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

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Members sought for new economic development group

The Board of Selectmen is soliciting members for the formation of an Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC). This is one of two new groups proposed for the purpose of economic development in Lincoln; the other is the South Lincoln Implementation Planning Committee.

Based on the feedback received during and in follow-up to a December 16 breakfast meeting, there appears to be substantial interest within the business community for the creation of an organization as contemplated by the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board. Approximately 30 people representing a broad spectrum of for-profit and not-for-profit businesses attended the breakfast.

Officials also issued an online survey with 14 people responding. The key takeaways from the survey are:

  • The majority of respondents described their interest level in the EDAC concept as either moderate or high.
  • The key roles that respondents would like the EDAC to play are:
    • Opportunity for networking
    • Outreach and identification of economic opportunities
    • Highlighting businesses to bring awareness
    • Advising boards and committees on policies and sharing of resources
  • 70% indicated a willingness to help lead the organization.
  • 85% indicated that they would be willing to make a modest financial contribution to fund expenses.

The charge for the group can be found here. Anyone interested in serving as a member should email Jennifer Burney, Director of Planning and Land Use, at burneyj@lincolntown.org by Tuesday, Feb. 28. Please include a summary of your background.

Two commercial properties moving toward next chapter

By Alice Waugh

Two prominent commercial properties in South Lincoln will see some changes—and perhaps new tenants—in the coming months.

152 Lincoln Rd., formerly occupied by the Cambridge Trust Co. until the branch closed its doors last year, was purchased in November by Cambridge West Partners for $1,015,000. Meanwhile, the new owners of the mansard-roofed building at 2 Lewis St. are continuing renovations they began after they bought it from Sejfi Protopapa in November 2015 for $850,000.

152 Lincoln Rd.

The new owner at 152 Lincoln Rd. has hired KeyPoint Partners to find a replacement occupant for the 3,375-square-foot space in a building that is also home to Barrett Sotheby’s International Realty and other tenants. Decades ago, the Community Store, Lincoln’s grocery store before the mall across the street was built, occupied the entire building, which was faced with pink stucco.

Although the Cambridge Trust Co. is obviously set up as a bank, many kinds of businesses would work there, said KeyPoint’s Michael Branton. “Because it’s a fully built-out bank branch with teller stations and a drive-up window, a financial services tenant could move in easily. However, the property is suitable for a variety of uses, from retail to professional services to office,” he said.

The distinctive Lewis Street property, also known as the Wyman Cook House dating from 1870, currently has four commercial tenants, though one of them—a field office of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)—will leave in the spring now that its work overseeing the Route 2 project is almost complete. The other three businesses (the Lincoln Barber Shop, Lincoln Town Cleaners and the Travel Station) are tenants at will, and “everyone can stay as long as they’d like to,” said Christina Van Vleck, who co-owns the building with her husband David Nydam Jr.

Back in South Lincoln’s commercial heyday, the building was home to a post office and general store. More recent tenants have included a ski and bike shop, a cafe, and educational software company Lexia Learning Systems.

2 Lewis St.

The top two floors have been vacant for years, and the Van Vlecks are renovating it with the goal of moving their family into the 2,800-square-foot space. They’re also planning some work on the exterior, including exterior paintwork to change the familiar mint green. “We will definitely paint it a new color, which will be a welcome change for everyone,” Van Vleck said with a laugh. Depending on budget, future plans may include replacing the vestibule that was “pasted in the front of the building” with a more traditional front porch, and replacing the aluminum siding with wood or fiber cement siding.

Once the Van Vlecks and their three-year-old move in, “we hope to participate more actively by being landlords and helping foster businesses,” said Van Vleck, a graphic designer who works out of her home.

The Van Vlecks are talking to potential tenants for the 1,900-square-foot space currently occupied by MassDOT and hope to have one in place by early summer. “We very much hope that the building provides space for business owners living in Lincoln or neighboring communities to work close to home and, ideally, provides a service that meets a need within the local community,” Van Vleck said.

