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

My Turn

My Turn: A three-time climate refugee weans off fossil fuels

By Anne Sobol

Last week, Net Zero installed my new heat pump water heater, the next to last step in my getting off natural gas (clothes dryer remains). A crew of young men cycled in and out of my house most of the day. In the middle of the afternoon, my doorbell rang and three men from National Grid stood outside my front door. They said they had heard from the crew replacing the gas main on Beaver Pond Road that I did not want to have the line from the main to my house replaced. I said yes, I did not. They began arguing with me and telling me that would cut me off from gas. The young men from Net Zero moved back and forth from the house to their trucks either getting tools they needed or wanting to hear what was going on.

The National Grid guys explained that if I did not have the line to my house replaced now and later wanted gas, I would have to pay for extending the line, whereas now it would be without charge. I explained that I understand all NG payers are paying in their monthly bills for National Grid’s repair work whether or not the repairs are occurring in their neighborhoods, and that in any case why would I want to change my mind? They said it’s expensive to pay for electricity. I said yes, but I’ve invested in solar panels and a battery — expensive upfront money but now my electric bills are way down.

They said, “What if you want to sell your house and potential buyers want natural gas? They’ll have to pay to have the line from the street changed and this fact will reduce what you can sell your house for.” I asked, “Why would they want natural gas?” They hemmed and hawed and finally one of them said they might want to put in a swimming pool and have a heater. I said I believe fossil fuels are driving climate change and what kind of earth do they want to leave their children and grandchildren? I thanked them for coming by and they left.

I grew up in Lincoln in the fifties (LPS 1-8). For many years, my husband and I lived on a bayou across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans until we were driven into the city by repeated storms and floods. Our house on the bayou wasn’t protected by levees. Later, our raised house in New Orleans was only damaged some in Hurricane Katrina, but the city suffered terribly. After Katrina there were repeated storms, power outages, and loss of water. My husband’s health declined and we moved to Sonoma County, California to be close to his daughter. People said, “What about the earthquakes?” but no one mentioned the fires. In California, we lived near areas that were burned to the ground and we were mandatorily evacuated one time. When my husband died, I tired of getting ready to evacuate and got the idea I’d move back to Lincoln. Climate refugee three times — from the bayou, from New Orleans, and from California. I feel I must do everything I can to reduce my contribution to climate change.

In my work to get my home off fossil fuels, I’ve gotten good advice from CFREE, a subcommittee of the town’s Green Energy Committee. CFREE provides coaching to Lincoln residents who want to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. To see if CFREE can help you, contact lincolngreencoach@gmail.com.

Anne Sobol lives on Beaver Pond Road.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Batter up! Watch or join the fun with Lincoln Co-Ed Softball

By Travis Roland

If you’re wondering where Lincoln’s elite athletes seeking unrealized dreams are on Sundays, you can find them at Codman Field playing slow-pitch softball. Join us each Sunday at Codman Field at 6:00pm (weather permitting) and cheer on your neighbors as they run, crawl, and sometimes limp around the diamond with the hope of getting their name on the Codman Cup championship trophy in July. Pull up a chair/blanket and have a picnic! Boomboxes, signs, and obnoxious noisemakers encouraged. Autograph sessions available after the game.

Season update

Despite either extreme rain or obnoxiously high temps, the season is underway and the annual neighborly and healthy competition has arrived. It’s anybody’s year as the league’s four teams carve out their own path to final victory. Thanks to a record 20 first-time players, the league has never been healthier, and the games are usually decided by one or two runs.

South Lincoln’s gritty Ottoman Umpires are off to a hot start thanks to a suffocating defense and solid hitting — not to mention getting an edge by sleeping in their uniforms the night before games. The currently first-place Os are anchored by their follically challenged captain, Travis R., who according to legend is so cool that when he was born, he named his parents instead of the other way around. The feisty Os are known to wear down opponents with bad Dad jokes and surgical hitting thanks to having Chris B. on the team, who really is a surgeon.

The OUs’ prize off-season acquisition, who goes by Whatsa, will enter her first game this week after a lengthy signing bonus dispute. They don’t know her first name, but supposedly, her last name is Matter. Makes sense.

The OUs’ crosstown rivals, the Chiefs, are brilliantly led by Tricia M., who puts the X in GenX and are a force once again, despite some of their players missing games by actually choosing work/family over softball. Inconceivable.

Opposing teams need to bring their A-game to beat the Chiefs since hits are hard to come by, and they always seem to find a clutch at-bat when they need it. All-Star left fielder Brian D. made his season debut this week after recovering from lower-back tattoo removal, and picked up where he left off last year by blasting extra-base hits all over the outfield. Not to be outdone, the blazing speed down the basepath of Brian’s other half, Brianna D., usually results in panicked overthrows and more runs.

The revamped Trail Blazers are the league’s most improved team thanks to the leadership of their manager, Tricia T.W. Tricia is such an undeniable force that when she is late for work, everyone else gets in trouble for being early. Everyone needs to bring to play mistake-free softball to beat them, as they are known for capitalizing on errors. Veteran pitcher Marshall C. keeps batters on their toes with his confusing ‘gyroball’ style pitches, and does a great job of getting batters to ground out to the vacuum cleaner combo of rookies Devin and Anna, who suck up hitter’s dreams of getting to first base safely.

The Mighty Knights are like a powerboat going to sea — slow at first, but once it gets above water, it’s fast, agile and a force. Don’t let your guard down against them or they will mercy-rule you before you know it. Opponents are finding out the hard way that you can’t hit it to Gold Glove winner Clint “Daisy” E. at third base and expect to be safe. Apparently, they call him Daisy because some daisy plays injury free, and some daisy can’t. Nonetheless, any team would love to have him on their roster, which could actually happen since he is in the last year of his rookie contract.

Their inspiring captain, Terry K.E., is slowly building a powerhouse that once it gets all of the pieces in place, will be the team that nobody will want to play come playoff time.

Still time to join

Good news! There is still time to join! We are offering a steep mid-season discount of only $25 to join a team. All skill sets and awkward throwing motions accepted. Equipment provided, just have a pulse (and maybe Aflac).

Why play? One player said it best when describing a game, “It’s like a two-hour break from the real world with friends that I normally wouldn’t have met.” Register here.

Travis Roland, a Wells Road resident, is commissioner of Lincoln Co-Ed Softball.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Vote “no” on community center funding measure

Lincoln is by far one of the most beautiful communities in New England. I have lived in the town long enough to appreciate the natural beauty, the open spaces, and our people. The Community Center Building Committee has worked diligently over many years to plan a community center that benefits our town. So why a “no” vote?

We all need to consider our taxes and the tax impact on our people. A “no” vote would significantly reduce the annual tax burden per household. There is a need for a community center, but not at the current price tag. The scope of the project has become just too big and too costly. This is not a criticism against town leadership or the CCBC. In many ways, this has become a public sector case study, highlighting how a town planning process that has gone on for so long now lacks a fiscally responsive approach.

I believe the planning process may have lost site of the Town’s constituents, our tax payers. We must vote “no” to move forward and create a better plan supporting our seniors and our community representing all residents. Please join me and vote “no” on the community center, supporting Lincoln.

Sincerely,

Jon Mello (179 Sandy Pond Rd.)

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Farrington board seeks Town Meeting support to benefit kids

Dear Lincoln neighbors,

For more than a century here in Lincoln, Farrington Nature Linc has quietly and passionately served children from under-resourced communities with opportunities to experience time in nature full of wonder, play, and healing. Our land in Lincoln is a vital part of that experience, we hope for decades to come.

We are in full support of the Nature Link project before Lincoln’s Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, June 25 at 6:30pm, and we ask you to vote “yes” on both Articles 3 and 4.

The Nature Link project ensures the property around us is conserved for the nature experience our children need while also providing for our organization’s future. Additionally, this zoning offers us a unique opportunity for a secondary access road that we have sought for decades.

This project, conceived over many years with input from all land owners, takes into consideration the needs of all parties, including aligning with the Town of Lincoln’s planning goals. It permanently protects 77 acres and expands free public trail access. It provides thoughtfully scaled housing. And it helps keep Farrington rooted in Lincoln.

Voting “yes” on Articles 3 and 4 supports the hundreds of children we serve and secures this important natural space for generations.

With gratitude,

The Trustees of Farrington (see Farrington Nature Linc team page)

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: FinCom has seen “breakdown in process”

The Finance Committee (FinCom) plays a critical role in our town: advising on budgets, reviewing expenditures, and helping guide decisions that affect every taxpayer. The integrity of its appointment process matters. And yet, recent public records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveal a troubling breakdown in how this process was handled.

