government

Lincoln’s tax bills are third-highest in state but slow growing

April 15, 2015

A graphic in a March 24 Boston Globe article about property taxes reveals that Lincoln has the third-highest average property tax bill in Massachusetts. The only municipalities with higher average bills (for cities and towns where data was available) were Weston and Sherborn. The top 10 were as follows:

Weston	$18,059
Sherborn	$14,720
Lincoln	$14,367
Dover	$13,715
Wellesley	$13,326
Carlisle	$13,127
Concord	$12,890
Lexington	$12,191
Wayland	$12,049
Sudbury	$11,598
Cohasset	$11,114

On the other hand, the pace at which Lincoln’s tax bills have been increasing since 1999 is the lowest among eight area towns, according to data presented by the Finance Commission at Town Meeting last month. Lincoln’s average bill has gone up by 4.5 percent during that time, while Lexington’s has gone up the fastest at 6.3 percent:

Growth in average property tax bills in Lincoln compared to other area towns since 1999 (click to enlarge).

Taxes in fiscal 2016

In fiscal 2016, Lincoln’s average tax bill is expected to rise by 3.9 percent (it won’t become official until the town sets the tax rate in July). Most of that increase is due to the appropriations at Town Meeting of $750,000 for a school project feasibility study and $75,000 for a school campus master plan. Without those two items, the average tax bill would have gone up by only 0.8 percent.

Since 2011, the average Lincoln tax bill has risen by an average of 4.26 percent:

Fiscal year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total 2011-2015
Change in average tax bill in Lincoln	6.08%	7.48%	-0.51%	3.68%	4.54%	4.26%
Change in average home value in Lincoln	-1.64%	-3.47%	-3.32%	2.45%	6.75%	0.16%

News acorns – 4/14/15

April 14, 2015

Tonight: talk on Revolutionary battlefield

“Discovering Parker’s Revenge Battlefield: April 19, 1775″ is the topic of a talk on Tuesday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The speaker will be Dr. Meg Watters of PBS’s “Time Team America” and principal investigator for the ongoing Parker’s Revenge Project at Minute Man National Historical Park. She’ll discuss efforts to better understand the Battle Road engagement between the retreating British regulars and the militia and Minute Men of Lexington, Lincoln and surrounding towns on April 19, 1775. The site is on the border of Lincoln and Lexington within the national park.

Dr. Watters received her B.A. in classics from Trinity College, an M.A. in GIS and remote sensing in archaeology from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in new methods for archaeo-geophysical data visualization at the University of Birmingham, where she helped build the IBM Visual and Spatial Technology Centre, where she provided geophysical survey expertise.

The talk is one of several observances of the start of the Revolutionary War. For more information, click on one of the event titles on the Lincoln Minute Men website and battleroad.org.

HATS to meet with MBTA official

On Thursday, April 23, the Hanscom Area Towns Committee (HATS) will host Paul Regan, Executive Director of the MBTA Advisory Board. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Town Office Building.

Regan plans to discuss a broad range of topics related to the current state and future of the MBTA, including general matters raised by the recent winter’s challenges and the recently-issued report of the Governor’s special commission, as well as specific matters of concern to the four HATS communities. Also on the agenda for April 23 are updates on the Route 2 project and a status report from the MassPort/Hanscom Field Community Advisory Committee.

The public is welcome to attend all HATS meetings, which may also be viewed live on Lincoln public access media via lincolntv.pegstream.com, Verizon channel 33, or Comcast channel 8, or beginning several days after the meeting at lincolntv.pegcentral.com or on the local cable channels.

HATS is an alliance among the Selectmen and other officials of the towns of Lincoln, Concord, Lexington and Bedford that focuses on Hanscom Air Force Base, Hanscom Air Field, transportation and other regional matters. HATS recently had discussions with MassPort CEO Tom Glynn regarding MassPort’s strategic plans, various business and government experts helping manage Rt. 128 and related traffic concerns, the Air Force Base’s local commander, and senior representatives of the Governor’s Military Assets Task Force. For more information about HATS and access to agendas, minutes and videos, please visit www.hanscomareatownscommittee.com.

