Solar Flare

Atkins construction soil

John Boothroyd and Dave Keenan, two outspoken critics of the town's attempt to recast the old unlined landfill into a sea of shiny solar panels took their battle directly to the Select Board at the unscripted 6:30 PM "Question Period" tonight, focusing on the potential health hazard of pesticide laced soil approved by the DEP as partial fill to repair sagging areas of the landfill cap due to settling common after 20 years of decomposition.

John Musante, during his "Town Manager's Report", told the Select Board the contaminated soil controversy had created "a lot of anxiety" and become a "distraction."

The regrading of the landfill will occur regardless of the solar array project and since the use of lead arsenate soil was a relatively minor part of the overall work, he directed DPW chief Guilford Mooring to abandon the idea of using 6,000 tons of tainted soil from the Atkins Corner Road project, although he praised Mr Mooring for "trying to be entrepreneurial".

Musante by no means backed down on the ambitious project to construct a 4.75 megawatt solar farm on the landfill that could provide the town with a million dollars per year in combined electricity savings and property tax revenues.

Mass spending

The Governor just approved a $327 million supplemental budget to get the state through the rest of the year to maintain "critical services, core safety net programs" and provide reimbursement to cities and towns for cleaning up after the worst winter in collective memory.

UPDATE: 7:35 PM
And in local news, the illustrious Select Board just voted unanimously to close off half the downtown Spring Street lot and a few more spaces on Boltwood Avenue to park the three large tour buses that will descend on the town for the newly e-x-p-a-n-d-e-d (to two days) Extravaganja Event, April 16th and 17th.

Last year the Amherst Board of Health considered expanding the smoking ban to include outdoor public areas such as the town common, but the proposal was dropped.

Party House(s) of the weekend

64 Pomeroy Lane

This week we have a tie: 64 Pomeroy Lane and good old Phillips Street, number 51 to be exact. Yes, a few weeks back I gave that entire street the dubious distinction of "Party Street of the Weekend."

According to Police narrative: "Large party with outdoor fire at 64 Pomeroy Lane. Approximately 100 people cleared out. Three residents put the fire out. They were arrested for town bylaw noise violation and illegal burning. Transported to APD for booking. House was secured before we left."

Meanwhile 10 minutes earlier on the other side of town (in the heart of the Gateway District): "Loud party. Minors identified on the scene in possession of alcohol. Approximately 40 guests cleared from residence. History indicated past responses. Two tenants identified on scene placed under arrest. One individual ID as minor in possession of alcohol placed under arrest."

51 Phillips Street

In addition to party/nuisance house enforcement, APD continued their campaign of proactive policing by arresting and or issuing summons to 50 college aged individuals for open container or underage drinking all within walking distance of UMass as well as an individual for Driving Under the Influence.

Searing the solar farm

Yes this is the same Diana Spurgin who fours years ago was treasurer of the 'Amherst Plan Committee' a band of soccer moms, well paid academics and 'Amherst Center' types pushing a $2.5 million "Three Year Plan" tax Override hatched by our Finance Committee, at the time toothless watchdogs who acted more like lapdogs for town officials.

And of course their main propaganda pitch, as usual, was to shame taxpayers into voting yes for the collective common good especially for the sake of the children, who attend one of the most expensive public school systems in the state.

Ahh, but when it comes to a creating a higher-and-better use for town property, a deal that could benefit the common good by $1 million per year while reducing our carbon footprint, don't disturb the tranquility near my backyard (an unlined landfill).

Today's Sunday Republican reports

The last campaign

In a beautiful home perched high on a hill overlooking scenic South Amherst friends, supporters and former-enemies-turned-friends gathered tonight to toast Catherine Sanderson--to sincerely thank her for three years of bruising work challenging an entrenched system, asking questions that others feared to voice and suggesting solutions some considered sacrilege...until they worked out for the betterment of our most cherished asset: the children.

Amherst Solar Farm meets Jerry Springer show!

The only thing missing among the crowd who jammed the town's solar farm public forum Wednesday night was bullhorns, pitchforks and torches. Perhaps a better headline would be: "When NIMBYs attack."

Yes amazingly enough these restless natives who purchases expensive homes next to an old unlined landfill are worried a commercial solar array will ruin their property values. After all, real estate agents promised them the landfill would remain open space for 99 years. And if you can't trust real estate agents who can you trust? Used car salesmen perhaps?

The complaints aired ran the typical gambit: noise, visual pollution, losing open space to walk the dog and go sledding, turning the neighborhood into another "Love Canal" and--my favorite--Russia dealing with Chernobyl compared to the way Amherst town government is now going about the process. Yikes!

Kind of far fetched to claim the solar array will cause damage to the landfill cap when DEP will have to approved it after exhaustive study and the expert the town is partnering with, John DeVillars is a former New England Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

A couple years ago Town Meeting was going to award Guilford Mooring "Mr. Congeniality" for his patient, good natured, humorous way of presenting DPW issues to that legislative body. So for him going Postal, says a lot...

Voter poll on Localocracy (looking like a landslide)

The Daily Collegian reports

They HAD a Secret

Larry Shaffer, Stephanie O'Keeffe, Aaron Hayden

I call her Jane Doe

While public documents czar Alan Cote denied my appeal for full disclosure of the 8/30/10 Select Board executive session minutes where town officials huddled in secret for over an hour to discuss the strikingly sudden "retirement" of town manager Laurence Shaffer (the very night the Board was scheduled to publicly discuss his annual "performance evaluation"), the town grudgingly complied with my request for Shaffer's "Employment Settlement and release of claims" agreement and that of his office administrative assistant who also, coincidentally enough, simultaneously disappeared.

So here's the executive summary, but I invite you to click on the hotlinks below to read the documents in full: Shaffer's platinum parachute, after only four years of "service" to the town, a whopping $62,129.

And Jane Doe, serving only three-and-a-half years (earning $43,900 last year) sauntered off with $23,012. In the private sector you would be lucky to get a couple weeks to a month pay as severance (and even then only after a ten year minimum service), or in her case about $3,000 and Shaffer's case maybe $10,000.

“I’ve never heard of anybody, public sector or private sector, getting severance pay when they voluntarily leave employment,” said John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. Interestingly the legal agreements dubbed Jane Doe a "resignation," Mr. Shaffer a "retirement."

"In a week's time I'll be 62 years old and indeed I have been thinking about retirement," Shaffer told the Select Board back then (with two years still left on his contract). That final spring in Amherst Mr Shaffer retired a few things: divorcing his wife and selling his home on Amity Street.

But merely a month after his October 1 "retirement" he was seeking a city manager job in Michigan. According to the 12/10/10 Birmingham Patch: "Because Shaffer's significant other teaches at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, commissioners asked him about whether he plans to commute. Shaffer assured them that he's fully open to making Birmingham his permanent home if he is offered the position and that he's here to stay."

That "significant other" is former UMass psychology professor Jane Ashby who, five years ago, sat on the original Amherst "citizen search committee" that chose Shaffer over two other highly qualified candidates; she too divorced her spouse in Amherst last spring and headed off to Central Michigan University, a state school that made CBS Money Watch list of "25 Colleges With the Worst Professors."

The whereabouts of Shaffer's former administrative assistant is currently unknown.

Jane Doe's agreement
Click links above and below to read
Larry Shaffer's agreement

official minutes of 80 minute 8 /30 executive session (all two sentences, where one of them was redacted)