What the bylaw requires

Lincoln’s town bylaws are clear. They state:

“The Moderator of the Town shall, within thirty days after the final adjournment of every Annual Town Meeting, appoint for a term of three years either two persons or three persons, as may be necessary, to provide a committee of seven members (…) The term of office of each member shall commence immediately upon qualification and shall expire upon the final adjournment of the Annual Town Meeting of the last year of such person’s term of office.”

This language affirms that the responsibility to appoint FinCom members belongs solely to the moderator — not to the Finance Committee itself or any other individual. The process is meant to be transparent, timely, and grounded in public accountability.

What actually happened

Emails made public via FOIA show a very different process unfolding behind the scenes. Anyone can request these emails from the Town Clerk; they are public record. In one outreach message, the chair of FinCom wrote: “(…) me taking on the Chair Role and him taking on the Vice Chair Role and so recruiting falls in my purview.”

This directly misstates the bylaw. While the chair can assist with identifying strong candidates, the power to select and appoint belongs only to the moderator. The chair’s role should be limited to offering suggestions as one of several inputs, not acting as the main decision-maker in the selection process. But in this case, the chair handled nearly all outreach, correspondence, interviews and vetting.

The FOIA documents show that for each open slot, the moderator was presented by the chair with only one final candidate after the chair had already conducted the majority of outreach and narrowed the field. In one case, the moderator was informed of a candidate who later declined, but no broader pool of candidates was considered or interviewed. At least one resident (not affiliated with any current town committees) reached out to the moderator to express interest, yet was not offered even a preliminary conversation. This suggests the moderator had limited interest in evaluating any options outside those presented by the chair of FinCom.

The moderator confirms the delegation of duties in another email to the chair of Fincom: “Thank you so much for pursuing the search to fill Andy’s seat.” Essentially this suggests a self-appointed committee.

A pattern of exclusion

In another email, the chair remarked: “[Resident] continues to push and is asking when/if we’ll hold public interviews which I am not inclined to do.” That statement reflects a deliberate choice to avoid an open process. In fact, no general call for volunteers was made. Outreach was limited to those with close personal ties (recommendations from spouses and close friends), or individuals already serving on other committees. Qualified residents outside that inner circle were neither welcomed nor considered.

Even more concerning is this comment: “We really have till May/June as it’s been precedent to have folks serve out till June then roll off, vs. TM [Town Meeting], even though TM is the official line of demarcation… I do worry about our favorite resident sticking to the rules if folks serve a few months longer than the rules suggest.”

Precedent does not override bylaws. Suggesting that rules are flexible and describing a resident who expects compliance as a nuisance shows a troubling attitude toward public oversight and accountability. Residents who ask questions or seek transparency are not “favorites” or problems; they’re fulfilling the civic role we should all support.

Why this matters

Some may argue that because the appointments were ultimately made by the moderator, there’s no issue. But that misses the point. The process was not transparent. It was not inclusive. And it did not follow the spirit of the law. This has real consequences. Yes, Lincoln has a AAA credit rating. But that rating doesn’t reflect the full picture:

  • Our tax bills are among the highest in the state.
  • Our reserves greatly exceed credit agencies’ guidelines.
  • We misallocated $500,000 per year for several years — money we’ll never fully recover.
  • The budget presented at Town Meeting misrepresents our actual revenues and expenditures in order to raise reserves without explicit town approval.

The Finance Committee does not offer hybrid meetings. Roughly half of its meetings are held virtually, yet these are not recorded or made publicly available, despite repeated requests from both residents and town officials.

Notably, FinCom meetings were previously recorded, but the practice ceased after a resident raised a question about the Hanscom misallocation. During that exchange, the current chair provided a response that was proven to be inaccurate, and the resident’s public comment was abruptly shut down. Since then, recording has not resumed and FinCom developed a more restrictive public comment policy.

In-person meetings are not streamed and often overlap with other key town meetings, making it difficult for residents to attend. As a result, residents are effectively shut out of the process unless they can be physically present. (The only exception is the budget hearing leading into Town Meeting, which is recorded, but by then the budget has already been set).

The Finance Committee should be a check on our financials, not a closed circle where only familiar names are welcomed. We need a committee built on independence, rigor, and diverse perspectives.

What needs to change

The current process undermines trust. It discourages civic engagement. And it signals that governance happens behind the scenes, not in the open. We often hear that it’s difficult to find volunteers, but that raises the question: why aren’t we opening up the process to the many capable and willing residents who call Lincoln home?

