SantaCon Cancelled

To no great surprise, SantaCon Amherst is not going to happen.

Almost certainly due to the Select Board threat last Monday to hold (both) idiot downtown bar businesses responsible should anything go wrong.

And with 200 college aged youth, on the last day of classes, all dressed up as Santa's, crawling downtown bars, what could possibly go wrong?

UPDATE:  Saturday morning 7:00 AM

And nothing did go wrong.  Overall a rather uneventful overnight.  Well, except:

AFD responding to Townhouse Apartments, North #Amherst for a " trash fire in the quad."

— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) December 12, 2015

Who knew Rudolph was a smoker?

Tonight APD and ACPD will be on alert for Crossett Christmas, where UMass kids usually arrive in swarms to take over Amherst College.

UPDATE:  Sunday morning 7: 00 AM

Although there were a bevy of AFD transports for alcohol OD Amherst College PD and extra private security forces managed to keep the chaos under control this year.  And since Amherst College is tearing down the social dorm this spring, the last Crossett Christmas goes out with a whimper.

Holiday Cheer (In A College Town)

Police pushed about 400 or so students off the quad area Amherst College

Amherst Police came to the assistance of Amherst College PD around midnight last night to clear out a large party in the quad area near Crossett Dorm which had, like last year, gotten out of hand.

The annual event, known as Crossett Christmas, attracts a bevy of off campus students from our other institutes of higher education.

And when you attract an extra few hundred college aged youth, mix in alcohol, loud music, and somewhat hospitable weather, things can quickly go wrong.

Amherst College PD:  If you see non AC students with backpacks and they will not let you inspect them, escort them off campus.
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) December 7, 2014

So many fire alarms were pulled AFD ended up stationing a engine at the scene for well over an hour.

The crowd was never anywhere that of the Blarney Blowout (400 vs 4,000) and it only took ten minutes to disperse.  Umass Police also assisted with foot traffic as hundreds of youth ended up on busy Rt 9 walking back to town center to catch the PVTA buses.

 Engine 1 East entrance 11:30 PM

Engine 1 parked in front of Crossett Dorm

APD briefly staged at Orr Rink then moved in from the south

AFD ambulance had trouble getting through fleet of taxis that were coming and going 

A Fair Share

UMass, Amherst & Hampshire Colleges account for 27% of all AFD calls

On Thursday all the head honchos -- Select Board, Finance Committee, Town Manager John Musante and Finance Director Sandy Pooler -- will meet in Town Hall for the unveiling of the Town Manager's Fiscal 2015 budget.

Don't expect any earth shattering changes.  Although maybe, finally, a much overdue increase in staffing for our beleaguered public safety departments.

One thing that should be discussed is reimbursement monies from our three institutes of higher education.  You know, the reason why Amherst is a "college town."

The main one of course is UMass.  The original 5-year "Strategic Agreement", which pays the town $350,000 in new monies annually, expired June 30, 2012 but was extended for a year.

NFD mutual aid ambulance, AFD Engine 3 Pierpont Dorm UMass for ETOH student 

In 2013 Amherst Fire Department responded to UMass 1,162 times with 843 of those (73%) responses for medical emergencies requiring an ambulance, with 219 of those (26%) for "substance abuse."  So that means the other 319 responses required a fire engine.  Ambulance runs generate insurance revenues, fire engine runs do not.

 AFD Engine 2 on scene Crossett Dorm Amherst College

In 2013 AFD responded to Amherst College 212 times with 152 of those (72%) responses for medical emergencies requiring an ambulance, with 39 of those (26%) for "substance abuse."  The other 60 responses required a fire engine (or two).  Last year Amherst College "donated" to the town $90,000 as payment towards those emergency services.

Although after the Crossett Christmas incident last month let's hope they go back to the $120,000 they gave us in 2007.

In 2013 AFD responded to Hampshire College 184 times with 71 of those responses (only 39%) for medical emergencies requiring an ambulance, with 17 of those (24%) for "substance abuse."  The other 113 of those responses required a fire engine.

AFD crew heading toward Hampshire Dining Commons for an  ETOH female 12:20 AM

So out of the three institutes of higher education AFD protects, Hampshire College has by far the higher percentage of responses requiring expensive equipment that does not generate insurance reimbursement.

Last year Hampshire College paid the town zero, zip, nada for emergency services received by the town.  And as a tax exempt educational institute they paid almost nothing in property taxes.  Yet they are one of the most expensive colleges in America at $57,130 per year.

And last year Hampshire announced it would offer an "undocumented student" $25,000 per year to cover those high tuition expenses.  At least that student will be well protected (at local taxpayer expense).

