Failure to Communicate

 Snell Street, Amherst:  Go away (or something like that)

Early this morning the boys in white hats fanned out to both ends of Snell Street from their portable trailer, located on that road about half way between busy Route 9 and equally busy Route 116, to take up guard duty and close off the popular road to only those who live or try to do business there (Hampshire Veterinary Hospital).

Chain link fence surrounds trailer (to keep out citizens with torches and pitchforks)

Sure we locals all knew it was coming ... generally speaking. But this was the first indication the road would close today.  Kind of short notice. 

I guess when you are the Department of Conservation Recreation, customer service is not too high on the list.  Right up there with Western Mass Electric Company.

UPDATE:  6:00 PM

By 3:05 this afternoon the guards and signs were gone without a trace, and the road reopened.   No notice as to whether this will be the daily routine or not. 

UPDATE: 8:00 AM Tuesday morning

They're baaaaaack ...

Party House of the Weekend

 173 Pelham Road, Amherst

So yes, already it has begun -- even before the main army of youth returns to our little college town and turns it into a ... big city.  Well, almost.

Two houses were cited over the weekend for violating the anti-noise Town ByLaw (bringing a $300 fine per person) but the party house winner was easy to choose.  All women for one.

According to APD logs (9:45 PM Saturday night):

Upon our arrival on scene, loud music and voice could be heard coming from inside the residence at 173 Pelham Road.  I spoke with a resident of that address who stated they were all underage and had been drinking.  Alcoholic beverages were visible throughout the house.  The resident stated that a live band was playing inside the house and that was the reason for the noise.  All five (5) placed under arrest for TBL noise.

All of them, gasp, UMass/Amherst students:

Jessica Gibbon, Oakhurst, NJ, age 20

Kate Werder, Narberth, PA, age 19

Lindsey Leistinger, Marshfield, MA, age 19

Sarah Ricciarelli, Pembroke, MA, age 19

Rosa Topping, Belmont, MA, age 20

Jumping Ship at ARPS

 Irv Rhodes former School Committee member (left), former principal Mike Morris (right)

One of the downsides to principal Mike Morris abdicating his leadership position at Crocker Farm Elementary School is the scuttling of plans to become an "innovation school" to help the Amherst public schools compete with charter schools that are currently eating their lunch.

Six months ago the state awarded the Amherst schools $10,000 to support "planning activities" to turn Crocker Farm into an innovation school, a first for Amherst --  and hopefully a transformative template for more.

Not much of a chance now. According to Mr. Morris, "Crocker Farm decided not to go forward with applying for the ($75,000) implementation grant."

As a founding member of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School, I know all too well the rigors involved with taking an innovative concept and making it happen.  But with Mr Morris at the helm, Crocker Farm had a good chance for achieving that goal.

Interestingly, PVCIC did not get the coveted state education charter in its initial year (2006) of application. The state, however, was impressed enough to award -- for the first time ever -- $10,000 to help make the not-ready-for-prime-time concept, ready.  And that did the trick.

Now PVCIC is the number one competitor to ARPS siphoning away children from Amherst elementary schools at $16,413 per child, while Pioneer Valley Performing Arts continues to drain away kids at the middle school and high school level at a whopping cost of $17,144 per student.

If Crocker Farm had become an "innovation school," maybe those losses could be mitigated, keeping all that money in the district.

B-I-G problem #2 is ARPS is known for being top heavy with highly paid administrators, spending  $697.73 per student vs. state average of $445.97.   A difference of $252.76 per student, 57% higher than state average, or in real dollars $388,969.20!  And this was before they added this new $100K position.

Interim co-principals (don't you just hate that term?) Derek Shea and newcomer Annemarie Foley, I'm told, will have "revenue neutral" budget impact once they agree on a contract, since Mr. Shea will make less than Mr. Morris's previous $87K and Ms Foley will make less than Mr Shea was currently making as Assistant Principal.  

While Mr. Morris was already a member of the $85K Club, he will now move into the more exclusive 100K club in an entirely new position.  Amherst Regional schools will now have eleven (11) employees in the 100K Club compared to Northampton's, umm, one (1)!

And God help anyone who dares to mention it!

Special Olympics Torch Shines Brightly

 Special Olympics Saturday Night Dance around the Olympic Flame of Hope

Threatening clouds and the rumble of thunder didn't dissuade dozens of law enforcement personnel and a few of their family members from running the distance between Amherst Police Department headquarters on Main Street and the UMass Southwest Quad area three miles away, where they were warmly greeted by hundreds of exuberant and thankful Special Olympics athletes.

All the money raised goes towards supporting the Special Olympics ... the good will goes everywhere.

