AMHERST — The North Amherst Library, which reopened to the public earlier this year, will be the new in-person polling location for voters in Precinct 1A, beginning with the state primary in September.

Acting on a request from Town Clerk Susan Audette, the Town Council voted unanimously Monday to change the site of voting for North Amherst residents from the church hall at the North Zion Korean Church, 1193 North Pleasant St., to the 8 Montague Road building’s community room. The church hall has been a polling location since at least the 1950s.

Audette told councilors that the library will eliminate the deficiencies of the mid-19th-century church hall, last used during the March 5 presidential primary. Those deficiencies include lack of parking, difficult access for handicapped individuals, challenges for poll workers in staying warm, and an inability to appropriately secure the building.

“This is a no-brainer,” Audette said. “I’m excited.”

In a memo, she explained the church hall has been the best location, with the town paying $100 in rent, but voters have to park at the nearby Riverside Park shopping plaza and go up a small hill: “A voting rights advocate from the Disability Law Center assessed all of our polling locations during the March 5, 2024 Presidential Primary and stated in her report: “For the Korean North Zion Church … the path of travel for voters had some cracks and damage that could potentially impair voters who need to use mobility devices.” Additionally, lock on the front door to the building is broken and can’t be reliably locked or unlocked.

In fact, during this year’s election, the lock problem required Audette to have a police officer stationed outside the building for the overnight.

The North Amherst Library reopened in late winter following a $1.7 million project that added 1,200 square feet of space for restrooms, a chairlift between the original floor and the addition, and a community room that can accommodate 40 to 45 people.

Meanwhile, the Historical Commission recently discussed the church building, opened in 1826 and sold to the Zion Korean Church in 2012, due to concerns about possible demolition by neglect.

Longtime North Amherst resident Hilda Greenbaum suggested the church should get town assistance. "It's heartbreaking to see what's happened in the years since the Congregational Church sold the building," Greenbaum said.

Senior Planner Nate Malloy said town Community Preservation Act money is supporting fixes to the church roof, but more money would be needed to rehabilitate the rest of the building.

New library trustee

Nat Larson of Summerfield Road is joining the Jones Library trustees until the November 2025 town election, replacing Bob Pam, who recently resigned from the board after moving from Amherst. Larson was selected Monday in a joint vote of the remaining five trustees and the Town Council over Roman Handlen of Meadow Street.

“Over the last two years, I have served on the board and as the treasurer of the Friends of the Jones Libraries and have been responsible for financial reporting and overseeing the annual audit,” Larson wrote in his statement of interest.

Handlen, who recently returned to Amherst, wrote that he would like to “strengthen and expand this cornerstone of western Massachusetts as an active community member deeply invested in the continued growth of our library system.”

In the 11-6 vote, Larson got support from the remaining trustees, Farah Ameen, Lee Edwards, Tamson Ely, Eugene Goffredo and Austin Sarat, as well as District 1 Councilors Ndifreke Ette and Cathy Schoen, District 2 Councilor Lynn Griesemer, District 3 Councilor George Ryan, District 5 Councilor Bob Hegner and At Large Councilor Andy Steinbegr.

Handlen got votes from District 2 Councilor Pat DeAngelis, District 3 Councilor Heather Hala Lord, District 4 Councilors Pamela Rooney and Jennifer Taub and At Large Councilors Mandi Jo Hanneke and Ellisha Walker.

“Roman, you did very well, and we want to see you back in the next election,” Griesemer said.

New DEI staff member

Philip Avila, formerly the community meals coordinator at the Amherst Survival Center,  is the new assistant director of the town’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department.

Avila, who also previously co-chaired the town’s Human Rights Commission, succeeds Jennifer Moyston in the role of assisting DEI Director Pamela Nolan Young.

Moyston left town employment after more than a decade to become director of community partnerships for 80 Acres, a local racial and climate justice organization.

Chamber hire

The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce recently named Polina Potochevska as its new marketing and events coordinator.

Potochevska has a background in project management, social media and editorial work in the publishing industry, most recently at NewGlobe Schools managing projects and teams focused on instructional design.

The chamber is also staging its 21st annual golf tournament July 26 at 10 a.m., with this year’s event being held at Cold Spring Country Club in Belchertown.

Plant-based meat

A University of Massachusetts food scientist is developing new technology for plant-based meat, supported by a $250,000 grant from the Grow Food Institute, aimed at mimicking the marbled effect of animal fat that people who eat meat expect and enjoy.

Assistant professor Lutz Grossmann said in a statement issued by the nonprofit think tank that the proposed technology “has the potential to revolutionize the plant-based meat industry, expanding its product offerings and appealing to a wider audience.”

The grant is one of 118 awarded in 21 countries, totaling more than $21 million, since 2019 by the think tank in promoting plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs, as well as cultivated “clean meat” grown from animal cells in a facility.

Meetings

MONDAY: Design Review Board, 5 p.m.

THURSDAY: Board of Assessors, 9:30 a.m., First Floor Meeting Room, Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.