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

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Lincoln on the march

For the Women’s March on January 21, the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee organized a bus to Boston Common for 50 participants under the group title of “Lincoln Marchers,” while many other residents made the trek to the nation’s capital. Marches in Washington and other U. S cities drew at least 1 million people in total, and thousands more participated in similar events around the world.

“The Washington Women’s March for America was amazing from start to finish,” said Barbara Slayter, one of the Lincoln DTC riders. “The crowd included people of all ages and races—men as well as women, Muslims, and even, I observed, a gentleman wearing a Sikh turban. There were children in strollers and baby carriages as well as on foot, and there were disabled or elderly people in wheelchairs. The mood was upbeat and even jubilant.

“These exuberant good spirits were accompanied by a huge array of largely homemade signs ranging from humorous to mocking to lighthearted, angry, compelling or uplifting [see the end of this gallery]. As we marched—very slowly—we frequently sang or chanted or contributed to great shouts rolling like waves through the crowd. Chants included ‘We want a leader, not a creepy tweeter,’ ‘Education, not deportation,’ ‘Women’s rights are human rights,’ and ‘Hands too small! Can’t build the wall!’

“Sometimes we sang songs such as This Land is Your Land or old union songs. One group knew songs from the musical Hamilton and entertained us for a bit along the way, as did several different drummers. And one cluster of some 30 or 40 marchers even sang a rousing Happy Birthday—to me—tipped off by my daughter, much to my surprise.”

The crowd were so large that Slayter’s group never got close enough to the podium  hear the speakers address the crowd, or even to the official march route. Instead, they made their way alongside the mall down Madison Avenue along with throngs of other marchers. “From 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. we were ‘on the move’ and it proved to be a thrilling day. Now we are trying to reflect on how we can build on the momentum the march has given us,” she said.

Here are pictures and words from other Lincoln marchers.

Janet Boynton, Larry Buell, Dilla Tingley, Marie Roberts, Lucretia Giese, Kim Buell, Elizabeth Cherniack, Julie Hibben and Al Schmertzler on Boston Common.

Rosamond DeLori marches in Boston.

Dilla Tingley and her friend Marie Roberts of Lexington. “The march restored my sense of humor and some hopefulness—there was lot of camaraderie and solidarity. We will need it,” Tingley said.

Jessica Tunick and her husband Trevor Berens went to the Washington event. “The feeling of the march was one of diversity, solidarity, love and determination,” Berens said.

Three generations march in Boston: Lincoln residents Natalie McNerney (front right) and her daughter Mary McNerney (front center) with her son Tim McNerney (back left) and 14-year-old granddaughter Sofia McNerney of Shutesbury.

Gwyn Loud and Rosamond DeLori on Boston Common.

Carolyn Montie and her daughter Eve in Boston.

Barbara Slayter (left) just happened to bump into Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall at the march in Washington. “Can you imagine a chance encounter of two Lincolnites in a sea of 500,000+ people and an extraordinary number of pink hats? It was an astonishing moment!” she said.

Jennifer Morris (right), her niece Norah Deluhery (left) and her sister Andrea Morris. Jannie and Andrea stayed in Washington with Norah, who was an Obama administration appointee in the Department of Agriculture for eight years.

Virginia Rundell (right) and her daughter Elisabeth, a senior at Drexel University. “As a mom, you never know if the values you try to instill in your children will stick—but this demonstration, and the conversations it prompted, proved to me that she’s been listening with her heart all along!”

Al Schmertzler, Julie Hibben and Lucretia Giese in Boston. “The crowds and their enthusiasm were tremendous. The trick will be to use that enthusiasm to effect change in the House and Senate,” Schmertzler said. “The attendees must make their goals painfully clear so that particularly Republicans know that if they do not change their positions, they will be voted out of office immediately just as the Democrats were in this recent election. 2018 will be the first test.”

Current and former Lincoln residents Houwa Ibrahim, Suzanne Karl, Rayna Caplan, Susan Taylor and Paula Waterman. “We packed into the Red Line car at Alewife—so tightly packed I couldn’t turn around,” Taylor said. “In the middle of the car, held up only by the press of other passengers, was a young mother with purple dyed braids and a still-toothless baby in a front pack dressed as SuperGirl. The ride was slow and the car began to get hot and stuffy. SuperGirl began to cry. Two young women who were squeezed up against the mother began to sing to SuperGirl: ‘Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…’ Concentric ripples of passengers began to join in the song until, when everyone reached the verse ‘I simply remember my favorite things,’ the entire car of at least 100 people shouted out ‘And then I don’t feel so bad!’ little SuperGirl had stopped crying, and everyone in the car was laughing. Solidarity, sisterhood, femininity at its best, and joy of common purpose.”

