The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

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Public hearings coming up

Tree removal by DPW

On Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln DPW Office (30 Lewis St.), a public hearing will be held by the Tree Warden, Deputy Tree Warden and/or their designees to consider the removal of the trees listed below that are in the public right of way. This meeting is consistent with the requirements of the Shade Tree Act (MGL,c.87) and Scenic Road Act.

The trees have been marked with a hearing notice and are being considered for removal because they are dead, in decline, or otherwise posing a safety or operational hazard. The trees are marked as to size and type along the following roads:

  • 10 Old Sudbury Rd., 20″ pine
  • 251 Lincoln Rd., 30″ oak right of drive
  • At Town Hall, 24″ hemlock
  • Baker Bridge Field South, between poles 49 and 50, 12″ maple
  • Baker Bridge Field South, between poles 48 and 49, 12″ maple
  • Baker Bridge Field South, between poles 47 and 48, 12″ maple
  • Baker Bridge Field South, between poles 46 and 47, 8″ maple
  • Baker Bridge Field South, between poles 45 and 46, two 12″ maples
  • Baker Bridge Field South, between poles 44 and 45, 12″ maple
  • Baker Bridge Field South, between poles 43 and 44, 8″ maple
  • 53 Lincoln Rd., 20″ ash
  • Lincoln Road across from Pierce Hill Road, 24″ ash
  • Across from 94 Lincoln Rd., 20″ ash
  • Ridge Road opposite pole 35/1, two 14″ maples
  • Ridge Road, between and opposite poles 35/1 and 35/2, two 14″ maples
  • Anyone with questions may call the DPW at 781-259-8999.

Zoning Board of Appeals

The Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall to hear and to act on the following petitions under the Zoning Bylaws:

  • 9-11 Lewis Street Realty LLC, 9 Lewis St., for extension of original special permit for continued uses of 9, 11 and 11A Lewis St.
  • Rosamond and Francois Delori, 44 Tower Rd., for a special permit for an accessory apartment in loft above an existing garage.
  • Christopher Kalisch and Lindsay Norris, 158 Bedford Rd., for a special permit to replace an existing garage with a new garage and office above.

Lincoln Dems say climate change is the #1 issue for 2020

By Joan Kimball and Barbara Slayter
Lincoln Democratic Town Committee

Over 40 enthusiastic Democrats attended the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee (LDTC) at a November 16 meeting that defined strategy and goals for the group in the 2020 elections.

Lincoln Democrats voted climate change as the overwhelming #1 issue. Identified as “very important” were gun control, health care, and immigration. As the group looked ahead and discussed goals for 2020, they also reviewed fall activities, including collecting signatures to get ranked-choice voting on the ballot.

Kate Kavanagh and Denise Gieseke, co-founders of Concord Indivisible, shared how individuals can work with their group to promote voter engagement, election integrity, and causes. Everyone is invited to write postcards, text, call and canvas voters around the country and participate in registration drives and rallies.

Barbara Slayter described the work of Force Multiplier (FM) a volunteer group that focuses on raising funds for outstanding Democratic House of Representative candidates in swing districts. A recent Metrowest FM event in Lincoln drew almost 150 people to hear Democrat Abigail Spanberger, who is seeking re-election in Virginia’s 7th district. The event raised over $17,000 for Spanberger. 

Joan Kimball, coordinator of the Grandmothers for a Brighter Future, described the postcard writing that Lincoln volunteers have done. In 2016, the Lincoln Grandmothers for a Brighter Future sent out 5,000 postcards for senate races in three states. Anyone over age 10 is invited to write postcard either separately or in groups. The goal for 2020 is 5,000–7,000 postcards. For more information, email Kimball at selenejck@gmail.com.

All interested Lincoln residents are invited to the next LDTC meeting on Saturday, Jan. 11 from 9–11 a.m. in Bemis Hall.

