Fore!

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Let the record show that our money pit municipal golf course opened for business yesterday, so naturally today it rained.  This pre St Patrick's Day opening is the earliest in a decade but that will not stop town officials from using the weather excuse this coming July at fiscal year finish when the course ends up in the (cherry) red once again.

Hickory Ridge, a 18 hole public/private course in South Amherst sold at auction yesterday to Appliedgolf, a major player who owns 13 other courses.  Cherry Hill would have benefited somewhat by Hickory Ridge staying closed but now it may be quite the opposite as the new owners may invest more money into renovations, making it an even better course.

On average Cherry Hill only covers about 70% of its total overhead with the other 30% covered by taxpayers--the vast majority of whom do not play golf.  Hickory Ridge needs to cover all its costs (including property taxes to the town) via membership fees, or the auctioneers gavel will fall again.

Careful What You Wish For

 28 Shays Street, Amherst

It will be interesting to see how neighbors here in South Amherst react to the request coming before the Zoning Board of Appeals to expand a house the former owner referred to as a "shack" from one family (four occupants max) all the way to three family (dozen occupants).

Dave Keenan purchased the humble abode at 28 Shays Street in 1994 for $2,500 but with back taxes owed($8,000)  to the town and DEP ordered clean up (backed by $30,000 in fines) required because of a leaky oil storage tank.  Dave never did add much in the way of window dressing, so neighbors were constantly complaining to the town about the general ramshackle appearance.

Finally with back taxes and legal fees owed topping $60,000 the town tried to foreclose and have building inspectors check out whether the house was even habitable.  Mr Keenan telegraphed that he would not allow entry without a fight and a Ruby Ridge was narrowly avoided.

Keenan came up with the money owed to the town via a friend, Eric Burt, who must have been savvy enough to have the house held as collateral.  Keenan never paid him back, and as a result lost the house.  Last September Mr. Burt sold it for $159,800 to Michael Ben-Chaim, who now wishes to triple the occupancy.

Do good things come in threes?  Perhaps...certainly for the new owner.

A stitch in time...

 APD in riot gear. Townhouse Apartments 3/10/12 

Even the Amherst Bulletin is aroused!

While the $10,000 state grant to the Amherst Police Department for party control, compared to their $4 million annual operation cost may not sound like much, it comes at a critical time for our beleagured officers of the law:  Spring.


Although, considering the level of drinking and debauchery on display this past weekend for the "Blarney Blowout," they could have put it to good use a little sooner.
McMurphy's, Stacker's Saturday 3/10/12 10:45AM  Tommy Devine vid

But with that other day of debauchery--the Hobart Hoedown--looming on the near horizon, APD could use all the extra help they can muster.  Too bad the  Amherst Fire Department, equally overburdened by party revelry, could not benefit by a temporary grant (or permanent increase in staffing).

AFD & APD respond to ETOH (passed out) student 3/10/12 4:00 PM

Let the grading begin

 Moving "new dirt" at ye old landfill

The Amherst Department of Public Works commenced work on regrading the old landfill off Belchertown Road, a project required by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection as part of capping closure agreement signed in the late 1980s.

A landfill typically settles after organic material decomposes causing the clay cap to sag and allowing rainwater to collect in stagnant pools.  This phase of the regrading should only take a week and the 52 acre tract will start looking as level as a Cape Cod beach.

Of course a level playing field is also conducive to the installation of solar panels, a controversial project strongly opposed by neighbors in the adjacent Amherst Woods housing development who filed suit against the town last year using NIMBY lawyer Michael Pill.

Amherst was one of about 20 communities who took state money for capping with the provision the closed landfill never be used for anything except passive recreation.  A recent bill in the state legislature would nix that condition by making solar farms an acceptable--if not encouraged--use.

Last year Amherst Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly to allow Town Manager John Musante to negotiate a long term agreement with BlueWave Capital, a company founded by John DeVillars, former Secretary of Environmental Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Today would have been a good day to generate electricity.

 Twins: mountain of dirt in shadow of Holyoke Range

Here's mud in your eye

UPDATE Jan 30, 2013:

According to Ms. Brooks, she was found guilty of a first offense DUI on September 7, 2012. All  
other charges were dropped.

####

One of the more jarring incidents over the  "Blarney Blowout" weekend occurred early Monday morning (1:30 AM) when a 21-year-old drunk UMass student became embroiled in a "road rage" incident in town center which led to a high speed chase down Amity Street, some of it on the wrong side of the road, a wide turn on University Drive where police pulled over and arrested both drivers before they killed one another, or an innocent bystander.

The road rage continued however as the young lady did not take too kindly to the interdiction by an Amherst Police officer.  She spit on him.  Yes, spit.

Courtney M Brooks, 85 Eastern Ave, Rochester, NH, age 21 was arrested for Operating Under the Influence, speeding, marked lanes violation, marijuana possession, possession of pepper spray without a proper license AND assault on an officer.

Christopher Alviani, 169 Rocky Hill Road, Hadley, MA, age 24 was arrested for Operating Under the Influence, speeding, following too closely.

Springfield Republican catches up with this story

Blarney Blowout Weekend

McMurphy's downtown Amherst.  Party Central

Spring break beating out St Patrick's Day by 24 hours provides a "Luck of the Irish" respite for the town. Thus this past weekend became the last one for Amherst area college students to use the patron saint of Ireland as an excuse to drink early and drink often.  Throw in mild spring like weather and you have perfect ingredients for a pernicious drain on public safety.

Long lines of college students noisily waiting to get into McMurphy's and Stacker's Saturday morning for the "Blarney Blowout" was a perfect barometer indicating a powerful storm was starting to swirl.  In fact, over the course of the morning/afternoon three individuals were cited ($300 each) for "open container" violations as they were drinking beer while waiting in line to drink more beer.

