Regionalization: Not Dead Yet

Regional School Committee last night

Unlike the strong skepticism expressed at their meeting two weeks ago, perhaps brought on by the mad rush to seek approval in time for this year's Town Meeting season, last night the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee expressed optimism over the prospect of regionalizing the current grades 7-12 all the way down to preK through 6th grade.

Amherst School Committee member Rick Hood started off the one-hour discussion saying they should "keep working" on the project (after more than three years of committee work culminating with the Regional Agreement Working Group final report) especially if it allows a future "on ramp" for any town, like Shutesbury, who is not yet ready to make the leap.

In order for the educational expansion to happen all four towns via their Town Meeting must approve amending the current 60-year-old Regional Agreement but then one or two could vote not to join at the current time.

 RAWG member Kip Fronsh appeared at Public Comment period to lobby for Regionalization

Mr. Hood cited the $600,000 savings figure saying, "It's a big deal, if it's real."  A sentiment echoed later by other committee members.  Although Shutesbury member Steve Sullivan pointed out that financial projection "was old" and a study should be done for fresher figures.

Governance is still a major stumbling block with members expressing skepticism over a 13 member supersized Regional School Committee (7 from Amherst and 2 from each of the hilltowns).  Rick Hood suggested a RSC of seven member, four from Amherst and one each from Pelham, Leverett and Shutesbury.

But other members thought that would be too much work and pressure on a lone town representative to the powerful new committee. 

RSC Chair from Pelham Trevor Baptiste said bringing financial sustainability to the Pelham Elementary School was his main objective but it was "debatable" if the money savings was worth it.  He liked the idea of district wide elections to the new super-committee because it would "reduce factionalism."

Amilcar Shabazz attending his final meeting via "remote participation" said confidently from Rick Hood's Mac computer:  "This can be done."

Committee Chair Baptiste then suggested for RSC meetings over the next year a major bullet point from the Regional Agreement Working Group report be put on the agenda for a 20 minute or so discussion.

And in the near future all three hilltown School Committees be invited in for a discussion. 

Marylou Theilman pointed out from the audience that it had been a good, long-overdue discussion but it was shame Amherst Media was not there to cover it, especially since a major criticism of the project has been the lack of public outreach.

The Chair, who has previously touted his respect for "transparency",  responded that maybe the reason the conversation/discussion went so well is because officials felt more comfortable without the cameras running.

Hmm ... 

257 & Counting

Town Manager & Select Board get to sit at the head table

The Select Board signed the warrant last night and Amherst police posted copies this morning at all the precincts in town so there's no turning back now.  The 257th annual Amherst Town Meeting starts April 27 and runs for as long as it takes (usually two meetings per week) to get through all 30 articles.

A significant reduction from the 42 articles appearing on the warrant last year, which prompted a much talked about editorial in the Springfield Sunday Republican criticizing the molasses like pace of Amherst Town Meeting.

Click to enlarge/read

That year we finished up on June 2nd. 2013 was even worse with 45 articles on the warrant and a dissolving date of June 10th.

30 is not a new record for least amount but it shares that distinction with 2012 and 2009.  At the opposite end of the spectrum 2008 was the largest over the past ten years with 47 articles.

Our $70 million budget is balanced so not much controversy to be generated there.   Additionally, last night the Finance Director told the Select Board that enough savings had been found in health insurance and long term debt payments to cover the cost of the Town Manager's pet project:  A new Economic Development Director.

Police will see a paltry increase of one position but the beleagured Fire Department got burned with no additional staffing.

8 of the 30 articles are via "citizen petition" (it only takes 10 signatures to get on the warrant) and three of the eight are zoning related so they will require a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting to pass.

 Tedious standing vote

One thing that takes up tremendous time every meeting is the procedural process.  Standing votes and tally votes can require 10 or 15 minutes each, and some nights we can have nearly a half-dozen.

Although not in the budget for this year's annual meeting, Finance Director Sandy Pooler did set aside $25,000 for the Fall Town Meeting to buy electronic voting devices for the entire 240 member body.

Which should help speed things up.

