Generator Glut?

 
17.5 KW DPW generator: Scrap metal.

The fiscal fallout from the freak Halloween weekend storm continues as department wish lists includes back up generators as part of their capital requests for the next fiscal year.

The Jones Library Trustees are seeking $105,000 for two units, one 500 KW unit @ $82,000  for the main downtown library and another 30 KW unit @ $23,000 for the tiny North Amherst branch plus another $20,000 for installation, for a grand total of $125,000.

Town Hall is slated for a $85,000 generator (a Town Manager request therefor a slam dunk), as key components of command and control are located there--namely the main wireless Internet routers,  with emitters sitting atop street lights--and tied into their power--around Town Hall.

When the power went off the night of the storm the downtown wi-fi went down, although the town website did not go dark, as the server is located in Holyoke. 

 Wi-fi emitter Spring Street Parking lot (uses power from streetlight)

The nearby Police Station, where 911 dispatch is located, has a generator which fortunately did its critical job during the extended outage.  The DPW was not as fortunate as their generator failed to function, but Mass Emergency Management Agency managed to get four rented generators delivered from a Springfield firm by Sunday late afternoon. 

The DPW is requesting $15,000 to replace that ailing unit with a new one in the 30 KW range.  Since DPW trucks were critical as first responders clearing the streets of snow and storm debris, and since gas pumps at the "the barn" require electricity to pump fuel, a working generator is--according to the itemized Capital Project Request--a "very high priority".

The generator at the Centennial Water Treatment Plant also doesn't work and is scheduled for replacement as part of a $4 million overhaul of the entire plant. On the day of the storm Centennial was off line and acting as a simple water tower to help keep pressure in the system.

A small booster pump (without generator back up) is the weak link. When that failed even light Sunday demand drew down water in the Centennial tank and, ominously, water pressure began to fall...

Luckily the Atkins Treatment Plant and Well #3 had working generators, otherwise town folks would have had to drink something other than water. 

Thirteen years ago in the hysterical run up to the new Millennium, then Town Manager Barry Del Castilho became overly influenced by a Happy Valley volunteer "Y2K Citizens Committee" chaired by a UMass secretary who relied on the early day Internet for research pointing to a doomsday scenario.

Del Castilho tried to browbeat the Finance Committee into using emergency reserve funds to finance a $60,000 back up generator for the downtown Bangs Community Center.  When that failed to spark enthusiasm, he talked the Select Board into placing the request as a stand alone article on the annual spring 1999 Town Meeting warrant.

In a rare rebuke for Del Castilho, the article fell short by a 20 vote margin, 81-61 (6/9/99) .  Of course New Year's Day 2000 dawned without airplanes falling out of the sky, and the power in downtown Amherst never faltered...until the night of October 29, 2011.

Like Bangs Community Center, the Jones Library does not have a generator--but then neither do the adjacent Ann Whalen Apartments or Clark House, subsidized rental units managed by the Amherst Housing Authority with a high concentration of senior citizens.  

 Jones Library 11/1/11

The North Amherst Library is not even worth considering because it's exceedingly small (under 1,000 square feet) and not ADA compliant.  The Jones Library is large and centrally located but no more so than the Amherst Police Department or Town Hall.

 Ann Whalen Apartments

When asked if Library officials have had a conversation with the Town Manager or other department heads to coordinate shared planning for emergencies like the October snowstorm, Library Director Sharon Sharry answered quietly, "No".

Safe to say the Joint Capital Planning Committee, or Town Meeting, will pull the plug on the Library's expensive wish.  And if it's that important to them, they can always tap their $7.5 million endowment. 

Amherst Bulletin Generator Column 1999  (back when I was a paid MSM journalist)

That didn't take long

 Superbowl Sunday night, UMass Southwest

Unfortunately this is a dog bites man kind of story, but it underscores the problems a huge bureaucracy has dealing with rowdy student behavior:  Nineteen year old Cullen Roe filed a federal lawsuit  after the University expelled him only days after the Superbowl "riot" in Southwest.
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And since he's only 19, safe bet parents had a lot to do with financing the lawsuit in order to protect the money already spent on Mr. Roe's fledgling years at UMass.  Sounds to me like throwing good money after bad.

Springfield Republican reports

Shutesbury Shootout continues

On Tuesday Town attorney Donna MacNicol filed an “answer” to the lawsuit  filed by Library Override supporters against Shutesbury election officials  and the Board of Registrars claiming they erred by discarding a contested yes vote for the new library, yet allowed two contested no votes at the January 25 recount, leaving the tally at  a 522-522 tie, meaning the measure fails.

Attorney MacNicol, in a feisty rebuke requesting dismissal, wrote: “The Plaintiffs’ Complaint is wholly insubstantial, vexatious, frivolous and not advanced in good faith...The Board of Registrars...reserve their right to move, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 231, Section 6F and Mass. R. Civ. Pro. 11, for sanctions, an award of counsel fees, costs, and expenses incurred in the defense of this action.”

