Amherst/Hamp ReBID

Amherst BID website (nice header photo)

On August 7 Governor Patrick signed into law a change affecting Business Improvement Disticts, a tweak that will have a profound impact on a minority of businesses located within the target area, namely those who originally "opted out" of the enterprise (thus avoiding the increased taxation assessment, but also the benefits).

And neither Amherst or Northampton are grandfathered from these changes.

Now a BID, rather than being given a lifetime operation permit at inception, has to be renewed every five years by a simple majority vote, and businesses originally allowed to opt out can no longer avoid paying the higher surcharge if the majority votes in favor. 

In other words, you are in whether you like it or not.

 Alex Krogh-Grabbe addresses Amherst Select Board mid-July (hence the sandals)

According to Amherst BID Director Alex Krogh-Grabbe, "Twenty one of 92 property owners within the district opted out initially, representing 17% of the property value & 15% of the properties within the district."

The increased tax burden falls on the property owner not the business renting the commercial space, although any increase in overhead for an owner is usually passed on to tenants.

 UMass and Amherst College, as tax-exempt property owners in the downtown district, cannot be assessed fees but have volunteered to pay $15,000 each annually plus assist with in kind contributions such as providing interns and distributing promotional materials to students.

The Amherst BID is still in its rookie year of operation, so they are in no great hurry to take a revote (which can happen anytime within five years of the 8/7/12 change in the law).  Krogh-Grabbe states the Amherst vote will take place sometime in early 2013,  "after all affected property owners understand what the change means".

In Northampton the BID was bitterly opposed by reclusive entertainment mogul Eric Suher, so it will be interesting to see his reaction to this heavy handed change in the rules that will cost him thousands of dollars annually.

At least in Amherst, businesses have a few months to get used to it.

Yet Another Smoking Gun

Email sent by AFD to select influential Amherst individuals:

From: "McKay, Donald" <McKayD@amherstma.gov>
Date: September 18, 2012 1:44:49 PM EDT

I thought that I would apprise you of a situation in which your assistance would be welcomed. Last Thursday the Fire Department responded to a basement fire at # 28 Hobart Lane. 28 Hobart Lane is one of the 14 units that Lincoln Realty owns and manages in the 3 apartment buildings collectively called Gillreath Manor Apartments. The basement contained 2 illegal bedrooms. One of these would be considered to be OK as a bedroom with some modifications as directed by the Building Commissioner. The second bedroom 1) physically cannot be used as bedroom and 2) exceeds the maximum occupancy of 4.

Currently, the Fire Department, Health Department, and Building Commissioners office are awaiting the opportunity to inspect all 14 units in the complex. On Monday the 17^th of September, we were invited to inspect 2 of the 14 units. We observed two rooms, constructed without permits, in each basement with no beds contained therein. We did observe two beds that had been stacked beneath the stairs in each occupancy.

The issue: We have one email and now one phone call from the displaced occupants that clearly indicate that they have been instructed by Lincoln reality to remove the evidence of the two illegal bedrooms until after the combined inspections. We are working with the University to acquire permanent residence hall accommodations for the 14 students who will be displaced from the 5^th bedroom in each unit. It appears that the 28 students displaced from the basement bedrooms are in need of temporary accommodations and I believe that Lincoln Realty needs to step up and procure these temporary living arrangements.

The charade needs to end and these kids need safe housing.. To date, we believe that we (the combined inspection departments) have not proceeded in an untoward manner, we have withheld action through an administrative search warrant instead seeking to act cooperatively with Lincoln Realty to inspect the apartments and we are very cautiously approaching a cease and desist order to compel Lincoln Realty to reduce the occupancy of the apartments to 4.

Any assistance you may be able to provide in motivating Lincoln Realty to provide the necessary temporary housing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Don

Assistant Chief Donald R. McKay, EMT-P, MPH

Amherst Fire Department

Discussion on UMass Reddit 

Fire Postmortem

 Gilreath Manor, main building, six units

Two violations jump out in this AFD report, one not so serious, one deadly serious.  Amherst has a zoning bylaw limiting unrelated tenants to four per household -- that's the not so serious violation.

State building codes requires two means of egress from a basement bedroom -- that's the deadly serious infraction.

As I pointed out in my original post, what if the fire had happened in the wee hours of the morning rather than 12:00 noon?  A fire across the main floor would have trapped anybody asleep in those basements.

Two bedrooms per unit times six units:  "Nobody gets out of here alive."

Hobart Lane Fire Redacted

Smoking Gun?

 Town Hall in a storm

UPDATE (12:45 PM) The town and UMass have just announced an "open forum" to address concerns over student off-campus behavior.  Looks like we're getting their attention.  Of course none of the students who cause the problems will attend.

