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To the editor:
We write to express our support for Jay Gonzalez and Quentin Palfrey, the Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.
Gonzalez and Palfrey are experienced public servants with a bold vision to pursue the values, policies and investments required to tackle the big challenges to provide a better future for every Massachusetts individual and family. The status quo and the wait-and-see approach are not good enough.
Jay Gonzalez served as president and CEO of CelticCare Health and New Hampshire Healthy Families dedicated to helping low-income residents access health care. He served as Gov. Deval Patrick’s secretary of administration and finance managing the state budget, and was chairman of the board of the Massachusetts Health Connector, where he oversaw implementation of the Massachusetts’ health care reform.
Quentin Palfrey served as deputy general counsel for strategic initiatives in the U.S. Commerce Department and was President Obama’s senior adviser for jobs and competitiveness fostering innovation and creating American jobs. He was also chief of the Health Care Division in the previous Massachusetts attorney general’s office, where he played an important role in the implementation of health reforms and consumer protection efforts.
As candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, they have defined at length their priorities to invest in public schools at all levels to make Massachusetts a leader once again in expanding access to high-quality healthcare, and to create opportunity for all residents of the Commonwealth—not just the wealthy. They will re-engage Massachusetts prior commitments to pursue climate change goals and clean energy sources.
Now more than ever, we need bold leaders in Massachusetts who will stand up for those working families being left behind. Thank you for joining us in voting for Gonzalez and Palfrey on November 6.
Sincerely,
Gary Davis and Barbara Slayter
Co-chairs, Lincoln Democratic Town 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 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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
Facing financial straits, the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum hopes to save itself by becoming part of the Trustees of Reservations.
Julian deCordova willed his estate and together with income to the town under the condition that it remain a public park and museum. However, the income from the estate, membership/admission fees and other sources has not been enough to sustain the organization, which has relied for years on large gifts from a handful of donors to keep operating. This year’s operating budget shortfall is about $1 million even after several major gifts, John Ravenal, the deCordova’s executive director, said at the October 20 State of the Town Meeting.
When Ravenal took the helm in 2015, he found an institution that was “thriving programmatically” but was “surprised to discover the financial difficulty,” he said. The deCordova has been operating under a “fragile financial model,” with an endowment that covers only 7 percent of operating expenses compared to about 22 percent for most other museums, “and this unstable model has finally collapsed,” he added.
Other possibilities for keeping the deCordova afloat were deemed unrealistic, Ravenal said. Downsizing would cause donors to drop away, so “our revenue would always fall faster than the savings would accrue,” he said. Partnerships with sister institutions wouldn’t work because “their difficulties merely duplicated our own.”
Pending approvals from residents at Town Meeting in March, the deCordova would become a subsidiary of the Trustees, while the town of Lincoln would retain ownership of the land and general oversight as the charitable trustee, according to an FAQ document handed out at the State of the Town.
The mission of the Trustees is to “preserve, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, cultural, and ecological value in Massachusetts”—properties that include Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich, the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, and World’s End in Hingham.
The integration would allow the deCordova to benefit from the fundraising, marketing, management, and legal resources of the larger Trustees of Reservations, Ravenal said. It will not alter its mission or approach, and no jobs will be lost, as the deCordova’s employees would become employees of the Trustees.
The Trustees aim to raise $15 million (of which $10 million has already been pledged) to fund the integration by adding to the deCordova’s endowment, retiring debt, investing in deferred maintenance, and closing this year’s budget gap.
The town currently does not provide any funding to the deCordova, and that too will not change, Ravenal said. The “only viable solution has actually evolved into a promising opportunity” for the deCordova and the town, since the plan would “reduce risk of an increased financial burden to residents,” he said.
The Board of Selectmen “has to look at the what-if scenario if the deCordova had to shut its doors,” Selectman James Craig said. At a minimum, the town would have to pay for upkeep of the sculpture park grounds and basic maintenance of the building.
Once the agreement is in place, “not a whole lot” will change, said Trustees President and CEO Barbara Erickson. “Our entire goal is to preserve what you know and love and what we deliver today… for us, it’s a win-win.”
A summary of “value engineering” items trimmed to bring the school project back to the approved $93.9 budget (click to enlarge).
Town officials provided updates on the two pending school campus construction projects at the State of the Town meeting on October 20, outlining a series of cuts made to bring the school project under budget and a timeline for the community center.
The detailed construction cost estimate presented to the School Building Committee in September was about $9 million more than the $93.9 million budget approved by voters in June, so the SBC had just weeks to decide what to trim as it prepares for bonding votes at a Special Town Meeting on December 1 and at the ballot box on December 3. The areas where cost estimates rose the most compared to the figures presented in June were site work, which went up by $5.22 million, and temporary modular classrooms, which rose by $2.94 million.
