Gateway Project Dress Rehearsal

So tonight's Amherst Redevelopment Authority meeting was simply an extra study session with our homework--the final draft from our $30,000 consultant on the Gateway Vision and Action Steps--before the B-I-G public unveiling next Wednesday evening in a joint public hearing with the Planning Board.

The key question tonight came from someone in the audience: Is the University of Massachusetts still interested in donating the signature property of almost 2 acres (former Frat Row) now that the preliminary design vision wants to keep half of it green space?

Deputy Chancellor Todd Diacon dodged the question for now, but confirmed he would be talking to the new President, Robert Caret in July. And of course the fate of current UMass/Amherst Chancellor Robert Holub could also have a major impact.
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June 29, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM @ Town Room, Town Hall

MEETING TIME: 7:00 pm. LOCATION: Town Room, Town Hall. LIST OF TOPICS - Joint Mtg. w/Amherst Redevelopment Authority - A. Presentation: Gateway Corridor Vision & Next Steps, Gianni Longo, ACP; B. Board questions and comments; C. Public questions and comments.

There they go again

Town Meeting 5/16/11: Solar Farm wins resoundingly

This from the minutes of the June 6 Town Meeting Coordinating Committee meeting (which I missed, but had planned to go just for the photo op):

Photography at Town Meeting: Several non-TM people were conspicuously photographing during some sessions this year, including a Daily Hampshire Gazette photographer, a local blogger, and someone shooting in support of an academic paper. There was concern that these may have been distracting or intimidating to speakers. The committee discusses whether flash photography should be restricted, and whether photographers should be restricted to certain areas of the auditorium to prevent them from interfering with proceedings. The committee agrees to discuss this with the Moderator.

Of course you know who the "local blogger" was; and yes, I'm "non-TM" but did indeed toil almost twenty years in that aging institution. At one point, from my photographer perch, I almost had to revert back to my bar bouncer days to separate an obviously teed off Vince O'Connor from another member a few years older than Vince, who used a speech stopping 'Point of Order' to distract Mr. O'Connor (more so than my camera).

Vince O'Connor angry

But hey, at least I'm in good company with Carol Lollis otherwise known as "the Gazette photographer".

Now the Middle School Auditorium is, you know, rather l-a-r-g-e and town meeting members are many, and they do sprawl all over the place.

Can you imagine chaining a photographer to a single desk way off in a corner like they do the two reporters at a Select Board meeting? Obviously town meeting is a (occasionally major) public event and its members are, for that brief period, public officials.

Ironically Rockwell's revered illustration (especially by town meeting aficionados) for 'Freedom of Speech' used a local town meeting for inspiration as he captures a member speaking his mind in bucolic Arlington, Vermont during the war years.
But the First Amendment also holds equally sacred freedom of the press. Even more ironic that TMCC discusses these new restrictions on June 6th, a day many aging Americans pause to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by thousands of men who charged head long into harms way to defend these freedoms.

This photogenic dude spoke against the Solar Farm

Mary Streeter, TMCC member and owner of a town meeting listserve of 153 members--more than a quorum (a violation of Open Meeting Law if not for town meeting being exempt), uses an in-session photo on her website.

Reach for the sky

Boltwood Place is now in full construction mode as they race to ready for a Fall opening. The five story mixed use LEED certified building is the first major construction project in the downtown in a l-o-n-g time.

Technically described as "infill," the building, five floors reaching 50 feet in height on only a 2,500 square foot postage stamp of a footprint, will most certainly stand out on its own, and will also stand in as the poster child for exactly what the Amherst Redevelopment Authority had in mind when we donated the prime adjacent property to the town for the construction of the Boltwood Walk Parking Garage ten years ago.

The ARA meets this Friday to receive and discuss the Final Report from our consultant on the Gateway Corridor Vision in anticipation of the joint meeting with the Planning Board/public hearing on Wednesday, June 29 in the prime location Town Room from 7:00 to 9:00 PM.

Gateway Vision area

Gateway Vision Final draft (hot copy) It's a big file so you have to download the PDF

Interesting comparison of construction potential for Gateway

Taste of Freedom

Now that the 20th annual Taste of Amherst is safely stowed under under a bulging beltline, it's time to start thinking about the next B-I-G thing in Amherst town center. And just so folks will be reminded, the red white and blue July 4 Parade banner went up this morning for a week of flight in that prime location.

