Recreational Alliance

 

Community Field (rt), War Memorial Pool (ctr) High School Field (left)

The Amherst Center Recreation Working Group looks like it is finally getting off the drawing board as members will be announced before the end of August with a kick off meeting to take place in September.

Since the group will be looking at both town and school owned property, it's fitting that the first meeting will occur in September when our education oriented town springs back into life after an all too brief summer hiatus.

Town Manager John Musante originally announced the study committee back in December, 2014 although the Leisure Services & Supplemental Education (Rec Dept) Commission originally complained back in 2010 about the embarrassing conditions at Community Field.

 Field named after "Mr. Baseball" Stan Ziomek, father of Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek

Then Town Manager Larry Shaffer first floated the idea of a spray park to replace the ailing War Memorial Wading Pool, since demolished by the DPW.   Currently the town is considering Groff Park (not part of the Working Group's study area) as a possible location for a spray park.

 Former site of the War Memorial Wading Pool

The adjacent "big pool", built 1960, was renovated in 2012 via a $200K state grant but the surrounding children's play area has not been updated since President Kennedy was in the White House.

At the Select Board meeting Monday night member Doug Slaughter, who is also a school employee, volunteered to be "liaison" to the new study group.   Director of Facilities (for both the town and schools) Ron Bohonowicz is also expected to be a member.

SB Chair Alisa Brewer strongly suggested Slaughter should be more than just a liaison, aka he should be a voting member of the group.  The Town Manager makes the appointments but they must be approved by the Select Board so it's a safe bet he will take that suggestion.

 Wildwood School (below), Middle School (left), Hawthorn property (top right) High School field (top left corner)

Never Mind

Lincoln Avenue and Amity Street intersection (120' no parking on either side of Lincoln Ave.)

The Amherst Select Board backed way way off the original plan presented to them at their last meeting (6/15) which made both sides of the entire length of Lincoln Avenue a "No Parking" or "Tow Zone."

Instead the SB voted unanimously last night to restrict parking 30 feet on both sides of Gaylord Street, 30 feet south of Elm Street on the west side of Lincoln, 30 feet south of McClellan on the east side of Lincoln and 120 feet on both sides of Lincoln from the two major intersections, Amity Street and Northampton Road aka Route 9.

Original Plan

Select Board member Connie Kruger was concerned about signage and striping to indicate where the new regulations apply.  At their 8/31 meeting town staff will show the Select Board the new signs if they are installed by then, otherwise a GIS map showing where they will go and an illustration of what they look like.

 Lincoln Avenue is currently the next street over from where the Town Center Parking District ends.

According to the new Downtown Parking Report (delivered to the Select Board last night): "Existing and expanded business activity in this area and its close proximity to downtown make expansion of permit parking into this area (Lincoln Avenue) worth considering."

Town Building Report

24,000 sq ft Wastewater Treatment Plant built 1923, value $13 million

Last night the Amherst Select Board, after many years of asking, finally received a 65 page draft inventory report of all the buildings owned by the town.

Put together by Director of Facilities and Maintenance Ron Bohonowicz, the inventory catalogs when the building was constructed, recent renovations, total square footage, estimated value and  a recommendation for future use.

   Amherst Town Building Inventory

One measurement that stimulated the most discussion was the "Mission Dependency Index," or how important/critical is a building to the town.  Obviously Police and Fire scored high with 100 and 99 respectively (out of 100).

So did anything to do with water.  And anyone who has ever watched Survivor knows water is your first priority.

22,480 sq ft Town Hall built 1889, value $6.5 million

But the Jones Library only measured a 50 and that left a bad taste in the mouths of our bookish Select Board.  So they voted to have Mr. Bohonowicz scratch that measurement.

And the Select Board did show some concern that perhaps Mr. Bohonowicz crossed over into "policy" with some of his comments.

For instance he mentions the worst kept secret in town that if the current DPW building is abandoned for a new facility it would make a great location for the (too) L-O-N-G talked about new Fire Station.

Or under Recreation he states the Walmart quality Cherry Hill Golf Course Clubhouse, "Should be eliminated if there was to be any type of major renovation."  At the Select Board meeting last night he called it "disposable."  (Kind of like the golf course itself).

 5,600 sq ft War Memorial Pool built 1960, value $243,000 (surrounding play area not so much)

The report is considered a "living document" and will be amended and upgraded over the years.

School Payouts: A Little Sunshine

Amherst Regional High School (Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, Shutesbury)

Emails between School officials and the Regional School Committee clearly show Carolyn Gardner wanted the $180,000 MCAD lawsuit settlement to become public.

In fact the settlement would not have been reached without the Schools issuing a press release fully disclosing all aspects of the agreement.

Ironically School Superintendent Maria Geryk takes the School Committee to task for a security breach where I published an email she had sent to Vira Douangmany (copied to the entire Regional School Committee) on this now rather PUBLIC matter.

Damn bloggers!

   Carolyn Gardner incident Emails by Larry Kelley

March 31 memo outlining $821,668 school settlement payouts in just the past 4 years

Downtown Parking Final Report

Plenty of parking on a summer Sunday early morning

The three Downtown Parking Forums held over the past year have been summarized in a comprehensive Downtown Parking Report by senior planner Jeff Bagg.   The Amherst Planning Board received a copy on Friday and it will be presented tonight at the Amherst Select Board meeting by John Musante during his packed "Town Manager's Report."

Simply put the 68 page document highly recommends two things:  start the process for ascertaining the need and feasibility of constructing a new downtown parking structure; and come up with strategies and regulations for more efficient use of current parking -- both public and private.

The downtown now has a total of 2,019 parking spaces but 1,159 of them, a whopping 57%, are private.  If the town could strike a deal with private landowners it would increase utilization rates of parking overall, and with the town taking over maintenance and enforcement duties on those parking spots private owners would have one less thing to worry about.

