conservation

School hydration station OK’d at Town Meeting

March 24, 2016

By Alice Waugh

There will be fewer crumpled paper cups in the Lincoln School’s future after one of the water bubblers is be replaced by a “hydration station,” thanks to a Town Meeting citizen’s petition by a group of eighth-graders.

Laura Appleby, Hannah Hwang, Keith Hylton, Roshan Kharbanda, Tara O’Malley, Simon Perry and Zach Tam wanted to come up with a more environmentally friendly solution for dispensing drinking water at the school. The bubblers have replaceable five-gallon jugs that dispense water into disposable paper cups, so each one has a wastebasket next to it filled with this trash.

After looking into alternatives, the students found that users could fill up their reusable water bottles at a “hydration station” that dispenses filtered tap water. Their citizens’ petition asked voters to approve an expenditure of up to $3,500 for a hydration station in Reed Gym.

In the course of their research, the students learned that the water in the Lincoln School is in fact safe to drink and is used by the cafeteria every day. The school has always had ceramic water fountains, but they were mothballed in the 1900s over concerns about excessive lead and copper. A 1991 federal law required towns to test and eventually limit the amounts of those metals in municipal drinking water.

To help the students, Lincoln Water Department Superintendent Greg Woods researched the Lincoln history of issue and learned that the metals had come from lead solder and the copper pipes conveying water from the mains to individual homes and schools. The problem was most noticeable in cases where water sat in the pipes for extended periods of time, such as the days and weeks when school was not in session.

“Unlike Flint, Michigan, the town and schools do not have lead pipes transporting the drinking water to the tap,” Woods wrote in a letter to the student group in February.

In 1998, the Water Department installed a new corrosion control system at both of the town’s water supply sources to make the pH of the water non-corrosive and to provide a protective coating on the interior of a building’s plumbing to prevent leaching. The town subsequently achieved compliance with the new rules—so well, in fact, that the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection granted a waiver to reduce the frequency of required sampling to once every three years.

Nonetheless, “we note that the success of the corrosion control systems to protect Lincoln residents from elevated lead and copper has not been widely publicized,” Woods wrote.

The hydration station will also save money. The students found that the school now spends $2,625 per year on water and paper cups for each bubbler, “so we’d break even in about a year and three months,” Perry said during their Town Meeting presentation. Other schools with hydration stations have been successful in increasing student use of reusable water bottles, O’Malley added.

Asked why the group didn’t press for hydration stations to replace every bubbler in the school rather than just the one in Reed Gym, Perry replied, “As a group, we want to take a step rather than conquering the world. We want it as a step to look at as inspiration.”

Voters OK buying land for possible solar swap

March 20, 2016

The lighter green protion of the Hargreaves-Heald property will be purchased by the town for conservation land.

The lighter-green portion of the Hargreaves-Heald property will be purchased by the town for conservation land.

By Alice Waugh

Thanks to a vote at the March 19 Town Meeting, Lincoln will buy a new piece of conservation land that could be used as part of a “land swap” with the state to allow a solar array to be built on the capped landfill.

Voters approved spending $225,000 on a three-acre portion of the seven-acre Hargreaves-Heald property in Sandy Pond Road, which includes the meadow just to the east of the Old Town Hall Exchange. Converting the three acres into town-owned conservation land means that it will be preserved as open space and that the town can run a conservation trail through it.

The purchase was one of 11 projects to be funded by a Community Preservation Committee (CPC) allocation of $897,882. Housing and recreation reserves brought the total for the CPC measure (which was approved with a few “nay” votes) to $1,030,162.

According to state law, if the town decides to remove the conservation designation from a parcel such as the landfill for purposes of installing a solar array, it must compensate by designating an equivalent amount of other land as conservation property. While a solar array will not be proposed for the Hargreaves-Heald land itself, that land could potentially be “swapped” for the landfill in exchange for permission to site a solar array on the landfill conservation land.

The idea of putting solar panels on the landfill site was discussed at the State of the Town meeting in November 2015, though no concrete proposals have been put forth yet.

