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

My Turn

My Turn: In support of Article 3 at Town Meeting

By Joan Kimball

I am supporting Article 3, the Housing Choice bylaw, at the March 23 Town Meeting.

Having voted in favor of Article C (with the majority) at the December Special Town Meeting, I have since read carefully the pros and cons, attended meetings about the Housing Choice Act and made my decision. I will vote yes on March 23 for the following reasons:

  1. Knowing that we in Massachusetts have a housing crisis, I want Lincoln to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. 
  2. I believe that we have an opportunity now, with RLF and the mall, to actually build some multiple-family housing. Building in the (relatively) near term will:
    • Actually provide housing
    • Be developed by an owner, RLF, who has a proven record of doing things for the town and an understanding of the town so that the development will fit Lincoln. I liked the conceptual drawing that we saw at the recent RLF meeting.
    • Provide more customers for our retail businesses. We need more customers. When I go to Donelan’s, there is never a line, and when I go to other businesses, I am often the only customer. This is not sustainable.
    • Create housing that is near transportation — an important aspect as we oppose climate change.
  3. If we do not include the mall with its potential for building housing, I strongly believe it will take years and years to actually build any housing. It is a complex and challenging undertaking. In addition, I have heard that developers do not want to risk time and investment in projects with the risk of going through Town Meeting.
  4. With town and private investment we can choose to increase the moderate income percentage in housing developments.
  5. As a former Conservation Commission member, I support development on already built land whenever possible to protect habitat on undeveloped land.

Bylaws are not specific housing developments; they are zoning “rules.” A great deal of time — as well as incorporating public comments — has gone into this bylaw. I think it is a good one. Therefore, I vote yes.

“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: The importance of counting the votes

By David Onigman

I have lived in Lincoln most of my life. I grew up here, my mother and her four brothers lived here. I worked for various town departments through a Massport internship growing up in town, working for the Select Board, the Finance Department, and others. I attended Town Meetings growing up, running around microphones during public comment and running the soundboard. I sit on the Parks and Recreation Committee as well as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. I coach basketball in our Tri-Town league and I regularly perform music for my fellow residents at the Tack Room and Twisted Tree.

But none of that makes my vote any more or less important than every other voter in Lincoln. Whether you are a patriarch of the town, moved here in the 1900s, or moved here last year… whether you live in a large house on Blackburnian Lane, or live in multifamily housing on Wells Road, your vote counts once.

I have grown extremely weary of the slow drumbeat from the group of residents that opposes Article 3 at our upcoming Town Meeting that implies the will of the town is best measured by any means other than a Town Meeting vote.

Public comment at open meetings, the frequency of those comments, the passion behind those comments, LincolnTalk posts, emails to town officials, or other informal ways of gauging public opinion are no replacement for a democratic process where all votes are counted. In fact, any initiative to not have our votes be counted at the upcoming Town Meeting is a dangerous threat to our democratic process.

I applaud the members of the Planning Board that voted to move forward with the proposed bylaws so that we could indeed, as a town, all voters, vote “Yes” or “No” on the proposed zoning.

I support the proposed zoning. I believe the Housing Choice Act mandated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is long overdue. I believe one of the many contributing factors to the housing crisis that Massachusetts and the county finds itself in is due to the exclusionary zoning bylaws towns like Lincoln adopted in the mid-1900s.

It is 2024 and our commercial center of town, which is also conveniently located near the commuter rail, does not have the appropriate zoning to allow for multifamily housing development. Left to our own devices, we have not done enough. The HCA is forcing our hand, and it is long overdue.

The commercial center of our town is where this zoning makes the most sense. “Spreading this zoning around town” is not smart municipal planning, in fact it contributes to suburban sprawl, and increases — not decreases — traffic. I also believe the Rural Land Foundation have been great stewards of the town, and the frequent questioning of their motives and lack of trust in the organization has been most disappointing.

But most disheartening has been the recurring talking point that residents like myself, who both support this zoning and also live in the proposed subdistrict, are motivated by our own financial interests and not our true beliefs as housing advocates. There is no way for me to convince someone otherwise if they just continue to say it over and over again, I suppose, but I wish more of my fellow residents who oppose Article 3 would trust me at my word that:

  • Yes, I support this zoning.
  • No, I do not have any plans to sell my property; it is my family’s original home and I love it.
  • Yes, I would be welcoming if my neighbors on either side chose to further develop their property.