Film on wilderness preservation

Also on Thursday, April 23, join the Walden Woods Project for a special screening of a new film by Fulcrum Publishing, “Wilderness in America: From Conquest to Conservation.” The 55-minute film chronicles the evolution of wilderness preservation in America over four centuries that ultimately led to the protection of 110 million acres.

The film will be shown at the Walden Woods Project’s Thoreau Institute at 44 Baker Farm Rd. in Lincoln. Free admission. To reserve seats, call (781) 259-4707 or email wwproject@walden.org. A wine and cheese reception, sponsored by the Cheese Shop in Concord will be held at 7 p.m. followed at 7:30 p.m. with remarks by Robert C. Baron, Fulcrum’s founder and president, and the film screening.

The Walden Woods Project is a nonprofit organization that preserves the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Click here for other outdoor springtime activities coming up in Lincoln.

COA trip to Mt. Auburn Cemetery

See some of the fascinating and beautiful places and monuments in this amazing historical and nature site on Friday, May 22 with the Council on Aging. After the tour of the cemetery, the group will go to Belmont Center for lunch at Asai. Each person will pay for their own lunch and cash is recommended. The trip is limited to 30 people. The Doherty’s bus will be at Lincoln Mall at 9 a.m. and arrive back in Lincoln around 2 p.m. For more information, contact Donna Rizzo at donna@ecacbed.com or Claire Mount at mounts781@gmail.com.

Letter to the editor: “unwanted” things tend toward North Lincoln

April 7, 2015

To the editor:

I totally agree with Eleanor Fitzgerald’s thoughts about the meager representation of North Lincoln on some of our boards. I don’t have “skin in the game” since I live in South Lincoln, but I have noticed over 40-plus years that the unwanted things tend to land in North Lincoln, which is already burdened by Hanscom and all the traffic it creates. Some kind of proportional representation might be a solution, if not on the Board of Selectmen (assuming we are satisfied with only three selectmen), then definitely on larger boards such as Planning, Zoning, etc.

Sincerely,

Diana Abrashkin
South Great Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.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.

Letter to the editor: Marshall thanks voters

April 7, 2015

To the editor:

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the voters in Lincoln and Sudbury who supported my reelection to the Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee for a third term.

Thank you in particular to those who hosted and kept an eye on my campaign signs in their yard through the weeks of melting snow and wind, to those who wrote thoughtful and gracious letters to each town’s papers on my behalf, and to the brave souls who held signs for me at the polls, who weathered late March snow and wind and kept their humor.

We have a lot of work to continue, a great administration that deserves our attention and support, and students who are able to avail themselves of an incredibly rich educational and personal growth opportunity at Lincoln-Sudbury. Growing the relationships between our towns and our town officials has been a hallmark of our work over the past three years. Continuing that growth is critical. I look forward to facilitating increased opportunities for our towns to better know our excellent high school and each other. I am excited to continue my work with colleagues on the Committee whom I deeply respect and enjoy.

Nancy Marshall
Beaver Pond Road

Letter to the editor: representation should be more proportional

April 6, 2015

(Editor’s note: This letter refers to Lincoln’s town election results.)

To the editor:

Precinct 2 includes Hanscom military base. Many at the base do not vote in local elections. There has not been a North Lincoln member of the Board of Selectmen for many years. Now there is no member of the Planning Board from North Lincoln. There are issues that affect residents of North Lincoln that are less impacting and important to other parts of town. Many homes have been taken from this part of town over the years to create the military base, the national historic park, and for upgrades to Route 2.

When I moved to town almost fifty years ago, Harold Lawson was on the Board of Selectmen. I am not sure there has been a North Lincoln resident on that board since then. Also, I believe we then had a five-member board. In my opinion, Lincoln town boards’ representation of the different parts of town ought to be more proportional than it is. North Lincoln sometimes seems the place to dump anything that is not wanted in other parts of town, such as the transfer station. I suppose the relocation of the Department of Public Works will be next to make way for yet another mixed or affordable income housing development on Lewis Street. In fairness, it seems to me that it should remain in a central location.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Fitzgerald
12 Juniper Ridge Rd.

Letter to the editor: electorate fractured on Planning Board

April 2, 2015

To the editor:

The Lincoln election results are in and, for the most part, they are unsurprising. So few are the town-government positions ever the object of a competitive election that the practice of voting in Lincoln tends to be nothing more than an exercise in social engagement with neighbors.

