Blarney Blowout: Epilogue

Local and Mass State Police form a gauntlet at Townhouse Apartments North Amherst

The Monday morning quarterbacking over Blarney Blowout was indeed as different as beer and water this time around.  The main complaint seems to be the financial cost to UMass of squelching the dangerous, reputation besmirching rowdiness that garnered international attention last year.

A good thing of course, considering Amherst had 225 police officers -- 60 them Massachusetts State Police -- in town most of the day into the night to ensure peace and quiet.

And in a anti-authoritarian aging-Hippie town like Amherst, you would expect more comparisons to North Korea or some other despotic nation de jour.

Some amateur spinmeisters tried to save face by proclaiming the partying still occurred all over town only it was just not as noticeable as last year.  Well if that's the case then it only proves that it is possible to party without bothering the neighborhood. 

Memo to party boys:  that's the idea!

The Civil War was the most costly conflict in American history.  The turning point was a not so strategically located Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  It was the kind of battle neither side could afford to routinely engage in.

Yes the cost of killing the Blarney Blowout this year was high, but if you consider it a turning point in the war on rowdyism, a price worth paying.

Maybe next year we can get by with a few less police officers.

And yes, it's exceedingly stupid for the Gazette to include the $160,000 cost of last year's Davis Report in the above headline in order to artificially drive up the price of Saturday's successful operation. 

Since peace will be restored for the next 100 years, the Davis Report only cost $1,600 per year.

 Gotta be worth at least a $1 to have these party hardy boys gone

Party House of the Weekend

19 Phillips Street

I almost don't want to file this story under Blarney Blowout since Phillips Street is the most notorious party street in Amherst, with any given weekend having incidents like this -- usually more than one.

 Click to enlarge/read

In fact the overall number of arrests this past weekend was less than an average weekend with schools in session during 2013 or 2014 leading up to that year's riotous Blarney.

Which is of course a good thing.  A very good thing.

Matthew Crosby stands before Judge Poehler

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning Mr. Crosby took the typical plea deal offered by the Commonwealth, a "diversion" from criminal to civil with payment of the town's $300 noise bylaw fine.  Plus he has to stay out of trouble for the next four months, aka the rest of the semester.

His partner in crime, Jeremy McGarry, who made the mistake of messing with Sgt Ting, was not in court today but he is expected to be arraigned tomorrow.

DUI Dishonor Roll

Tara Reynolds signs release allowing her to act as own attorney

You don't get any more centrally located than the intersection of North Pleasant and Amity Street, dead in the heart of downtown Amherst.  Not a good place to be so drunk you pass out ... especially if you happen to be driving a car.

 APD Statement of Facts.  Click to enlarge/read

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning Tara M Reynolds, age 24, had a plea of "not guilty" entered in her behalf by Judge Patricia Poehler.  A little later she agreed to a typical Ch24D, 1st time offender plea deal with the prosecution:

Continued Without A Finding for one year (a.k.a "probation" @ $65/month), take a Driver Alcohol Education Program, and pay $600 in fines and fees.  In other words a very expensive night out in our little college town.

The "breath test" taken back at APD station is admissible in court (the portable breath test taken in the field is not).  And I have yet to attend a drunk driving trial where a person has beaten the breath test as evidence.

Blarney Blowout: The Biggest Loser

It has not been a good week for the mid-30ish cowardly Worcester blogger who likes to relive his carefree UMass glory days, almost as much as he likes to exude snark from under the protective cloak of anonymity.

First he gets outed by an actual professional journalist, and then his childish attempt at taking me down while championing the outlandish aspect of Blarney Blowout falls flat, like a drunken bozo staggering across a patch of ice.

And I was so anxiously awaiting a decent hatchet job.

No, Larry Kelley did not win.  The town, higher education in general, and in particular students who attend UMass/Amherst -- our proud flagship  -- won.  Resoundingly.

Crawl back to your swamp Turtle Boy you're drunk.

Even better, you're marginalized.

Blarney Blowout 2015

Sagacious Fade user figured it out well before noon

UPDATE Sunday afternoon:

Ultra-reliable source confirms the total number of Law Enforcement Officers involved with snuffing out the Blarney Blowout yesterday was 225.

Since the Western Mass Mutual Aid regional agreement calls for the "host community" to cover the bill for a "pre-planned event," UMass has graciously stepped up to accept full responsibility, rather than the town of Amherst.

Classy move UMass/Amherst!

#####

A sea of uniformed officers strategically stationed in all the usual trouble spots snuffed out the Blarney Blowout.  Decisively. With very few arrests and NO violence.

 Brisk start to the morning

The main difference this year was advance planning, a seemingly endless supply of police personnel and of course THE WEATHER.  Townhouse Apartments, ground zero the last few years for rowdy behavior, remained a cold barren tundra.

