government

Video explains financing and plans for Wang land purchase

March 13, 2017

The site of the Wang land just south of Bedford Road’s intersection with Route 2.

Lincoln residents will be asked at Town Meeting to approve a total of $2 million for land purchase and construction that will yield the town’s first new athletic field in more than 50 years as well as new conservation land. However, because of the type of financing that’s being considered, the expenditure will not result in any additional tax burden.

The Rural Land Foundation (RLF) and the Birches School teamed up to buy the 16-acre Wang property off Bedford and Oak Knoll Roads in November 2016. The Birches School will use four acres (including an existing 12,000-square-foot house at 100 Bedford Rd.) for its new headquarters plus a public parking lot that will also serve the adjacent athletic field. Residents will be asked to approve the purchase of the other 12 acres using Community Preservation Committee (CPC) funds.

CPC funds come from a 3 percent property tax surcharge and a partial match funds from the state (26 percent last year). The fund replenishes annually by about $950,000, and the town proposes to borrow $1.3 million over 15 years against this income. Another $500,000 will come from the general balance. The purchase will have no impact on the town’s bonding ability going forward, according to an informational video about the project distributed by the Parks and Recreation Committee.

Artist’s rendering of the new athletic field.

The total cost of $2 million breaks down to $800,000 for purchase of the land (three acres for the athletic field and nine acres for conservation) and $1.2 million for construction of the field. The town will also get a permanent easement on the parking lot that the Birches School will build—something that will save the town $500,000. Users of the field will also have access to a school bathroom.

Another benefit of the town acquiring the land is that it can be used as a “solar swap.” By adding new acreage to the town’s inventory of conservation land, it can take an equal amount out of conservation for a municipal array at the capped landfill.

The town’s current athletic fields on the school campus are in poor shape due to overuse and lack of irrigation. Assuming all goes as planned, the new field will be built by September 2017 and ready for use in August 2018. Conservation officials also plan to make trail connections from the new conservation land to adjacent parcels.

After the Park and Rec video was released, the committee answered questions posed by residents on LincolnTalk. Those answers are reprinted below.

Would putting synthetic turf in help with heavy field usage?

Yes, artificial or synthetic turf is much more durable than natural grass fields. Community Preservation Act funds, however, can’t be used to pay for an artificial turf field. There are also a number of growing concerns with artificial turf, including high temperatures for children, off-gassing of the materials as well as the fact that there are still ongoing maintenance costs. While cost savings have been highlighted as among the benefits of an artificial turf field, the life expectancy and costs savings for artificial turf fields are now being questioned.

Has anyone studied the projected traffic onto Bedford Road and Route 2?

Yes, Birches School and the Rural Land Foundation hired MDM Transportation to perform a traffic study of the area. They found that “the expanded Birches School and adjoining soccer field use will be accommodated along Bedford Road at operating levels that are well below capacity under full enrollment and during soccer field use periods (weeknights and Saturdays).” There will be a number of site improvements made to the area, including improving sight lines and widening the existing driveway to enable two exit lanes and one entry lane.

You mention that the Selectmen, FinComm, CapComm and School Committee are supporting this project. Is the Planning Board in support?

We specifically approached the Selectmen, the Finance Committee, the Capital Committee and School Committee for their support of the project, but did not ask the Planning Board. We, however, did receive site plan approval for the project.

Has the Chief of Police signed off on this project?

The police chief is aware of the project and has not expressed concern, although his formal approval was not part of the site plan approval process. The fire chief has signed off on emergency access to the property and our highway superintendent, and the town’s consulting engineer (not the project engineer) have reviewed our traffic study and are informing our site management plans.

Will there be any neighbors to whom the field and parking lot will be visible, who formerly saw only woods?

There is one immediate abutter, and we have worked closely with them to make sure that they are not negatively impacted, using landscape and fencing to ensure privacy. In addition, we met early on with the immediate neighborhood to not only share the initial announcement with them, but also to solicit their questions and concerns. The current site plan reflects their feedback.

The Carroll School on the Wayland/Lincoln border is creating new athletic fields. Is it possible to rent those?

The Carroll School will not be renting the fields to area towns or schools in response to neighborhood concerns.

Have you looked at any other single-family lots in Lincoln on which to build a field?

We have been actively looking for the past 15 years at all opportunities; however, for a number of reasons these other lots have not panned out. The Wang property at 100 Bedford Road works for several reasons, including access from Route 2 and the center of town; low impact on neighbors; and the partnership with the Rural Land Foundation, which makes the potential acquisition feasible since they are in essence providing the town with a bridge loan, giving us the time we need to examine the transaction in the Town Meeting framework; and the partnership with Birches School provides a number of cost savings related to the parking lot and restroom facility.

Why can’t the town build an athletic field on the flat lot abutting the school by the Smith building?

The agricultural field behind the Smith School is privately owned and mostly in conservation. Taking land out of permanent conservation designation is an extremely difficult process. It requires permission of the land owner and then involves finding a lot with comparable conservation value to swap. Approval from the Conservation Commission, Town Meeting and the Commonwealth is also required. In the 15 years that we have been searching, we have not been able to find a lot that would be large enough to accommodate a field of this size with adequate parking, let alone a flat, open parcel.

Candidates offer views on wide range of issues

March 13, 2017

Twelve of the residents who are on the ballot for Lincoln’s local election gathered to answer questions at a moderated candidate forum at Lincoln Woods on March 11.

Before the forum, each candidate was asked by the Lincoln Woods Advisory Council, which organized the event, to respond in writing to two questions. Those answers, which were the basis for much of Saturday’s discussion, were published in the Lincoln Squirrel in three batches last week but have now been compiled into a single post here. That compilation includes a previously unpublished response from Jonathan Dwyer, candidate for the Board of Selectmen, who was not at the forum.

The videotaped event (from which these photos were taken) is available online here. Forum questions from moderator August Sanders and the candidates’ answers are excerpted below.

Melinda Abraham

Running unopposed to reelection as a Bemis trustee (one year)

Q: What can we do to increase engagement and diversity?

