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

Planning Board sets hearings on zoning bylaw amendments

Amendments to the town’s accessory apartment regulations and new zoning language for stormwater management will be the subject of Planning Board public hearings on Monday, March 9 starting at 7:15 p.m. 

If approved, the zoning bylaw would add a cap on the number of accessory apartments allowed, equal to 5% of all residential units in Lincoln. The board also proposes to remove limitations on the age of structures that are eligible to add accessory apartments, and to require a minimum rental term of 30 days where the accessory apartment or principal dwelling is occupied as a rental unit.

The town approved the Affordable Accessory Apartment program four years ago, but it was only recently that the state officially OK’d it, so the local rules needed some tweaks before the program launches.

A separate hearing at 7:30 p.m. will seek comment on the proposed addition of a new zoning bylaw section titled “Illicit Discharge Control and Stormwater Management Bylaw,” the purpose of which is to protect water quality and comply with federal requirements. If approved by the Planning Board, both sets of changes will go before residents at the Annual Town Meting in May.

Also at the board’s March 9 meeting, the Historic District Commission will make presentations on the proposed addition of 11 Moccasin Hill Rd. to the Brown’s Wood Historic District, and 126 Old Concord Rd. to the Lincoln Historic District.

For more information, see the agenda and the Zoom link for the meeting.

Town seeks volunteers for new Inclusion, Equity, Diversity and Anti-Racism Initiative

The Board of Selectmen voted on February 22 to establish the Inclusion, Equity, Diversity, and Anti-Racism Initiative (“IDEA” or “Initiative”) and finalize the Initiative’s charge, and they are now seeking  volunteers. If interested, please complete this volunteer form and send it with a note of interest to Peggy Elder at elderp@lincolntown.org by Wednesday, March 31.

Embedded in our town vision statement is a commitment to fostering economic, racial, ethnic, and age diversity within Lincoln. This longstanding commitment was brought into sharper focus and scrutiny last spring after the murder of George Floyd. Members of our community responded to that tragedy by organizing vigils, reading and discussing books that address systemic racism, and by asking town government to explicitly examine the systems and actions of our own town. In response, the Board of Selectmen launched a series of events to expand understanding of the current state and attitudes of policing, social services, and land planning in Lincoln, the roles and jurisdictions of town committees, and to explore partnerships with community groups and institutions.

Through these conversations, town residents have made it clear that they want to engage in candid discussions about what diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism look like in Lincoln, and to establish a long-term, town-led group that will keep Lincoln’s vision of fostering and supporting diversity at the center of all we do.

The board is establishing IDEA to recognize and support diversity for all who live, work, learn, and visit in Lincoln, and to develop a long-term action plan to identify and address unconscious bias, to ensure just and equitable policies and inclusion, and to actively promote a diverse and anti-racist community.

The IDEA Initiative is envisioned as a partnership between the town and community groups and institutions. It shall consist of up to 11 voting members, eight of whom are at-large members of the community. In addition, IDEA will encourage liaisons from groups not already represented by a voting member and explicitly reach out to the community for broad participation. Read the complete IDEA charge here.

The board recognizes that the work of IDEA will be dynamic and will need to develop as the group engages with the community, therefore the charge is intended as a set of guideposts for the Initiative as it begins its work.  IDEA will make quarterly reports to the board and will recommend a longer-term action plan and an initial vision for a standing committee by Town Meeting 2022.

My Turn: Support Heather Cowap for L-S School Committee

By Carole Kasper

Many thanks for the opportunity to serve on the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee since my election in 2018. I am writing to express gratitude for this role, while also letting you know that I have decided not to seek re-election during this 2021 election cycle. I would like to introduce an exciting candidate for the L-S School Committee seat that I will be vacating later this spring.

