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

Town budget Q&A session on Tuesday

The Finance Committee is hosting a budget Q&A session on Zoom on Tuesday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m., an hour after a presentation by the Water Department (see related story).

As with other town groups appearing at Town Meeting on May 15, the FinCom asks residents to offer questions and feedback beforehand to keep the May 15 meeting as short as possible. The Zoom Q&A session will not include the full budget hearing presentation, which took place on April 27 and can be viewed on the town’s video meeting website or on YouTube, which allows accelerated playback. However, the May 11 session will be recorded and posted.

A summary of the proposed town budget for fiscal 2022 (click image to enlarge).

The FinCom projects that both revenue and expenditures will increase by 5.4% overall (see chart).

Additional resources:

 

Panel opts to stay the course with current water treatment plant

The Water Commission voted to stay the course with the current water treatment plant after analyzing a consultant’s report that also examined the pros and cons of building a new plant or applying to join the MWRA system.

The commission will also hold a public forum on its Annual Town Meeting budget requests via Zoom on Tuesday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. (see below).

A cost summary of there three options studied by Tata and Howard (click image to enlarge).

In the wake of skyrocketing spending in recent years for modernizing the water treatment plant, which is based on older technology, Tata and Howard presented costs and benefits of three paths forward in a draft report in February:

  1. Keeping the existing plant and paying for whatever future upgrades it may need
  2. Building a new and larger plant using current technology that’s better able to cope with current and emerging contaminants
  3. Decommissioning the plant and applying to get town water from the MWRA

According to the report, a new plant would cost between $17.4 and $20.6 million, while connecting to the MWRA through one of the adjacent member towns would cost $8 million. A new plant would also have to be sited on a separate piece of property since it would have to be built while the current plant is still operating. The land nearby on Sandy Pond Road is town-owned but is conservation land., so using any of that would require finding an equivalent amount of land elsewhere in town to put into conservation to compensate.

Former Conservation Director Thomas Gumbart said he had been approached about taking land out of conservation for municipal service and “strongly warned” that conservation land is not meant to be “a municipal land bank,” Water Commission member Michelle Barnes relayed at the panel’s February 25 meeting.

The likelihood that the MWRA would accept an application from Lincoln is very low, because the town already has an adequate supply of drinking water, and it would be unprecedented for a community to be accepted purely on financial grounds.

Opting for a new plant or joining the MWRA doesn’t make sense at this point because after next year, relatively little money will have to be spent on the current plant, compared to the large amounts of capital investment required for the other two options, Commission Chair Jim Hutchinson said at the group’s April 12 meeting when it voted unanimously to stay with the existing approach.

About $3.62 million must be spent on capital projects between now and 2042 to keep the current plant running, according to the report. A new plant would cost an estimated $478,000 per year to operate and maintain, compared to $348,000 a year for the existing plant and more than $1 million annually if Lincoln went with the MWRA. The MWRA’s annual assessments are slated to rise by 3.9% per year for the next 10 years, Hutchinson noted.

Although sticking with the status quo makes sense for now, the commission may find itself revisiting the MWRA option sometime in the next 20 years when the current treatment plants nears the end of its useful life, Barnes said. The group will redo its analysis every 10 years “as the time approaches to do a major overhaul on the water treatment plan to see if a different decision would make sense in the future,” member Ruth Ann Hendrickson said this week.

One of the concerns about staying with the current plant was whether it would be able to handle the increased levels of TTHM even after the upcoming installation of a new $680,000 coagulation system. Levels have been slowly rising over the years as an indirect result of more organic matter in Flint’s Pond, which may be due to warming temperatures.

The new coagulation system should take care of the problem, but if necessary, the plant could switch to treating the water with a different class of chemicals called chloramines. This would require advance public notification because chloramines must first be removed from water before it can be used in fish tanks and for dialysis.

Budget forum on Tuesday

The Water Department’s budget requests for the coming fiscal year include $1.88 million in operating costs (a 2.5% increase over this year’s total) as well as $907,600 in capital spending, which will necessitate borrowing $830,000 if approved.