After three weeks of painstakingly combing through a list of more than 100 construction items, the SBC got the project under budget. Members actually trimmed more than $9 million because they also added two items: $870,000 for an upgraded HVAC system and $150,000 for a slightly redesigned center of the building.
The biggest savings will come from site work. The SBC lopped $3.9 million from that category by cutting back on granite curbs and repaving and foregoing new plantings, sod for the ballfield, and new playground equipment. Officials expect to save $1.68 million by negotiating less expensive temporary classrooms.
To save another $2.5 million, the town will hire a third-party firm to install the solar equipment rather than paying for and owning it as part of the project. Lincoln would then enter into a power purchase agreement where it would buy electricity, thus shifting much of the financial burden from the construction budget to the operating budget. On the bright side, this also means that enough solar equipment can be installed to make the school “net zero” in terms of energy use.
The final borrowing amount that the town will vote on in December hasn’t been determined yet, because other sources of funding have to be nailed down. Those sources include the following (with current balances in parentheses):
The town considered using Chapter 90 state funds for roadway improvements to Ballfield Road as part of the school project but decided it would be unwise to divert that money from regular road maintenance around town.
Estimated property tax increases as a result of the school borrowing (click to enlarge).
The precise tax impacts of the borrowing won’t be known until the final borrowing amount and bond interest rate are known. “It’ll be less than the 20 percent people had in their minds due to the tranching, but it won’t be a lot less,” Finance Committee chair Jim Hutchinson said. “Tranching” means splitting up the borrowing into two or more loans over a period of time rather than borrowing the full amount in a single loan. Earlier FinCom figures indicated tax increases of 19 to 21 percent. The median tax bill in fiscal 2018 was $13,566.
The town also expects to borrow roughly another $20 million in 2024 to build the community center, which will bring the town’s debt service levels back up to 2019 levels. The most recent estimates for that project range from $15.3 million to $16.2 million depending on which design is selected.
”The school project is the biggest need for the town,” Selectman James Dwyer said at the State of the Town meeting, adding that work on the community center will not begin until the school is “substantially complete.” However, a community center building committee could be formed as soon as 2021, he said. There has been talk of forming a “Friends of…” group to solicit private donations for one or both campus projects, but this hasn’t yet moved beyond the discussion phase.
There will be two community workshops on the project on Thursday, November 1 at 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the Reed Gym. Officials have until November 17 to nail down a final bonding amount for the December 1 and December 3 votes. If approved, architects will require about 12 months to complete detailed drawings before the start of construction, which is expected to take up to three years in two phases.
Residents took the first step to ban marijuana-based businesses in Lincoln, at least for now, as residents approved a full ban at the October 18 Special Town Meeting.
Because Lincoln residents voted in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana in the 2016 state election, a two-thirds majority was required to enact the ban. The vote total according to a standing count was 73 percent in favor (140 votes) vs. 27 percent against (53 votes). However, a simple majority must also approve the ban at the town election in March 2019.
Before the vote on the ban, a large majority of residents approved extending the current moratorium on marijuana businesses until June 30, 2019.
In an earlier town survey sponsored by the Marijuana Study Committee that garnered 408 responses, 61 percent supported a full ban. Of the 39 percent who did not, 85 percent supported allowing marijuana cultivation in town and 70 percent were in favor of allowing retail sales of marijuana products. In the 2016 state vote, 53 percent of the 3,783 Lincoln residents who cast ballots residents voted to legalize recreational marijuana.
The Agricultural Commission voted in August to support commercial cultivation of marijuana in Lincoln. However, the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen both unanimously recommended that residents approve the full ban. If the town were to allow commercial marijuana cultivation, it would be in keeping with the town’s agricultural character, the committee noted. However, the town would not gain any revenue, whereas if retail establishments were allowed, the town could reap up to 3 percent of gross sales.
Town officials did not have any estimates on either the amount of revenue that retail sales might bring in, nor the cost of additional police time that could be incurred. Police Chief Kevin Kennedy noted that because sales of marijuana is still illegal federally, products must be paid for with cash, potentially increasing the risk of robbery. Marijuana establishments can hire private guards, but they can’t be armed, he said.
Selectmen noted on Saturday that the full ban can be reserved in the future, but once legalized, marijuana businesses could not be banned later. Bedford, Weston, Concord, Sudbury, and Lexington have already approved full commercial bans. Wayland has done so at the ballot box but not at Town Meeting, while Waltham’s vote is still pending.