News acorns

Dems host strategy session for 2020 election

Join the Lincoln Democrats’ planning session on Saturday, Nov. 16 to “get fired up and ready to go” for 2020. Hear about the work of Concord Indivisible from co-founders Kate Kavanagh and Denise Gieseke. Share your thoughts on getting out the vote and communications. Explore the critical issues ahead and determine which Lincoln Democrats will prioritize for action. Coffee and pastries starting at 8:30 a.m.; meeting starts at 9.

Bluegrass gospel band at First Parish

On Sunday, Nov. 17 at 10 a.m., the First Parish in Lincoln welcomes Dover’s Pilgrim Bluegrass Gospel Band, who (together with choir director Ian Watson) will share their music as they perform a variety of traditional and contemporary songs to complement the order of service. Band members are Michele Sauter on mandolin and vocals, Geoff Sauter on five-string banjo and vocals, Bob Cocks on guitar and vocals, Francesca Wier on vocals, and Greg Algieri on upright string bass and vocals.

Old Town Hall Corp. meetings

The Annual Meeting of Members of the Lincoln Old Town Hall Corporation will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Town Office Building. The agenda will include the election of trustees for the ensuing year, as well as financial reports and a review of the past year’s activities. The Annual Meeting of Trustees will immediately follow, and will include the election of officers and the conduct of such other business as may be brought before the meeting. All members are urged to attend.

Jamming for L-S school in Cambodia

Former students and musicians from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School will get together to jam and support their sister school, Memorial School in Cambodia, on Friday, Nov. 29 from 7–11 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Likely performers will include Chris and James Nifong, Eve Elkort, Nick Smith, Madelyn Paquette, Nate Gerry, Sam Pace, John and Molly Roach, Nora Telford, Kerry Kittelsen, and Lauren Weintraub. Tickets are$10. Food will be sold at the event. Send RSVPs and any questions to danielle_weisse@lsrhs.net.

Lincoln grapples with growth within and outside its borders

By Alice Waugh

As the population in the MetroWest area keeps growing, Lincoln will have to decide how to allow more housing and businesses — or whether it even wants to.

In an effort to direct growth around the MBTA station in Lincoln, the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee presented a draft of proposing zoning changes at the November 2 State of the Town meeting. Since Oriole Landing was approved, the town won’t face pressure for dense affordable housing developments for at least another decade — but several surrounding towns are not so lucky, Selectman Jennifer Glass noted in her “Setting the Context” presentation.

Neighboring communities are being forced to entertain 40B housing projects, which are allowed to circumvent many zoning restrictions for height and density in towns that have fallen short of state requirements for affordable housing. Hundreds of units (not all of them designated affordable) have been proposed or built in Sudbury, Wayland, Weston, and West Concord, Glass noted.

Already completed are the 250-unit Avalon apartment complex in Sudbury and the 56-unit Coolidge for residents 55+ in Wayland. For years, Sudbury residents fought Sudbury Station, a 250-unit rental housing proposal next to the cemetery at the town center. Last year, the town agreed to swap that property for another site on Route 117, where the developer has proposed the 274-unit Quarry North.

Weston has so many 40B proposals that it created a separate town web page on the topic. Among them: 180 rental units at 751 Boston Post Rd. just west of Weston Center; 150 rental units at 104 Boston Post Rd. close to the I-95 interchange; and 200 rental units on South Avenue near Weston High School. Sixteen rental units at 269 North Ave. just south of Dairy Joy and 10 condo units on Merriam Street are also being considered.

In Wayland, there are proposals for two major housing developments on Boston Post Road, one close to the Sudbury town line and the other on the site of the former Mahoney’s Garden Center.

Many of these proposals are tied up in court on appeals from either developers or residents, but eventually at least some of them will be built, and that means more traffic in and around Lincoln — as well as opportunities for local businesses. And South Lincoln may become more attractive because it’s one of the few towns in the area with a commuter rail station and commuter parking availability — hence the conversation around transit-oriented, middle-income housing.

“Adding some carefully planned mixed-use development near the station will help support the businesses we do have… and convince the MBTA that it’s in their economic interest to add more train service rather than slowly taking it away,” Glass said.

