Town Council: Water Rates To Increase In FY 22. Confusion Persists Over Committee Appointments

Report On The Amherst Town Council Meeting Of April 12 ,2021

The meeting was held via Zoom. A recording can be viewed here.

Participating: All Councilors present except Shalini Bahl-Milne (District 5)

Highlights

• Citation commending the UMass Hockey Team on their national championship
• Water and sewer rates to increase In FY22
• First reading of stormwater management bylaws

Preliminaries
Council President Lynn Griesemer (District 2) thanked the many Town employees who helped get the downtown ready for spring, adding plantings and decorated barricades for outdoor dining.Councilor Evan Ross sponsored a citation congratulating the UMass hockey team on winning the national championship. Passed 12-0.

Water And Sewer Rates Will Increase in FY22
Superintendent of Public Works Guilford Mooring and Assistant Superintendent Amy Rusiecki gave a presentation on the water and sewer rates for the next year. They estimate that the average homeowner’s water bill will increase by $48 and the sewer bill by $36 for the coming year. 

Mooring said that there are several reasons that these increases are needed. First, though there has been a general decline in water consumption over the past few years, many costs are fixed. Also, there have been improvements in infrastructure. Eleven million dollars was authorized this year to replace the Centennial Water Treatment Plant; but the cost  is now projected to be $13.8 million. Also, two improvements have been made to the sewer system, a gravity belt thickener and equipment for the Reuse Water treatment system for a combined estimated cost of $7.2 million. Lastly, the partial closure of university and colleges over the last year has resulted in a decrease in income.

The DPW hopes to generate more income through the Reuse Water program and by applying for grants. The Department will work with the Finance Committee to restructure the August water and sewer billing.

The new rates will still be well below the state averages and among the lowest in the region, although the comparable figures might not be up to date. Average state yearly water bills are $568 and sewer $838 as compared to the estimated Amherst cost of $504 and $552.These figures are based on an average of 120 cubic feet (90,000 gallons) per household per year. The new water rate will rise from $4.20 to $4.60 per100 cubic foot and the sewer rate from $4.60 to $4.90. Further discussion was referred to the Finance Committee.

More Confusion About Appointments To Council Committees
Near the end of the April 5 Town Council Meeting, George Ryan (District 3), Chair of the Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee (GOL), introduced a motion to amend Article 10.10 of the Council Rules and Procedures to establish a consistent policy for all Council appointments. This policy states that if a member of a committee has been an active contributor to that committee, they would generally be reappointed to a second consecutive term. If they have served six or more years, preference would be given to newcomers (see here). This proposal passed GOL by a 4-1 vote, with Hanneke dissenting.

A motion to accept it was made by Darcy DuMont (District 5) with a friendly amendment by Ryan stating that the Council is under no obligation to offer a reappointment and an applicant is under no obligation to accept one. reappointment and

Evan Ross (District 4) said he had no problem with the substance of the motion, but felt that it is  a policy and thus does not belong in Rules and Procedures. He said he thought the motion should go back to GOL to be reformulated as a policy. Steve Schreiber (District 4) and Andy Steinberg (at large) agreed, with Steinberg adding that diversity and expertise should be weighed, as well as prior service. Alisa Brewer (at large) cautioned against having a scoring system.

Dorothy Pam (District 3) asked councilors to think about what it looks like to those in Town thinking of applying to serve on a committee. It looks like they would be “wading into a minefield.” She wondered, “Why does this matter so much to certain councilors? It looks like there is some kind of power game going on.”

DuMont pointed out that the language in the motion closely follows the Town’s appointments manual. With Ryan’s amendment, it is a compromise. 

Cathy Schoen (District 1) noted that some of the Council’s rules look a lot like policies, and that this motion is ready to be used for upcoming Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals appointments. Then, if the Council feels it is better as a policy, it can be revisited . But Hanneke argued that the motion was only a portion of a policy. It only specified one criterion for appointment (serving a previous term), not to other qualifications for service.

