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

Police log for November 1–7, 2019

November 1
  • Drumlin Farm, 208 South Great Rd. (5:51 a.m.) — Officers assist DPW with removing a tree.
  • Wells Road (7:15 a.m.) —  Report of several vehicles struck while parked. Report taken. 
  • Lincoln Road (8:02 a.m.) — Eversource requests an officer to assist them with traffic.
  • 86 Conant Rd. (3:11 p.m.) — Officers investigating a case of wire/internet fraud.
  • Lincoln Road (8:12 p.m.) — Report of motorized scooter traveling erratically; unable to locate. 
  • Bemis Hall (9:45 p.m.) — Officer assisting with traffic as school dance ends.
  • Hanscom Air Force Base (11:20 p.m.) — Request to assist with a missing person; cancelled as person was located.
November 2
  • Lincoln School (8:28 a.m.) — Officers  assisting with Special Town Meeting 
  • 4L North Commons (11:22 a.m.) — Caller reports people going door to door. They were census workers.
  • Route 126 (2:25 p.m.) — Maynard Police Department had been in pursuit of a car last seen on Concord Road in Wayland heading into Lincoln. Pursuing car never entered Lincoln.
  • 122 Patterson Rd., Hanscom Air Force Base (2:57 p.m.) — Assisting resident with a juvenile matter.
November 3
  • Bemis Hall (4:58 p.m.) — Wallet found; owner contacted.
  • 121 Weston Rd. (7:49 p.m.) — Caller reports her daughter saw a vehicle in their driveway earlier in the day that drove off at a high rate of speed.
  • Route 2 eastbound (10:41 p.m.) —  Officer on construction detail reported witnessing a car off the road after nearly hitting a deer. State Police requested to respond.
November 4
  • 25 Bypass Rd. (6:50 a.m.) — Well-being check; all is fine.
  • 231 Aspen Circle (4:30 p.m.) — Assisting a resident with explaining a legal document that was received in the mail. 
  • Lincoln Police Department, 169 Lincoln Rd. (6:16 p.m.) — Party having an issue with GPS monitoring system. Assisted party with getting in touch with Massachusetts Probation Service.
  • 167 Lincoln Rd. (6:43 p.m.) —  Resident reported a vehicle pulling into neighbor’s driveway. Officer spoke to the resident; everything was fine.
November 5
  • Bedford Road (4:22 p.m.) —  Minor motor vehicle crash, no injuries. Parties exchanged paperwork.
November 6
  • Department of Public Works, 30 Lewis St. (3:54 am.)  — Suspicious vehicle at DPW; everything was fine.
  • Bedford Road (9:47 a.m.) — Assisting DPW.
  • 16 Granville Rd. (10:40 a.m.) — Suspicious vehicle in a neighbor’s driveway. Officer found that they’re working at the residence.
  • 17 Ridge Rd. (3:14 p.m.) — Reporting party lost his car keys. 
  • Lincoln Public Library (8:24 p.m.) — Caller reported problem with an alarm panel.
November 7
  • Cambridge Turnpike westbound (1:29 a.m.) — Deer struck by car, wandered off into the woods.
  • Bypass Road (2:13 a.m.) — Coyote struck on Rt. 2A; officer dispatched the injured animal for humanitarian reasons.
  • North Great Road (1:38 p.m.) — Report of a person walking in Minute Man National Park with a torch and filming themselves. Ranger Grossman advised that the person was walking for a cause.
  • Lincoln School (3:09 p.m.) — Caller requesting a check on an elderly party walking. The party was fine.
  • South Great Road (5:51 p.m.) — Minor motor vehicle crash, no injuries.
  • 8 Boyce Farm Rd. (6:56 p.m.) — Assisting a resident with locating an item.

Lincoln grapples with growth within and outside its borders

By Alice Waugh

As the population in the MetroWest area keeps growing, Lincoln will have to decide how to allow more housing and businesses — or whether it even wants to.

In an effort to direct growth around the MBTA station in Lincoln, the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee presented a draft of proposing zoning changes at the November 2 State of the Town meeting. Since Oriole Landing was approved, the town won’t face pressure for dense affordable housing developments for at least another decade — but several surrounding towns are not so lucky, Selectman Jennifer Glass noted in her “Setting the Context” presentation.