Lincoln is grappling with how to balance its desire for a sustainable, rural character and lots of conservation land vs. property tax hikes for the new school and other expenses down the road, including a possible community center. More businesses in South Lincoln could boost the tax base — but to encourage that kind of development, more housing is probably needed as well, which in turn costs money for schools and services. The State of the Town meeting touched on several of these interrelated topics: zoning, transportation, property taxes, the school project, and community choice electricity aggregation (now awaiting approval from the state Department of Public Utilities).

“This is an opportunity to reach out and collaborate and try to shape the coming changes to have a positive impact on Lincoln,” Glass said.

Changes in taxation, South Lincoln zoning debated at meeting

Should Lincoln try to ease the burden on taxpayers with a shift in property tax policy, and/or encouraging more commercial and housing development in South Lincoln? Residents got a chance at last week’s State of the Town meeting to discuss both ideas, and will likely have a chance to vote on then in the spring.

In the wake of the big tax increase resulting from the school project, the Property Tax Committee has been studying two ideas to help reduce the strain for some Lincoln homeowners: a local version of the existing state circuit-breaker program, and a residential tax exemption. Both ideas were also discussed at a public forum last month.

A circuit-breaker program would limit the percentage of income a homeowner would have to pay in property taxes based on their income, assets, length of time in town (10+ years), and age (65+). Funding would come from a small across-the-board tax rate increase. A residential tax exemption would exempt a certain percentage of the value of everyone’s property, meaning that the tax burden would shift toward those with higher-valued homes to benefit those with homes at the lower end of the range.

Under the local circuit-breaker scenario, “everyone pays a little bit more in order to provide significant benefits to those with identified need,” Selectman Jennifer Glass said at the November 2 town-wide meeting. Homeowners in Sudbury, which has a program like this, have seen an average increase of about $73 a year as a result, she added.

Glass acknowledged that some residents are unhappy with the idea of another tax hike for some property owners so soon after the big increase, seeing it as a “bait and switch” move. The median tax bill in fiscal 2020 rose by 12.7%, and the tax rate went up from $14.03 to $15.36 per $1,000 of assessed property. Of that new total, $1.95 is earmarked for the school project, she said.

Neither idea will be implemented without a town-wide vote; “it’s too big a policy decision to make without consulting the town,” Glass said, urging residents to fill out a short survey to express their opinions.

Residents at the October 15 forum were open to the circuit-breaker idea but mostly negative about a residential tax exemption. Sentiment was much the same for the few residents who spoke last Saturday.

“A residential exemption would have been a great discussion three years ago and might have factored into the decision-making process” about the school, former Finance Committee member Peyton Marshall said. “Now we’re encountering buyer’s remorse [when] people who didn’t show up in December opened their tax bill.” As a result, the town is in a “period of disequilibrium” when some are thinking of selling their homes either soon, or after the school project is finished.

“We should consider all this in three to five years after people have made their housing decisions… It’s really explosive” to discuss it now, Marshall said.

South Lincoln zoning

In an effort to make Lincoln more attractive to residents and businesses and perhaps boost the tax base, rezoning part of South Lincoln around the commuter rail station was also discussed at an earlier public forum.

At the State of the Town meeting, Planning Board members presented the proposal to replace the B-1 and B-2 districts in South Lincoln and create a new South Lincoln Village District zone with two subareas: Village Business and Village Residential (VB and VR). Handouts included a draft of bylaw language (created with the help of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council) that will be up for a vote at the Annual Town Meeting in March 2020.

In both subareas, the proposal would allow (by special permit) multifamily housing, with a “density bonus” in return for amenities and affordable housing. It would also expand the parameters of projects that would be allowed by right, and would set out design guidelines for the Planning Board to apply when evaluating projects. Mixed-use buildings could be up to 2.5 floors high along Lincoln Road, with residential structures up to three floors father back from the road.

This development in West Concord was cited by Lincoln officials as an example of a good mixed-use village project.