Of course the best solution is to reduce the size of the legislative body by 75% and hope some of the more loquacious members do not survive a competitive election. 

 

DUI Dishonor Roll

 Drinking six beers and piloting a pickup truck don't mix

In what will probably be the last somewhat quiet weekend (brought on by Spring Break) until UMass graduation in May, Amherst police still managed to arrest two impaired drivers, Brett Fellows, age 42, and Christopher Chilson, age 25.

 Christopher Chilson stands before Judge John Payne

Amherst police had been called to a house on West Street in South Amherst for reports of a breaking & entering in progress.  The reporting party said she and her boyfriend had barricaded themselves in the basement after hearing glass breaking and then footsteps.

Police surrounded the house but found nothing.

Until Mr. Chilson came roaring along in his F350 pickup truck.

Click to enlarge/read

Amherst Police also arrested Brett Fellows, in spite of his refusal to take the Field Sobriety Test.  He also refused the chemical breath test back at police headquarters, which will make it somewhat harder to prosecute the case.

Both individuals had a plea of "not guilty" entered in their behalf and their cases were continued until next month after they each told the Judge they would be hiring a private attorney.

 Brett Fellows arraigned before Judge Payne

Housing Authority Votes Budget

Amherst Housing Authority

The Amherst Housing Authority voted unanimously yesterday to approve a $1,662,631 budget for the upcoming 2016 Fiscal Year which includes a 2% increase in employee pay, although Executive Director Denise LeDuc, whose contract was extended two years, garnered a 1.5% increase to around $88,000 annually.

 Commission member Laura Quinn

During the routine approval of minutes Commission member Laura Quinn criticized the record keeping from the March 2nd meeting as "cryptic". 

When asked to explain by outgoing Chair Paul Bobrowski she pointed out that her suggestion the Executive Director performance review be tied to her contract extension did not make it into the minutes.

The minutes were then amended to reflect her concerns, although not before audience member Alan Root complained they had been "sanitized."

 Alan Root leaning in

The Amherst Housing Authority owns 191 units of housing in Amherst and manages another 36 units.  But their main influence with providing affordable housing comes via a "voucher" program.  The AHA oversees a federally funded Section 8 Rental program where they are authorized to issue up to 413 vouchers, which assists renters based on their income.

Housing Urban Development funding for that voucher program has returned from pre sequestation levels.  In the upcoming fiscal year the AHA will receive $3,077,917 or enough to fund 390 vouchers, 23 less than their maximum.

Currently over 600 people/families are on the waiting list to receive a voucher.

Since the vouchers are based on a recipients income things can change from month to month. If the person loses their job then the amount of the voucher goes up thus making it hard to project overall costs.

Annual HUD funding is based on previous year's spending so if you have too much money left over your funding next year could go down, but if your average voucher goes up too much and the budget is overrun, they have to dip into reserves.  

  

If You Can't Stand The Heat

Anytime you pack a room with town officials, board and committee members -- appointed or elected -- you're bound to have a few grumps.

So I didn't really mind so much the venom spewed towards the media by Shelburne Board of Selectmen Chair John Payne -- it was more the ovation he received from the rest of the crowd.

Although I did notice Stan Rosenberg, who organized the Hampshire & Franklin Municipal Conference, calling his speech finale, "fighting words."

What the Attorney General needs to do is put more teeth into the Open Meeting Law.  Make an example of offenders who knowingly violate the law, not by fining the committee or board $1,000 so the taxpayers get stuck paying it.

Fine every individual member of the board $1,000 that must be paid out of their own pocket.  Then you will see a dramatic improvement in compliance.  If that doesn't do it, then try a jail sentence.

Making the job of the media a little easier via a strong Open Meeting Law only brings better enlightenment to the multitudes of citizens who rely on the media for vital information about their local government.  

If you can't deal with transparency then don't volunteer or run for public office.

Where There's Smoke

Extravaganja 2013 attracted typical crowd of 6,000 fans to the Amherst Town Common

Now I know it's Spring!  The preliminary paperwork for the town common pot rally is in the pipeline.  Or maybe I should say bong line. 

