Powdered Problems

Don't snort this at home kids

As if alcohol isn't a BIG enough problem nationwide, now it's only going to get worse with the recent Federal approval of easily transported and even easier to conceal powdered alcohol.

This will of course be even more problematic in "college towns" where binge drinking is considered a rite of passage. 

How many rapes -- reported and unreported -- involved alcohol?  How many violent domestic assaults?  Or deaths by drunk drivers, or falls, or even suicides?

Fortunately our progressive state of Massachusetts, according to a legal interpretation by the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission, will prohibit the sale of powdered alcohol because it does not meet the definition of an alcoholic beverage.

Probably hinges on the word "beverage," which is pretty much synonymous with wet. 

But if nearby states don't move to ban it you can bet it's the kind of thing that will find its way into our town, UMass dorm rooms and the Mullins Center when hosting an EDM concert.

Rather than approving it for nationwide use the Feds should have told Palcohol to take a powder.  

Protecting History

 Current protective cover is getting a tad tired

The 100 year old historic downtown fountain at Sweetser Park will get a protective make over in the near future if Town Meeting approves the Community Preservation Act Committee package of 9 proposals this Spring.

The town Planning Department submitted a $20,000 proposal to the CPA Committee for a consultant to "perform an assessment and engineering study of the Enos Cook Memorial Fountain ... prepare bid specifications for its restoration ... and design and construct a cover to preserve and protect the Fountain during the winter."

The fountain anchors the western end of Sweetser Park closest to the heart of downtown.  In the spring and summer it is a magnet for families out to enjoy New England weather -- especially after a hard winter.

The Fountain underwent a $50,000 renovation 20 years ago after remaining dry for many years. 

The Sweetser Park Gift Account received $20,000 from the Rotary Club and Friends of Sweetser Park two years ago after the fountain was shut down in 2013 due to plumbing problems, which were temporarily addressed by the DPW.

The gift account money should be enough to cover renovations, but if not town officials will return to the Community Preservation Act Committee for additional funds. 

Ah, Spring

A Different Approach

Amherst Police Department, 111 Main Street

The Amherst Police Department was recently awarded a $33,615 state grant for the next two years by the Department of Mental Health to train officers in a "team approach" for dealing with behavior health problems rather than the standard cycle of arrest, District Court hearing, release, back on the streets.  Repeat.

Chief Livingstone was "pretty excited about receiving the grant".  According to the Chief, "This team approach model has had successes in many other police agencies across the country.  This is a nationwide problem that cannot be solved by police and court systems alone."

Department wide training will begin in June and after officers have been selected to form a "Crisis Intervention Team" they will receive additional higher level training.

Downtown businesses have been complaining for the past few years about the increasing number of homeless in the downtown, some of them under the influence of drugs or alcohol, getting out of control.

Downtown will also see addition police presence during business hours if the Town Manger's FY16 budget is approved by Town Meeting this spring.  After years of calling for increased police staffing the Town Manager, finally, added one sworn officer to his budget proposal.

Who Guards The Guardians?

Mary Streeter (right) presents to Joint Capital Planning Committee this morning

The Joint Capital Planning Committee, made up of major players from the Town, Schools and Library, heard a courtesy presentation this morning from Mary Streeter, Chair of the Community Preservation Act Committee.

The JCPC uses regular tax money (7.5% of the total tax levy) to fund equipment and building needs for the town of Amherst, with a total operational budget now breaking the $70 million mark.

Department heads must first get JCPC approval for capital items, but then Town Meeting has the final say, which is almost always 100% in agreement with the JCPC recommendations.
 
The Community Preservation Act surcharge (not to be confused with a tax he said sarcastically) will generate $920,000 this year from properties on the tax roll,  combined with the state match of $239,200 (a lousy 26%), combined with $955,930 in leftover money from last year, giving them a total of $2,115,130 in their pot.

Or as Chair Mary Streeter said to the JCPC, "We're flush with money right now."

The CPA Committee is a separate legal entity and only they can bring proposals to Town Meeting, but they must be related to Open Space/Conservation, Historical Preservation, and Recreation.

Town Meeting can vote down an individual item, but cannot reuse that appropriation amount for anything else. 

All nine proposals brought before the CPA committee earned their recommending for a total of $523,346 ; plus the debt service on previous projects of $321,527; plus the $1,750 annual dues for CPA lobbying group; bringing the total appropriation to $846,633.

That then leaves a balance of $1,268,497 or, still "flush with money."

 CPA Committee may consider another round of funding for Fall Town Meeting

Jewish Community Synagogue steeple repair, a significant project ($175,000), did not make it to final approval because it was withdrawn by the petitioners before the final committee vote was taken, although Ms. Streeter suggested it probably would not have been approved.

The JCPC then moved on to an overall discussion of all the presentations they have heard over the past two months.  Finance Director Sandy Pooler told the committee that pretty much everything was funded except he pushed off until next year $25,000 for Crocker Farm School playground repairs and $35,000 for North Amherst Center Studies and Improvements.

Both of which generated push back.

Select Board member Connie Kruger pointed out things are happening in North Amherst now and pushing that money back sends the wrong message.  School Committee Chair Katherine Appy suggested parents would be unhappy with the delay of the Crocker Farm playground upgrade, which is both a safety and aesthetic quality of life issue.

Mr. Pooler (metaphorically removing his Grinch hat) promised to rework the overall proposal one more time.

The $145,116 gap was filled by using unspent leftover money from previous capital appropriations

Time, Time, Time, Is On My Side

Historic Amherst Town Hall at 6:07 this evening

A good excuse for being late just went out the window as the main town clock in the heart of downtown is now working properly, albeit a couple minutes slow.

Over a month ago during the blitzkrieg of snowstorms the clock stopped working but the panels facing north and south were quickly brought back to life.

The west facing clock looking into town center needed more work and Facilities Director Ron Bohonowicz told the Joint Capital Planning Committee last week he needed a warm day to remove the panel without fear of damaging it.

The clock speed I'm told is affected by the cold weather, as the grease is more solid and it slows down.  But as the weather warms it will speed up.   Changing the length of a pendulum adjusts for this speed change.  The clock also needs winding every Thursday.

And Another One Gone

Chief John Horvath (right) with APD Chief Scott LIvingstone at Davis Report unveiling

UMass Police Chief John Horvath has been approved as the new Chief of Rockport PD,  somewhat far removed from the hue and cry of college aged youth that he has had to deal with over the past 2.5 years.

John Horvath replaced Johnny Whitehead, after he left his 3 year UMass tenure as Chief to become Chief at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Chief Horvath is a good man, as was Johnny Whitehead.

UMass administrators may want to look in a mirror and ask why good men don't last long as the top cop at UMPD.

Deeper Pockets?

Amherst Regional High School

I was a little surprised last week while perusing the town attorney "litigation update" to the Amherst Select Board at the half-way mark to the fiscal year, which ends July 1st.

A pleasant surprise was the number of litigation's and billable hours cost so far are pretty low. In Amherst when you lose a political fight before a board, committee, or Town Meeting the standard response is to "bring in the lawyers."

The town being named the main culprit in Carolyn Gardner's discrimination lawsuit, however, was an unpleasant surprise. I asked why and was told the town is on the hook because she taught a summer math course for the elementary schools, which come under town jurisdiction rather than the Region (Middle and High School), which is a totally separate legal entity.

Carolyn Gardner MCAD complaint names town first

Because a part-time summer job can't possibly entail the same responsibilities as her full-time job at the Amherst Regional High School, and since no incidents of discrimination are alleged to have occurred during that part-time summer job, it sounds like a stretch to me.

 But then, I'm not a lawyer.

Another unpleasant surprise is the town's insurance will not cover this kerfuffle, meaning both the billable hours for the town attorney or the payoff, err, I mean "settlement" to make the lawsuit go away.

Maybe her lawyers think the town, with its sterling bond rating, is a better target for a bigger payoff.  Since Amherst pays over 80% of the Region's budget maybe not such a big distinction.

Another MCAD complaint, more directly related to the elementary schools and therefor the town, also came as news to me.

Last year when it seems the Amherst schools were in a lockdown-a-day mode of operation, a Crocker Farm employee panicked when someone returned to the elementary school searching for a lost umbrella without signing in.

Now that Mr. Ortiz is running a write-in campaign for Amherst School Committee, perhaps we will hear more.

Although, probably not the best campaign platform.