Final Curtain

 316 College Street, Amherst

After 28 years serving families of Amherst and surrounding towns, the New England Dance Quarters on College Street is no more.

Summers are always tough in Amherst, a "college town" where almost half the population abandons ship by June 1st.

And this time of year is especial tough on high-energy fitness related businesses as most folks do not want to be indoors dancing up a storm on a gorgeous summer day.

I also have to wonder if the declining target demographic -- young families with children -- isn't also a major factor:

According to the Amherst Housing Production Plan, "Young families are rapidly declining as adults age 25 to 44 decreased from 7,323 in 1990 to 4,009 in 2010 a drop of 45.3%. The widening affordability gap will continue to present a substantial obstacle to young families being able to live in Amherst."

Meanwhile, two doors down:

Come A Little Bit Closer

 Lavina and Emily Dickinson:  still together

Fans of our most famous town resident -- "The Belle Of Amherst" -- can now get even closer to the rock star of a poetess.  The ornate black iron fence that enclosed the Dickinson family burial plot for 155 years has disappeared.

 Miss Emily receiving visitors early this evening

No, not stolen.  Amherst Town Meeting appropriated $62,000 in Community Preservation funds to have the fence refurbished, so it had to be carefully dismantled and taken off site.

And when it returns it will be good for another 155 years -- as will Miss Emily's poetry. 

Only the footings remain

Crime Analyst Renewed

 Amherst Police Department, 111 Main Street

The U.S. military relies on "smart bombs" to effectively fulfill their number one role of keeping Americans safe.

While not as dramatic as a computer/laser guided Tomahawk missile taking out an enemy bunker,  the nondescript office adjacent to Amherst police Chief Scott Livingstone will continue to host key civilian employee Amber Sullivan, thanks to another grant provided the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety & Security.

Last year after an extensive search Sullivan was hired to make sense out of a mountain of data concerning criminal activity in our little town, which has its share of big city problems.

The more you understand the who, what, when, where, and why of crime the more effectively you can marshal scarce resources to better deal with it.

The Amherst Police Department is nothing if not skilled at acquiring state and federal grants:  In FY 2013 (ended June 30) the department bolstered their a $4.3 million operation budget with an additional $362,250 in grants.

$41,250 by Executive Office of Public Safety & Security for Crime Analyst

$5,000 by EOPSS for Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety
$10,000 by EOPSS for Alcohol Enforcement initiatives
$6,000 by EOPSS for Highway Safety Initiatives

$300,000 by Department Of Justice, Office of Violence Against Women, for funding civilian advocate and an domestic violence/sexual assault investigator (expires 09/13/15)

Housing Study Preliminarliy Panned

 

Amherst Housing & Sheltering Committee this morning

The Amherst Housing & Sheltering Committee voted unanimously this morning to send a borderline inflammatory dispatch to RKG Associates, consultants working on a "Market Study Report."

The lead author of the remarks, John Hornik, even went so far as to raise the nuclear option of not accepting the final report if problems are not adequately addressed.

The $30,000 housing market study was approved by Amherst Town Meeting, but not without a fair amount of criticism along the lines of Amherst does too many studies and never seems to follow up on their recommendations.

The initial draft report was presented last month at a public meeting and as part of the contract  the consultants are required to appear at one more public hearing, probably late next month, before issuing the final report. 

Housing and Sheltering Committee members pointed out the consultants used the term "Pioneer Counties" as opposed to "Pioneer Valley," making it seem like they are unfamiliar with Amherst; and they use industry jargon like "Main Street USA", "exurbanites" or "laptops and lattes" which will turn off local readers unfamiliar with the trendy terms.

Committee Co-Chair Greg Stutsman thought the consultants were confusing "demand with desirability."  Obviously in a "college town" high demand for student housing is a given.  What the committee would like to see is a plan for attracting a more "desirable" demographic (in addition to students) with recommendations as to how to make that happen.

Town planner and liaison to the sheltering committee Nate Malloy agreed they "Can drive the report by asking the consultants to give recommendations for particular demographics." 