However, there was one rare exception in last week’s election: the Planning Board seat held (until recently) by Bob Domnitz. Domnitz was challenged by Gary Taylor, who narrowly won the election by 40 votes out of 944 cast (or 922, excluding blank votes).

This contest revealed a profound precinct split. Lincoln has two precincts—#1, which covers the southwestern part of town, and #2, which covers the northeast. The ]other] results show that for the elected posts, the winning candidate generally carried the same percentage of “yes” votes in each precinct—i.e., the Lincoln electorate was united behind the chosen candidate. But the Domnitz/Taylor contest represents a striking exception. Bob Domnitz swept Precinct 2 with almost 60 percent of the vote; Taylor drew only 136 of 348 votes cast in Precinct 2. Taylor won the election because he carried Precinct 1, where more votes were cast overall.

A profoundly fractured electorate is of course common in many places, though it’s worrisome though for a small town like ours. It reflects sharp divisions in the community and all of us need to try and understand its causes. I hope town leaders will work hard to avoid policies that exacerbate the split and instead seek common ground. Without this kind of leadership, it is hard to imagine a bright future for Lincoln.

Sincerely,

Keith N. Hylton
5 Oakdale Lane

Leaf blower regulations tabled at Town Meeting

April 1, 2015

leafblower-composite After months of hearings and public debate about whether to restrict the use of leaf-blowers in Lincoln, a motion to approve new regulations was passed over at Town Meeting at the request of the Leaf Blower Study Committee, which decided in light of feedback that “this was not the time to propose regulations,” LBSC chair Jamie Banks told the audience.

Taylor squeaks by Domnitz in Planning Board race

March 31, 2015

(Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect a correction on April 1.)

Challenger Gary Taylor took over the Planning Board seat occupied by incumbent Robert Domnitz by a vote of 481-441 in Monday’s town election, according to unofficial results.

Lincoln’s voting precincts (click to enlarge)

In Precinct 1 in the southwestern section of town, Taylor won by a margin of 345-240. In Precinct 2, Domnitz won by a vote of 201-136—not enough to overcome the deficit in Precinct 1 and resulting in 40-vote margin overall for Taylor.

Write-in votes are still being counted for the election, but there were no write-ins for the Planning Board race.

In the race for Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee, incumbents Nancy Marshall of Lincoln and Gerald Quirk of Sudbury retained their seats by comfortable margins. Even among Sudbury voters, Marshall beat Quirk by nine votes:

	Lincoln	Sudbury	Total
Marshall	856	2,130	2,986
Quirk	502	2,121	2,623
Stein	78	795	873

Lighting amendment shot down; other zoning changes OK’d

March 30, 2015

By Alice Waugh

Two of the three warrant articles that sought changes to zoning regulations passed easily at Town Meeting, but the third—which would have imposed limits on residential outdoor lighting—went down to defeat in what proved to be the most contentious issue at the March 28 gathering.

Voters unanimously approved Article 37, a proposal to expand the list of the types of businesses permitted in the Lewis Street commercial district. Retails stores, banks, and rail or bus stations or terminals are now permitted uses in that zone. Article 38, an accompanying measure to relax the required amount of parking for businesses in that district was also easily approved.

Both changes are intended to attract a wider range of businesses to the area. Applicants still must apply for a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

“It’s not just wishful thinking on our part—we’ve received a number of inquiries” from potential applicants, said Planning Board vice chair Robert Domnitz.

Among them is Richard Card, who hopes to open Blazes, a combination bookstore, coffee shop and cocktail bar. Before Saturday’s action, a retail establishment such as this would not have been allowed in the Lewis Street district.

Card, who is negotiating with The Food Project to use part of their property at 10 Lewis St., hopes to open for business (minus cocktails) in December 2015. In a separate Town Meeting action, residents gave permission for him and the town to seek a liquor license from the state. If the legislature grants the license, it comes back to the Board of Selectmen for final approval next year.

Some residents at Town Meeting worried that allowing retail businesses in the Lewis Street district could open the door to franchises such as Dunkin Donuts. There is currently nothing in Lincoln’s zoning by-law that prohibits franchises. If one were to apply, “It’s left to the discretion of the ZBA,” said Joel Freedman, chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals chair. “You have to judge what’s in front of you.”

