(9/11/07)  The Select Board met Monday, September 10th at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.  Gerry Weiss, Hwei-Ling Greeney, Anne Awad and Alisa Brewer were present, Rob Kusner was absent.  Town Manager Larry Shaffer was present as well, as was Gail Weston, who took minutes.  Both Ms. Brewer and Mr. Shaffer arrived after the meeting started.

Public Comment

Jere Hochman, School Superintendent, spoke about the Middle School pool.  He said that the schools and the school committee value the community’s use of the pool, and that efforts have been made to make the situation beneficial to all.  He said he took exception to Vince O’Connor’s characterization of his stance on the situation at the August 27th meeting, saying that Mr. O’Connor had never discussed the issue with him.  He said that the School Committee and the school administration had determined during the FY08 budget process that the pool would only be used by the High School swim team during the winter months, but that other uses would be welcomed as long as the full cost of the use are covered.  He said that although it is taxpayer money that funds the pool, it is money that is designated to be used for the Regional Schools’ objectives.  He said that the Schools and Towns had settled on $30,000 to pay for Town pool use last year, which he said compared to $80,000 of costs for full-year usage, though he said the figure was a little less without locker room use.  He said that he had received a proposal from the Town, and reiterated that he is happy for the Town to have use of the pool as long as the school is compensated sufficiently to break even on costs.

Anita Page of McClellan Street talked about the residential parking permit situation on her street, and how the 30 visitor tags per year that residents are given with their purchase of the $20 permit is insufficient, and the charge of $1 per additional tag is onerous for some.  She said that the whole system should be re-examined.  Her neighbor, Jerry Guidera, agreed, and suggested that encouraging on-street parking would have the benefit of slowing traffic.  Another neighbor, Pat Schneider said that students and downtown shoppers parking on McClellan were not problematic before the permit system was established.  All three expressed annoyance at having to pay to park on the street in front of their own houses.  Mr. Weiss said he would try to get the topic put on the agenda of the September 18th parking task force meeting, and would let them know if he was successful.  Ms. Greeney suggested that she could also get the issue on to the agenda of the Town Commercial Relations Committee’s (TCRC’s) agenda, saying they had absorbed the Town’s previous parking committee. 

Ms. Greeney noted that this concern had been expressed to them by a letter sent last March and had languished in their Select Board packets.  She suggested that they discuss at a future meeting how best to deal with requests sent in by citizens, so that they don’t “fall through the cracks.”  Mr. Weiss said that he would put that topic on a future agenda.

Lunch Cart License – Tony’s Hot Dogs

Anthony Gomez requested a license to operate a hot dog cart downtown within the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. on Thursday through Saturday nights.  There was discussion about this requiring an extension to the usual hours permitted with a lunch cart license, as well as about the Police Chief’s approval stipulating that the business would share the cost of additional police officers needed on busy weekends, which Mr. Gomez had not been aware of, and the Board’s belief that that is a standard requirement by the Police Chief, just in case.  It was recommended that Mr. Gomez learn more details about that from the Police Chief.   The vote to approve the license was 4 in favor, 1 absent.

Report from the Emergency Homelessness Task Force

Flo Stern, Chair of the Emergency Homelessness Task Force talked about the group forming after Ken Mosakowski encountered a homeless woman who was seeking a place to stay, and he didn’t know how to help her. Ms. Stern said that he eventually found a place for that woman to stay, but that he wanted to know what citizens should do if faced with such a request.  Ms. Stern said that the Task Force interviewed people at a number of service agencies assisting the homeless, as well as interviewing the Police Chief.  She said that the Task Force then produced and distributed widely a brochure and one-page flier about the services available in an emergency situation.  She said that the group determined that chronic homelessness is a significant problem in Amherst, but emergency homelessness is not.  She said that for the future, the brochure should be updated annually, and attention should be paid to issues of transportation to the emergency shelters.  Additionally, she said that she and other task force members would be continuing their work on the general issues of homelessness through the Housing Partnership/Fair Housing Committee (HP/FHC) and through the Regional Homelessness Task Force. 

