"In A Comfortable Spot"

Amherst FY17 budget will be "status quo"

Peter Hechenbleikner attended the first meeting of the Budget Coordinating Group on Thurdsday morning even though he technically doesn't start his $75/hour Temporary Town Manager position until February 1st.

 Temporary Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner pondering BCG info

A good thing of course, since this snapshot budget update will set the tone for the next four months leading up to, ugh, Town Meeting.

Budget Coordinating Group is made up of Town/Schools/Library heavy hitters

After the Schools, Town and Library chiefs' gave a brief update of where they are with their budgets, BCG newly reelectd co- Chair Andy Steinberg summed up the situation by telling the group they were "in a comfortable spot."

Outgoing Finance Director Sandy Pooler gave a macro-view of the state budget and how it impacts Amherst, as well as an update of the town side of the overall budget.

Pointing out that this upcoming year is a "bargaining year for all municipal employee contracts, that doesn't leave a lot of room to add anything new".  The proposed budget (coming out January 27) will not add a single employee and in fact will be a net reduction of .5 Full Time Equivalents.

Mr. Pooler did say the "add list" for any extra unanticipated revenues would prioritize a police position.  Currently the highly regarded Community Policing Officer is funded by a state grant that could lose funding when it expires at the end of the current fiscal year.

Amherst Fire Department will also get an extra $30,000 for supplies.  The Cooley Dickinson Hospital used to let them restock ambulance supplies from hospital stock but the cost conscious new owners have put a stop to that.

School Superintendent Maria Geryk confirmed her budgets would meet Finance Committee guidelines of no more than a 2.5% increase, although she will have to cut $470,000 from the Elementary School Budget and $300,000 from the Region.

Jones Library Director Sharon Sharry also confirmed the Library budget will be within the 2.5% guidelines even though they have cut back the draw from the $7.25 million endowment to only 4% ($310,000), and make up the difference through fundraising and state aid. 

Rezone This?

The 5.8 acre parcel is sandwiched between two major commercial developments

Fresh off his setback at the Amherst Historical Commission Demo Delay Hearing the night before, local attorney Tom Reidy appeared before the Planning Board Wednesday night to request they sponsor a Town Meeting zoning change article for a 5.8 acres site -- wide open but wet -- on University Drive.

The property is currently zoned Professional Office Park and the new potential owners would like it rezoned to Limited Business which would allow for the construction of an apartment complex, presumably, gasp, student housing.

In 2010 a divided Planning Board (5-3) supported just such a warrant article but it was defeated on the floor of Amherst Town Meeting where any zoning change requires a two-thirds vote of support, a high hurdle to clear.

The nearest business owner to the south adamantly opposed the rezoning due to concerns about storm water runoff.  

The project proposed at the time was for 44 units of subsidized senior housing at the back of the property and a mixed use retail/market rate housing project fronting University Drive. 

According to the assessor the property is still owned by Mohammad Idrees and it's in (farmland) Chapter 61, so assessed at $3,600, thus generating only $76 in taxes this year.

A major housing development would probably be assessed in the $10 million range and pay upwards of $200,000 annually in property taxes.

Haters Still Gonna Hate

Kendrick Place:  new mixed use anchor for the north end of downtown

After being described as "hideous" in public meetings, with charges of "good old boy" favortism on the part of the Planning Board, prognosticated to overwhelm town parking and becoming a despicable den for student parties rivaling Phillips Street, it's nice to see four months into their operations the apocalypse has not been unleashed by Kendrick Place.

And some professionals seem to appreciate the design of the building:

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Jones Library Architects Chosen

Jones Library, Amherst's living room

The Jones Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously this morning to hire Finegold Alexander Architects for the "planning and design phase" of the renovation expansion that could see the town center icon double in size.

 Jones Library Trustees voted unanimously to hire Finegold Alexander Architects

The firm impressed the subcommittee charged with coming up with a recommendation out of the five firms who applied for the job because they have great experience with historical preservation, including the Holyoke Public Library and currently the UMass Old Chapel.

The Boston based firm also has strong local contacts, including as their consultants Amherst architect John Kuhn and landscape architect Peter Wells.

