Town Council Approves Plan For Redesign Of North Common And Community Preservation Act Allocations

Report On The Meeting Of The Amherst Town Council, March 22,2021

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

Participating: All Councilors. Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager), Guilford Mooring (Superintendent of Public Works), Dave Ziomek (Assistant Town Manager)

Highlights

• Citizens’ petition for a temporary moratorium on permits for certain buildings downtown.
• North Common redesign chosen
• Community Preservation Act allocations passed
• Updates on the proposed expansion of the Jones Library
• Funding to address systemic racism discussed
• Anti-racism training for councilors scheduled
• Town Manager report

The bulk of the meeting was allocated to discussion of a citizens’ petition to adopt a temporary building moratorium for certain areas of downtown. A separate article on that discussion can be found here.

North Common Redesign Chosen
Superintendent of Public Works Guilford Mooring presented the top designs for renovating the North Common. (The project received $500,000 from Community Preservation Act Funds and $1 million in previously allocated funds.) Plan 2  keeps parking on the east side of the Common in front of Town Hall, while Plan 3B would eliminate all parking on the Common and would create seven parking spaces along Main Street. Mooring said both designs could be built for the $1.4 million available. In both designs, parking would be added to the east side of Boltwood, which would be one way, from North to South.

Gabrielle Gould, Executive Director of the Business Improvement District (BID), surveyed businesses in the BID and reported that over 60 percent of them supported the plan with some parking, though all thought either plan would be an improvement over the current condition of the Common. She said that, prior to the pandemic, the BID had hoped that a parking garage in the CVS lot could be built in tandem with the North Common renovation so that downtown parking could be retained. However, the BID does not want the North Common work to be delayed “until a garage can be built.”

Reverend Tom Synan of Grace Church opposed Plan 3B because of the decreased parking. He said that the Church expecets to resume activities almost every night after the pandemic, and parking for participants would be difficult to find. Senior Warden Christopher Freitag worried about the one-way traffic meaning more cars passing the church. He wondered about the traffic pattern at busy times, such as during the Farmers’ Market. Their concerns are stated in a letter to the Council.

The Councilors were divided on the designs. Cathy Schoen and Sarah Swartz (District 1) said that North Amherst residents feel that the parking lot in front of Town Hall is important, especially for people with impaired mobility. Swartz said that taking parking spaces away sends a message to people that they are not welcome at Town Hall.

Dorthy Pam (District 3) disagreed. She said it is a shame to have the view of Town Hall diminished by a parking lot. George Ryan (District 3) stated that there is only a difference of 11 parking spaces between the two plans, and that the gain of civic space for ceremonies and celebrations in front of Town Hall is more than “worth” the small loss of parking.

Andy Steinberg (at large) said that the Council should make a decision for the long-term solution. He favored Plan 3B. However, Alisa Brewer (at large) said that the needs of the surrounding businesses and residents with mobility concerns should be considered, and that some parking at the Common should be retained. Evan Ross (District 4) said the Downtown Parking Study of 2019 showed that, based on its review of parking on Thursday and Saturday evenings, 90 percent or less of available public parking spaces are utilized. The problem, the study found, is more that people don’t know where to look for parking. He added that we cannot continue to pave over green space if we are to meet our sustainability goals.

Design 3B, the one without any parking on the Common, was chosen by a vote of 8-5-0. Dissenting votes were Brewer, Schoen, Swartz, Pat DeAngelis (District 2), and Darcy DuMont (District 5)

Community Preservation Act Allocations Passed
The recommendations for projects selected to receive Community Preservation Act Funds were presented to the Council at the February 8 Council meeting (see here and here). All allocations, except for the $1 million bond for the Jones Library, were brought to tonight’s meeting for a vote. These projects included the Town Hall steps, the roof of the Munson Library, the front steps of the North Amherst Library, the North Common, the pavilion at Groff Park, and repair of the Mill River pool, Amherst Community Connections, and the Goodwin Church. 

This vote was originally placed on the Consent Agenda, as it was expected to be passed without needing much additional debate, but Steinberg asked about the $226,710 for Amherst Community Connections (ACC), since this was the organization’s third award. ACC works individually with chronically homeless people, offering them intensive counseling and providing housing for up to six months. Steinberg pointed out that it seemed we could help a lot more people for less money by building housing, such as at the supportive studio housing at 132 Northampton Road and the proposed development on Belchertown Road. CPAC Chair Sarah Marshall pointed out that this is a different population and a different program. These are people who, with support, may reside at 132 Northampton Road. The allocation is for a three-year program. Marshall said CPAC is instituting regular reports from the grantees about their progress and expenditures.