Neighboring communities are being forced to entertain 40B housing projects, which are allowed to circumvent many zoning restrictions for height and density in towns that have fallen short of state requirements for affordable housing. Hundreds of units (not all of them designated affordable) have been proposed or built in Sudbury, Wayland, Weston, and West Concord, Glass noted.

Already completed are the 250-unit Avalon apartment complex in Sudbury and the 56-unit Coolidge for residents 55+ in Wayland. For years, Sudbury residents fought Sudbury Station, a 250-unit rental housing proposal next to the cemetery at the town center. Last year, the town agreed to swap that property for another site on Route 117, where the developer has proposed the 274-unit Quarry North.

Weston has so many 40B proposals that it created a separate town web page on the topic. Among them: 180 rental units at 751 Boston Post Rd. just west of Weston Center; 150 rental units at 104 Boston Post Rd. close to the I-95 interchange; and 200 rental units on South Avenue near Weston High School. Sixteen rental units at 269 North Ave. just south of Dairy Joy and 10 condo units on Merriam Street are also being considered.

In Wayland, there are proposals for two major housing developments on Boston Post Road, one close to the Sudbury town line and the other on the site of the former Mahoney’s Garden Center.

Many of these proposals are tied up in court on appeals from either developers or residents, but eventually at least some of them will be built, and that means more traffic in and around Lincoln — as well as opportunities for local businesses. And South Lincoln may become more attractive because it’s one of the few towns in the area with a commuter rail station and commuter parking availability — hence the conversation around transit-oriented, middle-income housing.

“Adding some carefully planned mixed-use development near the station will help support the businesses we do have… and convince the MBTA that it’s in their economic interest to add more train service rather than slowly taking it away,” Glass said.

Lincoln is grappling with how to balance its desire for a sustainable, rural character and lots of conservation land vs. property tax hikes for the new school and other expenses down the road, including a possible community center. More businesses in South Lincoln could boost the tax base — but to encourage that kind of development, more housing is probably needed as well, which in turn costs money for schools and services. The State of the Town meeting touched on several of these interrelated topics: zoning, transportation, property taxes, the school project, and community choice electricity aggregation (now awaiting approval from the state Department of Public Utilities).

“This is an opportunity to reach out and collaborate and try to shape the coming changes to have a positive impact on Lincoln,” Glass said.

Changes in taxation, South Lincoln zoning debated at meeting

Should Lincoln try to ease the burden on taxpayers with a shift in property tax policy, and/or encouraging more commercial and housing development in South Lincoln? Residents got a chance at last week’s State of the Town meeting to discuss both ideas, and will likely have a chance to vote on then in the spring.

In the wake of the big tax increase resulting from the school project, the Property Tax Committee has been studying two ideas to help reduce the strain for some Lincoln homeowners: a local version of the existing state circuit-breaker program, and a residential tax exemption. Both ideas were also discussed at a public forum last month.

A circuit-breaker 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 (10+ years), and age (65+). Funding would come from a small across-the-board tax rate increase. A residential tax exemption would exempt a certain percentage of the value of everyone’s property, meaning that the tax burden would shift toward those with higher-valued homes to benefit those with homes at the lower end of the range.

Under the local circuit-breaker scenario, “everyone pays a little bit more in order to provide significant benefits to those with identified need,” Selectman Jennifer Glass said at the November 2 town-wide meeting. Homeowners in Sudbury, which has a program like this, have seen an average increase of about $73 a year as a result, she added.

Glass acknowledged that some residents are unhappy with the idea of another tax hike for some property owners so soon after the big increase, seeing it as a “bait and switch” move. The median tax bill in fiscal 2020 rose by 12.7%, and the tax rate went up from $14.03 to $15.36 per $1,000 of assessed property. Of that new total, $1.95 is earmarked for the school project, she said.

Neither idea will be implemented without a town-wide vote; “it’s too big a policy decision to make without consulting the town,” Glass said, urging residents to fill out a short survey to express their opinions.

Residents at the October 15 forum were open to the circuit-breaker idea but mostly negative about a residential tax exemption. Sentiment was much the same for the few residents who spoke last Saturday.