Abraham noted that the Bemis Free Lecture Series has had several speakers from WGBH because one of the former trustees had a connection there. “We were taking advantage of a one-time opportunity… but we’d like to engage additional speakers. Trying to do it with our limited budget has been our challenge,” she said. One possibility is engaging people who are already in the area on a book your so the trust doesn’t have to reimburse for travel.

Jennifer Glass

Running against Allen Vander Meulen for one-year vacancy on Board of Selectmen; current chair, School Committee

Q: How do you respond to those who might think you’re running for Selectman to get more clout to push through a school project?

A: “Certainly there’s a little piece of that that is true, in that we are on the verge as a town of making generational decisions” on issues including a community center, Parks and Recreation, affordable housing and South Lincoln, Glass said. “A school project is one of them, though clearly it represents the largest dollar amount. What I would say is I have a lot of experience, because we’ve been talking about a school project for so long [and we need to] see all of these parts in context with each other. I’ve had the opportunity to reach out to a lot of boards and citizens in town. I understand what it is to make mistakes, to learn from them, and own up to them keeping the conversation going even when it’s hard. What I’m really interested in is looking at our community as a whole… who are we going to be for the next several decades.

Q: How can we create affordable housing while being mindful of the costs associated with such as effort?

“One of our core values is trying to be as diverse a community as possible… Yes, [affordable housing] may draw on resources, but that’s OK. I think that’s an investment in who we are and who we want to be.”

Noting that the next Board of Selectmen will consist of two newcomers and a member with only one year of experience, Glass said, “I think it’s a really an opportunity. We have that chance to start a little bit from a clean slate and ask question—why is it done this way, how do we make what’s working and move it forward?”

Lynn DeLisi

Running unopposed for Planning Board (three years)

Q: You wrote [in your pre-forum response] that you’d like to see more enforcement of our bylaws. Can you expand on that statement?

A: “When I volunteered four years ago [for the Planning Board], I was very excited about learning something new and contributing to our community. I found that we rigorously try to protect the bylaws put together at Town Meetings, yet we don’t have any method of enforcing what we do,” aside from the limited resources of the police and the building inspector, she said. “I think we need to open a town discussion on how we enforce the bylaws.”

Q: What is your vision for Lincoln Center and what is the role of Planning Board in that?

DeLisi noted that there had been a report on South Lincoln as well as an advisory committee and a consultant, “and we kept on thinking and talking and there was no action.” As a member of the search committee to hire a new town planner last year, “my main drive was looking at their personalities and whether this was someone who had the internal drive to do things that a planner should do. And one thing a planner should do is revitalize the town center… taking the initiative and running with it. That’s exactly what [Jennifer Burney] did. She created a vision for how we go about this” by prompting formation of the Economic Development Advisory Committee [EDAC] and the South Lincoln Implementation Planning Committee [SLPIC].

Another important issue is recreational marijuana, which is now legal in Massachusetts, “but we as a town haven’t come up with how we’re going to handle it. This is a billion-dollar business, as we’ve seen in Colorado. We have to decide what we want. Will there be stores in South Lincoln selling it? Will there be a lot of people growing it? Marijuana used in adolescents clearly affects the brain in a bad way,” said DeLisi, who is a psychiatrist. “I don’t want to see that be more accessible to young people in our community” who could buy cookies and candy containing marijuana in Lincoln Center.

Ruth Ann Hendrickson

Running unopposed for Water Commission (three years)

Hendrickson displayed a graph showing water levels in Flint’s Pond over the past few years. In summer 2016, largely due to lawn watering during the drought, “we used more water than we ever have in the history of the town. Even though we’ve had a normal amount of rain this winter, we’re starting very, very low. It’s very serious and I’m asking you not to water your lawns.” She asked anyone to come to her with ideas about “how to approach wealthy people who water their lawns no matter what… they have people for that and don’t care what it costs.”

Asked what water conservation actions Lincolnites could take, she said, “Not water your lawn. Most lawns will revive when the rains come again.” She also recommended using drip irrigation and re-landscaping with ground cover and bushes, and if grass is used, using a long-root, drought-resistant variety in small areas. Indoors, toilets and the washer use about half the home’s water, and the town provides rebates for purchasing water-efficient appliances.

Lincoln should consider the recent suggestion of a town communications subcommittee, because “I don’t think we’re using the modern communications techniques of the younger generation. Asking someone to come to a meeting just isn’t working any more… We need to reach out to find other new ways to make not only information available, but also discussions, Snapchat or whatever they’re using,” she said.

Rakesh Karmacharya

Running for Housing Commission (one year)

Karmacharya is interested in exploring “nontraditional housing options” such as homeowners renting out rooms in exchange for helping around the house, shopping and other errands, etc. This would open low-cost housing opportunities in Lincoln for younger people (including, for example, teachers at LEAP) while also helping elderly residents remain in their homes for as long as possible.

“There are a lot of elderly who live alone, as well as families with young kids, but there’s not as much interaction [as there could be] between those two vibrant groups… [we might be able to] create surrogate grandparents and surrogate grandchildren” for seniors whose extended family live far away. “I see housing as part of the bigger fabric of community,” he said.

Stanley Solomon

Running against John MacLachlan for Bemis trustee (three years)

“The people I think of that would be good speakers are people from the STEM world and people from outdoors,” said Stanley, 85. “And I promise I will not be running around in Lincoln politics for the next 15 years.”

Q: Do you see a role for trustees to collaborate wth other town commissions?

“The Bemis Trust should confine its activities to providing what the trust was established for. I think the rest of Lincoln has enough committees and people to take care of things they’re there for. I don’t see see this kind of interdisciplinary thing as being beneficial.”

John MacLachlan

Running against Stanley Solomon for Bemis trustee (three years)

“To be honest, after the last [national] election, I felt obligated to get more engaged with the community,” MacLachlan said when asked what inspired him to run for town office after living in Lincoln for only three years. “I’ve been to a number of events where there were mainly elderly people and few young families, or the reverse. It would be nice to have more young families there, with [Bemis Lecture Series] topics that topics that would engage both the elderly and the young.”

