Hurry Up & Wait

108,000 square foot, Wildwood Elementary School, built 1970, enrollment 412

For many parents with children in the Amherst public schools the "Wildwood School Study" only appeared on their radar recently.  Mainly because the name implies only the Wildwood Elementary School would be impacted and a lack of effective outreach from school officials.

But now of course everybody is aware that the "Reconfiguration" model is the preferred plan by administrators which means the new construction of a Mega-School that is really two schools in one.  Thus ailing Fort River is also impacted in the most major way possible.

As is Crocker Farm, which will go from preK-6 to only preK & 1st grade while the new Mega-School will handle all students grades 2-6.

The reason the administration wants to maximize the number of students in the new Mega-School is funding, as the state MSBA program will cover 58% of the cost (even though many people thought it would be as high as 68%).

 Assistant Superintendent Mike Morris (rt) presenting to Wildwood Building Committee 10/15

At the most recent 10/15 Wildwood School Building Committee meeting Assistant Superintendent Mike Morris went through pretty much the same Powerpoint presentation he gave to the School Committee on 10/20.

All except the most important slide with the recommendation for the new Mega-School rather than simply renovating or replacing Wildwood at 40% less cost.

Since the construction of a Mega-School is  twice as tricky as constructing a regular sized school to replace Wildwood (or renovate it) I'm surprised the Wildwood Building Committee was not given a heads up at that 10/15 meeting.

Since it was less than a week away from the School Committee presentation obviously school administrators had by then made their major decision.

In other words, why not put the Mega-School plan on the table and let the Wildwood Building Committee vote on it before presentation to the School Committee?

Timeline for Mega School

According to the Timeline the School Building Committee does have to vote on the plan prior to submission to MSBA but now the die is cast in favor of a Mega-School.

Which is of course a LOT more expensive than simply replacing/renovating Wildwood alone at $12 million vs $20 million.  School officials have certainly failed to learn from history.

The original 6/14/94 Debt Exclusion Override to renovate the Amherst Regional High School passed Town Meeting and Select Board muster with ease, but failed at the ballot box by 73 votes the first time around, 1979 to 1907.

Less than six months later, after extensive public outreach, Town & School officials brought the Debt Exclusion Override back and it passed 2,786 to 2,161.

Interestingly we are still paying for the $26 million ARHS renovation from all those years ago as well as the $4 million Crocker Farm school renovations.

And the town is facing three other major building projects in the very near future: new South Fire Station & DPW building and the Jones Library expansion.

 

Current Town Debt

At the most recent Finance Committee meeting Sandy Pooler, Finance Director, said the new DPW building may come before Town Meeting this spring while the Mega-School will not be ready for a Town Meeting vote for a full year (fall 2016).

Thus there's an advantage for a project to come first, before sticker shock can set in. The problem comes for the project that goes 4th after the other three have been approved and town officials do the math on how much that's going to cost.

My biggest fear is the desperately needed new South Fire Station goes dead last.

Uh-Oh

July 2015

 

This morning (Click to enlarge)

Having run a small business for 28 years I appreciate just how demanding a mistress she can be (or "mister" for you daring female entrepreneurs).

The vast majority of start-ups fail to celebrate their 5th anniversary, and if you calculate the average pay an owner takes over that short lifetime it probably works out to far below minimum wage for all the hours invested.

Yes downtown rents are a tad expensive.  But like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

With the right product, a strong business plan and a little luck of the Irish a small business can do more than just survive in our downtown.  They can downright thrive.

Pine Street Speeding To Finish (Finally)

Pine Street is east/west connector to North Amherst center and Cushman Village

Thanksgiving will be especially thankful this year for those of you who live in North Amherst and the many of you who travel through there routinely:  Pine Street, the expensive forever project, may now be completed this year rather than next spring. 

Pedestrian crosswalk with lights may be completed this year

The sidewalk and crosswalk contiguous with Simple Gifts Farms and pretty much dead center in the busy roadway was going to be delayed due to crops in the field. 

But this week the project rolled ahead and DPW Chief Guilford Mooring reports, "a rush of activity to be done with Pine Street so the sidewalk at the farm will probably be paved next week, as long as the rain holds off."

Click to enlarge photos

Sidewalk switches sides due to utility poles in the way (too expensive to move)

Fab Friday Over Amherst

 Always colorful downtown Amherst

Not nearly as much going on this weekend vs Homecoming last weekend, but the weather is certainly hospitable other than a little wind.

This is of course the weekend before Halloween which this year falls on a Saturday and coincides with daylight savings end.   One more hour to party or for us old fogies an extra hour of sleep.

This weekend will act a little like the canary in the coalmine as an indicator of how bad things could get over Halloween.

So far the the past two months have been extraordinarily quieter than the past three or four years for the same comparative time period.

Let's hope it stays that way.

Puffer's Pond still showing color although today's wind may loosen lots of leaves

Cowls Road in North Amherst finally getting repaved at a cost of $172,000

Hampshire College R.W. Kern Center (middle left)

Hampshire College recently hosted a tour to show off their new to the South Amherst skyline R.W. Kern Center "Living Building".  Which of course costs more than your average bear, projected at around $11 million.