“A residential exemption would have been a great discussion three years ago and might have factored into the decision-making process” about the school, former Finance Committee member Peyton Marshall said. “Now we’re encountering buyer’s remorse [when] people who didn’t show up in December opened their tax bill.” As a result, the town is in a “period of disequilibrium” when some are thinking of selling their homes either soon, or after the school project is finished.

“We should consider all this in three to five years after people have made their housing decisions… It’s really explosive” to discuss it now, Marshall said.

South Lincoln zoning

In an effort to make Lincoln more attractive to residents and businesses and perhaps boost the tax base, rezoning part of South Lincoln around the commuter rail station was also discussed at an earlier public forum.

At the State of the Town meeting, Planning Board members presented the proposal to replace the B-1 and B-2 districts in South Lincoln and create a new South Lincoln Village District zone with two subareas: Village Business and Village Residential (VB and VR). Handouts included a draft of bylaw language (created with the help of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council) that will be up for a vote at the Annual Town Meeting in March 2020.

In both subareas, the proposal would allow (by special permit) multifamily housing, with a “density bonus” in return for amenities and affordable housing. It would also expand the parameters of projects that would be allowed by right, and would set out design guidelines for the Planning Board to apply when evaluating projects. Mixed-use buildings could be up to 2.5 floors high along Lincoln Road, with residential structures up to three floors father back from the road.

This development in West Concord was cited by Lincoln officials as an example of a good mixed-use village project.

A recently completed mixed-use project in West Concord is “something on the order of what we want to see,” Taylor said. That project includes 74 housing units and 36,000 square feet of commercial space, and is located very close to the commuter rail station, village center, and rail trails.

The rezoning proposals come from a subcommittee of the South Lincoln Planning and Implementation Committee. As detailed in this presentation by Planning Board chair Margaret Olson, SLPIC’s goals include promoting the area as a vibrant public gathering place; encouraging business and professional services; offering a broader range of housing options; and supporting more sustainable transportation through MBTA station improvements, better parking, and regional shuttle services.

Former board member Robert Domnitz worried that the changes won’t get Town Meeting approval if residents didn’t retain veto power over individual projects. However, the current path for getting town go-ahead is “a very cumbersome process that makes development a lot harder,” said board member Gary Taylor.

“It’s clear what we’re asking you to do is place some confidence in the Planning Board. It’s a more streamlined process and that’s intentional,” Taylor said. “It’s very difficult to shape projects on the floor of Town Meeting.”

One of the goals is to make South Lincoln more attractive as a place to shop for Lincoln residents and others who already drive through town without stopping, while also encouraging everyone to use the commuter rail and underground parking. However, some residents said there will be more cars and traffic in the area if more housing is available, regardless of whether the commuter rail is more heavily used.

“We’re not lowering traffic in the sense of absolute numbers, but there will be less traffic impact going forward than there would be otherwise,” Taylor responded.

Resident Sarah Mattes urged officials to expand and publicize the commuter parking that’s already available before considering “drastic zoning changes.” Others questioned where there was real demand for more commercial and transportation services in South Lincoln from residents who already live there.

Dress rehearsal (Lincoln Through the Lens)

Children and teachers from Magic Garden’s Sunshine Room were all dressed up and ready to go for Halloween last week. Back row, left to right: Sue Church, Alyssa Salguero, and Alia Tawfik.

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.

Amid grumbling, voters approve another loan for Water Department

By Alice Waugh

The Water Department will be getting more oversight after its recent spending spree to fix a rash of problems with the water system. 

In response to the funding crisis, a team of town officials — Town Administrator Tin Higgins, Assistant Town Administrator Mary Day, Finance Director Colleen Wilkins, and Finance Commission members Jim Hutchinson and Tom Sander — are now attending the meetings of the three-person Water Commission to oversee their budgeting and decision-making process. 

The department needs to bond a total of almost $2 million after Superintendent MaryBeth Wiser discovered numerous problems shortly after she was hired in March 2018, Water Commission member Ruth Ann Hendrickson explained at a Special Town Meeting on November 1. With one “nay” vote, attendees approved borrowing $967,000 — just months after approving $1.01 million in borrowing at the Annual Town Meeting last March.

