New DPW Building Starting To Roll

DPW, aka "The  Barn," has a plethora of equipment

The $75,000 Department of Public Works building consultant is expected to be finalized in the next two weeks. They will give recommendations about departmental operations and how that would impact the new building and where it should be located.

Should for instance the Parks Department, now located at the War Memorial Pool be brought into the fold, or should other internal departments now housed at "The Barn" be spun off into smaller satellite locations?

The report is expected to take only two or three months. 

 Absorbing DPW Parks Department (top center) into new building would free up space for recreation at War Memorial Park

Best news coinciding with this $20 million project is the proposed reuse of the current DPW property (after demolishing the building): A new South Fire Station, also preliminary pegged at $20 million.

Both of these town projects are trying to keep up with the other two building projects now on the fast track:  The Wildwood Elementary School project and the Jones Library expansion/renovation.  

 Giant row of 50' arborvitae would be clear cut to make entrance for new Fire Station

Pothole Relief

When filled with water, potholes act as landmines for unsuspecting drivers

Governor Charlie Baker announced yet more good news for drivers across the state:  A $30 million reimbursement program to fill those pernicious potholes.  And since the road repair work has to be completed by June 15th to qualify, municipal officials can't afford to procrastinate.

The money is being apportioned using the same Chapter 90 distribution formula, so Amherst will be getting $126,035.  That's in addition to the extra $400,000 announced in Chapter 90 money a couple months ago.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring reports that at $74 ton he should be able to purchase around 1,500 tons of asphalt.   A pothole 6" deep, one square yard around requires about a quarter-ton to fill,  so that's enough for 6,000 potholes.

Although there's other expenses for asphalt tack coat, prep tools, equipment rental and the hiring of a some part-time help. 

All in all, a good start for spring.

Just one of the many benefits of a Republican Governor.   Not that it will win him many votes in the People's Republic of Amherst.

A Million Here & A Million There

Crocker Farm Elementary Pre-school playground will get $25K to meet ADA requirements

The Joint Capital Planning Committee voted unanimously this morning to support the $3,070,457 FY16 spending plan shepherded to them by Finance Director Sandy Pooler, representing 7.5% of the total town tax levy.

 Sources of funds:  taxation, ambulance revenues, Chapter 90 state aid, CPA, borrowing

Although the committee still pines for the day when the capital spending rises to 10% of the tax levy.

The only changes from last week were a result of push back by the JCPC on Mr. Pooler delaying $25,000 in to make playground equipment at Crocker Farm Elementary School ADA compliant and $10,000 (out of original $35K proposed) for studies and improvements to a resurging North Amherst Village center.  Both items are now back in for FY16, which starts July 1st.

North Amherst Village Center

Saying that this has "emptied the coffers" to cover all the requests from department heads, Mr. Pooler did point out that he reserved $25,000 for Fall Town Meeting to cover the cost of electronic voting devices for 256-year-old Amherst Town Meeting.

Looking down the road Mr. Pooler unveiled a graphic data base that depicts the impact of four major capital projects (South Fire Station, DPW, Wildwood Elementary and Jones Library expansion/renovation) on annual spending if all $57 million were to be covered by borrowing, although some of the projects will probably be financed via a "Debt Exclusion Override".

Since Amherst Fire Department has to protect all this future development it would make sense for the forever talked about new South Fire Station to go first.

Unfortunately, Town Meeting and making sense do not always go hand in hand.

Click to enlarge/read.  Red is new fire station

 Annual debt payments would triple, but decline over time

Current debt with a couple of small projects included (Fort River School roof, Kendrick Park renovation)

 Numbers for four major construction projects

Fill 'Er Up

Amherst DPW takes a 35 ton delivery of salt this morning

You can't fight a war without the proper equipment and supplies.  Especially when dealing with Mother Nature,  who is one Hell of an opponent.

Yesterday the DPW took two 35 ton deliveries of salt, one delivery today, and still has another 200 tons to go from a previous order.   And today -- based on current forecasts -- just ordered another 800 tons.  All of it at $78.46 /ton.

Hold Your Horses

First laid out in 1912, Shumway Street is going to have to wait another year for a total renovation -- including water/sewer, sidewalk and of course the main road itself.

The entire street is only 940 feet long, connecting Main Street to College Street/Rt 9 with a neighborhood consisting of eight single family homes and one two-family home.

Like many streets in Amherst that 50 years ago would have been exclusively "owner occupied" Shumway Street has changed by the presence of UMass/Amherst.  Now 4 of the 9 dwellings are rentals.