A recently completed mixed-use project in West Concord is “something on the order of what we want to see,” Taylor said. That project includes 74 housing units and 36,000 square feet of commercial space, and is located very close to the commuter rail station, village center, and rail trails.

The rezoning proposals come from a subcommittee of the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee. As detailed in this presentation by Planning Board chair Margaret Olson, SLPIC’s goals include promoting the area as a vibrant public gathering place; encouraging business and professional services; offering a broader range of housing options; and supporting more sustainable transportation through MBTA station improvements, better parking, and regional shuttle services.

Former board member Robert Domnitz worried that the changes won’t get Town Meeting approval if residents didn’t retain veto power over individual projects. However, the current path for getting town go-ahead is “a very cumbersome process that makes development a lot harder,” said board member Gary Taylor.

“It’s clear what we’re asking you to do is place some confidence in the Planning Board. It’s a more streamlined process and that’s intentional,” Taylor said. “It’s very difficult to shape projects on the floor of Town Meeting.”

One of the goals is to make South Lincoln more attractive as a place to shop for Lincoln residents and others who already drive through town without stopping, while also encouraging everyone to use the commuter rail and underground parking. However, some residents said there will be more cars and traffic in the area if more housing is available, regardless of whether the commuter rail is more heavily used.

“We’re not lowering traffic in the sense of absolute numbers, but there will be less traffic impact going forward than there would be otherwise,” Taylor responded.

Resident Sarah Mattes urged officials to expand and publicize the commuter parking that’s already available before considering “drastic zoning changes.” Others questioned where there was real demand for more commercial and transportation services in South Lincoln from residents who already live there.

Amid grumbling, voters approve another loan for Water Department

By Alice Waugh

The Water Department will be getting more oversight after its recent spending spree to fix a rash of problems with the water system. 

In response to the funding crisis, a team of town officials — Town Administrator Tin Higgins, Assistant Town Administrator Mary Day, Finance Director Colleen Wilkins, and Finance Commission members Jim Hutchinson and Tom Sander — are now attending the meetings of the three-person Water Commission to oversee their budgeting and decision-making process. 

The department needs to bond a total of almost $2 million after Superintendent MaryBeth Wiser discovered numerous problems shortly after she was hired in March 2018, Water Commission member Ruth Ann Hendrickson explained at a Special Town Meeting on November 1. With one “nay” vote, attendees approved borrowing $967,000 — just months after approving $1.01 million in borrowing at the Annual Town Meeting last March.

The Water Department is not funded by property taxes but rather by water rates assessed to Lincoln household who use town water. The latest expenditures will result in a rate hike of around 50%, on top of last spring’s 25% rate hike.

At the meeting’s outset, Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden warned the audience that “we’re talking about finances and not personnel and other kinds of issues,” a reference to controversy swirling around the Water Department’s management and staffing turmoil explored in an October 31 Lincoln Squirrel article.

Wiser was hired in March 2018 “and almost immediately realized many of the systems at the water treatment plant and well were showing signs of age and deterioration — they hadn’t been [properly] cleaned, maintained, and calibrated,” Hendrickson said. The new superintendent asked the Water Commission to hire a new engineering consulting firm, Tata & Howard, and we started getting a lot of suggestions,” Hendrickson added. 

Concord and Wayland use the same firm and are “pleased” with its work, and its reports to Lincoln “are much higher quality than what we had been getting from our previous consultants,” Hendrickson said.

Meanwhile, the town’s water has for some time been showing borderline high levels of a chemical produced by chlorine reacting with naturally occurring organic matter. The organic matter content in Flint’s Pond is twice what it was when the plant was designed in 2002, Hendrickson said, necessitating $330,000 for equipment to perform coagulation pretreatment.

Other issues that led to the funding requests were uncovered by the state Department of Environmental Protection in its triennial inspection in August 2018. That inspection report listed 27 deficiencies and 12 recommendations, whereas the 2015 report contained only three deficiencies and four recommendations. Current and former Water Department employees told the Lincoln Squirrel that Wiser actually encouraged the DEP inspector to find problems.