We can, and must, do better. We owe it to every taxpayer to ensure that town governance is fair, transparent, and consistent with the rules we’ve collectively agreed to follow. The Finance Committee is too important to be treated any other way.

Sincerely,

Karla Gravis (145 Weston Rd.)
Sarah Postlethwait (7 Lewis St.)

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Friends of COA urge support for community center

At the 2024 Town Meeting, as the culmination of decades of discussion and planning, the citizens of Lincoln resoundingly approved a project to build a new community center designed specifically to meet the needs of the Council on Aging & Human Services (COA&HS), Lincoln Extended-day Activities Program (LEAP), and the Parks and Recreation Department.

Since then, architects, site planners, designers, along with the Community Center Building Committee (CCBC), the Conservation Commission, and other town boards and committees have worked diligently to turn the vision of a community center into reality. Throughout the process, they made a number of cuts to the original design to reduce costs. Even so, when bids for construction came in, the lowest bid exceeded the original budget by $2.3 million due to tariffs, supply chain issues, and overall economic conditions.

The CCBC has requested the additional $2.3 million from the town in order to proceed with the construction of the community center on the current schedule.

The Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging has been a strong proponent of the community center project from the beginning. We contributed $1 million to the community center project in order to reduce the amount the town needed to borrow to fund it. In addition, we helped raise $345,000 through private contributions to reduce the cost of the project to the taxpayers.

We strongly support the CCBC’s request that the town contribute $2.3 million from the stabilization fund to the community venter project. The town has managed its affairs prudently so that the requested funds are available without requiring additional borrowing. This project, at this time, still represents a generationally unique opportunity for the residents of Lincoln to build an asset that will continue to serve the town’s residents, of all ages, for years to come.

Please join us at the Special Town Meeting on June 25 at 6:30pm. We hope you’ll vote in favor of Article 1 to provide the community center project with the funding it needs.

Sincerely,

Rhonda Swain (143 South Great Rd.)
President, Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: An offer to buy and “rewild” Panetta property

The Tesla Investment Holdings LLC Board of Directors is fully committed to supporting a “no” vote on Articles 3 and 4 at the June 25, 2025 Lincoln Special Town Meeting to block the Rural Land Foundation of Lincoln’s (RLF) Nature Link project, which proposes adding a 20-home single-family condo development to the six-acre Panetta property. We stand with you to protect Lincoln’s rural character and ecological integrity.

To counter RLF and Civico’s claims that our rewilding offer is a distraction, we provide this unified, formal statement of our plan to purchase the Panetta land and rewild it, in line with Lincoln’s vision statement: “Lincoln is a town that cherishes its rural, agricultural character, its small-town heritage, its open space, and its historical legacy.”

Concerns with the Nature Link plan
  • Wildlife disruption — Developing Panetta land disrupts natural wildlife corridors revitalized by TendingYourYard.org‘s rewilding site at 100 Page Rd. in Lincoln, which has attracted bald eagles, pollinators, and other species.
  • Oversized luxury development — The 20 homes, with 17 estimated to cost ~$1 million and up, contributes only the minimum required three affordable units to the town’s housing stock. All homes carry HOA fees, making even “affordable” options out of reach for most.
  • Watershed risk — A large septic system on Farrington Trust conservation land undermining environmental integrity.
  • Taxpayer burden — Lincoln’s $950,000 taxpayer-funded Community Preservation Committee (CPC) money indirectly subsidizes developer profits, allowing Civico to build more substantially more units than they would have been able to do otherwise.
  • Lack of transparency — This deal was negotiated behind closed doors, without public input or any advance notice to abutters. Keeping the community in the dark not only excluded valuable alternatives like our rewilding proposal, it also significantly limited what was possible for the site and the town.

Longtime Lincoln residents and founders of the nonprofit Tending Your Yard, Tending the Earth will expand their nonprofit with a vision to rewild the Panetta land.

