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

news

Outdoor watering now allowed one day per week

Flint’s Pond water levels since 2010. In previous droughts, the lowest levels seen at the pond were 5.5 feet below full in 1951, and a bit more than 7 feet below full in 1967 (click image to enlarge).

The complete ban on outdoor lawn watering imposed during last summer’s drought has been modified, though it isn’t back to the old two-day-a-week permitted schedule.

The Water Department Commissioners voted to allow outdoor watering on a one-day-a-week schedule. Outdoor watering via irrigation systems and/or hose sprinklers on Saturdays for street addresses ending in an even number and on Sundays for addresses ending in an odd number.  The irrigation systems can operate between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. Hand-watering of plants is allowed any day of the week from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m.

The water level in Flints Pond has rebounded more than 2.5 feet since the near-record low water levels of this past fall and winter. However, even with this strong recovery, the pond is still more than two feet below full capacity and has not yet reached the level it was at this time last year, according to Water Department Superintendent Greg Woods.

“With normal summer water use (i.e., watering twice a week), the pond level typically decreases by 2–3 feet, so if it’s another dry summer, it’s likely we will be right back in a similar situation as last year,” Woods said.

The Water Commission anticipates that the current watering restrictions, coupled with the increased use of the Tower Road well, will minimize the drawdown of the pond level. The panel will continue to monitor the pond level and the town’s water demand on a monthly basis to determine if the water restriction requires further adjustment. Anyone with questions may call Woods at 781-259-1329.

Letter to the editor: Lincoln Food Pantry needs your donations

Left to right: Jason Deveau (store manager at Donelan’s); Cheryl Rodgers; Gretchen, Nick and Peter Covino; and Nancy Cronin setting up the donation bin at Donelan’s. Food donations will benefit the Lincoln Food Pantry.

To the editor:

It’s challenging to believe that there are families in the Lincoln and Weston communities who rely on contributions to a food panty, but there are. Since 2003, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) at St. Joseph Church has helped Lincoln clients in emergency situations.

The food pantry, located at St. Joseph Church in Lincoln, was opened in 2005 and is now serving about 25 families (46 people) each month. This service is supported by the members of St. Julia Parish (Weston/Lincoln) as well as those from St. Anne’s-in-the-Fields and the First Parish Church. The pantry receives food from the Greater Boston Food Pantry and is also supported by the MetroWest Hunger Relief Fund for the Foundation for MetroWest. Most client families are our neighbors or those who work within our Lincoln and Weston communities and who are experiencing an emergency or a period of financial challenge.

The food panty relies upon donations of staple foods (e.g., cans of soup, pasta, rice, juice) that can be stored as dry goods. We are fortunate to have the assistance of Donelan’s supermarket in Lincoln who has created space at the front of the store for a collection bin. We are asking residents of our town to make a small donation of a canned or boxed item when they do their shopping. A sign above the bin indicates the items that are needed most at a given time, but any nonperishable food is welcome. The bin will be emptied each week and the goods transported to the food pantry at St. Joseph Church.

Please note: the collection bin at Donelan’s is for food bought at the store only. If you would like to donate other nonperishable items, please drop them off at St. Joseph’s. Enter the church through the side entrance on the left side of the church, where the ramp is. There is a collection bin right there in the little entrance hall. We are not allowed to give out food that is past the “best by” date, or is in damaged or opened packages.

Please make time and space for this important work. It is more necessary than you think, and your investment in our community will be impactful and most appreciated.

If you are in need of food or would like more information, please call St. Julia Parish of Weston and Lincoln at 781 899 2611.

Sincerely,

Ursula Nowak (president of SVdP, St. Joseph Conference)
33 Conant Road

Nick, Gretchen and Peter Covino
15 Mackintosh Lane

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.

Lincoln residents can get discounts on solar installation

A rooftop solar array in Chicago (image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Lincoln is one of three towns selected by the state to participate in Solarize Mass, a program where residents can get lower pricing from an approved vendor of residential rooftop solar installations.