The larger of the two capital items is $480,000 to replace the Tower Road well, pump, and piping. During the dry months, the maximum yield of the well (which came online in the 1960s) is limited because of the age, style, and condition of the existing well screen where raw water iron and manganese collect, and cleaning capabilities are limited.

The Water Department’s proposed operating and capital budgets for the fiscal year beginning in July (click image to enlarge).

This year, the Water Commission formally reviewed its budget plans with the Finance Committee and the Capital Planning Committee as the town requested, although it wasn’t required to do so because it is a separate entity funded entirely by user fees. The request came after huge budget increase and borrowing in 2019 and 2020 and staffing for both the department and its overseeing commission were in flux. Former Finance Commission chair Jim Hutchinson was elected to the commission last year and is now the chair.

There will be no increase in water usage rates or base fees next year. Going forward, the commission is “striving to get back to a more ‘steady state’ level of requests for FY23,” Hutchinson said last month, though some capital spending is to be expected every year. In April 2020, water usage rates were hiked by 28% and base charges went up 43% in addition to the borrowing, while the operating budget request rose by 38%.

Click here for the Zoom link for the May 11 forum, or go to the Annual Meeting web page for links to this and other presentations ahead of the May 15 Town Meeting.

Police log for April 24–30, 2021

April 24

Cambridge Turnpike eastbound (5:06 p.m.) — Two-car crash at Bedford Road; no injuries. Lincoln officers assisted state police.

April 25

Lincoln North office building (3:27 a.m.) — Officer checked on a party in the parking lot of the office building while conducting a routine patrol. The individual is known to the officer and was out for a walk.

Merriam Street, Weston (9:50 a.m.) — Weston Fire Department requested an engine for a report of a fire. Lincoln firefighters responded and were cleared a short time after arrival.

Sandy Pond Road (3:45 p.m.) — Caller reported people fishing in the reservoir. Officer located a group of juveniles who were sent on their way.

April 26

Paul Revere lot, North Great Road (12:58 a.m.) — Officer checked on a vehicle parked in the lot that was unoccupied. A group of five individuals came out of the woods and returned to the vehicle and went on their way.

Conant Road (8:25 a.m.) — Weston police asked for an officer to temporarily block Conant Road due to a motor vehicle crash in Weston.

Hanscom Schools (11:05 a.m.) — School staff reported graffiti occurred sometime over the school break. Officer documented the damage and advised Hanscom Security Forces.

Weston Road (5:22 p.m.) — Officer stopped a bicyclist for a stop sign violation and gave them a verbal warning.

Sandy Pond Road (7:09 p.m.) — Brush fire in the woods between deCordova and Canaan Drive. Fire Department was tied up with the incident for over an hour and Hanscom Fire Department was asked to cover the station.

April 27

Police station (6:56 p.m.) — A person turned in old ammunition to be destroyed.

April 28

Old Concord Road (7:1 a.m.) — Caller reported a goat running in the area. Officer checked but was unable to locate it.

Concord Road (11:43 a.m.) — A person called to request a well-being check on a party that they couldn’t get in touch with. Fire Department assisted in gaining access to the home. All was well.

April 29

Police station (4:57 p.m.) — A walk-in reported losing a piece of jewelry while on a trail near Walden Pond.

Greenridge Lane (5:02 p.m.) — Caller requested information on a dog that was turned in. Animal Control was contacted and advised to get in contact with the caller.

Indian Camp Lane (8:29 a.m.) — Caller requested a well-being check as they couldn’t get in touch with their family member. Officer responded and no one was home, but the caller was able to get in contact with the party and everything was fine.

Wells Road (9:22 p.m.) — Caller reported hearing a banging noise in her kitchen. Officer responded and found maintenance was working nearby fixing an issue.

April 30

Weston Road (3:47 p.m.) — Officer stopped a bicyclist for a stop sign violation and gave them a verbal warning.

Ryan Estates (6:45 p.m.) — A third-party caller reported a gas odor in the boiler room. Fire Department responded and checked the building but found no gas readings.

Tower Road (8:33 p.m.) — Caller reported a goat running in the area. Officer checked but was unable to locate it.