Her name is Heather Cowap, settled in Lincoln following a move from Boxborough in recent years. Her now-adult children attended Boxborough public schools K-8 before attending Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. Along the way, she developed a deep understanding of the “smaller town sharing a regional high school with a larger town” dynamic — she also spent 15 years as a teacher in the Science Department of Groton-Dunstable Regional High School.

During her career, Heather she has also served on multiple accreditation committees on behalf of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Now retired, she says she is seeking a large volunteer role, one in which she can continue to apply her skills as an education professional while also contributing significantly to her local community. I strongly support Heather’s candidacy, and I invite you to join in this support.

For me, it has been an honor to serve and work diligently for L-S students and families. I supported the work of the Racial Climate Task Force, while also serving on both School Start Time Subcommittees, the Safety Review Subcommittee, the L-S Safety Council, the OPEB Trust Committee, the Strategic Planning Subcommittee, and the Strategic Planning Steering Committee. I had the opportunity to shepherd the L-S annual budget each of the past three years, serving as L-S liaison to Lincoln’s Select Board, Finance Committee, and Capital Planning Committee.

I enjoyed collaborating with administrators at both L-S and the Lincoln Public Schools to innovate a middle-school-to-high-school transition-planning process for Lincoln students and families who are heading into their L-S years. The “Life at L-S” 8th-to-9th-grade program is now in its fifth year, consistently garnering positive and appreciative feedback. The “Intro to L-S” program, an information session and tour opportunity for Lincoln middle school families wanting to see and learn about L-S offerings early on in their family high school planning process, is also well established and will continue in future years.

Thank you for the community trust you placed in me as a member of the L-S School Committee for these past three years. Please join me now in electing Heather Cowap to the L-S School Committee on town Election Day — Monday, March 29th!

”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.

Schools begin pool testing for Covid-19; one positive case last week

One school employee on the Lincoln preK-8 campus tested positive for Covid-19 last week after the town’s schools began pool testing of some students and staff.

Under the voluntary six-week program that began shortly after the end of February school vacation, participating Lincoln Public School (LPS) students and staff provide a weekly sample via a quick, noninvasive lower nasal swab. The samples from each classroom are tested as a pool using the common PCR test. If a pool returns a positive result, the members of that pool are immediately tested individually using the BinaxNow rapid test.  

In the first week of testing, 578 school community members in 74 pools underwent pool testing. This included 52% of eligible students (72% of the Lincoln campus students and 33% of the Hanscom campus students) as well as 73% of eligible staff. Students and staff who are on campus full time and who have not tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 90 days are eligible for testing after they sign a consent form.

The person who tested positive was asymptomatic, but all of their close contacts were identified and notified that they must quarantine at home for 14 days dating from their last exposure with the positive individual. As a result, two classroom cohorts of students and staff as well as two additional individuals were moved to remote learning for their quarantine period, according to Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall.

If someone in a child’s pool tests positive, parents will receive a direct notification and information about the follow-up testing. A general notification will be made each week when all test results have been received and no further results are outstanding.

“While it is never good to learn of someone in our community testing positive, it is helpful to know that the pooled testing process worked and identified an asymptomatic positive person who was unaware that they had contracted the virus,” McFall said in a statement to families and staff. “That is exactly what pooled testing should do to help us ensure that viral spread is minimized. Pooled testing is most effective when everyone who is able to participate gets tested.”

Eligible students and staff who have not yet signed a consent form can participate in future testing if they submit a consent form by noon on Thursday to be included in the following week’s testing pools. Consent forms and details on the program are available on the LPS Pooled Testing web page.

The testing program was launched after the schools saw increased numbers of positive cases and close contacts in the weeks following the Thanksgiving recess and December vacation period. Last week, the school nurse on the Lincoln campus recorded 70 students who traveled out of state over the February vacation. Only 15 of these were known in advance. On the Hanscom campus, administrators know of 24 students who traveled; 18 were known in advance.

“We appreciate that many families provided the necessary test result documentation upon return to school. Students who came to school without travel notification or test results were sent home from school when information about their travel became known,” McFall wrote.