Sponsored by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Council (MassCEC), Solarize lets residents of a community to enter into a competitive pricing agreement with a preferred solar installer following a vetting process. Representatives from Lincoln, Wayland, and Sudbury’s energy committees are working with MassCEC to promote solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar hot water for residential rooftop installation. This program helps consumers by keeping costs lower—historically, up to 21% lower—and ensuring that installations are of high quality. Lincoln participated in the same program five years ago.

“Following the success of the 2012 Solarize Lincoln program and building on the increasing momentum of greener energy among residents means the time is ripe for another round,” said Jennifer Haugh of the Green Energy Committee (GEC) in a press release. “We’ve seen so much interest and excitement among residents, and it’s clear our communities are ready.”

In addition to finding a vendor for solar photovoltaic, the three towns were also selected to engage in a pilot project, Solarize Plus, which will engage a separate vendor to offer solar hot water. Unlike solar photovoltaic, which converts direct sunlight to electricity, solar hot water transfers heat from the atmosphere directly to a hot water tank in the home. This technology can be more forgiving of shadier rooftops but may require ongoing investments and maintenance.

In the coming weeks, GEC members will work with MassCEC and the towns of Wayland and Sudbury to accept and review bids for both solar photovoltaic and solar hot water providers. The team expects to announce a winner and launch the program this summer.

Since its launch in 2011, 58 cities and towns have participated in Solarize Mass, resulting in more than 3,400 new small-scale installations at homes and businesses totaling 20.6 megawatts of solar capacity.

Bylaw change maximizes rooftop solar

Residents voted at Town Meeting in March to remove a zoning bylaw setback requirement on rooftops, which will create additional space for rooftop solar arrays. GEC member Jim Hutchinson, who presented the warrant article, said the measure could make the difference for some Lincoln residents looking to install solar on smaller rooftops.

“In one case, that [former] one-foot setback requirement reduced the amount of rooftop available by 44 percent,” he said. “Having more viable space makes the decision to go solar that much more feasible for homeowners.”

A related bylaw change increased the maximum allowed height for ground-mounted solar from 10 feet to 12. The Planning Board may also now grant waivers to the solar installation requirements on a case-by-case basis.

Survey results town’s interest in solar

A survey in late February indicated strong interest on the part of Lincolnites in exploring investments in solar options for residences. Of 127 respondents, 66.4 percent were “very interested” and 23 percent were “somewhat interested” in finding out more about group purchasing and favorable pricing of solar equipment, installation, and/or solar electricity, with the remaining 10.7 percent indicating “other”—which primarily consisted of current solar owners who are enthusiastic about their arrays.

From a question regarding the motivations for interest in solar, 90 percent of respondents indicated a concern for climate change and 65 percent were concerned about the global politics of fossil fuels, whereas 56.7 percent were interested in solar in terms of an economic investment.

Of 117 responses to a question regarding types of solar of interest to Lincoln residents, 53.8 percent were homeowners interested in solar arrays for their own rooftops, and 37.6 percent were interested in sharing a sunshine-harvesting somewhere else.

A question about additional energy-efficiency opportunities yielded 48.3 percent of respondents interested in monitoring electric loads in their homes to find phantom loads, with additional interest in having home energy assessments (HEAs) and learning more about electric vehicles.

Optimizing energy use

Solarize is one of several residential energy programs offered by the GEC. Residents are urged to consider ways of conserving energy in their homes first before investing in the supply side, according to Lincoln Energy Challenge coordinator Sue Klem.

“Solar PVs are a great way to minimize your carbon footprint, but you’ll want to optimize your home for energy efficiency first,” she said. “The best way to find out how to make your home as efficient as possible is to get a home energy assessment” or HEA.

Massachusetts has one of the nation’s top statewide energy-efficiency programs in partnership with MassSave, a nonprofit funded through utility fees. Lincoln works with a company called HomeWorks Energy to perform no-cost HEAs, where an energy auditor comes to check a residence for air leaks, proper insulation, lighting, and other sources of inefficiency. They can replace incandescent bulbs with free LED light bulbs, leave free “smart” power strips, and perform on-the-spot air sealing for drafty homes. HEA auditors can also offer recommendations for energy-efficiency improvements, often supported by tax incentives.

