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

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A note to readers on email deliveries of the Squirrel

Dear readers,

As many of you know, the automated daily email feed with Lincoln Squirrel stories has not been working recently—perhaps due to tightened spam/security controls somewhere along the line. I think I’ve fixed it, but please let me know if you still don’t get an email at 7:00 tomorrow morning. Also, please check your Spam folders—a test email recently went to Spam on my computer, which hadn’t happened before.

In the meantime, please go to the Lincoln Squirrel home page and scroll back to find any stories you may have missed—or contact me directly if there’s something specific you’re looking for. My apologies for the glitch. 

Alice Waugh
Editor, The Lincoln Squirrel
617-710-5542 (m) ~ 781-259-0526 (h)
lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com

Letter to the editor: Lincoln architects support school project

To the editor:

The undersigned Lincoln residents support the plan for revitalizing our K-8 schools. As members of the design community, we believe the process for choosing a path forward has been inclusive, has afforded multiple opportunities for comment and input, and has brought us as a community to an important decision about investing in our collective future.

The plans before us reflect a well-considered pathway that capitalizes on our existing facilities by the incorporation of new educational spaces that are essential to support forward looking methods of instruction. At the same time, the plans build upon our schools as a broad community resource, including a central commons that serves not only educational purposes but also as a meeting place for community activities.

We urge your support for our schools at the important votes on December 1 and 3. There remains significant effort ahead to complete the schools project and we plan to support the schools with our votes and our participation going forward.

Sincerely,

Douglas Adams
Gary Anderson
Ken Bassett
Ken Hurd
Judith Lawler
Mary Helen Lorenz
Brooks Mostue
David O’Neil
Dana Robbat
Peter Sugar

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: a “yes” vote is the wise choice educationally

To the editor:

The Lincoln School Foundation urges residents to vote YES at Special Town Meeting on December 1st and at the ballot on December 3.

In just two weeks, we as a town are being offered the unique opportunity to transform our school in a way that expands educational opportunities for the children of our community.

The new school building, meticulously designed by the School Building Committee with unprecedented community involvement, is a transformative renovation of the Lincoln School. Movable walls. Shared hubs. A learning commons. Exterior gathering spaces. A climate-controlled environment. Safer routes for bikers and walkers. And a building that gets its energy entirely from the sun.

The teachers and students of Lincoln School can use these transformed and new spaces in ways that improve the educational experience for all. The enhanced building will facilitate and enable more team teaching, differentiated instruction, project-based learning, and group work. These educational practices are not optional, frivolous, or excessive. They are absolutely required in order to deliver a high-quality education to children now and in the future—an education that develops the essential skills for success in tomorrow’s workforce: critical thinking, collaboration and creativity.

Lincoln School teachers are already working to foster these skills in Lincoln’s children. But the current building inhibits their efforts. It is difficult if not impossible for an entire grade to gather together without planning much in advance. Spontaneous, flexible groupings of students are limited by the walls that separate classrooms.

We have seen, within our own district at Hanscom, how a forward-looking investment in a school building can allow teaching teams to do more to reach each child in new and innovative ways, and we are so excited to see what more can be accomplished at the Lincoln School as teachers there are given the same opportunity to envision what new spaces will mean for their teaching.

Everything we wrote in our June letter to the editor remains true: “A commitment to excellence in education and innovative practices is a collective enterprise that is deeply embedded in the values of this community.”

We value education in Lincoln. And a YES vote on December 1 and 3 is a vote for education.

Sincerely,

The Trustees of the Lincoln School Foundation

Cathie Bitter, Chair
Ginger Reiner, Treasurer
Liz Wilkinson, Secretary
Becky Bermont
Juliana Delahunty
Alison Donnelly
Lis Herbert
Jen Holleran
Peter Hussey
Tareef Kawaf
Caroline Nordstrom
Elaine Papoulias
Tricia Thornton-Wells

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Corrections

Due to a math error by the Lincoln Squirrel, the tax increase and debt stabilization fund figures given in a November 12 article headlined “Borrowing plans for school project outlined” were incorrect. Borrowing $88.5 million at an interest rate of 4–5% will result in property tax increases of $2,415–$2,717 (not $560–$700 as originally stated).

However, this full increase will not appear in the first year of repayment, because the Finance Committee may divide the borrowing into two or more separate bond issues or tranches. Thus,  the $2,415–$2,717 increase would not be in year one but might take two to four years before it reaches that level of increase. Then this higher level would remain in effect for the life of the 30-year bonds.

On December 1 (Special Town Meeting) and December 3 (election), residents will be asked to approve the total bond amount of $88.5 million, but it will be up to the Finance Committee at a later date  as to how the debt will be financed in terms of tranching.