Ouch!

An eye on you?

The Jones Library plan to install 16 security cameras throughout the interior of the downtown facility at a cost of $60,000 received a decidedly cool cold response this morning from the Joint Capital Planning Committee, whose endorsement to Town Meeting--the ultimate granting authority--does not guarantee approval, but items disapproved are certainly Dead On Arrival.

And the JCPC is currently trying to cut 25% from departments requests totaling $4 million.

Finance Director Sandy Pooler expressed concerns over liability should something bad occur that is captured and recorded but an employee does not see it to intervene, the town could be held liable; but Pooler demonstrated he understands Amherst well after only one year on the job as his main concern seemed to be patrons privacy, and the inevitable "Big Brother" reactions from the general public.

Sharon Sharry, Library Director (left), George Hicks, Diana Stein

Amherst school wins Innovation $

Crocker Farm Elementary School Principal Mike Morris demonstrated an innovative way to break the good news his school won a $10,000 state innovation grant:  He tweeted it. 

Innovation Schools are a Charter-like public entity with increased autonomy and flexibility but--and this is a major but--all of the state funding stays in the district, mitigating the number one complaint about Charter Schools stealing money away from their sending district (costing Amherst schools and the Region millions).

As with a new Charter School, if approved, the Innovation designation is good for five years and the school must demonstrate that it has closed the achievement gap to win a renewal.

The comprehensive blueprint is expected to be completed by June (a committee has already been formed) and it will require a two thirds buy in from all faculty at Crocker Farm School, a majority vote of the Amherst School Committee and, of course, the permission of the Superintendent, who is supportive.

The state, by the end of July, will award implementation grants of up to $75,000. 
  
Good news re: Innovation Grant twitdoc.com/SWZ

— Michael Morris (@cfprincipal) February 15, 2012

Urinetown?

Olde Towne Tavern, formerly Charlie's Tavern

So last weekend's nightlife had its lighter moments, in spite of the obnoxious drain on AFD resources babysitting drunks at the Mullins Center Rusko concert, as usual, alcohol related.

According to APD logs (early Saturday morning 1:55 AM):  "A group of college aged individuals approached me and asked where there was a legal place for the them to urinate.  I advised them to ask the staff at The Sub to use their facilities.  They did not ask at The Sub and proceeded to urinate at the old Charlie's Tavern.  The three observed were identified and sent on their way."

Relieved no doubt.

Like The Pub, located next door, Charlie's opened its doors during the anything goes 1970s--happy hours, lower drinking age, smoking in bars, lax attitudes towards drunk driving--but weathered all the changing attitudes and regulations...until the spring of 2010, when Charlie's Tavern closed suddenly after a long run of thirty years.

Within months banners appeared announcing Olde Towne Tavern "Coming Soon."  The Zoning Board approved a Special Permit last year to take up business where Charlie's left off, and the Select Board approved the all important $3,500 liquor license.  Then, nothing.

The principals also own Stacker's and McMurphy's located uptown within staggering distance, so it's a safe bet they will indeed open for business; I'm told later this month or next, in time for St Patty's Day, the mother of all drinking holidays.


McMurphy's is infamous for its St Patty's Day "Kegs 'n Eggs" promotion--a Mardi Gras like atmosphere where the alcohol starts flowing at 10:00 AM, although the owner described the clientele as "an older crowd."

But hey, at least they have functioning bathrooms.

When products compete

For the third year in a row there will be no competition for Amherst Select Board, the highest elected office in town, as incumbent Aaron Hayden was the only one to return nomination papers with 50+ signatures.  Definitely shows the 5-member board, unlike a few years ago when ideological zealots ruled the day, has become normalized.  Not a bad thing I guess.

Half the ten town meeting precincts do not have the full complement of candidates needed to fill 24 seats--even with the bar set frightfully low at only one signature required on the nomination paper (and that signature could be your own).

The School Committee race promises to be the most interesting with four contenders--two black (Irv Rhodes and Amilcar Shabazz), two white (Michael Aronson, Lawrence O'Brien), all male--vying for two seats.

Race became an issue last week when Mr. Shabazz was passed over by the Select Board and School Committee, who jointly voted to fill a vacant seat up till this April 3 election by choosing a white high school student over Shabazz, creating a backlash of disappointment.

In the venerable Amherst schools, children of color are disciplined more often than their white counterparts while the vast majority of teachers and administrators are white, although the superintendent is a woman.

I am not rerunning for the Amherst Redevelopment Authority, a position held since 1997, as I believe the ARA will not be a major player over the next few years, therefor, I suppose, it's safe even for anti-development queen Pat Holland, the lone candidate, to get on board.