Well I Love That Dirty Water

Umass Campus Center Pond this morning

Students returning to our beloved UMass campus over the next few weeks will find a (hopefully) cleaner Campus Center Pond, as contractors are now performing "hydro-raking" at the behest of the Physical Plant as part of their pond maintenance program.

Although, safe to say, the Campus Center Pond will never rival Puffer's Pond as a swimming hole.

Hot Run/Ride In The City

Torch Run starts at APD headquarters 111 Main Street Saturday at 7:00 PM

To heck with running with the bulls, running with the cops is a lot safer. And for a good cause:  The Law Enforcement Torch Run to benefit Special Olympics.

On Saturday evening at 7:00 PM a joint production of Amherst Police Department, UMass PD and the Hampden County Sheriff's Department kicks off in front of the station for a 3 mile jaunt through our picturesque downtown to UMass Southwest, which is being used as the Athlete Village for Special Olympics.

U3 Advisers Town Gown Report (Yeah, they borrowed my photo)

This Torch Run was cited by U3 advisers in their $60,000 consulting report on town/gown issues as an example of cooperation between the town and our flagship University.   Just one of many examples of "community policing" that makes our local departments shine, like a torch in the night.

Torch is fired up (2011)

The Law Enforcement Torch Run is not the only memorable benefit happening on Saturday.  Amherst Fire Department personnel will be taking part in a motorcycle ride, aka "Jackass 3," to benefit National Fallen Firefighter Foundation and honor/remember beloved AFD fallen member David Bennett Sr.

The ride starts at UMass McGuirk Stadium Saturday morning at 10:00 AM.  The weather on Saturday for both events is expected to be perfect!

Cherry Hill Golf Course: Wasted Resource

Cherry Hill absorbs a lot of sun, and tax dollars

For perhaps the first time in its entire history of municipal operation (1987) the Cherry Hill Golf Course came in under budget for expenditures consuming "only" $240,866 of its $242,949 operation budget.

Of course, also as usual, the Golf Course missed revenues by a fairway generating only $211,680 on a budget built on a $268,000 intake. So the simple math indicates Cherry Hill lost "only" $29,186.

 Click to enlarge/read

 Not shown:  $5,046 in insurance

But, as usual, that's only half the sad story. In addition to the $240,866 operation budget the White Elephant Golf business also required $39,721 in Employee Benefits, $12,500 in Capital Appropriations (lawnmower) and $5,046 in Insurance.

Or a grand total spent on golf in FY15 of $298,133 against a pitiful intake of $211,680 -- or a loss of $86,453.   Coming on the heels of a $103,964 loss last year (which could have been better spent hiring two Public Safety professionals).

 War Memorial Park former wading pool (middle/right) is now UFO landing zone

Meanwhile the wading pool at War Memorial Park was ripped out by the DPW last winter and the play equipment is as old as the Town Manager.

 60+ year old Groff Park Wading Pool needs (too much) expensive repair

And the wading pool at Groff Park is on its last legs, losing half the volume of water and requiring a 5 gallon bucket of chlorine every other day due to extensive leakage.

Last year the Town Manager sent a memo to the Select Board saying it was perhaps time to once again look at leasing out Cherry Hill to a private vendor.

At least that way it would generate tax money rather than consume it.  Amherst Golf Course, owned by Amherst College, paid the town $19,158 in property taxes for their successful golf business last year.

 Hadley Solar Array in the middle of a corn field

Better yet, since the town prides itself on being a "Green Community" the expansive swath of God's green earth should be put out to bid for a Solar Array.

Town Hall parking lot with 2 spaces reserved for electric vehicles (still awaiting final installation)

Breach? What Breach?

Attorney Regina W. Tate

So at $225/hour I guess it's a good thing that the Public Schools attorney Regina Tate is so succinct.

Her not overly prompt response to the NAACP complaint about a "substantial breach" of the 1993 "Consent Decree" was certainly short and to the point.

Just say no.

   NAACP complaint Amherst Schools

3 Secret School Meetings: Minutes Revealed

Current Regional Public School includes Amherst, Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury grades 7-12

Interestingly enough the Amherst Regional School Committee never met in Executive Session to finally approve the $120,000 payment to former math teacher Carolyn Gardner and $60,000 to her esteemed attorneys.