The debt stabilization fund currently stands at $5.5 million, not $5.2 million as originally stated. This means that if $4.4 million of that is used on the school project, there will be roughly $1.1 million left for future needs. 

The original article has been updated to reflect these corrections.

Borrowing plans for school project outlined

(Editor’s note: this post was updated on November 13 to correct errors in the tax increase range and the debt stabilization amount.)

Lincoln residents will be asked if they approve borrowing $88.5 million for the school project, which will cost a total of $93.9 million. This will result in a property tax increase of somewhere between 17.2 percent and 19.4 percent, depending on the bond interest rate (assuming it is in the 4–5 percent range). 

The Finance Committee unanimously recommended that the town pay for the project with an $88.5 million bond issue plus $1 million in free cash and $4.4 million from the debt stabilization fund. That fund currently stands at $5.5 million after voters approved adding $772,000 at the Annual Town Meeting earlier this year.

For a tax bill of $14,008 on a property valued at $998,400 (the 2019 median figures), the tax increase would translate to roughly $2,415–$2,717 (see table below). However, this full increase will not appear in the first year of repayment, because the Finance Committee may divide the borrowing into two or more separate bond issues or tranches. Thus,  the $2,415–$2,717 increase would not be in year one but might take two to four years before it reaches that level of increase. Then this higher level would remain in effect for the life of the 30-year bonds.

On December 1 (Special Town Meeting) and December 3 (election), residents will be asked to approve the total bond amount of $88.5 million, but it will be up to the Finance Committee at a later date  as to how the debt will be financed in terms of tranching.

After its vote on the funding recommendations, the Finance Committee released the following statement:

“On June 9th, the town decisively supported a school project that embodied educational values and sustainability through a renovated school project. We believe:

  • The SBC has faithfully executed on this charge designing a project staying within the $93.9 million budget,
  • The town can finance it and should be able to maintain our AAA bond rating,

and thus FinCom supports this project.”

A table showing the range of possible tax increases due to borrowing for the school project (click to enlarge).

Lincoln’s 2018 election results

(Editor’s note: This incorporates a correction on November 8 to fix an error in the Question 1 numbers.)

Lincoln voters voted to reelect Gov. Charlie Baker, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Katherine Clark, mirroring the rest of the state and Congressional district.

By large margins, Lincoln also voted to approve two ballot measures: one that advocates a Constitutional amendment regarding corporate personhood and political spending, and one that upholds a bill prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in public places. The town also voted by an even wider margin against a proposal to establish patient assignment limits for hospital nurses.

Lincoln’s voting precincts (click to enlarge)

Early voting continues to increase in popularity, with 40% of Lincoln ballots being cast before Election Day (1,395 out of 3,491 total ballots).

Below are Lincoln’s results for the major races and the three ballot questions (excluding blanks, third-party and write-in votes). The totals in this table were calculated by the Lincoln Squirrel from numbers in the full election results posted by the Town Clerk’s office, so any errors are the Squirrel’s. Click here for the full Massachusetts results.

Precinct 1Precinct 2TOTALS
GOVERNORBaker & Polito (R)1,6989872,685
Gonzalez & Palfrey (D)367286563
U.S. SENATORWarren (D)1,1527911,943
Diehl (R)9645181,482
U.S. REPRESENTATIVEClark (D)1,1581,7472,788
Hugo (R)198348614
QUESTION 1 (establish nurse/patient ratios?)Yes476331807
No1,5879692,556
QUESTION 2 (advocate Constitutional change re. corporate spending and personhood?)Yes1,7071,0482,755
No363257620
QUESTION 3 (uphold transgender rights?)Yes1,7771,0482,825
No321259580

Vintage library door gets a facelift

The carved oak front door to the Lincoln Public Library has been restored to its 19th-century glory. Over the decades, the sun had stripped the finish from the wood, and a recently installed plexiglass storm door did not add to its visual appeal. “It was really in very poor shape,” said library trustee Peter Sugar.

A restoration painter stripped the wood, replaced some of the moldings and refinished everything, so now the door looks much as it did more than 125 years ago. The library, designed by noted Boston architect William G. Preston, was built using a $27,000 donation from Lincoln resident George Grosvenor Tarbell.

GearTicks teach robotics at Girl Scout event

The GearTicks at WPI for the “Geek is Glam” event: Howie Tsang, Ben Morris, Prerna Karmacharya, Andreas Muzila, Erin Crisafi, Amelia Pillar, and Kevin Ji (click to enlarge).

By Prerna Karmacharya

The GearTicks, a local robotics team based in Lincoln, demonstrated their vacuum pump and helped the Girl Scouts build prosthetic hands and drive LEGO Segways at the Girl Scout “Geek is Glam” event on October 13 at WPI in Worcester.