The testing program is funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and supported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Student/staff survey reveals mixed feelings

In a mid-year survey of staff and students, 84% of families and 54% of faculty and staff reported feeling “extremely safe” or “quite safe” at school from Covid-19 with the current safety protocols. Asked how their children are feeling about school this year, 75–90% families reported that their kids have felt “safe,” “engaged,” “happy,” “excited,” and/or “hopeful” — though only 59% of remote students felt excited about school, vs. 80% of in-person students.

Faculty were also asked how they felt about work, whether in-school or remote, and a majority (62–94%) reporting feeling exhausted, stressed out, and/or overwhelmed. More than 80% of faculty and staff said their work felt “extremely or quite meaningful,” though only 56% said they felt extremely or quite effective at their job.

“When you are teaching in an entirely new model, and you are teaching students who are remote and not in front of you, and you teach with masks on and can’t see each others’ faces, it’s hard to gauge your impact,” said LPS Director of Technology Rob Ford, who announced the survey results at the School Committee’s January 28 meeting.

LPS is among only 3% of Massachusetts school districts that are providing a full-day, full-week in-person option along with a remote learning option. In both models, students are grouped in small cohorts with one learning coach and receive additional real-time instruction via technology. As of January 7, 273 students (26%) are learning remotely and 795 students (74%) are at school, the School Committee reported.

Turenne restaurant to open in Lincoln in April

This Lincoln Station property will soon host its fourth restaurant.

There’s a new restaurant in town — or there will be, when Turenne opens in April in the space most recently occupied by Real.

Tim and Bronwyn Wiechmann already run several food ventures in Somerville: Bronwyn, T&B Pizza, and Turenne (a “pop-up” takeout bagel/patisserie/restaurant within T&B Pizza). Others of their restaurants have come and gone, including Self Portrait/T.W. Food and Playska in Cambridge. Tim Wiechmann was named Best Chef (general excellence) by Boston Magazine in 2015.

Turenne in Lincoln succeeds Real, which was owned jointly by Lindsay Parker of Concord and Tom Fosnot and Ruth-Anne Adams of Sudbury but closed in November 2020 after less than two years of operation. The lease continues with Parker as sole owner of Turenne, said Geoff McGean, executive director of the Rural Land Foundation, which owns the property. 

The Boston Globe reported on February 25 that the new Lincoln restaurant would feature a pizza oven, live music, a wine shop, and provisions, but this could not be confirmed. The Wiechmanns did not respond directly to an email and voicemail from the Lincoln Squirrel, and Parker deferred to public statements by the RLF and the restaurateurs.

“We look forward to bringing back socially distanced dinner service in the dining room, on the terrace, as takeout and, in an especially exciting new additional dining room on the green in front of the restaurant that the Rural Land Foundation has so generously allowed us to create in hopes of serving the community in as many ways as possible in this still complicated moment for restaurants,” the three restaurateurs wrote. “We’ll share more soon, but in the meantime you can anticipate an early April start for dinner service Thursday thru Saturday with a la carte offerings and perhaps a prix fixe.”

“I hope you all will join us in giving them a warm welcome and wishing them, and our community, much success with this new endeavor,” said RLF/Lincoln Land Conservation Trust chair Michelle Barnes in a statement accompanying the one by the restaurant owners. “Our vigorous support of them will help that success come to fruition, and help make the mall an even more vibrant and exciting place to be for our community. And it wouldn’t be a message from me if I didn’t add that your support of the businesses at the mall helps sustain our conservation efforts in Lincoln.”

Fosnot and Adams now cook and deliver meals as Food for Home. After Real closed, the pair told former customers in a group email that Parker had sued them. The allegations and current status of that suit are unclear.