Task Force member and author of the group’s “minority report,” Stanley Maron, said that the group’s intent had been good, but that their efforts were not sufficiently thorough, and said the issue needs more work.

Ms. Stern talked about options such as having a local shelter, single room occupancy (SRO,) or possible room to provide emergency shelter at a future fire station, and said that while any or all of those would be desirable, they all cost money.

Mr. Maron read from his minority report, detailing his interviews of clients at Not Bread Alone and the Amherst Survival Center, and said that he found that some would use an SRO or shelter in Amherst, if there were one.  He recommended that a task force made up of members with professional expertise dealing with the homeless, as well as those with life experience as homeless individuals, continue to research the issue and get an accurate count of the homeless in Amherst.  He said that such a local effort is mutually beneficial with the on-going regional effort, with which he is also assisting. 

Mr. Weiss suggested that the Task Force’s reports be received at this meeting, and that consideration of future steps be saved for a future meeting. 

There was discussion about chronic homelessness versus emergency homelessness and their overlap, the complex social service needs, the “housing first” model being considered by the Regional Task Force, and consideration of the HP/FHC’s workload in relation to continuing efforts. 

Ms. Greeney suggested that the Task Force’s focus on emergency homelessness may have been a misunderstanding based on the its name.  She said that when she and former Select Board member Robie Hubley had established the group, they used the term “emergency” to mean that it was a task force meant to address the urgent situation of homelessness.  She said the intent was not to differentiate between different kinds of homelessness, but to gain an understanding of the local homeless situation. 

Jon Nelms said that he frequents Not Bread Alone and the Survival Center, and praised Mr. Maron’s outreach to the clients there, and said he thought that was a better way of gathering information.  He introduced his friend, Reika Simula, [name may not be spelled correctly] who works with the homeless community, who then described some of the issues she has found in her work.  Mr. Weiss invited her to write up additional information and submit it to the Select Board.  

Bob Ackermann had spoken about his concerns with the Task Force’s report at a previous Select Board meeting, and said he withdrew his earlier objections because a more recent version of the report addressed many of them.  He too spoke about various issues in the homeless community and the need to have a local effort fill in gaps at least until the regional efforts bear fruit. 

Ms. Brewer moved that the reports be accepted and that the original Task Force be dissolved, with the understanding that future steps and the possible formation of a new group were still to be determined.  The vote to do so was 4 in favor, 1 absent.  The Select Board praised and thanked the Task Force members for their work.

Town Manager’s Report

Mr. Weiss said that the Town Manager’s report would now be moved up in the agenda, instead of occurring at the end, which he said has been the tradition in recent years.  He noted that there would be updates on the pool and the soccer fields.

Mr. Shaffer said he and LSSE Director Linda Chalfant have been discussing the Middle School pool situation and trying to find ways to tailor the programs to make the revenue match the expenses, and referenced the proposal recently sent to the schools. 

Ms. Awad said a similar crisis with funding the Middle School pool had occurred several years ago, and asked about the fundraising efforts that rose up around that.

Ms. Chalfant said that the fundraising efforts continue.  She talked about some recent history with the pool and the Tritons swim team, and how raising the pool temperatures and increasing the public swim hours had been expected to bring in more revenue and offset some of the outside fundraising needs, and how in 2004, the Town paid $20,000 for pool use.  She said that costs have continued to rise, particularly energy costs, making the programs more expensive, and said that they were now looking to see how to make the programs’ FY08 costs fall within the Town’s $30,000 FY07 figure. 

Ms. Brewer asked about the Tritons swim team, whether a source of funds was identified to try to pay for the pool this year, and what its normal opening date is. Mr. Shaffer said that funds had been available to hire an Aquatics Director, but that was never done, so that money was available.  Ms. Chalfant said the Tritons had relocated to a UMass pool due to uncertainty with the Middle School pool, and said she was unsure if the team would reconsider that.  Ms. Chalfant said that the pool usually opens to the public around September 23rd. 