In closing, I would like to extend my thanks to all of the hours invested in this process to date, by everyone involved, whether we agree on the topic or not. I look forward to the upcoming Town Meeting vote to truly see what the majority of voters in our town support.

It is my hope that the “Yesses” will have it when we vote on Article 3. But if we don’t, you have my word that I will not decry the process. I will be disappointed in the outcome, but I’ll shake it off, and see how I can best advocate for my position moving forward.

Onigman is a Codman Road resident.

“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: Taking issue with Planning Board dissenters

By Trisha O’Hagan

Editor’s note: O’Hagan has said that her quote by her in the February 27 Lincoln Squirrel story headlined “Planning Board splits 3-2 on endorsing zoning amendments” was inaccurate, so it has been removed.

I attended the February 26 Planning Board meeting and felt I needed to respond when a community member emphatically told the planning board that they shouldn’t “sell” the zoning changes at the March 2024 town meeting.

Our Planning Board and Housing Choice Act Working Group have worked diligently to develop sensible zoning changes in line with the Housing Choice Act. They listened to all community members feed back and incorporated many of the residents’ suggestions into the zoning guidelines. And we should all be delighted that the planning board made some very last-minute changes (after checking with the state and our town lawyer) that may allow for including 15% affordable housing.

And lest we forget, they were working from the results of the 2023 December Special Town Meeting in which Option C received the most votes. This is how our town democracy works — we listen, we learn, we vote, and we respect the results of the election.

So it is deeply troubling to me that two members of the Planning Board “do not believe that the vote at the December Special Town Meeting should be taken as a legal act.” Since when does Lincoln have a Town Meeting and vote and then elected town officials decide that it is “not the right time” and advocate to negate people’s vote?

We will all have a chance to vote again soon at the March 23 Town Meeting. My hope is that Option C passes. I believe that Lincoln is a wonderful, welcoming and generous town and that we will embrace the opportunity to be a part of the solution to Massachusetts’ housing crisis. I hope we can build inviting, all-electric, multifamily housing close to our train and town center where people can walk and bike to our schools and shops and churches as well as Codman and Drumlin Farms and our multitude of trails. And I will always respect the results of the election, even if my choice does not prevail.

“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: Don’t post signs in front of other people’s houses

By Mark Robidoux

This office has received multiple questions and concerns from residents that signs are being installed on the town-owned easement in front of private residences without the resident’s permission or town permission.

As a friendly reminder, 16.4 of the local zoning ordinance states signs on town-owned property need approval from the Select Board and a permit from the Building Inspector.

You are welcome to install political signs on your own property or at the following intersections: Sandy Pond and Lincoln Road, Ballfield Road and Lincoln Road, Lincoln Poad and South Great Road, Bedford Road and Morningside Lane, and Codman Road and Concord Road.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation on this very important matter. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns on the sign bylaw.

Sincerely,

Mark Robidoux, Building Commissioner/Zoning Enforcement Officer
781-259-2613, robidouxm@lincolntown.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: HCA in Lincoln – managing risks and finding solutions

By Rob Ahlert

When it comes to finding a solution to the Housing Choice Act riddle for Lincoln, there are many paths the town could choose to go down. When choosing which path to go down, an organization (e.g., our town) usually carefully identifies its options and the risks vs rewards for each, ultimately choosing the option which has the lowest risk and the highest reward. The conundrum we face in Lincoln is that the reward for one group (e.g., a lot more housing in one area) is in fact a major risk for the other group (too much housing in one area). So how do we as an organization (Lincoln) move forward to make a decision when we don’t even have the same objectives?

As you probably are suspecting, the right answer is to find a compromise.

OK, but how do we compromise? How do we not end up with a solution that only 51% of the population is satisfied with?

This is where sitting down together and documenting the risks/fears that folks have is critical.  And it will get very touchy because it’s hard not to quickly dismiss someone’s fears when you think you already have the answer. This is where talking, listening and documenting risks becomes critically important. What are the risks? Can we quantify and agree on the likelihood and impact on a 1 to 10 scale for each risk? Are there any obvious mitigations?

During a workshop or series of workshops, each risk can be graded on likelihood (1 to 10) and Impact (1 to 10).  The risk can either be “Accepted,” “Needs More Info,” or “Mitigated” and a workshop participant (or participants) can be assigned to take responsibility for that action. Below are some examples from a list of risks I’ve heard on both sides of the discussion.  