Owing to its low population density and location, “Lincoln is a most unattractive town in which to put a retail establishment” said Lincoln resident and cannabis operator/educator Jean Welsh, who was a panelist at a public forum on the issue in May. However, existing medical marijuana cultivation facilities in Massachusetts “are extremely secure; we have regulated them to the hilt,” she said. There are 30 dispensaries and about a dozen medical marijuana farms in the Commonwealth, “and we’re just not having issues,” she said.
Saying that alcohol is more dangerous than pot, Welsh wondered if the town ought to ban growing hops, which are used to make beer. For adults, marijuana “just isn’t that dangerous, folks, and I think in five to ten years you’re going to be buying it at Whole Foods anyway.”
The ban does not affect personal, noncommercial growing and possession of recreational marijuana, Selectman James Craig pointed out. Massachusetts law allows residents 21 and older to use the drug and have up to one ounce on their person (up to 10 ounces in their homes). Households with one adult over 21 can also grow up to six marijuana plants, or 12 plants if there are two adults in the household.
The Lincoln move has no effect on potential home delivery of marijuana products. The state Cannabis Control Commission does not currently allow home delivery of cannabis for recreational use, but it is considering allowing small Massachusetts-based marijuana retailers to make in-state home deliveries.
A few residents spoke against instituting the full ban. Given the restrictions on lot size for cultivation and on public visibility of the marijuana plants, “It doesn’t seem like it’s going to change the landscape very much,” said Sharon Antia. “Let’s just do it.”
Two medical professionals voiced warnings about marijuana’s effects on teenage brains. In treating teenagers and young adults having their first psychotic break, “marijuana is the single most important factor I have seen over the years,” said Rakesh Kharmacharya, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a clinician at McLean Hospital.
But such information is missing the point of the Town Meeting vote, said Ben Wells. “This isn’t a vote to ban adult use. That genie is out of the bottle. I’m concerned about teen use [of marijuana], but that’s not what’s on the ballot today. I’d hate to see us punish our farmers and entrepreneurs to send a message,” he said.
Peter Braun argued in favor of the full ban. “I’m informed by the wisdom of our surrounding towns,” he said, adding that “we need to see how it plays out” in towns that do allow marijuana businesses.
To the editor:
Colonel Chad Ellsworth, the recently appointed commander of the 66th Air Base Group at Hanscom Air Force Base, reaffirmed the criticality of excellent relationships with Lincoln and the three other towns with ties to the base during his Change in Command ceremony. While representing our town at the ceremony with colleague Board of Selectmen member Jennifer Glass, I was struck by how frequently this theme of base/town relations was mentioned.
This theme was noted by the ceremony’s facilitator, Col. Ellsworth, and Lt. Gen. Robert McMurry during their formal remarks. Outgoing base commander Col. Roman Hund mentioned what surprised him most about his time at the base in a Hanscom News article—it was not the work done on base, but the community partnerships.
“At many of the bases I have been in my career, the installations have not been as active in the local community or with local groups as they are here,” he said. “The rapport we have with our local communities is among the best I have seen in my Air Force career.” More than once, I heard that other bases are looking to learn from Hanscom and emulate its close ties with state and local governments and businesses.
Jennifer and I had a few moments to talk with Col. Ellsworth, Col. Hund, and their families after the ceremony, and both described their appreciation for how Lincoln has supported the base, citing our connections with schools and public safety, among others. Ms. Ellsworth and Ms. Hund both spoke appreciatively of their experience with the schools, and thanked us for the town’s support.
Lincoln’s connections to Hanscom are deep. Everyone living on the base resides within our town’s borders. Our public school administration runs the base’s schools, under contract with the Department of Defense. Our Conservation Department influences building projects within the border to protect natural resources. Our Police Department answers emergency calls in the base’s residential neighborhoods.
With these connections, Lincoln helps Hanscom to achieve its mission to acquire critical systems for the Air Force and sister services such as radar, communication and intelligence systems; command and operations centers; network infrastructure; and cyber defense. The ripple effect is real: across New England and Upstate New York, Hanscom’s economic impact was reported to be about $6 billion in 2017, according to Colonel Hund.
Sincerely,
Selectman Jonathan Dwyer
14 Beaver Pond Rd., Lincoln
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters 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.
Due to a typographical error, the ending time for the open forum portion of the October 20 State of the Town Meeting was listed incorrectly in the Lincoln Squirrel. It runs from 12–12:30 p.m., not 2:30. The agenda in the original post and subsequent correction have bene corrected.The agenda for the October 20 State of the Town meeting posted in the Squirrel on October 9 was incorrect. Here is the correct agenda for the meting, which will take place in Brooks auditorium from 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.:
Both posts have bene updated to reflect these corrections.