Finegold Alexander are the architects for renovation of UMass iconic Old Chapel

The Jones Library e-x-p-a-n-s-i-o-n, which could cost as high as $40 million, comes at a time when the town is also considering three other major building projects: A new South Fire Station and Department of Public Works building, and a new elementary school.

Only the school and library projects are covered by state grants, roughly half the total costs.

The Jones Library already received a $50,000 grant to cover design/planning from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and Amherst Town Meeting appropriated $25,000 in matching funds.

The cost of this contract is for up to $50,000.

Thowing In the Towel?

Time is running out for Amherst College owned Little Red Schoolhouse

Carol Gray crashed the Community Preservation Act Committee meeting last night to file a (late) request for $10,000 concerning her ultimate windmill, the Little Red Schoolhouse. 

At least this seems to indicate she has given up on the enormously expensive idea of saving the building.

Only a small percentage of the $10K would go towards photographing for posterity the interior and exterior of the 79-year-old building.  The majority of the funding  would "document the human side" of the preschool business that operated within its tiny walls.

Of course Ms. Gray herself would be an interview subject since she's an overly proud parent of a Little Red Schoolhouse graduate. 

And if Herman Melville was still around, he could interview her for the writing of "Moby Dick Returns."

Carol Gray (2nd from rt) at 11/22/15 meeting trying to get Historical Commission to become Little Red cheerleaders

AFD: Busiest Year Ever!

AFD North Station strategically located next to UMass

Having listened to and covered up close a countless number of emergency calls over the past 12 months, I'm not surprised that 2015 was the busiest year ever for the Amherst Fire Department with a total of 6,363 calls, up 7.59% from last year's 5,914.

And that was accomplished without a 7.59% increase in staffing, the #1 problem now facing AFD.  The cramped condition and sorry state of Central Station is closely followed problem #2.

 Click to enlarge/read

 This year AFD and Dispatch cost Amherst taxpayers around $5,000,000 
 

UMass paid us $455,000 for emergency services this year and created 19.1% of the call volume, or $955,000 worth.

Amherst College paid the town $120,000 and created 4% of the call volume, or $200,0000.

Hampshire College paid us ZERO but created 3.1% of the call volume, or $155,000 -- enough to hire three new firefighters.

 AFD on scene Hampshire College 8/30/15 for typical "cooking smoke" false fire alarm

Destruction Delayed

The 2 buildings are on the west side of Kendrick Park

Despite the prominence of the two local developers involved (Curt Shumway and Barry Roberts) and that of their architect (John Kuhn) and legal counsel (Tom Reidy) the Amherst Historical Commission voted unanimously not to allow the vaporization of two buildings in the north end of downtown that have stood in that location for over 150 years.

 John Kuhn, Barry Roberts, Curt Shuway (seated) attorney Tom Reidy (standing)

The main reason being, after 150+ years, they add a texture and feel to the neighborhood that would be forever altered by their destruction.  And yes, a good number of neighbors turned out to reaffirm that before the Commission.

 Vast majority of audience was in favor of demolition delay

In fact only one person from the audience spoke in favor of the demolition (Niels la Cour) reminding the Commission that Amherst needs commercial development and erecting hurdles via a demo delay only exaserbates the town's anti-business reputation.

Sarah la Cour also submitted a letter on Business Improvement District stationary supporting the demolition.  Barry Roberts was of course one of the main architects of creating the BID.

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The developers wish to build a four-story 20,000 square foot office building with possible retail on the ground floor.   But not a bar or restaurant, Mr. Kuhn assured the Commission. 

The area is zoned limited business which limits the height to only three floors so even if the Historical Commission allowed the demolition the project must still get a Special Permit from the Planning Board to go up the extra floor.  That motion would require six of the eight members to vote yes.

 Local researcher/historian Ed Wilfert presented his findings to the Commission

Attorney Reidy, after it appeared certain the delay would be enacted, requested perhaps making it only a six-month delay.  But the bylaw only allows for a one year delay,  and it's all-or-nothing.  The Commission can, however, six months down the road lift the delay and allow demolition.

Developers can simply wait out the year and are then free to demolish the buildings or they could try to move them to a new location.  

Back in 2007 Mr. Roberts moved the last remaining house on Kendrick Park to a new location on Gray Street.