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

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Selectmen discuss building committees, ConsComm candidates

(Editor’s note: Following are highlights of the May 22 meeting of the Board of Selectmen. This is the first in a series of summaries of these meetings by former Selectman Peter Braun based on his review of the meeting videos, which are available at lincolntv.viebit.com or via the Town of Lincoln website under “Meeting Videos.”) 

The board met with Conservation Commission Chair Peter von Mertens and Larry Buell, a candidate for an open seat on the Conservation Commission. Two other candidates were interviewed at a prior board meeting. Buell described his experience as a professor, academic administrator, and researcher in history and environmental matters. Selectmen thanked him for his willingness to volunteer for the town, acknowledged the dilemma of having to choose one of three well-qualified candidates, and expressed the hope that the two candidates not chosen will be willing to serve in another capacity. The board deferred its decision until its next meeting.

Town Administrator Tim Higgins updated the board on several ongoing matters:

  • Wang property—review of purchase of town portion, bond financing, and management of development, including developing an irrigation plan and coordinating construction schedules.
  • Solar installation—the project’s planning committee focused on potential business arrangements with developers and is working with state Rep. Stanley on “home rule” legislation to provide relief from conservation restriction and thus permit solar array use on the former landfill.
  • Affordable accessory apartments—bylaw revisions have been approved by attorney general; the town is working with Rep. Stanley on legislation to authorize the tax exemption.
  • Financial management policies—Higgins is working with the Finance Committee to review and update.

The board also:

  • Updated its procedures for drafting and approving minutes.
  • Discussed the status of seeking at-large members of the Community Center Planning and Preliminary Design Committee, as well as continuing dialogue with the School Building Committee regarding who might serve as these committees’ respective liaisons to each other.
  • Continued development of its policy regarding whether, where, and to what extent the board and/or town staff would respond to matters raised in LincolnTalk or social media, as well as the status of redesign of the town web site.
  • Discussed its ongoing liaison with the Green Energy Committee regarding updating the town’s energy-usage targets.
  • Heard brief liaison reports regarding HATS, the School Building Committee, the L-S Environmental Club, the Housing Trust, the Bicycle Safety Advisory Committee, and the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee.
  • Noted correspondence received from a resident of Old Winter Street requesting reconsideration of traffic restrictions.
  • Discussed its process for continuing to publish the Selectmen’s Newsletter.

School Building Committee to discuss public forum, timeline

At its meeting on Wednesday, May 31 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room, the School Building Committee (SBC) will discuss plans for a June 14 public forum, communications with other town boards and committees, and the committee’s timeline. The full agenda can be found here.

In its two previous meetings, SBC members introduced themselves to each other and elected Chris Fasciano as chair and Kim Bodnar as vice chair. The panel also named an Outreach Subcommittee (Kim Bodnar, Selectman Jennifer Glass and Gina Halsted), and SBC members Buck Creel, Craig Nicholson and Peter Sugar volunteered to begin drafting a request for services (RFS) for the owner’s project manager (OPM).

Residents are welcome to come to part or all of the SBC’s meetings. Anyone who has questions or comments for the SBC to address at a future meeting is welcome to send an email to sbc@lincnet.org (back-and-forth email discussions about SBC business are prohibited by the state Open Meeting Law).

Community center, school group both seeking more residents

The School Building Committee (SBC) is seeking volunteers for an Outreach sub-committee. The Outreach Team’s focus is to communicate SBC updates and key community forum details, but also to warmly welcome community input in all our outreach messages and encourage engagement from our residents. The time commitment of our committee members will vary and depend on the role the volunteer chooses, for there are many. Please volunteer if you…

  • Are interested in acting as a neighborhood “captain” to ensure SBC communications reach your neighborhood
  • Would like to be involved in hosting coffees or small group community sessions
  • Have an expertise in updating and managing website content
  • Have an expertise in photography or videography
  • Would like to be involved in communicating community forum details and listening sessions to encourage greater community engagement.

If you’d like to volunteer or just learn more about this subcommittee, please email SBC@lincnet.org.

Community center panel

Selectmen are still seeking candidates to serve on the CCPPDC who have experience in fields that are relevant to the committee’s work, such as architecture, planning or design, project management, or community engagement. There will be four at-large community members on the committee. More information on the committee’s duties can be found here.