Turenne will be the fourth restaurant to occupy the Lincoln space. Preceding it were Real and Lincoln Kitchen, which closed in May 2018 after just 15 months. AKA Bistro was successful for several years until its closure in May 2016. Contributing to its demise was the lengthy closure of nearby Donelan’s after its roof collapsed in a snowstorm in February 2011, significantly reducing business traffic for the entire mall, and the closure of AKA itself for several months starting in December 2013 after a burst ceiling pipe caused extensive interior water damage.

Some town buildings set to reopen

Effective Monday, March 8, the Town Office Building, the Lincoln Public Library, and Bemis Hall will reopen to the public, subject to the continuation of health and safety protocols recommended by the Department of Public Health (mandatory face masks, social distancing, occupancy limits, front desk registration to enable contact tracing should it become necessary, etc.). 

The state’s decision to move forward to the next reopening phase is in response to significantly improving public health trend data. Local conditions have been trending in the same manner. Gov. Baker has issued guidance for reopenings to begin on March 1, but Lincoln is delaying by a week to provide town staff the opportunity to adjust child care and other personal arrangements.

To protect the health and safety of our residents and staff, Lincoln officials continue to urge the public to make use of the town’s online transactional capabilities, consider communicating with town staff via phone or Zoom conferencing, schedule appointments in advance where possible, and be sure to follow health and safety protocols when visiting town buildings.

Town boards and committees will continue to meet remotely as we enter this next phase of reopening.

Library reference staff who have been working entirely remotely will be back in the building during the day starting on Monday, March 1. This means they can return to pulling items that are in the library and putting them out for same-day pickup. They will also be available by email and phone to answer patron questions and assist with contactless pickup preparation.

Remote reference service will continue during evening hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 6–7:30 p.m. The library will reopen to the public by appointment on Monday, March 8 at 1 p.m. Check the library’s website at www.lincolnpl.org.

News acorns

Interfaith Taizé service on Feb. 26

People of all faiths and people in search of faith are invited to join youth from St. Joseph’s/Julia’s Parish and the First Parish in Lincoln as they present a Taizé service on Friday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Taizé is a monastic community in Taizé, France with an ecumenical emphasis as expressed on their website, which says the community “wants its life to be a sign of reconciliation between divided Christians and between separated peoples.” A Taizé worship service involves sung and chanted prayers, meditation, a period of silence, and liturgical readings. There is no preaching. This style of prayer has attracted many worshipers from around the globe and from many different denominations. Services are usually candlelit, so please have a candle ready when you join using this Zoom link (meeting ID: 954 7757 9039, passcode: 405331).

Weekend Winter Carnival fun

  • The Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a free online chess tournament as part of the Winter Carnival weekend on Saturday, Feb. 27. Registration begins at 8 a.m.; matches run from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. All levels are welcome. You’ll need to create an account at Chess.com to participate. Once you have a username, you will need to join the Lincoln Mass Chess Club. There will be a beginners section (999 and under rapid rating) and a section for those with more experience (rapid rating at 1000 or over). There will be four rounds. Each player will have 15 minutes per match plus 10 seconds per move (rapid 15/10). It will be helpful if you play a few rapid 15/10 matches prior to the tournament so that your rating is fairly accurate. There will be trophies for first and second place for both sections. 
  • The Lincoln Family Association and the Kat Chapman Band are hosting a family-friendly acoustic concert and dance party on Sunday, Feb. 28 from 10–10:30 a.m. on Zoom. Costumes welcome! Those who register can pick up a kazoo and glow stick in the Codman Barn ahead of time (one per per child while supplies last; mask required for pickup). Click here for the concert Zoom link.

No commuter trains from March 1–April 30

The MBTA has informed the Town that there will be Service Changes on the Fitchburg Line so that upgrades can be made for Positive Train Control for a safer commuter rail. No trains will be running on Lincoln’s Fitchburg line from March 1 through April 30 so the MBTA  can make Positive Train Control safety upgrades. Shuttle service will be provided Monday through Friday (since there is currently no weekend train service, there will be no shuttle service on the weekends). For more information and the schedule, click here.