Also in the latest spending package is money to pay an outside consultant to work in the treatment plant one day a week at about $1,000 a day. The department has been short-staffed for months, reflecting a statewide shortage of licensed water operators but also, former employees say, a toxic work environment.

After the latest improvements and repairs, “we will have a plant that’s been fully refurbished while we’re examining what we’re going to do for the long term… and we won’t have any more of these surprises,” Hendrickson said. Whatever path the town decides to take — making continual upgrades, building a new plant, or investigating having water supplied by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority — “will take a number of years to bring to fruition,” she said.

Residents at the town meeting were not happy with how things have been run. “We didn’t get an honest answer at the last Town Meeting. Can we have a real long-term plan for the department — an honest estimate audited by somebody outside the town?” one resident said. “I don’t like this crisis-style management.”

Higgins acknowledged that because the Water Department operates as an enterprise fund separate from the rest of the town’s finances, its budgeting process has not been overseen by the Capital Planning Committee (CapCom) or the Finance Committee in the past. The newest iteration of the Water Commission — which now includes Selectman Jennifer Glass and member Michelle Barnes, who were sworn in several weeks ago after the resignations of Bob Antia and Heather Ring — “is more receptive to participating in some of those processes,” Higgins said.

“I speak with a bit of frustration,” said Peter Braun, a former selectman and CapCom member. More cooperation with other town boards “doesn’t mean allowing someone coming to your meetings — it means dialogue, and it just wasn’t happening… there was stonewalling, basically… it’s time to change the dynamic and the paradigm here.”

State of the Town meeting on Saturday

Updates on the school project, South Lincoln rezoning proposals, community electricity aggregation and property tax relief will make for a full agenda at Lincoln’s annual State of the Town meeting on Saturday, Nov. 2 at about 9:30 a.m., after the conclusion of a Special Town Meeting on Water Department funding. These links and Lincoln Squirrel stories offer some background on the issues.

School project
South Lincoln rezoning
Community electricity aggregation
Property Tax Study Committee

News acorns

Events rescheduled

  • The India Discovery Center has postponed its seminar on India and Britain from November 2 (when the State of the Town meeting will take place) to Saturday, Nov. 30.
  • The free screening of the documentary “The River and the Wall” originally scheduled for October 18 has been rescheduled for Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Filmmaker Ben Masters and colleagues traveled 1,200 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border via horse, mountain bike, and canoe. Sponsored by the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee.

House party for Democrats in Congress

Learn about Force Multiplier (a strategic, voluntary fundraising organization) and meet legislators at a house party in Lincoln on Sunday, Nov. 10 from 2–4 p.m. Hear Rep. Katherine Clark’s analysis of 2020 election challenges and opportunities and meet Abigail Spanberger (Va-7), a newly elected Democratic representative who hopes to hold on to her seat in a red district. Sponsored by the Arlington, Natick, Lincoln and Wayland  Democratic Town Committees. RSVP and donate (location of event available with reservation).

Domestic violence workshop for faith communities

The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable is offering a workshop on “Our House Too: How Faith Communities Can Support Survivors of Domestic Abuse in Their Congregations.” This program is designed for clergy, members of social action/social justice committees, caring communities, and anyone who wants to make a difference in their congregations.

The first workshop will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 12 from 3–4:30 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room of the Wayland Public Safety Building (38 Cochituate Rd., Wayland). For those who prefer an evening workshop, the identical program will also be offered on Tuesday, Nov. 19 from 7–8:30 p.m. at First Parish in Wayland (225 Boston Post Rd., Wayland).

Roundtable board members from REACH Beyond Domestic Violence and Journey to Safety (the Jewish Family and Children’s Service response to domestic abuse), will lead the workshop and discussions. The workshop will highlight how important it is for people in faith communities to learn and talk about domestic abuse, clearly sending the message that abuse happens in “Our House Too.” Participants will leave with a better understanding of domestic abuse and action items they can carry out in their own congregations. For more information, email infodvrt@gmail.com.