The Water Department is not funded by property taxes but rather by water rates assessed to Lincoln household who use town water. The latest expenditures will result in a rate hike of around 50%, on top of last spring’s 25% rate hike.

At the meeting’s outset, Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden warned the audience that “we’re talking about finances and not personnel and other kinds of issues,” a reference to controversy swirling around the Water Department’s management and staffing turmoil explored in an October 31 Lincoln Squirrel article.

Wiser was hired in March 2018 “and almost immediately realized many of the systems at the water treatment plant and well were showing signs of age and deterioration — they hadn’t been [properly] cleaned, maintained, and calibrated,” Hendrickson said. The new superintendent asked the Water Commission to hire a new engineering consulting firm, Tata & Howard, and we started getting a lot of suggestions,” Hendrickson added. 

Concord and Wayland use the same firm and are “pleased” with its work, and its reports to Lincoln “are much higher quality than what we had been getting from our previous consultants,” Hendrickson said.

Meanwhile, the town’s water has for some time been showing borderline high levels of a chemical produced by chlorine reacting with naturally occurring organic matter. The organic matter content in Flint’s Pond is twice what it was when the plant was designed in 2002, Hendrickson said, necessitating $330,000 for equipment to perform coagulation pretreatment.

Other issues that led to the funding requests were uncovered by the state Department of Environmental Protection in its triennial inspection in August 2018. That inspection report listed 27 deficiencies and 12 recommendations, whereas the 2015 report contained only three deficiencies and four recommendations. Current and former Water Department employees told the Lincoln Squirrel that Wiser actually encouraged the DEP inspector to find problems.

Also in the latest spending package is money to pay an outside consultant to work in the treatment plant one day a week at about $1,000 a day. The department has been short-staffed for months, reflecting a statewide shortage of licensed water operators but also, former employees say, a toxic work environment.

After the latest improvements and repairs, “we will have a plant that’s been fully refurbished while we’re examining what we’re going to do for the long term… and we won’t have any more of these surprises,” Hendrickson said. Whatever path the town decides to take — making continual upgrades, building a new plant, or investigating having water supplied by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority — “will take a number of years to bring to fruition,” she said.

Residents at the town meeting were not happy with how things have been run. “We didn’t get an honest answer at the last Town Meeting. Can we have a real long-term plan for the department — an honest estimate audited by somebody outside the town?” one resident said. “I don’t like this crisis-style management.”

Higgins acknowledged that because the Water Department operates as an enterprise fund separate from the rest of the town’s finances, its budgeting process has not been overseen by the Capital Planning Committee (CapCom) or the Finance Committee in the past. The newest iteration of the Water Commission — which now includes Selectman Jennifer Glass and member Michelle Barnes, who were sworn in several weeks ago after the resignations of Bob Antia and Heather Ring — “is more receptive to participating in some of those processes,” Higgins said.

“I speak with a bit of frustration,” said Peter Braun, a former selectman and CapCom member. More cooperation with other town boards “doesn’t mean allowing someone coming to your meetings — it means dialogue, and it just wasn’t happening… there was stonewalling, basically… it’s time to change the dynamic and the paradigm here.”

News acorns

Writing class, free-range parenting discussion at First Parish

A spirited presentation and dinner discussion with Dr. Andy Clark on the Free Range Child movement will take place at the First Parish in Lincoln on Wednesday, Nov. 6 from 5:30–7 p.m. in the Parish House (14 Bedford Rd.) There are many parenting books on the grit, resiliency, and self-direction that children need in order to thrive. Come see how these tie in with the “free range” lifestyle. We will discuss strategies that parents, grandparents, educators, and community members can employ in supporting each other and ultimately, our children. Suggested donation: $10 for adults, $5 for children $25 maximum per family). Child care will be provided from 6–7:30 p.m. Open to the public.

A two-session course on “The Writing Life” will be offered on Tuesdays, Nov. 12 and 19 at 7 p.m. in the Garrison Room (14 Bedford Rd.). Teacher Barbara O’Neil will offer participants a chance to write in the company of others, inspired by prompts to spur the imagination. This is not a critique group, but a place to build “writing muscle.”

