"It's Just Sad"

 Town Manager John Musante

John Musante presented his Town Manger Report to his bosses, the Select Board, Monday night and pretty much glossed over the weekend public safety debacle, describing Amherst Fire Department as "busy." 

Which is kind of like saying the Mexican Army kept the defenders of the Alamo "busy."

Of course he fawned over UMass giving us additional money to fund four extra firefighters to staff two ambulances on weekends, which still was not enough to handle the Friday overnight deluge of alcohol induced calls.

To which Select Board member Alisa Brewer responded in a refreshingly direct, Harry Truman sort of way, calling a drunk a drunk:

Remember

"... that these dead shall not have died in vain."

About the only thing I left out in my brief polite presentation to the Amherst Select Board Monday night is how cowardly it is to simply pocket veto the question of allowing the commemorative flags to fly on 9/11 tomorrow, on the unlucky 13th anniversary of that devastating day.

A cowardice that flies in the face of the ultimate sacrifice paid by over 400 first responders who rushed headlong towards the stricken Twin Towers and the Pentagon when everyone else was rushing away.

AFD Central Station 9/11/13  (This year ceremony starts at 9:00 AM)

Et Tu, Select Board?

Amherst Select Board 6:29 PM 9/8/14

So it looks like Amherst Select Board Chair Aaron Hayden is taking lessons from former Regional School Committee Chair Lawrence O'Brien when it comes to stifling public comment at a public meeting.

And that, Mr. Hayden should take note, is the key reason why Mr. O'Brien quickly became a former Chair. 

Two weeks ago both John Fox and I appeared before the SB during the 6:30 Public Comment period with our own pet peeves and asked to be placed on the agenda for the 9/8 meeting to have a full public discussion.

Apparently none of the 5 members of the board thought it important enough to request the matters be officially placed on the agenda.

According to Massachusetts Open Meeting Law if an item does not appear on a published agenda at least 48 hours before a meeting, the body cannot discuss it -- let alone take a vote. So that's why questions and concerns brought up during the 6:30 Public Comment period cannot be acted upon, although they do have the benefit of media amplification.



But it sounds to me like Mr. Hayden, who used up over 5 minutes making his comments, is rethinking the entire Public Comment Period.  Maybe he will call it the "Shut The Hell Up" Period.

Then we can change the unofficial town motto from "Amherst, where only the H is silent" to "Amherst, where even the H is silent."

An Unattended Death

Body recovered on north side of Amity Street/West side of U Drive in the woods

SAD UPDATE (2:35 PM):

Click to enlarge/read

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A huge police presence this morning at the busy intersection of University Drive and Amity Street near Rafters indicated something serious was amiss.  An unattended death in the woods over on the UMass side of the intersection was the reason.  Sadly, a possible suicide. 

AFD was on scene, but not much for them to do

Since the tragedy occurred on UMass property (immediately abutting Amherst and Hadley) there was a large number of UMPD personnel on scene as well as APD detectives, patrol officers, Captain Jennifer Gundersen and even Chief Scott Livingstone.

No confirmation about either the cause of death or the identity of the person, but it could be related to yesterday's highly publicized case of a missing Amherst woman.  

 

Hadley PD also assisted with traffic control

Oops

Planning Board 9/3, David Webber Chair (center)

The Amherst Planning Board & Zoning Subcommittee will have to reschedule tomorrow's meeting due to late posting with the Town Clerk.  Although now that The Retreat is dead, the Planning Board will have lots of free time on its hands, and less likely to make these kind of rushed scheduling errors.

At last week's 9/3 meeting the PB pretty much acknowledged the controversial "Inclusionary Zoning" (affordable housing) bylaw that was suddenly pulled from last spring's Town Meeting due to business community concerns, will not be ready for the upcoming fall Town Meeting, as promised.

It also doesn't help that the nine-member board has a vacancy that needs to be filled by the Town Manager. 

Public agendas (posted on time) are important because they give the general citizenry a heads up with issues that may be important to them.

And again, with the demise of The Retreat, we see how citizen pressure at pubic meetings can bear fruit.

Although at times, a very bitter fruit.

UPDATE (2:30 PM):

And Looking Pretty

 

Callery pear, aka Pyrus calleryana

Three new large cedar tree boxes, complete with Callery pear trees, were installed this morning along Main Street from in front of Town Hall up to South Pleasant Street, significantly brightening the heart of downtown Amherst.

 Let's hope they don't obscure UMass football banners

The Business Improvement District paid for the boxes ($500 each) and the town provided the trees and people power to install them.

The hardy ornamental trees blossom in the spring, participate in fall foliage and produce only small, hard fruit that doesn't leave a squishy mess on the sidewalk to attracts bees. 

The Retreat Surrenders

 And so they did

The Retreat, a controversial student housing development proposed for the 147 acre woodlands of northeast Amherst, is no more -- killed by protracted battles with organized neighborhood resistance and quite simply the high per unit cost of development.

 

Letter hand delivered to Town Clerk on Friday from Landmark Properties

The Planning Board did not seem overly enthusiastic about granting all the variances required as part of the Definitive Subdivision Plan for 123 lots, which would have housed 641 tenants -- all of them UMass students.

UMass is the #1 employer in town and #2 property owner but because they are an educational institute pay no property taxes. The town assessor had projected the private development would have paid almost $400,000 in property taxes annually if built. 

Landmark Properties had a Purchase & Sale agreement with W.D. Cowls for $6.5 million, but only put down $50,000 which is non refundable.  In addition they have done upwards of $1 million in due diligence site work leading up to the Planning Board hearings.  

Cinda Jones will now pursue other development opportunities with the improved property.