Thus if Stephen Kulik's legislative bill to allow municipalities to tax private education institutes at 25% of their assessed value, this building alone would generate $55,000 annually.  ($20.54/$1,000 times one-quarter of $11 million assessment)

Currently Hampshire College, who requires Amherst Fire Department services about as often as Amherst College, pays the town nothing in Payment In Lieu Of Taxes.  Amherst College, on the other hand, paid the town $130,000 this year.

Hampshire College will also be hosting next weekend their traditional but decidedly offbeat  Hampshire Halloween (with a tagline of "Trip or Treat") that always seems to require extra AFD medical coverage.

And We Have A Winner

Commonwealth Honors College Complex bottom right

The Commonwealth Honors College Residential Complex, a $192 million mixed residential and teaching facility that opened in the fall of 2013, was just awarded  LEED Silver Certification for its energy efficient design standards.

The other really nice thing about the complex is it provides 1,500 beds to keep students on campus, and because the rooms are so nice the occupants tend to take good care of them.

The complex also has nary a response from UMass police for problem behavior with only the occasional "burnt popcorn" fire alarm response handled by Amherst Fire Department (since UMass does not have its own fire department).

Now if we could just get UMass to partner with a private entity to construct something like this on the Gateway open field -- one that would pay property taxes -- I would really do an Irish jig.  

Gateway Area.  Fearing & Phillips Streets on left with former Frat Row on right.  

Bring A Knife To A Knife Fight

Butternut Farm, South Amherst

So as usual there's two sides to a story -- sometimes WAY more than that.  But I'm not going to go all Kurosawa on you. 

The Amherst community was somewhat taken aback on Monday late morning over reports of a stabbing in South Amherst perpetrated by Quintin Tyler, a 44 year old male.

Even worse, his victim was a teenager.

Turns out the teenager attacked Tyler first with a kitchen knife while one of the other (female) roommates had unsuccessfully tried to restrain him.

Tyler used a "folding knife" to stab the teenager, which by and large are not overly large.

 Click to enlarge/read

Tyler was not found to be a dangerous person (Chapter 58A) and was released on $200 bail.

Judge Payne also issued "stay away" order from his (former) apartment at Butternut Farm and the victim, although Tyler did contact Amherst police to accompany him so he could retrieve his belongings.

Stay away order issued by Judge John Payne

High Cost Of Education In A College Town

Wildwood Elementary School

One important aspects of the major shake up proposed by school officials in the bricks and mortar make up of public education in our highly educated town is financial.  A burden of course that falls on the taxpayers, which includes ALL residents -- not just homeowners.

For instance the Massachusetts School Building Authority is financed directly out of the somewhat high 6.25% state sales tax.

Therefor renters in town who purchase goods and services pay into the MSBA budget.  And of course when property taxes go up landlords tend to pass that along via rent increases.

At $20.54/$1,000 Amherst already has one of the highest property tax rates in the entire state, ranked #14 out of 351.  Well over the nearby city of Northampton, ranked #158,  at $15.80/$1,000 or Hadley, the hardworking farm town next door, ranked #299 at $10.86/$1,000.

The statewide median average is $15.69/$1,000

 A $200/year tax increase could vault Amherst into the top ten in the state

Since the proposed funding mechanism is a "Debt Exclusion Override" it will require a two-thirds vote of Amherst Town Meeting, a majority vote of the Select Board to place it on the town ballot and a then majority approval of town voters, all before January 1st, 2017.

And the geriatric average age of Town Meeting could work against the proposal since most of the members no longer have children in the public schools.

The financial chart presented above is designed to show how fiscally responsible the proposal for a new mega-school is compared to the alternative at twice the amount.

But it's a tad disingenuous since it assumes Fort River would be renovated/replaced at 100% town taxpayer cost with Wildwood being renovated/replaced with a 50% reimbursement from MSBA.

And School Committee member Vira Douangmany Cage did point out last night that MSBA does pay for renovations short of complete overhauls via their "Major Repairs & Accelerated Repairs" programs, so if Fort River could be partially renovated with their assistance the overall cost would go down dramatically.

But there's no doubt consolidation saves money.  Last night Superintendent Maria Geryk once again cited the $850,000 cost savings that resulted from the bitterly contested closing of Mark's Meadow Elementary School on the UMass campus.  

Interestingly the Town & Schools had signed a five year "Strategic Partnership Agreement" with UMass in 2007 acknowledging the value of free use of Mark's Meadow.

UMass clearly stated they would return to the negotiation table should Mark's Meadow ever close, which of course it did prior to the ending of the five year contract, which is now three years overdo for signing.

Currently Amherst public schools are educating 56 children emanating from UMass tax exempt family housing at an average annual cost of just over $19,000 per student, or over $1 million.

 Click to enlarge/read

Yet UMass is now withholding the local option room tax at their Campus Center Hotel in an attempt to strong arm the town into signing a new Strategic Partnership that probably does not include reimbursement for the high education costs of their children.

So before Amherst taxpayers pass an Override for the schools they should require town officials get UMass to pay its fair share.

In addition the Select Board should show strong support for Representative Stephen Kulik's bill to require tax exempt institutions like Hampshire College (who pays the town nothing for AFD services) and Amherst College, who paid $130K this year, to pay 25% of their assessed value as a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes.