By Alice Waugh
Faced with the prospect of increased costs for Lincoln students at Minuteman High School and the uncertainty about host community compensation, the Capital Planning Committee openly wondered about the possibility of having Lincoln withdraw from the Minuteman regional school district.
To the editor:
I write to announce that I will not be seeking reelection as selectman when my term expires in March. After serving on the board for the past six years, twice as chairman, I am ready to step back and encourage another generation of leaders to take my seat at the selectman’s table.
The last six years has been a blur of success, challenge and difficult compromise. We accomplished many things: the complete renewal of our Town Office Building, rebuilding our roads and streetlights, liquor licenses, conservation of important parcels, and healthy relationships with our town employees and their unions. We created the town’s first PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement, with more on the way. We saw the regional effects of traffic, construction, dog walkers and even murders encroach our little town and force us to respond as a team. And we never once asked for an override.
Rest assured Lincoln is in good hands. From our eminently capable town staff led by Tim Higgins to our committed volunteers on countless boards and committees, Lincoln has a passion for governance “by the people and for the people” like few other places in these cynical times.
As for me, I will enjoy my return to civilian life watching my two children complete their studies at L-S (while still clinging to hope that I can run faster than them in the Fourth of July road race), supporting STEM education in our K-12 schools, and helping to grow our L-S varsity sailing program into a dominant force. And building a few less parade floats…
In closing, I’d like to thank my predecessor Sarah Cannon Holden for helping me ramp up, Gary Taylor and Sara Mattes for tolerating me as a young pup, and Peter Braun and Renel Fredriksen for many years of co-leadership teamwork. Of course my family deserves the biggest thanks for putting up with distractions, phone calls and evening meetings, and general immersion in all things local. (Catherine: it will soon be safe to go with me to the dump and Donelan’s again!)
Lincoln needs all of us as active volunteers. The job can be demanding at times but creates a sense of accomplishment and reward that is unlike anything else I’ve done. I encourage our next generations of leaders to step up. If not you, who?
Sincerely,
Noah Eckhouse
Baker Bridge 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 must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect a clarification of Lincoln’s Minuteman spending in 2015-16.
By Alice Waugh
Area officials have hammered out a newly revised Minuteman High School regional agreement by stripping out the contentious “host community” compensation issue and making it the subject of a separate agreement between the town and the Minuteman school district—but both deals must still be approved by the Minuteman School Committee (MSC). [Read more…] about A breakthrough and a hiccup for Minuteman
By Alice Waugh
Many of the 16 towns in the Minuteman High School district are ready to move forward with a new regional agreement, but Lincoln is standing firm on its demand for compensation as host community to a new high school—a stance that could potentially torpedo a new agreement.
Selectmen from the member towns met on December 2 to try to agree on a deal in principle for amending the agreement that would be acceptable to all 16 towns. The idea, originally proposed by Boxborough Selectman Vince Amoroso, would achieve several things: [Read more…] about Heated discussion over Lincoln and Minuteman
The Campus Master Planning Committee (CMPC) will receive a draft report from its consultants with recommendations for reconfiguring the Lincoln School campus on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room.
Residents heard an interim report at the State of the Town meeting in November from LLB Architects, who outlined some examples of how the building areas, pedestrian walkways, playing fields, and roads on the campus could be configured to accommodate a school project and a new community center somewhere on the Hartwell side. They did not include site work cost estimates for the scenarios.
The CMPC also released results of an informal survey of residents who attended an October 17 public forum. About 160 people responded to seven statements with answers ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.” The results of Questions 1 and 5 indicate support for reducing the footprint of the school building, which would most likely mean a two-story structure, although the overall character of the campus is still seen as important.
1. Gaining additional field space is a worthy reason to reduce the overall school footprint.
| Agreed or strongly agreed |
Neutral | Disagreed or strongly disagreed |
| 52% | 20% | 25% |
2. Locating parking near building entrances and fields is more important than the character of the campus.
| Agreed or strongly agreed |
Neutral | Disagreed or strongly disagreed |
| 17% | 21% | 60% |
3. Pedestrian walkways should take precedence over vehicular drives and parking lots.
| Agreed or strongly agreed |
Neutral | Disagreed or strongly disagreed |
| 54% | 30% | 15% |
| Agreed or strongly agreed |
Neutral | Disagreed or strongly disagreed |
| 38% | 25% | 31% |
5. We should consider reducing the footprint of the school in order to gain building efficiencies, better educational layout, and more space on campus for playing fields and other uses.
| Agreed or strongly agreed |
Neutral | Disagreed or strongly disagreed |
| 62% | 14% | 19% |
6. The value (functionality, appropriateness, and life expectancy) of the projects should take precedence in decision making if the costs exceed the previously projected costs.
| Agreed or strongly agreed |
Neutral | Disagreed or strongly disagreed |
| 8% | 19% | 67% |
7. Future projects should aim to reduce the impact on the regulated areas [wetland buffers, riverfront setbacks] to the extent that is practical.
| Agreed or strongly agreed |
Neutral | Disagreed or strongly disagreed |
| 27% | 25% | 42% |
The final report is due to town officials on December 31. The CMPC and its consultant have been working for six months on the project and have presented information at five public forums this fall.
To the editor:
These remarks were intended for presentation at the State of the Town Meeting on November 14. Unfortunately, time constraints prevented us from getting to them.
At the Annual Town Meeting in March 2011, the town passed “The Right to Farm” bylaw, a new section of the town’s general bylaws. This was done to broadly inform residents of state law regarding agriculture and to recognize the town’s general support of farming. Since that time, the Planning Board has been working together with the Agricultural Commission to bring our zoning bylaws (ZBL) into conformance with state law, while making refinements that reflect our local needs and circumstances.
State law provides for very modest local control over agriculture practices on properties greater than 5 acres. Therefore, our efforts have largely been focused on properties less than 5 acres. We are also respectful of rights currently held by residents, especially those enjoyed for personal use, such as keeping a backyard pony, a few beehives, or a small flock of chickens.
Our ZBL already allows for the raising and sale of produce (defined by our Zoning Board of Appeals as plant-based—vegetables, fruit, etc.) by an owner or tenant. But what should be done regarding the small farmer raising livestock and selling animal products, on less than 5 acres? These include sheep farmers, beekeepers, and poultry raisers, among others.
Our primary focus has been attempting to craft a permitting process under a definition of commercial agriculture, possibly based on sales per acre. This is still very much a work in progress. We are trying very hard to strike a balance between the needs of small farmers and non-farming residents. Public hearings on our proposed amendments will be scheduled in the near future and we look forward to your feedback. We hope to be ready for the March 2016 Town Meeting.
I would especially like to thank Lynne Bower, Jim Henderson and Ari Kurtz of the Agricultural Commission for their hard work. Please feel free to contact any of us if you have questions or concerns.
Bryce Wolf, Planning Board vice chair
52 Birchwood Lane
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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.
To the editor:
After spending the last five years as Lincoln’s Director of Planning and Land Use Permitting, I recently took a parallel position in a nearby community. Leaving Lincoln after five years was not something I anticipated considering when I took the job, but I feel I certainly made the best effort I could as I bring with me many positive memories of the considerable time, energy and spirit spent trying to serve Lincoln’s true, interests. To that end, I would like to thank those who supported my position and made the experience worthwhile.
[Read more…] about Letter to the editor: thanks from Chris Reilly
By Alice Waugh
A Campus Master Planning Committee consultant offered some scenarios for configuring the school campus while affirming that there are no septic or regulatory issues that would prevent putting a community center on the Hartwell side.
Speaking at the November 14 State of the Town Meeting, Greg Smolley of LLB Architects also repeated what he said at an October 17 public forum—that a second Lincoln Road entrance to the campus east of Ballfield Road to accommodate a community center is not needed or advisable.
[Read more…] about Consultant presents ideas for campus configuration
Olson showed this illustration of acceptable and unacceptable outdoor light fixture designs (new or replacement) under the proposed regulations (click to enlarge).
By Alice Waugh
In contrast to the mood at Town Meeting discussion last spring, residents at the State of the Town meeting were mostly supportive of a proposal to have new residential outdoor lighting meet certain “dark skies” requirements, with a few tweaks.
Voters rejected proposed zoning amendments in March that would have required permanent outdoor lighting fixtures to be shielded so as not to direct light above the horizontal, and imposed limits on their brightness and color temperature. At Saturday’s State of the Town meeting, Planning Board member Margaret Olson explained the reasoning behind those proposed rules and why they should not be difficult to follow.
When used at night, lights that are on the bluer end of the color spectrum (including computer screens) can disrupt the circadian rhythms of mammals because they are too much like sunlight, Olson said. Excessively bright lights are bad because “as you move from a well-lit to a dark space, the greater the contrast and the harder it is to adjust, and it gets worse as you get older,” she said. The solution is to have a larger number of less powerful lights in a warmer color spectrum, so the Planning Board is seeking limits of 3,000 degrees K. for color temperature and 900 lumens for brightness.
Another advantage of changing the zoning regulations is that it would make the site plan review process simpler and fairer, because the Planning Board would no longer have to examine and debate the lighting in each individual applicant’s plan, Olson said.
If approved, the new rules would apply only to new permanent outdoor lighting fixtures; existing light fixtures would be grandfathered, she emphasized. However, when replacing light bulbs, she encouraged homeowners to voluntarily buy bulbs with a color temperature that meets the new guidelines.
The board’s goals with the proposed rules, which will come before voters at Town Meeting again (though perhaps not in this exact form) in March, are fourfold:
Some residents, while generally supportive of the the proposed lighting restrictions, noted that the new rules would mean homeowners would need to install a large number of fixtures to compensate for the diminished brightness of each, compared to lights commonly in use now.
“A 60-watt bulb [the equivalent of 900 lumens] is not a lot. Driveway lights are about 250 watts, so you would need 10 to 20 fixtures,” said Steven Kanner, a member of the Board of Health. He suggested that the Planning Board create a mockup to give homeowners an idea of how an outdoor lighting plan should be designed to offer enough light while also complying with the rules.
Outdoor light bulbs come with a label like this to help homeowners see the brightness and color temperature when shopping (click to enlarge).
Kanner also suggested changing the color temperature limit to 3,300 degrees K. and Olson was receptive, acknowledging that the 3,000 degree figure was arbitrary and that “perhaps that level of simplicity is unnecessary.”
Buzz Constable asked that the amended zoning regulations should allow the Zoning Board of Appeals to grant exceptions, which would allow some flexibility to accommodate new lighting technology and research in the future. “We don’t want to come back and argue about color every three years,” he said.
“I can assure you that the lighting being proposed is fully adequate,” said resident Frank Clark, an astrophysicist. “We’ve become accustomed to bright lights, most of which are going up into the sky and doing nothing.”
Olson urged residents to attend Planning Board hearings this winter to learn more about these and other proposed zoning amendments and offer their input before Town Meeting.
The Lincoln Squirrel article on the November 14 Special Town Meeting incorrectly stated the date for the town election in 2016. It will be on March 28, not March 21. Residents voted to alter the date of the Annual Town Meeting, but the date for the election is specified in the Lincoln-Sudbury school district regional agreement. Changing the election would require reopening that agreement and subsequent Town Meeting approval from both towns. The article has been updated to reflect this correction and clarification.