At the event, the Lincoln GearTicks interacted with girls in grades 4–8, teaching them about how robotics is fun and getting them interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Prerna Karmacharya shows a 3D-printed prosthetic hand to a Girl Scout.

The GearTicks also take part in a competition called FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) for middle and high school students, where they design, build, and program robots to compete in a challenge once a year. Teams all over the globe compete in this competition. FTC also encourages community outreach.

Last year for FTC, the GearTicks designed a vacuum pump as part of their design for their robot and built the pump from parts they made on their 3D printer. The team also spent lots of time perfecting the custom vacuum pump and enjoy sharing knowledge about it with others.

The GearTicks also 3D-printed prosthetic hands as part of the e-NABLE prosthetic hand project. Through building the hands, they are able to give back to the community using their knowledge, and share their skills with others.

The Girl Scouts came in four groups of about 100 kids in each group. Overall there were about 440 Girl Scouts there. Other exhibitors were iRobot and Bose, along with other groups including a few FRC teams.

Lincoln GearTicks team members Amelia Pillar, Erin Crisafi, Howie Tsang, and Andreas Muzila get ready for the Girl Scouts event. 

One of the Girl Scouts worked with GearTick members Prerna and Amelia to build the prosthetic hands. It turned out that this Girl Scout’s foster sister had a prosthetic hand that was also from e-NABLE.

“It overjoyed me to learn about someone who had benefited from these hands,” Prerna said.

The GearTicks hope that they can keep helping the community. They really enjoyed teaching the Girl Scouts about science and engineering, as well as getting them more interested in STEM. The team strives to use their STEM skills to help their local community.

Court rules against McLean Hospital in Bypass Road case

In a much-awaited decision released this week, the state land court has denied McLean Hospital’s appeal of a town decision against a plan to put a 12-bed residential facility for boys in a residential property on Bypass Road.

The saga began in 2016 when the hospital purchased the 6,700-square-foot home at 22 Bypass Rd. with plans to house boys age 15-21 for transitional care as part of its 3East program. McLean argued that this constituted an educational use of the property, which made it exempt from town zoning restrictions. The so-called Dover Amendment in state law requires towns to permit educational and religious facilities in areas not zoned for such uses.

Citing previous court cases, town attorney Joel Bard said in a May 2016 letter that he believed McLean’s use was educational and thus permitted, so then-Building Inspector Dan Walsh gave the initial go-ahead in a letter of his own in July 2016. But a group of neighborhood residents successfully appealed to the Zoning Board if Appeals, which overruled Walsh. McLean then filed suit to appeal the ZBA decision in late 2017, and the case went to trial in October 2017.

McLean argued that its program included a curriculum to teach clients coping skills drawn from dialectical behavior therapy. “But to conclude that the structure of the program essentially transforms a therapeutic program into an educational one for the purposes of Dover Amendment protection would, in fact, elevate form over substance,” the court ruled. “The primary and predominant purpose of the 3East Boys Program is the treatment of a serious mental condition. Accordingly, this court finds and rules that McLean’s 3East Boys Program is not an educational use entitled to the benefits and protections of the Dover Amendment.”

“We are gratified by the decision of the court which affirms the thoughtful approach of our ZBA, and its careful analysis of the facts, and upholds the integrity of the town’s bylaw,” the Board of Selectmen said in a statement. “The nature of the project raised passions on both sides, among those who were concerned, and among those who were generally supportive of McLean’s proposal… In the end, we believe the process yielded the right result for our community.

“We always said this was a medical program that should not be allowed in a residential area under the educational exemption,” said Steve Kanner, the primary organizer of the residents who fought McLean’s proposal. “We’re certainly highly pleased to see the court came down and said exactly that, including referring to a possible overreach of the argument.”

Kanner called the ruling “a ringing affirmation of the correctness of the ZBA’s decision,” adding, “I would hope there would be some institutional reflection on the original decision [that McLean’s proposal was allowable] and how and why it came about.”

Selectmen sounded a similar note in their statement. “Going forward, we will reflect on the process and evaluate what worked well and where there are opportunities for improvement, to help inform our response should a similar proposal come forward in the future.”

Special counsel Jay Talerman, who represented the town during the lawsuit, declined to comment on the decision but said town officials and attorneys planned to meet Friday to discuss it.

“I’m happy for the decision. It upheld the analysis and decision that the ZBA made in its very careful review,” said Joel Freedman, who as ZBA co-chair was one of the defendants in the case. “It probably breaks some new law in the area of the Dover amendment and the limits of it, which is interesting.”

Dr. Philip Levendusky, senior vice president for business development and communications and director of McLean’s Psychology Department, and Diane Tillotson, McLean’s attorney in the case, did not return calls or emails Wednesday requesting comment.