Dream A Little Dream Of Amherst

Yeah, another one of those ludicrous "lists" that every digital outlet loves to publish these days to attract hits.  Although this one was first published back in May, it now seems to be gaining traction.

Although I'm surprised the Amherst Chamber of Commerce or UMass Office of News & Media Relations has not issued a breathless press release with the headline "We're Number 2!"

This one you just know is suspect when they screw up two-out-of-three purported claims to fame.

According to Boston.com:

 "Home to Massachusetts' flagship public university, Amherst takes the second spot on our list. Amherst boasts strong schools and decent housing costs. It's also a safe community. While not the most fun town, its substantial population of students adds to its hipster cred."

Our schools are certainly EXPENSIVE, pushing top 10% in the entire state for per student cost; but not nearly so "strong".  And our housing cost are FAR from "decent" (mainly because of the presence of all those "hipster" students). 

But we most certainly are "safe," even if APD does arrest 3 or 4 drunk drivers per week. 

Memo to Boston.com: one-for-three ain't bad ... if we're talking baseball.

No wonder they just sold for a (swan) song.

Party House of the Weekend

 

351 Potwine Lane, Amherst

So let's hope this is not a sign of things to come, as our little college town is only just now starting to stir with returning students.  And that trickle will soon become a deluge.

This relatively minor episode -- two noise complaints over one weekend (although the 2nd Sunday complaint included cars parked all over the lawn) -- perfectly illustrates the problem:  The house rents for $2,000/month, so it's a tad too expensive for a young married couple just starting out, or a low to moderate income town employee. 

Common wisdom dictates rent should be around 25% of total income, thus this house would require a $96,000 annual household income.  A relatively high bar, considering the median income for Amherst households is only about half that.

Help From Above

Only took Life Flight helicopter 15 minutes to make rendezvous point 

Amherst Fire Department responded around 11:00 AM this morning to a motorcycle accident on Shutesbury Road, Leverett, only about a 100 yards shy of the Shutesbury town line.

The rider was with a group descending through the S curves towards Amherst when he lost control of the bike and went into the woods.

 

Ernie's Towing personnel pick up crashed bike

  Response vehicles near accident site

AFD transported him about a mile up to Shutesbury Fire Department HQ as they have a field out back tailor made for a helicopter landing.

The Life Flight helicopter swooped in and with the aid of AFD, Shutesbury FD-and-PD successfully transferred the badly injured patient to UMass Medical center in Worcester.

 AFD and Life Flight personnel transfer from ambulance to helicopter

And off they went

I Wish I May, I Wish I Might

A wish tree has sprouted in Kendrick Park, carrying upwards of 40 or so, err, requests. It was a sellout as no tags remained as of this afternoon.

Too bad, I would have added a most timely request:

I wish town officials would forget worrying about the political fringe and simply allow the 29 commemorative American flags to fly in the downtown every 9/11 to remember the innocent lives lost that awful morning.

A New Business Worth Cheering About

 

Oriental Flavor, 25 South Pleasant Street, Amherst town center

The crowd who packed Monday night's Select Board meeting to vociferously advocate the town squander $6.5 million to absorb 154 acres of woodland as a means of scuttling a proposed student housing development in northeast Amherst gave new business owner Chenghui Zheng a warm round of applause after he received his "Common Victualler License".




He also  announced Oriental Flavor's "Grand Opening" was scheduled for the next day, Tuesday July 30.  So far reviews are positive (with the picky Internet crowd).

Waterworks

Orchard Hill, E. Pleasant Street.  Water towers are routinely located on high ground

The 1.5 million gallon UMass water tower on East Pleasant Street is closing in on completion of a major $1 million renovation and should be fully functional in time for the return of the students in the next few weeks. 

A water tower's main function is to maintain round the clock pressure in the water system and provide extra back up in case of a peak draw (hot summer day) or unexpected event, like a major fire. 

UMass is hooked into the Amherst water/sewer system, which they pay for like anyone else.

Amherst owns the smaller tank next to the UMass tank but it only holds 500,000 gallons.  Additionally the town has two larger tanks each holding about the same as the UMass tank, or 1.5 million gallons.

Thus our total reserves when the UMass tank goes back online will be 5 millions gallons in all the tanks and another 1 million in clear wells near the two treatment plants.


Project got off to a rocky start mid May as lift machine stranded worker near top of tower, requiring AFD rescue

 On average Amherst consumed 2.65 million gallons per day of treated water last year, with UMass sucking up 31% of the total.

I'm told UMass wanted to install a "check valve" device to restrict the tank water only to their side of the system, but the town denied the request.

According to DPW Chief Guilford Mooring: "We are now in a very good position: The reservoirs are full. Every year is different and this is a good year. Usually we are shutting down the reservoirs because they are getting too low and the water quality is poor."

 
UMass tower is also a beacon for malevolent spirits

Hadley Water Tower, East Street

 

Rolling Away

 

Rolling Green Apartments, 204 units

The Amherst Select Board seems to have simply thrown up their hands and quit the fight to maintain our 10% minimum threshold for Subsidized Housing Inventory, a vaccine against a Chapter 40B mega-housing development being shoved down our throats.

Currently with 1,035 affordable units out of a total of 9,621, the town stands at 10.8%.  Rolling Green's 204 units represent 20% of our total stock of affordable housing, so once lost the Town's overall SHI drops to 8.5%.

Town officials have known for a half-dozen years that Rolling Green Apartments would be eligible to go to market rate because their federally subsidized loans were closing out.

The 50 year old complex is currently valued at $9,119,200 so an eminent domain taking is unlikely.  Town Meeting showed little stomach for eminent domain action last spring, rejecting the idea of taking Echo Village Apartments or the "development rights" of the property in northeast Amherst now slated to become "The Retreat" student housing development.

Almost three years ago Town Meeting appropriated $25,000 for a study pretty much specifically targeting the Rolling Green situation.  With the deadline now a mere three weeks away, it would appear Rolling Green is a lost cause.

Not overly "affordable"

And clearly Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe is not happy about the pace or focus of the process thus far.




You also have to wonder how uncomfortable this makes about-to-be-displaced tenants at Echo Village feel? Their situation came on suddenly, as Jamie Cherewatti only bought the property in January and then immediately jacked up the rents.

Plus, unlike Rolling Green,  the 24 Echo Village units do not count towards our affordability index, so town officials have a little less to lose with their instant transition to market rate.  And in Amherst, "market rate" is EXPENSIVE.

The Feds lump Amherst in with Springfield when setting maximum allowances for Section 8 housing vouchers.  But since Amherst rental units are so expensive (median rent of $1,108 in 2010) those vouchers go elsewhere.  Currently only half the 400 vouchers administered by Amherst Housing Authority are used by clients living in Amherst. 

Fortunately the town recently commissioned a "Housing Production Plan" to shed light on this chronic housing problem, so the state allows a one year reprieve from an unfriendly Ch40B development.

Maybe now town officials will get serious.