Ms. Brewer asked about the War Memorial Pool situation.  Mr. Shaffer said there were some savings there because it was open a shorter period than usual, but that the pool has had a leak problem which was found to be significant, and the leak source has now been identified, but that it represented an unanticipated expense.  Ms. Chalfant said that the pool had been open 28 days instead of the usual 58, which made for some savings, but that June of 2008’s pool hours still needed to be covered with this year’s budget. In response to a question from Ms. Greeney about decreased attendance, Ms. Chalfant said that the fewer days and compressed programs were both causes.

Ms. Brewer asked if the unfilled Aquatics Director funds would cover the necessary money for the pool, and Mr. Shaffer said the details were still being worked out and that the prices for swimming would have to increase, but that he would rather put money toward people actually swimming than toward that position.  Ms. Awad noted that not having an Aquatics Director was a particular burden for Ms. Chalfant.  Ms. Chalfant said that there was also some money appropriated in the past for a thermal pool cover that was to be part of reducing energy costs for the pool, but that the concept got bogged down with other issues, leaving the funds unspent.

Mr. Weiss moved on to the soccer fields. 

Mr. Shaffer said the cistern that collects the water before it is pumped into the irrigation system would be installed this week, that the pumping equipment had arrived, and that the electricity pole for the site was pending.  He said that the irrigation system would be fully functioning within two weeks and that the grass would then be re-seeded and re-fertilized.  

Ms. Awad asked if the delays put the project over budget, and Mr. Shaffer said that they did not.  Mr. Weiss requested that Mr. Shaffer get an estimate from the company doing the grass as to when the turf would be ready for play.

Lincoln Avenue Update

Regarding the situation with the traffic cushions on Lincoln Avenue, Mr. Weiss said that when he had asked DPW Superintendent Guilford Mooring at a recent meeting whether increasing the width of the bike lanes would work, he had meant “would doing so compromise the project?”  Mr. Weiss said that it has compromised the project, and cars are freely straddling the cushions, and that they need to be reset. 

Mr. Shaffer said he had instructed Mr. Mooring to do whatever was necessary to make them work and maintain the wider bike path.  Mr. Weiss said he hadn’t seen the newest schematic.  Mr. Shaffer asked for the Select Board’s and neighborhood’s patience while the plan is fine-tuned. Ms. Awad said that she wanted to honor the three-foot bike lanes, and hadn’t realized that the cushions would be in small sections instead of a single continuous speed bump formation.  Mr. Shaffer explained that the intent is to leave gaps at intervals to allow wide emergency vehicles to straddle, but that would be too wide for regular cars, which would have to drive over cushion segments.  He said that changing spacing on the edges affected the spacing in the middle, and that they would be experimenting with new options, including cutting up the segments to alter their size. 

Ms. Brewer said she didn’t expect the Town Manager to be able to make everyone happy with a new configuration.  She said the problem was that the Select Board had inserted a valid concern into an existing plan, and said that if it turns out that three-foot bike lanes are not possible, but the other needs could be met, she said that would be fine.  Mr. Weiss said he wanted to find a solution and understood that the three-foot bike lanes might not stay.

Blair Perot said he lives on Lincoln and said that he felt the cushions should extend all the way across the road.  He said that he bicycled over the cushions as fast as he could and found them to not be dangerous for bikes. 

Mr. Weiss reiterated his point about the misunderstanding with Mr. Mooring, and said that if Mr. Mooring had informed them that the effectiveness would be compromised, he (Mr. Weiss) would not have voted to support the wider bike lane proposal. 

Ms. Greeney concurred with Mr. Weiss, and asked a number of questions about the different segment lengths and the effect of changing the arrangement.  Mr. Weiss noted that there was a mistake on the original schematic, and said that he had taken measurements of the current arrangement, finding the bike lanes to be exactly three feet on one side and 35 inches on the other.  Ms. Greeney sought additional clarification, and Ms. Awad and Mr. Weiss urged her to let Town staff work out the details.  Ms. Greeney said that she was concerned that the current problem resulted from their not having asked specific-enough questions last time, and said that she was uncomfortable to assume that it would be worked out.