(Editor’s note: This post has been updated to reflect the corrected agenda for the State of the Town meeting.)
On Saturday, Oct. 20, there will be a Special Town Meeting vote on the status of marijuana businesses in Lincoln starting at 9 a.m., immediately followed by the State of the Town meeting at 10:30. During the Town Meeting, residents will be asked to vote to:
Click here for the warrant. Previous Lincoln Squirrel articles:
There will be no votes at the State of the Town portion of the morning, but officials will present updates on the following:
Early voting for the November 6 election will be offered in the Town Clerk’s office from Monday, Oct. 22–Friday, Nov. 2. Hours:
8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
8:30 a.m.–7 p.m. on Tuesdays, Oct. 23 and 30, and Thursdays, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1
9 a.m.–3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Voting on Election Day takes place in the Smith gym from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Anyone who has not registered for the election must do so by Wednesday, Oct 17. Click here for a specimen ballot.
The School Building Committee on Wednesday started the process of changing and removing elements of the school project to meet a voter-mandated budget, making a handful of adjustments from a list provided by SMMA Architects that totaled just over $1.4 million. But the group has more work to do to reach the target total reduction of $8.97 million.
A week ago, the SBC was presented with two independent cost estimates of $102 million and $109 million for the project. Since then, architects and Daedalus, the owner’s project manager, took a closer look at those figures to try to reconcile them. The lower estimate rose while the higher one fell, and the resulting higher figure (the one that the SBC must use for planning) is $104.28 million.
Over the next two weeks, the SBC will continue the “value engineering” process of voting on items to cut that add up to $8.97 million. That figure represents the difference between the $76.01 million construction portion of the total $93.9 million budget approved at a Special Town Meeting in June and the latest construction cost estimate of $84.98 million.
The full project budget also includes non-construction “soft costs”—fees, contingencies, escalation percentages, furniture, technology, permitting, etc. Since June, the estimate for those soft costs has also risen from $17.9 million to $19.3 million.
The areas where cost estimates rose the most compared to June were site work, which went up by $5.22 million, and temporary modular classrooms, which rose by $2.94 million. Before the June vote, the site work plans were more incomplete than the rest of the project and it turns out the required work is slightly more extensive and costly than expected. The earlier estimates had also assumed that some space on the Hartwell side of campus could be sued as temporary “swing space” during construction, but since the spring, it’s become clear that the pods can’t be used for this because they are fully occupied and would also require costly code upgrades to be used as regular classrooms.
The value engineering list includes line items of possible cuts but also a few additions. The SBC on Wednesday approved one of those additions—$150,000 for a tweak to the layout of the learning commons.media center portion of the building that members already approved in principle at their previous meeting.
Some of the biggest dollar items on the value engineering list are program changes, such as eliminating all work to the auditorium except HVAC, sprinklers and fire alarms ($1.59 million); eliminating the media center wing and putting that function in the learning commons area ($1.26 million); eliminating the link between the Reed gym and the main building ($1.17 million); and keeping preK in the main Hartwell building rather than adding it to the renovated building ($1.01 million).
School officials are understandably resistant to these sorts of reductions. “We hate to see programs cut before other things,” said Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall. As for the idea of not building a link between the school and Reed gym, middle school principal Sharon Hobbs was more emphatic, saying it’s “unacceptable” to keep the two buildings detached from each other for safety reasons.
A covered walkway was actually in the initial plan when the gym was built in 1970, but ironically, “it was value-engineered out,” said Buck Creel, Lincoln Public Schools’ administrator for business and finance.
Several other cost-cutting ideas were floated as well, but officials need more information before deciding if they are feasible. For example, if the town is able to buy the modular classrooms now being used at Hanscom on favorable terms, it could save up to $1.7 million. Another possibility is reducing or eliminating the direct cost for the photovoltaic system, which would save up to $3 million. That would require amending the town’s solar bylaw to allow selling excess electricity to the grid and working out a favorable contract with the PV vendor.
Yet another possibility is moving the cost of furniture and equipment from the construction budget into the school’s operating budget. This could save $1.06 million on the project, but that money would still have to be appropriated as part of the annual budget process.
Also at the SBC meeting, Town Manager Tim Higgins reported on preliminary research by officials on possible supplementary funding sources for the school project. These include:
Officials are gathering more information on all of these ideas, but meanwhile, the clock is ticking. The SBC is due to finalize the cost-cutting process on October 17, which will be followed the next day by a multiboard meeting; the annual State of the Town meeting on October 20; a second multiboard meeting/community forum on November 15; and bonding votes by residents at a Special Town Meeting and the polls on December 1 and 3, respectively.