The Amherst Select Board will discuss parking approvals Monday night for the 24th annual Extravaganja festival coming this April 18th to a bucolic town green near you.

The event is promoted by the UMass Amherst Cannabis Reform Coalition and every year manages to attract many thousands of aficionados to Amherst town center for an afternoon of live music, food, and camaraderie all punctuated by the pungent fragrance of pot.

Some of the original adherents from two decades ago have probably gone on to high profile positions in the state legislature, paving the way to legalization in the next year or two.

Considering the awful toll legally ubiquitous alcohol wreaks on our little "college town", perhaps not such a bad thing.

The pot rally coexists with the Amherst Farmers Market

North Amherst: Can't Stop Progress

 The sun also rises over entrepreneurial rebuilding

The renovation of a former cow barn for Atkins North is moving along at flank speed and may actually see satisfied customers before the end of August, in time for when the swallows, err, students return to Capistrano, err, Amherst.

Not that a chic operation like Atkins needs to rely on students.

 Helpful that Cowls President Cinda Jones husband can operate an excavator

Large windows are framed in the south wall

South east corner needed the most work

Adjacent abandoned barn is almost contigious

The immediate neighboring barn, however, may not be as fortunate as the cow barn.  Last July 22nd the Amherst Historical Commission placed a one year demo delay on the ancient structure, but no plans have been forthcoming for its revitalization.

W.D. Cowls President Cinda Jones would like to save the barn and is willing to lease it for $1/year for 20 years to anyone who can renovate it with a business plan that's complimentary to the The Mill District.  

 Roof is starting to collapse

And has plenty of holes

Otherwise, in the interest of public safety -- especially Atkins North customers -- the building will come down.  The clock is ticking.

Currently the barn screens the Mill District from neighbors along Montague Road

Affordable Housing Incentives

Boltwood Place (12 units) valued at $1.7 million could have saved $34,000 tax bill 1st year

Town officials are busy crafting a Special Act Home Rule Petition article that must pass Amherst Town Meeting before it goes to the state legislature for their approval to allow the Select Board to give property tax breaks to developers -- especially in areas where such development is cost prohibitive.

The tax incentive -- which could hypothetically zero out property tax for the first year or two and then phase in over the next eight years -- is seen as complimentary tool to work alongside the Planning Board's new Inclusionary Zoning article, which also requires Town Meeting approval ... two-thirds no less.

Because of irregular lot sizes and high cost of land the downtown and other village centers are especially problematic for developers to create far less profitable affordable units in their projects. 

According to Planning Board Chair David Webber:

In exchange for the 10% requirement and to make the resulting developments more economically viable the Inclusionary Zoning article gives certain “cost offsets.” These include increased height, floors, and lot coverage among other things.  

The Planning Board supports this article even without tax incentives because we believe it will be a substantial improvement over the current bylaw which has not resulted in any constructed affordable housing units. 

It is the downtown (BG) and adjoining areas that are already built out to the lot lines where the proposed non-zoning article will likely be needed.  That consists of a home-rule petition to allow discretionary tax incentives for affordable units (i.e. not tax them for up to 10 years) where the IZ incentives are not enough.  

Together these provisions should result in new, deeded affordable units without stifling new residential development.

The Planning Board has been diligently planning their Inclusionary Zoning article for the past year, and town officials have used tax incentives in the past with Atkins Farms Country Market in South Amherst and the Cushman Village Store in North Amherst to stimulate development.

Amherst has one of the highest housing costs in Western Massachusetts because of the presence of UMass Amherst, which also causes our "college town" to have the lowest medium age in the state.

The average working middle class family is priced out of the market because they can't compete with the per bed rental model absentee landlords rely on to market property to "college age youth." 

And NIMBYs are nothing if not organized -- fighting housing developments an all fronts like Muhammad Ali in his prime.

The simple formula is as old as capitalism itself:  supply must at least come close to satisfying demand.

Planning Director Jonathan Tucker explains

Racial Profiling?