Conservation Commission seeks new member

The Conservation Commission is looking for a new commissioner to fill a vacancy of a member who has moved out of town. The commission meets every third week on Wednesdays from 7–10:30pm. Its job is to approve or deny permits within our jurisdictional area under the guidelines of the state wetlands law and our own Town bylaw. In addition, the commission maintains 80 miles of trails in town and stewards 200 acres of agricultural land. Commissioners are also expected to participate on related town boards or committees as representatives from Con Com.

The best way to find out what the commission does is to attend one of our meetings.  Our next meeting is on Wednesday November 6 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall. For more information please contact Tom Gumbart in the Conservation Department office (2612) or any commissioner. Anyone interested should download and fill out the volunteer form and send it to Peggy Elder in the office of the Board of Selectmen, which makes appointments to the commission.

FELS invites direct donations for pie-sale beneficiaries

Although the Foundation for Educators for Lincoln-Sudbury (FELS) won’t be selling pies this year, residents can donate directly to the organizations that benefit.

  • The senior citizens’ Thanksgiving luncheon is organized by the L-S MLK Action Project. To donate, send a check payable to LSRHS with “MLK Thanksgiving Luncheon” on the memo line and mail it to Susan Frommer, LSRHS, 90 Lincoln Rd., Sudbury, MA  01776.
  • To donate to the Lincoln food pantry, make a check payable to St. Vincent de Paul and mail it to St. Vincent de Paul, P.O. Box 324, Lincoln, MA. 01773

More borrowing, water rate hikes on the horizon

At the upcoming Special Town Meeting, the Water Department will ask voters for the second bond issue this year to pay for repairs and deferred maintenance in Lincoln’s water system — a bond that will result in another rate hike for those on town water.

The bond vote will take place at a Special Town Meeting on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 9 a.m., right before the State of the Town meeting. The Water Commission is still in the process of determining exactly how much money will be sought, but the figures should be available at the conclusion of the group’s special meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 10 a.m.

The requested allocation comes only seven months after residents approved a $1 million bond for the Water Department at the 2019 Annual Town Meeting (see page 46 of the 2019 town meeting warrant for details). Some of the new borrowing will go to finish paying for some of the unfinished projects from that list that turned out to be costlier than expected.

At a meeting earlier this week, commissioners discussed some of the items from the latest list compiled earlier by Water Department Superintendent MaryBeth Wiser. They were joined by Town Administrator Tim Higgins and Finance Board member Jim Hutchinson, who have been trying to get a handle on the department’s budgeting process and needs. Higgins was scheduled to meet late this week with representatives of Tata and Howard, the department’s engineering consulting firm, to learn more about costs.

Two of the three Water Commissioners were sworn in only last week as interim members: Jennifer Glass and Michelle Barnes. Glass is already a member of the Board of Selectmen, “but we were sort of in emergency mode and she graciously agreed to wear another hat,” Higgins said. The vacancies resulted from the resignations in recent weeks of commission members Bob Antia and Heather Ring.

An insert to the Board of Selectmen newsletter being mailed to residents offers some background. Since the town’s water treatment plant in Sandy Pond Road was complete in 2002, “water treatment technology has changed, software technology has changed, our water profile has changed, and as of 2019, municipalities are subject to federal regulations,” the insert says. Since Wiser’s hiring in March 2018, “she has examined each aspect of the plant’s operations. It has become apparent that the modest level of capital spending has now resulted in a consequential amount of deferred maintenance.”

Among the urgently needed new items that can’t wait until the Annual Town Meeting in March 2020 are replacements for filters that are well beyond their life expectancy. Funds are needed right away because the parts take several months to be assembled and shipped from the manufacturer in Australia, and they need to be installed in the spring before the summer when water demand is high. Wiser told the commission in October 2018 that the total cost for the 240 filter modules was about $192,000. This week she said the cost would be about $325,000.

