Worth The Wait?

Metacomet Cafe, 27 South Pleasant Street, downtown

After probably the longest delayed opening in the history of the downtown, the Metacomet Cafe, finally, opened their doors for business yesterday -- just in time for a sizzling summer.

Fortunately Amherst no longer rolls up the streets once UMass and the Colleges are no longer in session. 

Menu

Yes, the neon sign lights up

The Cost Of Convenience

 Above North Valley Road, Pelham

 Scarred hillside, North Valley Road, Pelham

Eversource is replacing powerline infrastructure, which of course means anything tall and green that stands in the way is terminated.

"Sorry about that."

Heavy duty machines

Meanwhile, on Belchertown Road (Rt 9) just over the Amherst line:

A Day Of Respect

You can tell BigY is family owned

Oddly enough I've never been a h-u-g-e fan of Flag Day simply because I believe every day should be a day to respect and honor our national symbol.

I once even tried to trade Flag Day for 9/11 with our illustrious Select Board.  A deal they refused to take.

As most of you know by now the Amherst Select Board, keepers of the public way, voted 4-1 on the early evening of September 10, 2001 to allow 29 commemorative flags to fly in the downtown to mark only six anniversaries: Patriots' Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, July 4, Labor Day and Veterans Day.

Since that normally obscure public meeting took place about 12 hours before the first plane found its target in Manhattan, September 11 was still just another late summer day.  And that particular 9/11 dawned sooooo stunningly beautiful ...

But acrid black smoke soon crowed out that crystal clear blue sky leading to a gaping hole in the New York City skyline.

This fast approaching 9/11, the 14th anniversary,  the commemorative flags are not scheduled to fly in downtown Amherst.

Next year they will, however, because it's a "milestone anniversary."  And then not again until 2021, when the average incoming freshman to our three institutes of higher education had not even been born on the awful day.

Since Amherst forgot to put the commemorative flags up today, Flag Day, maybe now the Select Board will take my deal?  
 

Death Be Not Proud

Growing up in bucolic Amherst during the carefree pre-Internet days just before Vietnam changed our national psyche, my Irish mother had a superstitious habit of lowering her voice to a whisper when using  the word "cancer" to describe how a friend or acquaintance had recently passed.

Her way of dealing with a killer that still a generation later accounts for a sizable percentage of "routine" deaths.

Ball Lane:  one of the last unpaved roads in Amherst (privately owned)

On Wednesday evening Amherst police responded to a Ball Lane apartment to perform a "well being check."

Neighbors had called because the tenant who lives there had not been seen in quite a while and a strong stench was emanating from the general direction of his apartment.

You can guess what happened next.

After a "keyholder" (property manager) arrived to let authorities in the officer promptly radioed Dispatch saying ,"Recode from a well being check to a 63."  A '63' is an "unattended death."

Since all unattended deaths have to be investigated by the Northwestern District Attorney I asked for a statement concerning the sad incident.  I was told no statement would be issued.

I asked for simple confirmation that an Amherst resident, age 31, had actually died and was again told "no statement would be issued."

Okay, I can take a hint.

As of yesterday the Amherst Town Clerk has on file 109 death certificates for the year 2015.  And just so as not to slip into a melancholy morbid stupor I also checked births:  64.

And while I was there looking at them (since they can't be removed from her office or photographed) two couples came in to file for a marriage license.  Life, indeed, goes on.

The vast majority of deaths resulted from cancer, heart attacks, renal failure or dementia.  And for the most part their ages were well past retirement.

But six of them -- all but one -- college to middle aged had "pending" appear prominently on the cause of death line.  That means the Medical Examiner had been called in because the death was not "routine."

And more often than not those eventually (takes six months) return as a suicide or drug overdose.

For instance one of the names with "pending" is Zachariah Spaulding another the recent well publicized Chris Linehan, who died in the bathroom of the Hess Station in South Amherst. 

In fact two other death certificates did outright confirm "suicide".  Neither of which were covered by the local media or even so much as acknowledged by public officials.

Perhaps if people knew the extent of the problem with deaths nobody wants to acknowledge or talk about, preventative measures would be sought -- in earnest. 

No Expansion For You!

33 Phillips Street this morning

Last night in the 4th hearing stretching out over 9 months the Zoning Board of Appeals denied the Special Permit for 33 Phillips Street; perhaps the most notorious rental property in all of Amherst; located on the most notorious street in Amherst,; owned by Stephan Gharabegian, perhaps the most notorious landlord in all of Amherst.

Building Commissioner Rob Morra had discovered an illegal 4th unit in the basement with improper fire safety protection and other violations.  A cease and desist order was issued 5/20/14 requiring Gharabegian "remove the basement unit."

