In the March 7 story headlined “Repaving and more are planned for Route 2A,” the western end of the Route 2A segment under study is Crosby’s Corner, not Meriam’s Corner. Also, the date of the stakeholders’ meeting was October 2020, not 2000. the original post has been updated.
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Police log for Feb. 20-27, 2021
February 20
Codman Community Farms (12:21 p.m.) — A wallet found at the farm was turned into the police station.
North Great Road (8:23 p.m.) — Caller reported hitting a deer. No injuries; vehicle was towed from the scene.
Cambridge Turnpike eastbound (10:39 p.m.) — Police received 911 calls reporting an erratic driver. A vehicle was stopped on Route 2 and Jessica Giannino, 29, of Revere was arrested for OUI–liquor.
February 21
Hanscom Drive (4:40 p.m.) — Report of a drone flying in the area above 1,200ft. Officers checked the area but were unable to locate.
February 22
Paul Revere lot, North Great Road (1:38 a.m.) — Officer checked on a vehicle parked in the lot. Party was fine and on their way.
February 23
Wells Road (1:18 a.m.) — Caller reported she believes her delivery package was stolen.
North Commons (11:30 a.m.) — Caller reported receiving a scam phone call regarding their Social Security number. Caller was advised it was indeed a scam; no personal was given to the scammer.
Indian Camp Lane (1:01 p.m.) — Caller reported they gave out their personal information to someone over the phone. They were advised to place a fraud alert on their personal data with the credit bureaus.
Bedford Road (1:07 p.m.) — A bag of trash was found dumped on the side of the road. The DPW was contacted to remove it.
Lincoln Road (1:48 p.m.) — One-car crash into a snowbank. No injuries; vehicle towed,
Concord Road (3:42 p.m.) — Caller reported that he observed a male party on their property near a construction vehicle. A yellow van was parked in the driveway and he saw the party run from the construction vehicle and get into the van and leave the area. Officers checked the area for the yellow van but were unable to locate.
Vandenberg gate, Hanscom Air Force Base (5:30 p.m.) — Party attempting to get onto the base had an arrest warrant. James Shorts, 32, of East Providence, R.I. was arrested on the warrant and was later bailed.
Lincoln MBTA station (8:46 p.m.) — Officer checked on a vehicle in the lot. The owner was visiting a friend on Wells Road.
February 24
Old Town Hall Exchange (1:03 p.m.) — The crossing guard reported that a vehicle went through the crosswalk as he was stopping traffic. An officer spoke to the driver of the vehicle.
February 25
Lexington Road (2:11 a.m.) — Officer checked on a vehicle pulled over to the side of the roadway. who was subsequently found to have a suspended license. A summons was issued to the driver.
Lincoln Road (10:44 a.m.) — Vehicle crash at Wells Road; no injuries.
Trapelo Road (6:51 p.m.) — Caller reported someone had called looking for their Social Security information but did nor divulge it. They were advised by police that it was a scam.
Russett Court (9:12 p.m.) — Caller reported that their loved one had not returned home from running an errand. Information was given to area police departments. Concord police located the party, who was reunited with her family.
February 26
North Commons (3:44 p.m.) — Caller reported his bicycle was stolen from his porch. Report taken.
Boyce Farm Road (4:40 p.m.) — A party came to the station to speak to an officer about an ongoing civil matter.
Indian Camp Lane (4:50 p.m.) — Caller reported he had accidentally locked his kids in his vehicle. Fire Department responded to assist along with a police officer. Access gained; kids were fine.
February 27
Cambridge Turnpike westbound (1:24 a.m.) — During a vehicle stop, Shedricke Mulbah, 22, of Worcester was arrested on an outstanding warrant and later bailed.
The Commons in Lincoln (9:39 p.m.) — A party called reporting that she couldn’t find her son. The woman was found to be inside the memory care unit; everything was fine.
10:55 p.m. — The DPW was called out to treat the roadways.
