Cyberattack Hits Town Website. Twenty-Nine Arrested at “Blarney Blowout.” Still No Site for New Fire Station.

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Town Council, March 10, 2025, Part 1

By Maura Keene

This meeting was held in a hybrid format and was recorded.

Present
Lynn Griesemer (President, District 2), Andy Steinberg, Mandi Jo Hanneke, Ellisha Walker (at large), Cathy Schoen and Freke Ette (District 1), George Ryan and Hala Lord (District 3), Jennifer Taub and Pam Rooney (District 4), Bob Hegner and Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5). 

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

Cyberattack Hits Town Website
Town Manager Paul Bockelman stated that the town website has received a denial of service attack last week and again on Monday, March 10. He said that the town was alerted by federal surveillance groups that they found something on the dark web saying, “We just took down Amherst Mass.” Lexington received a similar attack. Bockelman said the town is being vigilant, but sometimes the attack involves so many requests that the website just freezes up on people and people get tired of trying to access it. The IT department has been working on preventing future attacks. 

Council Clerk Athena O’Keeffe said that because of the cyberattack, she was unable to post the agenda for Tuesday’s Governance, Organization, and Legislation (GOL) meeting, so the meeting had to be canceled. She also had to try several times to post the agenda for the Town Council meeting before the website would accept it.

Mandi Jo Hanneke (at large) asked if the agenda for meetings could be posted in an alternate location if this occurred again, but O’Keeffe said that meeting information must be posted on the site registered with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, which is the town website. However, she is confident that the denial of service attacks will not keep happening.

Town Manager: March College Party Event Was Short But Intense
The annual March college student partying, formerly known as “Blarney Blowout,” took place on March 8. Bockelman said that the town was well prepared with police, fire, IT, and CRESS responders cooperating with UMass public safety. Most of the activity occurred between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. There were 29 arrests and 8 summons, most for drunken behavior.

Twenty-five people were transported to the hospital, most for alcohol related problems. Seventeen of the transports were from the area around the Townehouse apartments on Meadow Street. Cooley Dickinson Hospital set up a separate wing with extra staff to deal with the influx of patients.

Bockelman said the town and UMass will meet to debrief about the events soon.

Decision to Reduce Funds for Artwork at New Elementary School Postponed
The new elementary school being built at the site of the old Fort River Elementary School is the town’s first opportunity to apply the Percent for Art bylaw revised in 2023. The bylaw states that for every public building costing over $1 million, 0.5% of the total cost should be devoted to public art. For the elementary school, the allotment for public art would be $250,000. Elementary School Building Committee Chair Cathy Schoen (District 1) moved to lower the amount to $100,000 to save taxpayers money. She thought that, with the attractive landscaping planned for the site, the lower amount for artwork would be sufficient. 

Hanneke objected to lowering the amount before even knowing what could be obtained. She noted that artwork is expensive and that the bylaw did not require the art to be at the school site—it could be installed on the East Common across the street.

George Ryan (District 3) wanted to honor the spirit and letter of the bylaw. He also felt that the savings, over the life of building, of reducing the amount was not significant. Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5) asked for input from the building committee and the Public Art Commission before reducing the funds. She also hoped that some of the money could be used by art teachers to create permanent displays at the school, although Schoen said that the teachers would need to apply to the Public Arts Commission for funds.

Andy Steinberg (at large) moved to postpone the discussion to May 19. All councilors except Devlin Gauthier agreed.

In public comment, Public Art Commission Chair Thomas Warger said, “This is the first implementation of the Percent for Art bylaw. It’s something that the town worked on for many years and has been anticipated for a long time. The commission is charged with working with the Town Manager and town project committees, departments, and the public as we move through this process. We stand ready and really excited to work on this project.”

Town Manager Proposes Building Committee for New DPW and Fire Station
Bockelman proposed a 10-member committee to work on a new DPW and Fire/EMS station. The committee would have seven voting members: three residents, two town councilors, the Assistant Town Manager, and the Finance Director; as well as three non-voting members (the Fire Chief, Superintendent of Public Works, and Capital Projects Manager). He stated that since the sites and design plans have not been chosen, it would be more expedient to start with one committee and then divide into separate committees when there were specific plans for each project. He hoped the committee could begin work by July.

Councilors raised a number of concerns with the draft charge. Hanneke thought the term of service of five to seven years was too long, especially given the turnover in the council with elections every two years. She and Cathy Schoen (District 1) advised there to be two committees from the outset: one for the DPW and one for the Fire/EMS station. Pam Rooney (District 4) wanted the Fire Chief and the Superintendent of Public Works or their designees to be voting members of the committee.

George Ryan (District 3) said he thought that sites had already been selected for the two projects and that a finance plan was already in place. However, Bockelman said that the new fire chief did not feel that Hickory Ridge was a good place for the second fire station, even though the previous chief had okayed it. According to the financial model put forth, the town cannot start the fire station until there is cash in hand. Construction of a new DPW can begin by relocating vehicles and services at Ruxton in North Amherst while work on the new building begins. The town has a designer that it previously worked with for the DPW. Schoen asked if it would be possible to locate both the DPW and the Fire/EMS station at the same location, where the DPW is currently located. 