Those interested should send letters of interest (mentioning relevant experience) to the Board of Selectmen via email to at ElderP@lincolntown.org by Friday, June 2. The board will appoint members of the CCPPDC at its meeting on June 12. The committee will hold its first meeting the following week and will present public updates (including at the fall 2018 State of the Town meting). If possible, there will be a final report and/or town vote at the spring 2018 Town Meeting.

Dozens of Lincolnites attend district Democratic event

U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark

More than 40 Lincoln residents attended the 3rd Middlesex Area Democrats’ annual spring breakfast in Waltham on May 13, when Gary Davis, co-chair of the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee, was re-elected co-chair of the Middlesex Area Democrats (MAD).

Also in attendance were about 175 Democrats from Bedford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Sudbury, Waltham, and Weston, though Lincoln had the highest number of residents at the event. It was the best-attended 3rd MAD breakfast in recent memory.

In talks on the theme of “Moving Forward and Fighting Back in the Trump Era,” U.S. Reps. Seth Moulton and Katherine Clark stressed the critical importance of capturing Democratic seats in the House and Senate in 2018 and the central role of local grassroots organizations in doing so. Moulton identified ways in which he is trying to work across the aisle, particularly on veterans’ affairs, and Clark noted her efforts to search for shared values and sensible bipartisan solutions to problems. Their legislative work is being undertaken within the context of a vigorous pushback against the Trump policies damaging to education, health care, the environment, and institutional integrity.

Guests also heard from Lincoln’s state senator, Michael Barrett, who emphasized legislation he has developed to ensure transparency on the part of all Massachusetts candidates for elective office, as well as legislation focusing on prison reform. Gubernatorial candidates Jay Gonzalez, Bob Massie and Setti Warren, as well as state Sen. Jamie Eldridge and state Reps. Cory Atkins and Jay Kaufman, also made brief remarks.

State Rep. Michael Barrett

“Clearly, local Democrats are responding with energy and alarm to the policy proposals, executive orders, confusion and misrepresentations of the current White House,” said Lincoln attendee Barbara Slayter. “This atmosphere has generated commitments by Democratic activists to intensive advocacy for preservation of the environment, strengthening opportunities for affordable health care, building our educational programs and assuring the integrity of our institutions.”

Lincoln delegates will also be attending the Massachusetts Democratic Party 2017 Convention on June 3 at which a new Massachusetts Democratic platform will be approved.

Town seeks members for new community center planning group

The Board of Selectmen is seeking volunteers for the new Community Center Planning and Preliminary Design Committee (CCPPDC) to fill the roster by June 12 after approving the charge to the committee on May 8.

Residents approved $150,000 at Town Meeting in March to commission a feasibility study and draft design for a community center to be located on the Hartwell side of the school campus. The facility will meet the needs of the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Council on Aging as well as other town groups. The CCPPDC will work closely with the newest School Building Committee (SBC), which held its first meeting on May 3.

Selectmen are seeking four community members to serve on the CCPPDC who have experience in fields that are relevant to the committee’s work, such as architecture, planning or design, project management, or community engagement. Those interested should send letters of interest, mentioning relevant experience, to the Board of Selectmen via email to at ElderP@lincolntown.org by Friday, June 2.

The board will appoint members of the CCPPDC at its meeting on June 12. The committee will hold its first meeting the following week and will present public updates (including at the fall 2018 State of the Town meting). If possible, there will be a final report and/or town vote at the spring 2018 Town Meeting.

As its long name implies, the CCPPDC has limited scope, selectmen said. If and when the town chooses to move forward with a community center project, the committee’s preliminary design and cost estimate would be developed by a community center building committee.

The duties of the CCPPDC will include:

  • Gathering stakeholder input, and plan regular communication with and input from relevant town boards, committees, and the community.
  • Hiring a design firm to develop preliminary design plans and provide detailed cost estimates. Selectmen and the School Committee hold out the possibility that one firm could be hired to support both the school building project and the community center process.
  • Developing a detailed program of activities that would take place in a new community center and an assessment of space requirements and optimal adjacencies for the program
  • Evaluate several previously identified community center building locations within the Hartwell area, and any others that may be identified, and develop a preferred building location and supporting Hartwell campus site plan. This will require close coordination with the SBC, particularly with respect to things like future plans for the after-school program, the school’s shop area, any changes in use at the Hartwell main building, parking demands, any reorientation of the Ballfield Road roadway network or playing fields, the possible use of the pods as swing space during school construction, potential shared space opportunities, etc.

