Major Much Needed Parking Refresh

New machines are like Steve Austin:  "Better than before. Better, stronger & faster."

For the multitudes of you who have hated the multi-space parking machines the town installed five years ago take heart as all 12 could be replaced as early as this summer with much more user friendly ones from another company, which promises a more Apple computer like experience with their high tech gizmos.

This morning the Downtown Parking Working Group heard a one hour sales presentation for the Parkeon machines and DPW Director Guilford Mooring and Parking Czar Claire McGinnis will check out the other company that is on the state buying list but both seemed impressed with this particular product.

Current machines are hard to maintain in harsh New England environment

The town paid $110,000 for the Duncan machines but then soon had to add a lighted kiosk around them because the tiny monochrome screen was so hard to read at night and hard wired all of them because the batteries were not overly reliable, at an additional cost of about $25,000.

The current machines also used aging 2G transmission and the slow response of the keypad often causes user input errors.  And since they don't give a paper receipt,first time users are often left confused.

The Parkeon machines have been in use in Northampton for 12 years so are New England weather proven and are built like B52 bombers:  an indestructible outer steel shell designed to be upgraded with plug and play parts.

The base cost of the new machines is $85,000 but with a couple of bells and whistles will probably cost around the same as the original machines they are replacing.  Although they come solar equipped the town will use the hard wiring already installed in the same kiosk locations.

The machines can be programmed for either pay by space or license plate number or since it has a print function can also do the older style "pay and display" taking credit card or change.  And with the mobile app available consumers can conveniently pay online right from their ubiquitous smartphone.

The 7" color hi definition screen can be customized to display the town logo and can run commercials for local businesses with the printed ticket displaying a coupon offer.

 Downtown Parking Working Group at work

Clearly a double win for businesses in the downtown ... and everyday consumers. 

Marijuana Gold Rush

Rafter's property still needs a ZBA Special Permit for medical dispensary

If the medical marijuana market in Amherst is considered to be $10 million annually anyone want to venture a guess what the market in our little college town will be for recreational pot?  Yikes!

One sudden turn of events that has caught town officials by surprise is the aggressive timetable for implementing the successful November 8th ballot question which passed handily statewide and was overwhelmingly supported by Amherst voters by a 3-1 margin.

As of Thursday pot will be legal to possess or grow for personal use.  So if you see grow lights glowing all night long at your neighbor's house maybe they will share the bounty of their indoor crop which will also be legal to do.

 85 University Drive.  1st to get SB approval but still needs Special Permit

Commercial sales however will be as regulated as medical marijuana, but if those regulations are not in place by January 1st, 2018 medical marijuana dispensaries will be given a free pass to start selling the product to anyone over the age of 21.

Amherst has two facilities that have garnered both Select Board approval and a Special Permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals for medical marijuana.

Another two have the Select Board letter of support but have not yet gone before the ZBA for a Special Permit hearing, probably because ZBA Chair Mark Parent telegraphed at the 2nd hearing that he thought two permits should be the quota for medical marijuana.

But now that medical dispensaries are being given priority treatment as future providers of recreational pot that suggested quota just went out the window.

 55 University Drive received Special Permit from ZBA on June 30th

Last night the Select Board discussed the situation and briefly considered calling for a moratorium on issuing permits or letters of support for recreational pot facilities but they don't want to interfere with medical marijuana licensing, which have now become hopelessly intertwined. 

Town Manager Paul Bockelman will draft a letter to state officials describing some of the unique challanges facing Amherst, a college town with the lowest median age in the state, and the Select Board will review it next week.

169 Meadow Street, N. Amherst received Special Permit July 21st

Meanwhile, starting this Thursday, smoke 'em if you got 'em.  Just don't drive under the influence (not that the state has a reliable test for that).

Having three dispensaries located on University Drive has UMass officials concerned

Can A Neighborhood Pond Survive?

Markert's Pond off Pondview Drive South Amherst

One of the really neat things about Markert's Pond is its central location in the heart of Orchard Valley one of the original middle class working folk neighborhoods built in the 1960s.

For many, many years it was a year round recreational resource from skating in the winter to playing with frog and turtles -- not not so much snakes -- in the other three seasons of the year.

 The pond is centrally located in the heart of the neighborhood

But these days it is pretty much an eyesore.



Assistant Town Manager Dave Ziomek confirmed the town has not forgotten Merkert's Pond and will reinstall the outflow thingy in the spring.

Residents (and all the critters) will be thrilled.