Ideally the consultants would come up with both a zoning and physical design blueprint that allows for a high-density development accommodating students, families, low-and-moderate income levels, as well as town employees.

Of course even if the consultants conjure up this Utopian design, it would require the exceedingly hard to acquire two-thirds majority vote of Amherst Town Meeting.

Maybe they can also recommend a good Voodoo priest.

Food For Thought

Food For Thought Books 106 North Pleasant Street, Amherst

Yet another floundering downtown business has sent up an emergency flare hoping consumers will throw them a lifeline.   And soon.

This time it's iconic Food For Thought Books, one of only two worker owned collectives in the downtown, and a mainstay for academic types -- or just plain book lovers -- since 1976, when Gerald Ford was keeping the White House safe for Republicans.  

 Funky exterior side wall

By now the story is all too familiar:  changing habits brought on by the Internet leave many a business high and dry.  Video rental stores, record shops, travel agencies, etc.  

In the case of local independent book stores it's a double whammy as they still have to deal with big box stores like the nearby Barnes & Noble, with plenty of free parking. 

The adjacent business, Souper Bowl, just went out of business but may soon become home to "All Things Local" a coop local food and crafts market.

The building is owned by downtown business mogul Barry Roberts, so no doubt the book business has been afforded every opportunity to remake itself into a sustainable operation. 

DUI Dishonor Roll

Amherst is currently on a record setting pace for DUI arrests

Despite July 4th weekend being the peak period nationwide for drunk driving arrests, Amherst had zero this past weekend, or even the entire past week.  I'll drink (coffee) to that.  

But before we get all celebratory -- and just to rule out APD may be slacking on the enforcement end -- arrests to date for the year 2013 stand at 80, or on pace for a record breaking 160-170.   

In 2011 APD arrested 144 drunk drivers; in 2012 it  had escalated to 155. At the 2012 half-way  point (6/30) arrests stood at 74 compared to today's 80.  

Unfortunately, when it comes to drunk drivers, it only takes one to unleash unforgettable devastation.

Public Documents Runaround

(click to enlarge/read)      Public Records appeal response:  late and stingy

Well that only took four months, relatively quick by Public Documents standards -- at least when dealing with the Amherst Public Schools.  And as usual the grudging response is pretty anemic.  Downside for the taxpayers of having a $225/hour school attorney is they have an economic incentive to be obstinate with these simple requests. 

Attorney Regina W. Tate

From: Larry Kelley
To: pre <pre@sec.state.ma.us>; donald.white <donald.white@state.ma.us>
Sent: Sat, Mar 2, 2013 10:20 am
Subject: Public Records Appeal of Amherst Schools

Shawn Williams, Director

Public Records Division

One Ashburton Place, 17th Floor

Boston, MA 02108

Dear Mr. Williams,

I wish to once again appeal the decision of the Amherst Regional Public Schools to stonewall my public documents request for legal settlements that have cost Amherst/Regional taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As you may remember, your office sided with me last year on a previous complaint regarding ARPS settlement agreements with terminated employees totaling over $200,000.  The schools obstinately continue refusing to release those documents.

Now I wish to appeal the 2/26/13 decision of Rob Detweiler, Director of Finance and Operations, to withhold settlement agreements totaling $229,300, from recent "Special Education" legal cases. 

Obviously I understand certain information -- names of students for instance -- should be redacted to protect privacy, but certainly with that much settlement money involved the taxpayers have a right to know how many cases it represents and the details of those cases.

Even if the money was paid by an insurance carrier a Hampshire Superior Court judge found the settlement agreement between the Phoebe Prince family and South Hadley Schools were still a pubic document even though the $225,000 payout came from liability insurance. 

Your office has also repeatedly struck down the concept of "non disclosure agreements" citing Washington Post ., 690 F. 2d at 263 ( a government agency cannot circumvent the Federal Freedom of Information Act with a private agreement).

Please remind the Amherst Regional Public Schools that the general public has a right to know.

Sincerely,

Larry J. Kelley