Town Council OK’s Increased Parking Permit Fees, Changes To North Pleasant Street, And Revised Plan For Polling Places

Report On The Meeting of the Amherst Town Council, April 4, 2022

Highlights

• Juneteenth celebration scheduled for June 18 and 19.
• Eversource to place a new electrical pole on College Street to connect solar installation at the north landfill.
• Plan for polling places for new precincts accepted.
• Changes to parking and traffic on North Pleasant Street approved.
• Revised Sewer Regulations Referred to TSO Committee
• Preliminary Regional School budget presented.
• Increased fees for residential parking permits passed.
• COVID vaccine booster shots available at the Health Department’s vaccine clinics, Thursdays, 3 to 5 p.m.

Present
All Councilors attended: In the Town Room: President Lynn Griesemer (District 2), Mandi Jo Hanneke and Andy Steinberg (at-large), Cathy Schoen and Michele Miller (District 1), Pam Rooney (District 4), and Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5). Only Miller was wearing a mask. 

Participating remotely were: Ellisha Walker (at large), Dorothy Pam and Jennifer Taub (District 3), Anika Lopes (District 4), and Shalini Bahl-Milne (District 5)

Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager) and Athena O’Keeffe (Clerk of the Council)

Annual Juneteenth Celebration Slated For June 18 And 19
The council unanimously passed the proclamation designating June 19 for the annual Juneteenth Celebration. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States following the Civil War. It commemorates the day in 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce that all slaves “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”

One of the councilor sponsors of the event Anika Lopes (District 4) said that events are scheduled throughout the weekend, including a historical walk highlighting the contributions of Amherst’s Black population on Saturday, June 18, a celebration with music and performances in the Mill District on Sunday, and a reading of the proclamation on the Common. The Civil War Tablets will also be available for viewing at the Bangs Center. 

Eversource To Place New Electrical Pole On College Street To Enable Activation Of The Solar Installation On The North Landfill
At a public hearing, Eversource representative Beau Castello outlined a plan to place a utility pole between two existing poles across from 314 College Street, near Shumway Street. Castello said the additional pole was needed for the capacitor bank required to connect the town grid to the solar field being constructed on the capped north landfill off Belchertown Road. In response to questions from councilors, he said it was not possible to put this connection underground or to utilize the existing poles 67 feet to each side of the proposed new pole. 

Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5) asked if the need for additional poles can be ascertained during the permitting process for new solar developments, not after they are completed. She wondered if the solar project at Hickory Ridge would also require additional poles. Costello said that Eversource could do an impact study for proposed solar projects and look at existing poles and their suitability, but he noted that solar installations require special capacitor banks that may require additional poles.

The measure passed unanimously.

New Polling Locations Approved
After she received some criticism for her original plan for polling places, Town Clerk Sue Audette met with several members of the District Advisory Board to incorporate their ideas for improvement. The result was a plan that resolved many of the complaints about the original version. In the new plan, Precinct 5a, which includes the Clark House and Ann Whalen House, as well as the Amherst College campus, will vote at the Bangs Center and not at the high school. Most of the UMass campus, which includes four precincts, will vote at the high school. Audette eliminated Wildwood School as a polling place because the nearby high school is more central and more accessible and has adequate parking.

The new plan passed unanimously, so the town can begin conducting its annual street census. Information about the new names of precincts and new polling places will be distributed along with the census cards. The plan will be submitted to the state, and efforts will be made to publicize the changes. 

Traffic And Parking Changes Planned For North Pleasant Street Near Kendrick Park
Superintendent of Public Works Guilford Mooring presented a plan for the redesign of North Pleasant Street near Kendrick Park. The design involves one-way traffic from south to north (from McClellan Street to Triangle Street) and back-in parking on the east side of the street. There will be an upgraded sidewalk and a southbound bicycle lane. Northbound bicyclists would share the road with cars. This plan is very similar to a plan passed by the previous council on December 21, 2021. Although Mooring said the Department of Public Works was too busy and too short of money to implement these changes at this time, Councilors Cathy Schoen (District 1), Dorothy Pam, and Jennifer Taub (District 3) urged him to implement at least the one-way street and elimination of parking on the west side of the street now as a safety measure because the Kendrick Park playground is being widely used.

In public comment, Rob Kusner also advocated for those changes as well as for the southbound bicycle lane to be clearly marked, which he said could be done with “paint and some one-way signs.” The street design presented passed unanimously, but the Town Services and Outreach (TSO) Committee is required to hold a public hearing on any changes in parking.

Revised Sewer Regulations Referred to TSO Committee
Along with revising the water regulations , the DPW is also working on updating the sewer regulations. Assistant Superintendent Amy Rusiecki said that Amherst has 122 miles of sewer mains with 22 pump stations feeding into the wastewater treatment plant located behind the Mullins Center. The system handles about four million gallons per day from about 6,500 sewer hook ups. Some recent challenges have been blockages and pump failures caused by people putting grease and flushable wipes into the system.