Sharon Antia and her granddaughter Armani Sims on the bus in Boston. Antia borrowed Armani’s pink Hello Kitty hat for her pussy hat.

The Washington march was “an amazing experience,” said Nancy Bergen. “There was a wonderful sense of unity and support for the democratic values that most of us want in our country. It was just incredible to look out at a sea of united people, many holding signs expressing why they were there. I wish there had been a place to put all the signs as they were so beautiful and creative. I experienced a great feeling of community, kindness and camaraderie among everyone there. Being at the march gave me hope that change can happen even in times like these, and that speaking up matters.”

Susan Pease brought a pair of signs to Boston.

Former Lincoln resident Isabel Peterson.

Various signs photographed by Barbara Slayter.

Early voting will probably cost the town starting in 2018

Lincoln had a very successful early voting turnout in 2016—so successful that there will have to be some voting adjustments and probably expenditures made before the next biennial election in 2018.

At almost 41 percent, Lincoln had the fifth-highest early voting turnout in Massachusetts in 2016, the first year in which early voting became available here. Municipalities are required to offer early voting during elections in even-numbered years for at least two weeks before Election Day. The measure is intended to maximize overall voter turnout and minimize crowd at polling places on the day, but Lincoln experienced some unintended consequences in November, as Town Clerk Susan Brooks explained to the Board of Selectmen on January 9.

Early voting was conducted in a conference room in the Town Office Building that proved barely adequate to the task. Handicapped regulations require a clearance of at least 36 inches from the AutoMARK handicapped-accessible voting machine, “and we had an inch to spare,” Brooks said.

Then, on the last day of early voting, monitors from the General Accounting Office appeared, “and we had to squeeze sideways down the hall” to get past a line of voters—right around the time a busload of senior citizens from The Commons arrived to vote. “There was a lot of traffic,” Brooks said.

Ideally, the location for early voting would be a lockable room large enough to accommodate the voting equipment so it doesn’t have to be wheeled back into secure storage at the end of each day, and it should also be centrally located and handicapped-accessible. The obvious choice, Brooks said, is the Donaldson Room. Since town government meetings are often held there at night, those meetings would probably have to take place in the Hartwell multipurpose room during the early-voting period, she said.

Another problem that arose during the November election was the strain on the staff of the Town Clerk’s office, Brooks said. Early voting “really makes your election a 16- or 17-day event, and whether we can continue to do it with an all-volunteer workforce [at the polls on Election Day] is a hard choice we need to be looking at… There’s a lot of enthusiasm for being election workers, but there’s a difference between volunteers and people who are paid to understand and administer election law.”

On Election Day, volunteers check voters in and out while the Town Clerk’s staff is on hand to deal with more complicated issues such as researching inactive voters, providing provisional ballots and having affidavits signed. “We were averaging one voter interaction every three minutes for all 100 hours that office was open,” with the result that the office’s other work got backed up, Brooks said. 

Lincoln is unusual in having election workers who are unpaid, so beginning with the 2018 election, the town will probably have to hire trained poll for the early voting period “who can be held accountable more intensively than our volunteer staff,” Brooks said. How much this will cost is anyone’s guess at this point, but she said her office will begin researching the issue.

State funding almost certainly will not available to offset some of this expense. The legislation was “artfully crafted” to avoid having the extra costs of early voting appear in the town’s expenses, since the Town Clerk’s staff is salaried and thus not eligible for overtime pay, Brooks said.

A third issue with early voting is electioneering policy. Current law prohibits displaying political signs or “attempts at political persuasion” within 150 feet of a polling place, but the Town Office Building is not considered a polling place. Also, the building is tricker to police than the Smith gym because it is a multi-floor building with two entrances as well as stairwells, conference rooms and other locations.

Selectmen disagreed about electioneering rules for the Town Office Building. Brooks proposed a policy that would prohibit electioneering within 16 feet of the outside entrances as well as in various foyers and hallways but that did not explicitly cover the entire interior of the building. Selectman Peter Braun proposed simplifying the language to prohibit electioneering anywhere inside the building as well as within 16 feet of the entrances.

But Selectman Renel Fredriksen objected to the amendment. “My concern is it could limit a couple of employees on the second floor from having a [political] conversation,” she said. “I basically object to doing more than we need to.”

The amended policy passed by a 2-1 vote, with Fredriksen voting against it.