MacLachlin has also been asked by the Parks and Recreation Commission to fill an appointed seat, and he said that he could hold both posts, but “would be happy to allow Stanley to take that position” as a Bemis trustee.

Fred Mansfield

Running unopposed for reelection to the Board of Health (three years)

Mansfield was asked about how the town could balance its emphasis on protecting the environment with the need to protect residents’ health in the face of threats from Lyme disease and other tick-borne and mosquito-borne illnesses, and what (if anything) the Board of Health can do to mitigate those threats.

State environmental officials set traps for mosquitoes and monitor what diseases they’re carrying, which can also include West Nile virus and (perhaps eventually) Zika, Mansfield said. However, “we don’t have much in the way of mosquito control because [homes in Lincoln] are so dispersed.” There are a few catch basins in which the town could put larvicide, and if there was a major outbreak of mosquito-borne illness, helicopters could do aerial spraying of insecticide, he said.

As for ticks, Mansfield recommended that residents pull their socks up over their pant legs, put on insect repellant containing permethrin on their socks, and check themselves carefully for ticks. “We have no way of controlling the deer or the mice that are part of the [Lyme disease] cycle, and we won’t really have a solution other than prevention,” he said. According to Mansfield, his fellow Board of Health member Steven Kanner, an internist, has advised that anyone who finds a tick on his or her body, even without an obvious bite or bull’s-eye lesion, to “take two doxycycline pills and forget about it, trying to prevent things rather than treat them.”

The candidate was also asked about the leaf blower issue. In 2015, the Board of Health went on record as saying that airborne particles and noise from gas-powered leaf blowers are a health hazard, but later distanced itself from proposed restrictions on use of the machines by homeowners not in the South Lincoln commercial area.

“Our thought was that the Board of Health doesn’t have an enforcement arm, and Lincoln Police were not interested in taking that on,” he said. “The question is how would they do that. Do they go around with noise meters?” The board instead supports “neighborly agreements” to limit the times of year that gas-powered leaf blowers and string trimmers could be used. If this didn’t work, “we’ll probably go in front of Town Meeting and it will probably be voted down because people don’t want to pay contractors to rake by hand, and electric leaf blowers are not as powerful,” he said.

Patty Mostue

Running unopposed for reelection to the Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee (three years); former Lincoln School Committee member

“What I like about Lincoln is what I also like about the high school—the great sense of community,” Mostue said. Recent innovations at L-S include the We Are Warriors program aimed at students who may not be college-bound that helps them feel “they belong in the high school no matter what their path to higher education or work.”

“There are new people moving into Lincoln who don’t always take part in Town Meeting… I think it would be a danger to lose the sense of community that has to be guarded and nurtured all the time,” Mostue said when asked what she would like to see changed about Lincoln.

Rick Rundell

Running unopposed for reelection to the Planning Board (three years)

Q: In your written response, you said you’d like to see broader civic engagement. Is there a way the Planning Board can help with that?

Rundell noted that there are now greater opportunities for participating in the planning and economic development process with the creation of the EDAC and the SLPIC. The EDAC will be help in promote the economic health of the town by bringing together people in the business and nonprofit communities, including those who are not Lincoln residents but have an interest in seeing those businesses succeed.

Laura Sander

Running unopposed for the Board of Assessors (three years); current member of the Finance Committee

As a Finance Committee member, Sander said she has “learned a lot about Lincoln finances—in particular, property taxes, which account for about 76 percent of our revenue. The oversight of that resource is really critical to how we function. We really need to be aware of our taxing capacity and how we can best utilize that. This is outside the purview of the Board of Assessors, but as a town, as we think about more commercial development or more affordable housing, we have to think about the impacts and what that means to us as taxpayers.”

Q: You wrote, “I would like to ensure that the oasis that we work hard to maintain is not an enclave that is separate from the rest of the world and its concerns.” Can you give a couple of examples of how to work harder to promote this vision?

A: “I get really concerned about the fact that we can pay a lot of lip service” to things like METCO and affordable housing, “but we need to engage with each other,” Sander said. “I don’t have specific solutions for how to do that… but if we’re not engaging somehow, we’re not getting enough out of that. We have to think about how do we create forums that allow people to really interact.”

Allen Vander Meulen

Running against Jennifer Glass for one-year vacancy on the Board of Selectman; current member of Housing Commission and SLPIC

Q: Can you expand on your definition of “the Lincoln way” and how it can be improved upon?

A: “To me, the Lincoln way means that we’re all part of the community. There’s not some elite that’s driving us; everyone’s voice is important… even if you disagree with someone, [making sure] their voice is heard and taken seriously, making sure that one group doesn’t get to trump the other or create a lot of division that doesn’t need to be there,” Vander Meulen said. In his previous career as an IT manager he said he often dealt with situations where “everyone was at each other’s throat or had no idea how to get where they needed to go,” and his skill was “building consensus and a sense of camaraderie and mutual direction.”

“As a minister and a volunteer, your focus is on building the community, facilitating dialogue, and making sure the people who aren’t involved are. One thing you can’t do is just sit back and wait for people to come to you. I know too many churches that died thinking a fresh coat of paint on the front door and new carpeting would solve their problems.”

Of his opponent Glass, Vander Meulen said, “I’ve been very impressed with her. No matter who wins this election, you’ll see both of us around for a very, very long time.”

“That’s either a promise or a threat,” Glass said to laughter.

News acorns

March 9, 2017

Forum on affordable housing proposals

In preparation for Town Meeting votes on creating more affordable housing, the Housing Commission will hold an Affordable Accessory Apartment Program Housing Forum on Wednesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. in the Town Office Building. A “yes” vote on warrant Article 12 would create the Affordable Accessory Apartment Program, a public/private partnership, a collaboration between the town of Lincoln and an individual homeowner to create affordable housing eligible for Lincoln’s affordable housing inventory. Article 13 would create a tax exemption for affordable accessory apartments that meet state regulations and qualify for the town’s affordable housing inventory.