Victor Nunez Ortiz appears before Amherst School Committee 3/17/15

If Amherst police had paid me a visit because a Crocker Farm School (where my daughter does attend) employee had given them a description of an gray-haired chubby Irish guy, I would probably be a little unhappy with the reality check, but would not argue that I don't fit the profile.

In fact Victor Nunez Ortiz seems to argue that he did fit the profile and as a result was being profiled.

   Victor Nunez Ortiz MCAD Complaint

Which becomes a chicken and egg scenario. If police stop you simply because you're not white and they had no lead whatsoever on the race of the Perp, then that strikes me as profiling.

But if police stop Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because they have a description of a very tall black man, that strikes me as being good police work (as long as they let him go after finding out who he is).

 Last nights League of Women Voters Candidates night

A League Of Their Own

Amherst League of Women Voters Candidates Night

If last night's turnout for the annual League of Women Voters Candidates Night is any indication the voter turnout for Amherst's 256th annual spring election March 31st will be pretty darn good.

But by usual standards -- 13.6% last year and a pathetic 6.6% in 2012 -- it really doesn't take much to deem a local election turnout as "good." In fact my threshold for a "good turnout" is a pretty modest 15%. Even the recent UMass Student Government Election managed to muster that.

 Standing room only crowd last night almost none "college aged"

Although to be fair (and balanced), I suppose UMass SGA was a "presidential" election, and when it comes to the once-every-four-years presidential election Amherst falls all over itself to vote:  turning out 69% in 2012 and a whopping 89% in 1992 when Slick Willy was at his peak.

With no controversial ballot questions (aka Charter vote to dump Town Meeting or Proposition 2.5 Override) and no contests for Select Board -- the top executive position in town -- the turnout will be low. Very low. As in maybe not ever double-digit.

While the School Committee technically does not have a race according to the official ballot, the write in candidate, Victor Nunez-Ortiz, certainly has a chance to ride a wave of discontent over racial issues which have roiled school operations over the past few years.

The League of Women Voters Candidates night still has that old fashioned meet and greet, press the flesh campaign feel to it.  Something that's starting to get lost in the digital age of Facebook, Twitter, blogs and of course in the national Big Leagues of campaigns, radio and television ads.

Perhaps the clearest loser last night was Emilie Hamilton, who failed to show up to state her case for being elected to the Amherst Housing Authority, thus leaving candidate Tracylee Boutilier even more time to speak directly to the voters.

And if I had to guess, of the 75 people in the room last night almost 100% of them will show up at the polls March 31st.

Pothole Relief

When filled with water, potholes act as landmines for unsuspecting drivers

Governor Charlie Baker announced yet more good news for drivers across the state:  A $30 million reimbursement program to fill those pernicious potholes.  And since the road repair work has to be completed by June 15th to qualify, municipal officials can't afford to procrastinate.

The money is being apportioned using the same Chapter 90 distribution formula, so Amherst will be getting $126,035.  That's in addition to the extra $400,000 announced in Chapter 90 money a couple months ago.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring reports that at $74 ton he should be able to purchase around 1,500 tons of asphalt.   A pothole 6" deep, one square yard around requires about a quarter-ton to fill,  so that's enough for 6,000 potholes.

Although there's other expenses for asphalt tack coat, prep tools, equipment rental and the hiring of a some part-time help. 

All in all, a good start for spring.

Just one of the many benefits of a Republican Governor.   Not that it will win him many votes in the People's Republic of Amherst.

A Million Here & A Million There

Crocker Farm Elementary Pre-school playground will get $25K to meet ADA requirements

The Joint Capital Planning Committee voted unanimously this morning to support the $3,070,457 FY16 spending plan shepherded to them by Finance Director Sandy Pooler, representing 7.5% of the total town tax levy.

 Sources of funds:  taxation, ambulance revenues, Chapter 90 state aid, CPA, borrowing

Although the committee still pines for the day when the capital spending rises to 10% of the tax levy.

The only changes from last week were a result of push back by the JCPC on Mr. Pooler delaying $25,000 in to make playground equipment at Crocker Farm Elementary School ADA compliant and $10,000 (out of original $35K proposed) for studies and improvements to a resurging North Amherst Village center.  Both items are now back in for FY16, which starts July 1st.