Lecture on Arnold Arboretum

The Lincoln Garden Club is sponsoring a lecture by Andrew Gapinski, head of horticulture at the Arnold Arboretum, on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. at Bemis Hall. His topic “The Who, What, Where, When and Why of the Arnold Arboretum.” 

FoMA honors three for Lincoln work

The Friends of Modern Architecture will premiere a short film and give its FoMA Annual Award to three recipients at its annual member appreciation evening on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. at the de Cordova Sculpture Park and Museum. The film is “Three Modern Houses” by master architect Walter Bogner, and its award-winning film maker Molly Bedell, internationally known architectural photographer Rick Mandelkorn, and Lincoln town historian Jack Maclean will be honored for their work documenting Lincoln’s important Modern legacy. 

L-S Friends of Music meet

Lincoln-Sudbury Friends of Music (LSFOM) welcomes All Parents of the L-S music program to a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. in Conference Room A at the high school. Meet with the choral and instrumental directors, and learn more about upcoming concerts and events. Ideas, energy and enthusiasm are encouraged at any level.

Film: “La Strada”

The Lincoln Library Film Society presents “La Strada” on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. in the Tarbell Room Directed by Federico Fellini and starring Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1956. A care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.

Paws for the Holidays on Nov. 10

The fourth annual Paws for the Holidays festival to benefit Phinney’s Friends (a Lincoln nonprofit that helps low-income people and their pets stay together) will take place on Sunday, Nov. 10 from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Pierce House. Live music, food, a silent auction, baked goods, photos with Santa, kids’ crafts, pet photo contest, and gifts for animals and people.

Mass Audubon offers free admission to vets

Military veterans and their families get free admission to any of Mass Audubon’s 60 wildlife sanctuaries on Veterans Day (Monday, Nov. 11) to thank the men and women who have served their country in the military. To learn more and to confirm that a specific wildlife sanctuary will be open, please visit www.massaudubon.org.

Lecture on fly fishing

“Storied Waters: 35 Fabled Fly-Fishing Destinations and the Writers & Artists Who Made Them Famous” takes place at the Walden Woods Project (44 Baker Farm Rd., Lincoln) on Tuesday, Nov. 12 from 7:30–9 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. for wine and cheese reception sponsored by The Cheese Shop of Concord. Free admission; open to the public. 

Estate sale to benefit MCC

The METCO Coordinating Committee will hold an estate sale on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15 and 16 from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at 18 Cerulean Way in Lincoln. MCC member Joanna Schmergel has been collecting donations of antiques, art, china, silver, and collectibles from supporters all over the MetroWest area, and her basement and attic are stuffed with treasures. Also for sale will be American Girl Doll baskets and fleece hats made by Boston and Lincoln resident students in a social entrepreneurship program. Marika Hamilton, Lincoln METCO director, has been teaching students finance, accounting, marketing, home economics and social responsiveness through this program. All proceeds go toward summer camp scholarships, late buses, field trips, and enrichment programs for Boston-based METCO enrolled children attending the Lincoln School. 

Session on soul injury

On Wednesday, Nov. 20 from 6:30–8 p.m., Care Dimensions will present “Restoring Inner Peace, Sense of Self After Soul Injury” at Bemis Hall in Lincoln. This is for anyone who has experienced loss, heartache, or trauma, or has been a victim of combat, crime, abuse, neglect or other unattended emotional injuries, including but not limited to military veterans and their families. Soul injury presents as a sense of emptiness and a loss of meaning, or the feeling that a part of the self is missing. People who have experienced loss such as bereavement, divorce, or betrayal by a significant other may also suffer from soul injury, as can personal and professional caregivers. Open to the public; please RSVP by Nov. 18 to 781-373-6574 or jcorrigan@caredimensions.org.

Learn about how to combat climate change

What are the impacts of climate change, and what can we do about it? Come Bob Moore of Climate Reality discuss the causes of climate change and its impacts on our economy, national defense, food and water supply, as well as the surge in infectious diseases, on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Public Library. Each of us has a role to play to ensure that our country’s future is healthy and sustainable; see the tools we already have to change our trajectory. Discussion will follow the presentation.