Perhaps one reason why Shumway Street is eligible for Community Development Block Grant funding which has income eligibility (middle-to-lower income) restrictions.  

The town is going to receive $825,000 in CDBG funds this year and 65% of it must be spent on "non social service" items.

The DPW put in for $727,000 to cover the entire cost of renovating Shumway street but the committee who oversees the distribution of the funds is only recommending $233,742 be allocated.

And since the federal money does not become available until this coming October, the neighborhood improvement project will probably have to wait until next year. 

The town will likely dip into Ch. 90 road funds to cover the other two-thirds funding.

Fortunately our new Republican Governor released an extra $100 million in "roads and bridges repair" funds (Ch. 90), which will result in a $400,000 bonus for Amherst.  

Bring It On!

DPW supply teepee is one of the busier locations in town this morning

Assuming the venerable Amherst Select Board is hardy enough to meet this evening they will hear a half-year budget update that shows good news and bad news from the DPW budget line:

  

Original budget, Amount spent, Encumbered, % of budget spent

Good news is of course the ambitious LED lighting retrofit of all the street lights in town is paying off handsomely in electricity savings (only consuming 15% of the budget at the half-way point).

And, almost as important, the new LED lighting in the Amherst Town Room (where the SB meets) makes photos look a lot better as well.

The snow and ice budget is not really 29.4%  in the red, as Guilford Mooring points out the amount shown as "encumbered" reflects a full season's worth of supplies. But he does verify that tomorrow's Snowmageddon will most likely bust the budget:

Click to enlarge/read

Even that, however, should be mitigated by Federal Emergency Mgt Agency reimbursement if things turn out as bad as universally predicted.

The DPW are the unsung heroes at times like tonight, tomorrow and maybe even into Wednesday.

Public safety personnel simply could not do their potentially lifesaving jobs if not for those big yellow trucks keeping the streets passable.  Another good reason to stay off the roads once the snow starts to fly: 

Let the police, fire and DPW do their vital work.

Tips from the town

Inauguration Present

 DPW Chief Guilford Mooring: rare good news for Public Works Committee last night

Even though he lost Amherst by a landslide to ultimate choke artist Martha Coakley, Charlie Baker gave our town -- and all the others in the Commonwealth -- a nice inauguration gift in his first act as Governor: releasing $100 million of the original $300 million Chapter 90 money for roads and bridges repair.

For our little college town that translates to an extra $400,000 on top of the original $817,000 already received.  And it raises hope the town will get another $1.2 million in Chapter 90 money for the upcoming Fiscal Year.

Even though he inherited a budget gap of $500 million from his Democratic predecessor the new Republican Governor made good on a campaign promise to protect local aid, citing the spin off benefits of job creation and public safety.

Bumper stickers available at Cushman Market

As any North Amherst resident can attest, Pine Street is the BIG project yet to be completed, which still requires a finish coat this coming construction season.  The extra $400,000 will go a long way towards covering that.

Pleased to follow through on our commitment to local infrastructure by releasing $100 million in Ch. 90 funds today: http://t.co/vvze3OLSPO
— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) January 8, 2015

Just So You Know

 Tow truck used same route through Amherst College to get to wrecked truck

Three weeks after a vegetable truck downsized the hard way while trying to negotiate under the railroad bridge on South East Street, the town has put up a couple of signs warning about the stingy clearance.

Sign on rt faces the dirt road that comes down Fort Hill

Apparently the new Book & Plow farm on Amherst College property has increased traffic from the dirt road that connects from their the tennis courts to South East Street coming out very near the bridge.



The other equally low bike path bridge up by Mill Lane, a half mile away, is clearly marked on both sides so the theory used to be you would never make it under that bridge to get to this one.

Not any more.

Get The Lead Out

Amherst Town Meeting will vote on a citizens petition article targeting fluoride -- produced in China -- used in the municipal water supply. 

The petition requests the town purchase the additive only from providers who can guarantee the purity of the product, and calls for the water department to test shipments to ensure they are free from contamination.  

The town of course follows strict state imposed testing requirements on the water supply, and in the most recent "Water Quality Report" (2013) Lead and Copper tested below actionable levels, although those tests were taken in 2011.

The next test for lead (required every three years) is serendipitously scheduled for late October, in time for the Fall Special Town Meeting which starts November 5.