News acorns

Conservation Coffees resume

Conservation Coffees are starting again via Zoom. The first one on Thursday, May 6 from 8–9 a.m. This summer we’ll chat about birds in your backyard, Conservation Department staffing changes, Chapman Pasture restoration, beavers at Mt. Misery, Twin Pond land protection, the annual garlic mustard pull, and a Lincoln Station update. All are invited; please register here to receive the Zoom link. Click here to join the Conservation Coffee listserv and receive monthly invites.

Exercise with other seniors in Pierce House tent

Outdoor exercise for senior is back. Join Derry Tanner, retired nurse and certified personal trainer, for Stay Active and Independent for Life (SAIL), a 45-minute fitness class for adults 65+. Strength, balance, and flexibility exercises will make you stronger, feel better and improve your balance minimizing the risk of falls. The eight-week series runs from Friday, May 7 through June 25 from 12–12:45 p.m. in the Pierce House tent. To register, call Amy at the Council on Aging at 781-259-8811 or email gagnea@lincolntown.org.

Hanscom students excel in National History Day contest

Hanscom Middle School eighth-graders Morgan Gibson and Sophie Hrad took first place for the junior group documentary category in a National History Day (NHD) virtual statewide contest. NHD guides students in grades 6–12 through a year of historical research and inquiry, interpretation, and creative expression. Harnessing the effectiveness of student-centered, project-based learning, NHD asks students to research a historical topic and present their work as a documentary film, website, performance, paper, or exhibit. Students can enter their projects in local, regional, state, and national contests.

This is Morgan’s second year in a row advancing to the national competition. Both students also earned special recognition at the state contest for their exemplary documentary, “Ida B. Wells: Princess of the Press.” Their project will be shown at the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Juneteenth Showcase.

Bird-a-Thon is next weekend

Bird-a-thon, Mass Audubon’s biggest annual fundraiser, takes place Friday and Saturday, May 14-15 (6 p.m. to 6 p.m.) during peak spring migration period when participants of all ages and abilities will compete to identify the most bird species and complete nature activities in 24 hours.

Thirteen teams representing different wildlife sanctuaries will compete in the field, seeking birds and participating in nature activities (with masking and social distancing protocols). Also, in honor of the organization’s 125th anniversary, participants can choose to take on the challenge of completing a 125-item nature scavenger hunt.

Everyone is welcome to join a team virtually or in person, even if they’re a nature newcomer. To participate, donate, and learn more about Bird-a-thon, please visit www.massaudubon.org/birdathon.

“Native Plants, Climate Change, and Your Backyard”

Entomologist Doug Tallamy will present a MetroWest Climate Solutions (MCS) webinar on restoring biodiversity one yard at a time on Wednesday, May 19 at 7 p.m. Register here.

Native plants are a powerful tool to in the fight against climate change. For example, native grasses have deep roots that make them drought resistant, reduce soil erosion and flooding, filter pollutants from ground water and increase rainwater infiltration. These plants remove tons of carbon from the atmosphere and pump it into the soil.

Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. He is the author of several books, including Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens.

MetroWest Climate Solutions is a partnership among churches and individuals including the First Parish in Lincoln. 

Bemis Hall (virtual) concert

Music Street has uploaded this video of “Awakening to Spring,” a concert recorded on April 4 in an otherwise empty Bemis Hall featuring artistic director and Lincoln resident Diana Katzenberg Braun on piano, along with Eunghee Cho on cello and Genea Lewis on violin.

Conservation director wins statewide award

Michele Grzenda, Lincoln’s new Conservation Director, was awarded the Outstanding Public Service Award by the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC).

As the former Conservation Administrator in Weston, she wrote a Climate Change Adaption Plan for open space, helped complete a new handicapped-accessible trail network, led a successful land protection effort for Wellington Farm, and conducted a study on the ecological needs of Weston’s 30+ conservation fields. In 2020, she coordinated weekly Zoom meetings to help conservation professionals navigate the rapidly changing regulatory landscape during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Roundtable hosts session on LGBTQ+ partner abuse

Join the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable on Tuesday, May 11 from 3–4:30 p.m. on Zoom for a program and community discussion about partner abuse in LGBTQ+ communities. Registration is required for this program, which will include information on culturally specific resources and how to better support survivors. The discussion will be facilitated by staff from The Network/La Red. This is the third program in the Roundtable’s Spotlight Series featuring information for segments of our communities that face additional barriers when considering if and how to seek help or support.

