Editor’s note: The following letter from the Community Preservation Committee is addressed to the Lincoln community. It was updated on March 24 to reflect a correction to the street address given for CPC member Margaret Olson.
To the editor:
Massachusetts passed the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in 2000. Lincoln voted to join in 2003 with a 3 percent property tax surcharge. Since then the state has matched the town’s revenues anywhere from 100 percent to the low 30 percent level. This past year the state match was 66 percent due to a provision in the state budget which required the first $25 million of any surplus to be deposited into the CPA trust. Hopefully this requirement will be renewed in the ongoing state budget process, but it is not guaranteed.
This year’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) began accepting project applications in August. Projects must come from one of four areas to qualify: historic, open space, community housing and recreation. The Lincoln group met six times throughout the fall and early winter. The projects were discussed with their sponsors as well as at the committee level. As a result of this process, the following projects were approved at our public hearing on January 22 for consideration at this year’s Town Meeting:
| CPC 2015 Proposal Summary | |
| Proposal |
Amount Requested |
| Town Offices—Debt service on renovation expenses |
$327,825 |
| 75 Tower Road—Rehabilitation of town-owned affordable housing unit and addition of a new housing unit |
$150,000 |
| Wetland trail and observation platform from Lincoln School to muster field |
$137,355 |
| Arborvitae Cemetery—Reconstruction of stone wall on northern side |
$50,000 |
| Smith School playground rehabilitation—Replacement of broken equipment |
$50,000 |
| Bemis Hall basement design study to facilitate the usage of the area for Council on Aging activities |
$30,000 |
| Town Archives items and documents |
$26,667 |
| Reconstruct the Library’s Preston Building roof |
$20,000 |
| Codman Community Farm main barn electrical work |
$15,000 |
| Structural survey of the Flint Homestead on which the town holds a historical preservation restriction |
$8,000 |
| Historical architectural area studies supported by Friends of Modern Architecture and the Historic Commission |
$6,000 |
| Codman Community Farm hay barn structural study |
$5,000 |
| Subtotal |
$825,847 |
| Additional Expenses |
Amount |
| Debt service on previous project |
$107,713 |
| Reserve for open space/land acquisition (10% of CPA revenues as required by law) |
$77,813 |
| Reserve for community housing (10% of CPA revenues as required by law) |
$66,438 |
| Administrative expenses |
$3,000 |
| Subtotal |
$254,964 |
| Grand Total |
$1,080,811 |
The total recommended projects amount of $1,080,811 comes out of the total available CPA funds of $1,841,230. This leaves a balance of $760,419 to carry over to the next fiscal year.
Should you have questions, thoughts or comments about any of the proposals prior to Town Meeting, please contact a member of the committee.
Sincerely,
Chris Fasciano, chairman
8 Linway Rd.
John Valpey, vice chairman
135 Bedford Rd.
Susie Collins
16 Grasshopper Lane
Craig Donaldson
1 Old Lexington Rd.
Lucretia Giese
32 Tower Rd.
Chris Kasper
140 Concord Rd.
Connie Lewis
19C South Commons
Margaret Olson
17 Boyce Farm Rd.
Peter von Mertens
16 Tower Rd.
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published. Letters may be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor.
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