Say Cheese!

Shots fired!  UMass campus pond this fine Sunday morning

If you notice a throng of photographers around town this weekend don't be afraid, it's just a shutterbug conference at UMass. 

 Click to enlarge/read.  Or go to UMass website

And if you heard the sound of muskets this somewhat stormy Sunday morning that was only a reenactment -- a drill if you will -- to give those photographers something to do.

That's a lot of photographers

 

45 Years & Still Hitting Stride

Amherst Regional High School top right, Jr. High bottom left, 1970

They say 60 is the new 40.  For the 1970 graduating class of Amherst Regional High School -- now pushing retirement age -- this year's 45th reunion may be the perfect time to test that slogan.

You're old enough to have experienced much of what life can throw out both good and bad, but still young enough to keep coming back for more.  And maybe passing on that hard-won wisdom to the generations following behind.

ARHS 1970

Most baby boomers would agree that 1970, the Age of Aquarius, was an epically tumultuous year.

The anti-war movement hit a frenzied peak, culminating with a "student strike" nationwide following the tragic May 4 shooting deaths of four student protesters at Kent State by National Guard troops.

And then, less than two weeks later, two black Jackson State students were killed by police bullets.

Click to enlarge photo

Following the Cambodia invasion UMass Amherst shut down for the semester just before finals, and although ARHS did not follow suit, the student body was actively involved in protesting the war.

Plaque on the Amherst Town Common

Many would participate in the stand out in Amherst town center every Sunday initiated by the Quakers, and to this day still carried on by a small determined contingent. 

Although not all students protested against the war.  Some would show their support in a disruptive way by tearing off black armbands worn by fellow students symbolically expressing their discontent.

Principal Langlois took to the P.A. system to strongly defend the First Amendment right of students to display their symbolic disapproval of the war and chastised those who would bully them.  He comparing the wearing of a black armband with the right to wear a religious medallion.

Race relations was also a hugely divisive national issue back then -- as it still is today -- managing to infiltrate the halls of Amherst Regional High School as well.

The A Better Chance program, that brought inner city black youth to our predominantly white middle class High School, had just started the previous year and was not met with enthusiasm by a distinct minority of the student body.

One day the disgruntled group organized a symbolic protest by having supporters wear white shirts to school.  Once again Principal Langlois set the malcontents straight in a school wide assembly defending the ABC program, which thrives to this day.

ARHS also instituted a "black studies" program that was not met with overall support by a number of the black students and their parents.  Just as today the school sometimes struggles with providing programming that pleases everyone.

Like most of the graduating classes from ARHS dating back 60 years the vast majority of the 234 members of the class of 1970 spread far and wide, away from our little college town. 

Come August 7-9 many will return to warmly reminiss about the good old days, rekindle friendships, perhaps mend ancient disagreements, and remember those who are no longer with us.

Or maybe just hoist a celebratory toast to their remaining classmates for getting this far; and for not just seeing things as they were, but for dreaming things that could be.

And still can.

Goldbug 1970 Yearbook two page spread

Special thanks to Jones Library Special Collections department

Don't Stop

Intersection of Sunderland (left) & Montague Road in front of N. Amherst Library

One idea for the somewhat complicated intersection of Montague and Sunderland roads in North Amherst that has been completely ruled out by the DPW as an action plan is adding a stop sign to Sunderland Road for vehicles traveling north.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring told the Public Works Committee on Thursday that it's a bad idea and would be strongly opposed by his department.

Mooring said the close intersection of five streets in the North Amherst Village Center really needs to be seen as two distinct intersections (Montague & Sunderland Road and Pine/Meadow/North Pleasant) and the overall rule is if you can't make a workable 5-way intersection then you need to push the two intersections farther apart.

Most of the plans presented at the town's most recent public forum last month do that, but would require a significant purchase of land behind the North Amherst Library.

The fix, according to Mooring, for Pine/Meadow/North Pleasant in the heart of North Amherst center is simple: Install new traffic control system and set the cycle to allow a left turn from Meadow Street onto North Pleasant.

Even better the town should purchase some property (from controversial student rental czar Jamie Cherewatti) to allow the installation of a left turn lane.

The town is planning yet another Public Forum in October for the tricky intersection(s).   Although town officials seem to want to focus on the upper intersection of Montague and Sunderland Roads, the plans presented will probably include tweaks to the main intersection just south of it in North Amherst Center.

A Roundabout Solution

Intersection of Triangle and East Pleasant Streets will go the way of roundabout

The Public Works Committee will hold a public unveiling next month of the plans for a new roundabout at the north end of downtown immediately adjacent to the new five-story, mixed-use (mostly residential) Kendrick Place.

 Click to enlarge/view

The new plans call for a slight taking ("by gift, purchase and/or eminent domain")  of property from Bank of America and a sliver of property from Kendrick Park, owned by the town.  But no taking of property from Jeff Brown.

 Failed to acquire two-thirds vote

In the Spring of 2014 Town Meeting turned down a general request for easements over nearby parcels but that vote required a two-thirds majority and failed by a 79 (yes) to 62 (No) vote.

In addition to the 8/20 meeting The Public Works Committee will hold one additional meeting three months later and will then make their recommendation to the Amherst Select Board, keepers of the public way.

The PWC has already voted previously to support a roundabout at that location, as long as it is state funded.

The state did provide $1.5 million MassWorks grant to bury utility lines in the immediate area (happening this summer) as long as the town provided matching funds in the form of improvements to that intersection.

Public Works Committee meeting last night

Public Private Parking

Parking lot behind CVS is half owned privately and other half public

Usually when you hear the three Ps mentioned in an Amherst public meeting it's in reference to a Public Private Partnership being used to build residential housing on UMass property to help mitigate the housing shortage in our #1 demographic, "college aged youth."