Correction
A subhead in the March 2 News acorns mistakenly implied that Jessica Downing is Lincoln’s new Conservation Director, when in fact she is the new Parks and Recreation Department director. The item about the “On Belonging in Outdoors Spaces” speaker series was also missing a subhead. The post has been updated to reflect these corrections.
My Turn: The latest on Lincoln’s twisted tree
By Cathy Moritz
The Lincoln Garden Club and the Friends of the Lincoln Library are jointly sponsoring efforts to preserve the Library’s twisted Catalpa tree. The Garden Club and FOLL retained certified arborist Jonathan Bransfield of Bransfield Tree Co. to perform a significant preservation project on the tree in December 2020. We send our thanks to Jonathan for this and prior work he has done on our iconic tree.
Here is Jonathan’s description of the project:
“The Twisted Catalpa tree at the Lincoln Library was likely installed somewhere in the 1910s and its age is really starting to show, especially the condition of that curiously twisted stem… it’s as hollow as a soda straw and highly vulnerable to breaking apart in a storm. An analogy I like to use to help think about the structural issues of trees is that of an antique home: imagine renovating an old house with new insulation, plumbing, windows etc., it also has an old fieldstone foundation that is caving in and needs to be rebuilt. Similarly, a very old tree can have all its roots, soil, foliage, and cambium tuned up and working just great, but where a house can be jacked up to have a new foundation built under it, trees have no such therapy to rebuild a decayed core. All the old-school methods of cavity filling with concrete or other materials have been thoroughly debunked.
An aerial view of the cabling work that was done in December.
“Maybe someday we will have the technology to reconstruct decayed heartwood, but until that time there are two arrows in our quiver to preserve decaying trees years into the future, and both were applied to our beloved catalpa. First was cabling. Cables work really well to add structural integrity to a spreading tree canopy, and in this case we used a noninvasive type that doesn’t require drilling into the wood. By cabling opposing limbs to each other with a hub and spoke formation, the forces of wind or ice pulling on a limb are distributed throughout the whole tree. For the second step we did some judicious pruning out on the tips of limbs. By shortening long and reaching limbs we reduce the potential weather forces that can bear down on that limb. It’s a lot harder to hold a weight with your arm fully outstretched than with it tucked in even a few inches. Our special lift equipment makes it possible to do this tip pruning surgically with full control of the cut.
“There are few guarantees with big, old decaying trees in this age of increasing storm intensity and damage. I have been enjoying the sight of this highly unique plant for 30 years, and I hope we will get at least another 30 together. How did this tree get its shape? My vote is with human manipulation, and I will be working on growing reproductions of it from its very own progeny. Hopefully we will have grown something equally as wonderful when this specimen finally passes on.”
Moritz is the coordinator for the Lincoln Catalpa Committee.
”My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their 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.
Planning Board sets hearings on zoning bylaw amendments
Amendments to the town’s accessory apartment regulations and new zoning language for stormwater management will be the subject of Planning Board public hearings on Monday, March 9 starting at 7:15 p.m.
If approved, the zoning bylaw would add a cap on the number of accessory apartments allowed, equal to 5% of all residential units in Lincoln. The board also proposes to remove limitations on the age of structures that are eligible to add accessory apartments, and to require a minimum rental term of 30 days where the accessory apartment or principal dwelling is occupied as a rental unit.
The town approved the Affordable Accessory Apartment program four years ago, but it was only recently that the state officially OK’d it, so the local rules needed some tweaks before the program launches.
A separate hearing at 7:30 p.m. will seek comment on the proposed addition of a new zoning bylaw section titled “Illicit Discharge Control and Stormwater Management Bylaw,” the purpose of which is to protect water quality and comply with federal requirements. If approved by the Planning Board, both sets of changes will go before residents at the Annual Town Meting in May.
Also at the board’s March 9 meeting, the Historic District Commission will make presentations on the proposed addition of 11 Moccasin Hill Rd. to the Brown’s Wood Historic District, and 126 Old Concord Rd. to the Lincoln Historic District.
For more information, see the agenda and the Zoom link for the meeting.