“Options for the community center must pair logically with options for the Lincoln School project to ensure all current and desired functions of the campus are included in the overarching plan for the campus,” according to the CCPDC charge.

As with the SBC, membership on the CCPPDC will entail many hours, hard work, and complicated conversations, but also offers a unique and exciting opportunity to participate in the creation of a central piece of the community and the future of the town, selectmen noted. Anyone with questions about the responsibilities and expectations of committee membership should send email before the deadline to the e-mail address above.

The PPDC will also include representatives from the Board of Selectmen, Council on Aging, Parks and Recreation Committee, Planning Board and Finance Committee. Selectmen are encouraging additional boards and committees such as the Conservation Commission, Green Energy Committee, Historical Commission, parent organizations and the Disabilities Commission to appoint liaisons to the CCPPDC.

School Building Committee holds first meeting

The new School Building Committee, appointed by the School Committee on April 11, held its first meeting on May 3. Members voted to appoint Chris Fasciano as chair, Kim Bodnar as vice chair, and Selectman Jennifer Glass as secretary.

As outlined in its charge, the SBC will create a feasibility study resulting in plans and cost estimates for a Lincoln School renovation project costing at least $30 million. In March, voters approved releasing $750,000 to fund work by consultants the group will hire. The group will work closely with a community center building committee, which will be producing its own feasibility study.

The SBC’s next meeting will be Wednesday, May 17 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose Room. The tentative agenda includes a review of a draft Request for Services (RFS), the first step in the hiring of an owner’s project manager. A subcommittee comprising Creel, Nicholson, and Sugar is preparing the draft for review by the full committee.

Members of the SBC are:

  • Becky McFall, Superintendent of Schools
  • Buckner Creel, Lincoln Public Schools Administrator for Business and Finance
  • Michael Haines, Town Facilities Manager
  • Sharon Hobbs, Brooks School Principal
  • Timothy Christenfeld, School Committee
  • Jennifer Glass, Board of Selectmen
  • Gina Halsted, Finance Committee
  • Kimberly Bodnar, community member
  • Chris Fasciano, community member
  • Craig Nicholson, community member
  • Steven Perlmutter, community member
  • Peter Sugar, community member

The following liaisons were also appointed by their respective organizations, with more expected:

  • Doug Adams, Liaison, Historic Commission
  • Ed Lang, Liaison, Green Energy Committee
  • John Ritz, Liaison, Lincoln Council on Disabilities
  • Ian Spencer, Liaison, Public Safety
  • Gary Taylor, Liaison, Planning Board

News acorns

Tufts a capella concert at Bemis

The COA will host a family-friendly a capella concert by the award-winning Tufts University group The Amalgamates on Sunday, April 23 at 2 p.m. at Bemis Hall. The Amalgamates perform the latest pop hits to oldies rock to spirituals and more in venues from baseball stadiums to street corners to Barcelona. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Lincoln Cultutral Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Bus ride to Boston People’s Climate March

The Lincoln Democratic Town Committee is organizing a Doherty’s bus to go to the Boston People’s Climate March on Saturday, April 29 at 11 a.m. (return time: 4 p.m.) for $15 round trip. Meet in the Smith School parking lot. Email Barbara Slayter at bslayter@comcast.net to reserve a seat, then send a check for $15 made out to the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee to Barbara Slayter, P.O. Box 6337, Lincoln, MA 01773.

L-S presents theater for young audiences

LSB Players, the theater production company of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, presents The Ants and The Grasshoppers by Ross Mihalko and Donna Swift and The Tortoise and The Hare by Candice Cane on Friday, April 28 and Sunday, April 30 at 6 p.m., and Saturday, April 29 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the Kirshner Auditorium at L-S (the April 29 show at 2 p.m. is sensory-friendly). The plays are modern retellings of the classic fables that explore life lessons about persistence, dedication, and the importance of planning ahead and having fun. With exciting moments of audience participation, contemporary music and prizes for all, this is a show that will delight audiences of all ages. The production is directed by Carly Evans.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for seniors/students, and $5 for children 5 and under and may be reserved by emailing lsbtickets@gmail.com with your name, date and time of the show(s) along with the number of adult, student/senior and child tickets you’d like. You will receive a separate email confirmation once your order has been filled. All tickets will be held at the door at the will-call table.