Mr. Ackermann said that he had spoken at the last meeting about the lack of transparency in the process of creating this approach to traffic calming, and said that more people should be involved with determining the new layout.  He suggested that the public have the opportunity to comment, and that the Select Board and other relevant committees approve the plan before the cushions are repositioned.

Ms. Brewer said that there was not full agreement with the assertion that this process had lacked transparency, and said that this task was a Public Works function, and didn’t require approval by others.  She said the mistake had been that the Select Board had decided that it “knew better” than the DPW.  She noted that this was not a permanent installation, and moved to amend the previous vote to remove reference to three-foot bike lanes.  After a lengthy pause, Mr. Weiss seconded the motion.

Ms. Greeney reiterated her concerns about insufficient information last time causing this problem, and said that she could not now vote to support it without more details.  She said she liked Mr. Ackermann’s suggestion about getting public feedback, and suggested that that could occur at a Select Board meeting. She said that would assure people that the Select Board was concerned, and said that although it would take more time, it would be less harmful to her and the Board's “political capital” than having new problems arise. 

Ms. Awad said she would support the motion but objected to Ms. Brewer’s lead-in to it.  She said she agreed with Mr. Ackermann but didn’t agree that more input was needed.  She said the experiment with the cushions could yield much benefit for other areas of town.  She also noted that had Mr. Mooring explained that the bike lanes would compromise the effectiveness of the layout, then she would not have voted to support the motion at the August 13th meeting. 

Mr. Weiss said that bringing the plan back for Select Board approval might be useful since all complaints about it would come to them.   Mr. Shaffer said that he understands the Select Board’s intention is to conduct this traffic experiment in a way that allows safe bicycle passage, and said that he expects to work with the DPW to meet and implement that policy intent.

The vote to support the amended motion was 3 in favor, 1 opposed and 1 absent.  Ms. Greeney voted to oppose.

Energy Task Force – Anti-Idling Campaign

Peter Vickery of the Energy Task Force said that that group had declared the third week of September to be “Clear the Air Week.”  He said the three main components of the campaign would be:  1) the unveiling of an anti-idling sign on September 19th at 11:00 a.m. at the High School, with School Superintendent Hochman and Town Health Director Epi Bodhi in attendance for photos; 2) sending a letter from the Health Director home to parents in students’ take-home packets; and 3) distributing literature at the Renewable Energy Fair on the Common, regarding the health and environmental risks associated with idling.  He said the point is to emphasize the issue now, so that people will be aware of it when the colder temperatures arrive and they want to keep their vehicles idling to keep the heat on, such as when picking kids up from school.  He noted that the pollution from idling makes its way into the schools and is especially harmful to kids with asthma, and said that is why the Health Director is involved. 

Ms. Greeney talked about her willingness to approach people in idling vehicles to inform them about the law against that, and to ask them to comply.  She asked Mr. Vickery about the possibility of extending the Energy Task Force’s efforts to reach people on the UMass campus as well as people driving Town vehicles, and the general public at large.  Mr. Vickery said the group would try to spread the word at UMass though a student environmental group.  He noted that Town Meeting had voted its support for enforcing the anti-idling law, and said that it could be enforced by the Police Department, the Fire Department, the Board of Health, building inspectors and health inspectors.  He said that he would like to have the police give out some tickets for idling in excess of five minutes to help raise awareness of the issue and the law. [Corrected 9/13; had erroneously read "idling in excess of 90 seconds".] Mr. Vickery noted that Dr. Hochman had been very effective in helping to reduce school bus idling by demonstrating to bus drivers that the bus lights would still flash with the key in the accessory mode.

Parking Restrictions for Renewable Energy Fair

The Select Board voted to approve bagging parking meters by the Common on September 15th for Renewable Energy Fair vendors and the display of alternative vehicles, in a vote of 4 in favor, 1 absent.