In response to councilor concerns, Rusiecki said that residents are provided with information on what can go into the sewer system yearly with one of their bills, and the IT department has tried to educate users through social media. Mooring added that the university and colleges, for the most part, tightly control what goes into the system from their dining halls and labs. 

Town Manager Paul Bockelman said he is looking into ways the town could provide water and sewer line insurance to residents, because some people have received large bills to repair the lines running to their homes. Shalini Bahl-Milne (District 5) asked how neighborhoods can get connected to the sewer lines. She said that the residents of Hulst Road were turned down when they requested that service. Mooring said that, in recent years, the Chapel/Mechanic Street neighborhood, Amherst Woods, and Harkness Road were added to the sewer system, but at the time of the Hulst Road petition, the DPW was not able to provide the service. He added that other towns charge residents a betterment fee for sewer hook-ups, but Amherst covers these fees in total. He said the Hulst Street neighborhood could apply again. In new subdivisions, the developer pays for the extra pipes.

Schoen and Andy Steinberg (at large) asked for a future discussion on paying for sewer hook-ups and a study of what other towns do. The sewer regulations, along with the water regulations, were referred to TSO with a report back to the council by May 16. The Finance Committee will discuss water and sewer rates.

Council Receives Initial Presentation Of Regional School Budget
An overview of the FY 23 Regional School budget was presented by Superintendent Mike Morris and Finance Director Doug Slaughter.

The elementary school budget will be presented on May 2. A more detailed discussion of the regional school budget will take place at the April 12 Finance Committee meeting. All four towns in the regional school district must approve the budget. Morris and Slaughter stressed that, despite declining enrollment, they have maintained all services from previous years. This has resulted in an increase of 3.9%,  but ESSER funds (federal Covid relief funds for schools) will supplement the contributions from the towns.

Mandi Jo Hanneke (at large) questioned how the repair of the track was presented in the budget, noting that $1.56 million is allocated but redesign and repair would cost $4.7 million. Slaughter answered that the track is in such poor repair that no home meets have been held there since 2018. The school would prefer to do the comprehensive project, but three of the four towns must agree to the increased cost. Therefore, the school committee is asking for money to get the project started and will seek additional funds from other sources, such as Community Preservation Act or ARPA funds.

Bahl-Milne asked about mental health services for students and staff. Morris said that State Representative Mindy Domb secured ongoing support from the Bright Program for professional development in mental health, and the district is required to use some ESSER funds for these services. The staff has organized Communities of Care to reach out to fellow staff who have had challenges over the past few years. Morris said that mental health among pre-adolescents and adolescents is an ongoing issue that the school devotes much attention to.

Hanneke requested a more detailed look at the budget, and Slaughter referred her to the 174- page version on the business office page of the Regional School website.

Residential Parking Permit Prices To Increase
Both the TSO and the Finance Committee approved increasing fees for downtown parking permits. While all permit fees will increase, the Finance Committee voted to increase the residential parking permit fee for cars not registered in Amherst to $400 beginning September 2022, while TSO voted for a gradual increase over three years.

In the proposal before the council, many of the decisions on fees were delegated to the town manager but Hanneke objected, saying that the council is the “Keeper of the Public Way” according to the charter. The proposal was changed to reflect that the parking fee decisions are under the jurisdiction of the council.

Bahl-Milne said she worried that the fee hike for cars not registered in Amherst  is “too steep and sudden” and would discourage residents from purchasing permits and lead them to park in areas of downtown where a permit is not needed. She suggested a $250 fee for cars not registered in Amherst, increasing to $400 over three years. This differential cost between cars registered in Amherst and those registered elsewhere was advocated because Amherst only collects excise tax for cars registered in town.

The amended policy passed by a vote of 8-5 (Steinberg, Schoen, President Lynn Griesemer (District 2), Ellisha Walker (at large), and Pat DeAngelis (District 2) voted no. The policy will go into effect on September 1, 2022.

Announcements
Schoen announced that all meetings of the Elementary School Building Committee and their subject matter from now until June are posted on the Committee’s website. Public forums will be held on May 5 and June 9. The June 9 forum will focus on  choosing the site and basic design for the school.

Bockelman announced that the town has obtained 6,000 rapid Covid antigen tests from the state. They are available at the Bangs Center and the Jones Library. There is no more PCR testing at UMass. The town is still holding its Covid vaccine clinics from 3 to 5 on Thursdays and will be providing booster shots for eligible residents by appointment or walk-in.

New CRESS (Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service) Director Earl Miller will be at a Cuppa Joe with Bockelman at the Bangs Center on Friday, April 15 at 8:30 a.m. Residents with questions or concerns or who would like to meet Miller are invited to stop in. 

Spring clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at various locations in town. The BID is hosting a post-clean-up party on the Town Common afterward.

The meeting adjourned at 10:44 p.m. The council will next meet on April 25.