Short films shown by climate action group

As part of the Mass Climate Action Network (MCAN) Young Voices for the Planet documentary film series, Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary will screen four short films on Wednesday, May 3 from 7-8:30 p.m. in its Great Room (208 South Great Road). Admission is free and open to the public but online registration is required.

The films include stories of youth in the U.S. and Germany implementing statewide bans on plastic bags, saving their school $53,000 in energy costs, and planting millions of trees, in addition to changing laws and minds in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. Following the screening, one of the young stars from the film Save Tomorrow will lead a discussion about her experience changing town bylaws in Lexington, which allowed for solar panels on public buildings.

3rd Middlesex Senatorial District holds breakfast

State senators and representatives from the district and potential 2018 gubernatorial candidates Setti Warren, Jay Gonzalez and Bob Massie will be at the 3rd Middlesex Senatorial Area Democrats annual spring breakfast on Saturday, May 13 from 8:30 a.m. to noon t the Hilton Garden Inn, 450 Totten Pond Road, Waltham. The featured speaker is Maurice Cunningham; U. S. Congressman Seth Mouton is special guest. Tickets are $40 per person or $350 for a table of 10. Send checks made out to 3rd Middlesex Area Democrats to Habib Rahman, 30 Westland Road, Weston MA, 02493. For more information, email garyddavis04@gmail.com or k.durkee.erwin@gmail.com.

Farrington Nature Linc holds Fairy Festival

Come spend a few hours doing fairy crafts and making fairy houses in on Nature Linc’s spruce forest and perhaps even get to meet the Fairy Queen at the Fairy Festival on Saturday, May 20. This fundraiser event is perfect for children ages 4-10 but younger and older are welcome. Elves and fairies should be accompanied by an adult; this is not a drop-off event. Each timed ticket gets you 2-3 hours of activity. Pre-registration is required. Farrington Nature Linc brings youth from low-income urban communities out to learn and play in nature; proceeds support its year-round programming.

Garden Club members in MFA show

MFA flower arrangers Ann Parke, Mary Elizabeth Field, and Melinda Bruno-Smith of the Lincoln Garden Club.

Three Lincoln residents will have their work featured at Art in Bloom, an annual celebration of art and floral design at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from Saturday, April 29 to Monday, May 1. Different arrangements will be on display throughout the museum by 50 garden clubs from across New England; each garden club team has been assigned one art object which they will interpret with a floral arrangement to be displayed next to the art. Arrangers were introduced to their art objects (paintings, sculptures, pieces of furniture or musical instruments) in March.

 

School Building Committee charge approved; members sought

The School Committee is officially seeking four or five community members for a new School Building Committee after voting to create the panel and approving its charge on April 12.

The new SBC will work closely with a community center building committee, whose charge will be discussed by selectmen at their April 24 meeting. Voters last month approved funding feasibility studies for both school and community center projects on the Ballfield Road campus.

The School Committee is seeking four or five community members with experience in fields that are relevant to the SBC’s work, such as architecture, planning or design, project management, or community engagement. Potential candidates should email letters of interest, mentioning relevant experience to the SC at schoolcomm@lincnet.org. The deadline for SBC candidate submissions is Monday, April 24, and the SC will appoint members at its April 27 meeting. The new SBC will hold its first meeting the following week.

The SBC’s charge includes hiring an owner’s project manager and design firm, detailing space requirements for the educational program, creating a plan for communications and community input, preparing at least three design solutions with cost estimates for review and vote by Town Meeting, and developing a partial schematic design and specific cost estimate for the preliminary design selected at that Town Meeting.

“The School Committee promises that membership on the SBC will entail long hours, hard work, difficult conversations, no pay, and uncertain rewards. It also offers an opportunity to participate in the creation of a central piece of the community and the future of this town,” the committee wrote. Residents who would like to discuss the responsibilities and expectations of SBC membership are encouraged to email the SC at the same address.

The exact mechanisms for how the two building committees will work together haven’t been worked out yet, though selectmen discussed the issue at their April 11 meeting with SC members. For example, the groups would have to decide early on whether to hire a design firm with two separate teams (one for the school building and the other for a community center), a single design team, or two separate firms.