In addition to the warrant articles, forum attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about the Affordable Housing Trust Loan Program, which will grant loans to homeowners who participate in the Affordable Accessory Apartment Program. If the homeowner’s accessory apartment remains on the affordable housing inventory for 10 years, the loan will automatically be forgiven.

Those with questions may contact Pamela Gallup at 781-259-0393 or pamgallup@aol.com.

Food Project seeking teenage summer crew

The Food Project is currently recruiting for its summer Seed Crew. Each summer, The Food Project’s Seed Crew hires 72 high schoolers from diverse backgrounds to work together on one of its farms to grow vegetables and distribute thousands of pounds of produce to area hunger relief organizations while developing important leadership, teamwork, diversity and civic participation skills. Seed Crew is the entry point to participate in The Food Project’s youth crews. Following Seed Crew, young people may apply to work each academic season throughout their high school careers. Click here to apply. The deadline is Monday, March 13.

Report on Israel/Palestine fact-finding tour

The GRALTA Foundation will report on its January study tour of Israel/Palestine on Sunday, March 19 at 1 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Speakers will include legislators and others who participated in GRALTA’s 13-day trip. The event will include reports from delegates Mass. Reps. Paul Heroux (D-Attleboro) and Denis Provost (D-Somerville) as well as Boston College Professor Eve Spangler and her students with audience Q&A, followed by a panel discussion. The event is free but an RSVP for food and beverage planning is appreciated; email Steve Low at steve.low@gordianconcepts.com.

Women’s March discussion

Did you participate in the recent Women’s March in Boston or any other city? Please join us for an evening of discussion about the march, its relationship to the history of the women’s suffrage movement, and what comes next at “On the March: Reflections on the Recent Women’s Marches and Their Roots in Suffragette History” on Thursday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in the Lincoln Public Library. The evening will begin with a brief presentation by members of the Boston’s Women’s History Trail on the suffragette movement marches in Boston. Feel free to bring your camera or phone to share pictures.

Peggy Schmertzler Leadership Lecture

Peggy Schmertzler

Lincoln resident Al Schmertzler and his family invite Lincolnites to attend the first annual Peggy Schmertzler Leadership Lecture in honor of his late wife Peggy and her transformative leadership as she worked to advance equality for women at Harvard University. The lecture will be held on Tuesday, March 28 at 5:30 p.m. in the Parlor Room of the Phillips Brooks House, 22 Harvard Yard, Cambridge. The speakers will be Sarah Hurwitz, senior speech writer for President Obama and chief speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama, who will discuss “The Power of Words and Their Impact on Leadership.”

The lecture series was established by three of Peggy’s fellow Radcliffe alumnae in recognition of her leadership of the Committee for the Equality of Women at Harvard (CEWH) an organization she helped create and advance throughout its 30-year lifespan. Her spirit and and dedication to women’s advancement prompted her former CEWH colleagues and the Harvard College Women’s Center to partner in honoring her legacy of fearless leadership.

Officials outline needs and implications of school funding vote

March 9, 2017

School and town officials made their case for voting to move ahead with a town-funded school project at a multi-board meeting and public forum on March 8.

School Committee chair Jennifer Glass urged residents at Town Meeting on March 25 to vote yes on Article 33, which would allow the town to spend $750,000 on a feasibility study. That money was previously allocated in 2014 with the stipulation that the study would be for a project involving the Massachusetts State Building Authority (MSBA); a “yes” vote would remove that condition. The MSBA has turned down several grant applications from Lincoln due to competition from other schools that are in much worse shape, either structurally or due to severe overcrowding, she explained.

If Article 33 is not approved, residents will be asked to vote on Article 34, which authorizes the town to apply once again for MSBA funding. However, the School Committee and other boards have recommended that voters approve #33 and pass over #34. Theoretically the town could do its own feasibility study while also reapplying to the MSBA, but this runs the risk of wasting the town’s time, effort and money, since the MSBA (even if it granted funding) would require yet another new feasibility study as well as an MSBA-approved architect and owner’s project manager.

“Obviously it’s hard to think about turning away the possibility of millions of dollars,” Glass acknowledged. But the unlikelihood of actually getting that money unless things get much worse—along with other factors like the greater flexibility of a town-only project (especially in conjunction with planning for a community center, which was not permitted in an MSBA-funded school project)—makes this the best way to go, she said.

The new Hanscom Middle School’s layout, with many multipurpose spaces of various sizes, shows how a building’s design can have educational benefits, officials said. “We are seeing amazing things happening in terms of the way faculty are collaborating on an integrated curriculum and students are collaborating with each other,” said Superintendent Becky McFall.

Even without factoring educational enhancements into a new or renovated building, a project costing at least $30 million is urgently needed just to upgrade worn roofs, boilers and plumbing, HVAC systems and energy-inefficient single-pane windows, Glass said. The school also lacks sprinklers, has cramped kitchens and uncontrolled entrances, and is using converted closets for special services, she added.

If everything goes without a hitch, the earliest that construction could begin is late summer or fall 2019, with completion taking at least two years depending on the scope of the project, Glass said.

Future votes

After this month’s Town Meeting, there will be two more town-wide votes: one to choose a project concept and budget range (probably at Town Meeting a year from now), and another vote to bond the project in fall 2018 after final plans are developed.

“No solution gets chosen without a town vote—this is full-on town participation,” Glass said.

The second vote to choose a design concept was not undertaken in 2012. “We know that that is a really important step for the town to make,” she said, noting that the school campus “has a certain feel and is the heart of the community in many ways.”

Some of the data from the previous school studies can be used again, including data on the current facilities conditions, the educational program needs, possible building footprints and the optimal orientation of the building, the number of classrooms needed, etc. Still to be determined is the exact building layout and room configurations, site planning on roads, parking and pathways (especially as they may also affect a possible community center on the Hartwell side of the campus), and choosing major systems and construction materials, Glass said.

Tax implications

Finance Committee chair Peyton Marshall outlined Lincoln’s property tax situation now (generally favorable compared to eight peer towns) and how it would change after a major bond issue. He showed how much tax bills would go up depending on how much money the town borrowed and the interest rate (either 4% or 5%). The numbers assume that the town will use its debt stabilization fund to smooth the impact.

Bottom line: there would be a median annual tax increase of $275 to $300 for every $10 million that the town borrowed. The median tax bill in fiscal 2018 is $13,613.

Another response for candidate forum

March 8, 2017

Following is a another candidate response in preparation for the town-wide candidate forum on Saturday, March 11 from 10 a.m. to noon in the Lincoln Woods Community center (50 Wells Rd.). Previous responses can be seen here and here.

Stanley Solomon (Bemis Trustee)

What I like best about Lincoln—While my wife Susan and I moved from Lexington to The Commons only about six years ago, I have been hiking and leading hikes in Lincoln for more than 40 years. From this, you might surmise that I rate Lincoln’s integrated conservation effort a gem. We see it as the town’s leading attribute.

What I would like to see changed—Town transportation, sewers, more restaurants, increased retail opportunities—these would all be nice to have, but they all come with consequences that, at best, change the appearance, operation and charm that Lincoln now exudes. From following LincolnTalk, it seems that a number of Lincolnites feel that spending one day a year on town government and/or two hours per election exceeds the time they have allocated to being Americans. I indeed would like to see this change.

Letter to the editor: time to move forward with a school project

March 6, 2017

(Editor’s note: There will be a multi-board meeting and forum on Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Gym. This is the second such meeting in recent weeks about the school project; click here for coverage of the first multiboard meeting on January 30.)

To the editor:

Last April, Lincoln again applied for state funding for a school building project from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). In December, the town learned that we were not invited into the 2016 funding pipeline. After careful consideration, we, the members of the Lincoln School Committee (LSC), have voted unanimously to recommend that the town move forward independently and begin planning a Lincoln-funded school building project. This is an opinion that we have shared openly with other boards and that we introduced to the public at the January 30 multi-board meeting. It has since been endorsed by multiple town boards and committees.

The purpose of the January 30 meeting was to launch a community process that we hope will bring the town to consensus on a Lincoln School building project. The first decision will be made at the March 25th Annual Town Meeting. The LSC is bringing forth for the town’s consideration two warrant articles that represent two different pathways:

Article 33: Using the money we already set aside in 2015, will the Town permit the School Committee to begin planning a Lincoln-funded project? OR
Article 34: Should the Town continue to re-apply to the MSBA?

The LSC views these articles as an either/or choice representing two distinct pathways and timetables. The School Committee recommends voting “yes” on Article 33 and passing over Article 34.

Article 33

As stewards of the school, we believe the time has come to act independently for the following reasons:

The Lincoln School’s building systems are at increasing risk of failure, and the fiscally responsible approach is to address the deficiencies with a thoughtfully planned single project.
We are committed to creating a learning environment that supports the town’s educational vision.
There has been considerable community engagement over the past five years, and a growing consensus that a school project is one of the town’s top priorities.

Certain systems in the school, such as the roof and boilers, are on borrowed time. With immediate action, the earliest completion date for a renovation project is late 2021. Waiting to act lengthens the timeline and increases the risk of a costly infrastructure failure that would force us to reactively spend millions of dollars.

Since 2002 when the Capital Planning Committee first recommended a comprehensive approach to addressing the school’s capital needs, the town has conducted five studies of the facility. Each study has confirmed the idea that it is fiscally prudent to thoughtfully plan a project that holistically addresses the school’s infrastructure needs.

For the past several years, because we sought to maximize the impact of the town’s investment, the LSC asked for town support to seek MSBA funding. Yet, since we applied last April, we have learned more about the current competitiveness of the MSBA process. The MSBA uses weighted criteria to evaluate proposals, including:

Is the building structurally sound?
Is there severe overcrowding?
Is there a threatened loss of accreditation?
Does the district foresee future overcrowding?
Are the major systems obsolete?
Will there be short-term enrollment growth?
Are the educational spaces outdated?

The Lincoln School, like many around the Commonwealth, falls firmly into categories #5 and #7. Many districts around us, however, are also facing severe overcrowding, and there are some facilities around the Commonwealth that are considered unusable. The MSBA is using its limited resources to fund projects around the state that fall squarely within categories #1 and/or #2. We believe that with the current focus on these top two criteria, we are unlikely to receive state support in the foreseeable future, and that given the condition of the building, the responsible financial choice is to move ahead on our own.

Supporting high-quality public education is one of Lincoln’s core values. This goes beyond academic rigor, encompassing a vision of education that is innovative, engaging and inspiring. To realize that vision, we know we need highly effective educators in an environment that supports teaching and learning. Lincoln consistently supports the educational program, and now it is time to invest in our infrastructure. Our goal is a school facility that fosters collaboration and communication, is flexible and sustainable enough to meet educational needs for decades to come, and is safe and accessible to, and supportive of, all our learners.

Finally, for the past five years the LSC has worked with the citizens of Lincoln to cultivate a shared vision of education, and an understanding of the Lincoln School building’s deficiencies. Among the several hundred people who have engaged in this process, the public has indicated consensus on several points:

Maximizing educational benefits is the community’s first priority when evaluating a potential project.
A minimum investment of $30 million (2014 estimate) is required to achieve a responsible repair project that addresses basic infrastructure and meets current safety, structural and accessibility codes.
In order to achieve an education-focused transformation of the building, a significantly greater investment will be required. According to several studies, the potential cost is $40-$65 million.
This cost range is based on the 2014 Dore & Whittier estimates commissioned by the School Building Advisory Committee II (SBAC II); the total cost of the project proposed in 2012 was $50 million.
When asked at the 2014 State of the Town Meeting, those present demonstrated strong support for a transformative project, even if we need to pay for it on our own.
Many residents are also interested in building a community center on the Lincoln School campus and favor a parallel planning process.
A school project will be a major community investment. It is important to build on the community’s demonstrated engagement in planning these projects.

Approving Article 33 is the first of three votes the town would take to plan and achieve a revitalization of the Lincoln School. Community input has been and will continue to be crucial in planning for the choices the Town will make at each of these stages. The following “feasibility study” process is based on a standard project management model:

After a “yes” vote on Article 33, the School Committee appoints a School Building Committee to choose an architect, hire an owner’s project manager, and develop a series of project concepts and budget estimates from which the town will choose.
The town votes to choose a project concept and estimated budget range. This determines key components of the project such as the number and types of spaces needed, and the footprint of the building.
— Preliminary design phase: After the town chooses a concept, the architect and Building Committee will do preliminary site planning and choose major systems and materials such as heating/ventilation, roofing, exterior materials, windows, insulation, lighting, and plumbing.
— Two independent cost estimates are commissioned and reconciled.
The town votes to bond the project, beginning the final phase:
— Final design development: The Building Committee and architect choose interior finishes, finalize site plans, and create construction drawings.
—The construction contract is put out to bid, is awarded, and the project begins.

Article 34

Article 34 asks whether the town should re-apply for funding from the MSBA. The LSC has advocated for this pathway over the past couple of years, but now believes that our near-term acceptance into the funding pipeline is highly unlikely given both the level of need around the state, and the MSBA’s available resources. As outlined above, large infrastructure items such as the roof and the heating system are at an increased risk of failure, and even the most ambitious project schedule takes four years. The LSC recommends voting “yes” on Article 33 and passing over Article 34.

Why not vote “yes” on both articles?

One advantage of funding a project on our own is that we are not constrained by MSBA limitations on building and site use, thus facilitating parallel planning with a community center.
Potential waste of taxpayer money: If we spend money to develop a project on our own and then receive an invite from the MSBA, we would have to put that work aside and begin a new, state-approved process. This would mean appropriating more money, hiring a state-approved architect and owner’s project manager, and starting the work again. This also delays planning for a community center project.
Respect for the town’s human capital. During the most recent study of the Lincoln School, SBAC II meetings consumed over 110 hours of our educators’ and fellow citizens’ time. The LSC wants to ensure that we are using our human resources judiciously and productively.

Questions? Want more information? Please join us at the multi-board meeting and forum on March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Gym.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Glass, chair (on behalf of the Lincoln School 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.

News acorns

March 5, 2017

Absentee ballots available

Absentee ballots for the March 27 town 2017 election are now available in the Town Office Building. Residents can come in and vote over the counter or apply by mail. Under state law, the town cannot allow anyone to deliver a physical ballot to a voter. A family member may apply for an absentee ballot to be mailed to another family member. Click here for more information on absentee voting.

Haitian dance performance at L-S

The Jean Appolon Expressions dancers.

On Friday, March 10, there will be a performance by the Haitian dance company jean Appalon Expressions at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. The performance, “Angaje” (which means “engaged” or “committed” in Haitian-Creole) is inspired by the struggle against homophobia and the power of Haitian cultural tradition in the fight for justice. It is a reflection of various forms of social oppression and more particularly the violence against LGBTQ people in Haiti, who are not only victims of discrimination, but also the targets of violence by anti-gay groups.

There will be a reception starting at 6:30 p.m. and the performance will start at 7:30 in Kirshner Auditorium. The performance is free, but donations will be accepted to benefit Partners in Health. The event is hosted by the L-S French Department and the METCO program and sponsored by SERF (Sudbury Education Resource Fund).

Also as part of World Language Week next week, the public is invited to the 14th Annual World Language Declamation Contest in the L-S Auditorium on Thursday, March 9 during block 4. Students including Lincoln residents Zoe Belge, Marissa Cannistraro, Cal Hamandi and Irene Terpstra will recite pieces they have memorized in the languages they are learning. World Language Karaoke will take place on Friday, March 10 in Kirshner Auditorium during blocks 6 and 7 with singing in French, Mandarin, German and Spanish (karaoke lyrics will be supplied). Email World Language Department Coordinator Joan Campbell at joan_campbell@lsrhs.net for more information.

Free after-school classes for kids

The Learning Hub at the Lincoln Public Library is offering free Friday afternoon classes for children ages 7-11 on four Fridays this month from 3:30-4:40 p.m. Topics include:

Picasso Cubism Paper Bag Art (March 10)
Catapulting with Marshmallows (March 17)
Make a Simple Glider (March 24)
Build a Bubble Rocket (March 31)

To sign up for any or all of the classes, contact the library at 781-259-8465 ext. 4 or email jflanders@minlib.net. Classes are provided by The Learning Hub in Worcester.

Elder law clinic on March 13

Got a question about issues such as estate planning, MassHealth, protecting assets for a loved one with a serious disability, guardianship, conservatorship or probate? The Council on Aging is offering a legal clinic with elder law attorney and Lincoln resident Sasha Golden on Monday, March 13 from 2-4 p.m. There is no charge for the 30-minute consultation, but please sign up by calling the COA at 781-259-8811.

Candidates answer questions ahead of March 11 forum

March 2, 2017

(Editor’s note: This article was expanded on March 12 to include responses that were published here and here after this first set was posted. It also includes a response via LincolnTalk from Board of Selectman candidate Jonathan Dwyer.)

There will be a moderated town-wide candidate forum on Saturday, March 11 from 10 a.m. to noon in the Lincoln Woods Community Center at 50 Wells Rd. in preparation for the March 27 town election. Each candidate will make brief opening and closing statements and take one or two questions in between.

In advance of the forum, the Lincoln Woods Advisory Committee asked everyone on the ballot to briefly answer two questions: What do you like best about Lincoln? What would you like to see change? Answers from some of the candidates are below (edited for space and clarity), in alphabetical order by their last names. Additional answers will be published as they become available.