 Click to enlarge/read

Pine Street Permutations

North Amherst residents will be pleased to know their major thoroughfare will be a lot more drivable by the end of "this construction season," (which usually means when the snow flies) after a base coat of pavement will be put down the entire length of Pine Street. 

It has been a long haul thus far with the road ripped up for water sewer upgrades and then a major overhaul which is yet to come, but should be completed in calender 2015.

 Bumper stickers available at Cushman Market

The town twice put in for a $4.3 million MassWorks grant but were turned down both times.  DPW Chief Guilford Mooring reports we have spent $1.8 million in Water & Sewer fund money so far and a funding request to complete the work will go to the Fall Town Meeting somewhere in the $2 million range.

The Town Manager will make a recommendation to the Select Board about the final tweaks, which hinge on whether there should be a separate bike lane AND sidewalk or just one multi-use path for both.

The Public Works Committee already voted unanimously for the single 10 foot wide multi-use path on the south side of Pine Street.  The town needs to confirm final layout before putting down the base coat.  The Select Board has final say. 

Pine/Bridge Street roundabout (near Cushman Market) now off the table because of how much land taking would be required

I'll Be (Another) Roundabout

Intersection Triangle Street/East Pleasant Street and a main Gateway to UMass

Amherst Town Meeting under article #32 will vote on acquiring easements around Triangle and East Pleasant Streets for yet another roundabout, after the success of the double roundabouts at Atkins Corner and the original one at UMass, North Pleasant street/Eastman Lane.

All sorts of major developments are proposed for the neglected north end of town center, including the Archipelago Investments already approved five story,  mixed use --36 units of residential and ground floor retail --  Kendrick Place, which butts up against the proposed roundabout.

Archipelago Investments has also made a $4.6 million offer to buy the Carriage Shops a few hundred yards from the intersection and they will nuke the aging complex to make way for a humongous new mixed-use development.

All of which dramatically stimulates traffic -- both foot and vehicle -- to and through that end of town.

Of course you can't make them drunk driver proof

A Storm Approaches

Amherst DPW sand/salt pile 4:00 PM

I can always tell when a storm is approaching as there's a run on the free sand salt pile in front of the DPW building, kind of like that run on milk and bread at the local grocery store.  

Amherst stopped using sand this season but the town continues to provide it to homeowners (at least until the supply runs out).  

And yes, I've been wondering if the high number of accidents on Saturday (23) could have been somewhat lessened if the town still used sand instead of switching to magnesium chloride.

Sign Of The Times

Sand pile Amherst DPW

Even though the town has eliminated sand from its war-on-winter arsenal, the DPW continues a generations old practice of providing a free sand/salt pile (even providing a shovel) at their home base conveniently located a mile south of Amherst town center.

Last winter the DPW used between four and five THOUSAND tons of sand mixed in with 1,000 to 1,500 tons of salt.  

The town will continue to use salt, but will do so mixed in a liquid goo of magnesium chloride which can be applied to the roads even before the first snowflakes fall.  Massachusetts Department Of Transportation switched over to this formula years ago.

The current sand/salt inventory is left over from last year.

The town gave up the equally long-time practice of filling ugly green boxes stationed around town a few years back; and the most recent free delivery of sand/salt to homeowners who place buckets by the side of the road may also be the last time for that service.   

What's next, doctors and milk producers giving up house calls?

Do Over

Sunderland Road, North Amherst

As any of you North Amherst natives know Sunderland Road was repaved last year using the environmental "green" technique of "Recycled Hot Emulsified Asphalt Treatment,"  or "ReHeat" for short.

The efficient ReHeat technique chops up old pavement, adds in hot asphalt emulsion additives and puts it back down ... all in one quick pass. 

The method even costs a little less than the traditional approach.  Except in the case of Sunderland Road, it didn't work.  Potholes started appearing even before the first winter was done.

So the DPW is doing it over and Gallagher Asphalt of Thornton, Ill. repaid the town for most of the projected cost.  Other problems were discovered not related to their original work, and the repaving job they did on North Pleasant Street and University Drive seem to be fine.

I'm told the road repaving is scheduled for Thursday, barring any snow.  Businesses in the North Amherst Village Center will be pleased.

Another Tradition Gone?

Amherst DPW last fall

Like frost on the pumpkins or that eye popping kaleidoscopic color change in our tree canopy, another sure sign of winter's approach is the pile of sand that takes up a parking space at the Amherst DPW every fall and winter.

But like telephone booths, the sight may soon be a thing of the past.