A sustainable alternative: rewilding the Panetta property
  • Farrington conservation land can still be conserved — Our plan supports all aspects of RLF’s proposal — Farrington’s conservation, Lincoln’s CPC contribution toward conservation, and Cambridge’s watershed protection. The only major difference is that Civico’s luxury condo development will be replaced with land preservation and their large septic system located in the middle of new conservation land will no longer be required. Our rewilding secures Panetta’s legacy and conserves Farrington’s future.
  • Farrington easement — We will grant Farrington Trust a vehicle easement for environmental training, aligned with TendingYourYard.org’s mission, after they transfer 2–3 acres (~$1 million value) to the Panetta property deed, as agreed in the Nature Link project, expanding conservation to 8-9 acres. As with the Nature Link proposal, the access ceases if Farrington sells their land or repurposes it against their conservation charter.
  • Rewilding vision — TendingYourYard.org will rewild the land (native plantings, trails, educational center) without disturbing existing buildings (two houses, one barn), which may need repairs. Detailed plans (e.g., budget, scope) will require weeks of on-site assessment and community input post-“no” vote.
Tesla Investment Holdings LLC’s commitment
  • On June 10, 2025, the Tesla Investment Holdings LLC board approved a $3.3 million distribution from our Schwab brokerage account, payable immediately, to replace Civico’s $3.3 million in the Nature Link plan and secure the Panetta land deed from the RLF.
  • TendingYourYard.org, a nonprofit created by Arline Sutherland’s Irrevocable Trust (a major Tesla Investment Holdings LLC shareholder), requested that Tesla allocate $3.3 million to hold the Panetta property for rewilding, similar to our successful site at 100 Page Road. Jeff and Arline Sutherland are Lincoln residents and abutters to the Panetta land.
Financial assurance
  • Tesla Investment Holdings LLC manages an $80 million fund with over $12 million in loans to partner organizations. The $3.3 million check, authorized by our board, is immediately available from our Schwab brokerage account.
  • Yesim Taskor, our CFO and a Farrington Trust abutter, can verify the offer’s legitimacy and provide financials to RLF or the Town of Lincoln upon request.
  • Dennis Murphy of Hill Law is our land trust lawyer and has reviewed this document.
Why our offer wins
  • Immediate funding — Our $3.3 million check is ready today, unlike other unfunded proposals. RLF provides the Panetta deed, and we close swiftly, no rezoning required.
  • Community benefits — Rewilding avoids oversized condo development and septic risks, supports Farrington’s conservation, and aligns with Lincoln’s vision statement and intended use of CPC funds.
  • Open discussion — A “no” vote enables community input on all proposals, unlike Nature Link’s rushed, opaque process.

Our “rewilding Panetta” proposal is a true win-win for our town, our residents, and our natural environment—but it is only possible with a “no” vote on Articles 3 and 4 at the Special Town Meeting on June 25 at 6:30pm.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors, Tesla Investment Holdings LLC (100 Page Rd., Lincoln):

    • Jeffrey Sutherland (CEO, JVS Management Inc.; managing partner, Tesla Investment Holdings LLC)
    • Reverend Arline Conan Sutherland (Arline Sutherland’s Irrevocable Massachusetts Trust; shareholder, Tesla Investment Holdings LLC; creator, TendingYourYard.org)

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Vote “no” on community center and “re-scope” the project

Dear friends and neighbors,

The June 25th Town Meeting will decide whether to fund an additional $2.33 million for the Community Center. We urge you to vote “no” — not because we oppose better facilities for our community programs, but because we believe that this project has fundamental issues that additional money won’t fix. We are speaking up now because we are at a decision point, and this is the time to raise our voices, noting that constructive disagreement is part of healthy discourse and vibrant government. Democracy works when we all participate.

For those of you in a rush, here’s the TL;DR:

1. Please come to the upcoming Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, June 25 from 6:30-9:30pm. However you vote, please vote! There will be childcare available from 6:00-9:00pm in pod C (the LEAP pod). The community center will be the  first warrant up for voting, and:

    • A “yes” vote would see it move forward (with additional $2.33 million funding required from the town), but we feel that this increased funding still won’t solve the fundamental issues that we outline below.
    • A “no” vote will pause construction and allow for a new process to revisit the entire concept.

