NIMBYs Cast A Giant Shadow

53 acre Old landfill on Belchertown Road is nothing if not wide open

About the only interesting thing to come out of last night's Amherst Media live coverage of the local election was the interview of the Town Manager, who is not known for his extemporaneous public speaking skills, by former Select Board member Judy Brooks.

Bricks and mortar media reporters who cover the Town Manager should take notes.

When she grilled him about the proposed solar array on ye old landfill the Town Manager, finally, admitted the project is "dead."

Killed of course by nearby neighbors who filed a lawsuit against the town for violating an old provision with the Department of Environmental Protection not to allow anything on the cap of landfill except for passive recreation.

The state legislature, in order to stimulate the sprouting of solar arrays on old landfills, passed legislation to nix such provisions but it came too late for Amherst.

 Solar array on Allard Farms Hadley, just over the Amherst border

The Town Manager explained last night that the solar market had since changed and tax incentives were no longer as advantageous, thus making the multi-million dollar green project unworkable.

This after spending $64,827 for contract negotiations with BlueWave Capital.

Score another one for the NIMBYs -- at the expense of the common good.

Amherst Woods neighbors were a tad too close for comfort

Apathy Wins Big

This homeowner called it

So no BIG surprises in yesterday's annual town election.  No little surprises either.  Turnout was a pathetic at best 7.5%.   Or with only 1,472 voters making the effort -- in an election costing taxpayers around $12,000 -- a little over $8 cost per vote cast.

The town really needs to follow UMass and create a PR Department to better promote the Amherst "brand."  Since we are famous for being so opinionated it is embarrassing to have such a lousy turnout for a local election -- the most fundamental aspect of civic engagement.

But the establishment will be (somewhat) happy with the results.  Phoebe Hazzard survived an election process snafu and ended up the top vote getter, beating out somewhat seasoned candidate Vira Douangmany.

Although two seats were open so both candidates will join the 5 member Amherst School Committee.

The last minute School Committee write in campaign to keep Lawrence O'Brien on the board failed to gain traction.  But first timer Victor Nunez-Ortiz did well for a write in candidate garnering 259 votes.

Election ballots are kind of like web pages: you want them to load quickly with as few clicks as possible to complete whatever task brought you there.  And taking the time to write in the full name of a candidate vs simply filling in a little oval is a lot to ask.

TracyLee Boutilier, the other winner in a somewhat contested Amherst Housing Authority race, like Vira Douangmany, is also somewhat seasoned as she ran for the AHA last year and lost to establishment candidate Peter Jessop.

With the town currently falling all over itself to address the problem of affordable housing the AHA could be instrumental in the upcoming political firefights.

It will also be interesting to see who replaces Paul Bobrowski, a level headed attorney, as Chair of the Amherst Housing Authority since he did not run for reelection.

Also on a second try Doug Slaughter won an uncontested seat on the still all white Select Board, our Executive branch of government.

The Select Board has not had a decent contest since 2007 when current SB member Alisa Brewer humiliated then Chair Anne Awad's husband Robie Hubley and "reversed her steady consolidation of power." 

Town Meeting winners (top 8 per Precinct for 3 year terms):

DUI Dishonor Roll

Every day in America another 28 people die from drunk driving accidents

If driving while texting is six times more dangerous than drunk driving what the heck is texting while driving under the influence of alcohol?

Obviously extremely dangerous, as evidenced by Gabriel Lopollo, age 38, crashing into another vehicle. 

Gabriel Lopolla was arrested early Monday morning and arrigned this morning

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In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning Lopollo had a plea of innocent entered in his behalf with his case continued until April 27 so he could hire his own attorney.

 Michael Flannery is arraigned on Monday morning before Judge Payne

At least Michael Flannery, age 25, gets bonus points for honesty.  Unlike the usual response of "two beers" Mr. Flannery admitted to the officer he had consumed five.  And his legally admissible in Court breath test confirmed that.

His DUI case was also continued until April 27 so he could hire a private attorney.

He Said, She Said

Andre Chris Edmund stands before Judge John Payne (from the lockup)

When a homeless woman soliciting money in front of CVS in downtown Amherst late Saturday rebuked his inappropriate advances, Andre Edmund, also homeless, allegedly starting yelling "Fuck you!  You're a racist, a fucking racist!"

Police were called to this rather high profile disturbance and Mr. Edmund, age 39, was located on the UM campus and placed under arrest.

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The Clerk Magistrate set bail at $2,500 so he was transported to the House of Correction to await arraignment and a bail hearing before Judge John Payne in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday morning.

The Commonwealth requested $1,000 cash bail telling the Judge that Mr. Edmund has a history of drug and alcohol problems, served a year in jail in 2008 for a cocaine conviction and that this charge now before the Court was a "very serious matter which could result in a jail sentence."

The Public Defender told the Judge Mr. Edmund has been clean since 2011 and although currently homeless (he gave Craig's Doors Homeless Shelter as his address) Hwei-Ling Greeney had found him an apartment in Amherst starting April 1st.

He further went on to state confidently that his client, "strenuously denies these charges and looks forward to fighting them in Court."

Judge Payne imposed a $1,000 "personal surety bond", meaning if Mr. Edmund fails to appear back in District Court on May 5th he will be charged that amount and a "failure to appear" arrest warrant will be issued.

And Another One Gone

Hadley Rt 9 Diner now closed

I guess sometimes you have to destroy the village in order to save it ...

Hey UMass!

UMass Amherst:  Massachusetts flagship of higher education

As I pointed out on Friday students enrolled in the Amherst public schools emanating from UMass tax-exempt family housing costs Amherst taxpayers "over $1 million" annually to educate.  

Well now I have a more exact figure for number of students and their cost to the town:  56 students at a cost of $1,267,200.

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Notice too that one student (at a cost of $18,200) does not even attend Amherst Public Schools, but that money still comes out of their budget for Charter reimbursement. 

Safe to assume that facts from this memo will be used by the Finance Committee in their report to Amherst Town Meeting concerning the school budget, so perhaps a long overdue discussion will take place about fair reimbursement from UMass for these serious costs.

The Amherst and Regional School Committees should also take a strong stand, and the Amherst Select Board should direct Town Manager Musante to use these figures to get a (much) better deal out of UMass in the next "Strategic Partnership Agreement" -- already almost three years overdue. 

Ice Ice Baby

Puffer's Pond this snowy morning

In addition to keeping the killer beast fire at bay, at the other end of the spectrum, Amherst Fire Department also deals with another potential killer for us folks living in New England: falling through ice into freezing water.

 AFD has a total of 6 protective suits (which are easy to spot against white background)

Wearing special suits that allow for submersion in freezing water pretty much all day long and using an ice sled with team members holding attached ropes, a three or four person crew can make short work of getting someone safely to shore.

 Captain Sterling (center) wearing one of the older red suits (not to be confused with Star Trek crew member)

This morning's drill was a make up for one scheduled five weeks ago when the ice on Puffer's Pond was too thick to cut through.  Most of Puffer's is still frozen except areas where tributaries come into the pond.

The ice sled, donated by the Amherst Rotary, folds up for easy transport

Firefighter Sarah Roe proudly shows off new turnout gear

Skill training can make a life or death difference. Not only for the victim, but the first responder as well.