But they did discuss the situation under the protective cloak of Executive Session three times prior to the sealing of the lucrative deal.

 Regional School Committee went into Executive Session at 8:00 PM last night

And of course they had to meet in Executive Session last night to approve those Carolyn Gardner related Executive Session minutes after my Public Documents request.

   Ex Sessions: Amherst School Committee

And I was glad to see secretary Deb Westmoreland and HR Director Kathy Mazur take far better notes than the Amherst Select Board did a few years back when former Town Manager Larry Shaffer suddenly flew the coop.


The discussion this article has stimulated on Facebook is nothing if not interesting, perhaps even more so than the original article.  (Keeping in mind Kurt Geryk is the husband of School Superintendent Maria Geryk.)

Water Water Everywhere

Pelham Reservoir owned by Town of Amherst (so don't mess with it)

The reawakening of Baby Carriage water treatment plant combined with the firing up of Well #4 is one sure sign the summer has turned a corner and we are now streaking towards the students return to reawaken our sleepy little college town.

Scenic  Baby Carriage Treatment Plant, South East Street

I'll let DPW Chief Guilford Mooring do the explaining:

The issue is not that the reservoir is low but that in the late summer demand goes up (Students come back) and the weather becomes more violent. Because the Pelham reservoirs are so small (sometimes because they are lower) the late afternoon summer storms stir up the water quite a bit. The warmer and “flasher” the water the harder it is to treat. So to avoid this issue we switch to well 4. Well 4 has a high output but is high in iron and manganese, so it must be treated, thus the Baby Carriage treatment plant must be operating. It is harder to start a treatment plant than one of the other wells so by starting Baby Carriage now and keeping Atkins online we then can adjust the flow of the other wells to meet the increase in demand as the population increases. Well 4 and baby carriage will stay on into the fall when weather patterns change and the cool temps make the Pelham Reservoirs easier to treat. So long story short, this is just our normal routine that allows us to ensure we have enough water for the population.

Of course all of us townies remember the year 1980 when the water ran dry only days after UMass opened and all the students had to be sent home. Yikes!

School Committee Armistice (For Now)

7 of 9 members Regional School Committee (2 absent)

After a two hour meeting replete with charges and counter-charges bordering on sniping the Amherst Regional School Committee voted (4 yes, 2 no, 1 abstained) to send a letter to the Attorney General explaining the violation of member Katherine Appy as not really a violation of the Open Meeting Law.

That only took 40 minutes, although scheduled on the agenda for 30 minutes.

Katherine Appy reads her statement later approved by Committee to send to AG

The only other item on the agenda, a discussion of the mediation with NAACP that stimulated the Open Meeting Law complaint in item #1 went on for 80 minutes, although also scheduled on the agenda for only a half hour.

The NAACP won a "Consent Agreement" in 1993 over the discipline disparity in the schools between students of color and white students.  A Consent Decree is kind of like the Armistice that ended the fighting in Korean in 1953.

A cessation of hostilities, but not an official close-the-book "peace settlement."

The NAACP now thinks the Schools have violated the Consent Agreement.  The Schools attorney thinks not.  When such an impasse exists the Agreement calls for "mediation."

 RSC Chair Trevor Babtiste and Vice Chair Kathleen Traphagen had already met with the NAACP and now wanted permission of the full board to go into "mediation."

 25 people turned out (including 3 former RSC members) to watch the fireworks

The full board was not happy they did not previously know about such a meeting or any previous discussions, with Ms. Appy squarely thinking Chair Baptiste had overstepped his authority.  Hence the email she sent to the entire RSC, which member Vira Douangmany Cage interpreted as a violation of Open Meeting Law.

 Former RSC member Amilcar Shabazz (left) Lawrence O'Brien (top right) Principal Mark Jackson (top left)

After adding a couple of amendments the full Committee voted  5-2 (Trevor Baptiste and Vira Douangmany Cage voting no) to have three members of the Regional School Committee meet informally with the NAACP over the next week and report back to the full RSC at their 8/10 meeting as to whether the impass gets bumped up to an official "mediation."

Which of course beats an all out war.

Vince O'Connor told the board to "check with your attorney" because he's sure the Consent Decree requires "mediation" rather than juat informal talks