Ax The Tax

 Downtown Amherst commercial sector (try not to blink)

Now that the state has, finally, tweaked the Community Preservation Act to allow commercial real estate the same $100,000 exemption of valuation as regular homeowners , the Select Board should place the question on the ballot for the next election and allow the voters to make it so.

I've never been a big fan of the CPA simply because a) it's a tax b) public officials use it like manna from heaven and c) it discriminated against business by not allowing the same exemption given to homeowners.

The commercial sector in Amherst is infinitesimally small, representing only 10% of the tax base.   So the exemption is not going to cost the town greatly, only $7,000.  And those funds can be made up by redirecting money taken in via the local option hotel/meals tax, another burden on business that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Downtown businesses have also just taken on an increase to their property tax rates to fund the fledgling Business Improvement District, so a little relief could not come at a better time.

Amherst has a well earned anti-business reputation. A symbolic gesture like this may not erase that scarlet letter...but it's a start.

NIMBY Knock Out?

 Ye Old Amherst (unlined) Landfill

Looks like the top two weapons in the NIMBY arsenal for disrupting the deal to bring a solar farm to ye old Amherst landfill may be scuttled by the Massachusetts state legislature.  The lawsuit citing an antiquated DEP deed restriction for keeping landfills free of any development except passive recreation could be swept aside by a new ordinance specifically freeing landfills from any such trivial outdated mandates.

And now the once all-powerful anti-development nuke known as Massachusetts Endangered Species Act may lose some of its Divine power to preserve, protect and coddle critters like the Grasshopper Sparrow who currently make their home on the grassy wide expanse covering the fermented, decayed garbage.

Apparently when it comes to renewable energy, our state legislators have seen the light.

At 4.75 mega watts, Amherst would be one of the state's largest

Lost Weekend

The last weekend in July proved to be as noteworthy crime wise as the first weekend in July, as in not very--which is of course a good thing.    Just the usual domestic problems, an overexposed homeless person , a skunk and bear invasion, and a couple of DUIs.

So I'm going to leave it up to you, my wise readers, to decide what is noteworthy in a news sort of way and what is not, as in "dog bites man."

Amherst (MA) Police Department media logs 7/29/12 through 7/30/12

Flame of Hope

APD Chief Livingstone (center) cheers the troops 

If your mother ever gave you the sound advice, "Don't run from the law..." why not make mom really proud and run WITH the law.  All for a great cause.  Special Olympics.

The Amherst Police Department will once again sponsor and participate--and invites us civilians to join them--in the Law Enforcement Torch Run relay, a three mile jaunt from APD headquaters in downtown Amherst to the UMass Southwest Towers on Saturday, August 11 starting at 7:10 PM .  It only cost $15 and the t-shirts alone are worth the price (not to mention the sterling company).

 

Amherst Police headquarters 111 Main Street

EVENT Info (click)

Meanwhile Amherst Fire Department Local 1764 took to the roads this morning under threatening skies for the 6th annual Motorcycle Muscular Dystrophy Association Poker Ride.

Goes to show Amherst is blessed with public safety personnel who go above and beyond the call of duty.

Malfunction Junction

 Malfunction Junction, Manchester, VT

If a roundabout or two is good enough for those common sense Yankee types who inhabit Manchester, Vermont, then I have high hopes for our own pair at Atkins Corner, now supposedly slated to open for traffic by August 15. 

Although it seems Amherst is well ahead of Manchester when it comes to construction speed.  Go figure.

Any Given Friday

8:20 PM Downtown Amherst

 

Amherst Police and Fire personnel tend to Christopher Lynch this evening, one of about a half dozen of the homeless who frequents the downtown, drinks too much, then falls down and cannot get up.

FIREGROUND360° ‏@FIREGROUND360

7.27.12 / 8:08PM / MEDICAL / S PLEASANT + MAIN - AMHERST, MA / PARTY WITH POSSIBLE BROKEN LEG / (DCN)

Going to the dogs--in style!

 Pet Hotel Hadley, coming soon

Always nice to see a business opening in the Happy Valley that does not target UMass students.

With the pet care industry recession-proof and their new location about as perfect as you can get, situated halfway between Amherst and Northampton, the new luxurious Pet Hotel Hadley is destined to be the cat's pajamas. 

Two thirds of Americans own animals (about 86 million cats and 78 million dogs) so the market is nothing if not elephantine.

And since veterinary care accounts for the lions share of service oriented annual spending on pets this new operation--specializing in boarding and grooming--will probably not represent a significant threat to long-time local mom and pop operations like Dr. Katz's Hampshire Veterinary Hospital in Amherst or Valley Veterinary Hospital, also located in Hadley.