Melinda Abraham (Bemis trustee)

Lynn DeLisi (Planning Board)

Jonathan Dwyer (Board of Selectman, three years)

What I like best about Lincoln: What I like best about Lincoln is its quirky character. Does any other town have a July 4th parade with a half time? I think this means we have twice as many parades on July 4th than any other town in the country! Our police officers have to be prepared to subdue the armed and dangerous as well as evasive juvenile bull #27 that jumps over fences daily. Our high school wins state championships in sports, and has competed at the national level in speech & debate. Middle school lego robotics competed at national and international levels. Still, the 5-way intersection flummoxes. We are a very small town charmed by farms, an art museum, a state park (reservation), a national park, and our own Air Force Base and MBTA stop. That’s quirky. And I haven’t even mentioned the people!

What I would like to see changed: The change I would like to see in town is an even greater willingness to listen, understand each other, and get involved solving problems small and big. Although every one of us is busy, it would be great if more seek to know the issues and the complexities that prohibit simple solutions, from cutting down dying roadside trees (state law restrictions) to food banks and substance abuse program (yes, people in our community use these services), positive outcomes happen more quickly with greater involvement. And when change comes slowly, unexpectedly, or is undesired, at least more of us understand why.

Jennifer Glass (Board of Selectmen, one year)

What I like best about Lincoln: As many have been before me, I was first drawn to Lincoln by its combination of beauty and location. Having grown up in the Adirondack mountains, I cherish Lincoln’s quiet woods, hidden ponds, open fields and farmland. As someone who has lived in the Boston area for 30 years, I value the ready access we have to the city. For me, Lincoln is a remarkable combination of my rural Adirondack roots and Boston’s urban energy. My family and I feel extraordinarily fortunate to call it home.

Before we moved to Lincoln 10 years ago, Andrew and I often visited Drumlin Farm and the deCordova with our daughters, and so had found ourselves drawn to the town for a long time. We were fully prepared to enjoy it for the ease of Andrew’s train ride, the peacefulness of our street, and the charming vistas of sheep and cows swathed in morning mist. What we did not realize was how welcoming our neighborhood was, or how easy it would be to become part of the fabric of the community. After getting our daughters settled in the Lincoln School, a seamless, mid-year transition, I decided to jump into the civic life of the town by volunteering to serve on the Lincoln School Committee’s Class Size Policy Subcommittee. I did not imagine then that a decade later I would be finishing my third term on the School Committee and running for selectman.

Lincoln’s commitment to engagement inspires me. During my time on the School Committee, I have worked with thoughtful, creative, collaborative committee members and administrators. We push one another to clarify our thinking, and our collective experience and skills make us better than the sum of our parts. I have had the same experience with numerous other boards and committees on topics ranging from policy development to emergency planning, and from budget development to planning for a school building project. Being on the School Committee has taught me to see any given issue from multiple viewpoints, and to try to make sure that we fully understand the consequences of our decisions. It’s work that is both intellectually and emotionally stimulating and satisfying.

What I would like to see changed: As a selectman, I would not want to change Lincoln. Rather, I would want to work with my colleagues to strengthen the flow of open communication and collaboration between the Board of Selectmen and town citizens. This will allow each of us to view our particular interests within the broader context of the town and to function at our best.

We are on the cusp of decisions that have the potential to positively impact every individual in town and that will shape Lincoln for decades to come. These choices include: How do we maximize our investment in public infrastructure, such as our educational, recreational and community facilities? How do we ensure a vibrant town that serves and supports each generation? How do we meet sustainability goals? What is our town’s role within our wider region? How do we ensure that the tradition of engagement remains strong? These are complex questions that require regular, proactive communication among our citizens and all of the town boards and committees.

Ruth Ann Hendrickson (Water Commission)

What I like best about Lincoln: I like the fact that Lincoln has so carefully protected the watershed and swamps that supply our drinking water.

What I would like to see changed: I wish we had a “no lawn irrigation” ordinance.

Rakesh Karmacharya (Housing Commission)

What I like best about Lincoln: I like the small-town feel of Lincoln and the warm and welcoming community. I love living in an idyllic setting while still being able to commute to work in Boston.

What I would like to see changed: I would like to explore possibilities of increasing nontraditional affordable housing options in Lincoln while nurturing meaningful interactions within our community. On the one hand, there is a dearth of housing options in Lincoln for millennials and young families. On the other hand, we have some elderly members of our community who are trying to decide whether they can still safely live in their houses or whether they need to move to an assisted living facility due health and safety concerns. Is there a mutually beneficial opportunity for interested elderly members in Lincoln to provide a room or two in their houses to a young person or a young couple in return for help with some tasks around the house? This arrangement enables the elderly to continue living safely in their houses while providing new housing opportunities for young folks who are attracted to Lincoln.

John MacLachlan (Bemis trustee)

What I like best about Lincoln: My favorite thing about Lincoln is the sense of community although I was initially drawn to Lincoln by the open space and trails.

What I would like to see changed: I’d love to see the already impressive community become further engaged and to see more interaction between the relatively new residents with long term Lincolnites.

Fred Mansfield (Board of Health)

What I like best about Lincoln: Lincoln’s emphasis on land conservation and open space.

What I’d like to see change: I’d hope that more people would take an interest in town government by attending Town Meeting and voting in town elections.

Rick Rundell (Planning Board)

What I like best about Lincoln: What I love about Lincoln is the strong sense of stewardship for our shared physical heritage. In other words, people here really care about the community, about each other, and about the unique character of our physical environment.

What I’d like to see change: I would love to see even broader civic engagement from citizens of Lincoln across all of our populations. The more people who participate in making this town work the stronger we are as a community.

Laura Sander (Board of Assessors)

Stanley Solomon (Bemis Trustee)

Allen Vander Meulen (Board of Selectman, one year)

What I like best about Lincoln: The people—regardless of age, race, color faith or any other differentiator, we are all part of an unusually tight-knit and supportive community. This is part of what we mean when we talk of “the Lincoln Way.” You see this in how our town is run, where there is a focus on creating “win-win” situations wherever possible, and in being supportive to our fellow Lincolnites, whether newcomers or longtime residents. This is what has helped Lincoln retain its rural feel and small-town atmosphere despite the increasing suburbanization all around us.