Police log for the week of October 25, 2019

October 25

81 Wells Rd. (12:50 p.m.) — Officer assisting a resident with a civil matter.Rte. 2 gas testing site, Cambridge Turnpike eastbound (3:38 p.m.) — Caller report an odor of natural gas at the Rte. 2 Tennessee pipeline station. Gas company notified.

Cambridge Turnpike eastbound (1:06 a.m.) — Deceased deer in the breakdown lane. MassDOT notified.

October 26

52 Stonehedge Rd. (2:03 p.m.) — Resident reported being scammed out of money during an online purchase.

53 Wells Rd. (4:04 p.m.) — Assisting an elderly resident.

October 27

Cranberry Terrace, Hanscom Air Force Base (11:35 a.m.) — Officer assisting a resident with a civil issue.

Lincoln Water Department, 77 Sandy Pond Rd. (3:20 p.m.) — Suspicious motor vehicle parked along Sandy Pond Road. Operator was fine and was moved along.

2 Beaver Pond Rd. (9:15 p.m.) — Resident reported that two vehicles pulled into their driveway and left after a couple of minutes. Officers checked the area; unable to locate.

October 28

21 Sunnyside Lane (2:17 p.m.) — Resident reported being harassed by a neighbor; officer took a report. No criminal actions; civil in nature.

Lincoln MBTA station (7:17 p.m.) — Assisting a party with explaining the rules of the resident commuter lot.

October 29

91 Tower Rd. (10:45 a.m.) — Complaint about a barking dog; incident referred to the animal control officer.U.S. Post Office, 145 Lincoln Rd. (5:06 p.m.) — Party was bitten by a dog on a leash. The injured party refused treatment; information was given to the animal control officer.

Lincoln Public Schools (6:04 p.m.) — Witness reported a minor hit-and-run two-car crash involving a parked car in the school lot. Officers contacted the registered owner, who returned to the station. The owner wasn’t the operator; report taken.

122 South Great Rd. (7:59 p.m.) — Party reports some is knocking on her door and she’s refusing to answer. Officers checked the area; unable to locate anyone.

29 Wells Rd. (9:23 p.m.) — Party reported received a strange/harassing call from a former co-worker. Report taken.

October 31

24 Cranberry Terrace, Hanscom Air Force Base (10:35 a.m.) — Resident reports suspicious activity around the residence. Report taken.

53 Wells Rd. (2:36 p.m.) Well-being check, officer checking on an elderly resident; all is fine.

Bedford Road (3:21 p.m.) — Minor two-car crash, no injuries. Report taken.

75 Tower Rd. (9:52 p.m.) — Speaking to a resident regarding an ongoing civil matter.

Public hearings coming up

Historical Commission
  • Public hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. to consider the application of Paul and Ann Kaplan to demolish the house and sheds at 19 South Great Rd.
Historic District Commission
  • Public hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. to review the application of Niels Bradshaw and Julia Kardon, 51 Stonehedge Rd., to replace the roof including addition of two inches of insulation, extend border of roof and replace glass in three skylights, insulate overhangs, and cover with cedar tongue and groove decking.
Conservation Commission
  • Public hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7:15 p.m. in response to the notice of intent by David Johnston for the construction of a garage on existing driveway attached to existing home within the 100-foot buffer zone resource area at 65 Winter St.
  • Public hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 8:45 p.m. in response to the request for determination of applicability by Paul and Ann Kaplan, trustees of the South Great Road Realty Trust, for the removal of all existing structures, septic, driveway, fencing, and invasive plants to return the site to pre-construction conditions with work occurring in both the 50-foot and 100-foot buffer zone resource areas at 19 South Great Rd.

Zoning Board of Appeals

Public hearing on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m. to hear and to act on the following petitions:

  • Kathleen Corkins, 18 Baker Bridge Rd., for renewal of a special permit for an accessory apartment.
  • Neal and Kimberly Rajdev, 18 Moccasin Hill Rd., for a special permit for an accessory structure and to convert garage to studio space with bathroom.

Planning Board

Public hearing at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26 to review an application for site plan review. The applicant, the School Building Committee for the town of Lincoln, proposes to construct a new school at 1-8 Ballfield Rd.

