Winter's Last Offensive

Tuesday morning. Back to looking pretty

Truck into stump Belchertown Road (Rt 9), driver transported to CDH

Sunday the white stuff was just enough to make things look pretty, but on Monday it brought a little chaos, closing public schools (except UMass) and contributing to dozens of accidents all over our town and surrounding communities served by Amherst Fire Department.

 Mill Valley Road, Hadley: car into tree (no injuries)

Some drivers were fortunate in not finding a solid object to stop their vehicle after going into a slide on ice and simply needed a wrecker to pull them back onto the road.

 Car pulled back onto road South Pleasant Street

Others were less fortunate as bridge abutments, trees, telephone poles, stumps and guard rails brought their out of control vehicles to an instant stop.

Car into bridge abutment South East Street

DPW counterattacks, town center

Miss Emily and Mr. Frost yesterday:  having a pleasant conversation

Miss Emily and Mr. Frost today:  "What the Hell?!"

Pretty In White

North East Street (Click photos to enlarge)

Town center

UMass

UMass Southwest

Wildwood Cemetery

South Amherst

East Village

Although, the windy storm did cause some damage, taking down a tree on East Pleasant Street into a utility pole that briefly knocked out power, and a beautiful birch tree in front of St Brigid's Church also came crashing down.

 Tree into wires East Pleasant Street (near intersect with Pine Street)

Birch in front of St. Brigid's fell, fortunately not on anyone

The Clickers are In, The Clickers Are In!

The 260 unit system cost $26,000

The electronic voting system hardware arrived at Town Hall in three convenient carry cases earlier in the week just in time for the 258th Annual Town Meeting, although probably too little too late to save the quaint but antiquated form of government.

 Sort of like buying a new saddle for a dying horse.

The system will help speed up the cumbersome process of Tally and Standing Votes cutting the time from 10 minutes down to less than one, and will provide better transparency as more votes will be recorded.

Fortunately the units can also be used for other meetings and public forums.  For instance the new Charter Commission at their first public hearing could ask the audience if it's time to ditch Town Meeting in favor of a City Council.

The units could send either a simply yes or no, or the questions could also be framed "On a scale of 1-10 how effective and responsive is Town Meeting?"

Town Meeting will also be asked for $25,000 to hire an expert consultant to assist the Charter Commission over the next year.

Kind of ironic if Town Meeting votes down that request using the new $26,000 voting system, eh?

Another Principal Resigns

Fort River could merge into a mega school if a $30+ million Override passes in November

Well today certainly has been a day for high profile resignations, first the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce and now the Fort River Elementary School principal.

I've lost count of how many principals have left the Amherst school system over the past six or seven years but suffice it to say, a LOT.

 Click to enlarge/read

Amherst Chamber Leader Resigns

 Don Courtemanche

While Amherst is heading into the final stages of hiring a new Town Manager the Amherst Chamber of Commerce will also have to start looking for a new Executive Director, as Don Courtemanche has stepped down after only two years on the job.

The Board of Directors has appointed Jerry Guidera to serve as Acting Executive Director for the time being.  Mr Guidera helped found 'Amherst For All', the organization that collected 3,250 signatures to place a Charter question on the ballot, which was easily passed by voters on Tuesday.

In addition to the Chamber of Commerce promoting business we also have a tax surcharge supported Business Improvement District that specializes in downtown programming.

And the town recently hired Geoffrey Kravitz as Economic Development Director.

The Cost Of Democracy

Andy Churchill, who received the highest number of votes for the nine member Charter Commission at Tuesday's election, appeared before the Finance Committee last night to defend his petition article to Town Meeting requesting $30,000 in seed money over the next year or so for Charter expenses.

 Andy Churchill is a former School Committee Chair

Churchill told the fiscal watchdogs he had talked to a member of the Collins Institute, a think tank who has provided such work to 14 Charter Commissions, and he corroborated the amount as "ball park".

Furthermore, the 2001 Amherst Charter Commission spent a total of $29,249 (over two campaigns) and East Longmeadow recently approved $30K for its Charter Commission.

The money would mainly go towards a consultant who would provide, "Expert support, do the legwork between meetings, research, organize articles, collect citizens input, and help draft the final legal document that will pass muster with the Attorney General."

The town is legally required to provide $5,000 to a Charter Commission within 20 days of the election and Churchill said his $30,000 figure did not include that amount, so he would amend his motion down to $25,000.

Finance Committee Chair Kay Moran also suggested he be less specific and simply make it a request for "Charter related expenses" rather than directly tying the entire amount to a consultant, since there will also be advertising and printing costs.

In addition he should spell out a source for the funding.

FinCom member Marylou Theilman suggested Churchill verify with the rest of the Charter Commission at their first meeting April 5 whether they approve of this request and get back to them by next week's meeting.

 Click to enlarge/read

The Charter Commission's initial agenda is to organize themselves by electing a Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk.

Since Churchill was by far the #1 choice of voters, he should be given the leadership role. 

Mill District May E-X-P-A-N-D

(red) Trolley Barn left, Atkins North top center Cowls Building Supply foreground

Atkins North and the Trolley Barn could get some company in the near future in that large lot on the south side of Cowls Road behind Cowls Building Supply, currently home to the saw mill that closed in 2009.

Beacon Communities, who purchased Rolling Green Apartments with $1.25 million in town assistance in order to keep it on our Subsidized Housing Inventory, is considering a mixed use, mixed income rental development with commercial space on the ground floor.

Beacon would manage the residential component and W.D. Cowls would maintain control of the commercial space.

The town's Master Plan calls for development exactly like this in Village Centers and the last two housing studies done for the town indicate an across the board shortage of housing -- especially affordable housing.

Since Atkins North opening last year the Mill District has already established itself as a destination spot.

Ye old saw mill will be demolished

The infusion of more potential customers within walking distance of the current amenities can only add to the vibrancy of North Amherst.

Beacon Communities is still in the planning stages and will no doubt do community outreach before any shovels hit the dirt.

Mill District is within easy walking distance of North Amherst center