Green Energy Committee chair John Snell proposed amending the CPC motion to specify that the Hargreaves-Heald purchase could be counted as a conservation land swap in a future application to the state. “It would really help if this was an option… it would be a good forward-thinking thing to do,” he said.

Town officials huddle in front of Town Counsel Joel Bard to craft amended wording for the Hargreaves-Heald motion as Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden (left) waits.

After a lengthy on-stage huddle among Lincoln officials, Town Counsel Joel Bard drafted amended wording for the motion. “It’s just a paper designation, if you will—the acquisition and use of the parcel is not going to change,” he said, adding that the amendment conferred “the option but not the obligation” to use the property as part of a future conservation land swap.

“We’ve done such a good job with conservation land that we don’t really have any fungible municipal land” to use in a swap, said Selectman Noah Eckhouse, who along with Snell is a members of the Landfill Solar Steering Committee. “The state is trying to keep towns from cracking into conservation land they already have.”

Town Meeting news acorns

March 20, 2016

The Lincoln Squirrel will publish more stories about the March 19 Town Meting in coming days. Meanwhile, here are a few other warrant articles that were discussed.

Ballot questions

There will be two questions on the March 28 town election ballot that were also discussed at Town Meeting:

A request for $320,000 for the Department of Public Works to buy a new street sweeper ($215,000) and an articulated loader ($105,000). The loader is a smaller vehicle used for plowing sidewalks and bike paths as well as trimming roadside vegetation.
A request for a Proposition 2½ override to pay for Lincoln’s share of the new Minuteman High School. This question, which was placed on the ballot pending the town’s decision on whether to withdraw from the Minuteman school district, is now moot. Residents voted at a February 23 Special Town Meeting to withdraw. Though the town will still have a representative on the Minuteman School Committee until July 2017, it will not be liable as a member town for the new building’s capital costs.

Conservation Commission funding

A motion to allow the Conservation Commission to spend $25,000 on several land stewardship projects passed at Town Meeting, though not without some “nay” votes.

The money, which comes from fees paid to the town by people who leave conservation land for agricultural purposes, will go toward repairing the muster field colvert so it can safely hold a tractor and emergency vehicles, as well as the upper Browning Field bridge. Other projects covered by the appropriation are plantings to screen the solar panels in Far Meadow near Lincoln Woods, setting up six deer “exclosures” for studying how vegetation burned in last year’s fire near Sandy Pond; doing an inventory of invasive Japanese knotweed; and controlling phragmites that grow in wetlands, especially on the Sudbury River.

It was this last project that caused some controversy, as several residents objected to possible use of chemicals to kill the phragmites. Conservation Commission chair Peter von Mertens said the preferred method would be to cut the phragmites and then cover the area with light-proof cloth to prevent regrowth, but Conservation DIrector Thomas Gumbart acknowledged that herbicides are also an option.

Right-to-farm bylaw

The town passed over an article that considered amending the 2011 right-to-farm zoning by-law to add parties who are permitted to farm by right in Lincoln and to add agricultural uses permitted by right on parcels of less than five acres.

The Agricultural Commission (AgComm) hoped to propose the changes because more and more people are doing farming on a small scale, such as raising chickens in their backyards. The group drafted some amendments to the by-law but decided to get more community input on what sort of limits there should be, such as whether there should be a limit on agricultural uses or revenue for homeowners on properties under five acres.

“We want to craft it so it won’t alarm people and so we have the proper parameters put on operations,” AgComm member Ari Kurtz said the day after Town Meeting. The AgComm has a study group examine the current agricultural by-laws, and Kurtz invited anyone interested in joining the group to email agcom@lincolnton.org.

Currently there are 16 commercial farms in Lincoln on about 500 acres of land, he said. Lincoln farms raise fruits and vegetables and livestock including chickens, cows, sheep, alpacas, but also wine grapes, horses for riding and therapy, and bees for honey and wax.

News acorns

March 13, 2016

Middle schoolers perform “Music Man Jr.”