 Hard to miss contingent of state and local PD at Townhouse and North Village Apartments

Hobart Lane

Lincoln Avenue/Fearing Street intersection near UMass Southwest

Puffton Village

Police also blocked off the main entrances to these trouble spots and allowed only residents entry.  A modus operandi that was also used at North Village, Puffton Village, Phillips Street, Nutting Ave and of course Hobart Lane.

Phillips Street

 No guest policy at UMass and no visitor parking at apartment complexes kept down the crowds

The MSP helicopter paid a visit bright and early to North Amherst and maintained a highly visible -- and auditory -- presence.

 MSP Air One

The Mullins Center concert attracted thousands of students off the streets so that too was a BIG help.

  Long line of students waiting to get into Mullins Center concert 11:30 AM

And yes, maybe having the half dozen downtown bars not open until 4:00 PM also contributed since it certainly kept college aged youth from swamping town center like they did in previous years.

Long line waiting for Stacker's to open at 4:00 PM

Girl Scouts cookies for sale town center

Equipment:

UMPD Incident Command vehicle set up at Puffton Village Apartments

 

APD Personal Transport Vehicle 

 Mass Fire Services Special Operations vehicle staged at Wildwood School

Many police vehicles staged at Wildwood School 

 

The price tag for all the additional personnel and equipment plus the free concert at the Mullins Center is indeed sizable. But the damage done last year to the town, University and student body is incalculable.

Whatever the cost for today ... it was worth it!

Only 365 days until Blarney 2016.
— ZooMass (@ZooMass) March 8, 2015

Top That!

Kendrick Place, 57 East Pleasant Street

Town received $1.5 million state grant to bury utility lines around the project

Premier Amherst developers Archipelago Investments, LLC held a "topping off" party for Kendrick Place, a five-story mixed use building with 36 units of housing, anchoring the north end of downtown Amherst.  

Investors, friends, and town officials -- including Town Manager John Musante and Assistant Town Manger Dave Ziomek -- showed up for the guided tour over a two hour period.

 Kyle Wilson (center) Judie Teraspulsky (right)

The building, which is well within walking distance to UMass and town center, is expected to be completed in August and occupied by September.

  View of town center/Kendrick Park from 5th floor

As I was turning in my hard hat after the tour Town Manger Musante jokingly suggested  I should hold on to it for today's Blarney Blowout coverage.

Fireground: 106 Belchertown Road

AFD Engine 2 (the quint)

Amherst Fire Department. with the help of APD, knocked down a fire at 106 Belchertown Road, a three story, two family house.  Everyone managed to get out safely.

The 911 call for smoke in the building came in around 8:15 PM and the first arriving police officer reported fire in the upper floor.

AFD Engine 3, (UMass) Student Call Force

Firefighters used an interior attack and had the flames put down in about a half-hour.  Fortunately public safety staffing levels were higher than normal in preparation for Blarney Blowout.

Busy RT9 was closed for a half mile on either side of the location to allow firefighters to do their work.  The road was still closed at 9:30 PM, waiting for the DPW to come sand the ice created by water run off.

AFD Chief Tim Nelson (center) Chaplain Bruce Arbour  (left) Assistant Chief Stromgren (right)

AFD Engine 1 on scene

Encouraging Budget News

Budget Coordinating Group meets in Town Hall this morning

The Budget Coordinating Group, made up of key players from the town, schools and library, had their first and last meeting of the year this morning to go over the proposed FY16 budget, and came away with good news.

After all was said and done concerning the Governor's recently released state budget, which increased "unrestricted local aid" by 3.6%, the likely scenario is Amherst will get only $45,000 less than what town officials projected back in the fall.   Town Manager John Musante described that as "not much more than a rounding error" considering the proposed total budget is $71 million.

Although the town manger did also mention that a state economic development program lost funding so that will cost the town another $75,000, two-thirds of which he had earmarked to help fund a newly proposed "Economic Development Director."

But the Town Manager made it quite clear he still supported adding the position saying, "I continue to believe strongly this is the year to act on it."  And that he would, "Figure out how to fund that  initiative" by reallocating money within the municipal budget.

Costs for the Elementary Schools losing students to Charter Schools was off by a whopping $443,000 over original town estimates, but School Finance Director Sean Mangano said the Governor was using the wrong figures: 94 students vs the correct number of 77.

By April firmer state aid figures will be forthcoming.

The Library Budget generated the most interesting discussion.  Director Sharon Sharry was a tad unhappy about using state aid money for routine operational overhead rather than library materials.

She requested clarification because a news story seemed to indicate the $9,000 new cost of providing sick leave benefits to part-time staff would be partially covered by town funding and not all from her budget?

The Town Manager, in a forthright but Mr. Rogers sort of way said, "Find it" (meaning within the Library budget).

Perhaps the most interesting information presented at the meeting was the broader acknowledgment that the Jones Library and their immediate neighbor the Strong House (home to Amherst Historical Society) is indeed working towards a merger.

