AMHERST — From her porch on Meadow Street, Grace Agnello sees her fellow University of Massachusetts students, most without masks, walking to and from small parties at nearby homes and apartments most fall weekends.
While gatherings with hundreds of students are no longer happening, and popular parties, or day drinks, have been scaled back, Agnello says it is common this fall for drinking games to be set up in yards, with the perception that being outdoors and in small groups is safe in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But having contracted a mild case of novel coronavirus over the summer, and using her off-campus rental to quarantine, Agnello is aware of the risk the illness poses, especially to permanent town residents.
“College students are responsible for the older people, too, but I think many college students are just done with COVID, it’s over for them,” says Agnello, a sophomore communications major from Wrentham.
“It’s definitely scary because so many people live in this area,” Agnello added. “It’s definitely unsettling.”
Such concerns may be increasing after the university announced Friday that 13 students tested COVID-19 positive in the largest confirmed outbreak in town, a number that grew to 18 on Monday. In a statement, officials reported that “all are known to have socialized together, and a number of them attended a party together.”
The proximity to the UMass campus makes Meadow Street a popular place for student rentals, along with the Townehouse Apartments and Brandwine Apartments complexes.
“There’s parties all the time and no one’s wearing masks,” said Dan Burbine, the owner of Black Walnut Inn at the corner of Meadow and North Pleasant streets.
Burbine said the neighborhood has been quieter this fall than a normal year, likely because the parties are smaller.
He doesn’t worry too much about COVID-19 spreading, though he is in his 50s and his mother is 80.
“Kids have a lesser sense of mortality than we have,” Burbine said.
While police have been issuing tickets in which people can pay fines up to $300 for violating the town’s noise or nuisance house bylaws, it’s uncertain whether UMass officials are imposing additional penalties through the UMass Amherst Community Agreement.
That is frustrating for North Amherst resident Robin Jaffin, who said there seem to be no consequences and no enforcement for when parties are happening in broad daylight. Even when safety protocols are being breached, Jaffin said, there is often no immediate response.
“We are actually failing to protect the community from a health risk at the moment it is occurring,” Jaffin said.
Town Council President Lynn Griesemer said further advocacy by the town is unknown at this point, but she is part of the Town-Gown Fall Re-Opening Working Group, which meets weekly.
“Without question this will be on the agenda for this week’s meeting,” Griesemer said.
Like Burbine, Karitikeya Sonker, a graduate student in architecture at UMass, said the outbreak doesn’t make him worry for his own safety.
But being unable to return to his home country of India since the pandemic began, and the various efforts such as social distancing and mask-wearing, and professors setting up remote instruction, should not go to waste. Sonker said he doesn’t want to see community spread that would set back progress.
“That would be a shame because people have put so much effort into this,” Sonker said.
Sonker said his landlord sent an email letting him know about the cluster of positives at the university, though he is already taking advantage of staying safe by getting tested twice a week.
“It’s not hard. First you have to verify not having symptoms every day,” Sonker said.
Don Lesser and Sarah Fischer live right near North Amherst center and have noticed that most parties are not generating as much noise, and the nearby bus stop typically crowded with students is often empty. Yet the parties are evident on the weekends.
“If you go down Meadow Street you will see a lot of beer pong parties, and mostly people not wearing masks,” Lesser said.
As he tries to be “careful, not paranoid” during the pandemic, Lesser said he is fairly concerned there will be additional COVID-19 outbreaks in town and that this initial one should be seen as a warning.
“The good thing when you walk up to campus everyone walking from campus is wearing a mask, both students and grown-ups. But when they’re around here a lot of students are not masked,” Lesser said.
Burbine said he is starting to see a bounce back in business and appreciates having students in town because parents will be among those staying at the bed and breakfast, where all practices are guided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I couldn’t have this business if not for the students. You’ve got to have the perspective here and hope they all stay well,” Burbine said.
Agnello said she and her roommates aren’t hitting the parties, and their dog, Zona, will often growl at the numerous passers-by on the weekend.
“We’ve been kind of keeping to ourselves,” Agnello said.
But she understands the sentiment of students to party, as they try to do so safely.
“Off-campus students want that college experience,” Agnello said. “They don’t want to miss out that sense of freedom.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
