Zoning Ping Pong

Strong House (left) Jones Library (center)

Proposed property sale (red box)

Last week Jones Library Director Sharon Sharry and Selectman Jim Wald went before the Planning Board just to give them a heads up about a rezoning of the Strong House History Museum from  (R-G) Residential to (B-G) Business.

 Jim Wald and Sharon Sharry appear before Amherst Planning Board last week

This would allow the less than affluent History Museum to sell side and back property to the Jones Library for their expansion/renovation.  Without the zoning change they could not sell any of their property because it would leave their facility "non conforming" according to residential zoning code.

On Monday night the Select Board briefly discussed the issue and heard that a "covenant" could become part of the article to ensure the property does not someday sell to another entity and become some other commercial enterprise.

Connie Kruger was concerned that would simply "muddy the water" and she pointed out the real problem is some people do not want the Jones Library to expand.  And a zoning article does require a challenging two-thirds vote of Town Meeting to pass.

 Jones Library is an economic engine for the downtown

A Jones Library representative is now scheduled to appear at the April 4 Select Board meeting to request the zoning issue be placed on the warrant.  The Select Board is signing the warrant that night but there's still time to add this article with a simple majority vote.

Since Town Meeting does not start until May 2 that allows enough time for the Planning Board to call a state mandated public hearing on the matter and issue their recommendation/report.

Then all it has to do is survive that zoning gauntlet know as Town Meeting.

DUI Dishonor Roll

Rocky Hill Road, Hadley 8:50 PM Sunday (Hadley PD Facebook)

Yes everybody deserves a second chance -- especially when it comes to substance abuse.

 Jocelyn Brick, 27, stands before Judge Thomas Estes in Eastern Hampshire District Court

But the sympathy quota goes down dramatically after that second screw up -- especially when it happens at a normal family hour when plenty of innocent drivers are on the road.

 Click to enlarge/read (note Portable Breath Test almost twice legal limit)

Fortunately it will be a l-o-n-g time before Ms. Brick gets behind the wheel of a car again as the automatic license suspension for refusing the Breath Test on a second offense DUI arrest is three years.

She was released on her personal recognizance and returns to District Court April 24 with her private (no doubt expensive) attorney.

Let The Battle Begin!

All three Charter Ballot Questions have passed over the past 20 years

Like worms after a spring rain, lawn signs will be springing up all over town this week.  A few for the only contested townwide position -- School Committee -- but mostly for the most hotly contested issue of the year:  ditching our current old fashioned amateur form of government.

Well, electing a 9-member Charter Commission to discuss it anyway and return to the voters with whatever proposal they create.

 Anyone but Vince

 What are they afraid of?

Expensive Puzzle Pieces

Over half DPW equipment is routinely stored outdoors

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring and Weston & Sampson consultants present to Amherst Select Board

The Amherst Select Board was given an informational heads up presentation last night concerning the new DPW facility, which clocks in at 8.5 acres but combines many functions now spread out all over town and with a somewhat startling sticker price of $37 million, but that will go down somewhat after one site is chosen.

   Amherst DPW Equipment List

Current DPW building has no fire suppression sprinkler system

 Giant Arbor Vitaes would be removed for new for Fire Station entrance

Currently the plan is for the new $65+ million Wildwood Mega School to allow Fort River to be abandoned so it can become the new DPW.  The beloved old current DPW "Barn" would be demolished (after a Historical Commission demo delay hearing of course) for a new South Fire Station.

 AFD Central Station is too old and cramped for a modern day Fire Department

And the old downtown Central Station could be used for either the Jones Library expansion or sold to a private developer to become a taxpaying mixed use signature building in the heart of our commercial district.

Fort River Elementary School:  Colorful new location for DPW?

Status Quo Farmers Market

Spring Street lot (bottom left) Boltwood Avenue Grace Church (right)

While farmers are not exactly in the same league with biblical money changers, Grace Church still had "major concerns" with a new proposal to close down Boltwood Avenue in front of the Church for vendors citing summer/fall as a busy time for them with weddings and funerals, while noting they hosted the packed ceremony for beloved Town Manager John Musante last fall.

The Select Board quickly voted to allow the same set up as last year:  the Spring Street lot and a small stretch of south section of Boltwood Avenue in front of The Lord Jeff Inn (or whatever its new name will be.)

 Farmers Market manager Tammy Ryan and Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek quickly backed away from street closure request last night

Acting as "keepers of the public way" the Select Board also voted a " No overnight parking" policy for the Spring Street lot so that Amherst police could legally tow vehicles that were there at 6:00 AM when the Market is trying to set up.

