A Stream Runs Through It

 Intermittent stream at bottom of steep hill

The Amherst Conservation Commission (town) hit the Massachusetts Department Of Transportation (state) with an "Enforcement Order" demanding they quickly rectify sloppy mitigation measures designed to protect an "intermittent stream" -- i.e. wetland -- at the South Amherst Rt116 construction site otherwise known as "The Notch."

Ignoring such an order can result in a fine of up to $25,000 per day and/or two years in jail.

 

Wall of protective hay bales now installed just above the stream

According to Beth Willson, Wetlands Administrator:  "MassDOT has responded to the Enforcement Order by installing matting on all the slopes, constructing paved swales and opening up drainage inlets so the water can drain appropriately from the site."

   ConCom Enforcement Order vs State

Into The Drink

 

Undergrowth slowed vehicle's approach to water

Around 10:15 PM Tuesday night 911 Dispatch received a cell phone call from an anxious driver who reported having gone off Station Road into a stream (Hop Brook).  Ominously, his car was quickly taking on water.

Both AFD and APD  responded swiftly:  the driver was safely rescued, and transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

The weather was hospitable and the road at that point is fairly straight (although the bridge is narrow) so naturally I thought alcohol may have played a role.   Apparently it did not.  Although the driver was cited for speed. 

At the scene of an accident the medical needs of a driver always take precedence.  An officer can't very well perform a Field Sobriety Test on an injured driver.  If alcohol is suspected to have contributed to the crash, APD can charge the driver with DUI and then subpoena the medical records.

Of course if the driver dies, authorities automatically screen for drugs or alcohol and usually release that as public information. 

Alcohol is involved in a little over one-third of Massachusetts road fatalities.  This incident could easily have represented the other side of that equation.

Conservation Department measuring device only a few yards from where the car entered Hop Brook (depth = 3.3 feet)

Built Chevy Tough, No More

An American icon

About 75 people showed up this morning to attend the Classic Chevy, aka Paige's Chevrolet auction at their historic 40 Dickinson Street location, within hubcap toss of the Dickinson Homestead.

Almost all of them were men dressed in work clothes, similar no doubt to the uniforms once worn by the 17 dedicated employees who are now out of a job.

 

Crowd gathers round the auctioneer at former Classic Chevrolet

Amherst has lost its last auto dealership and it's unlikely to see another one anytime soon.  Just as a supermarket or hardware store will never reappear in the downtown.

Or a phone booth.

Flying Super Extra Gas pump 1960s:  When Paige's was in its prime

Parts of the Trade

How to for professionals (before the Internet)

Hills Hat Factory molds, circa 1850s stored in the attic

Con Com: Conserve $6.5 Million

Amherst Conservation Commission

The Amherst Conservation Commission hiked down the same path as the Planning Board did last week by voting unanimously NOT to recommend the Amherst Select Board exercise Right Of First Refusal on 154 acres of upland woodland in northeast Amherst.

The property, owned by the state's largest private landowner W.D. Cowls, Inc, is currently under a $6.5 million contract to Georgia developer Landmark Properties, who specialize in cottage style student housing with high end amenities.   

The gated community planned for Amherst, The Retreat, will house 700 students and it has stirred bitter neighborhood opposition since day one.

About two dozen residents showed up last week to the Planning Board hearing hoping to convince the board to recommend the town invoke the expensive taking.  Tonight 21 concerned citizens showed up and the committee allowed an hour for public comment.

 Dave Ziomek, Director of Conservation and Development (and Assistant Town Manager):  "Daunting price tag for an unremarkable property."

Then, after a brief 25 minute discussion the board came to its unanimous recommendation NOT to purchase the property, but were also clear about not supporting the proposed development because of potential environmental impacts.

The Select Board has the final authority and will make their decision Monday night (July 29).  The funding would also require a two-thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting who already overwhelmingly voted down a scheme to take the "development rights" of the property for $1.2 million.

The chance the SB will ignore the unanimous advice of the Planning Board and Conservation Committee is about as likely as an asteroid taking out town center one of these hot summer nights.

Rising Star Committee

 

Housing & Sheltering Committee (and liaisons) this morning

This being Amherst, naturally I have to fall back on a Native American sounding designation title award for a relatively new committee with a very PC sounding official name:  The Housing and Sheltering Committee.

The committee was born out of a merger between the Housing Partnership/Fair Housing Committee and The Committee on Homelessness, but only after the Select Board dissolved the two former committees.  So I guess you could describe them as a Phoenix who arose from the ashes.

For a committee that only first met on May 30, 2012 they have made great strides towards becoming a political powerhouse.  At this morning's meeting Select Board liaison Alisa Brewer stated in her usual succinct manner:  "Planning Board members and Planning staff irritate some people.  You come from a purer place ... your opinion matters."

And Planning Board liaison Connie Kruger (also former Amherst Senior Planner for 16 years) told the board it would be "political suicide not to include this committee in on zoning issues."

As a further example of the consolidation of political capital, HSC co-chair Greg Stutsman was recently appointed to the always influential Planning Board.  If not for the fact both these boards are volunteer activities the state would probably disallow that as double dipping or a conflict of interest.

The HSC can take credit for one of the more influential consultant reports issued in the past 30 or 40 years, the "Housing Production Plan."

This report graphically illustrates the problems created when supply and demand are out of whack.  And of course the largest creator of supply is the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a town where 59% of the population are now "college aged youths."

The committee is considering ways of increasing housing supply through zoning changes, as well as possibly forming a land or housing trust to develop projects on their own.  And with the highly regarded reputation they have established in just over a year, it could happen.

Amherst is now teetering on the brink of falling below the 10% affordable housing threshold thus opening the town up to a Chapter 40B mega housing project.   Zoning changes to help increase the supply of affordable housing requires a difficult to attain two-thirds vote of Town Meeting.

The Housing & Sheltering Committee will certainly help lead the charge.  And they stand an infinitely better chance than did "The Light Brigade."

Art & Eats

 

Metacomet Cafe 27 South Pleasant Street, Amherst

Two new bricks and mortar businesses will open in the heart of the downtown in time to tap into that tidal way of new customers who roar back into Amherst the last week of August.

Metacomet Cafe will open in the spot formerly occupied by Chez Albert before they moved to the other side of town; and Art Alive, an arts and crafts emporium that encourages consumer participation, has taken over the space former occupied by 35 South Cycle, a fitness business that expired last August. 

Art Alive, 35 South Pleasant Street, Amherst

A Curtain No More

Marsh House last week

Marsh House this morning