North Amherst Village Center

Saying that this has "emptied the coffers" to cover all the requests from department heads, Mr. Pooler did point out that he reserved $25,000 for Fall Town Meeting to cover the cost of electronic voting devices for 256-year-old Amherst Town Meeting.

Looking down the road Mr. Pooler unveiled a graphic data base that depicts the impact of four major capital projects (South Fire Station, DPW, Wildwood Elementary and Jones Library expansion/renovation) on annual spending if all $57 million were to be covered by borrowing, although some of the projects will probably be financed via a "Debt Exclusion Override".

Since Amherst Fire Department has to protect all this future development it would make sense for the forever talked about new South Fire Station to go first.

Unfortunately, Town Meeting and making sense do not always go hand in hand.

Click to enlarge/read.  Red is new fire station

 Annual debt payments would triple, but decline over time

Current debt with a couple of small projects included (Fort River School roof, Kendrick Park renovation)

 Numbers for four major construction projects

Amherst Schools Reorganization?

Amherst School Committee (from rt): Lawrence O'Brien, Kathleen Traphagen, Rick Hood

Last night the Amherst School Committee voted unanimously (with two absent) to approve a  $21,869,835 elementary school budget, which is $100,000 below Finance Committee guidelines for the second year in a row.

With a projected population of 1,176 (including 64 preschoolers) that works out to a total cost per student of $18,597, a tad over the state per student average of about $14,000.

The "level services budget" calls for the elimination of 16.5 para educator positions (saving $343,500) but is offset by the addition of six "professional staff for co-teaching" positions (adding $360,000). 

Another $63,000 had to be added to the budget to make up for the loss of grant funding to the kindergarten program  Partial cuts to three positions in Central Office personnel also brought savings of $117,000.

During a discussion about the Owner's Project Manager for the upcoming Wildwood School renovation project Superintendent Maria Geryk floated possible reorganization scenarios if a new school should be built:  Crocker Farm Elementary School (currently 422 students pre kindergarten through 6th grade) would become a pre-K through 1st grade only, and the new building would hold 2nd grade through 6th grade.

At previous meetings school administrators also floated the idea of closing down the Middle School and moving all the 7th and 8th grade students into the High School.

As if there were not enough expensive scenarios floating around the School Committee also voted unanimously to "Authorize the Superintendent to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority the Statement of Interest Form for the Fort River Elementary School, located at 70 South East Street."

Yes this is in addition to the seemingly-on-the-fast-track endeavor to renovate/expand/or build a new school to replace Wildwood Elementary School on Strong Street.

Last year Town Meeting voted $1 million to study the proposal with a projected state reimbursement of 60%.  Last night school officials confirmed the reimbursement came in higher at 68% so the town's share of funding falls from $400,000 to $320,000.

The Wildwood School Building Committee interviewed ten OPM candidates for the ambitious project.  They will go before the Mass School Building Authority in Boston on April 6th seeking final approval for their unanimously chosen candidate, Joslin Lesser, the last woman standing.

 Sparsely attended meeting.  Sean Mangano, Finance Director, in front

Superintendent Maria Geryk and Finance Director Sean Mangano outlined a timeline that would have Amherst Town Meeting voting final funding in the Fall of 2016.

School administrators did take note, however, that the Wildwood School project shares a short list of expensive new building projects on the horizon including a South Fire Station,  DPW building and Jones Library expansion.

Although they forgot to include the much talked about new downtown parking garage. 

A Cry For Help

Police were involved in a frantic one-hour search late last night for an Amherst College student who had called an ex-girlfriend in Pittsfield, sounding drunk and making suicidal statements. Amherst College police confirmed he left behind a "goodbye note" in his room.

APD and Amherst College PD looking for suicidal student.  Possibly intoxicated.  On open phone line with x-girlfriend, but not talking.
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) March 18, 2015

After "pinging" his phone it was determined he was located within a mile of Stanley Street, so Amherst police sent cruisers to strategic locations within the perimeter with their sirens blaring so see if his open phone line picked up the noise, thus giving better indication of his location.