The Amherst Farmers Market opens April 23 and runs through Novenber 19 from 8:00 AM until 1:30 PM.

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter banner went up over South Pleasant Street this morning

Barbara Love, former Amherst School Committee Chair and Professor Emeritus of Social Justice Education at UMass,  told a crowd of 75 gathered in Amherst Town Hall that the Black Lives Matter movement is "Not a statement of value of other lives but simply our effort to make a statement that black lives matter, to contradict historical forces that have placed black lives in jeopardy."

She opened her presentation with "I'm so proud of Amherst, so proud to call it my home."

And closed with a vignette about driving back to Amherst late one night a few weeks ago and upon crossing the town line  "I noticed my shoulders relaxing. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was feeling safe and secure because I was at home. I'm in Amherst."

Turning towards Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone she stated emphatically, "Thank you for creating a community where I can feel safe."

 Chief Livingstone and Barbara Love embrace at Town Hall ceremony for Black Lives Matter

The two embraced at the close of her speech as the crowd broke into applause.

 Standing room only crowd attended the event in the Town Room

For his part Chief Livingstone said he was approached at the Martin Luther King Breakfast back in January about the banner ceremony because folks did not want him or his department to feel like it was a statement against them.

 Russ Vernon Jones (standing left), former Fort River School principal, help coordinate event. Representative Ellen Story (standing center) and Dave Ziomek (standing right) also in attendance

He told the crowd that would have never even have occurred to him.  He instantly volunteered to do whatever he could to help make it happen and even wondered why it took so long.

In closing the Chief Livingstone read from the department Mission Statement that was written by his officers over six years ago when he first became Chief:

"We value and are grateful for the diversity of our community and the confidence they have placed in us.  We strive to protect the safety, rights, and property of every person in the town of Amherst.

We are committed to the enforcement of the laws, preservation of order and improving the quality of life for our community.  We do so in partnership with our community, while holding ourselves to the highest professional and ethical standards."

Amen.

First Congregational Church (adjacent to Amherst Police Station)

Unitarian Church town center

Time For Change

March 29:  Most important local election in the past 11 years

'Amherst For All' is coming under criticism for something they never did -- publicly call for Town Meeting termination -- from 'Amherst Town Meeting Works', who publicly whine about maintaining our antiquated form of government by begging a No vote on the March 29 ballot question concerning the formation of a new Charter Commission.

Of course this falls right into the same category of hypocrisy demonstrated by those candidates now running for the Charter Commission who refused to sign the initial petition that brought the question to the March 29 ballot in the first place.

At the very least it shows they do not have much confidence their side will triumph on the all important ballot question.

Even more hilarious is the new video from the undynamic hat duo, Mary Wentworth and Michael Burkhart, with their Pulitzer Prize investigative hatchet piece riddled with errors.



Because W.D. Cowls and Jones Properties donated a measly $200 each to Amherst For All, which was an organization with the stated goal of supporting a ballot question that simply allows voters the right to choose, is hardly a grand conspiracy.

I'm sure both companies gave many times over that this past year to local sports teams and social service agencies.  And Cinda Jones granddaddy also had a daughter, so he did not split his empire between just two sons.

She is also not the "biggest property owner in Western Mass."  Her multi-generational owned company, W.D. Cowls, Inc is.  In fact they are the #1 property owner in the entire state, although the vast majority of the empire consists of undeveloped woodlands.

 Note who two of the sponsors are (right column)

And if it was not for Barry Roberts buying the old College Drug Store in 1991 after a fire forced any redevelopment to include an elevator, that building would probably still be a downtown eyesore.

As well as the First National Bank building directly across the street that he purchased and renovated twenty years ago.  A building that currently has a prime vacancy after TD Bank moved out, but still costs Barry a bundle in property taxes. 

Eleven years ago Amherst Town Meeting Works raised almost $7,000 to defeat the Mayor/Council/Town Manager government that came out of Stanley Durnakowski's one man crusade to  collect the thousands of signatures required.

 Stan Durnakowski Amherst Bulletin column 2002

And Stanley had a prominent sign that was always by his side:  "Time For Change:  Sign This Petition For A Mayor For Amherst."

You can't get much more clear than that.  Yet 3,000 people still chose to sign his petition.

Yes, Amherst For All was non-committal when it came to clearly saying it was time to terminate Town Meeting, but that's certainly not why 3,500 people still chose to sign their petition.

And now they have formed a second organization, Amherst For Change, that will probably get more forthright with messaging.  At least I hope they do.

 Now you know who NOT to vote for (see 9 above)

Here's who you vote for!