  • Risk #1: Developers put in offers on over 50% of the parcels in the first year after maps are published.
  • Risk #2: Developers will not build family-friendly three-bedroom apartments or condos.
  • Risk #3: Traffic will be bumper to bumper on Lincoln Road from Five Corners to Codman Road, not just during the rush hours but also at other times of the day and on weekends.

These are just three examples. There are likely 50+ unique risks we could document if we had a workshop on this topic.

When faced with a decision that has a lot of risks, does leadership go ahead and choose an option that exposes the organization to potential large downside impacts, especially given that reversing this decision would be over a year away? I would hope not, especially in a consensus-driven organization like a town. This is not a private enterprise with a CEO, this is a town.

So we document a lot of risks/fears from folks on both sides of discussion. What do we do next? Now comes the really hard work. Do we decide to just accept one of these risks because both the likelihood and impact are so low? Are we aware of an immediate mitigation that we can apply that will lower the likelihood or impact? Do we need more information? How much time and money do we need to gather more info or mitigate?

If you’ve read this far, some of you are really rolling your eyes saying this is way too much trouble to go through to get to a solution to the HCA riddle. But that’s the point. By going through this trouble, we better understand risks that each other see and find a consensus solution, choosing a compromise path.

That is what Brookline did, that’s what we can do as well. On March 23rd, vote “No for Now” on the HCA-related article and then we can get to “Yes” together before December 2024 and easily comply.

Calling all leaders and/or project managers/therapists to the table!

“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: Misconceptions about the Housing Choice Act

By Bob Domnitz

It’s distressing to see the continuing confusion about the HCA and the town’s response to the HCA. From my perspective as a former member of the Planning Board and Housing Choice Act Working Group, I will address two of the most common misconceptions.

Misconception #1: The HCA falls particularly hard on Lincoln.

— No, the HCA does not fall hard on Lincoln. We can easily comply.

Misconception #2: The HCA is complex…too complex for residents to understand.

— No, the law is not complex. Town leadership’s response to the law is complex. Near the beginning of presentations made by town leadership, the following principle is stated: Rezone near public transportation and town amenities.

This is a policy decision made by our town that goes far beyond the requirements of state law. State law only requires that our town locate 20% of the rezoning near public transportation. At a webinar held in early 2022 that town staff and I attended, the state agency that administers the HCA recognized that some towns would be unduly burdened by the new law. To illustrate their point, they showed a map of one town’s neighborhood around its commuter rail station. The town had significant wetlands, conservation land, and other land that was not developable. That town was Lincoln. In recognition of this undue burden, the guidelines issued by the state agency in August 2022 allowed towns to place some rezoning anywhere in town if they didn’t have much developable land near public transportation. Lincoln was one such town. Under the state agency’s guidelines, Lincoln was given flexibility to put 80% of its rezoning anywhere in town.

The complexity of the town’s response to the HCA is, in large part, a consequence of the town’s decision to disregard the flexibility given us by the state. There is no undue burden imposed upon us by the state. We have created the undue burden.

I’ve stated above that we can easily comply with the HCA. We need eight acres of land rezoned near the train station and 34 acres rezoned at a suitable location, anywhere in town. There are myriad combinations of land parcels that would meet the criteria. It’s not worth debating whether we should comply with the HCA. It’s not worth debating whether the state’s requirements fall harshly on Lincoln. It’s not worth debating whether the state has properly accounted for housing at Hanscom Air Force Base. We can comply. We should comply. We can easily comply.

A sound approach to the HCA would adopt a simple plan that achieves compliance. We would then be free to pursue our goals for affordable housing and mall redevelopment outside the formulaic, rigid constraints of the HCA. For example, we could choose to rezone Lewis Street, the mall, the south side of Lincoln Road, Codman Road, etc., with zoning decisions made by Town Meeting in the traditional manner, without the arbitrary constraints of the HCA. Importantly, we would be able to invoke the town’s inclusionary housing requirement to provide more affordable housing than the HCA allows.

I wish town leadership would trust residents to make these decisions. Instead, town leadership has chosen to combine three elements — HCA compliance, housing, and mall redevelopment — into one omnibus package. Because the package includes HCA compliance, it spreads the coercive urgency of the HCA’s deadline onto the other two elements of the package: housing and mall redevelopment. That’s what has led to the rush for action on the entire package. That’s what has led to the complexity of the package. Residents might have wanted to deal with housing and the mall separately from HCA compliance, but town leadership did not give us that option in December and we are not being given that option now.