 Stephan Gharabegian (leaning forward chin in hand)

Instead the owner appealed the decision by applying to the ZBA for a Special Permit to formally allow the 4th unit. The Building Commissioner put a stay on his order, although no tenants were allowed in the basement unit over the past 9 months.

Normally a Special Permit process like this takes two or three months.

The hearings were continued numerous times because Gharabegian failed to provide basic information required by the ZBA, including updated floor plans and approval from the Conservation Commission for the parking lot expansion and realignment near a wetland.

After about 45 minutes of discussion it became clear the Special Permit, which requires a unanimous vote, was not going to be approved.  Gharabegian then stated his "best option was to withdraw the application."  But that too requires a unanimous vote of the board.

 Eric Beal Chairs his final ZBA meeting after 8 years of service

In his final meeting, after 8 years of service on the ZBA, Chair Eric Beal stated he would deny the permit both on its merits and because of a lack of due diligence submitting all the paperwork on the part of Mr. Gharabegian.

   33 Phillips Street Timeline

At 7:45 PM, one hour after the start of the hearing, the board voted unanimously to deny the permit.  Gharabegian cannot reapply for two years and by then Building Commissioner Morra will have enforced his original order to "remove the basement unit."

186 College Street

Two hours later the ZBA took up  another Gharabegian Special Permit request concerning his property at 186 College Street, where he wished to legalize a 3rd unit in a house only permitted for two units.

Senior Planner Jeff Bagg pointed out that, similar to the 33 Phillips Street situation, Mr. Gharabegian has "made some effort" but not nearly enough to consider the paperwork complete.

The ZBA quickly turned the tone of discussion to allowing a "withdrawal without prejudice."  Mark Parent said he was fine with that but would allow only 7 days for a new and complete application to be submitted or the $100/day in fines start accumulating.

Member Tom Ehrgood thought 10 days was too draconian saying "If we allow the withdrawal we should allow a reasonable time period for the reapplication."  Looking at Mr. Parent he then said, "How about 10 days?"  Parent slowly nodded his head up and down saying, "Yes."

Although Mr. Parent originally assumed it was 10 calender days, and had to be convinced to change it to 10 business days.  

Just before the board came to a unanimous vote allowing the withdrawal Mark Parent looked directly at Gharabegian and said, "I hope you get it done, and that there's no fines necessary."

Time will tell.  And not all that much time, as the ten day period starts today.

   186 College St timeline

#####

The ZBA is one of the most important public bodies in Amherst.  With Mr. Beal's retirement the Select Board will be looking for a dedicated, patient volunteer (with thick skin) to replace him.  Citizen Activity Forms can be accessed here. 

NIMBY Secret Weapon?

130 Fearing Street

If the Lincoln Sunset Local Historic District had been approved by Town Meeting a couple years ago and was now functioning the way the Dickinson Local Historic District Commission does, this family owned house could never have seen the light of day.

Not so much that LHD's have the power to stop new construction, but they have an inordinate amount of power when it comes to demolishing old structures to make way for new development.

 Lincoln Sunset Local Historic District Study Committee meeting 6/2/15

In this case a barn that was claimed to be "historic" because a real estate agent once advertised that Robert Frost may have used it as a lonely writers garret. The Amherst Historical Commission was not convinced and rejected using their powers to enact a one-year demolition delay.

The next day owner You-Pan Tzeng demolished the structure and later flipped the vacant property to the current owners, who built the house that now fits snugly into the neighborhood.

At most the Amherst Historical Commission could only have delayed things one year.  But a Local Historic District Commission could have delayed demolition permanently.

And it can be hard to build a new house or five-story mixed use building if you can't clear an old building sitting on that spot.

For instance the Amherst Historical Commission hit North Amherst developer Cinda Jones with a one-year demo delay on her big red barn at the entryway to the Mill District.

Without a change in zoning or Special Permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals the barn cannot be used for commercial activities related to the Mill District (like Atkins North) and is way too expensive to rehabilitate simply for storage.

 Currently the barn screens the Mill District from viewers on Montague Road

Atkins North is reusing a barn that was in commercial zone

Thus it will probably be demolished next month when the one-year delay expires.  But a North Amherst Local Historic District Commission (which is being talked about) could have simply said, "you can't tear down this barn.  Ever!" 

Which is easy to say when the preservation money is not coming out of your pocket.

Margin Of Safety

Pine Street, North Amherst

The Amherst Planning Board is unhappy with the final design for three crosswalks on Pine Street in North Amherst, citing the 8 foot width as too narrow and requesting the Select Board -- who has final say -- make them at least 12 feet wide.

Town Manager Musante dismissed the concerns telling the Select Board he's comfortable with the current 8 foot wide design and other assorted measures including a  high tech solar powered Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacon at each crosswalk.

 Transportation Plan seems to prefer 12 feet wide but did call this a "sample"

The town currently has no crosswalks greater than 8 feet wide.  And some are only 6 feet. The Select Board decided not to change the crosswalk plans at this late date.