Regional Agreement Task Force

The Regional School Committee had submitted a request for a representative to the Regional Agreement Task Force to address the cap of Excess and Deficiency (E&D) funds as well as elementary school transportation charges.  After discussion to clarify the request, and consideration of whether it needed to wait for Mr. Kusner’s return, Ms. Brewer volunteered to be the representative, and that was approved without a vote. 

Fall Special Town Meeting Check List

There was a lengthy discussion about how best to coordinate the many dates, meetings and obligations that would occur in advance of Fall Town Meeting.  Outside of the Board’s internal housekeeping issues on the subject, the most significant result was that citizen petitioners would be assigned meeting dates for presenting their articles to the Select Board for them to take a position, and would be required to submit written information in advance of their assigned meeting dates.  The intent is to avoid a backlog of articles being presented to the Select Board at the last minute.  Mr. Weiss said he would work with Ms. Weston on establishing the dates and deadlines, and on the letter that will notify the petitioners. 

Annual Election Calendar

Ms. Brewer suggested setting the date for the Annual Election.  She noted that in recent years, the Select Board had made their decision about the date as early as August and as late as December. She asked if there is a specific amount of time required between the election and the start of Town Meeting, and Mr. Shaffer said he didn't know but would check.  There was discussion of the various Tuesdays in late March and early April, with March 25th being rejected because it was right after Easter.  Ms. Weston noted that the Town Clerk had expressed concern about the election following too closely on the heels of the Presidential primary, and it was then suggested that having both on the same day – March 4th – would save money and might improve voter turnout.  Mr. Shaffer said he would research the legality of that and report back. 

There was also discussion about the possibility of seeking legislation to allow Amherst to hold its annual election in the fall, which by statute, cities do but towns typically do not.  Some said that November is considered problematic in college towns.  Ms. Greeney said that a Town Meeting Coordinating Committee (TMCC) member had raised the issue with her, and that she wasn’t prepared to address it any depth at this meeting.

Rules for Select Board Meetings

Mr. Weiss had drafted a proposed set of rules regarding the expectations for public participation at Select Board meetings, and Ms. Brewer had offered some preliminary edits.  Mr. Weiss said he would distribute the revised document to all the members for their comments.

Budget Development Calendar

There was discussion about when best to hold a meeting to collect input from the public to help the Select Board shape its budget policies and priorities.   There was general agreement that it should happen in advance of Finance Director John Musante presenting FY07 results to the Select Board on September 24th, in order to keep the discussion of priorities separate from that of financial resources.  Mr. Shaffer said there would be many subsequent public meetings discussing priorities and resources together, and suggested that it would be most valuable for this initial meeting to address one without the other.  After some discussion, it was determined that the meeting would be held on Thursday, September 20th at 7:00 p.m., and that Mr. Shaffer would confirm the availability of the Town Room.   He said he would get a press release written, approved and distributed Tuesday.

There was discussion about the importance of publicizing the event widely, and making it creative and citizen-friendly.  It was noted that people will also be encouraged to submit their budget and program priorities to the Select Board via e-mail or letter.

Committee Appointments

Ms. Awad said there were no committee appointments this week, but there would be some next week.

No Place for Hate Program

Ms. Brewer said that the community of Watertown had sent a letter about their withdrawal from the Anti-Defamation League’s No Place for Hate program, in protest of the group’s stance regarding recognition of the Armenian genocide.  She suggested that the letter be given to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for follow-up, because Amherst has some involvement with the No Place for Hate Program, and that the HRC coordinates that involvement.  Ms. Awad noted that she (Ms. Awad) is liaison to HRC, and that Amherst has never become a full-fledged No Place for Hate participant, due to various concerns. 

Market Hill Road Property Update

Ms. Brewer asked if next week’s meeting would allow them to meet the decision deadline on the property for which the Town has right of first refusal, near the Atkins Reservoir.  Mr. Shaffer it would, that he would have a recommendation for them then, and that he expected to hear from the new Watershed Task Force with an opinion before that meeting.

The meeting adjourned just after 9:30 p.m.  The next Select Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 17th at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.  That is also the meeting at which an election will be held to fill the vacancy on the Amherst Redevelopment Authority. 

-- Stephanie O’Keeffe