Pat DeAngelis (District 2) pointed out that the previous Planning Board appointments were very controversial. A hard working member was removed and replaced with someone who had no relevant experience. Some Councilors are saying that we need qualified newcomers, and we do, but DeAngelis did not see that happen with the Planning Board. 

Ryan agreed this should be a policy. If it is referred back to GOL , the committee would add guidance on interviews, statements of interest, necessary qualifications, and other aspects of the appointment process. Griesemer said she has never felt comfortable with different committees having different criteria for appointments. She favors a comprehensive policy.

Brewer pointed out that the now defunct Outreach, Communications and Appointments Committee (OCA) had spent eight months developing such a policy, but  was then “dumped” because a majority of the Council wanted committees to have their own policies for appointments. She wanted to use an appointment policy similar to the Town’s policy so as not to “scare people off.”

Sarah Swartz (District 1) stated that most of the language in this motion came out of OCA. She asked how people can feel safe when they have done their work and showed up and respected others, only to be told, “Sorry, you’re being replaced.”  OCA developed a comprehensive policy, which the Community Resources Committee (CRC) then changed for the Planning Board appointments last August. The majority of GOL Councilors were also on OCA, so they will probably come up with the same policy. Ryan said he thought GOL could look at the OCA document and bring back something to be voted on in a short time.

Steinberg pointed out that if we want more BIPOC representation on committees, we shouldn’t give preference to existing members who are currently all White. 

Hanneke said the CRC will schedule interviews for Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) candidates within the next month, and it wouldn’t be fair to change the appointment policy in the middle of the process.

The vote to refer the appointment policy back to GOL was 7-5, with DuMont, Schoen, Swartz, Pam, and DeAngelis voting no. Four different  appointment policies relevant to this discussion are: the OCA policy, the CRC policy, the GOL policy, and the Town policy, administered by the Town Manager. These can be reviewed here.

Stormwater Management Bylaw — First Reading
Beth Willson, DPW Environmental Scientist, presented the proposed bylaws for stormwater management and illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE). This was originally presented at the December 20, 2021 Town Council meeting and was referred to committees. The EPA requires that municipalities obtain a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit. As one step in obtaining the permit, Amherst must approve these bylaws by June 30, 2021. The drafts were reviewed and approved by the Finance Committee, the Town Services and Outreach Committee (TSO), and the Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee (GOL) of the Council.

Mandi Jo Hanneke (at large) questioned why the Superintendent of Public Works is charged with enforcing the bylaw, and no mention is made of the police. Mooring said that this was the wording suggested by the Town’s attorney, but maybe it should say the Superintendent or his/her designee. Mooring said that illicit dumping would usually result in the Town  putting a lien on a property, but smaller infractions, such as dumping grease from a food cart into the sewer system, would be more difficult to remedy.

A second reading of these bylaws and a vote will be brought to a future Council meeting.

Announcements
All Councilors and the Town Manager participated in the antiracism workshop over the weekend. A follow up session is scheduled for May 7.

GOL is working on the charge for the Redistricting Committee. The committee will have residents and three nonvoting members consisting of the Town Clerk, a member of  the IT department, and one from the Board of Registrars.

Pam reported on the Council on Aging. She said that the Council is talking about reopening the Senior Center, which is located at the Bangs Center, but while vaccinations are being given at the Center, unvaccinated people are in the building. She said that some seniors would be anxious about returning to in-person activities, so the Center was looking at creating some smaller programs that would require preregistration.

Schoen reported that the Joint Capital Planning Committee (JCPC ) recommendations have been delivered to the Town Manager. Thanks to the hard work of Town staff, we now have a list of Town assets, and staff are working on a document outlining a maintenance schedule for Town property. JCPC recommended doubling the Town’s Sustainability Fund from $50,000 to $100,000 and applying for grants to promote zero energy projects.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman said that Amherst’s program to deliver Covid vaccines to homebound residents is expanding into other parts of Hampshire County. The Town is reserving 25 percent of its allocated vaccines for educators and childcare workers.

Bockelman will present the Town budget to the Council at the May 3 meeting. The revote on the North Common design will probably be on May 24.

The meeting adjourned at 8:57 p.m.