Correction

The February 24 article headlined “Second Covid-9 vaccine clinic March 4 for those on waiting list” had errors in the number of doses to be given at the March 4 clinic and the dose threshold required by the state for local clinics. The town has acquired 100 doses to administer on March 4, not 10, and the state requires local clinics to be able to give 750 vaccines per day, not 50. The original article has been corrected.

 

News acorns

Program offers film, panel, and group discussions on racism

The Lincoln METCO Coordinating Committee and Sudbury Community for Racial and Social Justice is hosting a 90-minute feature documentary screening of “I’m Not Racist… Am I?” and other subsequent events. All those who live, work, attend school, or have a connection to Lincoln or Sudbury may watch the film online as a diverse group of teens and their families go through a yearlong exploration of race and racism. The effort also focuses on the courageous voices of young people and provides Lincoln, Sudbury, and Boston METCO families with a forum for working together on local race-related issues.

The screening will run from Saturday, Feb. 27 at 9 a.m. through Monday, March 1 at noon. On Wednesday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m., the Organizing Committee and Point Made Learning (the film’s producer) will host a virtual discussion with a panel of people from the Lincoln, Sudbury, and Boston communities, asking them questions and using the film content as a springboard for dialogue on race and identity. In addition to the film viewing and the panel event, there will be an opportunity for community members to sign up to participate in facilitated small group discussions based on the movie.

Sponsors include the Sudbury Foundation, the Ogden Codman Trust, the First Parish of Lincoln, the Bemis Free Lecture Series, the Lincoln Public Schools, WIDE, the Sudbury Public Library and anonymous donors. All events are free but registration is required. The small group discussions are only for those who live, work, or go to school in Lincoln or Sudbury

Session for parents of rising L-S freshmen

Will your eighth-grader be a Lincoln-Sudbury freshman next year? Might it be helpful to connect with Lincoln parents whose students have made this same transition, both before and during the Covid era? Tune into “Life at L-S: A Parent-to-Parent Conversation About the 8th-to-9th Grade Transition” on Tuesday, March 2 at 7–8:30 p.m. via Google Meet. Featuring Lincoln School Principal Sharon Hobbs and L-S veteran parents panelists, along with L-S administrators. The program will focus on all the co-curricular elements of a high-schooler’s life so families have contextual knowledge that supports the LS course selection process in March. To RSVP and/or to pre-submit panelist questions, email Hobbs at shobbs@lincnet.org. For more information, contact Carole Kasper at carolemkasper@gmail.com.

Nature sketching classes offered

Farrington Nature Linc is hosting a virtual three-session nature sketching series starting on Tuesday, March 2. Each week, we’ll meet via Zoom with artist and teacher Alex Boersma, a freelance scientific illustrator and designer from Toronto, to learn how to draw natural objects we’ve collected throughout the week. We’ll improve our observational drawing skills while exploring new media: first graphite, then pen and ink, and finally watercolor. No experience necessary.

Classes will meet Tuesday evenings from 6–8 p.m. (the final workshop will go until 9 p.m.). You may attend a single workshop or all three; however, the skills taught in each workshop will build on one another, so organizers recommend signing up for all three. Register online via Eventbrite. The supply list will be emailed once you’re registered for the class (please be sure you have acquired the necessary materials ahead of the workshop).

Talk on Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman

Join a Zoom talk on “Edith Wharton and Ogden Codman: A Creative Kinship” on Wednesday,  March 17 at 7 p.m. Edith Wharton’s first published work was not a novel, but a design manual that she co-authored with Lincoln native Ogden Codman, Jr., The Decoration of Houses, which was destined to become an interior design classic. Using original letters from Historic New England’s Codman archival collection, this illustrated talk offers an inside peek into Wharton’s and Codman’s 40-year artistic friendship. Advance registration required on this HNE web page or call 617-994-6651. Free to Lincoln residents via a 2021 Lincoln Cultural Council grant. Historic New England members: $15. Non-members: $20. Program partners for this event are the Lincoln Public Library and the Council on Aging.

