Depends On How You Define "Busy"

 

Engine 1 Pomeroy Lane Cooperative

Although the Amherst Fire Department had to rely on "mutual aid" only once over the past weekend that doesn't mean they were not stretched dangerously thin. 

On Sunday night four calls came in close enough together to tie up the entire minimum staffing level of 8 on-duty professional fire fighters.

So when a trauma call came in at 10:35 PM for someone who had taken a fall, that person had to wait until a mutual aid ambulance arrived from another town.

But another incident, which is pretty much considered routine, occurred earlier Sunday afternoon when four calls occurred almost simultaneously -- one of them a fire alarm at The Arbors, a large capacity nursing home on University Drive.

Engine 3, with four Student Force responders handled that (potentially catastrophic) call, with one veteran full-time fire fighter in command.

If your beloved wheelchair bound grandmother was trapped in a large structure fire, would you prefer a crew of fully trained professional fire fighters to arrive first on the scene or a crew of student volunteers?

Fire is a most formidable foe.  Sometimes, even the pros don't return home. 

Because of the recently ratified Collective Bargaining Agreement AFD will have a minimum staffing of 8 professional firefighters 24/7 from August 15 through May 31st (excluding academic Winter and Spring Break) up from a previous minimum staff level of 7.

So now four ambulances can be staffed simultaneously, up from three.  But that leaves Central Station abandoned.  With our institutes of higher education back in session, AFD is now staffing 9 on busy Friday and Saturday nights through Spring Break.

After Spring Break, when party season picks up steam, staffing will swell to 13 on Friday and Saturday nights, partially subsidized by UMass.  That extra $80,000 pays for 4 additional firefighters (thus two extra ambulances) during the beginning half of the fall semester and the second half of the spring semester.

Or what high-tech business service providers might refer to a "surge pricing."  

   AFD emergency runs late Jan

We're Number One!

Amherstma.gov

For the second year in a row the Amherst town website has been honored by the Mass Municipal Association for being top notch.  Last year an honorable mention and now this year ranked #1 in their category (15,000 to 49,999), although we share the top honor with Holyoke.

The town website is a huge time saver, easy to navigate, and a force for transparency.  Not to mention making the Amherst Public  Shade Tree Committee happy by reducing reliance on paper. 

Rental Permit Bylaw: Halfway Home

Building Commissioner Rob Morra reported to the Amherst Select Board this evening that the town's new Rental Registration process is going well, with 741 applications received out of a total of 1,570 (47%) properties that need to register.

The new law went into effect January 1st and requires all landlords to pay $100 annual fee for a permit.  The process includes submitting a parking plan and completing a self certification checklist acknowledging basic zoning and health & safety concerns. But the process can all be easily accomplished on the town website. 

Also neighbors or concerned citizens can file complaints about rental properties with the town or find the name and contact information for a rental property owner to take it up with them first.  

A map with color coded pins (red for "open" and green for "closed") shows all the complaints received dating back to April, even before the law went into effect.

Unfortunately the Code Violations and Complaints Map does not currently show properties cited by the Amherst Police Department for noise or nuisance complaints, a glaring oversight.

Commissioner Morra did say he would be working with Police Chief Livingstone in the near future to make that valuable data available on the website.

"Unforeseen Circumstances"

ARHS

UPDATE 2:00 PM

According to a source close to the investigation police ascertained the identity of the Anon poster with the vaguely threatening Facebook "confession" around 3:30 this morning.

A State Police bomb squad vehicle screamed through Amherst town center around 11:30 this morning heading North.

Most recent school statement

 Original Post 8:00 AM

Amherst Regional High School is closed today due to "unforeseen circumstance." 

Back before that darn Internet if you wanted to cause chaos at your local school you picked up the phone (or better yet used a pay phone) to call in a bomb threat.

Nowadays it's even easier.  Although this Facebook posting is a tad less direct.    School officials have confirmed they were made aware of the "threat" over the weekend but the robo call to parents on Monday morning gave no indication of why the sudden closure, leading to rampant speculation.