2. We are in favor of a “no” vote to pause and re-scope the project because:

  • This isn’t the community center that the town voted to fund. The original vision that we voted on described a “gathering place and activity center” that would “attract residents of all ages to gather for coffee and meetings and informal activities.” The reality: budget constraints have forced cuts that moved us far from this vision. The building design is now essentially an office building for three separate groups sharing utilities. The only unscheduled public space available to all residents is a lobby, labeled the “community gathering” space. All other spaces will be used “if scheduling allows” and by appointment only. In addition, there’s no gym or lecture hall or other typical community center functionality in the design.
  • It’s designed for yesterday’s needs, not tomorrow’s growth.
    • LEAP already has waitlists of 10+ families and can serve only 104 kids at capacity — no room for the growing families moving to Lincoln.
    • Council on Aging currently serves ~200-300 people but wants to reach our 1,875+ seniors — impossible in this constrained space.
    • Recreation will similarly hit capacity limits with no expansion possible.
  • Timing, functionality, location, and operations present fundamental challenges:
    • The timing of this construction brings more deep disruption to kids who have already been disrupted twice in their elementary school years (school renovation + COVID)
    • With the current design, LEAP will lose substantial functionality and autonomy, and the current budget (even with the proposed increase in funding) does not replace existing resources (e.g., play spaces, furniture)
    • The location has not been reconsidered in over a decade, and may not reflect the priorities of current town residents
    • There is no existing plan for operations, conflict resolution, and mixed use from co-location.
  • The “sunk cost” trap. Yes, we’ve invested ~$2 million in planning. But spending another $26 million+ to build the wrong solution compounds that mistake rather than fixing it. Good money after bad isn’t fiscal responsibility — it’s how small mistakes become massive ones.
  • Bottom line: We’re being asked to spend $26million + on a building that won’t serve our community’s real needs, and creates new problems we don’t currently have. Each program deserves proper, dedicated facilities — not a compromise that serves none of them well.

3. There is a new Town Meeting Survey to figure out how to make our meetings function better. Please take it!

We have taken the time to write out our thoughts and thought process in detail in this document starting on page 3, with a lot of homework behind each point. We invite and encourage correction on any misunderstandings or misinformation, and we invite and encourage dialogue from those of you who disagree with us.

According to a recent (June 10) memo from the Community Center Building Committee: The “alternative [to the Community Center] would likely require reconsidering a significant investment in Bemis Hall and Hartwell Pods — a comparable cost to the community center but a loss of shared function spaces and addition of 2+ years to the schedule.” To us, this is a vastly preferred alternative and actually addresses most of the problems we have identified above and below. We would love to hear your point of view, and are open to changing our opinions if there are compelling arguments to do so.

However you vote, please vote. Democracy works when we all participate. The vote: June 25th, 6:30-9:30pm (childcare available 6:00-9:00pm, pod C).

Sincerely,

Randi Rotjan and Jeff Chabot, 267 Concord Rd.
Kristin and Carlos Ramirez, 9 Giles Rd.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: Green Energy Committee supports Nature Link

By Paul Shorb

The Lincoln Green Energy Committee (GEC) has reviewed the proposed Nature Link project that will be subject to Special Town Meeting votes on June 25, 2025  from the perspective of the GEC’s charge from the Select Board, which is “to proffer advice and make recommendations to the Select Board, other town committees and boards, town staff, and town residents and businesses on issues and potential actions related to climate change.”

In short, the GEC concludes that the project would be net positive from a climate change perspective. We reach that conclusion based mainly on (1) the design of the housing to be built, and (2) the protection of a large natural area from development. You can read our full statement here.

Shorb (99 South Great Rd.) is the chair of the Green Energy Committee.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

My Turn: former Farrington trustees urge “yes” vote

As Lincoln residents who have served over the years as trustees of Farrington Nature Linc, we five fully support the proposed Nature Link project, and we ask you to join us in voting “yes” on both Articles 3 and 4 at Special Town Meeting this Wednesday evening. 

The access road included in the overlay zoning in Article 3 provides Farrington a unique and long-sought-after safety alternative to Route 2 for on-site nature programs for children.

The conservation plan in Article 4 will ensure that Farrington Nature Linc can afford to stay in Lincoln for decades to come and continue to serve children from low-income communities.

This public and private collaboration that each of us has seen develop over the years gives Farrington value for the property it has stewarded here since 1909, enhances safety of its extraordinary programs in service of children and community, and maintains a surrounding of the natural world so important for all children to experience.

Many of you know at least one of us personally, and you know we ask for your support responsibly and respectfully. Please join us at Special Town Meeting (beginning 6:30pm June 25) and, with us, vote “yes” on both Nature Link Articles 3 and 4.

Sincerely,

Sandra Bradlee, Hemlock Circle
Sue Klem, Trapelo Road
Brooks Mostue, Lexington Road
Susan Taylor, Beaver Pond Road
Susan Winship, Meadowdam Road

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.