Council on Aging activities

  • Lincoln Public Health Nurse Tricia McGean will conduct her regular “Chats with the Nurse” via Zoom for residents of all ages on Wednesdays, March 3 and 17 at 11 a.m.  Bring your questions about Covid-19 and other issues, and McGean will share the latest updates. Preregister by calling 781-259-8811 x102 or emailing gagnea@Lincolntown.org to get the Zoom invite.
  • The Council on Aging invites seniors to a drive-up ice cream sundae cup event on Tuesday, March 16 in the parking lot of the First Parish Church. Please help stagger arrivals by coming at the time that corresponds to your last name (A–G, arrive from 12-12:45 p.m.; H–R, arrive from 12:45-1:30 p.m.; S–Z, arrive from 1:30-2 p.m.). Ice cream sundae cups generously sponsored by the Friends of the COA.
  • The COA welcomes seniors who want to connect in March with an L-S student via a weekly conversation via Zoom, phone, or letter. Students sign up to have a weekly conversation with a senior and they receive school credit. After seniors fill out this Connections survey to make their preferences known as to dates and times, they will be matched with a high school student. For more information, visit www.connections01773.org. This third Connections series will take place over four weeks beginning the week of March 15. Questions? Email Amy Gagne at gagnea@lincolntown.org.
  • To support people who are struggling with isolation and loneliness during this difficult time, Advocates for Human Potential (AHP) has adapted their evidence-based Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) to produce a special publication that addresses isolation and loneliness. The Wellness Guide to Overcoming Isolation During COVID-19: Being Connected, Staying Connected, and Choosing Connection is available to everyone online, and the Council on Aging has a limited number of free print copies. The guide can help you engage in connection activities with others and in online support groups. For more information to receive the WRAP Up monthly newsletter, please email mjaffe@ahpnet.com.

Most Lincoln Council on Aging events are open to Lincoln residents of all ages. For a full list — including clinics, exercise classes, regular meetings of interest groups, and online chats with town officials — see the COA’s calendar page or March newsletter. Contact the COA at 781-259-8811 or gagnea@lincolntown.org for Zoom links to events.

Second Covid-9 vaccine clinic March 4 for those on waiting list


(Editor’s note: This article was updated on February 25 to reflect corrected figures for the number of doses to be given at the March 4 clinic and the dose threshold required by the state for local clinics.)

The town will hold another Covid-19 vaccination clinic on March 4, but only for those on a waiting list — and this will almost certainly be the last clinic the town will offer.

Lincoln will receive a second allotment of 100 doses of vaccine for the clinic on Thursday, March 4 from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. at the Lincoln North office building. Participation will be limited to residents 75 and older who were placed on the waiting list after the first town clinic on February 11. Any additional slots will be made available to those identified as being at high-risk, consistent with the Commonwealth’s criteria, said Town Administrator Tim Higgins, one of the members of Lincoln’s public health team.

Residents who received their first dose of vaccine at the February 11 clinic will get their second booster shot on March 11, and those who are inoculated on March 4 will get their second dose on April 1. “Going forward, unless the state alters its distribution strategy, we do not anticipate being able to provide any additional first-dose local clinics,” he said.

The team is talking to other area towns to see if regional clinic could be organized under the new state capacity criteria (giving at least 750 doses a day, five days a week). “We appear to have several willing partners… but it’s very much a work in progress” and will obviously require state approval, Higgins said.

Failing that, Lincoln hopes to find ways to help residents get the vaccinations at one of the mega-sites at Fenway Park or Gillette Stadium, by offering rides and/or helping people navigate the state’s online booking system.

“Our public health team and those in other towns are really frustrated at a policy level at the state’s decision to ignore the capacity we created locally to efficiently administer the vaccine,” he said.