Town to grapple once again with future of school project

At Town Meeting in March, residents will have yet another chance to chart a course for a multimillion-dollar school project—going it alone, or seeking partial state funding for the fifth time. But barring a major crisis at the Lincoln School, state funding is looking increasingly unlikely as the competition for grants gets fiercer by the year.

Lincoln won a $21 million grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority in 2009, contingent on a two-thirds majority approval from residents at Town Meeting—but that eventual 2012 vote fell short. The town has reapplied three times since then and been turned down each time. Just before Christmas, officials learned that the town was again denied entry into the state school funding pipeline.

As Lincoln officials are now realizing, the 2009 MSBA approval was at least partly a matter of luck because the MSBA as a funding entity had been created only the year before, and Lincoln was ready to pounce because it had recently done a facilities study and thus happened to have its “ducks in a row” more than many competing towns, School Committee Chair Jennifer Glass said at the January 9 Board of Selectmen meeting.

Glass and other Lincoln officials learned through recent conversations with the MSBA that nowadays, there is a “very high bar” for getting state funding approval. Most schools that were invited into the funding pipeline last year have a major structural deficiency to the extent that the building is uninhabitable (for example, a collapsed roof or flooding in the entire building), severe overcrowding, or a threatened loss of accreditation. This is something that usually happens only to high schools, Glass noted, and it was a significant factor in Minuteman High School getting its $44 million state pledge last year.

Each year, the MSBA evaluates a new set of applications; there is no waiting list or preference for schools like Lincoln’s that have previously won approval. “It’s a clean slate every year,” Glass said. “Our applications are very through and they understand our needs… we haven’t done anything wrong since [2009].”

Glass asked the selectmen to hold spots for two Town Meeting warrant questions: whether to reapply for MSBA funding, and whether to begin pursuing a town-funded project by spending $750,000 appropriated by voters in 2015 on a feasibility study. Theoretically, the town could do both; “we’re welcome to spend $750,000 of our own money and reapply [to the MSBA, but] if we were invited in, that feasibility study would be put on the shelf and we would start again,” since the state would require a newer one, Glass said.

Performing the feasibility study “does not commit us to any certain project or dollar amount,” Glass said. The final study would have to focus on one design for the school, but this time, there could be the “missing step [where we] narrow the choice down with a lot of public input,” Selectmen Peter Braun said. One reason cited for the 2012 defeat is that residents did not have enough say about the proposed project’s building and campus design, and many objected to the proposal for compromising the circular central ballfield.

“We need to put all the choices out there and let the people tell us,” Brain said.

Beginning with a multi-board meeting on Monday, Jan. 30, there will be a series of public conversations to consider the town’s options and to understand the choices in the context of Lincoln’s priorities and finances. These conversations will be ongoing; everyone’s input and questions are needed, and residents are encouraged to attend as many sessions as possible.

The schedule is as follows:

  • January 30 — Multi-board meeting, 7 p.m., Brooks Gym. This will be a joint meeting of the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee.
  • February 10 — Council on Aging public forum, , 12:30 p.m., Bemis Hall. Superintendent Becky McFall and School Committee Chair Jennifer Glass will discuss the Town Meeting warrant articles related to a building project, and give an overview of the FY18 school operating budget. In addition, Town Administrator Tim Higgins will give an overview of the FY18 town budget.
  • March 8 — Multi-board public forum, 7 p.m., location TBD — Hosted by the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and Capital Planning Committee.
  • March 17 — Council on Aging public forum, 12:30 p.m., Bemis Hall. Superintendent Becky McFall and School Committee Chair Jennifer Glass will discuss the Town Meeting warrant articles related to a building project.

News acorns

Talk on winter and gypsy moths

Gypsy moth

The outbreaks of gypsy moths in Massachusetts have been building for several years, and 2016 saw the largest in 35 years. Hear about the progress being made with biological controls and get an update on the spread of these insects in New England from Joe Elkinton, professor of entomology in the Department of Environmental Conservation at UMass-Amherst, on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall. Elkinton’s lab researces population dynamics and biological control of invasive forest insects, with a current focus on biological control and population dynamics of the winter moth, hemlock woolly adelgid and black oak gall wasp. Anyone with questions may contact Jane at llct@lincolnconservation.org or 781-259-9251. The event is free and open to all.

Bus ride offered to Boston Women’s March

The Lincoln Democratic Town Committee is organizing a bus to take marchers to and from the Boston Women’s March for America on Saturday, Jan. 21. The march lasts from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and involves a one-mile walk, speakers and a program. A map and more information are available here. The bus will leave the Smith School parking lot for Boston Common promptly at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning and return by 4 p.m. Seats cost $15 and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There is space for 30, and several seats are already taken, so if you want to reserve a seat, email Barbara Slayter at bslayter@comcast.net as soon as possible. Checks may made out to the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee and mailed to Barbara Slayter, P. O. Box 6337, Lincoln MA 01773.