For more information on obtaining a no-cost HEA, visit www.lincolnenergychallenge.org or call 781-305-3319.

Children’s maple sugar project raises almost $2,000

Lincoln School third-graders sample the maple syrup they helped make.

The third grade at Lincoln School recently completed its annual educational and charitable maple syrup collaboration with Nancy Bergen and Ephraim Flint at Matlock Farm, where the students tap trees, collect the sap, and learn all about the process, nature, mathematics, and writing along the way. Nancy and Ephraim served as guides to the students, sharing their knowledge and imparting an appreciation for this time-honored local resource.

This year the group raised $1,920 (easily topping last year’s total of $1,400) and made donations to the Ronald McDonald House, Doctors Without Boarders, and Codman Farm.

News acorns

No charges filed in 2016 bike accident

No criminal or civil motor vehicle charges will be filed in the wake of an accident in Lincoln on June 16, 2016 that claimed the life of Eugene Thornberg of Wayland. Thornberg, 61, was killed while bicycling on Route 126 just south of Hillside Road. The decision comes after an investigation by Lincoln Police Department, Middlesex District Attorney’s office and Massachusetts State Police. 

A second fatal accident involving a bicyclist last summer is still under investigation, Lincoln Chief of Police Kevin Kennedy reported. Westford resident Mark Himelfarb, 59, was killed in an August 17 accident on Virginia Road about 200 feet north of intersection with Old Bedford Road.

Eric Chivian to speak at LLCT gala

Dr. Eric Chivian with a Colombian tree frog.

The Lincoln Land Conservation Trust annual meeting and 60th anniversary celebration takes place on Thursday, May 18 from 6–9 p.m. at the Pierce House. The evening starts with a reception and music by Colonial Jazz with Jim White and hors d’oeuvres by Trail’s End Cafe. Wine and beer will be served.

After a brief business meeting at 7:25, Dr. Eric Chivian, physician and Nobel laureate, will give a talk on “Human Health and the Environment.” Chivian will discuss how medical models can help people understand the implications of our altering of the global environment by translating the abstract, technical science of these changes into the concrete, personal, everyday language of human health.

While a staff psychiatrist in the MIT Medical Department, Chivian co-founded International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its efforts to highlight the implications of nuclear conflict for global health. He is on the Harvard Medical School faculty and directs the nonprofit Program for Preserving the Natural World, Inc. Copies of his book Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity will be available for purchase.

Bike to school on May 19

In celebration of National Bike Month, and in collaboration with Lincoln Cycling Safety Advisory Committee, hop on your bicycle for an environmentally friendly, good-for-your-body, fun ride to school on Friday, May 19. Don’t forget your helmet!

Dr. Timothy Johnson at St. Anne’s

Dr. Timothy Johnson

Physician, author, minister and St. Anne’s-in-the-Fields Church parishioner Timothy Johnson will host a forum on the state of U.S. health care and what’s at stake with the new administration’s proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act at the St. Anne’s on Sunday, May 21 at 9 a.m. That afternoon, Still Your Soul will be a service of Contemplative Holy Eucharist, with time to soothe the soul before the beginning of another busy week.

Town seeks members for new community center planning group

The Board of Selectmen is seeking volunteers for the new Community Center Planning and Preliminary Design Committee (CCPPDC) to fill the roster by June 12 after approving the charge to the committee on May 8.

Residents approved $150,000 at Town Meeting in March to commission a feasibility study and draft design for a community center to be located on the Hartwell side of the school campus. The facility will meet the needs of the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Council on Aging as well as other town groups. The CCPPDC will work closely with the newest School Building Committee (SBC), which held its first meeting on May 3.

Selectmen are seeking four community members to serve on the CCPPDC who have experience in fields that are relevant to the committee’s work, such as architecture, planning or design, project management, or community engagement. Those interested should send letters of interest, mentioning relevant experience, to the Board of Selectmen via email to at ElderP@lincolntown.org by Friday, June 2.

The board will appoint members of the CCPPDC at its meeting on June 12. The committee will hold its first meeting the following week and will present public updates (including at the fall 2018 State of the Town meting). If possible, there will be a final report and/or town vote at the spring 2018 Town Meeting.

