Bite The Hand That Warms You

 Amherst Select Board:  Head of the class at Town Meeting

All Amherst Town Meeting members received an email last night from the supposedly non partisan Town Meeting Coordinating Committee begging us to show up for tonight's final meeting so the esteemed body would have a quorum and could then dispose of the last three citizen petition articles on the warrant. 

The cheerleader email was directed specifically at the final Article 30, a non-binding advisory ditty opposing construction of the Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Pipeline through our neighboring counties to the north.

Apparently not "only in Amherst"

Since the pipeline is not scheduled to ram its way across the Town Common you might be tempted to thing it's not town business.  But it is.

Amherst businesses are already being hurt by the moratorium imposed by Berkshire Gas on any new hook ups in town due to supply constraints.

Last week Joe Bowman the owner/manager of Fratelli's Ristorante appeared before the Zoning Board of Appeals to secure permission to place a 1,000 gallon underground propane tank on site at 30 Boltwood Walk.

Not only an expensive capital construction project, but a more expensive routine supply cost as well.

Even the town -- a major customer of Berkshire Gas -- is being impacted as a renovation conversion project at East Street School from expensive, more environmentally harmful oil to natural gas is now in limbo because of the moratorium. 

One simple rule of, gasp, capitalism that Town Meeting never seems to get is the sacred law of supply and demand.  If you have high demand for housing and NIMBY/BANANAs constantly strangle the development of new housing, then the price goes up.

Or if you have a huge demand for clean, efficient, cheap energy and the pipeline is too small  to satisfy that demand, then you have a moratorium ... which is bad for business.

Thus Town Meeting should vote down the obstructionist article targeting the new pipeline.  IF we get a quorum.

 Select Board supports anti-pipeline petition, but dropped the ball on solar

About 20 years ago when an Annual Town Meeting stretched on forever and town officials were worried about a quorum on the final night they offered free coffee, hot chocolate, cookies & milk to entice members to perform their civic duty.

Maybe the Select Board should offer up fresh fruit tonight.  I'll spring for the BANANAs.

Cost Of Going Green

The Amherst Select Board last night unanimously approved the conversion of three downtown public parking spaces to "electric vehicle only" with the one located in the underground portion of the Boltwood Parking Garage reserved exclusively for the town vehicle.

 Town recently purchased this $30K electric car partially paid for ($7,500) by state grant

That space is immediately adjacent to the reserved underground spaces that cost $850 per year.

 Charger will be located in corner space near electrical outlet and (stinky) stairwell

Two others spaces in the prime but hidden lot located directly behind Town Hall will have a "duel head" level 2 charger paid for via a state grant ($10,000) that will be for the general public use.  That conversion is expected to happen before June 30, the end of the Fiscal Year

The same bargain rate of 50 cents per hour will apply and if a non electric vehicle parks there our fleet-of-foot Parking Enforcement personnel will issue tickets.

 Town Hall hidden backlot

Pine Street Safety Signage

RRFB units on South Maple Street, Hadley bike path

Last night in their tucked away meeting at Amherst Middle School just before Town Meeting commenced the Select Board unanimously approved DPW Chief Guilford Mooring's plan for installing crosswalk protection along the middle and eastern end of Pine Street.

 1 system located at 351 Pine, another near curve into Bridge Street

This signalized safety project goes hand in hand with new sidewalks being installed the length of Pine Street from the North Pleasant intersection in North Amherst center to Bridge Street.

 DPW Chief Guilford Mooring appears before Amherst Select Board (in charge of "public way")

The installation of a solar powered Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacon at the intersection of East Pleasant (which currently lacks sidewalks) and Pine was put off however, and instead the third unit was relocated further east towards the dangerous curve where Pine Street become Bridge Street (at the gateway to Cushman Village Store).

The RRFB-XL units cost between $8,000 - $10,000 per set and are billed as being 80% more effective on higher speed roadways.  

Harris Street looking towards Pine Street

Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here

Town Meeting time consuming standing vote last night

So once again by majority vote (88-66) against dismissal of Article 25 Amherst Town Meeting showed their true anti-business colors:  yellow.

The Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything BANANA crowd led by Vince O'Connor and Mary Wentworth, who never met a payroll in their life, are now no longer the radical fringe of our antiquated legislative body.

 Vince O'Connor: Amherst's Dr. Strangelove

While they may not have the numbers -- as evidenced last night -- to pass a business killer zoning article, which requires a two-thirds vote, they certainly have enough to block any future pro development zoning articles, which we've already seen them do time and time again over the recent past.

Amherst is more than half owned by tax exempts (mainly Amherst College, UMass, Hampshire College and our Conservation Department) thus shifting twice the burden to the other half who do pay property taxes.

And unlike non-bastions of higher education Amherst has a decidedly unbalanced 90/10 split between residential (90%) and commercial (10%) property tax base.

So "mixed use" commercial/residential development is the perfect answer -- especially in the downtown where our anemic commercial sector is slowing starving.

Amherst:  Where even the h is silent

Anyone who has ever run a small business knows the last thing an entrepreneur needs is a local government micro-managing their operation, or macro-managing the playing field. 

Especially one where almost none of the "elected" members has ever run a business. 

Somber Sunday

 Life Flight helicopter on the scene Leverett Elementary School for patient pick up

UPDATE May 20:  The District Attorney's office has confirmed one of the motorcyclists has died.

Sunday was not a very good day for motorcycle enthusiasts with a spat between rival gangs leaving 9 dead in the parking lot of a Texas restaurant, and more locally two bikes careening down the somewhat treacherous s curves in Leverett/Shutesbury crashed leaving both riders with serious injuries.

So serious that one of them, who also suffered burns, had to be airlifted by Life Flight helicopter to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and the other transported by AFD ambulance to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.  More seriously injured patients are taken there in lieu of a "normal" transport to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

Leverett Fire Department coordinated the Life Flight helicopter but it was Amherst EMS personnel who had to deal with the horrific injuries.  Two ambulances were required, one for a couple hours and the other about 90 minutes.

The ambulance that transported to Baystate Medical Center had three EMS personnel on board rather than the usual two.

According to Mary Carey, Northwester District Attorney Dave Sullivan's spokesperson:   

The Massachusetts State Police Detectives Unit attached to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office were notified of the crash shortly after it happened, and responded to the scene to assist with the investigation.  The Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section (“CARS”) also responded to the scene, and is handling the reconstruction aspect of the investigation.

Amherst Fire Department provides ambulance service to Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury and Hadley, in addition to their hometown.  75% of AFD's total runs are for EMS related calls.

 Not a good place to speed

Motorcycle accident two years ago that also required Life Flight

IF You Build It?

Greenleaves Buildings #27 & #25

The Zoning Board of Appeals is pretty used to concerned neighbors attending a public hearing with the intent to squash a proposed development via Special Permit in their front or backyard.

 Concerned Greenleaves residents pack May 14 ZBA meeting

But their May 14 meeting was a tad unique in that owners who live in Greenleaves Retirement Community turned out to complain about a Community Center being built in their side yard, a structure that is required by the original 2004 Special Permit that allowed Greenleaves to be built in the first place.

 Open lot between buildings #25 & #27

A legal arrangement they were aware of when first purchasing their condos in the development.

When the condo project was first built each building had one unit temporarily set aside as a "community room" as a convenience for the residents until the Community Center was constructed.

But the tenant/owners have now gotten used to that arrangement and apparently like it better than a stand alone building nearby.

 Proposed Community Room (that may not happen)

The project owners wish to reclaim the original community rooms and sell them as residential units as originally planned. 

The ZBA is now stuck in the middle of the dispute.  In a somewhat informal poll taken by management 18 residents supported building the new Community Center and 24 opposed it.

Senior Planner Jeff Bagg expressed concern that so much time has been spent on the proposed building and now it may not happen.  The ZBA would still have to modify the original Special Permit to allow for nixing the  Community Center and approve that space for parking or any other function. 