Extended library hours for L-S students

The Lincoln Public Library will be open for extended study hours for Lincoln-Sudbury High School students on Thursday, Jan. 19 and Monday, Jan. 23. The library will be open until 10 p.m. and will provide snacks and a safe supervised place to study, but will be closed for all other services.

Letter to the editor: Stanley is against proposed MassHealth changes

letter

(Editor’s note: The Boston Globe ran a story about this issue on January 3, 2016.)

To the editor:

Recently proposed changes to MassHealth eligibility requirements would make it harder for residents older than 65 to establish special-needs trust accounts and still qualify for nursing home care and other health services from state and federal government agencies. The changes would force disabled seniors to spend down their personal financial resources, including held money in a trust, before qualifying for MassHealth benefits. Special-needs trusts allow seniors to pay for extra benefits, such as dental work or a home health aide that are not covered by MassHealth. They have traditionally been exempt from MassHealth income calculations, allowing disabled seniors and families to plan for long-term care and provide them with small comforts that improve their quality of life.

According to MassHealth officials, the changes are being pursued in order to comply with 2008 federal Medicaid guidelines which advised states that disabled individuals over 65 wouldn’t be able to transfer money into a pooled trust without a penalty. However, since MassHealth proposed the special-needs trust revisions, officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have pointed out that there are other factors that determine Medicaid eligibility when it comes to trusts and transfers, such as how much money is in a trust and why it was deposited. CMS officials also point out that they don’t necessarily exempt one from becoming eligible for Medicaid if an individual has a special-needs trust.

Long-term care costs make up a large percentage of the MassHealth budget as the median annual cost for a shared room at a nursing home in Massachusetts is $135,000. While it is important for MassHealth to rein in costs to ensure a sustainable future for the agency, any changes to the eligibility requirements in regards to special-needs trusts should be looked at with strict scrutiny. I am very much opposed to these changes and will work with my colleagues in the legislature on measures to reverse them should MassHealth move forward.

Sincerely,

Mass. Rep. Thomas M. Stanley (D-9th Middlesex)

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.

Town’s hazard mitigation plan updated

A summary of Lincoln’s existing hazard mitigation measures (click to enlarge and click on resulting image).

The Lincoln Hazard Mitigation Plan is being updated to help the town to reduce its vulnerability to natural hazard events such as flooding, hurricanes, winter storms, extreme heat, fire and wind. The town held a series of public meetings and is about to submit the plan to the Massachusetts and federal emergency management agencies.

The draft of the plan includes current mitigation measures, primarily a combination of zoning, land use and environmental regulations as well as infrastructure maintenance and drainage infrastructure maintenance and  improvement projects. Infrastructure maintenance. The plan was prepared for the town  by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council under the direction of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Any comments on the draft should be submitted ASAP to Jennifer Burney, Director of Planning and Land Use, at burneyj@lincolntown.org.

News acorns

Calling all public servants

Looking for a rewarding if occasionally vexing way to feel more connected? Willing to undertake new challenges? Unafraid to speak up? Then run for local office! The annual Town Election will take place on Monday, March 27. Nomination papers are available at the Town Clerk’s Office now, and must be returned by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The following offices will appear on the March ballot:

  • Board of Selectmen (two seats, one for one year and one for three years)
  • Board of Assessors (two seats, one for two years and one for three years)
  • K-8 School Committee (two seats, both for three years)
  • Water Commissioner (three years)
  • Board of Health (three years)
  • Cemetery Commission (three years)
  • Planning Board (two seats for three years each)
  • Commissioner of Trust Funds (three years)
  • deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park Trustee (four years)
  • Housing Commission (two seats, one for one year and one for three years)
  • Parks and Recreation Committee (three years)
  • Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee (two seats for three years each)
  • Bemis Trustee (three years)
  • Town Moderator (three years)

For more information, call the Town Clerk’s Office at 781-259-2607.

Museum trip with library

The Lincoln Public Library is offering a trip to the Peabody Essex Museum to see the “Shoes: Pleasure and Pain” exhibit on Saturday, Feb. 25, leaving the library at 10 a.m. and returning at 3 p.m. The museum admission and guided tour is $20, and the cost for the bus will depend on the number of riders. Lunch is not included. For more information or to sign up, contact Lisa Rothenberg at 781-259-8465 ext. 202 or email lrothenberg@minlib.net.