The reporting party said she could hear running water and then, ominously, about an hour into the drama said she could hear "moaning and vomiting."

 Temperatures last night

He was located semi-conscious on the bike path about a half mile east of the Amherst College tennis courts, with no shirt on, suffering from possible hypothermia and with superficial wounds from a broken bottle.

Amherst Fire Department, with an extra firefighter on board, transported him to Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

Just another example of outstanding co-operation between Amherst College PD, Amherst and State police. 

And the urgent need for the state to upgrade the emergency 911 system for GPS location, which would have instantly provided authorities with his whereabouts within ten feet rather than a mile.

Amherst College student found on rail trial intoxicated, without shirt, possibly hypothermic. PD on scene. AFD enroute.
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) March 18, 2015

Vital Communications

One of four Dispatch workstations

If all goes as expected this Thursday morning the Joint Capital Planning Committee will approve about $3 million in spending for equipment replacement and building repairs that will still require Town Meeting approval, but is usually 100% ratified.

With it's annual budget of $650,000 a capital request of $110,000 for equipment replacement may sound like a lot but without the Communication Center working properly our $9 million Police and Fire departments would be flying blind.

Currently Station Officer can't interact as well with officers in the field or trace their location

The four dispatch workstations and a 5th new fully functional station for the downstairs "Station Officer" will replace an outdated system using Windows XP installed in 2006. The town purchased the system from Motorola for $200,000.

 HP computers are left on 24/7 now for fear of not rebooting

Radio console system being replaced at 5 workstations

The current system has internal clocks that do not always sync properly to the actual time, does not always record incoming calls for instant playback (although a redundant back up system does) and is not compatible for two-way conversation with UMass dispatch. 

In addition to fixing those problems the new system will have digital capabilities and allow for additional channels should the need arise.  

 911 system:  screen on left gives name and address of caller, screen on right maps location

Communication Center Director Mike Curtin tells me at some point over the past three years every one of the five stations targeted for replacement has failed.  And sometimes it can take up to two weeks to get a station properly repaired.  

 Separate station monitors town buildings via automated alarms

The Dispatch center is nothing if not busy, handling 80,000 phone calls on the business line and 7,000 on the 911 emergency line last year with a total staff of only 12.

Left screen CAD narratives/records, middle screen keeps track of on duty first responders, right screen shows license plate info, wants and warrants

The two new dispatchers hired recently had to undergo 60 hours of training, but overall 70% of staff are at the top step for pay scale, meaning they are well experienced.  Typically the center has two dispatchers on duty, one for police and the other for fire.

This much needed overhaul would also be beneficial should Amherst ever regionalize dispatch operations, although that is not looking as promising as it once did.

At a recent Finance Committee meeting Chief Livingstone said, "I don't see it happening soon.  It's not dead yet, but we have to convince Hadley."

3rd floor, APD headquarters, 111 Main Street.  The eyes and ears of first reponders

Remembering The Revolution

Angela Davis, March 30, UMass Fine Arts Center

As both the town's token conservative and proud UMass/Amherst graduate I'm comfortable saying I support my alma mater bringing in Angela Davis as a speaker to finish off Black History Month with a bang (although a month late).

Even as a fiscal conservative, I do not have a problem with her $16,000 appearance fee.  After all Angela Davis is a historically significant figure, albeit a niche time period:  The counter culture, anti-war, when-hippies-were-in-full-bloom chapter in American history.

The best advice for aspiring writers is to "write what you know," so what better way to learn about that interesting time period than to hear it first hand from a noted participant? 

I suppose if she had been convicted for the murder of four individuals I might think differently.   Although, our justice system is built on the premise that if you do your time -- aka "pay your debt to society" -- then you have earned a fresh start.

Even if you did make the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list.

A University is supposed to be an open market for the free exchange of ideas -- even those we find repugnant.  Popular speech doesn't need protection.

It's the voices from the margin that require the First Amendment to prevent their soap box from being pulled out from under them.   

Although at UMass, it seems the more conservative speakers are the ones who get bullied and shouted down.