   Amherst Downtown Parking Report

Yes, a 2008 study by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission decreed, "current parking supply in the downtown area sufficiently meets the current parking demand."  Since that study seven years ago the Amherst Cinema has become a downtown anchor, new restaurants have opened and the Jones Library (our other downtown anchor) may double in size.

And that study did find that some highly desirable downtown public parking locations "meet or exceed 100% utilization."

More important the number of residential units in the downtown will grow 36%, from the current 330 units to 550, when Kendrick Place and One East Pleasant Street five-story, mixed-use developments come on line.

Kendrick Place opening soon with 36 units housing 104 tenants

The Parking Report does suggest that perhaps the Planning Board and Select Board should consider tweaking the Municipal Parking District which currently exempts mixed-use buildings from a parking requirement.

While the town needs to do another updated parking study this Parking Final Report recommends laying the groundwork for a new parking facility and increasing overall efficiency of the current parking system should start immediately.

In fact, by virtue of this comprehensive report, it already has.

The 5 member Select Board as "keepers of the public way" have final say over simple parking tweaks, but Town Meeting controls the purse strings.

Any expenditures to enhance the downtown requires Town Meeting approval.  More ominously, any zoning change would require a two-thirds majority vote of Town Meeting.  And the current preferred location for a parking structure (behind CVS) does require a zoning change.

CVS & town parking lot next door

Death By Delay?

Carriage Shops:  future home of One East Pleasant Street

Basic rule of last resort in the NIMBY handbook:  When all else fails file a lawsuit.

Last week Hampshire Superior Court Judge Richard Carey heard a "Motion For Summary Judgement" in the case brought against Archipelago Investments and the Amherst Planning Board.

If the Judge supports the motion filed by the town and the developer, construction on One East Pleasant Street can commence.

Joel Greenbaum, a local property manager with 27 properties in town containing a total of 212 bedrooms filed the suit as an abutter claiming  One East Pleasant Street, with 80 units of housing providing 180 new beds, will cause him unique injury.

Greenbaum asserts that because One East Pleasant Street only provides 36 parking spaces for 180 tenants parking for his nearby units will be negatively impacted.  But the simple counter to that is parking is a general complaint that impacts the entire downtown, thus Mr. Greenbaum is not suffering any unique harm.

Town Attorney Joel Bard told the Judge parking is a policy issue, not a legal concern.

The more specific complaint that one of his properties would suffer harm via a shadow cast by the five story project was shown to be false as part of the "discovery process."

Archipelago's attorney Mark Bobrowski countered the complaint that One East Pleasant Street was a dormitory (not allowed in the downtown district) by pointing out all the units would be leased as apartments and not by the bed.  

Of course the genuine concern for Mr. Greenbaum is that One East Pleasant Street will provide brand new high-end rental units to compete with his tired older offerings.  But land use law does not consider economic injury brought on by all-American competition to be grounds for "special injury."

Even in the unlikely event the Judge turns down the Motion For Summary Judgement and then goes on to rule in favor of Mr. Greenbaum's lawsuit, all it does is neutralize the two Special Permits granted by the Planning Board allowing extra height and lot coverage.

Archipelago would still have "by right" the authority to build a five-story, mixed-use building on that site they already invested $4.6 million acquiring.  And I'm guessing they would.

Bring on the shadow.  

1 East Pleasant, Amherst by Larry Kelley

Drunk Driving: 4th Time The Charm?

Richard Sherwood (left) stands before Judge John Payne

At a revocation of bail hearing on Thursday morning Assistant District Attorney Andy Covington told Judge John Payne that Richard Sherwood, age 30, had violated the terms of his release by consuming alcohol.

A Sobrietor test the night before (9:01 PM) indicated the presence of alcohol, with a .031 reading.  Four minutes later a follow up test confirmed it with a reading of .029.

As per protocol a fax automatically went out to the Easthampton Police Department and they came to Mr. Sherwood's apartment and arrested him.

Back at the police station he took the Breathalizer test and passed with flying colors, as in a 0.0 reading.

But ADA Covington pointed out to Judge Payne that the breath test at police headquarters occurred at 10:47 PM, one hour and 46 minutes after the Sobrietor test, and with the normal elimination of alcohol from the bloodstream a zero reading would be expected.

Covington also pointed out to Judge Payne that Mr. Sherwood was most recently arrested in Amherst back in May with a very high breath test (.20), but do to an oversight APD only charged him with 3rd offense DUI, and in fact it was later amended to 4th offense DUI.

And had the state been aware back in May of that fact the Commonwealth would have moved for a 58A dangerousness hearing requesting Mr. Sherwood be kept in confinement until his trial.

Covington also told the Judge the State would be moving next week for a Grand Jury Indictment against Mr. Sherwood, which would then bump this drunk driving case up to Hampshire Superior Court.

Mr. Sherwood's defense attorney pointed out a Sobrietor, like a Portable Breath Test used by police in the field, is not admissible in court as stand alone evidence.  And the test that is admissible (the machines used at police headquarters) showed his client to be at zero for alcohol.

Sherwood's fiance was in the courtroom and would testify that she was with him that night and he did not have a drink.  In addition, earlier in the day of the Sobrietor test Sherwood had used a flea/tick bomb purchased at Dave's Soda and Pet Food City in his apartment which had trace amounts of alcohol in it.

Therefor the Sobrietor results were simply a "false positive."

Judge Payne asked when was Mr. Sherwood's trial date?   "September 2nd your honor," replied Covington.

"Motion to rescind denied," said the Judge.  Richard Sherwood was released (with the original $5,000 bail still in effect), until his September 2nd court appearance.