Meeting Summaries
We took positions on the different elements of the operating budget and on the other budget-related articles.
Another Monday night at Town Hall
This list doesn't begin to capture it (that's what the ACTVamherst.com meetings-on-demand are for) but the highlight of this meeting was a very thoughtful discussion about the War Memorial Pool.
This was our last pre-Town Meeting meeting until TM resumes June 15th. In the meantime, we'll be back at Town Hall on Monday nights.
Another pre-Town Meeting meeting. This is from last Wednesday -- sorry it's late.
First night back at the Middle School, prior to Town Meeting.
This was our last meeting before Town Meeting begins. We finished up the warrant articles, though several recommendations -- mostly budget ones -- need to be deferred until we have more information.
More warrant articles. Another long meeting. But we had the novelty of a new venue -- the Community Room at the Police Department.
A bunch more warrant articles last night. Unfortunately, these lists don't capture discussions that don't result in specific actions. Alas.
This week, we started voting our recommendations on Town Meeting warrant articles. We did mostly zoning, plus a couple easy ones.
Monday night's meeting was primarily about DPW issues, and was quite productive.
The list from last night's meeting.
A treatise on how to achieve lasting world peace. No, wait -- just another post-meeting list.
The latest thrilling installment of the post-meeting list.
Another meeting, another list.
Another list, in case these are interesting, and because the summaries aren't looking too likely.
These lists don't capture the spirit and details of the meeting, but perhaps posting them is better than posting nothing.
Sharing my internal Select Board post-meeting lists, to distract you from the lack of any recent meeting summaries
This is either the latest iteration of my ever-less-detailed recaps and summaries, or it is the last one I ever write. Which will it be? Who knows? But here's a sparse description of Monday's meeting.
This is a placeholder for this meeting summary. This text will change when the actual summary is posted. Because I still have a responsibility to do the minutes for this meeting, this really will get written -- at some point.
We had some updates on Town Meeting articles and approved a week's extension for the Farmers Market, among other business Monday.
This was our Wednesday night meeting with just one item on the agenda: discussion of the budget and the process for creating Select Board policy recommendations.
We dealt with Lord Jeff renovation issues, handled a technical vote for the schools and decided we needed to meet again this week to talk about budget stuff.
We finished the departmental budget presentations (Community Development, Senior Center, LSSE and Cherry Hill) and the warrant article presentations (articles 1-5,) among other business.
We signed the warrant for a one-article “Special Special” Town Meeting, and took positions on Articles 6 (Municipal Housing Trust) and 11 (legality to allow Hitchcock Center expansion,) among other business.
This is the barest of summaries of the Saturday Department Head meeting, but it does include links to the departmental reports.
We took a position opposing ballot Question 1, and took positions supporting the Fall Town Meeting zoning articles, among other business at this meeting.
This was a brief early morning meeting scheduled primarily so we could sign the Town Meeting warrant, but we took care of some other business as well.
This is just a placeholder. Haven't finished writing up this meeting yet -- sorry. Should be done soon.
An update on road maintenance, a discussion about the process of creating a local historic district, and a discussion of the Town Manager evaluation process were some of the items on the agenda for this week's meeting.
Brief meeting before the Open Meeting Law and Conflict of Interest training session. Did some licenses and appointments, heard some updates, and talked more about the Town Manager's evaluation process.
Flags, a presentation from Community Funding Partners, Inc., and lots of updates from the Town Manager comprised most of the business of this meeting.
This meeting included discussion about committee issues, budget planning, and even briefly revisited the election controversy, among other business.
This was Ms. Awad's final meeting. Big topics were discussion of a Sunset Ave. fraternity and budget process, among other business. Per the new model for summaries, my thoughts are in the "Post-Mortem" section at the end.
This is a completely different format for meeting summaries. It is primarily minutes, with my own comments in the “Post-Mortem” section at the end. Setting dates for Town Meeting and seeing a demo of the new Town web site were the meeting highlights.
It's more than a month late, but this summary is finally posted. The primary issue at this meeting was changing the date of the Special Election.
We talked about issues like road paving priorities and downtown sidewalk work, but I found the discussion of the role of Select Board liaisons to be particularly interesting.
Big discussions at this meeting were about a web portal that might benefit the Town, non-union COLAs and the Hadley ambulance negotiations.
Finally, this summary gets posted. Ms. Awad announced she would be resigning, and we heard a proposal to encourage bicycle use, but this meeting was almost entirely about the parade.
We set new water, sewer and ambulance rates, received updates on some Town Manager activities and determined liaison assignments, among other business.
We received an explanation of the Town Manager’s plans for PRP land in North Amherst, and learned of the appraisal figures for the Article 20B Main Street properties, among other business.
We narrowly approved a request from Amherst College, discussed a procedural motion on Article 20, Part B, and amended and approved a bunch of minutes, among other business Monday.
This was a very brief meeting to take care of some quick business – primarily to vote our recommendation on the proposed Right to Farm bylaw.
Wednesday’s meeting had us revisit discussion of the LEED standards article, wrap up a couple of budget articles, and consider preparing recommendations on possible budget reconsiderations, among other business.
We spent a long time on the Sunderland Road rezoning article, and recommended articles to purchase portable classrooms and to appropriate funds for the 250th anniversary celebration, among other business.
Placeholder: This summary is not done. It will be posted here soon.
We heard presentations and made recommendations on several more warrant articles: false alarm fees, right to farm, rescinding the rDNA bylaw, and requiring LEED standards.
We dealt with Vince O’Connor’s zoning petitions, APR housekeeping details and National Train Day.
We primarily considered Article 21 (CPAC open space) and Article 36 (a petition request to hold more reserves in the stabilization fund.)
There was more discussion of the parade, and we took positions on the school articles and school budgets.
We considered recommendations on CPAC and capital articles, and discussed the Town Manager’s decision to have the Town run the Fourth of July parade next year.
Consideration of the Library budget and several proposed zoning amendment articles were the primary issues at Monday’s meeting.
My first meeting: we dealt with a few early warrant articles, had some general budget discussion, approved the Town budget article, and signed the warrant, among other business.
