AMHERST — Two town leaders used a slimmed-down version of an annual State of Town address this week to cite accomplishments made over the last year while at the same time acknowledging more work is on the horizon in the coming year.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Town Council President Lynn Griesemer both described extensive efforts over the past year to make Amherst a better place to live and work. They noted a continued commitment to sustainability in decisions made by the town, as well as promoting social justice values through municipal departments. They also the forward progress of major building projects, such as a new elementary school, and affordable housing developments.

In his presentation, Bockelman reflected on taking a break from holiday shopping in downtown Amherst recently and meeting up at a restaurant with an Amherst native, accompanied by his 3-year-old daughter, who recently returned to the area.

“I believe our mission is to create a place where children can grow up with a true feeling of community, including being safe and engaged, where each is launched into adulthood where they find a satisfying path in life, where values of equity and sustainability matter,” Bockelman said

“It is important that our community commits to this vision we hold for all of our children, not just those born to advantages,” Bockelman said. “We need to be purposeful about our actions.”

The State of the Town was a slimmed down version of what is required in the town charter to. The first, in 2019, held at the Amherst Regional Middle School auditorium, included a musical performance, talks by a number of town leaders and a swearing-in ceremony of public safety officials. Though disrupted by the pandemic in 2020, by last year the State of the Town again included a swearing-in ceremony and several speeches.

This year, though, officials from the Amherst and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools and libraries delivered their annual reports in written form.

Bockelman pointed to the continued launch of the Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service, an unarmed police alternative, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion departments, as critical to the town’s success. “These departments are changing the way we conduct ourselves and how we treat each other and align our services with our values,” Bockelman said

Bockelman referenced departures from municipal staff, including the finance director.

“Change is always hard, and this year has been especially difficult, but we will continue to move forward with all of our initiatives. We have solid systems in place that are resilient in the face of change,” he said.

He also described better relationships with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College. “I’d say our relationships with these three institutions, all under relatively new leadership, has never been better,” Bockelman said.

Similar relationships exist with nonprofits, from Craig’s Doors, which runs the overnight shelter, to Valley Community Development and Wayfinders bringing affordable housing to town, to the Amherst Survival Center providing food and other necessities.

“We aren’t perfect, I recognize that, but we’re doing the work to make our community better,” Bockelman said.

In her address, Griesemer acknowledged all 13 members of the council.

“All of us have worked hard and contributed in many, many ways,” Griesemer said.

Griesemer said the council, which met 29 times, updated policies, such as for flag raising and surveillance use by police, and rewrote bylaws, including for water and sewer regulations, a specialized energy code and safe access to legally protected reproductive and gender-affirming health care.

Building and other capital projects, like the ongoing renovation of the North Common and the Town Hall steps nearing completion, are also important.

But Griesemer said there is a to-do-list and a need to focus energies on other buildings, like a South Amherst fire station and new Department of Public Works headquarters. “That’s the DPW, fire and EMS, and our roads and sidewalks,” Griesemer said.

And while there is a new roundabout at Pomeroy Lane and West Street, where North Pleasant, Meadow and Pine streets come together remains difficult. “One of our serious challenges remains the North Amherst intersection,” Griesemer said.

Griesemer said councilors took pride in being at the ribbon cutting for East Gables, the affordable housing development on Northampton Road, which was originally brought forward to the Select Board. Then the Town Council had to continue supporting it over neighborhood concerns.

“It became one of our landmark projects very early on,” Griesemer said.

As the Town Council remains financial stewards and promotes racial equity and justice, Griesemer said it awaits special legislation, such as for ranked choice voting and extending voting rights to permanent legal residents, and will have a hand in developing a Resident Oversight Board for police, a Youth Empowerment Center and recommendations from the African Heritage Reparation Assembly.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.