Tune up your irrigation system and consider moisture sensors

Leaks in water irrigation systems are a common cause for shockingly high water bills. The Water Department has posted this document with tips for irrigation system tune-ups. Improperly adjusted or damaged systems or systems are not only bad for your wallet; they’re bad for your landscaping, since they can overwater or underwater sections of your plantings.

The department offers a rebate to defray the cost of upgrading with moisture sensors and compatible irrigation controllers. Fill out this application form, but you must also call ahead to reserve as the rebate fund is limited. Call 781-259-2669 or email bolanda@lincolntown.org.

Watch video on Americans and British buried in Lincoln

Each year, the Lincoln Minute Men commemorate the five British soldiers and eleven colonists buried in the town’s oldest burying ground—including one enslaved patriot who risked his life to secure liberty for all. The ceremony includes the stories and voices of those whose lives were changed by the events of April 19, 1775.

Because of Covid restrictions, the ceremony was canceled this year and last, but you can watch this 2020 video that tells their stories and serves as the Lincoln Minute Men’s commemoration again this year.

Donelan’s employee qualifies for world-class ski event

Erica Cyr at her post at the checkout at Donelan’s.

By Maureen Belt

Erica Cyr was seven years old when her parents outfitted her in skis and started her on downhill runs at Blue Hills Ski Area. She showed such promise that her father signed her up for a ski camp at Wachusett Mountain, a 90-minute ride each way from their Dorchester home.

The long car rides paid off as Cyr, now 39 and well-known in Lincoln for her friendy demeanor as a cashier at Donelan’s, recently qualified as a women’s alpine skier at the 2022 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Kazan, Russia.

“I’m very excited,” she said.

The games are scheduled to begin in February 2022 but, like just about everything else, are contingent on the state of the pandemic. The delegates will meet July 7 to decide if the games will be held. Cyr is hopeful for a green light not just for herself but the other athletes as well. “Everyone on my ski team has worked really hard,” she said.

If the games are on, Cyr, who now lives in Concord, will spend two weeks in Russia with her mother Betty Pettit, her father Jim Cyr, and her stepfather, all avid skiers. Heidi, her beloved goldendoodle, will mind the fort while she’s away.

Cyr’s earned her place on the Olympic roster earlier this month with two medal wins at Snowmass Ski Area in Aspen: the giant slalom and the super G. She also took first in the Vertical Challenge at Nashoba Valley Ski Area in February. And despite not yet knowing if she will be traveling abroad, she remains devoted to her training. Alpine ski racing is a demanding sport that requires physical and mental discipline, and she meets these requirements through workouts on and off the slopes.

Erica Cyr at the NASTAR National Championships at Aspen Snowmass in Colorado on April 5.

When snow is on the ground, Cyr dons her atomic Redster skis and trains locally at Nashoba, Wachusett Mountain, and Gunstock. She spends a few weeks every February and April in Aspen with coaches Joanie Valentine and Becky Wilson, and she gets her cardio exercise at home on her elliptical and stationery bike, where she also lifts weights. 

Mental stamina comes naturally. “I never get scared,” she said.

Focus, not fear, gets her through races at the local and national levels. “What goes through my head when I’m racing is that I want to try and get a medal, and if I don’t, that’s OK,” she said. “I can’t win all the medals all the time, so it will give someone else a chance.”

Before her recent silver-medal slalom performance, contestants and their coaches were allowed to inspect the course. Cyr and Valentine noted an abundance of hairpin turns, meaning Cyr would have to cut dangerously close to the gates without knocking any over or skipping any. There was no room for error, so she didn’t allow herself to make any.

“I really took my time and concentrated,” she said of the challenge. Armed with this winning mindset, Cyr swished past each gate straight to the podium.

Even if she weren’t a dedicated grocery employee, Cyr knows the importance of nutrition for elite athletes. “I eat lots of protein,” she said. Fish is the main go-to, and she supplements with shakes. 