As its long name implies, the CCPPDC has limited scope, selectmen said. If and when the town chooses to move forward with a community center project, the committee’s preliminary design and cost estimate would be developed by a community center building committee.

The duties of the CCPPDC will include:

  • Gathering stakeholder input, and plan regular communication with and input from relevant town boards, committees, and the community.
  • Hiring a design firm to develop preliminary design plans and provide detailed cost estimates. Selectmen and the School Committee hold out the possibility that one firm could be hired to support both the school building project and the community center process.
  • Developing a detailed program of activities that would take place in a new community center and an assessment of space requirements and optimal adjacencies for the program
  • Evaluate several previously identified community center building locations within the Hartwell area, and any others that may be identified, and develop a preferred building location and supporting Hartwell campus site plan. This will require close coordination with the SBC, particularly with respect to things like future plans for the after-school program, the school’s shop area, any changes in use at the Hartwell main building, parking demands, any reorientation of the Ballfield Road roadway network or playing fields, the possible use of the pods as swing space during school construction, potential shared space opportunities, etc.

“Options for the community center must pair logically with options for the Lincoln School project to ensure all current and desired functions of the campus are included in the overarching plan for the campus,” according to the CCPDC charge.

As with the SBC, membership on the CCPPDC will entail many hours, hard work, and complicated conversations, but also offers a unique and exciting opportunity to participate in the creation of a central piece of the community and the future of the town, selectmen noted. Anyone with questions about the responsibilities and expectations of committee membership should send email before the deadline to the e-mail address above.

The PPDC will also include representatives from the Board of Selectmen, Council on Aging, Parks and Recreation Committee, Planning Board and Finance Committee. Selectmen are encouraging additional boards and committees such as the Conservation Commission, Green Energy Committee, Historical Commission, parent organizations and the Disabilities Commission to appoint liaisons to the CCPPDC.

Hydration station opens in Station Park

Lincoln Garden Club members Sue Seeley and Agnes Wiggin, and Lincoln DPW foreman Steve McDonald.

The Lincoln Garden Club dedicated the new public hydration station at Station Park in South Lincoln on May 6. The water fountain will allow pedestrians and bicyclists to stop for individual drinks of water and fill water bottles.

In a brief ceremony, Garden Club members thanked some of the people who helped create the facility, including Chris Bibbo, superintendent of the Department of Public Works, and his foreman, Steve McDonald, who performed the installation; and the Board of Water Commissioners and Greg Woods, superintendent of the Water Department, who funded the water connection. The Garden Club provided funding from previous fundraisers, particularly the garden tour in 2015. Sue Seeley cut the ribbon to officially open the hydration station.

Station Park was created in 1970 and has been maintained by the Garden Club since 1972. In 2015, the club installed a native flower bed with over 300 plants.

After that everyone enjoyed a refreshing glass of Lincoln water. The photos courtesy of Bob Wadsworth is of Lincoln Garden Club members Sue Seeley and Agnes Wiggin and Steve McDonald, Lincoln DPW Foreman. The other is of Denise Bienfang, Club president

Denise Bienfang, president of the Lincoln Garden Club.

Group uses humor and art to tag gas leaks

Athena Montori hangs one of the gas leak signs along with a tasseled scarf on a tree near Lincoln Woods.

A group of enthusiastic volunteers posted “tree couture” tassels to mark gas leaks in town on May 7.

Lincoln’s chapter of Mothers Out Front staged the event to draw attention to underground gas leaks. They hung brightly colored scarves—knitted by members and decorated with tassels as part of a “tree couture” designed by landscape designer and artist Carol Michener Card—along with notices calling attention to some of the underground natural gas leaks in town. These leaks contribute to global warming, but utilities are not required to repair them unless they pose an immediate danger. There are more than 40 known leaks in Lincoln.

Along with opening speakers, organizers sold “leaky lemonade” in cups with holes purposely punched in the bottom to illustrate the idea that consumers still pay for leaked gas.

Alex Chatfield pretends to be outraged at the lemonade leaking from his cup as Selectman Jennifer Glass (left) looks on.

