All Things Digital

Jones Library:  Amherst's living room

The Jones Library is submitting a $35,000 request to Joint Capital Planning Committee, the guardians and first hurdle for FY17 equipment requests, for a new computer server and consulting help to expand the capabilities of Digital Amherst, which is currently at capacity.

This will allow Special Collections to continue adding material for convenient online availability, especially Audio Video materials that are a bit of a data hog.

One such item is the recorded voice of poet Robert Frost speaking at the Jones when a room in his honor was first dedicated.

 The new server is estimated to last at least five years before hitting capacity. Most of the JCPC request ($22,000 of the total) is for one time start up consulting costs but the ongoing annual maintenance duties will be handled in-house by the town Information Technology Department.

Jones Library Board of Trustees meeting this morning

The Jones Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously to support the $35,000 request which is separate from the $2,468,186 overall FY17 budget, a 2.34% increase over last year.

This falls within Finance Committee guidelines of no more than a 2.5% increase from last year.

In addition Library Director Sharon Sharry told the Trustees she is setting up a Go Fund Me internet donation campaign with a target goal of $40,000, which represents the amount lost from the operation budget when the draw from the endowment was reduced to 4% from the previous 4.5% mark.

The Jones Library Endowment now stands at $7.25 million.

The Board of Trustees also voted unanimously to support placing the $2.46 million FY17 budget before Town Meeting. Library Director Sharon Sharry said of the annual budget, "We're in a fine place this year."

  Jones Library FY17 Budget

When a "D" Is A Good Thing

North Amherst center today shows recent improvements via paving and new striping 

Click photos to enlarge

Concept D

So after two open public forums and many individual board and committee meetings it looks like Concept D is going to be the choice for significant renovations to North Amherst Village Center.

At Tuesday's second forum sponsored by the Select Board, Planning Board and Public Works Committee, attended by perhaps 45 citizens, Concept D was once again was the clear favorite of the four presented.

Good crowd at Bangs Center for the 2nd public forum on Tuesday night

Now the significant problem is going to be how to fund it?

I'm told just the basic construction aspect is at least $1 million and the combined value of the two properties that would need to be purchased are another $1 million.  So a million here and a million there, pretty soon you're talking real money.

Reverting Sunderland Road back to greenspace ties in Library to School and playing field

The town was shot down for a MassWorks grant recently for this North Amherst intersection, and a couple years ago was also turned down for a $4 million grant to redo Pine Street, which the town just now completed on its own dime (or I should say local taxpayers dimes).

Maybe if we showed a little more support at the ballot box for a Republican Governor, those grants would start rolling in.

Keep Them Doggies Movin'

Hope

Why did the bovine cross the road?  To avoid a major demolition.

Hope the cow will move from her current location at 233 North Pleasant Street, the former Carriage Shops, to Realignment Park directly across the street at 236 North Pleasant Street, in front of a building owned by Barry Roberts.

The cow was fabricated as a combination public art project piggy bank with all the proceeds going to Craig's Doors homeless shelter.

The Design Review Board voted unanimously last night to approve the relocation although point person Jerry Gates said he would come back for approval of any smaller signs placed on Hope (like "Ride at your own risk").

The board also suggested she continue to face west after relocation so folks approaching her from Kendrick Park or town center will have a more inviting view of her sides rather than rear end.

Click to enlarge/read

The Business Improvement District also submitted a letter of support pointing out they have cleaned up the public art space around "Relocation Park" and wish to see the popular cow stay in town center.

The relocation will need the approval of the Public Arts Commission and it is on their 12/17 agenda.  Chair Rene Theberge was also in attendance last night and seemed supportive.

The Amherst Select Board as "keepers of the public way" have final authority over the move and with this being an election year they are probably not going to want to mess with a popular downtown icon -- especially one named "Hope".

Hope (visible top center) would be located a few feet north of this art installation

He's Baaaaack

Mr. Frost has been reinstalled

The DPW used longer bolts to attach Mr. Frost to his solid seat

The silhouette of Robert Frost -- making up half the public art installation known as a "A Poetic Dialogue" -- returned to his perch recently curtesy of the DPW.

Now his dialog with Miss Emily, the Belle of Amherst, can continue.

Meanwhile the First Congregational Church directly across the street replaced their stolen rainbow flag, only this time decided to place it in a spot making it much harder to grab and go.

Seriously?

Lord Jeffery Inn

You could tell Select Board member Jim Wald (who works for a sorta competing higher education entity) was not overly impressed with a request from Amherst College owned Lord Jeffery Inn for a 50% break on parking fees for an event next March.

After Chair Alisa Brewer breathlessly explained that the Lord Jeff had booked the event before realizing the parking rate had doubled from $5 to $10 per bag (thus reserving the space for their use only) and they were requesting a one time rollback to the old rate.

Mr Wald responded incredulously with only word, "Seriously?!"

Probably because the Lord Jeff Inn is valued at over $5 million, although to their great credit they do pay both property taxes and the town's local Hotel/Motel Tax (unlike cheapskate UMass Campus Center Hotel).

Which set the tone for the rest of the brief discussion.  The board unanimously approved setting aside the 40 spaces, but at the current $10 rate.

Last year: bagged parking meters in front of Lord Jeff for a wedding

DUI Dishonor Roll

Police took four alleged drunk drivers off the road over the weekend -- two in Amherst and two in Hadley -- and three of the four consented to a breath test, of which the results clearly shows why they were arrested.

All four were arraigned before Judge Payne in Eastern Hampshire District Court and had their cases continued over the next six weeks.

Venetia Fotopulos 

Keri Quinlan

Kathryn Agalar

Jenna Gagnon

Yeah, I'm The Taxman

Principal Assessor David Burgess

Principal Assessor David Burgess made his scintillating annual appearance before the illustrious Select Board to set the tax rate for the coming year, which is already too high and will only go higher, from $20.54 up to $21.22 per thousand.

Also as usual the SB decided not to "split" the tax rate and charge commercial property more in order to save homeowners a small amount.

For instance if the board had decided for the maximum shift allowed the tax rate for homes would drop to $20.01 (pretty much the same ridiculous rate we pay now) and commercial would skyrocket to $31.83.

Or put in more simple terms the average taxbill for an average home would go from $6,842 down to "only" $6,456 while the average commercial bill would go from $7,627 up to $11,148.  Ouch!

These out of whack numbers clearly underscore a major problem:  Amherst is overly reliant on residential property, a whopping 90% of the tax base.

The good news is recent development has spurred annual "new growth" which Mr. Burgess projects around $750,000 for the upcoming fiscal year mainly due to Olympia Oaks and Kendrick Place coming on line.

And since rents are continuing to rise in Amherst he told the Select Board large apartment complexes will "take a hit" after his next reevaluation.  With dwelling structures of 4 units or greater the assessor uses a formula that considers net operating profits so the higher the profits the higher the valuation the higher the tax burden.

Too bad he could not use that same formula with smaller (less than 4)  housing units as slumlords could then be assessed based on their cash flow rather than the crappy condition of their units -- which leads to lower assessments and maximum profits.

Phillips Street, the slummiest street in Amherst, has only 1 owner occupied home