Come see “Music Man Jr.,” based on the classic Broadway show and 1962 movie, in the Donaldson auditorium on Wednesday, March 16 at 3 p.m., and Thursday and Friday, March 17 and 18 at 7 p.m. The story follows the escapades of of a fast-talking salesman who masquerades as a traveling band leader and his plans to swindle the naive parents of a small Iowa town. Instead, he falls for the town’s librarian and risks everything to be with her. This production features a cast and crew of close to 70 students and has been supported by dozens of parent volunteers. Drama teacher Kristen Hall is the show’s director and producer. Musical direction is by music teacher Blake Siskavich and choreography by fifth-grade teacher Maurisa Davis. Tickets will be sold at the door: adults $10, students and seniors $5. Suitable for all ages.

Library/Aka Bistro discount

The Lincoln Public Library and AKA Bistro are offering a 10 percent food discount (drinks not included) for Lincoln residents with Lincoln Public Library cards. For more information, see the AKA Bistro website.

Environmental film festival from river group

OARS (a nonprofit group that works to protect, preserve, and enhance the natural and recreational features of the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord Rivers and their watersheds) is hosting an evening of films from the largest environmental film festival in the nation on Wednesday, March 30 from 7-10 p.m. at Maynard’s Fine Arts Theatre Place (19 Summer St.) With the theme “A Change of Course,” these engaging films bring theater-goers close to magnificent wilderness, as well as to the people who work to protect their communities’ environment. Sixteen films ranging from 2 to 18 minutes will be shown. including “Denali,” “The Fable of the Wolf” and “The Accidental Environmentalist.” Tickets are $13 and may be purchased online, or contact OARS at 978-369-3956 or office@oars3rivers.org.

Residents invited to get greener with free home energy assessment

March 7, 2016

The Green Energy Committee (GEC) and the town of Lincoln are sponsoring the Lincoln Energy Challenge, a new residential initiative to help reduce overall energy use and save money on energy costs. The ultimate goal is to decrease Lincoln’s residential energy use 10 percent by 2020.

Thanks to government incentives and advances in technology, many new energy-saving options have become available. Volunteers from the Green Energy Committee have examined these options, many in their own homes, and want to share this knowledge with other residents to:

Reduce home energy consumption
Increase use of “greener” sources of electricity, particularly solar and wind
Consider rooftop solar panels or community solar options

As a first step, the GEC and the Town of Lincoln have selected Next Step Living (NSL), the largest provider of home energy assessments in New England, to coordinate outreach to our residents and offer free assessments. The committee conducted a competitive bidding process to select NSL to implement the program. The goal is for 300 Lincoln residents to complete a no-cost home energy assessment by April 2017 and to implement home improvement projects like air sealing, insulation, and furnace, boiler or appliance upgrades with the help of state-incentivized rebates. While many homes may have had energy assessments, residents are encouraged to get a revised assessment if more than two years have passed.

A home energy assessment takes just a few hours and includes on-the-spot improvements such as no-cost energy-efficient LED light bulbs and water-saving devices for faucets and shower heads. Each measure identified in an assessment reduces the amount of energy used in a home. If Lincoln residents implement the recommended measures, NSL estimates that the total savings will exceed $28,000 per year.

To schedule a free Home Energy Assessment, call 800-769-2864 or visit www.LincolnEnergyChallenge.com. For questions email Lincoln Green Energy Committee member Sue Klem at susan.m.klem@gmail.com.

Letter to the editor: Barrett’s carbon tax is a bad idea

January 25, 2016

Editor’s note: This letter is in response to a Dec. 6, 2015 letter by Democratic Town Committee chair Gary Davis about the DTC’s endorsement of a bill proposed by Sen. Michael Barrett.

To the editor:

Lincoln’s state senator, Michael Barrett, has proposed a bill to impose a carbon tax to combat climate change. The tax will have no discernible effect on carbon emissions or climate change, but will substantially increase the cost of living and doing business in Massachusetts.

New solar installation at Lincoln Woods

January 19, 2016

The newly installed solar array in Far Meadow.

