No battle lines drawn at this Town Meeting
By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer
Published on April 25, 2008
A $63.05 million general fund budget, a bylaw that could help police control large disturbances caused by college students and the first step in increasing the surcharge for the Community Preservation Act are coming before annual Town Meeting.
The 47 articles on the 249th Town Meeting warrant will be taken up beginning Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the middle school auditorium, with sessions scheduled for most Monday and Wednesday evenings through May.
Unlike last year, when Town Meeting had to hash out budget issues, spending for the town, schools and library next year all appear to be reasonably settled.
"It looks like boards and committees will be going in with a unified position," said Finance Committee Chairman Brian Morton.
Estimates also show Amherst will be able to cover these expenses without a Proposition 21/2 override. "The budget we put together has been worked out so that no override is needed," Morton said.
Earlier concerns about a $1.9 million structural deficit that could have decimated the schools, and left War Memorial Pool and human service agencies unfunded, have been resolved.
The town found a way out by using a combination of reductions to the increase in the health insurance trust and money set aside for the capital program, as well as an agreement by the Finance Committee to use $400,000 in reserves.
School Superintendent Jere Hochman said budgeting went more smoothly than anticipated.
"I almost had to remind myself the other day that this is budget season. It's quite a contrast from last year, let's put it that way," Hochman said.
"There just seems to be that spirit of let's figure this out all together.' That's a welcome change," he said.
Gifts factored in
On the town side, the $18.6 million budget represents a $638,467, or 3.6 percent increase, over this year's $17.9 million budget, though it stays within the Finance Committee's 2 percent increase guidelines when new revenue from a strategic partnership with the University of Massachusetts and a gift from Amherst College are factored in.
Included in this budget is the restoration of the full-time assistant to the police chief, but not the return of two police officer positions.
The elementary schools' $20.7 million budget is up $1.23 million, or 6.3 percent over this year's $19.5 million, when transportation is counted.
Even without transportation, the increase is 4.7 percent, more than double the Finance Committee's 2 percent guideline.
The regional school assessment is $12.4 million, an $10,188, or .1 percent increase, over this year's assessment.
"We were able to retain pretty much where we are," Hochman said.
"We went into this thinking we had drastic cuts to make. Our contention all along was if we were going to do anything, we would preserve staff size."
The $2.13 million library budget will receive $1.49 million in tax support, an increase of $29,233, or 2 percent, from this year's $1.46 million.
The biggest change patrons will notice in service is expected to be the loss of Monday hours at Jones Library.
Morton said the entire budget is tight and everybody was forced to live within a financial structure.
Bylaws and zoning
Two general bylaws designed to change people's behavior and eliminate police responses are coming before Town Meeting.
The first would define nuisance houses and was developed from work by the Campus and Community Coalition to Reduce High-Risk Drinking, a partnership between UMass and the surrounding towns.
"I'm very interested in the nuisance bylaw," said Town Manager Larry Shaffer. "It gives us another tool in the toolbox to effectively manage behavioral issues we're seeing."
According to memo from co-chairwomen Martha Nelson Patrick and Sally Linowski, the bylaw could "discourage disruptive parties, binge and underage drinking."
The second bylaw, a petition from Town Meeting member Stan Gawle, would levy escalating fines for homes and businesses with repeated false burglar alarms.
"We're providing motivation for property owners to repair their alarm systems," Shaffer said.
Town Meeting is being asked to rescind a bylaw on recombinant DNA, as the Board of Health, after future public hearings, is planning to adopt new regulations that will govern such research.
The town wants to avoid having conflicting regulations in place.
Shaffer said it is important to have good regulations on this in a university town. "We need to do that right," Shaffer said.
Unlike the fall special Town Meeting, there are no zoning articles considered crucial for the economic health of the town.
Most are either housekeeping articles or ones brought forward by petition.
"The budget is always the priority, as it must be in the spring," Shaffer said.
The Planning Board is narrowly endorsing the rezoning of 500-502 Sunderland Road, the former Bioshelters site.
Kenneth L. Bergstrom, the landowner who petitioned for the change, said aquaculture could still be on the property, but the tax base would be enhanced with a combination of residences and offices.
Vince O'Connor, of Summer Street, has brought forward several articles, including ones that would limit development on properties with steep slopes, require more recreational facilities at affordable housing projects and rezone properties on Main, Dickinson and High streets.
Other zoning articles include revisions to density calculations, the municipal parking district and design review districts.
CPA, other articles
Several articles will deal with the Community Preservation Act, including one that seeks to raise the surcharge from 11/2 percent to 3 percent, and if passed would go to residents on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Community Preservation Act money will be used for several other purposes, including $150,000 for deferred payment loans for low- and moderate-income households, $150,000 to create affordable housing on Olympia Drive and $30,000 to assist Habitat for Humanity and Amherst College with community housing projects. Additional money will be targeted for a second-year payment on the Kimball Farm on North East Street.
A revolving fund for the Jones Library in which it could keep the receipts from overdue fines will likely be postponed.
The trustees told the Select Board they need more time to study the issue.
The Finance Committee has recommended dismissal of the article.
Other items coming before Town Meeting include:
* Paying the $2.9 million Hampshire County Retirement assessment and $31,323 for Hampshire Regional Lockup facility.
* Spending $1.2 million for new equipment in the capital program, including $160,000 for two new school buses, $160,000 for a replacement ambulance and $130,000 for four new police cruisers.
* Appropriating $635,000 for firefighting gear (a 75-foot aerial ladder) and $420,000 to repair the roof at the Bangs Community Center.
* Taking $25,000 from reserves for the 250th anniversary celebration.
* Petitions asking the Planning Board to develop a bylaw requiring certain buildings meet an energy-saving standard known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; the Select Board to establish criteria for use of town property by community organizations; and Town Meeting to move $2.5 million from cash reserves to the stabilization account.
* Adopting a right-to-farm bylaw as recommended by the Agricultural Commission.
* Accepting easements on University Drive to allow improvements to begin on the road and accepting four streets as town ways.