The hearing was continued to June 11th.

Russell Street is Rt 9. Greenleaves straddles Amherst/Hadley border

Rockin' Rafters For A Good Cause

Runners head to the start line 10:25 AM

With almost zero wind and bright but not blistering sunshine you could not ask for better day to run (or fly).  And hundreds of civic minded outdoor enthusiasts answered the call, for the 22nd running of the Rafters College Town Classik 5 mile road race this morning. 

View on Youtube directly

Larger view on Facebook

Party House Zoning Delays

186 College Street (Rt 9), Amherst

Stephan Gharabegian, arguably Amherst's most notorious absentee landlord, made yet another brief appearance before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday night in his ongoing quest to expand the capacity of 186 College Street from a two-family (8 unrelated tenants) to a three-family (12 tenants), which is how he used it until getting caught last year by the Building Commissioner. 

Senior Town Planner Jeff Bagg expressed concern to the ZBA about the "long periods of time with minimal activity on his part," for addressing concerns of the Building Commissioner about parking, possible wetlands on the property that could be impacted by the expanded parking required, and a 2nd means of egress for the 3rd unit. 

In fact the Building Commissioner already enforced that serious code violation -- a second means of egress for the other two units -- in order to make them safely habitable.

 Stephan Gharabegian appears before ZBA.  Chair Eric Beal (ctr) Senior Planner Jeff Bagg (far left), Tom Ehrgood to his left

ZBA member Tom Ehrgood said rather sternly while looking directly at Gharabegian: "When we issue Special Permits for complicated cases like this and the hearing continues to stretch on, it sends us a bad message,  and gives me pause, making me wonder if you will oversee it properly."

June 11 will be the 4th time before the ZBA

The hearing was continued to June 11 so Gharabegian can go before the Conservation Commission, have an engineer submit a proper parking plan and creating a safe 2nd means of egress for the 3rd unit in case of fire.

Since Eric Beal, who was chairing the meeting, is leaving the ZBA on June 11 that will be the final deadline for Gharabegian to have all the paperwork in order.

Victim Of Success?

Mission Cantina, 485 West Street, South Amherst

A bit of a firefight erupted at the Zoning Board of Appeals hearing last night over a Special Permit for the wildly successful Mexican restaurant in South Amherst, Mission Cantina.  Mainly over parking.

Attorney Kristi Bodin in a memo called the proposed actions of the board "arbitrary & capricious" and capped of her verbal presentation last night by branding it "really, really disturbing."

The restaurant, she pointed out, has a seating capacity of 49 and the zoning bylaw calls for one parking spot per 4 seats so they are only required to have 12, but in fact have 26.

 Click to enlarge/read

So to require them to provide (3) additional new parking spaces when all they wanted was permission to build an 8 foot fence to shield their immediate residential neighbor and add a vestibule in the front of the building (for energy savings in the winter) was a tad maddening. 

ZBA member Tom Ehrgood, who bristled at the word "capricious," pointed out that they were also requesting a doubling of employee parking in back, and permission to park the sizable Taco Truck. 

Taco truck and employee parking in the rear

The food truck operation is what tripped Building Commissioner Rob Morra's attention.  The original Special Permit that allowed the restaurant to open has nothing in the management plan to address the operation of the food truck on site, which loads up at the restaurant in the early evening and then returns in the early morning hours.

And Mr. Morra also thought the addition of the vestibule where patrons could stand while waiting for a table increases the capacity of the building (even though seating remains at 49) thus creating a "change in use" that requires its own Special Permit.

The ZBA seemed willing to compromise and liked the idea of both the vestibule and fence but since most of them have patronized the restaurant they know first hand there's a problem at peak time with parking.