Resident Kati Winchell noted that some area towns have enacted “formula business bylaws” and suggested the Planning Board consider presenting something similar for vote at a future Town Meeting.

Disagreement on outdoor lighting

By far the most contentious zoning issue was a measure to place controls on any newly installed outdoor lighting. Article 39 would have required permanent outdoor lighting fixtures to be shielded so as not to direct light above the horizontal, and would have required new lights to have a color temperature of no more than 3,000 Kelvin and brightness limit of 900 lumens.

Temporary lights such as Christmas decorations would be exempt, as would be all existing light fixtures. New installations for which the property owner’s had gotten a town permit would be inspected, but “there’s no one driving around to check” on lighting that was installed without a permit, said Planning Board member Margaret Olson.

Resident Michael Coppock spoke against the measure, saying that 900 lumens (roughly equivalent to a 60-watt bulb) is inadequate for security lighting and that the rules may interfere with residents who wish to have lights shining upwards to illuminate the American flag on their property.

The new restrictions will not reduce the light pollution from nearby cities and highways, and it will take decades for it to produce a noticeable effect, Coppock added.

“This is yet another effort to insert government into personal decisions,” he said, “As government power expands, personal liberty contracts.”

Olson responded that those with flagpoles could follow the Girl Scouts’ example and simply lower their flags at dusk. “Philosophically, we all need to do what we can do to make the world a better place,” she added.

Resident Vincent Cannistraro agreed with Coppock, saying that “60 watts is not enough to do it in most cases” and that officials should not hinder a resident’s ability “to express patriotic loyalty and affection” by illuminating a flag at night.

Resident Adam Greenberg proposed that the meeting table the motion because it “has too many holes in it.” Another resident agreed, saying the specifics of the proposal were “arbitrary and ill-conceived.” In response, resident Sara Mattes urged passage of the rules. “Here is an opportunity to move forward with something that’s common sense. If it creates a problem, we can go back and tweak it later,” she said.

Town moderator Sarah Cannon Holden called for a voice vote on a motion to pass over the article, but the result was inconclusive. A standing vote was 137-130 in favor of voting on the article as written.

Before the final vote was taken, Conservation Commission member Richard Selden argued in favor of the new rules on the grounds that excessively bright outdoor lighting is harmful to wildlife. Certain types of outdoor lighting can interfere with migratory bird behavior and fertility, as well as the behavior of nocturnal predators and their prey.

To be approved, the article to amend the lighting regulations required a two-thirds majority, and a voice vote was again inconclusive. A second standing vote resulted in 161 votes in favor and 133 against, so the measure did not pass.

Letter to the editor: Glass thanks residents for school votes

March 30, 2015

(Editor’s note: The salutation in this letter originally read “Dear Lincoln.”)

To the editor:

At Saturday’s Town Meeting, the citizens of Lincoln voted overwhelmingly to support both a school renovation project and the School Committee and Board of Selectmen’s joint submission of a Statement of Interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). The success of these votes is due to the many, many hours of hard work and tireless public outreach by the members of the School Building Advisory Committee (SBAC).

Led by Doug Adams and Superintendent Becky McFall, and comprised of a diverse group of volunteers, the SBAC was so effective in its work because of the transparent process it fostered. The outreach, capably led by our consultants from Dore & Whittier, involved a wide spectrum of citizens. No matter their views of the project as presented in 2012, citizens believed that we as a town must come together to move forward and find a solution to the facility needs of the Lincoln School.

I would like to make special note of the leadership of Dr. McFall, who, as part of the SBAC’s outreach, articulated an educational vision that drew a clear connection between educational theory and the physical environment of the school.

Finally, Saturday’s outcome would not have happened without the input and support that the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and Capital Planning Committee offered the School Committee.

On behalf of the School Committee, I want to express our deep gratitude. The votes on Saturday were a victory for volunteerism, good process, and thoughtful collaboration.

There is much work left to do, and there are many decisions yet to be made. We look forward to your continued engagement as we embark on the next phase of the journey.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Glass
Chair, Lincoln School Committee