The town’s initial decision to locate all rezoning at Lincoln Station, disregarding the flexibility given to us by the state, has led to the complex hodgepodge of subdistricts that we’ll be voting on in March. It may have been hard to foresee that we’d end up here as a result of the simple choice to put the entire HCA district at Lincoln Station. But sometimes, when you get to the end of a design process, you realize that initial decisions need to be re-examined. We are at such a time. We should rethink the initial decision to comply with the HCA by rezoning only near public transportation and town amenities.

Several years ago, the state changed the Zoning Act to allow a simple majority at town meetings to approve multifamily housing-related zoning amendments. Under prior law, these zoning amendments required a two-thirds supermajority vote for adoption. At our December 2023 Town Meeting, a scaled-down zoning plan was presented by a group of residents. Their plan got 37% of the vote, even though they were denied the opportunity to give a cohesive presentation. If that vote is replicated at our March Annual Town Meeting, leadership’s omnibus zoning package may pass as the least popular, most divisive zoning amendment in Lincoln’s history.

I urge town leadership to withdraw their plan and work with residents to craft a simpler plan that we can all support.

Bob Domnitz (Lincoln Planning Board, 2003-2015; 2020-2023 Housing Choice Act Working Group, 2022-2023)
bobdom333@hotmail.com

If any residents would like to discuss this with me, please send me a private email with your phone number and I’ll call you back as soon as I’m able.

“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: Vander Meulen endorses Glass for reelection

By Allen Vander Meulen

As some might recall, I was Jennifer Glass’s challenger during her first campaign for Select Board in 2017.

I must say, I got royally stomped in that election, receiving about 10% of the vote. But the outcome was no surprise: Jennifer clearly had the experience, temperament, and talent needed for such a challenging position, while at the time I was still relatively unknown and unproven.

In that campaign, I came to deeply respect and admire Jennifer, and that respect and admiration have only grown since. Jennifer listens carefully to all of her constituents (and her opponents too, as I learned). She is not afraid to rethink her approach or path when new information is presented, or it is clear the current path is not workable. She is very clear and consistent in her determination to make Lincoln a more just, welcoming, and livable community for all. And she has proven herself to be adept at constantly educating herself about, and navigating, the extremely intricate and challenging legal, regulatory and political landscape within which Lincoln exists.

While I have great respect for one of the other candidates challenging her (I do not know the third candidate at all), it is clear to me that Jennifer Glass is by far the best choice for the position. This is not just because of her past record, but also because she continues to be a creative, knowledgable, deeply thoughtful, forward-thinking, and energetic leader. Such qualities are absolutely necessary for those who wish to lead our community in confronting the challenges we face.

Please join me in re-electing Jennifer Glass to the Select Board.

“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: Postlethwait announces candidacy for Planning Board

By Sarah Postlethwait

I am announcing my candidacy for Planning Board, and hope that my focus on critical thinking, thoroughly researched planning and inclusive dialogue will bring value to Lincoln and win your vote.

I have a background in education, and I enjoy comprehensively analyzing information and breaking it down so it can be explained to a large audience. As the marketing director for the Boston and Canadian branches of a global company, I have practice in navigating a constantly shifting commerce terrain while working with a team to achieve our diverse business goals.

When I moved to Lincoln with my husband 14 years ago, I was attracted to the open space and farmland that reminded me of my childhood in Ohio. Since then, we have welcomed three children who enjoy all the benefits of growing up in this beautiful town surrounded by a community with similar values. We love walking to Drumlin and Codman farms, visiting the fantastic children’s department at the library, and we have thoroughly enjoyed participating in the wonderful offerings of LincFam and the Recreation Department.

Although I have been an active voice at Planning Board and other housing meetings for a decade, I am growing increasingly concerned about the town’s future. Current leadership is rushing towards a response to the new Housing Choice Act (HCA) that goes far beyond what is required for our small town. Instead of rezoning for the HCA requirement of 42 acres of land and 635 units, they are backing a plan that rezones 72 acres of land and allows for 801 housing units, all in one concentrated half-mile radius of the train station. It is a mistake to rush. The likelihood of unintended consequences is too great.

I understand that the town must evolve. Expanding our housing stock will help address the housing needs of our state. At the same time, we need to protect the retail businesses that currently exist in Lincoln, and ideally find ways to attract more. We need to be smart and not race headlong into a plan that may endanger the town’s financial stability and the rural character that we love.