Groups proposed for economic development, south Lincoln

shopTwo new committees to promote business development in Lincoln are being proposed.

At a Board of Selectmen meeting earlier this month, Director of Planning and Land Use Jennifer Burney offered a proposal for an Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) and a South Lincoln Implementation Planning Committee (SLPIC) to the Board of Selectmen earlier this month. Creating groups to focus on economic development and south Lincoln were among the recommendations of the 2009 Comprehensive Long Range Plan.

The EDAC would be similar to an Economic Development Commission or a Chamber of Commerce found in many towns, but it would expand its membership to include nonprofit Lincoln-based organizations. The group’s goal would be “to help attract, retain and grow businesses (for profit and non-profits) and jobs in Lincoln that respects Lincoln’s character and adds to the quality of local residential life by providing goods, services and amenities desired by residents, jobs and livelihoods for Lincoln residents, and tax revenue that support the town services that are important to Lincoln residents.”

If approved, selectmen would appoint nine members to the EDAC, and the Planning Board would appoint seven members to the SLPIC. Each group would include members from the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board, the Rural Land Foundation, business owners, and an at-large member with experience in retail estate or business development. The EDAC would also include a member from a nonprofit such as a farm or cultural/historical organization.

Aside from its focus on South Lincoln, the SLPIC would be more project-oriented than the EDAC. It could create working groups for specific projects drawing on other one-time members, such as a people from the Department of Public Works and the bicycling community for a signage project, or a marketing consultant to work with business owners on marketing and displays, Burney explained.

“It’s a way to find out who’s out there and what they’re struggling with. Do you have a vacancy rate? How can we help you fill your vacancy rate? Are you planning to expand, and If so, how can we keep you in Lincoln?” she said.

Burney’s proposal also included economic data, some of which was also presented in the 2014 Lincoln Station Planning Study.

  • In 2015, there were 190 establishments in Lincoln that provided 2,034 jobs with a total of $143 million in wages.
  • The North Lincoln office development near Hanscom Field has a vacancy rate of 30-40 percent.
  • The Mall at Lincoln Station earns only $7.7 million per year in sales and “leaks” as much as 80 percent of total consumer spending in adjacent towns.
  • Lincoln has a median household income of $150,000, with over 40 percent earning a combined income of $200,000 or more.

Planning Board member Gary Taylor noted that South Lincoln is at a transition point with two new restaurants opening, even as commercial space across the street remains vacant.

“I really think we have an opportunity here to chart a new path with respect to economic development and particularly South Lincoln,” he said. “We’ve never really [said to businesses] that we really want to get behind you and we want to listen to you.”

“As a Planning Board member, I feel revisiting South Lincoln is a really important mission and something that excites me,” board member Lynn DeLisi said. “We spend a lot of time deciding whether people should have spruce trees or Eastern cedars or whatever, but really the heart of the matter is revitalizing the town.”

Selectman were cautious, saying they had questions about the missions and membership criteria of the two groups. They wondered if the business community would include those with home offices in town, or those who are Lincoln residents but run successful businesses elsewhere.

The two proposed groups seem to have a lot of overlap, said Selectman James Craig, the liaison to the Planning Board, adding that he wanted to “talk more and see why this can’t be under one umbrella.” However, Town Administrator Tim Higgins, who worked with Burney on the proposal, said he saw the value in having two separate groups and recommended that approach to her.

The EDAC was a particularly valuable asset in Ayer, where he was previously town administrator, he said. “I certainly didn’t realize just the power of networking” for the business community, Higgins said. “It’s a nice way of businesses getting to know one another and understand one another, regardless of any specific action items that might come.”

“I’d like to go a little slower and take it under advisement,” Selectman Peter Braun said.

Burney will meet with Higgins and Craig to discuss the EDAC further, and Craig will report back to the other selectmen. The Planning Board will reach out to other boards and committees to explain the SLPIC and its charge to see if there is interest in serving on the group or a subcommittee.