 Crosswalks in town center are 8 feet wide

Public Private Partnership

Hampshire College this morning

Yes, that is our Department of Public Works doing construction on private property.

They are building Hampshire College a driveway that will connect the parking lot over on the left with West Street (Rt 116) below.

The construction at top of photo does not involve our DPW.  It's the new super efficient Hitchcock Center building, but it does look like it will share the new road being installed by the DPW.

 Although the town is getting plenty of loam out of the deal

This is part of a deal made a few years ago relating to the Atkins Corner double roundabouts where the town needed to take some property from Hampshire College and offered construction services instead of cash.

 Atkins Corner $6 million double roundabout project. Atkins Market top right

Why didn't the state simply pay Hampshire College for the property in the first place since the $6 million Atkins Corner project was a Department Of Transportation project?

They would have except the town "took over" Rt 116 from Atkins up to town center because they did not like they way the state was going to re widen along the  Pomeroy Lane/West Street Village Center.

This also means our DPW has to plow this stretch of road in the winter.

As some of you may remember Hampshire College refused to allow a detour through their campus during the Atkins Corner construction, a project that almost led to the demise of Atkins Country Market.

Hampshire College pays the town nothing for Amherst Fire Department emergency service runs which average close to Amherst College, who pays $90,000 annually.   UMass also pays $450,000 annually.

In reality none of the institutes of higher education pay their fair share.   But certainly anything is better than nothing.

At least the roundabouts work

Miss Emily: A Star Is Reborn

Emily Dickinson Museum, 280 Main Street
A professional film crew will come calling next week for a three-day shoot about Amherst's most famous reclusive resident, Emily Dickinson -- The Belle of Amherst.

The movie is called, appropriately enough, "A Quiet Passion" and they will of course be filming at the Dickinson Homestead, aka Emily Dickinson Museum, on Main Street just above the railroad tracks her father helped bring to Amherst.

Since it's a period piece Amherst police will be used to control traffic to ensure a 21st century internal combustion vehicle does not stray into a shot of a horse and carriage ambling up Main Street.  Barry Roberts will be providing the horses.

Film crew will use Wildwood rather than West Cemetery due to 21st century intrusions near West Cemetery

Chief Livingstone points out it's a pretty simply request, not nearly as complicated as the 1993 shoot centered in the downtown for the movie "Malice."

Old timers also remember when the Merry Maple (aka Christmas Tree) was reignited in the spring of 1968 for the movie "Silent Night, Lonely Night."

Pride Of Place Issue

Atkins Corner roundabouts on a dreary morning

The venerable Amherst Select Board -- keepers of the public way -- got an earful last night about the condition of the double roundabouts at Atkins Corner by a neighborhood woman who cited weeds, dead plants and overall dreariness, closing with "It's all very unattractive."

And I have to admit next to the UMass roundabout at Eastman Lane and North Pleasant Street they certainly do pale by comparison.

 UMass roundabout on a sunny Sunday morning

Like Police and Fire, DPW staffing is severely stretched to the limit.  And in the past few years their kingdom has expanded to include these $6 million dollar roundabouts and of course all of Kendrick Park.

Select Board member Connie Kruger stated she was "Also very disappointed.  It's a gateway and it's embarrassing."

Ms. Kruger also hinted that perhaps Atkins Country Market and Hampshire College could step up and maybe "adopt" the roundabouts and show them some Tender Loving Care.

 Atkins Corner from 400 feet: Epstein's Pond on the right

Pax Mexicana

Mission Cantina Friday 5:45 PM

The pitched battle that erupted -- mainly over parking -- between town officials and Mission Cantina came to an honorable end at last week's Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, with a compromise both entities can live with.

The ever popular restaurant can continue operating a food truck (which serves the downtown) out of their current location with extra parking allowed for employees in the back as long as they stay only on paved areas.

The restaurant is not required to carve out any new additional customer parking spaces and in fact will lose a few by installing barriers to protect green space on the south end of the parking lot.

In addition signs will be erected telling hungry customers to stay off the grass.  Or maybe they can hire a grumpy old man at peak times to yell, "get off my lawn!"

And they will be allowed to construct an enclosure/vestibule around the front door.

Town officials were caught in a bit of bind:  They recently allowed two new large five-story mixed used buildings (mostly residential) in the downtown with no parking required but in this case originally tried to force a restaurant to add parking when they already provide more than twice what the zoning bylaw requires.

Click to enlarge/read

Sleeping Beauty DUI

Mark Kulas intake photo (aka "mug shot") courtesy Amherst Police Department

Amherst police took a drunk driver off the road before dawn on Sunday morning, but first they had to awaken him. Yes, now imagine Mark Kulas, age 22,  conking out while his vehicle was in high speed motion.