Bockelman said he would take the suggestions offered into consideration in revising the committee charge and will bring it back to the council. The council does not have to approve the charge, but must select the two councilors to serve on the building committee. 

TSO to Discuss Allowing Citations for Public Urination
Hanneke said that Police Chief Gabe Ting had expressed to her the need for a local bylaw prohibiting public urination. He noted that under current laws officers may only issue a verbal warning or citations for indecent exposure or disorderly conduct for those caught urinating in public. Both of these  charges are criminal offenses that lead to a court appearance and possible jail time or probation if convicted, and officers are reluctant to issue these citations for public urination. A local bylaw prohibiting public urination would allow officers to issue a ticket fining the offender.

Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier was concerned that there are limited options for public restrooms after hours in town. The only 24-hour public restroom is in the police station, and many people are unwilling to go there. Bockelman said the public restroom at Kendrick Park should be installed by July, but he was unsure if it would be open 24 hours a day. 

 Hala Lord (District 3) objected to the proposed bylaw. She said that she realized it was primarily aimed at drunken college students, but when she was unhoused in 2010, Craig’s Doors didn’t open until 9:30 p.m. and the library closed hours earlier. There were no indoor options for facilities, and she couldn’t have afforded to pay a $300 ticket. Also, she noted that New York City has a similar bylaw and has been known to issue tickets to young children. She stated that she could not support this matter until there was more access to public restrooms.

Andy Steinberg (at large) said he would like to get feedback from Chief Ting, because it sounds like he was looking for a middle ground between a criminal citation and doing nothing. Jennifer Taub (District 3) wondered how effective the bylaw would be, because if one saw this activity and reported it, the person would be long gone by the time police arrived.

The council voted 9-4 to refer the proposed bylaw to the Town Services and Outreach Committee (TSO). Voting no were Lord, Schoen, Ellisha Walker (at large), and Freke Ette (District 1).

Council Nixes Proposal for School Bus Monitoring Cameras
Red light violation cameras are not allowed in Massachusetts, but Governor Maura Healy recently signed a law permitting tickets to be issued to a vehicle passing a school bus that is stopped to pick up or let off a student. Tickets would be issued on the basis of video evidence from cameras mounted on the outside of the school bus. Hanneke proposed that Amherst allow external cameras on school buses; actual permission and cost for the cameras is the responsibility of the schools. Her motion to refer the policy to TSO was defeated by a vote of 5-8, with Hanneke, Ryan, Steinberg, Devlin Gauthier, and Council President Lynn Griesemer voting yes. 

Bob Hegner (District 5) cited the difficulty New Jersey has had in enforcing red light violations because drivers claimed that the state could not prove who was driving the car at the time of the violation. Pat DeAngelis (District 2) expressed opposition to any surveillance that might be used by the current federal government against residents.

Devlin Gauthier thought that the schools should make the decision whether or not to institute the surveillance and the council’s adoption of Hanneke’s provision would give them the option. She felt the town’s surveillance policies were strong enough to prevent abuse because they prohibit sharing data. 

CPA Recommendations and Tax Exemptions for Veterans Referred to Finance Committee
The Community Preservation Act Committee recommended $2.292 million to support community housing, historic preservation, and recreation and open space. Chair Sam MacLeod presented the 11 projects recommended for funding to the council. The recommendations will be sent to the Finance Committee for evaluation before coming back to the full council for approval.

The recommended projects are:

Community Housing

Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, $300,00

Historic Preservation

Amherst Historical Commission, survey of mid-century modern houses, $15,000;

Jewish Community of Amherst. repair of stained-glass windows, $210,000;

Dickinson Farmhouse at Wildwood Cemetery, exterior restoration, $88,520;

North Cemetery fence restoration, $40,000

Recreation

Recreation and Conservation area signs, $100,000;

Mill River baseball fields dugouts and electrical service, $80,000;

War Memorial Pool house replacement: $500,000 (to further the project that was estimated at $4 million, but the town hopes that the pool house can be redesigned and built for less);

Townwide trail and footbridge enhancements, repairs, and increased accessibility,  $130,000;

Groff Park accessibility improvement design, $100,000;

Townwide park equipment (benches, tables, trash cans),  $90,000

The debt service on the borrowing for the Kendrick Park playground is complete, but there is new borrowing for the $4.5 million track and field project planned for the high school. More information about the projects can be found in MacLeod’s report to the council.

Hanneke proposed property and automobile tax exemptions for veterans as is now allowed by the HERO Act passed by the state in August, 2024. The proposal was also referred to the Finance Committee for a discussion of its financial implications. Steinberg thought that the exemptions would have to be made up by shifting more of the tax burden to the rest of the population.

The Town Council meets next on Monday, March 24.