#####

Well it took a while longer than the ten days required by Public Documents Law, and some of my request was carefully ignored, and the moment of release timed for the start of a slow news cycle (beginning of a long holiday weekend) ... even so, the slightly panicky email to town officials concerning the fire at Gilreath Manor from "Heather" who lives there (still) tells an interesting story, one town officials obviously did not want you to see:

Smoking Email Town Officials

The backstory in emails

Party Houses of the long Weekend

132 Northampton Road, Amherst 

In spite of the mass exodus for the first l-o-n-g weekend of the semester, Amherst police were kept busy all over town dealing with the usual byproducts of too much alcohol:  noise, nuisance and the potentially lethal, Driving Under the Influence.

But not all the party houses citations were a result of students.  Take for instance, 132 Northampton Road where one of the occupants called a responding APD officer "honey" and that he was "going back inside because I don't have time for this."

Well, he ended up making time for it -- lots of time (at 1:33 AM), as he and three other friends were arrested for violating the town's noise bylaw.

Jeff Keedy, 54 Amity Place, Amherst, Ma, age 28

Keith Toffling, 132 Northampton Rd, Amherst, Ma, age 30
Daniel Shimlaus, 19 Stearns Ln, Sudbury, Ma, age 21
Michael Borgenieht, 4 Saddle Ridge Rd, Dover, Ma, age 20

164 Sunset Avenue, Amherst

 

My next "winner", 164 Sunset Avenue, (practically touching Southwest Towers, UMass) is a repeat offender. The house, not this particular resident.

As police arrived at 12:34 AM early Sunday morning two young ladies leaving the party boasted they were underage, and the remaining 150 guests were not as anxious to leave, requiring 15 minutes for officers to clear.

And even then the large throng of partiers required addition police units to clear from Sunset Avenue. Arrested for Noise and Nuisance House violations:
Erik Brown, 20 Keith Drive, Norton, Ma, age 22

36 Hallock Street, Amherst town center

As police were moving along a crowd of college aged patrons attending this party, I overheard one young lady say to her friend, "Oh well, from Hallock Street to North East Street." Because sure enough, the police were breaking this one up relatively early for a Friday night (12:21 AM).

And sure enough, an hour later APD broke up a party at 30 North East Street with over 200 "guests". But the host was a lot more cooperative with police, so he only received a $300 noise ticket rather than the four more obstinate party hosts at 36 Hallock Street.

Arrested for noise:
Jeffery Larnard, 13 Carpenter St, Amesbury, Ma, age 21
John Oshea, 25 Douglas Rd, Dracut, Ma, age 22
Molly Stevens, 23 Albright, W. Roxbury, Ma, age 22
Benjamin Chase, 58 Bridge St, Hatfield, Ma, age 22

"There's a killer on the road" gallery:

Stopped for operating without headlights (at 1:29 AM) and subsequently failing a FST (field sobriety test) on South Pleasant Street (about 500 yards from my house):

Christopher David Mackey, 245 Potwine Lane, Amherst, Ma, age 22, DUI

3:35 AM stopped for erratic driving and subsequently failed FST.  Found to be repeat offender.

Jose Ernesto Moreno, 22 Yale St, South Hadley, Ma, age 38, DUI 2nd offense.

A Worse Chance

Amherst A Better Chance 

Social service agencies in Amherst must be on a bad karma list, as nothing but negative news seems to come this way.

Last week the town announced a $900,000 federal dollar hit as annual Community Development Block Grant funding is about to vaporize because Amherst no longer meets the minimum qualifications for mini-entitlement status.

A maxi problem for agencies such as the newly expanded homeless shelter, Craig's Doors, or the Amherst Survival Center.

Now via her Facebook page, AABC board member Julie Marcus sounded the alarm about the iconic, ever-so-Amherst program where the name says it all: "A Better Chance".

The Juggernaut of charities, the United Way of Hampshire County, has axed all funding to this longtime Amherst institution.

Ms. Marcus reports AABC has received UW funding for at least the past 15 years that she has been involved, although a few years back they did reduce annual revenues from $25,000 to $13,000.

The total annual budget for the 44-year-old Amherst program is only $100,000, so 13% is a pretty big hit to absorb all at once. And it's not like the agency doesn't work at fundraising:  October 20 will mark the 41st "Fall Foliage Walk," a major fundraiser for the program and a popular, fun, family outing.

One has to wonder how all the participants in that heartwarming event are going to feel about this cold hearted decision?  Perhaps -- as donors -- they will tell the United Way of Hampshire County to take a hike.

While others rush out ...

National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service