Interestingly, the McMurphy's event used to be called "Kegs & Eggs" but apparently in response to a public chastising by Amherst Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe last year because of the embarrassing aftereffects, this year they simply changed the name (and did not go before the Select Board requesting an early morning opening time).  Same embarrassing aftereffects, however.

One of the first noise warnings was issued at 9:30 AM to an apartment on Hallock Street almost in town center.  The reporting party stated there was extremely loud music coming from location and when asked to turn down the music the perps responded it was "Blarney Blowout today so every house would be like this."

The festivities would indeed peak very late Saturday night into Sunday morning, swamping AFD with ETOH (alcohol poisoning) calls.  Mutual aid ambulances were then required from Belchertown and two from Northampton Fire Department.

So yes with APD also swamped, issuing 14 Noise Bylaw tickets, 12 Noise warnings, 7 Nuisance House violations, and 12 open container infractions it's too hard to pick the one single Party House as overall winner, so I thought I would put up a rogues gallery:

176 Triangle Street

Four women cited each for noise and nuisance house for a party of 200+ just after midnight Friday.

The house is owned by Railroad Street Partners, aka James Cherewatti, aka Eagle Crest Management.  Not surprisingly that corporate entity also owns McMurphy's, Stacker's and the "opening soon" (for over a year now) Olde Town Tavern--all in town center.

Although 176 Triangle Street is slightly unusual for an Eagle Crest properties in that it is only a "one family"  with a maximum capacity of  four tenants.  Usual modus operandi is to convert a one family into two family in order to maximize profits by doubling legal occupancy to eight, with little increased cost of operations (assessor does not double the valuation of the building).

Take 156 Sunset Avenue for instance.  The Zoning Board of Appeals will continue to deliberate next month on providing just such a golden ticket to Mr. Cherewatti, over neighbors objections of course. 

747 Main Street, Amherst

Large Loud Party with taxi's dropping off more and more...

(1:00 AM Saturday) Loud voices from inside both floors of residence.  Approximately 50 guests were cleared with the cooperation of residents.  Residents were cooperative, however one TBL citation was issued to a tenant for the noise violations as we have multiple responses to this address for similar events.

The house is owned by Chad O'Rourke, AKA Pipeline Properties.  He owns or managers a total of 54 properties around town almost all of them rented to students.   Last September at a ZBA hearing for his newest acquisition at 314 Lincoln Avenue where the special permit allowing it to continue to be "two family" (thus 8 legal tenants) required reapproval upon sale of the structure, Hilda Greenbaum (ZBA member, also a large property owner in town) specifically questioned him regarding 747 Main Street pointing out the exterior is "poorly maintained."

28 Carriage Lane, Amherst (residential neighborhood)

1:00AM early Saturday morning (in another part of town)

Loud and unreasonable voices, music, and drumming could be heard coming from the house.  Uncooperative guests that numbered approximately 100.  Residents taken into custody.

Arrested for Noise Bylaw Violations:
Benjamin Monat, 21 Jefferson Ave, Sharon, MA, age 21
Kaivan Charmchi, 8 Bayberry Lane, Millbury, MA, age 21
David Fine, 81 Brackett Rd, Newton, MA, age 22

And yes, I've saved the worst for last or as Steve Jobs used to say "Just one more thing":

RP called to report that at 4:00 PM today (Saturday) a intoxicated college aged male grabbed her 11 year old daughter.

RP advises her 11 year old daughter was walking near Amity and Lincoln when a drunk college age male grabbed her daughter on the arm (no injury).  RP says her daughter and friend ran to friend's house.  RP doesn't want an officer to speak to her daughter.  RP was asked what she thinks the motive was.  She states party was going on and perp appeared drunk.  She says perp was trying to get her daughter to come and party.

RP also voiced displeasure with bars opening up so early today.

As should we all.

Free Tibet, 9/11 & Kamikazes

Twenty two coffins on Amherst Town Common

Twenty two small coffins comprised one of the more graphic props utilized yesterday for the march from Amherst to Northampton commemorating the start (1959) of the Tibetan struggle for independence from China.  They graphically represent the number of individuals who have committed ritual suicide--many in the past year--by one of the more dramatic means of death:  self immolation.

And just so you could not miss the connection, some of the coffins carried a placard with 22 thumbnail photos of the victims, reminiscent of the first mug shot/bulletin issued by our federal government showing the 19 hijackers who plowed commercial jets into the Twin Towers, Pentagon and a field in Shankesville, Pennsylvania.

All depends on your perspective I guess, or "whose ox is being gored:"  The US military considered Divine Wind kamikaze pilots "fanatics," while Japanese comrades considered them heroes.  The 9/11 hijackers thought they were doing divine service to Allah, while we consider them ruthless killers, dupes of puppet master Osama Bin Laden.

 Free Tibet demonstration  3/10/12 near the spot where Greg Levey immolated himself in 1991

Suicide is self-imposed death, and self-imposed death is suicide.  What's the difference between setting yourself aflame for a political objective or strapping a bomb to your torso and detonating it in a public place for a political objective?  (Well, besides taking out innocent bystanders.)

A flag is a far more benign but still powerful symbol for reaching directly into the hearts of onlookers, and the more rational sides of their mind.  Our Select Board, in addition to issuing a proclamation supporting the Free Tibet struggle, allowed their flag to fly in front of Town Hall and going forward will do so annually on this anniversary.

 Flag of Tibet flies under the UN flag at Amherst Town Hall

Yes, this is the same Select Board that voted to allow 29 commemorative American flags to fly in Amherst downtown to remember the anniversary of 9/11 only once every fifth year. 

Maybe this September when I go before the Select Board to request the flags fly on 9/11 I will call it the "Free the Flags" movement.