Historic Halt?

Old Chapel, UMass Amherst

A group calling itself UMass Alumni for Campus Preservation is calling for a mid-course correction on the $30 million Old Chapel preservation project, citing specifically the "trendy modernization" usage of glass entry doors.

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Arguably no other structure on the sprawling campus has such a recognizable iconic stature, borne back ceaselessly into the (distant) past. 

Scenery vs Safety

This double pine will come down on Monday

After a thoughtful 45 minute discussion deliberating the fate of ten trees along both sides of Pine Street the Planning Board and Tree Warden came to the unanimous conclusion that 9 of them be removed immediately and more efforts will be forthcoming to save the remaining one.

Unfortunately the twin pine is not the one.

The trees are all in the later stages of their lifespan and most of them show their age.  The discussion among Planning Board members and neighborhood residents who attended the meeting centered on the safety issue.

Pine Street is in dire need of a sidewalk and the trees, unfortunately, are rooted firmly in the way.

The Amherst Shade Tree Committee had voted in March to "save as many of the trees as possible," but in the end only one of the ten earned what may be only a temporary reprieve.

Tree Warden Alan Snow was going to take extra measures to try to save a 30" Silver Maple, but did not seem confident it would last for long after the sidewalk is installed.

 30" Silver Maple not coming down ... yet

The hearing Wednesday evening was required by state law since Pine Street is a "scenic way".  And yes, even with the loss of all these trees will still be considered so.

In 2012 Amherst Town Meeting approved borrowing $612,000 for the purchase of 2,000 trees, an inventory that has not yet been depleted.  So replacements will go back in the ground over the next few months. 

No Move For You!

Simeon Strong House, one of the oldest in Amherst

The Jones Library Board of Trustees heard a report this morning about the conspiracy theory floated on the floor of Amherst Town Meeting last night citing rumors that the Jones was going to absorb the Amherst History Museum Stong House next door and then sell some of the property at market rate to fatten their endowment.

As usual with rumors, partial-truths make them all the more believable.

 Strong House (left) rear of Jones Library (right)

Library Director Sharon Sharry has mentioned in public a number of times now that the Jones is in "discussion" with the Amherst Historical Society about a mutually beneficial collaboration that could include land purchase.

And Select Board member Jim Wald, who is now President of the Amherst Historical Society. first mentioned it back in January at a Community Preservation Act Committee meeting.

The piece of property in question is not the spacious lawn in front of Strong House that stretches out to Amity Street.  It's the plot behind the historic building.

And if the sale should happen it would not involve trying to move the Strong House forward closer to Amity Street, or be a merging of the two entities.

 Jones Library (lower right) Strong House (top left, red roof)

Because the Jones is in the beginning stages of a $10 million renovation/expansion, 50% state funded, buying property behind the Strong House will contribute significant funding to the Amherst Historical Society.

And give the Jones Library desperately needed room to expand.  With half of it state money.

A win-win of historic proportions.

Diffident Defenders of the 1st Amendment

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"

So today's Gazette banner front page headline only makes me wonder where they were when a true believer Nitwit woman grabbed my iPhone at a highly public presentation in the taxpayer owned Amherst Regional Middle School and Maria Geryk, the town's highest paid employee, backed up her heavy handed actions.

And I would argue that a School Superintendent is more representative of "the government" than an Amherst Town Meeting member, elected with 70 votes, who only has the "power" of office when Town Meeting is in session.

Simply put some Cover-Your-Ass UMass bean counter  (since it was a Sunday morning probably not all that high ranking) fell for a perceived threat that was more bluff than substance, and turned off the WMUA radio transmitter.  And yes, I'm sure all three listeners were very disappointed.

On average I get threatened almost daily to remove names, stories, or on more rare occasions questioned about my reliable anonymous sources (which I NEVER give up).  My standard response comes from my favorite journo professor:  "Fuck 'em!".

Well, maybe I don't actually say that ... but you get my drift. 

Every now and again the First Amendment requires a staunch goal-line defense. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

If you're not up to the task, then get the Hell out of the way.

You're All Under Arrest

Amherst Town Meeting

Another good reason to replace Town Meeting with a professional more accountable Mayor/Council is that -- like the Mass State Legislature -- Town Meeting members are immune to Open Meeting Law, and to a large extent, Conflict of Interest Law.

