Select Board packet for November 24th

Contents of the packet received Friday, November 21st for the Monday, November 24th meeting:

•  The agenda

•  The motion sheet

•  A packet of info regarding a WMECO public hearing on installing underground cable on Farview Way, as part of needing to change the electrical feed on that street due to the removal of overhead wiring on Governor’s Drive: the WMECO petitions, diagrams of the proposed changes, and copies of abutter notices

•  A taxi license application

•  A packet of information from the Town Manager regarding protocol for dog hearings:  a cover memo explaining the local bylaw and Mass. General Laws related to the issue, with a recommendation to put the responsibility for a hearing on a current complaint in the hands of the Police Chief; a copy of the bylaw; a copy of memorandum on the issue that Town Counsel has issued to municipal clients in the past; a copy of a memo from the Police Chief to the Town Manager with attached police reports, pertaining to a dog complaint

•  A copy of a letter that has been in previous packets from the Amherst Montessori School requesting “Slow: Children” signs on Pomeroy Lane

•  A memo from the Finance Committee outlining its recommended budget guidelines for FY10

•  Budget idea lists from me and Aaron

•  Three special liquor license applications: two for UMass receptions, and one for a Hitchcock Center fundraiser

•  Draft minutes from the November 12 and November 17 meetings

•  A sheet with the 2008 and 2009 calendars

•  The agenda for the 11/19 Planning Board meeting

•  The agenda for the 11/19 Design Review Board meeting, with a packet of info related to redesign of Pomeroy Village, including past DRB memorandums on the subject, recommendations from other committees; e-mail, letter and memo inquiries and comments from Town staff and the public

•  Notice of ZBA Public Hearings on December 4 regarding  request for Special Permit to create a two-family dwelling on West Street; and for a Special Permit to establish a Class II restaurant, also on West Street 

•  A memo from the Town Manager to the Housing Partnership/Fair Housing Committee regarding land on Henry Street for which the Select Board has the right of first refusal, with attached memos from the Planning Board and Conservation Commission recommending against Town purchase of t he property; a letter of notice of intended sale from the property owner’s attorney, maps f the parcel, a copy of the Purchase and Sale agreement between the owner and the intended purchaser; and a copy of a notice for the Select Board to sign if it votes to not exercise right of first refusal, hence declining the Town’s option to purchase the property

•  Copy of a ZBA decision to approve withdrawal without prejudice of an application for a Special Permit to create a five-unit Town House on North Pleasant Street

•  Copy of a letter from the Town Moderator to Dorwenda Bynum-Lewis, appointing her to the Town Meeting Coordinating Committee, and a Certificate of Appointment

•  Copy of a memo from the Town Manager to the DPW Superintendent seeking endorsement of the Amherst Montessori School’s sign request

•  Copy of a memo and map from the Town Manager to the DPW Superintendent regarding a temporary sidewalk that will be needed on the Town Common during the Lord Jeff renovation, and the recommendation to make it a wooden deck, rather than asphalt, to accommodate wheelchairs without damaging tree roots

•  An invitation to the Town/Gown Holiday Open House at the UMass Chancellor’s residence