DPW Move from Existing Building Not Feasible by Oct. 1

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Town Council, July 20, 2026

This was a hybrid meeting held in the Town Room of Town Hall. It was recorded.

Present
Mandi Jo Hanneke (President, at large); Jill Brevik and Cathy Schoen (District 1); Amber Cano-Martin and Lynn Griesemer (District 2); Hala Lord and George Ryan (District 3); Pam Rooney (District 4); Sam MacLeod (District 5); and Andy Churchill and Ellisha Walker (at large).

Absent: Jennifer Taub (District 4) and Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5).

Staff
Paul Bockelman (Town Manager) and Athena O’Keeffe (Council Clerk).

Ellisha Walker chaired this meeting.

Complexity of DPW Move Causes Delays
As requested by the Town Council, Town Manager Paul Bockelman gave a six-month progress report on the Town Manager Goals for the year. He said that, because of staff turnover and the closure of Hampshire College, which opened up opportunities for rezoning, some goals have been delayed, though most are on target to be completed by the end of the year.

One major delay involves relocating the Department of Public Works (DPW) from its current dilapidated building while a new facility is designed. The council voted unanimously in April that the town manager should find alternative space for DPW employees and remove them from the current building by Oct. 1. Bockelman said that will not be possible.

He said that although DPW employees want to move, finding a suitable site is proving difficult. “Not only are we relocating a giant department, but we also have to meet their operational requirements. They still have to conduct the duties that they have to maintain during the course of the workday,” he said. He pointed to the complexity and amount of planning it took to move the relatively small Recreation Department from the middle school to Wildwood Elementary School recently.

Bockelman especially emphasized the difficulty of replacing the mechanics bay, which has lifts large enough for the department’s trucks.

Bockelman added that existing town staff do not have time to evaluate possible sites, so the town has enlisted Weston and Sampson—the firm chosen to design the new DPW building—to help with the process, since the firm will be meeting with employees to understand the department’s needs.

Several possibilities for temporary relocation of the DPW have emerged:

1. Move the department to Wildwood School.
2. Build a temporary structure at the DPW’s Ruxton site in North Amherst on Pulpit Hill Rd.,  that could continue to be used after the new DPW building is completed.
3. Keep employees in the current building while the new building is under construction, then demolish the old building once the new one is complete. This option was proposed by Weston and Sampson, and the town is studying its feasibility.
4. Relocate the department to several smaller sites. This was deemed the least appealing choice.

Councilor Amber Cano-Martin expressed disappointment about the delay in moving employees out of the current building, citing health and safety concerns. She said she understood the barriers to a more timely move. Bockelman agreed that finding new quarters was a priority that the town was taking seriously but said there needed to be a careful plan to ensure all monitoring stations remain up and running and accessible in different locations. He will keep the council updated on progress.

DPW Building Committee Still Only Meeting in Person
DPW Building Committee Chair Christine Gray-Mullen has continued to hold committee meetings only in person, with no recording available. In response to a question from Lynn Griesemer about why remote access to the meetings is still not available, Bockelman cited the complexity of holding hybrid meetings and said the IT department was working on alternatives to Zoom to make the meetings available online. Both he and Town Council representative Pam Rooney lamented the situation. Rooney said she would be unable to attend this week’s meeting in person.

FY27 CPA Funds Allocated to Repair of Goodwin Church
After a public forum that yielded no public comment, the council voted unanimously to award $48,000 in fiscal year 2027 Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds for repairs to the Goodwin AME Zion Church on Woodside Ave. Because of challenging circumstances including the death of the pastor, the church was unable to submit a complete application in time to be considered with the other FY27 CPA awards. However, the funds were reserved by the CPA committee in its final report.

Finance Committee Chair Cathy Schoen said the Finance Committee unanimously recommended the funds not only because immediate repairs to the church are needed, but also because matching funds are available for the historic structure.

Councilor Hala Lord recused herself from the discussion and vote because she sits on the church’s board.

Solutions to Traffic and Parking Around Amethyst Brook Elementary School Being Developed
When the new Amethyst Brook Elementary School opens this fall, ongoing demolition work at the existing Fort River School will require all entering and exiting school traffic to use the south driveway. Also, most of the parking lot will be unavailable for staff parking.

Bockelman said that other town-owned land near the school had been designated for staff parking, and the school is encouraging students to arrive by school bus to minimize traffic congestion during morning arrival and afternoon dismissal. The school is also holding orientations in August to familiarize families with the new building and ease first-day jitters. In any case, people will be needed to direct traffic during busy periods, at least for the first few weeks of the school year. CRESS responders may be trained for this work.

Schoen reiterated her call for permanently closing the shunt road behind Northampton Cooperative Bank for safety.