The privately owned Amherst Town Meeting listserve has over 200 members (w-a-y more than a quorum) and we can discuss at length among ourselves the business of The People.  And not just over the newfangled Internet.

For instance yesterday late morning, leading members of the BANANA/NIMBY crowd met with Amherst town officials in Town Hall for a private pow wow concerning Inclusionary Zoning Articles 21 & 22.  Which only further strengthens my hunch that both are now destined to fail.   

   Amherst Self Interest

So I somewhat sympathize with exuberant member Kevin Collins, and he certainly does have a point about rookie member Claudia Brown having a h-u-g-e conflict of interest. 

If Town Meeting membership was purged due to NIMBY self interests it would end up being not much larger than a City Council.   Which would of course be a good thing.

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Apparently Mr. Collins got their attention:

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List serve owner weighs in (this is getting better by the minute):

It's Only $

Amherst School Committee enduring the gauntlet known as Town Meeting

Considering the venerable Amherst Regional Public School system consumes the lion's share of the town budget, Town Meeting did not spend all that much time in discussion before overwhelmingly passing both the Regional Schools $30,022,840 budget or Elementary School's $21,869,835 budget.

Yeah you would think otherwise, considering $30 million here and $22 million there, pretty soon you're talking real money.

 Vince O'Connor being, well, Vince

Although leave it to Vince O'Connor to unleash the unorthodox by making a "Motion to Refer" the Regional School budget back to the Regional School Committee for further study.

Since the other three towns (Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury) had already approved the Regional budget it would be a moot point, as per the Regional Agreement any major action does not require unanimous support of all four towns, 3 out of 4 is close enough.

Vince seemed to think Superintendent Maria Geryk, who is appointed rather than elected, has too much power and is not being micromanaged properly by the elected School Committees.

He also expressed concern that the School Committees have not done enough to get payment out of UMass for the 56 students attending ARPS that emanate from UMass tax exempt housing.

His motion failed to get a majority vote by a fair amount.

The real problem with the public schools is two fold:  The exceeding high cost per pupil, averaging about $21,000 per student vs state average of around $15,000.

At $6,000 per student over state average that means the Amherst Public Schools, with 2,638 students, will cost taxpayers in FY16 an "extra" $15,828,000.

Ouch!

And because Amherst has such a high average cost per student when a Charter School attracts them away that is the amount the town is charged for losing a customer.  Sure the state formula is not overly fair, because Choice students are only valued at $5,000.

Thus if an Amherst student attends Hadley's Hopkins Academy we are only assessed $5,000, but if that same student attends the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School a mile away we are charged the full $20,000.

In the FY16 Amherst Public Schools will shoulder the burden for 155 students attending Charter Schools and at the Regional level an additional 55 attending Vocational Schools (at $18,000 each).


School Business Director Sean Mangano told Town Meeting last night that overall cost between Choice, Charter, and Vocational the Amherst Regional Public Schools lose around $2 million. 

Now factor in the 56 students attending Amherst Public Schools who live in UMass tax exempt housing and you have another $1.2 million that is not coming into the system.

 UMass Amherst is the #2 landowner and #1 employer in town

Can you imagine the outcry if there were 56 homes in Amherst each sending a child to the public schools that refused to pay their annual (exceedingly high) property tax bill?

With the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School expanding into a full elementary and secondary High School the costly prospects for losing additional students in the near future is pretty high.

If UMass would kick in their fair share maybe the Amherst Schools could afford programming that would better compete with Charter Schools and keep those valuable students in the ARPS system.

Although, Hopkins Academy -- with an under $12,000 per pupil average cost -- seems to be handling the Charter School exodus quite well.

                            
           

DUI Dishonor Roll

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning a dozen individuals arrested in Amherst over the weekend (half of them by Amherst Police and the other half UMPD) were arraigned before Judge Matthew Shea.  Only one of them, Andrew Robichaud, age 24, was for drunk driving.

 Andrew Robichaud had his case continued until June 2

But as any good sniper will confirm, it only takes one.

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Since District Attorney Dave Sullivan has lifted his temporary moratorium on using breathalzyer results in Court, Robichaud would be wise to accept a standard 24D disposition.