Both Senator Scott Brown and Governor Deval Patrick have been invited and their offices return called to inquire about the particulars. After the devastating tornadoes that ripped their way through western Massachusetts it sure would be nice if our top political leaders showed their faces out this way to celebrate the birth of freedom and power of resilience.

No easy money

Maybe because of the tough economy people are more prone to this nonsense, or maybe because greed has been around since man (and woman in heels) first started to walk uprite it will always be around.

These days scamers have embraced the Internet, since email fishing is free.

Amherst PD witnessed two instances over the weekend of this pernicious, prevalent crime--the first where a reporting party simply came into the station to report receiving a fictitious check via the (snail)mail where the unknown party asked him to cash it, send back half and keep half for his trouble. The individual was smart enough to know it was a hoax.

The second incident went a tad further: A bank manager at Northampton Cooperative Bank wanted to have an officer investigate a "possible larceny of funds". A gullible customer had deposited a $4,000 check that proved fraudulent and then withdrew $1,500 cash after responding to a Craigslist job ad for shipping packages.

The individual is returning the cash today, having learned a valuable lesson for free: If it sounds to good to be true, then it's almost certainly a scam.

My previous report

Solar in South Amherst

Looking east towards new storage facility (in red)

While not nearly as ambitious as the controversial 4.75 megawatt Solar Farm proposed for the towns' old landfill, the solar facility west of the new storage shed at Atkins Farm Market will provide all the power needs of the bustling business and with state and federal governments falling all over themselves to provide tax breaks and grants, probably a cost effective installation as well.

Since no homeowners are within sitelines of the modest installation and it is being constructed on private land not currently used for jogging, dog walking or nesting by a threatened species of tweety bird chances are, unlike the town Solar Farm, it will fly through the permitting process.

Atkins (founded 1887) is one of those rare private sector, for profit, businesses that is Politically Correct enough to easily negotiate the deadly Amherst permitting process, having recently won a coveted beer and wine license from the Amherst Select Board and property tax breaks from Town Meeting.

After all, farms have relied on sunlight forever.



 

One year later it was completed (June, 2012)

Et tu, Pelham?

Union 26, where Amherst pays 94% of overhead (Pelham 6%) provides 90% of the costumers but only has a 50% say in governance was one of the more fascinating kerfuffles over the past year and, as always, anything school related--especially if it involved Catherine Sanderson--brought out the worst in people.

Yes, almost 150 years later, another Civil War was fought over (Amherst) attempting to leave a Union.

The entrenched good-old-boy establishment reared up to protect the status quo, where Amherst subsidizes our predominantly white affluent neighbors to the east; and one of their complaints was how the Amherst School Committee (at Sanderson's urging) was daring to consider leaving Union 26, but had not officially notified Pelham.

"Unfortunately, we the Pelham Elementary School Committee were not formally notified about the Amherst School Committee's decision to review it's participation in the Union 26, the governance structure that articulates the partnership between Pelham and Amherst elementary schools which has functioned successfully for years. Nor are we fully aware of what prompted the decision to review the partnership at this time. Naturally , it would be our hope that the spirit of fair and balanced partnership with which the Union was created, rather than the politics of the day, would inform any discussion of the Union and its continued success."

An email to which Amherst Regional School interim Superintendent (later strongly supported by Pelham School Committee and Union 26 for her permanent hiring) replied:

From: Maria Geryk
To: Tracy Farnham, Kathy Weilerstein, Nora Maroulis (Pelham School Committee)
Date: 4/9/2010 11:13 AM

perfect!
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But last night the Amherst Regional High School website advertised a meeting for Pelham residents (Amherst folks need not apply) at their library to talk about a reorganization that will sever the current partnership with Amherst and create a competing entity.

And on May 3 the Shutesbury School Committee also discussed joining this regional operation (at the expense of their current involvement with Union 28). "Endorsement of preferred option. Motion by Michael DeChiara: I move that SESC approve the concept of further exploring the Outer Ring Region (K-6 Elementary) with Leverett and Pelham as our preferred model. Patrick seconded. Passed unanimously."

Now I wonder, where's the outrage?
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UPDATE: 6/20 Monday morning (quarterback):

From: Maria Geryk
To: amherstac@aol.com
Sent: Mon, Jun 20, 2011 10:30 am
Subject: Re: What's up with Pelham?

Hi Larry,
Pelham began an educational study group September 2010. Amherst has been aware of these meetings all along. All the meetings are public and notes are posted.

Maria