to a new retail operation and the applicant is requesting allowances for live & pre-recorded music, seasonal outdoor dining, placement of a few signs identifying businesses in The Mill District and continued use of a paved driveway at 134 Montague Road for commercial deliveries.

 Cow barn renovation will maintain many of the original overhead trusses

Cow barn renovation will maintain pointy overhang

Virtually all the speakers at the Planning Board public meeting (continued until December 17) spoke against continued use of the driveway for commercial deliveries to Atkins North, even though it has been used for commercial operation for the Cowls forest related empire for hundreds of years.

Since Atkins North will be more of a satellite operation the only delivery trucks coming and going will be service vans and small box trucks making "just in time deliveries" from the main operation in South Amherst.  In other words, no big ol' 18-wheelers.

 134 Montague Road (which is Rt 63) farmhouse near Summer St and Cowls Rd

Neighbors, worried about safety, noise, unsightliness and blah-blah-blah, want the delivery drivers to go 75 feet further down the road and access the site via Cowls Road.  But anyone who knows truckers, knows they love shortcuts.

Cowls and Montague Road intersection 75 feet down from 134 Montague Rd farmhouse

And anyone who knows business -- especially small business -- knows how important signage is to getting customers conveniently to your front door.

Ms. Jones describes the small signs requested for Montague Road (one saying "Deliveries only"at her driveway entrance and the others -- on both end of Cowls Road -- for identifying businesses in the Mill District) as being "Critical for the success of the businesses in the Trolley Barn", a mixed use building just down the road from Atkins North.

The Trolley Barn, 68 Cowls Road, an apple throw away from Atkins North

Having such an iconic high-profile business like Atkins being one of the first to come into a new development is a double edged saw:   Should it fail, the message sent would be nothing short of catastrophic for the entire Mill District.

Amherst already has a well earned anti-business reputation.

Rather then rolling in stumbling boulders to appease squeaky wheel neighbors, town officials should be doing everything in their power to help ensure success.

These minor concessions requested for the Mill District, a commercial area that predates the founding of the town, are the very least they can do.

Well, besides shopping at Atkins after it opens.

Miss Emily Renewed

 Miss Emily and Lavinia

Although I'm sure it will not stop NIMBYs from attending the December 3 Planning Board meeting for one final pot shot at 1 East Pleasant Street, a five story mixed use (but mainly residential) development that will rejuvenate the north end of downtown, the last potential stumbling block seems to have been surmounted.

At last week's Historical Commission meeting the guardians of Amherst's historic past did not vote to oppose the (temporary) destruction of the Amherst Community History Mural attached to the Carriage Shops rear wall overlooking sacred West Cemetery.

Mike Hanke, Chair Amherst Historical Commission

Of course the mural will be reborn via the original artist, David Fichter and a crew of professionals  to assist, unlike the original that used citizen volunteers.  And this time he will not have work around ugly air conditioners jutting out from his "canvas".

 

The destined for demolition Carriage Shops abut West Cemetery to the south

Since Miss Emily was a bit of an introvert in her later life she would probably be amused at the turnout the Planning Board hearings have generated over the past four sessions on this age old controversy concerning growth and renewal.

 Amherst Community History Mural (The sun also rises)