But of course an offshoot of increased residential dwelling units is a corresponding increase in parking -- even in Amherst, with a highly evolved public bus system, ride sharing apps, and a fondness for walking and cycling.

Last night the Zoning Subcommittee of the Planning Board agreed to take on the issue of downtown parking.

The Municipal Parking District currently gives a free pass to developers on providing parking, and the recent rise of Kendrick Place -- with 36 units of housing and no parking -- has brought that issue to a boiling point (For a few loud individuals at least).

Kendrick Place will open next month

One idea for the Planning Board is the possibility of allowing private business owners who provide surfacing parking as an accessory use to their business to install meters or machines to charge for shared parking.  Currently that would require a Special Permit rather than the more simple Site Plan Review.

Another idea floated was to come up with zoning regulations for a privately owned parking garage, although Business Improvement Director Sarah la Cour told the committee that any structure should be part of a larger overall plan and be "mixed use" rather than just parking.

The idea of a new public (or Public/Private) parking garage has been picking up steam recently.  The current parking lot behind CVS is considered a prime candidate, although Ms. la Cour did mention that it is currently (mostly) zoned RG (General Residence) rather than BG (General Business) and thus would require Town Meeting approval for a zoning change.

And any zoning article requires a challenging two-thirds vote to pass.  Last Spring Town Meeting voted by more than a majority for two "citizens petition" zoning articles that would have devastated downtown development with burdensome parking regulations and redefining what constitutes a "mixed use" building.

Another idea floated is for the Planning Board to tweak the current regulations in the Municipal Parking District to remove the exemption for "residential" uses and require .5 parking spaces per dwelling unit, plus one additional space per 10 total units.

Developers could also pay a "fee-in-lieu" of providing parking at a rate of $2,000 per space, which would be retained in a "Town Center Parking Reserve Fund" that would be used "solely for the purpose of constructing new parking spaces."

Had these regulations been in effect Kendrick Place, with 36 residential units, would then have had to provide 22 parking spaces or pay a penalty of  $44,000.

The Select Board and Planning Board jointly held three Public Parking Forums over the past year, and a final report is expected to be issued by the Planning Department before the end of summer.

The Zoning Subcommittee decided it best to await that report before digging in on any concrete proposal for parking changes in the downtown.

And since Kendrick Place is expected to open next month, it would also allow time to weigh the impact that has on downtown parking.

Zoning Subcommittee of PB:  Rob Crowner, Bruce Carson, Stephen Schreiber, Greg Stutsman

Regionalization Lurches Forward

 Amherst Regional High Schoool

After four years of work by their sub-committee the Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee gave majority support to the concept of expanding the current grades 7-12 Region (Middle & High School) all the way down to Kindergarten - 6th grade.

The RSC voted 5-4 at their June 23rd meeting to forward the Regional Agreement Working Group final report to attorney Giny Tate (again) with one slight amendment -- changing the term of School Committee members from four years to a mix of two and four year terms.

Newly reelected RSC Chair Trevor Baptiste will work this summer with attorney Tate and Superintendent Maria Geryk to ensure the draft agreement is back by September 1st.

But in order for the proposal to really move forward so it can be voted on by all four towns it requires a two-thirds affirmative vote of the Regional School Committee.  That all-important vote is expected to come before March 1st so all four towns can vote on it in the  Spring of 2016. 

The governance of the new Region would be an unwieldy 13 member Regional School Committee with 7 members from Amherst and two each from the Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury.  Currently the Regional School Committee is a total of 9 members, 5 from Amherst, 2 from Pelham and one each from Shutesbury and Leverett.

Why Pelham currently gets two committee members is anybody's guess, considering both Leverett and Shutesbury's population are considerable larger than Pelham.

And with Amherst providing 88% of the population (and funding) is it really fair for the new governance scheme to reduce the power of Amherst to only a 54% majority?

The Committee kept the provision requiring 8 votes to close a school, even though member Dan Robb suggested two-thirds (9 votes) provided a "higher bar."   Even at 8 that means the seven Amherst members must still win over at least one other member from the other three towns.

 Financial analysis:  $600,000 savings is a tad disingenuous

Interestingly the concept of closing the Regional Middle School, located in Amherst,  and combining the students into the Regional High School, also located in Amherst, is currently on the radar.

The smaller hilltowns are of course concerned that the new Region would close their elementary school for the good of the Region.  Both Pelham and Leverett have declining school populations with status quo budgets getting harder and harder to maintain.

Some Amherst officials fear those two financially strapped towns could someday vote down the Regional budget if economic relief is not found.  The current Regional Agreement requires 3 out of 4 towns vote yes for the overall budget to pass.  

So can those two desperate towns drive the entire expanded Regionalization movement?  The new  Region cannot form without the unanimous support of all four towns.

Shutesbury is certainly not having any part of it.  At the February 24 Regional School Committee meeting RAWG member Michael DeChiara flat out announced he was voting No to the new Region and would be recommending voters at Shutesbury Town Meeting follow his lead.

DeChiara, a former School Committee member, has since gone on to be elected to the Shutesbury Select Board -- the highest political office in town -- so his influence alone could be a deal killer.

   Amherst Regional School expansion vote

The Big H

John Kydd, age 49, arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court yesterday

Maybe I should start a "Heroin Dishonor Roll" just so drunk drivers don't feel singled out.  Yes, the bubble that envelops our little college town does not protect us from the opioid scourge that has swept the nation.

And growing up Irish Catholic -- even though not still practicing -- (almost before Amherst was known as a "college town") one ingrained belief you never lose is the concept of a second chance.  As in everyone deserves one. 

This was Mr. Kydd's second offense.

He was released on his own recognizance, assigned a public defender (at a $300 charge) and will return to District Court on August 18.