government

There were several errors in the election ballot published in the Lincoln Squirrel on March 3:

• There are now two candidates for two seats on the Bemis Trustees, Melinda Abraham and Stephen Atlas.
• Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee candidate Michael Walsh and Planning Board candidate Gary Taylor have withdrawn and will not appear on the ballot.
• The middle name of Commissioner of Trust Funds candidate Derek Paul Fitzgerald was omitted.
• The last name of Water Commission candidate Ruth Ann Hendrickson was misspelled.

The list in the March 3 article has been updated to reflect these corrections. The Squirrel regrets the errors.

Also on the March 31 ballot will be two yes-or-no questions for voters:

1. Shall an act filed in the year 2013 and passed by the General Court entitled “An Act Relative to the Granting of Special Licenses for the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages in the Town of Lincoln” be accepted?

Summary: On December 23, 2013, the Governor approved Chapter 187of the Acts of 2013 (the “Act”). The wording of this ballot question is taken directly from the Act, which follows a vote taken at the March 25, 2013 Annual Town Meeting. If accepted by the voters of the Town, the Act will authorize the Board of Selectmen, as licensing authority, in accordance with the provisions of G.L. c.138, §14, to issue one-day alcoholic beverage licenses for the sale of wine and beer to the organizers of special events, with one-day licenses for the sale of all alcoholic beverages available only to non-profit organizations. While no notice to abutters or formal hearing is required by law, the Board of Selectmen would be required to act on such license requests at meetings posted in accord with the Open Meeting Law, and retains discretion as to whether to grant such licenses. The Board of Selectmen would also be authorized to set uniform fees for such licenses.

2. Shall an act passed by the General Court in the year 2014, entitled “An Act Authorizing the Town of Lincoln to Grant a License for the Sale of Wine and Malt Beverages to be Drunk on the Premises” be accepted?

Summary: On January 16, 2014, the Governor approved Chapter 5 of the Acts of 2014 (the “Act”). The wording of this ballot question is taken directly from the Act, which follows a vote taken at the March 25, 2013 Annual Town Meeting. If accepted by the voters of the Town, the Act will authorize the Board of Selectmen, as licensing authority, to issue a single license for the sale of beer and wine to be drunk on the premises to the deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park located at 51 Sandy Pond Road. State liquor license laws will apply to the issuance of the license. Said laws require, among other things, that the Board of Selectmen provide notice to abutters, hold a hearing, and determine that the applicant is of good character and has premises suitable for such purpose.

The Lincoln Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 8:15 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room to hear comments on Jet Aviation’s proposal to expand into Lincoln wetlands buffer zones at Massport’s Hanscom Civil Airport. The meeting was originally slated to be held in the Town Office Building. The proposal was the subject of two recent letters to the editor in the Lincoln Squirrel.