Good & Bad

LifeFlight helicopter dropped in for a visit to Amherst College

The crew of the Worcester based UMass Memorial LifeFlight helicopter dropped in to do all-day EMT training at Amherst College on Sunday. That is of course the good.  In fact, great.

 Amherst College quad late Saturday night (the not so good)

 Shaki Holines, age 20, stands before Judge Payne

The AFD weekend report shows the bad influence on public safety wrought by the Amherst College "Crossett Christmas" late Saturday night. Amherst police also made two arrests.

   Weekend Runs Crossett XMass by Larry Kelley

In Eastern Hampshire District Court yesterday Mitchell Arthur and Shaki Holines had pleas of "not guilty" entered in their behalf for their Assault & Battery cases which were continued until January 26th.

 Mitchell Arthur, age 18, stands before Judge Payne

They both were released on their own recognizance.

Higher Education Subsidy?

Ladder 1 at UMass HVAC malfunction fire 12/2/14

Undoubtedly the presence of Amherst College (our #1 land owner), Hampshire College (#3 landowner) and UMass/Amherst (#2 landowner) provide the #1 opportunity for employment in town while also providing boatloads of "college aged youth" for our anemic business sector.

But do these tax-exempt institutions really pay their fair share, especially considering property taxes are the #1 revenue source for municipal services?

 AFD Engine 1 at Amherst College Crossett Christmas disturbance 12/7/14

A look at the cold hard facts reveals a simple answer:  Hell no!

In his budget presented yesterday to the Select Board and Finance Committee (and almost certainly to be passed this spring by Amherst Town Meeting) Town Manager John Musante allocates to the Amherst Fire Department $4,466,729.

 2014 was busiest year in history for AFD medical runs (2nd busiest overall)

In 2014 AFD had their second busiest year in history with a total of 5,914 runs with 1,566 of those going to our three institutes of higher education, or 26.5%, which works out to $1,182,789 worth.

UMass paid us $350,000 for AFD protection via a "5 Year Strategic Agreement" (that is now 2.5 years past due for renewal) and Amherst College paid $90,000.  Hampshire College paid zero. 

So total intake to the town coffers is $440,000 on a fair share of $1.2 million!  All these monies simply go into the town's General Fund, not directly to AFD.

Based on service provided, UMass (19% of AFD runs) should have paid us $848,678; Amherst College (4.25% of AFD runs) should have paid $189,835; Hampshire College (3.18% of runs) $142,041.

Amherst College is our #1 landowner and #1 taxpayer because of all the houses they own and rent to professors, and some commercial property (Amherst Golf Course and Lord Jeff Inn).

Last year Amherst College paid around  $490,000.  Hampshire College is our #3 largest landowner, but only paid $67,000 in property taxes on all their holdings last year.

 AFD on scene Hampshire College 12/9/14 for minor fire

Amherst College donated $90,000 to the town last year for AFD protection while Hampshire College -- one of the most expensive liberal arts colleges in America -- donated zero.

If the Town Manager could get our Colleges and University to pay their fair share for vital services, we could easily add a few firefighters to that overburdened public safety department.

And have money left over for a downpayment on the forever talked about, new South Amherst Fire Station.

The Power Of Persuasion

AFD Ambulance 1 enroute to Cooley Dickinson Hospital

The cancellation of SantaCon was instrumental in keeping the last weekend in a college town before the students head home, a quiet one.

UMass had the lowest number of ETOH drunk runs all semester although  "Crossett Christmas" runs at Amherst College were once again the highest of the semester.

   AFD SantaCon Weekend

And So This Is Christmas

AFD E2 arriving Amherst College late Saturday night  

UPDATE Sunday morning

About two hours after the large disturbance at Amherst College tied up (too) many of our public safety personnel, AFD and APD responded to a real (accidental), potentially deadly emergency, a chimney fire.

Had that fire occurred just two hours earlier,  the response may not have been as well coordinated ...

Original Post:

After an invasion by many hundreds of UMass students to the posh grounds of Amherst College this evening to crash an unofficial Christmas party, with escalating incidents of mayhem -- pulling fire alarms, breaking windows, spraying fire extinguishers, and trashing an outdoor Menorah -- Amherst College PD called for reinforcements.

 AFD Engine 2 on scene Crossett Dorm Amherst College

 

APD preparing to stage

Amherst Police responded in force. Amherst Fire Department was already on scene for the false alarm as well an overly intoxicated student.  After a half dozen cruisers activated their lights, horns and sirens, the quad was quickly cleared.

 APD and ACPD push crowd from south to north off the quad toward College Street

 Amherst firefighter among the crowd