AMHERST — Town officials will provide an update on town and school operations, the status of various building projects and the year ahead when the annual State of the Town is held Monday at 5 p.m.
The State of the Town, required by the town charter, will be held at the Town Room at Town Hall, beginning with the swearing-in of new members of the police, fire and Community Responders for Equity, Safety & Service departments.
At 5:30 p.m., Council President Lynn Griesemer, Town Manager Paul Bockelman, Library Director Sharon Sharry and Amherst School Committee Chairwoman Allison McDonald will all offer remarks about what has happened over the course of 2022.
The event will conclude with a presentation by District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen, who chairs the Elementary School Building Committee, giving a preview of the school project that will be subject to a Proposition 2½ debt-exclusion vote next May.
The State of the Town is back in person for the first time since 2019, when the inaugural event was held in the middle school auditorium and also featured music performed by students and recognition of the high school football team. The past two years the event has been held in exclusively a virtual format.
With Sonia Aldrich expected to retire as comptroller in 2023, the town recently named Holly Drake, the assistant comptroller, to fill the vacancy when it arises.
Other new hires include Audrey Bulger as a firefighter and Genesis Saenz, Joshua Santos and Dylan Tucci as police officers, all of whom are in the midst of a 14-week field training.
The town is continuing to recruit for a vacant firefighter/paramedic position.
Meanwhile, two Amherst employees will be part of the county’s Retirement Board. Finance Director Sean Mangano was recently named to the Hampshire County Retirement Board, where he will serve from Jan. 1, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2025.
Treasurer/Collector Jennifer LaFountain will be on the board’s advisory council for the same time period.
Cisco’s Cafe, the Trolley Barn’s newest tenant, recently opened at 68 Cowls Road, in the Mill District of North Amherst.
Cisco’s is run by Francisco Perez, who also runs the Amherst House of Pizza at the nearby Riverside Park Shopping Plaza.
In downtown Amherst, Kwench Juice Cafe, run by Chandra Hart and Janice Samson, had its formal ribbon-cutting by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 9. It replaces Glazed Doughnut.
As the Town Council discusses the goals that Bockelman should have for 2023, Sunrise Amherst, a group made up of local teens, is calling on councilors to keep climate action and racial equity as priorities.
In a memo sent by Sunrise Co-Hub Lead Marisol Pierce Bonifaz, the youths argue that climate action is vital:
“The removal of mandates for climate action provides a direct message to our generation: We will not fight for this planet and our future. Climate change will be irreversible by 2030.”
Racial equity, too, and the continued development of the CRESS team, are necessary, Pierce Bonifaz wrote: “By deprioritizing racial equity, we send our community a clear message that this does not matter to us.”
Another goal should be making homeownership affordable for a diverse population,according to the group.
Former Amherst Regional High School quarterback Miles Foerster is putting on a toy collection, in collaboration with Five College Movers, at the high school football field Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Current and former players are expected to be on hand to assist with the drive.
MONDAY: Town Council and State of the Town, 5 p.m., both virtual and at Town Room, Town Hall.
TUESDAY: Buildings and Facilities Committee for the Jones Library, 9 a.m., and Community Resources Committee, 10 a.m.