Town seeks volunteers for new Inclusion, Equity, Diversity and Anti-Racism Initiative
The Board of Selectmen voted on February 22 to establish the Inclusion, Equity, Diversity, and Anti-Racism Initiative (“IDEA” or “Initiative”) and finalize the Initiative’s charge, and they are now seeking volunteers. If interested, please complete this volunteer form and send it with a note of interest to Peggy Elder at elderp@lincolntown.org by Wednesday, March 31.
Embedded in our town vision statement is a commitment to fostering economic, racial, ethnic, and age diversity within Lincoln. This longstanding commitment was brought into sharper focus and scrutiny last spring after the murder of George Floyd. Members of our community responded to that tragedy by organizing vigils, reading and discussing books that address systemic racism, and by asking town government to explicitly examine the systems and actions of our own town. In response, the Board of Selectmen launched a series of events to expand understanding of the current state and attitudes of policing, social services, and land planning in Lincoln, the roles and jurisdictions of town committees, and to explore partnerships with community groups and institutions.
Through these conversations, town residents have made it clear that they want to engage in candid discussions about what diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism look like in Lincoln, and to establish a long-term, town-led group that will keep Lincoln’s vision of fostering and supporting diversity at the center of all we do.
The board is establishing IDEA to recognize and support diversity for all who live, work, learn, and visit in Lincoln, and to develop a long-term action plan to identify and address unconscious bias, to ensure just and equitable policies and inclusion, and to actively promote a diverse and anti-racist community.
The IDEA Initiative is envisioned as a partnership between the town and community groups and institutions. It shall consist of up to 11 voting members, eight of whom are at-large members of the community. In addition, IDEA will encourage liaisons from groups not already represented by a voting member and explicitly reach out to the community for broad participation. Read the complete IDEA charge here.
The board recognizes that the work of IDEA will be dynamic and will need to develop as the group engages with the community, therefore the charge is intended as a set of guideposts for the Initiative as it begins its work. IDEA will make quarterly reports to the board and will recommend a longer-term action plan and an initial vision for a standing committee by Town Meeting 2022.
Candidate slate ready for town election in March
The slate for the upcoming town election features several newcomers hoping to win seats after some incumbents decided not to run for reelection, and one contested seat — two candidates are vying for one opening on the Parks and Recreation Commission. All seats are for three-year terms.
Residents can vote in person in the Smith gym from 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday, March 29. They may also vote by absentee ballot, or early by mail (this last option has been extended by the legislature).
The election is usually held two days after the Annual Town Meeting, but the ATM this year will be held outdoors on May 15 (details to be announced).
| Board/committee | Candidate | Incumbent not running for reelection |
|---|---|---|
| Board of Assessors | Edward Morgan* | |
| Board of Health | Patricia Miller* | |
| Board of Selectmen | Jennifer Glass* | |
| Cemetery Commission | Douglas Harding** | None (the seat is currently open) |
| Commissioner of Trust Funds | — | Donald Collins |
| Housing Commission | Evan Gorman | |
| LSRHS School Committee | Heather Cowap Salemme | Carole Kasper |
| LSRHS School Committee | Mary Warzynski | Ellen Joachim |
| Parks and Recreation Committee | Brianna Doo, Evan Gorman | Sarah Chester |
| Planning Board | Gerald Taylor* | |
| School Committee | Susan Taylor* | |
| School Committee | John Maclachlan | Peter Borden |
| Trustees of Bemis Fund | Miriam Borden* | |
| Water Commission | Jim Hutchinson* |
* Incumbent running for reelection
** Doug Harding is running for the seat formerly held by his wife Susan, who passed away in 2020.
Town refinances bond, saving $60,000 a year
The town has been able to take advantage of historically low interest rates to refinance the bonds it sold for renovating the Town Office Building 10 years ago — a move that will save approximately $60,000 a year for the next 20 years.
The town sold 30-year bonds totaling $5.8 million to pay for the project a decade ago (another $1,000,000 came from the Community Preservation Fund). The deal included a bond call option so the town could refinance after 10 years if interest rates dropped — and they did, from 3.6% to the new rate of 1.18%, according to Lincoln Finance Director Colleen Wilkins. The lower interest rate will save about $1,278,000 over the next 20 years. At the same time, the town’s AAA bond rating was also reaffirmed.