What I’d like to see change: There is general (although not universal) agreement as to the goals and priorities we as a town must address in the next few years. Our differences mostly lie in the timing and sequence of what needs to be done, and in the specifics of how and what to accomplish with respect to each goal. So for me, the real question is not what to accomplish, or what to change, but how to get there.

The phrase “the Lincoln Way” has long been a call to action for us as a town, but the goal of a culture of inclusion and supportiveness that underlie what we mean by “the Lincoln Way” has always had gaps. Those gaps are becoming more apparent with time, challenging our communal understanding of what “the Lincoln Way” means.

How we come together to make tangible progress on the challenges in our immediate future will set the tone for our community’s conversations and leadership for the coming generation. I am convinced we must find new ways to include our neighbors who feel ignored, marginalized, or otherwise excluded from active participation in our community, so that they also can participate in the decisions and tasks before us. Otherwise, we will not be able to accomplish all that we hope (and need) to do. And so, we must reaffirm our commitment to “the Lincoln Way” and deepen and broaden our understanding of what it means.

Glass brings School Committee experience to bid for selectman

March 2, 2017

Jennifer Glass.

After nine years on the School Committee during a period when the town planned and then failed to advance a school building project, committee chair Jennifer Glass is hoping to apply what she’s learned to a new town government position: Board of Selectman member.

Glass is running against Allen Vander Meulen for the remaining year in the term of Selectman Renel Frederiksen, who is resigning from the board as of this month. Also on the ballot for selectman in the March 27 town election is Jonathan Dwyer. He is running unopposed for the open seat of Selectman Peter Braun, who is stepping down after two terms.

The Glass family—Jennifer her husband Andrew, an attorney, and their daughters Caroline and Emily, who are juniors in college and at Lincoln-Sudbury, respectively—have lived in Lincoln since 2006. She has a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies and a master’s in education, and taught kindergarten in Newton before from Brookline to Lincoln, where she has been a full-time parent and volunteer.

“I moved here and jumped in pretty quickly [into school matters], and I’ve enjoyed the fact that this is a town that welcomes people who want to do that. It’s easy to feel engaged, and it’s what has made our time here a lot of fun,” she said.

“What drew me to [running for selectman] was the confluence of events going on in the town right now,” said Glass, referring to a renewed school project push as well as a municipal solar installation at the landfill, economic development in South Lincoln, a possible community center and the Complete Streets initiative. “There are a lot of pieces that individual committees have talked about for a while but are all coming together in a big picture, which I find very interesting and exciting… I believe the experience I’ve had in meeting with other [town government] committees will help further the conversation about how we manage all of these different ideas and projects that seem to be coming together at the same time.”

School building saga

During the first school building process (which ended in defeat in late 2012 when less than two-thirds of voters approved a $49 million total expenditure at a Special Town Meeting), Glass had many dealings with other areas of town government including the selectmen, the Finance Commission, the Capital Planning Committee, the Council on Aging, and the Parks and Recreation Committee.

Reflecting on those events four years later, the failure to advance the project was “really due to a combination of factors,” she said. “There was some initial sticker shock—these are big numbers we’re talking about for the town. To support a project of that magnitude, you have to feel like you’re getting good value for the money you’re spending. Though we had a majority, not everyone was ready to say ‘yes, this was the right value for my dollars,’ whether it was because of the layout of campus, a purely financial decision, or a desire to better understand the connect between a building and the delivery of education,” she said.

Getting formal town consensus on a school and campus design before the funding vote “was really that missing step. We had public forums and neighborhood coffees and so forth, but somehow that step where we made a choice between keeping the building in the general shape it is now and approving the other scheme, somehow there just wasn’t enough vetting of that,” Glass said.

Asked what lessons she drew from the 2012 experience, Glass said, “I’ve certainly learned the importance of talking early and often, whether with other boards or the public. We tried to be very transparent at the time, but you can never stop trying to be transparent. You just have to be very clear and up front about what the decisions are.”

The reversal didn’t sour Glass on the town’s commitment to education—far from it. “Immediately after the [2012] vote, people came to me and said, ‘I couldn’t vote for this but I want to help. What can we do?’ That told me it was not that the town didn’t want to do something, but that we had to go back and figure out how to do a better job of communicating,” she said. “We knew we had to put in place a moment where, after developing a bunch of options, we would come back to the town to get a vote” on one of those design option before the actual funding vote.

Asked about how a community center might fit in with a school project, Glass said she was “very much in favor of those two processes going forward together.” Actual construction may have to be staggered, “but we just don’t know the answers yet. Both feel like good long-term solutions. What we’re trying to aim for is how do we get the most out of both projects.”

Likewise, planning for South Lincoln should move forward even though the town doesn’t yet know the final plan, Glass said. “Depending on what budgetary implications there are, we have to see if the town has the bandwidth, but the conversations have to keep going, even if means there isn’t immediate action on development.” The commercial district can benefit fairly soon from relatively low-cost measures such as marketing and signage, she added.

A young board

Regardless of who is elected to the Board of Selectmen this month, the group will be short on experience, with two new members and a third (James Craig) who has been serving for only a year. “It means that there would be a steep learning curve, clearly. But there’s a deep institutional knowledge in Town Hall,” Glass said. “And there are many people in town who have served in this role before who I’ve always found to be very wiling to give their input and advice and fill in on the historical info that I may not have at my fingertips.

“While I certainly have a lot to learn, I understand how town government works and how the meeting law works and how all of these pieces fit together. I don’t see it as a problem because I know there’s this kind of support network out there” of professionals and volunteers,” she said.

Glass feels that the past nine years have honed her political skills a well as procedural knowledge. “I think I’ve shown that I have a fair amount of perseverance and willingness to continue difficult conversations and find common ground. I think I’m willing to listen and keep talking and try to find solutions that bring people together,” she said.