Water Department in financial and staffing crisis

By Alice Waugh

At a Special Town Meeting on November 2, voters will be asked to approve a second large request for Water Department funding this year — and residents who use town water could see a rate hike approaching 50%.

This week’s move to borrow $967,000 and transfer another $340,000 from retained earnings comes eight months after $1.01 million in Water Department borrowing was approved at the Annual Town Meeting (ATM) last March. The resulting 25% rise in water rates came after several years with no increases, and the next rate hike (which won’t be known until after a public hearing has been scheduled) will be “significant,” Town Administrator Tim Higgins said.

The latest urgent need for borrowing is a result of several factors: not enough spending on preventive maintenance and upgrades in recent years, a series of chemical accidents and other events in recent months, and staff turnover combined with a tight labor market that have left the Water Department chronically short-handed and required expensive part-timers to fill the gaps.

While many officials are resigned to the new expenses, others in town — including several former Water Commission members and Water Department employees — say that some of the looming expenditures aren’t truly necessary right away, and that the sudden need for cash is due to mismanagement by department Superintendent MaryBeth Wiser. 

The saga began with a routine inspection by the state Department of Environmental Protection in August 2018 that uncovered several problems. The report from the triennial inspection, which happened to occur a few months after Wiser was hired, took the Water Commission by surprise because it listed many more issues (27 deficiencies and 12 recommendations) than the previous inspection in 2015.

The two biggest items approved for bonding last March were required as a result of that 2018 inspection: $355,000 for safe chemical handling storage and ventilation upgrades, and $400,000 for chemical handling and ventilation compliance work at both the water treatment plant on Sandy Pond Road and the town well on Tower Road (see page 47 of the 2019 ATM warrant).

The November 2 bonding requests totaling $967,000 are:

  1. An additional $148,000 for the previously approved chemical handling and ventilation system, largely because the project scope has expended to include a chlorination system at the well
  2. A complete replacement of all 240 filtration modules in the treatment plant ($364,000)
  3. A new coagulation system at the treatment plant to combat a higher-then permitted level of disinfection byproducts in the treated water
  4. Another $125,000 on top of previous estimates for building a platform and catwalk to safely service the filter modules
Chemicals

As ordered by the DEP, engineers were already designing systems to provide more safety around the caustic chemicals used to treat the town’s water, but two unrelated chemical spills in the past year highlighted the deficiencies. In November 2018, rainwater seeped into a pipe connected to a barrel of hydrochloric acid used to wash the filters. The resulting chemical reaction produced an “off-gassing” of fumes that triggered a regional hazardous-materials response by firefighters and sent treatment plant operator Jeremy Bernard to the emergency room.

See photos by Jeremy Bernard of conditions at the water treatment plant
(click thumbnails for larger versions and captions)

WTP2
WTP1
WTP3
WTP5

That accident would not have happened if the barrels of chemicals were fitted with proper piping and airtight lids, Bernard said. In the past, much smaller off-gassing episodes that were undetectable by smell have resulted in repeated respiratory symptoms of water treatment plant staff, he added. 

In addition to the added request for a new well chlorination system, two tanks and some piping were also tacked on to the previously planned work. “MaryBeth came to us and asked us if we could include those three things” as well fixing a defect that allowed a leak of spilled sodium hydroxide to spread under a containment wall, said Ryan Neyland of Tata and Howard, the Water Department’s engineering firm, at an October 29 Water Commission meeting.

The company has provided a host of consultation and design services as well as a staff member to work at the plant one day a week at a cost of about $1,000 a day. The department has needed that outside help because two treatment plant positions have been vacant since at least last spring, largely due to a statewide shortage of licensed water treatment operators. One person was offered a job but turned it down, and the town has raised the starting salaries in an attempt to attract more interest, Water Commissioner Ruth Ann Hendrickson said.

Meanwhile, the two remaining treatment plant staff members have been working on a schedule of 12 days on and two days off since February, “and we are beyond exhausted,” Bernard said. Their work includes responding to after-hours problems caused by power failures, partial system shutdowns and other issues.

