Select Board packet for August 25th

Select Board packet – received Friday, August 22nd for the Monday, August 25th meeting:

•  The agenda

•  The motion sheet

•  A string of e-mails regarding the Amherst Family Center’s request to bag parking meters for the annual Apple Harvest Festival on Saturday, September 27, and the recommendations for approval from the Police Department, Fire Department and DPW, and a sketch of the meter locations

•  Another copy of the proposed CPA ballot question language, because we apparently messed up our approval vote last week, or maybe my minutes didn’t represent the vote accurately?  We’ll see.

•  A memo from the DPW Superintendent to the Town Manager regarding a recommended placement of a crosswalk on Pelham Road, with a photo representation, and an e-mail reporting the Public Works Committee’s recommendation of support

•  An e-mail from the DPW Superintendent regarding a Public Hearing about changing the on-street parking situation on Cottage Street to improve public safety access, which notes that the hearing is scheduled for September 17th – a point I had completely forgotten when I made my liaison report about this two weeks ago, and when I had inquired about how to move the process along last week.  Whoops.  Also, an e-mail from the Public Works Committee expressing support for restricting parking to one side of the street, and reaffirming its recommendation for such restrictions on Cottage and other nearby streets, from early 2007, with a copy of that earlier recommendation; memos from the previous Town Manager to the residents of the neighborhood from early 2006 seeking input on proposed changes and announcing the Select Board’s consideration of it at a March 2006 meeting; and a map showing proposed changes.

•  Application for a lunch cart license for the Monkey Bar & Grill, and recommendation for approval by the Police Chief

•  Draft of the Chair’s revised proposed budgetary process timeline

•  Two Special Liquor License applications for events at UMass

•  Draft minutes from the August 18th meeting

•  Proposed edits and amendments to the August 18th minutes

•  A Citizen Activity Form for application to the Housing Partnership/Fair Housing Committee

•  An e-mail thread regarding ideas for a commemorative tree planting for Anne Awad

•  A sheet with the 2008 calendar

•  Agenda for the August 28th ZBA meeting, with three Public Hearings: 1) to seek modification of a Special Permit condition for the hours of operation of Chez Albert; 2) to request a Special Permit for three flag lots, five supplemental apartments, a waiver allowing access to five lots off a common driveway, and a waiver regarding maximum driveway length for property on Owen Drive; 3) renewal of a special permit and request to remove its condition of a two-year expiration, for a North Pleasant Street property – applicant requests continuation of the hearing to January of 2009.

•  Notice of Conservation Commission site visits on August 27 to Mill Street, Aubinwood Road and Bay Road

•  A memo from the Town Manager to the Planning Board Chair regarding the Planning Board’s recommendation that the Town not exercise its right of first refusal for a property on Henry Street withdrawing from the Chapter 61A program and being sold.   The memo has a five-page letter from Town Counsel attached, explaining the Real Estate Agreement between the owner and the proposed buyer, and Town Counsel’s opinion of deficiencies in the owner’s notice to convey the property (that no certified copy of the Real Estate agreement was provided, and the agreement did not include purchase price;)  and issues the Town might wish to consider in determining whether or not to exercise its refusal right (whether the Town might prefer to purchase the property and develop affordable housing on the site, instead allowing the proposed buyer to do that.)  The Town Manager’s memo says that the timeline for consideration of the Town’s right of first refusal has been “set aside until necessary documentation can be provided” by the property owner. 

•  Notice of filing of ZBA decisions: approving the request to “withdraw without prejudice” a Special Permit renewal and condition change request for a Lincoln Avenue property; and approving a Special Permit for a home carpentry and furniture business on Potwine Lane

•  A copy of the letter from the Select Board Chair to the PVTA Administrator regarding appointment of the Town Manager to serve on the PVTA Advisory Board (also in last week’s packet)

•  An invitation from the Northampton Chamber of Commerce to attend a September 3rd event at the Daily Hampshire Gazette