Amherst School Committee Vice Chair Rick Hood also confirmed this morning that the Amherst School Committee was not giving a heads up prior to closing down the school.

The number appearing to the left of the post is simply the ongoing count of Anon posts published on the site.  Interestingly if someone responds with a comment they are not anonymous.

Another Snoozer Local Election?

Amherst Town Hall:  pretty in snow

As usual the interest in serving as a venerable member of Amherst Town Meeting -- that bastion of pure democracy -- is minimal at best.  Yes, this in a town that prides itself on being vocal.

Out of 80 three-years seats up for grabs, spread out over 10 precincts, so far only 37 candidates have bothered to take out or file papers.  And considering it only takes one signature to get on the ballot (your own counts) it's not like there's much of a barrier to entry.

The election is March 25 and the deadline for returning papers to the Town Clerk is February 4. 

On the "townwide" front, two more candidates have taken out  papers for Select Board the highest office in town government, bringing the total to six potential candidates (for two open seats).

New entrants include John Boothroyd who helped lead a bitter battle against subsidized HAP housing in his neighborhood a few years ago; and Matthew E. Cunningham-Cook a, gasp, UMass Graduate Student who majors in "Labor Studies."

Every few years a Umass student enters the race for Select Board and at the very least livens up the debate somewhat, but since UMass students avoid the ballot box like an 8:00 AM Monday morning math class, no significant vote tally ever results.

The Amherst School Committee will also see a race as Viraphanh Douangmany has already filed her papers with the requisite 50 signatures.  Incumbent Katherine Appy has announced she's running for reelection but thus far has not turned in her papers.

And she does seem to have a problem with routine paperwork.  

Mexican Stand Off

One of the many benefits of living in a "college town" is the youthful demographic is a prime target for national franchises to set up shop.  Great for consumers of all ages, but not so great for local mom and pops trying to survive in the same zip code.

Take nearby Hadley for instance, a town smart enough to allow commercial development all along busy Rt. 9 even before the University of Massachusetts became such an overpowering presence.

A decade ago Chili's set up shop almost on the Amherst/Hadley border and it did not take long for Applebee's to come a calling directly across the busy street.  Just as a generation ago McDonald's and Burger King opened for business even before the busy Hampshire Mall was constructed.

Now withing a burger throw of both we have a Chipotle that opened recently and soon enough a "Moe's".  Our little corner of the Happy Valley is becoming all Mexican all of the time.

Which may not be a welcome development for local Amherst restaurants serving southwest cuisine:  Bueno Y Sano and La Veracruzana in the downtown and The Mission Cantina and El Comalito in South Amherst.

 October 27, 2013

Perhaps the local mom and pop most affected would have been Mi Tierra, except the devastating fire back in October instantly put them out of the restaurant business.  But they will rebuild.

Because mom and pops are nothing if not resilient.

Calling All Consultants!

$60,000 town/gown consultant contract up for grabs

Hear ye, hear ye:  The joint UMass town of Amherst Request For Proposals, a consultant contract worth $60,000, has just hit the Internet.  

The large Town Gown Steering (super) Committee -- made up of heavy hitters from both UMass and the town, hashed out the legal contract over four meetings. 

The cost of the consultant is also shared 50/50 by the two superpowers, although the University handled all the final edits and legal issues that go along with issuing a 15 page public document.

The main focus for the consultant will be double edged problems, probably endemic to "college towns":  housing and economic development.

Two recent town sponsored housing studies have concluded the lack of student housing drives up prices making it difficult for middle income families -- and impossible for low income families -- to find shelter.  

Plus Amherst  has an overwhelmingly skewed tax base, as the housing market represents 90% of the total tax base and the commercial sector a pitiful 10%.  

With the recent loss of 204 affordable units at Rolling Green Apartment complex the town has now fallen below the magic 10% threshold for Subsidized Housing Inventory and could be (within the next year) subject to a Chapter 40B mega development.