Group shot just before the gun goes off

Amherst town center

AFD in front of Central Station stands and salutes

Group runs by former "Frat Row" just outside campus

University Drive with Southwest towers looming.  Final stretch

Form of Flattery?

WGGB Ch 40 website

Originally Published 7/13/12

Usually it's bloggers who are said to steal from main stream media, so imagine my surprise when I went to WGGB Ch 40 TV's website today to check out their Atkins Corner road reopening story (which has now been taken down) and spied a familiar photo.  Mine.

No permissions sought, and no credit for its usage.  Kind of uncool.

But what really bothers me is their lousy lead.  Talk about a "phoned in" story.  The new 2nd roundabout area is still a disorganized, unfinished mess -- as I demonstrated in my story this morning.  Hardly what you would describe as "traffic can now flow through the area as normal."  Especially for bicycles, motorcycles, or pedestrians.

If that's "normal" I would hate to see their version of abnormal.

My reliable source tells me the state, feeling pressured, told Baltazar on Monday that Atkins Corner was to open on Thursday no matter what.  Then on Thursday afternoon the state faxed a press release to the usual bricks-and-mortar media and they fell all over themselves publishing the "good news."

The newest roundabout is really not finished, thus it requires attentive, on-the-ball drivers for safe passage.   My concern now is for when a drunk driver tries to negotiate it for the first time later this weekend ...

Atkins Corner Electronic Sign 8/11/12 Hey, they updated

Not Ready For Prime Time

Yes, the barriers have come down around Atkins Corner and the extensive detour signs have all been covered with black executioner hoods, but the electronic road sign on the busy section of West Street leading into the mess this morning still says "Road Closed Ahead."

When they get around to changing it perhaps "Travel at your own risk" would be a better statement. Because not too far down the road the pavement ends as the stretch of road immediately in front of the main entrance to Hampshire College is still torn up.

The first roundabout was usable a couple months ago and the center greenspace could already use  mowing.

And foot traffic around the new second roundabout? Forget about it.

Yes, after surviving the dusty gauntlet you can still find Atkins Farms Country Market, just don't dawdle in their front yard.

With the masses set to return to our college town in a couple weeks, let's hope Baltazar works double time to "finish" this important project.

Hidden Cost of Higher Education

 Amherst College (named after the town, not the General)

In addition to the $491,364 Amherst College paid the town last year in property taxes for faculty housing, Lord Jeff Inn and Amherst Golf Course --making them Amherst's number #1 taxpayer-- AC also voluntarily donated $90,000 Payment In Lieu Of Taxes specifically for fire/ambulance protection.

Last year AFD responded to the campus 180 times (58 fire, 122 EMS), or an average of $500 reimbursement per run. 

UMass pays the town $325,000 PILOT under a 5 year strategic agreement that expired July 1st, but was e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d for one year because UMass was once again playing musical chairs with its leadership and the new Chancellor just started only this summer.  Last year AFD responded to the campus 915 times (234 fire, 681 EMS), or an average of $355 reimbursement per run.

 Hampshire College

Hampshire College, one of the most expensive schools in the country and the town's third largest landowner, required 178 AFD runs last year (107 fire, 71 EMS) and paid the town zero for PILOT, or an average of zero per run.  Yes, I said zero.

The town of Amherst required 3,189 AFD runs (956 fire, 2233 EMS) and paid $4 million in taxes to fund the entire department, or $1,254 reimbursement per run.  And yes, insurance receipts for ambulance runs totaled $2 million so the net cost to taxpayers is cut in half--but that still works out to $627 cost per run.

After 20 years of discussion the town is finally getting serious about building a new fire station in South Amherst to bring better response time to deep South Amherst, including Hampshire College and any new development that springs up around the Atkins Corner reconstruction (if it ever finishes).

The new fire station will not be cheap, $10 million minimum, and will require an increase in staffing, also not cheap.  Currently however, AFD is understaffed and Central Fire Station is falling apart.  All of this will be expensive.

But one way or the other we're going to pay:  either in actual dollars now, or an unforgettable tragedy in the near future.  

Thus, everyone who benefits --and everyone will benefit-- should pay their fair share.  If all the non profits on this list simply paid the $500/run Amherst College paid (and in this current year they are contributing $92,000, so reimbursement per run may actually go up slightly) it would have amounted to an additional $332,675 this past year.  And that's real money!

Tale of the Tape:

Hampshire College 178 runs @ $500/per equals $89,000

UMass Fraternities & Sororities 86 runs equals $43,000

Sunbridge Care & Rehab in Hadley 136 runs equals $68,000

UMass campus extra $145/run for 915 runs equals $132,675

AFD Annual Report Fy12