The semiannual payment on the bonds varies each year as result of the annual principal payments reducing the interest expense each year, and the average annual savings won’t be known until the closing, Wilkins said.
The Town Office Building, which began life as the historic Center School, lacked handicapped access and needed better space utilization and greater energy efficiency. A study committee made the case for the project at the 2010 State of the Town Meeting, and residents approved the project in March 2011.
Police log for Feb. 13–19, 2021
February 13
The Commons in Lincoln (6:30 a.m.) — A woman called looking for assistance, saying she was in trouble. There was no problem; the resident had recently moved to the memory care unit.
Round Hill Road (4:54 p.m.) — A resident fell victim to a grandparent scam. Investigation ongoing.
February 14
Doherty’s Garage (7:39 p.m.) — A person was seen placing items into a dumpster. Officer advised them to stop as they had no affiliation with the business.
February 15
Lexington Road (3:31 p.m.) — A car crashed into a stone wall. One person was transported to Emerson Hospital and the vehicle was towed.
Department of Public Works (6:08 p.m.) — Police were asked to call out the DPW to treat the roads due to weather conditions.
February 16
Doherty’s Garage (2:25 a.m.) — Police cruiser struck a parked vehicle due to the icy conditions while conducting a check of a business. The owner of the vehicle was notified (very minor damage).
February 17
Department of Public Works (3:29 a.m.) — Police were asked to call out the DPW to treat the roads due to weather conditions.
Trapelo Road (8:18 p.m.) — Officer checked on a car pulled over on the side of the road with its hazard lights on. The driver was OK and had pulled over to use their phone.
Trapelo Road (10:44 p.m.) — A caller reported people sledding on the hill near Minebrook Road. An officer spoke to the sledders and had them leave.
February 18
Concord Road (11:08 a.m.) — Maynard police requested a well-being check on a person at the residence. Officers checked and spoke with the person and everything was fine.
Boston Post Road, Weston (4:09 p.m.) — Weston Fire Department requested an ambulance for a medical call.
February 19
Hanscom Air Force Base (2:20 p.m.) — Caller reported being harassed by a person living out of state. Report taken; investigation ongoing.
Weston Road (7:09 p.m.) — Officer checked on an unoccupied vehicle pulled off to the side of the roadway. Vehicle appeared to have been there a while.
Lincoln Road (9:49 p.m.) — A vehicle was parked on the roadway near Lewis Street. The owner removed the vehicle.
Police log for January 8 – February 5, 2021
(Editor’s note: This is a compilation of police logs that were previously published but then lost due to a technical issue with the Lincoln Squirrel website.)
January 8
Town Hall (10:30 p.m.) — Caller reported that a recreational vehicle was parked at town hall. Officers checked on the party, who had planned on sleeping there. Officers suggested the rest area on Rte. 128 and gave directions.
January 9
Hartwell Lot, North Great Road (6:56 p.m.) — Officer checked on two vehicles parked in the lot. Vehicles were on their way.
North Great Road (7:10 p.m.) — Party flagged down an officer looking for assistance with directions.
Cambridge Turnpike westbound — Officer checking on a state trooper who was stopped with a disabled vehicle on Rte. 2. Officer transported the owner to Crosby’s Mobil to make arrangements for a ride home.
January 10
Emerson Hospital (12:21 a.m.) — Concord police requested assistance with a possible unruly party at the hospital. Officer arrived on scene and everything was calm.
Paul Revere Lot, North Great Road (9:10 a.m.) — Caller reported that a party in his vehicle was hassling people. Officers responded and spoke to the party, who was waiting to meet friends to go on the trails. No issue found.
The Commons (3:43 p.m.) — The manager reported finding what appears to be drugs near the dumpster. Officer responded and took possession of the package to be properly disposed of.
Barretts Mill Road, Concord — Fire Department assisting Concord firefighters with a report of a dryer fire at the Northeast Correctional Facility.
January 12
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