Resident Bruce Coldham noted that most of the projects supported are Town projects rather than resident-sponsored projects Marshall agreed, but said the Committee received few requests from the public this year, perhaps due to the pandemic, and plans more outreach next year.

The recommended FY 22 allocations, totaling $1,871,622, passed unanimously.

Updates on the Proposed Demolition/Expansion of the Jones Library

After a presentation to the Council by the Jones Library Trustees on February 22, Town Councilors were invited to submit their questions in writing, to be answered at a later time. 

The answers to many of those concerns are given in green in the document. However, some questions remain unanswered. DuMont said that her questions were not addressed at all; she was invited to resubmit them. 

The Council will begin discussing the project on April 5. The discussion is expected to take several meetings. The Finance Committee will continue its review of the costs and financing of the project at its March 30 meeting.

Funds to Address Systemic Racism
The FY 2021 Town budget included $80,000 in funds to confront systemic racism. The funds were to be spent at the discretion of the Town Manager. They have largely gone to support the work of the Community Safety Working Group, but  $12,000 remains to be allocated. Town Manager Paul Bockelman sent a memo to the Town Council outlining three possible uses of the remaining funds and asking for input from the Council: 

• A Core Equity Team of Town employees to address structural racism in Town government working with the Government Alliance on Race and Equality and possibly the Healing Racism Institute of the Pioneer Valley and the Sojourner Truth School

• Reparations for Amherst has requested $5,000 for research into the historical contributions of African-Americans to the Town of Amherst and to pay consultants from Evanston, Illinois, who have established a fund to help compensate Black residents for the economic effects of previous acts of racism. The Evanston City Council passed the Reparations Bylaw at the same time that Amherst’s Town Council meeting was taking place. It is the first municipality in the country to do so.

• The League of Women Voters has requested data on interactions of residents and visitors with Amherst police by race and ethnicity. This data is not currently available.

Steinberg said that the three proposals sound more like the beginnings of projects that will require more time and funds to complete. Bockelman said he is looking at the FY 22 budget to see what could be supported. When he said he was still unsure about giving money to a group not part of the Town government, Brewer asked what more he wants in order to be able to allot the $5,000 to Reparations for Amherst. “This is a time-sensitive request,” she urged., “How can I get the Council to give that direction?”

DeAngelis said that Michelle Miller of Reparations for Amherst does not want to be in competition with the Core Equity Group and the League of Women Voters. She felt comfortable with Bockelman’s decisions on allocating the money. The Council needs time to discuss reparations and to hear what the Black community wants.

Griesemer agreed that the decision is Bockelman’s and if he can legally support the Reparations group, he should bring his findings to the Council.

Anti-racism Training For Councilors
Bahl-Milne and DeAngelis have finalized the planned weekend training for April 10 and 11. Resident Ruth Hazzard, who has taken and conducted anti- racism training, supports this work for the Council and hopes they fully engage in the training. She said that through this training she has “learned to see what is all around me — what I was trained not to see.”

Several Councilors were not quite so enthusiastic. George Ryan (District 3) complained, “We are presented with this as a given and being told we have to do it. I don’t like that.” Ross cautioned that the Council needs to “think carefully” about how much time commitment is required of Councilors. He said that this week he only had two days without any Council events or meetings. Steve Schreiber (District 4) did not like  the timing, and said, “It is spring, and we’re all getting vaccinated. It’s also the end of the semester.”

Swartz said that she is always concerned about how much time the Council’s work takes, but looking at this curriculum, she sees how valuable it can be. She also feels that it is something to hand down to the next Council as a priority to set. DuMont thanked Bahl-Milne and DeAngelis for organizing the workshop. However, she said she felt that the best timing would be next winter, after the new Council is elected.

Formation of an Advisory Board for Redistricting, Referred to Committee
Councilors felt that they did not have the time to look at remapping the Town’s districts, and decided to delegate it to an advisory board of appointed citizens. They directed the Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee to draw up a charge for it, and they will discuss the function and timing of redistricting at a later meeting.

Town Manager Report
The Town Manger Report is published at https://www.amherstma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/55217/12-Town-Manager-Report-03-22-2021 and in this issue. Bockelman added that the previous week had been relatively quiet in Town. There were not many incidents of noise violation reports.

The meeting adjourned at 11:08 p.m. The Council meets next on April 5.