By Alex Cox || coxalexj@gmail.com

A report on the meeting of the Amherst Town Council on Monday, October 21. Jump to topics:

1. School Zone Designation
2. Reparations Committee Charge
3. Other Business

School Zone Designation

The Town Council considered a motion to establish a School Zone at the two regional schools at its Monday meeting. 

The motion, proposed by Councilors Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5), Lynn Griesemer (District 2), and Cathy Schoen (District 1), would establish School Zones that limit the speed limit to 20 miles per hour, with signs that flash between 6:30 and 10:00 am and 3:00 to 6:00 pm. 

Under the Massachusetts Amendments to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), School Zones are not subject to approval from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Recent amendments to MUCTD allow these Zones to be designated at a wider range of schools. 

Under their proposal, the remaining decisions, including the placement of signs, would be made by the Department of Public Works in consultation with the superintendent of the schools.  In their Sponsor Memo, Devlin Gauthier, Griesemer, and Schoen argued that “This is a simple motion to approve the establishment of the school zones at both locations and does not require nor benefit from committee referral.” 

Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke (At-Large) expressed concern with the lack of specific sign locations in the motion and the lack of coordination with the  superintendent about the proposed hours of illumination. 

“It is bad legislative practice to not know what zones you are voting on,” said Hanneke, citing the number of potential places for sign placement. “We need to talk to the school before we vote.” 

Other Councilors, including George Ryan (District 3) and Andrew Steinberg (At-Large) supported Hanneke’s motion to refer the proposal to the Town Services & Outreach Committee.

“I know it’s going to take more time, but I think it’s prudent we follow the usual process,” said Ryan. Steinberg agreed: “We have real reason to make sure this is an opportunity for broad public comment… if we reduce speeds on Triangle Street, it’s not something that will be taken lightly.”

Council voted to refer the motion, with a deadline of December 2 to provide a detailed recommendation, including sign locations.

Reparations Committee Charge

Town Council then resumed consideration on the proposed Charge for the Amherst Black Reparations Committee (ABRC), postponed from their October 7 meeting.  Hanneke, who had requested the postponement, presented a lengthy revision to the proposed charge. Her amendment removed roughly half of the original wording and substituted new language that altered the membership, scope, function, and name of the committee. 

Under the charge as previously considered, the ABRC was a successor to the African Heritage Reparations Assembly. The proposed ABRC would have five voting members, appointed by the Town Manager, who would each serve a 2-year term. While on the ABRC, committee members would “advise and make written recommendations to the Town Council on the expenditure of funds from the Town’s reparations fund,” “consult regularly with the Black community about the allocation of reparations funds and other proposals under consideration by the committee involving reparative justice.” and “accept proposals from the community. 

The amended Charge would change the Committee to a seven-member body, including one member each from the Human Rights Commission, Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, and Recreation Commission (with the remaining four members being residents appointed by the Town Manager). Further, the amendment would change the name of the proposed body to the Amherst Reparations Committee (ARC) and introduce a requirement that the Committee identify three to five “priority areas for potential support from the Reparations Stabilization Fund” and establish clear guidelines on how to process funding requests. 

The amended charge would model the proposed Reparations Committee more closely after the Community Preservation Act Committee and, according to Hanneke, is designed to better protect the Committee from potential legal challenges. 

In a lively discussion that included former AHRA member Amilcar Shabazz, Ph.D. and former AHRA chair Michele Miller, participants discussed the merits and drawbacks of the proposed amendment. 

Comments were mixed in response to the amendment’s simultaneous narrowing of focus and expansion of membership on the proposed Committee. Amilcar Shabazz urged the Council to not consider “going down the road of expanding the Committee,” stating that “a small, nimble committee… is the better way to go.” But Councilor Ndifreke Ette (District 1) framed the narrowed scope of the amended Charge as a benefit to the Committee. “With a more limited scope, there is room to see what failure or success looks like,” Ette said. 

Almost every councilor expressed support for some portion of the amendment, but there was general disagreement over the new language and the reframing of the connection to the AHRA Final Report. 

“It is wild to me that the word ‘Black’ doesn’t appear in this [amended] charge once,” Devlin Gauthier stated. Although Councilor Ryan suggested that this deletion may have been intended to protect the Committee from challenges in court (a notion which  Hanneke confirmed was the intention in authorship), he agreed that the charge required  refinement

 “We’ve never had the conversation we need to have on the AHRA report,” Ryan added. 

The Council unanimously voted to refer both the amendment and the original charge back to the Governance, Organization & Legislation Committee (GOL). Although a similar referral was defeated at the previous meeting, the new amendment provides GOL with “concrete things to discuss,” said Devlin Gauthier. The charge will return to the Council after being revised. 

Other Business

Town Manager Paul Bockelman, in his verbal report to the Council, shared that the contract process for the new Fort River Elementary School has been paused. Although several bids came in under budget, there is a legal complaint arguing that one of the contractors is not eligible to bid on the project. 

Bockelman further said that the sub-bids (from subcontractors) for the Jones Library renovation and expansion rebid are significantly lower than the previous round, which may indicate that the final bid price (from the general contractor) will also be lower. 

The Council also finalized appointments to Town committees, heard a presentation from the Human Rights Commission on their Annual Report, approved the placement of directional signage in the public way, and discussed the upcoming Town Manager evaluations and goal-setting. 

The next Town Council meeting will be November 4 at 6:00 pm. This meeting will include a presentation of financial indicators from the Jones Library Board of Trustees and the School Committee.

Town Council meetings are also accessible via Zoom, livestream, and Amherst Media broadcast. Meeting details, agendas, and access are posted on the Town Council webpage. If you’re interested in knowing more about upcoming Council meetings, you can subscribe to text and email updates from the Town. 

Alex Cox (he/him) is a current graduate student at UMass- Amherst studying Regional Planning (MRP) and Public Policy and Administration (MPPA). He currently serves on the Amherst Affordable Housing Trust Fund and as the Graduate Director of the Student Union Art Gallery. He has been a member of the Amherst Current editorial board since 2024.