In conjunction with the trip, the  library will host a talk on the history of shoes by fashion historian Karen Antonowicz on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 7-8:30 p.m.

Minuteman offers STEM camp for girls in February

Minuteman High School will host “Girls in STEM” (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) camp from February 21-24. from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It is free for seventh- and eighth-grade girls from communities in the Minuteman school district (Acton, Arlington, Belmont, Bolton, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington, Lincoln, Needham, Stow, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston), and bus transportation will be provided. There is a $149 fee (and no bus) for students who live outside the district. The class will be led by female students from Minuteman who are certified in mentoring and are enrolled in STEM majors, facilitated by are Minuteman teachers Becky Quay (engineering) and Sarah Ard (horticulture and landscape technology). For more information or to register, click here or contact Director of Career and Technical Education Michelle Roche at 781-861-6500 ext. 7326 or mroche@minuteman.org. Seats are limited, so register early.

Letter to the editor: Robinson resigning from Board of Assessors

letter

(Editor’s note: Robinson is married to Renel Fredriksen, who announce her resignation from the Board of Selectmen in December.)

To the editor:

I write to announce my resignation from the Lincoln Board of Assessors, effective as of the upcoming election on March 27.

I have been gratified that Lincolnites have seen fit to entrust me with this responsibility over the past 10+ years. We have built an effective and responsive Assessor’s Office, and I know I leave it in the capable hands of our contractors Regional Resource Group, our administrative assessor Dorothy Blakeley, and the other two board members, Ellen Meadors and Buffer Morgan.

I encourage all citizens of Lincoln to consider stepping up to fill this role, or any other volunteer position in Lincoln town offices. Answering the call to serve the town is a rewarding and fulfilling opportunity.

Sincerely,

John Robinson
76 Trapelo Road

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.

Public hearings coming up

Zoning Board of Appeals

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

  • Seppo Rinne, 93 Tower Rd., for transfer and renewal of an accessory apartment special permit.
  • Randal Briggs, 31 Morningside Lane, for changes to the original approved special permit for renovations to the existing home.

Historical Commission

The Lincoln Historical Commission will hold public hearings at the following times on Tuesday, Jan. 10 in the Town Office Building to consider the following applications:

  • 7:30 p.m. — Joseph and Dana Robbat, to demolish more than 25 percent of the roof of an accessory structure at 151 Old Concord Road.
  • 7:45 p.m. — St. Anne’s in-the-Fields Church, to demolish the dwelling at 149 Concord Road.
  • 8 p.m. — Ventianni, LLC, to demolish the dwelling at 144 Sandy Pond Road.
  • 8:30 p.m. — Birches School, to demolish a garage at 100 Bedford Road.

Planning Board

There will be public hearings at the following times on Tuesday, Jan. 10 in the Town Office Building to review the following proposed changes to the Lincoln Zoning Bylaw:

  • 7:40 p.m. — to amend Section 13.6 to revise the requirements for solar energy installations.
  • 8 p.m. — to amend Sections 6.1, 6.2, and 23 to allow certain commercial agricultural activities by right and commercial agricultural activities that generate annual sales greater than $5,000 per acre or more by special permit on parcels of 80,000 square feet or more. See “Small-scale agriculture expansion discussed at SOTT.”
  • 8:20 p.m.— to amend Section 14.3 to clarify the process and procedure regarding accessory apartments and to add a process and procedure for an accessory apartment that is affordable to low and moderate income households, as defined by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (“DHCD”), and that meets DHCD requirements for inclusion in the town’s subsidized housing inventory. See “Residents hear about affordable accessory apartment proposal.”
  • 8:40 p.m. — to adopt an amendment to the Zoning Bylaw that would establish a temporary moratorium on the use of land or structures for recreational marijuana establishments through June 30, 2018 to allow time to study the issue and develop appropriate bylaws and ordinances.

Tree Warden

On Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln DPW Office, 30 Lewis St., a public hearing will be held by the tree warden, deputy tree warden and/or their designees to consider the removal of the below trees in the public right-of-way. This meeting is consistent with the requirements of the Shade Tree Act (MGL,c.87) and Scenic Road Act. The trees have been marked with a hearing notice and are being considered for removal because they are dead, in decline, or otherwise posing a safety or operational hazard. Anyone with questions may contact the Department of Public Works Department at 781-259-8999.

 

The year in review (part 2)

Site of the former Aka Bistro, soon to be Lincoln Kitchen.

December

November

October

September

August

July