Click to enlarge/read

Other charges were dropped as part of the 24D plea

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning Mr Kulas did not show up for his 9:00 AM arraignment and a bench warrant was issued for "failure to appear".

But he did show up by close of business today (maybe he had overslept) and ended up taking a standard 24D disposition: $650 in fines, losing his license for 45 days, and one year probation.

In addition since his Breathalyzer was .20% he must undergo a (substance abuse) 24Q evaluation

A Matter Of Trust

West Experiment Station, 682 North Pleasant Street

The mistrust created by the unfortunate demise of the Trolley Station three years ago continues to hang over UMass:

Statement from Joe Larson, Preserve UMass

Click to enlarge/read

Trolley Station on North Pleasant Street, built 1911 trashed June, 2012

 West Experiment Station sits on busy North Pleasant Street

682 North Pleasant Street

FADE To Black

Fade:  "Nothing lasts forever"

Well I suppose when "Nothing lasts forever" is your tagline, users should not be surprised when the service itself disappears after only a little over a year.

FADE is/was one of those location based smart phone apps that pretty much acts as an anonymous bulletin board.

Unlike competitor YikYak it relied on memes (photos) with a simple headline to which users could respond with comments and  vote it up or down.  Up votes gave it a few more minutes of life before it would "fade" into oblivion.

Although like Snap Chat  the downside of posting something personal is users can simply do a screen grab as I did with their farewell. 

The app targeted institutes of higher education so UMass had its own chapter so to speak.  It required 500 downloads for the app to become activated and I'm sure at peak UMass had thousands of users.  Plus a few old grumps like me.

During the lead up to the Blarney Blowout (that also ended up going poof) I had fun interacting with the pro party crowd.  A few of my Tweets were reposted on FADE, and occasionally some nitwit would give away interesting information in their response comments.

 Even in its final hours ...

Oh well, maybe now this will free up time for kids to -- you know -- study?

 Maybe there's hope for our youth yet

Preserving The Priceless

Amherst College Pratt Field this morning

When Amherst College went about a $12.5 million major renovation of Pratt Field a couple years ago a tree as old as the athletic field itself ( circa 1891) stood in the way of that progress.

Rather than taking the simple, cheap way out -- destroying the tree and replanting a new one -- the College spent $100,000 to move the majestic Camperdown Elm 30 yards to safety.

 Camperdown Elm this morning

Sure they are a private college with a decent endowment (although an Anonymous benefactor paid for most of the renovations, including the tree move) and UMass is a public University with a small endowment.   But when it comes to protecting your historic heart and soul, cost is secondary.

West Experiment Station 682 North Pleasant Street this morning

West Experiment Station is one of the original buildings on campus from W-A-Y back when UMass was known as Massachusetts Agricultural College (1887).  It is also highly visible located directly on North Pleasant Street, which cuts through the heart of the sprawling campus.

When I asked the UMass Facilities & Campus Services folks via their Facebook page if they were tearing down West Experiment Station I received (rather quickly) the following reply:

Demolished? No! Moved (slightly)? Yes! And this is great news for WES all around. Actually, the building isn't technically being "moved" (because the age/fragility of the mortar work won't allow us to just pick it up and plop it down); rather, it will be completely *deconstructed* and then completely *reconstructed* a couple dozen yards west and a bit south of its current location. Completely new (and deeper) foundation, brand new building systems (MEP), and about 50% more of the building wheelchair accessible, too. We're achieving this by "buddying" the renovation, especially with respect to utilities, with the Physical Sciences Building project going up just behind/north of WES. The building is also being moved in order to anchor a return of Ellis Way --the reestablishment of which is part of the Campus Master Plan.

However, Preserve UMass point man Joseph Larson is not overly happy with the situation and after the fiasco with the Trolley Stop three years ago, I can't say I blame him.

Click to enlarge/read

Library Expansion Moves Forward

A gregarious Jones Library Trustees moment this morning

The Jones Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously this morning on a bevy of issues relating to the future expansion/renovation of the downtown icon, including approval of the 5-year "long range plan", Request for Qualifications approval (leading to an Owners Project Manager) and giving a "museum quality" home to the recently refurbished Civil War tablets. 

Trustee Chair Austin Sarat called the idea of housing the sacred historic tablets "an unbelievably cool thing," but he was a little concerned about the installation and upkeep costs.

Direct Sharon Sharry replied the state grant would cover half the cost of constructing the roof over their heads as part of the routine renovations and the town, using Community Preservation Act funding, was going to pay for the actual installation costs and what little upkeep would be required.

The town will now craft a legal agreement guaranteeing the tablets go to the Library, as Director Sharry did not want to have a special custom spot built for them and then have the town change its mind.

A second agreement would stipulate that the tablets are on "permanent loan" but remain town property.