The goal of the HCA is to create housing for families; however, the bylaw we have created for the HCA district is unlikely to interest them. Most families don’t want to live in overpriced tiny apartments without any green space, surrounded by pavement. We need to consider ways to adjust our zoning to ensure that the kind of housing that appeals to families will actually be built. Furthermore, we need to maintain our attention on creating affordable housing units for all types of families. There is a desperate need for homes that are affordable for moderate and lower income individuals in the Boston area.

I am running for a seat on the Planning Board because I feel Lincoln can do better.  Lincoln has a long history of coming to consensus to build multifamily developments and to prioritize affordable housing. An enviable 40% of our current housing stock is multifamily. Nearly 13% of our housing is in the affordable housing inventory. We can continue on this admirable path by rezoning only for the HCA-required number of acres and units. Then, as a fully informed town, we (not the state, not developers) can plan for the reasoned and responsible fiscal, social, and environmental evolution of Lincoln.  

These same principles of thorough research and planning, measured implementation, inclusive dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving should apply to all of the key issues facing our town: the HCA, revitalization of the mall, the community center, and more.

This is a future of Lincoln that I would like to be part of, and if you agree, then I ask for your support at the March town election.

Questions or concerns? I listen and I respond. Please contact me at sarah@bayhas.com. 

Sincerely,

Sarah Postlethwait
Proud member of the Lincoln Residents for Housing Alternatives.

“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: A new dog in town

The following was included by Codman Community Farms farmer Pete Lowy in the February 2, 2024 e-newsletter to CCF members and is reprinted here with permission.

By Pete Lowy

This week we welcome our newest livestock guardian dog puppy to the farm! Introducing… POPPY the pup!

Why do we have a new puppy? I’m sure the next question is can folks pet it (no), and where is it (it’s a secret). Aww, that’s mean. It’s not meant to be! Our dogs are not pets, but rather working animals, so we try and give them the respect (and space) the need and deserve. But we do like folks to know the latest happenings on the farm so…read on!

We have a new pup, because our dearest, sweetest, most beautiful Sophie will soon be moving to South Carolina with Alyssa, our farm store manager. Yes, Alyssa will soon be leaving us too (her official goodbye letter will be coming soon), and yes she is adopting Sophie, much to her (and our) delight. They are best buds and while we are so happy for both of them — we are also simultaneously deeply saddened in our heart of hearts to see them leave us.

Poppy the puppy and Pete Lowy’s son Abe.

The short backstory on why we are saying goodbye to Sophie is that last year she developed a naughty habit. While always a great, and very sweet (if not a bit jumpy) livestock guardian dog, Sophie developed a habit of sneaking under the chicken fences and sometimes chasing down innocent dog walkers as they passed by the chickens on Codman South Field. This scared the bejesus out of many folks who were not expecting Sophie to dash through (or under) the fence line at full stride, while also barking like a raving lunatic at them. Now, Sophie is a sweetie and she never ever was aggressive in the biting sort of way and I’m sure she just felt she was doing her job – but these momentary outbursts of energy weren’t that fun for anyone to experience. We tried again and again to tighten up the fences and to train her to stop the antics but we were ultimately unsuccessful. The only way we found to keep her contained was by adding a single strand of very electrified fencing at the inside base of the fences. This works most of the time, but it’s much too time-consuming for us to manage daily and was only a stop-gap solution. In the end, we decided replacing Sophie was the best solution.

At the same time Sophie was displaying this maddening behavior, Alyssa also was starting to bond with her. Alyssa is an animal lover through and through and would often visit Sophie in the field — and they developed a strong love for one another. Alyssa was there for Sophie when she needed a little extra TLC for the occasional bug bite or other minor ailments from living outdoors, and Sophie learned to trust Alyssa deeply during these visits.

So, in the end, this is as good a resolution as one can find in this kind of circumstance. Livestock Co-Managers Aimee and Abby get to train a new livestock guardian dog – and Alyssa gets a new best friend to keep her company as she settles into her new farming life in South Carolina. And we couldn’t be happier that Sophie and Alyssa will have each other during their transition and that we also get to spread a little bit of our best peeps from Codman Farm down south. We will miss them so much!

“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: Updates on the town’s two solar energy projects

By Jim Hutchinson, Select Board

A number of folks have expressed interest in the status of the solar projects in progress at the transfer station and Lincoln School, so I thought I’d post an update. I am the Select overseeing the transfer station project and I was also a member of the PPA [power purchase agreement] subcommittee that advised the School Committee on the Lincoln School solar project. For this update I also got input from Buck Creel, the Lincoln School staff member overseeing the Lincoln School solar project.