Lincoln Mothers Out Front listen as founding member Trish O’Hagan speaks about mobilizing for a livable climate.

Service on Monday for Ted Charrette, 57

Ted Charrette

A memorial service will be held on Monday, May 8 at 11 a.m. at the Stone Church (14 Bedford Rd.) for Edmond E. (Ted) Charrette, who died on May 3 of brain cancer. He was 57. The family will hold visiting hours on Sunday, May 7 from 2–6 p.m. at the Douglass Funeral Home,  51 Worthen Rd., Lexington.

“Ted loved Lincoln, which he saw through the eyes of his children, and as someone who relished running its trails, cycling its roads, skating the ponds and river, canoeing on Farrar Pond, visiting Codman Farm, and participating in town and youth sports activities,” said his friend Deborah Howe.

“Wrapping up his tenure as treasurer of Lincoln Youth Soccer, last year he arranged the collection of used youth soccer uniforms (thanks again, Donelan’s, for hosting the dropoff boxes) which he then sized, sorted, and distributed to children’s soccer teams in Africa and Central America. He enjoyed Lincoln’s small-town neighborliness, and appreciated the back-fence flavor of this list, the chance encounters with friends and colleagues in Donelan’s, on the trails, and of course, at the transfer station, where he could compare notes on chicken-raising, bee-keeping, wood-splitting, or lawn tractor transmission-rebuilding with fellow Lincolnites.”

After finishing his first career in technology business development, he became a math and science teacher, and tutored a number of local students in math. He loved to teach, and in addition to being an avid cyclist, a marathoner, hiker, and skier, he combined two loves by teaching skiing at Wachusett Mountain on winter weekends until 2016.

Ted leaves two sons, Freddy and his wife (Marta) of Princeton and Jackson of Durango, Colo.; a daughter, Cecelia Charrette of Cambridge; and two grandsons, Roberto Rafael Charrette and Edmond Alexander Charrette. He was the beloved son of Edmond E. and Maria T. (Spaziano) Charrette of Lexington, and brother of Susan Charrette of River Forest, Ill.; Thomas and his wife Jennifer of Yarmouth, Maine; Steven and his wife Julie of Wenham; and Paul and his wife Monika of Menlo Park, Calif.; and uncle to eight nieces and nephews. Donations in his memory may be made to the National Brain Tumor Society, 55 Chapel St. Suite 200, Newton, Mass.

School Building Committee holds first meeting

The new School Building Committee, appointed by the School Committee on April 11, held its first meeting on May 3. Members voted to appoint Chris Fasciano as chair, Kim Bodnar as vice chair, and Selectman Jennifer Glass as secretary.

As outlined in its charge, the SBC will create a feasibility study resulting in plans and cost estimates for a Lincoln School renovation project costing at least $30 million. In March, voters approved releasing $750,000 to fund work by consultants the group will hire. The group will work closely with a community center building committee, which will be producing its own feasibility study.

The SBC’s next meeting will be Wednesday, May 17 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose Room. The tentative agenda includes a review of a draft Request for Services (RFS), the first step in the hiring of an owner’s project manager. A subcommittee comprising Creel, Nicholson, and Sugar is preparing the draft for review by the full committee.

Members of the SBC are:

  • Becky McFall, Superintendent of Schools
  • Buckner Creel, Lincoln Public Schools Administrator for Business and Finance
  • Michael Haines, Town Facilities Manager
  • Sharon Hobbs, Brooks School Principal
  • Timothy Christenfeld, School Committee
  • Jennifer Glass, Board of Selectmen
  • Gina Halsted, Finance Committee
  • Kimberly Bodnar, community member
  • Chris Fasciano, community member
  • Craig Nicholson, community member
  • Steven Perlmutter, community member
  • Peter Sugar, community member

The following liaisons were also appointed by their respective organizations, with more expected:

  • Doug Adams, Liaison, Historic Commission
  • Ed Lang, Liaison, Green Energy Committee
  • John Ritz, Liaison, Lincoln Council on Disabilities
  • Ian Spencer, Liaison, Public Safety
  • Gary Taylor, Liaison, Planning Board