With two teams in a single a company, “you have that kind of built-in collaboration in a much easier way,” Selectman James Craig said.

Another suggestion was having one or more residents be members of both groups, “but that seems like a herculean task,” Craig said. Selectman Jonathan Dwyer suggested a “wrapper” group “so the two teams don’t have their silos and it’s more like one team with a single mission.”

“As much as you all may try, without some codified organizational structure to overcome it, the notion of collaboration when the rubber hits the road and dollar signs start flying around is going to get really tough,” former Selectman Sara Mattes said in the meeting’s open forum. “To me, in past experience, liaisons alone don’t do it. Maybe this will be magical and there’s enough good will to carry it forward, but we have some tough slogging ahead and some really important big-ticket projects ahead of us.”

Mattes suggested a five-person executive committee with a member from each of the building committees plus one each from the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and either Finance Committee or Capital Planning Committee. Such a group could assure various constituencies such as the Green Energy Committee that “they’ve got another sounding board and sort of a mediator in the process,” she said.

Whatever the firm or firms are hired for the two projects will be required to solicit and incorporate substantial public input all along the way.“Whatever you think is normal outreach, double it and be creative,” said Selectman and recent SC chair Jennifer Glass.

News acorns

 Park & Rec seeks new member

The Lincoln Parks & Recreation Committee has an open seat and is seeking a resident to fill it ASAP. The term of service would be through March 2019.  We are accepting applications through Friday, April 14. Anyone interested in serving on the committee should fill out the town volunteer form and return it to Peggy Elder in the Selectman’s Office by April 14.

Tick season is here

The Board of Health urges residents to take precautions against deer tick bites, which can cause Lyne disease and other ailments. Preventive measures and tick removal guidelines can be found here.

Volunteers, artists sought for Lincoln Arts Show

The second annual Lincoln Arts Show on Patriots Day Weekend at Bemis Hall is still seeking volunteers for setup, hosting during the show, reception, and take-down. Contact Sarah Chester at schester636@gmail.com. The show is also still accepting entries until Monday, April 10. Click here for entry forms. Come see paintings, photography, ceramics, hand crafts, etc., created by your Lincoln friends and neighbors. Free admission. The opening reception is Saturday, April 15 from 5–6:30 p.m. Show times are:

  • Saturday, April 15 from 12–5 p.m.
  • Sunday, April 16 from 1–5 p.m.
  • Monday, April 17 from 11 a.m.–3 p.m.

Sponsored by the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department and the Council on Aging.

Donate household items to Domestic Violence Roundtable

The Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable invites area residents to donate new household items to help families transitioning from a shelter to establish a new home. The Shower for Shelters runs from Monday, April 10 through Sunday, April 30. New unwrapped gifts may be dropped off at the Lincoln Public Library, the Goodnow Library in Sudbury or the Wayland Public Library. Items may also be dropped off at the group’s free wine-tasting event at Sudbury Wine and Spirits in the Rugged Bear Plaza (410 Boston Post Rd., Sudbury) on Friday, April 21 starting at 7 p.m.

Requested items include twin-size sheets, pillowcases, summer blankets and comforters as well as pillows, crib sheets, bath towels and face cloths, unscented cleaning products and laundry detergent, laundry baskets, kitchen utensils, flatware, dishes, drinking glasses and small kitchen appliances. Gift cards are also welcome. For a complete list of requested items, please visit the Roundtable website. All gifts collected are donated to clients of REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, The Second Step, and Voices Against Violence.

Officials mingle at Pierce House dinner

Town officials gathered for the traditional post-Town Meeting dinner at the Pierce House on March 30. Soft lighting, spring flowers, music and good food greeted the group as they debriefed and socialized after the day-long Annual Town Meeting on March 27. This year’s dinner was the first for new Pierce House Event Manager Nancy Beach. (Click any photo below to enlarge.)

Stephanie Smart, Housing Commission Chair Allen Vander Meulen, Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden, Green Energy Committee Chair John Snell, and Town Videographer Jim Cunningham.

Outgoing Selectman Renel Fredriksen, outgoing Board of Assessors member John Robinson, and Library Board of Trustees member Peter Sugar.

Planning Board member Gary Taylor and Pierce House Event Manager Nancy Beach.