$145,591 in red ink is offset by Elementary Schools coming in $100K under budget

Blarney Blowover?

A sagacious Fade user (Anon of course)

After spending serious amounts of tax dollars for a free Mullins Center concert, beefed up public safety staffing and countless hours of input from the UMass PR department, will it all come together tomorrow for a, comparatively, positive outcome?

Well yes, of course it will. Mainly because you can't get much worse than what happened last year.

But the #1 reason, once again, will not be so much all the measure taken by Amherst and UMass officials and the excellent work of the Student Government Association. Or even all the breathless press attention this past week (the Gazette set a record for front page stories).

Environmental conditions, aka THE WEATHER, will play the major role in keeping a lid on rowdiness. The Townhouse quad just isn't the same if you have to wear snowshoes. 



And the #2 reason will be a major police presence. I also notice on social media how students would prefer to deal with UMass PD over Amherst PD. And as long as they stay on campus that is all but guaranteed.

Although the LEOs they really don't want to mess with is Massachusetts State Police, who were out in force for Superbowl Sunday and like General MacArthur they "shall return."

Just for fun, in response to a silly "secret plan" hatched on BlarneyChat to party at Lot 25 near the busiest road on campus, I started a rumor it was going to be a landing zone for the MSP helicopter.

About an hour later a Fade user came up with a great graphic.  Behold the power of social media, which cuts both ways.

 Townhouse Apartments 9:30 this morning 

Hitler had his Atlantic Wall, which failed to keep out the Allied invasion. Townhouse has a chest high concrete-like wall of snow completely encircling the quads, ground zero for Blarney bad behavior over the past three years.

Kids would need a backhoe to clear it now.

Fade users with no sense of humor

#####

Downtown bars taking delivery 11:30 am, meanwhile just around the corner:

APD having Mass Emergency Management communications equipment installed

Only 365 days until Blarney 2016.
— ZooMass (@ZooMass) March 8, 2015

Cost Of Doing Business

321 Lincoln Avenue, For Sale signed partially buried

After running up $15,500 in legal expenses to the taxpayers of Amherst (presumably as much to his lawyer) in a losing effort to throw out the "owner occupied" requirement of one house in his Amherst empire, You-Pan Tzeng has put the property up for sale.

Litigation Report to Amherst Select Board

The house at 321 Lincoln Avenue was granted a Special Permit almost 20 years ago by the Zoning Board of Appeals to expand from a single family to a two-family (8 unrelated tenants) but with the provision that one of the two units be "owner occupied."

When Mr. Tzeng bought the house in June, 2012 and started renting it out to a gaggle of students, he told town officials that he was living there as opposed to his Longmeadow address that appears on all legal documents concerning GP Amherst, LLC.

Since that was not overly convincing, he filed suit against the town to remove the residency requirement and lost via "summary judgement," meaning blown out of the water. 

When the Building Commissioner recently contacted Mr. Tzeng to ask when he would come into compliance, he was informed that Tzeng's daughter, a UMass student, was now living there.  She was also gifted part ownership of GP Amherst, LLC. 

Of course a UMass education isn't a very long-term thing (at least for most students) so as soon as she graduates and moves out, the building will go back into non-compliance.

Since it is now for sale, perhaps a moot point. 

Inclusionary Zoning: The Other 10%

 

Amherst Planning Board December, 2014

Last night after more than a year of public discussion the Amherst Planning Board voted unanimously to support an Inclusionary Zoning article to replace the current ineffective one by relying on simple math (the 10% solution), offset bonuses (extra market rate units) and some easing of regulatory requirements in the business district for building height, coverage and set backs.

The hope is this will be an incentive for housing developers to pitch projects that will increase overall housing supply with at least 10% of that, "affordable."

The Planning Board had originally produced a draft article for Town Meeting last year but ran into stiff opposition from the Chamber of Commerce and Business Improvement District over concerns about downtown property, which is more expensive to develop.

In addition to the zoning article, Town Manager John Musante told the PB last night that he is seeking other remedies such as tax breaks to work hand-in-hand with this new Inclusionary Zoning article.

Although Planning Board Chair David Webber expressed disappointment that Musante did not bring along a firm proposal.

Later in the meeting Senior Planner Chris Brestrup did assure the PB that town officials are working diligently to come up with a financial proposal for the upcoming annual Town Meeting to work in tandem with this zoning article.

Amherst, like many college towns, has an across-the-board housing shortage which drives up prices.  Absentee landlords buy up single family homes, convert them to 2 family homes, and rent out to 8 unrelated tenants, aka students. 

Regulatory hurdles combined with well organized BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody) effectively strangles new supply -- especially affordable units. 

To be enacted the Inclusionary Zoning article will require a hard to achieve two-thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting and be approved by the Attorney General.

   Amherst Inclusionary Zoning