3,457

Amherst Town Meeting lovers may soon be in mourning

The final certified signature count to force placement on the ballot a question about forming a study group -- aka Charter Commission -- to come up with a new & improved local government came in 242 signatures over the 3,215 threshold.

And it's all or nothing, so as along as a formal challenge does not negate 243 of the signatures, the question will appear on the March 31 ballot. 

In addition 9 Charter Commissioners will be elected on that same ballot and already five citizens have taken out nomination papers, which require 50 valid signatures:

Cheryl Zoll, Irv Rhodes, Aaron Hayden, Stephen Schreiber, and Janet McGowan are the brave souls who have stepped forward thus far, but now that enough signatures have been certified to make the ballot other candidates will no doubt soon enter the fray.

 Amherst For All celebrates in the hallway in front of Town Clerk's office this morning

Since the Select Board can also place a non-binding advisory question on the ballot they should also do what a previous Select Board did a dozen years ago and ask the voters if indeed it's time to lay Town Meeting to rest.

That way the Charter Commission can focus on the real solution:  Mayor/Council.

Brick By Brick

West Experiment Station back in June

Let's hope UMass has not bitten off more than they can chew with the West Experiment Station reconstruction project to make way for the new $100 million Physical Sciences Building.

 West Experiment Station 11/29/15

As of today the historic old building has been completely dismantled and will hopefully be reassembled by 2018, integrated into the new Physical Sciences Building, for a unique blending of the old and the new.

West Experiment Station today

Trolley Station on North Pleasant Street, built 1911 trashed June, 2012 by a contractor without full approval

At The Top Of The Pole

Red/white/blue flag instead of just baby blue

For the first time in town history -- a whopping 43 years anyway -- the flagpole immediately in front of Town Hall flew a lone flag other than the United Nations flag, for which it was erected back in 1973.

A good cause of course:  the 150th anniversary of the signing of the 13th Amendment to end the pernicious practice of slavery.

Besides being a good reminder that our sacred constitution can be amended, it is also fitting we pause to remember that slavery was once the routine here in our land of the free.

The flag that flew alone on the pole for barely 24 hours was an American flag but a reproduction of a vintage 1865 U.S. flag with only 36 stars.

The Select Board somewhat routinely allow various flags to fly -- Rainbow Flag, Puerto Rico, Black Liberation Flag, Children's memorial flag against child abuse, etc -- but always with the UN flag above them.

US flag protocol however clearly states the American flag never flies below that of any other entity.  Unless of course it's an act of God.

UN Flag flies above Black Liberation flag, February this year

Top Of Their Class Still

Amherst College Greenway Project this fine Sunday morning

I don't think anybody is going to feel overly bad for Amherst College being reduced from a AAA to merely a AA+ by Standard & Poor's so they now share, gasp, the same bond rating as the town they are named after.

After all, they still have $2.2 billion in their endowment.  Yes that's billion with a b as opposed to only $9 million the town has in its reserves. 

The cause of the slight crack in their financial armor is the increased debt load, a mere $330 million, brought on by reinvesting in infrastructure, mainly the new Greenway Project.

The four new dorms should be open in the fall of 2016 and the $200 million, 230,000 square foot science center project will get underway, again.

Last year Amherst College donated $120,000 to the town to cover Amherst Fire Department emergency runs to their campus.

And AC does pay taxes on all the one and two family homes it owns and rents out to professors so in that respect they also help fund the huge pubic education costs in Amherst, which consume the lion's share of the municipal budget.  In fact, Amherst College is the #1 taxpayer in town.

But there was some grumbling at the recent Community Preservation Act Committee meeting in regards to a $200,000 request for a fire suppression system at the Amherst College owned Dickinson Museum complex.

Since CPA money can only be used for certain things, perhaps the town can work out a kick back deal whereby Amherst College donates 75 cents to the General Fund for every CPA dollar they are awarded.

Representative Stephen Kulik has a bill pending in the legislature to allow cities and towns to tax private tax-exempt entities like Amherst College at 25% of their assessed value.

Vince O'Connor has started a one-man crusade to get Amherst College to contribute more Payment In Lieu Of Taxes, specifically to relieve pressure on the Regional School Budget.

 Vince O'Connor on the attack, December 7th SB meeting

His theory is Amherst College would be wise to sign a multi-year donation deal now before the state makes it a requirement.

Kind of like working out a divorce settlement with a mediator rather than allowing a probate judge to make the call.

Hadley Barn Fire

Hadley has distinctive yellow apparatus

Surround and drown

Despite the best efforts of Hadley, Northampton, Sunderland and South Hadley fire departments the beast  completely consumed a Hadley barn immediately off River Road (Rt 47) not far from the scene of another barn fire just over the town line in Sunderland six weeks ago.

Fortunately there were no injuries to man or beast.

The fire spread to an adjacent brushy/wooded area, but was quickly controlled

A Timely Audit

Amherst Media needs to relocate to a new building within the next year

In addition to the bombshell about UMass possibly being a cable scofflaw dropped at last week's Cable Advisory Committee Meeting, Amherst Media Director Jim Lescault requested the CAC authorize a five year audit of Comcast revenues.

Because Amherst Media funding (around $300K annually) consists of 5% of the Comcast pie (around $6 million annually) for every dollar the audit turns up that was, err, hidden that would be five cents in revenue to Amherst Media.

Of course there is the matter of the $28,000 cost of the audit, which could be reduced significantly if other cities and towns join in. 

 Most recent Comcast quarterly revenue report

But the audit doesn't necessarily need to turn up hidden revenues that match the cost of the audit, since the hard to measure benefit is the negotiation value of catching Comcast doing something unseemly.  Not that enormous corporations are known to do that (sarcasm).

The Cable Advisory Committee voted to support the legal services request but it will be up to the Select Board to make it so.

Cable Advisory Committee meeting 12/14/15.  One member resigned so they are in need of a new volunteer

The Grass Is Greener

Amherst may move up a notch or two in those ubiquitous top ten lists for places to retire if we get our first pot dispensary.  Medical marijuana of course.

The Select Board packet this week contains a heads up letter from Peter Kadens, president GTI Massachusetts NP Corp informing Chair Alisa Brewer that our little college town is being considered for a Registered Marijuana Dispensary. 

Massachusetts voters legalized medical marijuana in 2012 and a year later our Town Meeting passed (by two thirds vote) zoning article 13 limiting such facilities to mixed-use or business zoned areas and a few other common sense conditions.

New England Treatment Access was the first dispensary to open in the Happy Valley back in October, and was welcomed with open arms by Northampton officials. 

Pundits are predicting Massachusetts voters could legalize recreational marijuana as early as next year.