Building Commissioner Morra could not be at the meeting last night to explain his findings, so the hearing was continued until June 4.  And by the end of last night's hearing, a Mexican standoff had been avoided as they had come to mutually agreeable terms:

1) Mission Cantina would submit a revised site plan removing the "new" parking spaces and showing eight (8) employee spaces and one (1) taco truck space behind the restaurant, 2) Mission would submit a plan to delineate the edge of the parking area on the south side of the building to prevent parking on the grass or dirt next to the lot; as well as a plan to inform patrons that parking on unpaved areas was not allowed; 3) Mission would provide a change to the management plan for the taco truck revising the hours to 3 am at the latest for clean up, and 4) Mission would provide a change to the fencing material from stockade fencing to some type of solid panel.

Red box indicates where 3 "new" parking spaces would have been located.  

 Business neighbor to north not interested in leasing out parking spaces

We're #51!

Amherst Regional High School

Ever since websites discovered digital consumers love lists the "Top ten", "Top 100" and every odd number in between has become a standard cliche of publishing.

But for parents who take education seriously, the US News & World Report education ratings has been the gold standard for over a generation now.

Indeed, Amherst Regional High School coming in shy of the top 50 for Massachusetts is cause for concern.  Two other Western Mass schools came in higher, Greenfield (#43) and Palmer  (#49).

And in the most recent financials published by the state Amherst comes in a #35 for average (high) cost per student.

Click to enlarge/read

Quieter Winter Spring

Amherst Police Department, 111 Main Street

The war on rowdy (college aged) student behavior continues to show steady gains. A combination of APD community policing and UMass outreach has once again paid off with a decent decline in "noise" complaints all across town.

But "Nuisance" tickets are up, which only indicates that a small hard core of party hardy types need a further attitude adjustment.

Perhaps UMass will take a closer look at outlier students who received both a "noise" and "nuisance" ticket and issue stern sanctions that gets their undivided attention.  Once and for all.

Click to enlarge/read

UMass Team Positive out in force for Blarney Blowout 3/7/15

Don't Build A Damn Thing

New Town Logo: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything

Amherst downtown business community dodged a dirty bomb last night as Town Meeting -- all too narrowly -- rejected by 97 Yes-83 No (but it required a 2/3 Yes vote) a citizen petition article requiring strict parking requirements with any new development in the Municipal Parking District which currently exempts such parking requirements.

 CVS parking lot downtown

And the common sense reason for that is parking is very expensive, and takes up precious space.  Besides, Amherst is a "green community" where walking, cycling, skateboarding and public transportation are highly encouraged.

The scary thing about last night is that more than a majority of Town Meeting members supported this anti-business, no growth strategy. 

Currently Amherst has an out of whack tax base: 10% commercial, 90% residential.  Hadley by comparison has 34% commercial tax base and 66% residential.  And their property tax rate is almost half that of Amherst. 

All of their commercial property is located along the RT9 corridor, aka two shopping malls, which provide plenty of free parking.  No wonder our downtown is struggling.  

The other anti-development travesty last night was the scuttling of Article 23, which would have rezoned four adjacent properties bordering UMass and Amherst town center, thus allowing greater housing density.

Currently problem #1 in our little college town is lack of housing.

Naturally the neighbors, whose backyards run down a steep incline into the zone would have none of it.  And naturally, because we're talking Amherst Town Meeting, their NIMBY sentiments prevailed. 

Classik By Any Other Name

Road races (and walks) to benefit social service agencies have sprung up like luscious lawns in a warm moist spring.  Mainly because it's a perfect win-win situation:  the participants get fresh air & exercise, camaraderie, plus the positive feeling that comes with supporting a great cause.

Perhaps the granddaddy (or grandmommy) of all events happens this Sunday: The Rafters 2015 College Town Classik Road Race to benefit The Jimmy Fund and Amherst Police Relief Fund.

Now in its 22nd year.  And the weather is going to be hospitable. 

Register now and save $5 (enough to buy a beer at Rafters after the race).

Educational Merger?

 

Amherst Regional High School

Starting with the school year September, 2018 if all goes according to plan, 7th and 8th graders will be home based in the Amherst Regional High School building while high school seniors will be taking college courses via dual enrollment in the (former) Middle School building located well within walking distance next door.

Kathy Mazur (left) addresses Regional School Committee

Last night an animated Director of Human Resources Kathy Mazur updated the 9 member Regional School Committee about the ambitious plan.  Both buildings are owned by the Region and are bound by the Regional Agreement signed by all four towns:  Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury.

And according to their attorney Giny Tate, there's nothing in the Regional Agreement that precludes such a reorganization.

Amherst Regional Middle School

The plan involves a major collaboration with  Greenfield Community College, who will use the former Middle School building as a satellite facility in exchange for below market rate rent and offering Amherst Regional School students reduced rate college courses.

And the main niche they would fill is in vocational training.  In the upcoming fiscal year (FY16) the Region will lose 55 students to out of district vocational schools (mainly Smith Vocational in Northampton) at a cost to the Region of $18,000 per student or a total cost of $990,000. 

The High School was renovated/expanded in 1996 when enrollments were at a high water mark so the building is capable of handling 1,725 students.  Current enrollment in both Middle and High School is 1472 and five years from now is projected to be only 1,372. 

In the Fall (2015) Amherst Regional Public Schools will host an "Educational Summit" (facilitated by state Representative Ellen Story) to discuss strategies for dealing with education in 21st century with of course particular emphasis on this collaboration.

   ARPS Merger Memo

DUI Dishonor Roll

Amherst Police took three impaired drivers off the road over the weekend: Richard Sherwood (his 3rd offense), William Sevene, age 49, and Sky Walters age 20.  Three sounds like a lot but only because there have not been all that many over the past few weekends.

 Sky Walters arraigned from lock up

click to enlarge/read

Now that the students are gone APD will have more time on weekends to keep an eye out, so we may see this higher average hold up for the summer.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday Sky Walters was assigned a public defender for which he will pay $150 and his case was continued until June 22.  Mr. Sevene will also return for a pre-trial hearing next month.

Inclusionary Zoning Strikes Out ... Again

Amherst Planning Board last night (like lambs to slaughter)

Last year at the very last minute the Planning Board pulled back their Inclusionary Zoning overhaul that would require across the board 10%  affordable units in any new housing project of 10 units or more.

They were reacting to concerns from the business community who complained it would make things especially arduous in the downtown or Village Centers where development costs are higher.

One good result was the town came up with Article 21, tax incentives to help alleviate the pain for developers who otherwise can't make the affordable unit requirement work.

Last night Town Meeting, considering it required a two-thirds vote, overwhelmingly rejected the Planning Board's two-years-in-the-making Inclusionary Zoning Article 22 by a 100 No to 88 Yes vote after 1.5 hours of sometimes snippy discussion.

Critics said it was unnecessary simply because the Planning Board was not correctly interpreting the current Inclusionary Zoning bylaw which trips the 10% affordable unit requirement whenever a Special Permit is required.

The Kendrick Place development (36 units) required two concessions -- an extra 10 feet of height and extra lot coverage -- but they were not considered major enough to trip the existing bylaw.

And of course this same scenario played out just up the road with the same developer's  One East Pleasant Street (80 units).

 Using future home of One East Pleasant as leasing office for Kendrick Place

As a result certain BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) types now consider the Planning Board to be made up of Robber Baron, pro-development hacks.

Will the Planning Board take another shot at appeasing the unappeasable next year?  Who could blame them if they do not.

Sure Article 21, the property tax breaks package, did pass because the unholy alliance of the BANANA/NIMBY crowd faltered.  But will that alone make a difference?  Probably not. 

Perhaps the best idea last night came from black sheep Town Meeting member Kevin Collins, who floated the sometimes-you-have-to-destroy-the-Village-in-order-to-save-it concept by suggesting we allow the town to fall below the 10% Subsidized Housing Index.

 Click to enlarge/read

That way any developer can come in and build pretty much whatever they want as long as it is 25% affordable.

Maybe now that town/gown relations seem to be at a high water mark, it's time to revive the Gateway Project. 

Gateway Area with former Frat Row (on right) shovel ready for a signature project