Getting Serious!

Large electronic billboard Rt 9 Amherst/Hadley line

A new lawn sign to join all the political ones

This morning our scientifically minded Amherst Water Supply Protection Committee heard a sobering report from DPW Chief Guilford Mooring and Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek updating them on the current water crisis, err, concerns.

 Water Supply Protection Committee, Dave Ziomek, Guilford Mooring

Click to enlarge photos/graphs

 Quickly heading towards previous lowest year, October of 1982

While Atkins Reservoir is easy to measure, the even more important wells at the moment are not.

So a pressure gage will be installed at two locations to give weekly reports on the static level of the water table to measure whether the wells can continue to produce water at current rates.

 Atkins Reservoir 8/24

With one reservoir unusable except for the fire department refilling their tankers and Atkins headed towards a shut down the wells will be our only means of survival.  And yes the town did rely exclusively on them at one point for a couple months back in the early 1980s.

The state has kept measurements on some wells for about 35 years and the closest one to Amherst in Pelham now measures the lowest in that entire 35 year history.

UMass is making plans for Armageddon by ensuring a bottled water supply could be made quickly available and switching to paper plates in case dishwasher units are eliminated.

Amherst College has set their air conditioning units 5 degrees warmer and the town is tapping the 380,000 gallons of water remaining in the two outdoor pools for routine tree and shrub watering at a rate of 1,000 gallons per day.

Water usage went down after the mandatory ban but is starting to creep back up

With our resident population about to double the peak water consumption day is coming up fast. Last year it occurred on September 6th at 4.2 million gallons.

This year town officials are hoping to keep it to 3.5 million gallons, although it seems to hard to believe since UMass traditionally consumed about 30% of the water supply.

 Even if consumption peaks at or a little over 4.2 mgd the wells can handle it

Barring any unforeseen catastrophes, like a monumental structure fire or a C5A crashing into the Lawrence Swamp and taking out Well 4, we should survive the long Labor Day weekend and the first few days of our little college town operating with all our beloved institutes of higher education in session.

The real question is what happens in late September, October and November if Mother Nature continues to deny us routine rainfall?

 The Ghost of Christmas future?

Not A Bad Nest Egg

Select Board August 29 New Town Manager Paul Bockelman's 1st SB meeting

Comptroller Sonia Aldrich updated the Select Board and new Town Manager Paul Bockelman on Monday night about the current financial shape of the town and it was a good to great report.

The town closed out FY16 with a surplus of $1.7 million from a total budget of $72.5 million, which included a $295,000 payment from UMass on the Hotel/Motel tax representing 21 months or almost two years worth.

UMass played hardball and bullied the town into signing a lousy 3.5 year "Strategic Agreement" with the caveat they would pay the Campus Center Hotel tax retroactively after they had ceased paying it due to a legal loophole.

The town now has $6.9 million in Stabilization, a savings account that requires a two thirds vote of Town Meeting to appropriate. 

And Free Cash, which only requires a majority vote to spend, once all the grants come in will be anywhere from $4.4 to  $4.9 million so total reserves could end up close to $12 million. 

Which sounds like a lot.  But not so much when you consider the four major building projects coming up that will require over $100 million in local tax dollars. 

The first of which, the new $65 million Mega School Override, comes up on the November 8th ballot.

DUI Dishonor Roll

MADD:  2014 drivers between ages 21-24 had highest percentage fatal crashes (30%)

Unfortunately it's a safe bet this coming weekend will have many times over the number of impaired drivers on the road, not only because our beloved students are back but also because it's a major holiday with one extra night to party hardy.

Jake Nolan, age 24, arrested by APD

 Click to enlarge/read

Alec Grater Cafiero, age 22, arrested by UMPD

Changing Of The Guard

Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek does the honors

Even before sitting down to his first official Select Board meeting as Town Manager Paul Bockelman posed with his bosses for a photo that will hang in Town Hall and be used on the town website.

But former Town Manager John Musante is far from forgotten.

Water Worries

Atkins Reservoir (8/28/16):  Currently down 7'10" with 87 million gallons remaining of 200 million

Pelham Reservoir currently unusable until Oct/Nov

In a presentation to the Select Board last night Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek gave a somewhat optimistic update about the slowly worsening water supply situation, citing the impact of mandatory water restrictions that went into effect August 19th.

 Town website main page

Click to enlarge

 Last year peak was 4.1 mgd on September 6th but this year's target is 3.5 mgd

Of course the BIG test has yet to come.  Last year September 6th, with a consumption of 4.1 million gallons, was peak day due to the return of our bread and butter college aged youth.

And suddenly everyone seems to remember the chaotic 1980 incident where the water system failed and UMass students had to be sent home.

The BIG difference this time around is Well 4 with a an output of 1.74 million gallons per day is online.  Back in 1980 the treatment plant known as "Baby Carriage" adjoining Well 4 -- which has high levels of iron and manganese -- was still under construction.

Scenic Baby Carriage Treatment Plant, South East Street

Atkins Reservoir is dropping about an inch a day so by this time next month -- unless we get significant rainfall -- it will need to be shut down.  

Without use of Reservoirs the Wells alone can pump out 4.72 million gallons

Town water quality report 2016

The key question is will this vital public water system, operating under stressful conditions and with our population about to almost double, hold?

Probably.

Atkins Reservoir expanding sandbar:

August 21st

August 28th

Get The Lead Out!

Crocker Farm School, built 1974 but renovated 2002 to a total of 90,800 square feet

As if our public schools were not already in enough chaos with classes scheduled to start only days from now, Crocker Farm, our South Amherst neighborhood elementary school, tested positive for lead in the water.

When it rains it pours.

Click to enlarge/read

Raw Date Test Results

Note worst result came from a drinking water bubbler

A BOLD Evening Indeed

President Obama, Katherine Appy, Laura Kent

Well at least Amherst School Committee Chair Katherine Appy will be able to write off the wine as a campaign contribution (cheese as well).  And considering the current chaos the public schools find themselves in, it's gonna take a LOT of wine to sell this $67 million dollar Mega School.

As a private individual Ms. Appy has every right to advocate for the November 8th Override question, but if a quorum of School Committee members (only two more) or three Select Board members attend the party, then it is a violation of Open Meeting Law since it has not been publicly posted.  And no, this article does not count.

And you also have to wonder if tax dollars are being expended to bring in lead architect Jim LaPosta to "give us updates and answer questions." 

 Click to enlarge/read

UPDATE:  As mentioned by Ms. Appy in comments this is a private gathering for like minded individuals, which rules out the vast majority of my readers.  Especially the beer guzzling or wine-from-a-box crowd.