Whistle Stop closes abruptly, leaving mall without a restaurant

Chairs and tables remained outside the shuttered Whistle Stop on Monday.

Chairs and tables remained outside the shuttered Whistle Stop on Monday.

The Whistle Stop restaurant has gone out of business, becoming the second Lincoln restaurant since May to close its doors.

Customers who stopped by on Monday morning were greeted with signs scrawled on small white paper bags taped to the doors saying “Closed — Thanks for the Memories” and “Closed — 08/04/04–7/16/16  — Thank You Lincoln.”

As she was leaving church on Sunday, July 17 (a day when the Whistle Stop would normally be closed), resident Sara Mattes noticed owner Brian Mehigan inside the restaurant. He told her that he was indeed closing and that it had been “a labor of love for a number of years and a lot of fun” but that he was “tired.”

Mehigan, a Stow resident, could not be reached for comment on Monday.

The Whistle Stop property, like the rest of the Mall at Lincoln Station, is owned by the Rural Land Foundation (RLF). Mehigan was “not current on his rent,” RLF Executive Director Geoff McGean said on Monday, adding that he did not know anything about his tenant’s financial situation. “We were not aware of Brian’s intention to leave until Saturday,” he said.

signSeveral weeks ago, Mehigan was served with a notice to correct sanitation code violations or be forced to close after an inspection by Assistant Public Health Director Stanley Sosnicki. Mehigan corrected the problems shortly thereafter and appeared before the Lincoln Board of Health on June 15, where board members told him he was required to take a food safety course and submit to more frequent inspections. It is not known whether this incident played any role in the Whistle Stop’s closing, however.

Mehigan bought the business in 2004 from Steve Flood, who had operated it for 12 years prior to that, McGean said. It became a social magnet for those seeking a cup of coffee, sandwich and a chat, and many of Mehigan’s regular customers helped him celebrate the fifth anniversary of his ownership in 2009. Middle-school students from the Lincoln School often walked there on Wednesdays (a half-day at school) to grab lunch, socialize and be greeted by Donk, Mehigan’s dog who hung around the outdoor tables around the restaurant.

In 2004, some Whistle Stop regulars pitched in to help a homeless family acquire and move furniture, and Mehigan contributed lunch for the gang, according to a Lincoln Journal article.

Lincoln resident Richard Card is hoping to open Blazes, a combination restaurant, cocktail bar and bookstore, in the former Aka Bistro space, but a lease agreement with RLF has not yet been finalized, Card said on Monday.

As word spread on Monday morning of the Whistle Stop’s demise, residents on the LincolnTalk email list mourned the loss and mused about the reason. Some expressed the hope that the restaurant would be replaced by a business that served high-quality coffee, even as others speculated that the South Lincoln shopping area does not attract enough customers to sustain many businesses. Over the years, the mall’s tenants have included a hardware store and a flower shop, while the red building adjacent to the railroad station once housed a pharmacy.

Help guide the future of housing in Lincoln

houseThe Lincoln Housing Commission invites residents to participate in a survey about the town’s new five-year Housing Plan—and it’s also looking for new commission member.

The Housing Commission wants to understand what residents think Lincoln’s housing priorities should be and what kinds of housing needs should be addressed in the new plan. Results from this survey will help make the plan appropriate for Lincoln and realistic for implementation over the next five years.

For purposes of the survey, “affordable housing” means a home that moderate-income people can own or rent at a monthly housing cost that’s approximately 30 percent of their gross monthly income. In Lincoln’s area, a family of four with an annual income of $65,000 per year qualifies as moderate income.

The housing survey is now available online and in hard copy at the Council on Aging, the Lincoln Public Library, and other locations around town. The online survey is also linked to the Town of Lincoln home page.

The commission is seeking a new member for a three-year term to help make a significant contribution to the future of affordable housing in Lincoln. The group meets twice a month on the first and third Fridays at 8 a.m. Please call Pamela Gallup at 781-259-0393 to learn more.