As fearless off the slopes as on, Cyr is especially honored to be considered a frontline essential worker during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I find it very rewarding,” she said.

Cyr began at Donelan’s as a cashier five years ago. “The customers there are very nice,,” she said, adding she finds it flattering that they check in with her manager if she’s out for an extended period of time.

“They’ll ask, ‘Where’s Erica? Is she OK?’ And he’ll say, ‘She’s OK. Everything is fine, she’s just in Colorado at a ski race right now.’” Cyr is a longtime member of NASTAR (a grassroots program whose handicap system that lets recreational ski racers to compete and compare scores), so there’s a good chance she’s racing for a medal when not ringing in groceries. 

Cyr works at Donelan’s year-round and adds another part-time job in the summer. Until last year, she worked as an assistant counselor at Drumlin Farm. The pandemic nixed the 2020 season, and just like the possibility of going to the Olympics, she has to wait and see if there will be campers to counsel this year. When she is training in Colorado, she helps Wilson and Valentine coach the racing team of seven- and eight-year-old boys.

When not skiing, working the register, or spoiling Heidi, Cyr enjoys everything from choral singing to spending a Saturday night with friends at Kimball Farm. July 7, the day the delegates decide if the Special Olympics are on, is heavy on her mind, as is where to put any new medals. 

“Well,” she admitted, “I guess those are good problems to have.”  

Correction

The May 2 article headlined “Property tax proposal is topic of Monday night presentation” included an incorrect figure for shifting the total tex levy in years two and three in the proposed Property Tax Extended Circuit Breaker Program. The correct figure is 1.0%, not 1.5%. The article also should have specified that not every homeowner over 65 will be eligible, but only those who meet the state’s income limits. Also, the five-year residency requirement has always been part of the committee’s recommendation bu differs from the 10 years required by some other towns. Otherwise, the proposed program is identical to the one that has been offered in Sudbury since 2014.

 

My Turn: All those eligible should get the Covid-19 vaccination

By Chris Eliot

While many Americans have now been vaccinated against Covid-19, it is critical to vaccinate everyone who is medically eligible. Most estimates indicate 60-70% of the population must be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. Historically, approximately 10-15% of the population cannot take a vaccine for medical reasons. There is no approved vaccine for children, which are about 20% of the population. Adding up these numbers leaves no room for anyone to choose not to get the vaccine.

I am in favor of making the vaccine mandatory, but there are many prior steps that can be taken. We should create a shared incentive to get vaccinated by connecting relaxation of social distancing restrictions directly to vaccination rates. Currently, there is a highly opaque political process for deciding when to open up theaters, restaurants, and other areas, and this strange system does little to really encourage public acceptance of vaccination.

Instead, there should be specific advertised policy changes tied numerically to local vaccination rates. For example, when 50% of the medically eligible population in a community is vaccinated, there should be no requirement to wear masks outside. When 60% of the medically eligible population in a community is vaccinated, more businesses should be open at higher levels. The restrictions should be lifted in increments as 70%, 80%, 90%, and 95% of the medically eligible population of a community are vaccinated. This process would directly connect everyone’s contribution to public health measures to a tangible set of rewards. People would have a chance to take specific actions to achieve the common goals, empowering the population.

I believe this kind of measure is necessary for us to reach full vaccination and end the Covid pandemic.

Eliot is a computer scientist with a background in medical teaching software and chair of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission.

“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.

Property tax proposal is topic of Monday night presentation

A proposal to redistribute property taxes to help homeowners with limited means and property values is the subject of a Zoom presentation on Monday, May 3 at 7 p.m.

At the upcoming Annual Town Meeting on May 15, voters will be asked to approve a home-rule petition to the state legislature that would allow Lincoln to create a local Property Tax Extended Circuit Breaker Program. If approved, the program would limit the percentage of income a homeowner would have to pay in property taxes based on their income, assets, length of time in town, and age (65+). Funding would come from a small across-the-board tax rate increase. 