What solar project is Lincoln doing at the transfer station?

After years of effort, careful negotiations with the National Park Service, discussions with neighbors on Mill Street, and a successful competitive bidding process, Lincoln is now finalizing final details of a Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) with the New Jersey-based firm HESP to construct and operate a 1.4MW solar PV system for our benefit on top of the capped landfill next to the transfer station, which we expect to generate enough green electricity to cover the amount of municipal electricity that has historically been used by the town net of the Lincoln School. As an added benefit to the town, while we are doing this construction work, with the input of the Conservation Commission and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, we will also construct a bikeable and walkable path connecting Mill Street to the transfer station access road.

What is the expected schedule for the transfer station solar project?

We are currently working our way through the local, state, and utility permitting processes. We received Conservation Commission approval for the project in November 2023 and hope to get Planning Board approval this March. We hope to get approval from the MassDEP by June, and from Eversource by the end of the summer. HESP will then order the equipment and begin installation, hopefully in the Fall of 2024, or Spring of 2025 at the latest. Construction is expected to take four months, and equipment startup one additional month. We hope to be generating electricity by the Fall of 2025.

What is the solar project at Lincoln School?

The School Committee signed a PPA Agreement with TotalEnergies (previously SunPower) back in 2022 to install 1.2MW of rooftop and parking lot canopy solar PV as well as 562KW of battery storage. We expect this system to generate enough electricity to cover the expected usage at Lincoln School and thereby make the school “net zero” overall. In addition, the battery system should help us minimize the dreaded “demand charges” from Eversource that occur if our generation plus battery supply doesn’t meet our spot demand and we have to draw power from the grid at peak times. The technical approach taken in this project was somewhat novel for municipal projects in that it is “behind the meter,” meaning that a good chunk of the solar power generated by the panels is used directly by the School and is not shipped out to Eversource, and thus we do not have to pay distribution charges on that amount.

I see the solar panels have been installed at Lincoln School rooftops and carport canopies. Are they live?

No. TotalEnergies has encountered a number of setbacks that have delayed the completion of this project, including supply chain issues, issues with Eversource needing to adopt new policies and procedures for our novel “behind the meter” situation, and most recently, an equipment compatibility issue between the inverters and rapid shutdown safety devices used on the project, which is the current holdup on energizing the system. None of these delays have been the fault of the Town of Lincoln, although we have done what we can to help resolve the issues quickly while protecting Lincoln’s interests.

When do we currently expect Lincoln School solar to be live?

We are working with TotalEnergies now to finalize the plan for them to replace the incompatible equipment, which will be done solely at their expense. They need snow and ice-free conditions to do this work, so the schedule is weather dependent, but we currently expect the work to be completed and the system to go live in May, and possibly sooner. TotalEnergies does not collect any revenue from Lincoln for this project until they go live, so they are just as eager as we are to do so.

Aren’t we paying more for electricity from Eversource while we wait for the Lincoln School solar PV system to go live?

Yes, although note that the cost to Lincoln for delays is not the full ~$500,000 per year we spend on electricity when sourcing solely from Eversource; it is the roughly $60,000–$100,000 per year we hope to save when we replace much of the Eversource usage with PPA usage. The exact savings we might have enjoyed are not possible to calculate since we do not know exactly how much power the panels would have produced over the period.

Can we recover that extra cost due to delays from TotalEnergies?

Possibly, for some amount related to the guaranteed production of the system, since we don’t have any actual production. We did negotiate for and got language in the PPA agreement that addresses costs associated with some delays in getting the system live. With town counsel’s help, we are reviewing the town’s rights, the expected dollar amount that might be recoverable, the likelihood such events will be judged to be force majeure and thus not be eligible for recovery, and the impact pursuing a recovery could have on what is the beginning of a 25-year relationship with this developer. Subsequently we will advise the School Committee, who will make the ultimate determination on whether the town pursues a recovery.

Once these two solar projects are live, will Lincoln be “net zero” regarding municipal electricity use?

Yes, these projects are expected to generate enough green electricity to cover our municipal electricity usage, although note that in the case of Lincoln School the sizing was done based on expected usage, and in the non-school case we are sizing while considering historical usage. Periodic reassessment of our “green coverage” will be needed. Also, new uses to the town, such as a possible community center or increased adoption of electric vehicles by the town, may require additional solar power in the future to keep the town “net zero.”

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