DPW this morning

Yesterday the Water Supply Protection Committee voted to support the elimination of sand from the DPW arsenal used to combat Mother Nature.  Last winter the town used between 4,000 and 5,000 TONS of sand mixed in with between 1,000 and 1,500 tons of salt.

The town will continue to use salt, but will do so mixed in a liquid goo of magnesium chloride which can be applied to the roads even before the first snowflakes fall.  Massachusetts Department Of Transportation switched over to this formula years ago.

As an immediate neighbor to the DPW I'm going to miss all the "sand crabs" -- those cars and trucks that flock to the pile in the hours leading up to a winter storm. 

Water, Water, Everywhere

UMass Water Tower, Orchard Hill, E. Pleasant Street, Amherst

The $1 million renovation of the UMass 1.5 million gallon (less than a dollar a gallon!) water tower is complete.  The tower is now back on line helping to provide adaquate water pressure throughout Amherst's water/sewer system.

And yes, in the event of a fire, you can bet the fire hydrant in front would provide a heck of a flow. 

Tennis Anyone?

 Amherst Regional Middle School tennis courts

The tennis courts adjacent to the Amherst Regional Middle School, like a lot of construction projects around town, is expected to be completed by October 1st.  The $225,000 capital improvement project was approved by Joint Capital Planning Committee and Town Meeting last spring.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring says there's still a lot of work to be done, including "Fence post sleeves, top course of asphalt, painting, new fence and nets."

The Amherst DPW did the site work, Warner Brothers is doing the paving and Vermont Recreational Surface and Fencing handles the final detail work.

Homeland Security Comes To Amherst

 

Amherst DPW 1:00 PM Monday

The Amherst DPW, my immediate neighbor, became a staging area yesterday afternoon for a federal Homeland Security investigation bringing four cars with Feds, two APD cruisers and a AFD ambulance to their already busy parking lot located only one mile south of Amherst center. 

My first reaction was somebody was going to detonate something bad in town center.   The only immediate information I could glean was that it was "not terrorism related," so that kind of ruled out my initial fear; furthermore, it was not a safety concern for my family here in South Amherst.

Whew!

According to APD Chief Livingstone:

"We were assisting only the Dept of Homeland Security on a non emergency issue. Any statements would come from the department of Homeland Security…"

Anyone know someone at Homeland Security?

Out With The Old

Hillcrest Place water/sewer reconstruction: in house DPW job

Running water is kind of like electricity -- easy to take for granted until an October Snowmageddon knocks out the power for a week, although fortunately the water continued to flow.

Folks on Hillcrest Place have been having "issues" with their water for years.  Mainly low pressure and discoloration -- is in yucky brown and yellow.

Not Mother Nature's fault unless you consider old age to be her handy work, as the Hillcrest Place line is one of the oldest water mains in town, consisting of a cast iron 4" pipe.

 A fire hydrant temporarily provides water to the street

The project is about half done and DPW Chief Guilford Mooring hopes it will be completed by the end of the month.  And the new water line, made of Ductile Iron, should last over 50 years.

 

New pipes await installation on a rainy day

Residents on Hillcrest Place will raise a glass (of water) to that.

Waterworks

Orchard Hill, E. Pleasant Street.  Water towers are routinely located on high ground

The 1.5 million gallon UMass water tower on East Pleasant Street is closing in on completion of a major $1 million renovation and should be fully functional in time for the return of the students in the next few weeks. 

A water tower's main function is to maintain round the clock pressure in the water system and provide extra back up in case of a peak draw (hot summer day) or unexpected event, like a major fire. 

UMass is hooked into the Amherst water/sewer system, which they pay for like anyone else.

Amherst owns the smaller tank next to the UMass tank but it only holds 500,000 gallons.  Additionally the town has two larger tanks each holding about the same as the UMass tank, or 1.5 million gallons.

Thus our total reserves when the UMass tank goes back online will be 5 millions gallons in all the tanks and another 1 million in clear wells near the two treatment plants.


Project got off to a rocky start mid May as lift machine stranded worker near top of tower, requiring AFD rescue

 On average Amherst consumed 2.65 million gallons per day of treated water last year, with UMass sucking up 31% of the total.

I'm told UMass wanted to install a "check valve" device to restrict the tank water only to their side of the system, but the town denied the request.

According to DPW Chief Guilford Mooring: "We are now in a very good position: The reservoirs are full. Every year is different and this is a good year. Usually we are shutting down the reservoirs because they are getting too low and the water quality is poor."

 
UMass tower is also a beacon for malevolent spirits

Hadley Water Tower, East Street