The Property Tax Study Committee was formed in 2019 to look at ways to ease the burden on limited-income residents and preserve economic diversity after the town raised property taxes by almost 15% to pay for the $93 million school project. The issue was discussed at the State of the Town Meeting in November 2019 and was slated for a vote at Annual Town Meeting, but that meeting was postponed and stripped of nonessential warrant articles as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.

Last year’s postponed proposal would have applied to renters as well as homeowners, “but we don’t have an easy mechanism for implementing this kind of a program for renters — we don’t have that [financial] connection with them as we do with homeowners,” Selectman Jennifer Glass said when she recapped the plan at an April 26 board meeting. To track more closely to other towns’ programs, Lincoln’s plan applies to homeowners over 65 who meet the state’s income limits and those who have lived in town for five years, rather than the 10 years specified by some other towns. Otherwise, the proposed program is identical to the one that has been offered in Sudbury since 2014.

“We want our home rule petition to be as familiar to the legislature as possible” to maximize its chances of passage, Glass said. Sudbury, Concord, and Wayland have already enacted local versions of the state circuit breaker program.

To qualify for the plan, a house must not exceed Lincoln’s average single-family property value plus 10%. The plan would be funded by shifting up to 0.5% of the total tax levy in the first year, and 1.0% in years two and three. The program would have to be reauthorized at Town Meeting every three years.

Phase 2 of the effort to limit the tax burden on some seniors will involve establishing a task force to look at the town’s social services and come up with a long-range plan for  social svcs and det LR plan for supporting the community’s needs.

In 2019, the committee initially floated a residential tax exemption as well as the circuit-breaker proposal, but it was shelved after residents at a public forum were cool to the idea. That proposal would have exempted a certain percentage of the value of everyone’s property, meaning that the tax burden would shift toward those with higher-value homes to benefit those with homes at the lower end of the value range.

Lincoln’s efforts to thwart cut-through traffic go way back

By Kerry Glass

One way to keep out traffic: Don’t tell travelers where the roads are.

For the first 75 years after Lincoln was founded, the town felt no need for an official road map. The roads ran where Lincoln residents needed them, and new roads were created and old ones were closed by debate and decision in Lincoln’s town meetings. The road “maps” were scrawled descriptions by the town clerk in town records: “beginning at Lexington line, so running southerly over John Headley’s land and through Joseph Brooks’ land, the said Brooks to have liberty to hang a gate on the said way at his southerly bounds.”

Then in 1794, the Great and General Court required all towns to submit “accurate plans” of their borders, rivers, bridges, and roads. But only county roads had to be shown on these maps. So that is all that Samuel Hoar, the town surveyor, included when he drew up the town’s official map—just four county roads, one in north Lincoln and three in south Lincoln. It was not until 1830 that the Commonwealth required towns to submit maps showing all town roads. Lincoln had no choice and finally produced a complete road map. Yet even on this map, no names were shown for the roads (that’s a story for another time!).

Part of an 1830 map of Lincoln by John G. Hales. showing the town center — and the lack of road names. Source: Digital Commonwealth.

The town felt strongly that even these county roads mainly benefited other towns but not Lincoln. And so the town resisted. The Concord/Cambridge Turnpike (now Route 2) was a good example. The path of the turnpike was laid out in 1803, and it plowed through hills and wetlands in Lincoln, just so travelers between Cambridge and Concord would have the shortest and straightest route possible. Lincoln fought unsuccessfully against the turnpike, and later the town also resisted straightening the paths of two other roads through town—the Middle Road (now Trapelo Road) and the North Road (now Route 2A).

Lincoln had more success in preventing a major highway from running north and south through the heart of town. To this day, in contrast to neighboring towns, Lincoln does not have a numbered highway running through its town center.

For more on the history of Lincoln’s roads, see Tracing the History of Lincoln’s Ways, a 2019 manuscript by Kerry Glass, accessible by contacting the Lincoln Historical Society.

“Lincoln’s History” is an occasional column by members of the Lincoln Historical Society.

Capital spending requests on tap for Wednesday presentation

Capital spending requests that residents will vote at at Town Meeting on May 15 include funds for school furniture and equipment, a public safety radio system, and a new town well.