Also on the list of new expenditures:

  • Installation of a catwalk required to safely replace the filter banks
  • Remediation of a chemical release at the Tower Road well
  • Costs related to maintaining the filter banks until the replacement filters are installed
  • A part-time contractor to assist with plant operation. Two positions (plant operator and plant manager) have been vacant for several months

The items will be funded by a combination of retained earnings and additional borrowing. The Water Department currently has about $1 million in retained earnings and has a policy of keeping at least $500,000 in the fund at all times, Higgins said.

Though the figures will not be final until next week, he said on Thursday that the latest borrowing amount would be “similar in size” to the earlier $1.01 million. The March 2019 allocation has actually not yet been bonded (expenses have been paid through short-term borrowing), so the upcoming bond will include both sets of expenses, Higgins said.

“The Water Commission has to decide on long-term objectives, but in order to address these issues, there’s going to need to be a pretty significant rate increase to support it,” he said. Back in January, the commission approved a 25% rate hike as well as a $5 increase in the quarterly base charge per water meter.

At this week’s meeting, Wiser said her fiscal year 2021 budget proposal would probably include either further upgrades to the treatment plant to meet expensive new DEP regulations for handling organic matter in the water, or possible even a new plant. “Sometimes retrofitting larger plants with these types of fittings is more expensive than starting from scratch,” she said.

“It strikes me as highly unlikely that it would be cheaper for us to build a separate new plant. We may decide that the MWRA is the right choice,” Hutchinson said. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority supplies drinking water from the Quabbin Reservoir to several nearby towns including Weston and Lexington.

Aside from the treatment plant issues, aging water mains are another expensive problem in Lincoln and for water systems all over the country. The town had water main breaks on Bedford Road near the library in 2018 and under Route 2A in February 2019. Given the costs involved, some local and state officials are hoping that federal grants will materialize to help pay for proactive upgrades.

“Tensions” cited as factor in swap table dismissals

By Alice Waugh

A day after the town’s swap table volunteers were suddenly let go via letter, resulting in a flurry of dismay and speculation on LincolnTalk, Town Administrator Tim Higgins said that “tensions” at the transfer station facility played a role in the change, and that the town would welcome more volunteers there at some point in the future.

“We’ve encountered some tension between volunteers and residents of the town, so we’re in transition with the volunteer program,” Higgins said Thursday afternoon. “We’re expanding the swap table with the new shed and parking, and we’re hoping to reenergize and rejuvenate the volunteer program.”

Lincoln Mothers Out Front has been instrumental in creating the new composting program at the transfer station, “so we’re hoping they would view this as a logical offshoot of the work they’re doing” on promoting composting and other forms of recycling, he added.

Volunteers at the popular swap table and shed were shocked to receive dismissal notices signed by DPW Superintendent Chris Bibbo on Wednesday. Bibbo did not return calls on Wednesday or Thursday, but Higgins issued a written statement about the controversy early Thursday afternoon and later indicated to the Lincoln Squirrel that the statement spoke on Bibbo’s behalf.

“Swap tables are a wonderful form of sharing and recycling that can operate informally and without strict regulation when folks abide by rules of common courtesy, respect, and fair play,” Higgins wrote. “At the same time, swap programs frequently become a source of tension between heavy and occasional users, between folks vying for the same item, and philosophically between those who believe restrictions should be imposed on the resale of swapped items and those who support the swap table as its own form of cottage industry.”

At times, DPW staff “have been called on to de-escalate situations involving conflict between residents and volunteers when folks have felt that one or the other was monopolizing the program for personal gain or to benefit personal charities,” Higgins wrote. Other Massachusetts towns have encountered similar issues in running swap tables and have limited or closed them as a result.

“Going forward, we are responding to the tension by hitting the reset button,” Higgins wrote. The new swap shed “will allow the DPW to better organize the program, making it more efficient for users, staff, and volunteers… We are committed to developing a strong partnership between our professional staff and volunteers, and to establishing reasonable guidelines to ensure the viability, safety, and fairness of the program.”