When Seconds Matter

AFD Ladder Truck #1

One critical component of war that has not changed since the dawn of civilization is the advantage of occupying the high ground--the quicker the better.  A major structure fire is a formidable foe where warlike strategies are brought to bear for a quick decisive victory, that oftentimes can make a life or death difference.

Ladder Truck #1 is like a big ol' battleship: a formidable tool for dealing with a formidable enemy...but, she requires lots of maneuvering room and a firm ground for footing.

A dozen years ago when the downtown Boltwood Walk Parking Garage war raged (yes, politics is also warlike)  one of the details NIMBYs pounced upon was the public safety concern that AFD could not maneuver the ladder truck over most of the new garage if an underground component was added.  

Town officials came up with simple plan for the ladder truck to get to the adjacent Clark House, a six story structure operated by the Amherst Housing Authority, loaded with senior citizens and folks with physical handicaps.  

Artisans beveled the curb at the Main Street garage entrance 20 feet across to allow a large heavy vehicle to easily pass up and over, and granite pavers were supposed to be sprinkled throughout the lawn area to add stability so that a firetruck would not get stuck.

Curb beveled to allow easy vehicular access but no pavers added to greenway

Fast forward to today.  The pavers were never installed, two "Handicapped Parking" signs are now a direct obstruction and a ginkgo tree was recently planted that years from now may also be in the way (although all firetrucks carry a chainsaw).

 Signs need to go, large tree (center) needs branches pruned back

Clark House southern end 

Adjacent Ann Whalen Apartments are more easily accessible via Kellogg Avenue and using the parking lot the ladder truck could get to the halfway point of Clark House, but not the southernmost end

Rear side Ann Whalen (right) and northern side Clark House (left) which combined contain 180 units of affordable housing for the elderly, disabled and low income families

As it currently stands the ladder truck can only get to the southern end of Clark House with great difficulty because of two extra, time consuming 90 degree turns. Town officials or the Amherst Redevelopment Authority need to revert back to the original more efficient safety plan. Soon.

Yes, both apartment complexes are sprinklered--but then, so were the Twin Towers. And we already saw the horrific results of innocent civilians having to chose between death by fire, or death by fall.

Undercover Boss

Sharon Sharry, Jones Library Director

Today rookie Jones Library Director Sharon Sharry took up front line duties serving on the circulation desk to fill in for employees being trained for a new computer check out system, but also as a means of meeting the bookloving general public.

Meanwhile the Jones has on display plans for the downstairs Woodbury Room, a renovation that will start in July and should be completed by summer's end.

 

Yes for preservation

Amherst Town Meeting managed to muster in a surprisingly easy fashion the difficult two-thirds vote required to pass a zoning bylaw article, creating The Dickinson Historic District in and around the most famous abode in town--the Dickinson Homestead, ancestral home to our beloved reclusive poet Emily Dickinson. ("Miss Emily" to friends, family and close loyal employees.)

On another note, Town Meeting  passed almost unanimously a resolution calling for the town not to support the Federal Secure Communities Act.  (Miss Emily rolled her eyes.)

A Historic Decision

Tonight Town Meeting will decided the fate of the most historic neighborhood in Amherst, choosing to preserve forever the look and feel of the sacred Dickinson Homestead and immediate surrounding area, or allowing the creative whims of any owner who buys a piece of our collective core.

Henry Hills House built 1863

Leonard Hills House, built 1864 

Two ultra prime building lots on Main Street below Henry Hills House

The Hills Houses built by father and son, designed by architect William Fenno Pratt

First Congregational Church (center)  opposes historic district restrictions

Tacky signs like this (on left) would be regulated by Historic District rules--but they probably are now anyway

Railroad Street Station, built 1853

The Evergreens, home to Austin Dickinson, built 1856

All's Quiet...

Downtown Amherst at peace

For the first time in my short memory covering this beat, Amherst Police made no arrests over the weekend: nothing for noise, open container, unlicensed kegs, nuisance house, underage drinking, and--most thankfully---no drunk drivers.

And it's not like the town had reverted back to prehistoric agrarian times before the founding of UMass/Amherst, as the traveling fair was in town center and Amherst and Hampshire Colleges both had graduation ceremonies.

Amherst Fire Department runs to our institutes of higher education--usually major customers--were sparse.  But calls to the town and surrounding towns were about average, meaning busy.

Another Summer Sign

Azalea bushes, Snell Street

A BID for Success

Alex Krogh-Grabbe, Executive Direct Amherst BID 

The recently formed Amherst Business Improvement District now has an Executive Director, and he's a townie.

Alex Krogh-Grabbe, age 26, son of Nick Grabbe and Betsy Krogh, will assume full-time duties starting June 1st in an office located on the second floor above AJ Hastings. Krogh-Grabbe just acquired a Masters Degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University where his final thesis compared Amherst's partnership with UMass on the ill fated Gateway Corridor Project to the more successful business collaboration of Storrs, Connecticut with UConn.

Although he has never run a small business, Alex points to his local upbringing and graduate training as his "most relevant experiences." But he does have promotional experience organizing contra dances. Krogh-Grabbe will answer to the BID Executive Committee, who have a wealth of business experience:Barry Roberts President, Jerry Jolly VP, Sharon Povenilli Treasurer and Tony Maroulis, Clerk

UMass and Amherst College are both involved with the Amherst BID and each institution has a member on the Board of Directors, but they are not financial contributors like the downtown businesses, which through a property tax surcharge collected by the town will contribute around $260,000 annually.

The Big 3--UMass, Amherst College, and Town Manager Musante--will sign a "Memorandum Of Understanding" with the BID outlining expected services, such as providing interns or helping with marketing.

The decimation of downtown businesses by malls--with plenty of free parking, common pooling of money for promotions/advertising and a diverse mix of offerings--stimulated the creation of BIDs.  Northampton created theirs in 2009.

But Amherst is nothing if not a tough sell.  Half the property in town is owned by tax exempt institutions.  Of the half that are on the tax rolls, 90% are residential and only 10% commercial business.  And any time a pro business zoning change comes before town meeting it fails to muster the required two-thirds vote.

So Alex Krogh-Grabbe will have an uphill battle for the duration of his service.  A digital whiz kid with almost 1500 Facebook friends and over 100 Twitter followers, Krogh-Grabbe plans to overhaul the current BID website, as for many interested parties it will be the first thing they see.

And a truism of business is, "You only get on chance to make a good first impression."