The Capital Planning Committee (CapCom) and the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) will host a joint Zoom presentation on their proposals on Wednesday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. Click here for the agenda, which includes the Zoom link as well as brief descriptions of each item.

CapCom is proposing a total of $2,762,310 in two separate warrant articles that will be up for a vote on May 15. Article 7 seeks $937,695 for nine items. The single largest request is $410,557 for furniture and technology needs for the renovated Lincoln School that were cut earlier to stay within the construction budget. The only other six-figure item is $380,000 to refurbish the Fire Department’s ladder truck.

In a separate vote, CapCom will ask for $1,824,615 to replace the fire and police department’s public radio system. That item was originally considered for approval at the the 2020 Town Meeting but was deferred in favor of restoring some of the cuts to the school project.

The CPC is seeking approval to spend a total of $1,385,646 on 16 items costing $1,281,834 plus $103,812 from the housing reserve fund. Those items include $355,000 to repair the library’s parapet and $307,891 for debt service for the Town Office Building renovations as well as $161,200 for Lincoln School playground equipment and $200,000 for land acquisition.

Water Department funding

The Water Department is seeking capital spending totaling $907,600. That includes about $350,000 to complete a project to reduce total trihalomethanes (TTHM) in the drinking water, since they have been slightly over the state-mandated limit for some time. TTHMs are formed as the result of required chlorine disinfection on pond water with increasing levels of plant matter and algae.

Voters approved spending $330,000 in 2019 for the first phase of the project to install coagulation treatment to filter out more of the organic matter in the pre-treatment phase. The new expenditure will pay for equipment to handle the residuals from the treatment process so the chemicals can be safely released from the water plant without violating its discharge permit.

Water Commission chair Jim Hutchinson said the money needed for this second phase was not brought up last year as a future expense because the final cost was very uncertain at that time. Also, the commission’s Town Meeting presentation was limited to only items to be funded that year at the request of Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden in the interest of keeping the meeting short.

Also on the Water Commission’s wish list is $480,000 to replace the aging Tower Road well, which has been on their for several years. The group is hoping to pay for the well and the TTHM system by bonding $830,000. The other items on their capital improvements list will be paid for from Water Department retained earnings.

This is the third bonding request in two years for the Water Department. Voters approved almost $2 million (including the $330,000 for the first part of the TTHM project) in two separate measures in 2019, followed by $225,000 in borrowing voted at the 2020 Town Meeting.

“Much like the town as a whole, the Water Department has regular capital needs that are not properly handled in an operating budget, and need to be requested separately and funded with bonding or reserve funds. And that will continue to be the case going forward,” Hutchinson said. “It is true that the requests made in FY20-21 and that we are making for FY22 are larger than normal, due in part to the department previously falling behind on replacing aging infrastructure and in part due to the TTHM issue. Looking forward, we are striving to get back to a more ‘steady state’ level of requests for FY23, but there is always some amount of uncertainty and potential for surprises about capital needs.”

Water Department capital funding requests
CategoryDescriptionAmountFunding Source
Regulatory compliance with high TTHM levelsResiduals handling & neutralization system upgrades at water treatment plant (WTP) to comply with the EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System discharge permit$350,000* Bonding
Aging infrastructureReplace Tower Road Well (current well cannot pump at desired rates despite aggressive cleanings due to clogged shutter-type screen)$480,000Bonding
Aging infrastructureReplace compressor #2 at WTP (two compressors in service since 1995; replace the one with more hours on it)$25,000Retained earnings
Increase resiliencyInvestigate cost and engineering needed to interconnect with Wayland. A backup water source is needed for our emergency response plan.$13,600Retained earnings
Increase resiliencyEvaluate current condition of storage tank and reconsider previously proposed solutions to what is currently our sole storage tank. $39,000Retained earnings
Required by Mass. Water Management Act permitConduct water audit to determine what happens to the water we produce. $31,500**Retained earnings
Total water capital projects:$939,100

* Subject to adjustment up until ATM motion is finalized, as T&H work to better define scope of this project.

* The Water Commission voted to remove this item from the warrant pending feedback from the state DEP on the town’s previous numbers.