A “solar farm” is nearing completion at Far Meadow on property owned by Lincoln Woods, and if the good weather holds, it should be producing non-polluting electricity by the end of February.

Four hundred solar panels have been installed and the electrical connections are currently being made. You can see the installation by walking out the dirt road parallel to the railroad tracks from the commuter parking lot. Once it’s on line, the project is expected produce 112 kW of electricity. The average Massachusetts home used about 615 kWh of electricity per month in 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Additional collectors are being installed on the flat-roofed Lincoln Woods units themselves. Their completion will depend on other work being done to bring Lincoln Woods in compliance with state refunding requirements.

The Far Meadow site is a relatively small installation and is expected to have minimal impact on the conservation land and meadow habitat which it abuts, according to Conservation Commission co-chair Peter von Mertens.

The town is looking into the idea of creating a larger solar site atop the old landfill tat could produce somewhere from 650 kW to 980 kW of electricity. Lincoln’s Green Energy Technology Committee presented information on this at the State of the Town meeting in November 2015.

Letter to the editor: rebuttals on leaf blower issue

January 19, 2016

Editor’s note: this letter is in response to a letter published on January 12.

To the editor:

Michael Coppock’s questions and complaints about the Leaf Blower Study Group’s activities answer themselves, by and large. He notes the cost of the flyers mentioned in his letter (January 12, 2016) came from the Selectmen’s printing budget. Simply put, this expenditure, authorized by elected officials and/or persons appointed by them, reflected the interest of the town’s governing bodies in a subject that addresses both quality of life and health issues affecting Lincoln residents. The extent to which leaf-blower emissions and noise are seen as a public health problem is reflected by the existence of hundreds of local laws, ordinances and regulations regarding use of these machines in counties, cities, towns, and villages across the land and around the world. To be sure, these measures have proved difficult to enforce, for a number of reasons—but that does not diminish the public’s interest or the nature of the problem or the Board of Health’s responsibility to address it.

Letter to the editor: pushback on leaf-blower letter

December 23, 2015

To the editor:

Michael Coppock has recently written a letter to the editor (Lincoln Squirrel, Dec. 20, 2015) that ascribes rather dark intentions to the Lincoln Leaf Blower Committee. He says that it’s clear to him that this presages our introducing legislation at the next town meeting. In fact, the opposite is true—we decided last spring that rather than initiate a call for a partial ban (no usage during the summer months), we would go the way of education and hope that when people learned about the major issues associated with leaf blower use, they would confine their use to major leaf cleanups rather than the weekly use of clearing walks and pathways of grass clippings during the season when leaves are firmly attached to trees.

Yes, the Board of Health limited its findings to the town center. But the fact is, most Lincolnites visit the town center regularly, and there are a number of residents who actually live within the business district. Furthermore, we hear from people outside of the business district who have serious health concerns about both the noise and the airborne particulate matter.

In a recent meeting of our group, we also attempted to address the challenging issue of how to proceed with studying this problem in a way that maximizes civility and cooperation—not easy. We encourage members of the community to please share with us your concerns and ideas on how to proceed in a way that most embraces the goal of a collaborative solution.

This is an ongoing process. We fully appreciate that not everyone in town shares our concerns or agrees with our perspective. (In fact, the committee itself is not in lockstep on this issue.) Our hope is to pursue this conversation in an open and community spirited way. Mr. Coppock’s angry and adversarial tone contributes little to help create that kind of climate.

Our website is www.lincolnleaves.org. Comments, suggestions or questions can be sent to quietlincoln@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Robin Wilkerson
Member, Lincoln Leaf Blower Committee

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, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Tree-cutting dismays some South Lincoln residents

December 18, 2015

Trees were recently cut down on Greenridge Lane (top) and at Lincoln Woods. Photos: Alice Waugh

By Alice Waugh

In scenes reminiscent of the controversy over the Route 2 tree-cutting in 2013, residents on Greenridge Lane and Lincoln Woods were surprised and unhappy when a number of mature trees near their homes were recently cut down.