Looking North March, 2016

Looking North December, 2016

Fireground: Chmura Road Hadley

Smoke was visible for miles around

The fire broke out around 1:00 PM

Three dozen firefighters fought a two hour pitched battle with a massive blaze brought on by a car fire in the attached garage.  The house appears to be a total loss but fortunately there were no major injuries to man or beast.

Vote Early Vote Often

Gazette is lucky to get 1,000 views per story so 10 times that is a tad suspicious

Entertainment oriented Internet polls are probably the reason why election voting is not currently available via the web since those quick polls are so easy to hack they give the process a bad name.

For instance I had no problems voting numerous times on the Gazettenet poll concerning the hot button issue of the new $67 million Mega School by using three different devices, an iPhone, Ipad and Mac laptop.

And after clearing cookies or changing browsers you can do it again, and again, and again.

But I'm sure somebody will use this poll as evidence of overwhelming support for the Mega School on the floor of Town Meeting when the issue is taken up again next month.

Just as defenders of the failed project insist on trumpeting the "will of the voters" by pointing out the razor thin margin of victory (less than 1%) at the November 8th election where a majority of voters did not even support the project.

P.T. Barnum (or the Russians) would be so proud.

If At 1st You Don't Succeed

 DPW Fire Station Advisory Committee

The DPW Fire Station Advisory Committee met yesterday for a lick-your-wounds strategy session after one of two proposals failed on the floor of Fall Town Meeting.

Specifically the $350,000 requested for a more advanced schematic design phase study of a new DPW building, which seemed like a lot of money compared to the $75,000 Town Meeting approved for an initial Fire Station study.

If the Fire Station can now catch up to the DPW by spring then the Committee will recommend two separate warrant articles for the Annual Town Meeting of around $350,000 each for the required schematic design phase, although most members agreed it would be helpful if each project had identified a building site by then.

The plan still seems to be for the Fire Station to locate where the DPW is now but town officials have now given up on Fort River School as a DPW relocation site.

Chair Lynn Griesemer was adamant the very preliminary proposed "ideal" DPW building is simply too expensive especially given it's three times that of the new Fire Station ($37 million vs $12 million).

 Weston & Sampson preliminary cost estimates new DPW

Over the next few months the committee will work with consultants Weston & Sampson to try to bring down the cost which normally does happen once a site is selected.

Another suggestion is for the committee to propose a maximum cap, say $25 million, and ask the consultants what kind of a DPW building can they come up with for that amount.

 Anything of course would be an improvement over what they have today.

DPW is located in 100 year old former Trolley repair barn in a really nice neighborhood

Just Build It!

Former sawmill property currently pays $10,000 annually in taxes

North Square at Mill District will pay over $500,000 annually in property tases

The good folks from Beacon Communities completed an exhausting trifecta this week with professional presentations to the Select Board on Monday, Planning Board on Wednesday and the second of three appearances before the all important ZBA last night.

And as usual the NIMBYs were out in force.

The North Square development is seeking a Comprehensive Permit to allow the 130 unit project to move forward.  Located on a 5 acre former industrial site with relatively flat terrain and good soil conditions the $45 million project would address two BIG problems in our little college town:

Over half our property is owned by tax exempts -- mainly our institutes of higher education -- so those of us on the tax rolls have to shoulder more of the burden.  And of the 50% of us on the tax rolls 90% is residential and only 10% commercial.

Former sawmill will be demolished 

The Beacon Project is mixed use with commercial on the ground floor or 20% of the entire project, which will of course feed off the other 80% that is residential.

Amherst currently has an 11.3% Subsidized Housing Inventory but the ONLY reason it is still above the 10% threshold (avoiding a Ch40B development) is because Beacon purchased Rolling Green Apartments 2.5 years ago and kept all 204 units on the SHI.

The 26 units of subsidized housing would be a significant contribution to that under served demographic since the 42 unit Olympia Oaks went online 18 months ago.

But because of the state and federal money involved the entire 130 housing units -- not just the 26 affordable ones -- will count towards the town's SHI thus guaranteeing protection from a hostile Ch40B for many, many years to come.

Beacon purchased Rolling Green for $30.25 million ($1.25 million of town CPA $) thus keeping it on our Subsidized Housing Inventory

Unfortunately in this town anti-development sentiment is an ingrained religion which does not differentiate between visionary projects like this one proposed by Beacon Communities and quick-buck cookie cutter projects  targeting our #1 demographic,  college aged youth.

 Zoning Board of Appeals last night

The ZBA should send a positive message to responsible developers state wide and wholeheartedly support North Square at Mill District with a unanimous vote on January 5th.

ZBA presenters (front row) and audience last night