gnBy SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — An initiative embedded in the Amherst charter to involve residents in town government by offering them a chance to propose various programs and projects annually is unlikely to get off the ground this year.
A commission preparing a final report for June 1 recently informed Town Manager Paul Bockelman that the COVID-19 pandemic makes such a venture — known as participatory budgeting — challenging to launch.
The charter requires that a commission propose “a measure to adopt participatory budgeting or other similar method of resident participation in the budgeting process of Amherst.”
“Unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic and the resulting uncertainties facing the town’s budget, we have concluded that, at this time, proposing a new spending program, against this background of financial uncertainty, would be inappropriate and almost certainly would not be approved,” Commission Chairwoman Meg Gage wrote in a recent memo.
Instead, Gage writes that the town should try to expand existing ways the public gets to participate in how budget decisions are made. The final report will discuss the obstacles and challenges residents face in getting a say in municipal spending.
Gage notes the commission, meeting regularly for several months, has also learned more about what is needed to have more active residents who currently are limited to advocating through oral or written comments.
“And we have developed an understanding of what makes participation meaningful, as opposed to participation that is little more than showing up,” Gage writes.
In a typical year, around 1,400 dogs are licensed by Amherst residents through the town clerk’s office.
But in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting just before the license year’s start on April 1, just 850 dogs ended up licensed, according to Town Clerk Susan Audette.
With 680 canines already licensed this year, Audette is making sure that the licensing is returning to normal. Some individuals and families took a risk of being fined last year, even though license late fees were waived.
Reminders about licensing have gone out with the town census, where a form can be filled out, and reminders are posted on the town website.
State law requires all dogs 6 months of age or older to be licensed and wearing a tag.
License fees are $15 for all dogs, with the cost reduced to $5 for dogs that have been spayed or neutered. Rabies vaccination certificates must also be presented at the time of licensing.
People can renew online at amherstma.gov/payments, or renew or get new licenses by sending mail to 4 Boltwood Ave., Amherst, or by calling Animal Welfare Officer Carol Hepburn at 413-478-7084.
People interested in living at affordable apartments at Aspen Heights Amherst, located on Route 9 at the Amherst-Hadley town line, will soon be able to file applications to enter a lottery for the 11 homes.
The 88-unit rental apartment community at 408 Northampton Road, the former site of the Amherst Motel, is expected to open this summer, with eligibility for households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income.
Applications are due June 2, with the first information session May 5 at 6 p.m. at youtu.be/-bSrAXtyvtY or via conference call at 425-436-6200, with pass code 862627.
Amherst’s Water Department, using money from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, will be sampling the town’s public drinking water sources for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances this month.
The testing is required under new state regulations that aim to establish a baseline measurement for six PFAS compounds, a group of human-made chemicals that have been used in products including water-resistant clothing, stain-resistant furniture and carpets, adhesives, non-stick cookware, paints and varnishes, and firefighting foam since the 1950s.
Two University of Massachusetts representatives will discuss brutalist architecture, also called New Brutalism, during a lecture Monday at noon sponsored by the Amherst History Museum, Jones Library, UMass Brut and the UMass Public History Program.
The mini-lecture series, titled UMass Then/Now, will run four consecutive Mondays.
Retired faculty member Ron Michaud and Senior Campus Planner Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham will pair archival photographs with contemporary images and invite participants to reflect on how the campus has changed over time.
To register, go to https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0qcOGgqTsiG9clF09Np2eO7murEX_pMsFB.