Saturday’s funding request also includes $100,000 to handle a spill of potassium hydroxide at the well. About 300 gallons of the highly alkaline fluid leaked due to an equipment failure and then seeped out of the building into the ground through a cracked seam. The well was taken offline as a precaution and won’t be allowed back into service until repeated testing satisfies the DEP that the chemical didn’t seep down and contaminate the water, but that should happen “very soon,” Hendrickson said.

Filters

At the heart of the water treatment process are the filters, which must be washed in two different ways according to a schedule. They are supposed to last at least five years but could last “seven or even ten years if they’re kept in good condition and not stressed with poor water quality,” Neyland said, adding that Flint’s Pond has excellent quality. The filters are all showing signs of degradation, and Wiser has said that they are about nine years old and have reached the end of their useful life.

The town needs to appropriate money right away because the process of ordering and getting new filters shipped takes several months, and they should be installed before warm weather increases the amount of organic materials in the water and puts more strain on the filters, Wiser said.

However, others say the filters are actually not very old, and that much cheaper measures could significantly extend their life. In addition to the regular sanitizing washes (which they’re getting more and more frequently), they’re supposed to be cleaned with a hydrochloric acid solution every three months — but that hasn’t happened on schedule since the off-gassing incident. After the vapor leak, a temporary ventilation system made of wood and plastic sheeting was installed around the chemicals, but Bernard said he has refused on safety grounds to open any new barrels of hydrochloric acid until primary containment is established with an airtight lid.

“As soon as we can do an acid cleaning, we’ll see a dramatic improvement” in the performance of the filters, Bernard said. “I believe people who have been listening to MaryBeth will be surprised by how well things may operate once our cleaning system is made functional. To replace [the filters] now is like putting the cart before the horse. You wouldn’t put new tires on a car with two broken axles… I don’t want to see those filters going into the treatment plant until we see what the long-term plan is going to be.”

Bernard and former employees also said that most of the 240 filters are only about three years old. In 2016, the manufacturer gave the town more than 180 discontinued filters for free, and they’ve been installed a few at a time since then. Wiser told the board at its October 3 meeting that the department only received 100 free filters, and that any new filters installed alongside older ones would have to do double duty and would wear our faster as a result.

But Hendrickson disputed this view. “The best practice in this case is to really have them replaced all at the same time,” Hendrickson said. “By the time we can get new filters due to the long lead time, the upgraded chemical handling systems will be in place and all
the associated valves will have been replaced, so we are not ‘putting the cart before the horse’.”

Coagulation

Coagulation pretreatment involves adding a chemical such as alum to the water to make tiny particles  clump together so they’re big enough to be caught by the filters (a step that also extends the life of the filters themselves). Residents received a notice on October 8 that Lincoln’s water had exceeded the maximum allowed proportion of trihalomethanes (TTHM) at one of two sampling locations. TTHM forms when chlorine-containing disinfectants that are added to the water to kill germs react with naturally occurring organic matter from decaying plant and animal products.

Officials aren’t sure why some TTHM levels were high in both 2018 and 2019, though warmer pond water due to climate change is probably a factor. Also, when the level rises, it inundates more leaves and animal products on the formerly dry shoreline, meaning the water needs more filtering and disinfection.

Water levels rise when the pond is replenished with rainfall, or when the dam that holds back the water is deliberately heightened, though this is very rarely done. Sometime in the past several months, Wiser told staff to temporarily raise the dam by adding boards to the top, causing the water to rise so much that it crept close to the pump house and also began seeping under the dam, which was upgraded in 2017.

No one is sure why the boards were added. Wiser referred requests for comment to Hendrickson, who said, “I haven’t been able to get a straight story.”

Management

Former Water Commissioners Bob Antia and Heather Ring echoed the sentiment that Wiser is not always forthcoming with clear explanations of why certain steps were taken or expenditures are necessary.

“When MaryBeth doesn’t want to answer a question, it takes a really long time to not answer the question, and by then you’re tired,” said Antia. He resigned partway through his second term on the commission because a change in his work hours made it impossible to attend the group’s daytime meetings.

Ring resigned earlier this month after only seven months in the commission because she was so disenchanted with Wiser. In a statement to the Lincoln Squirrel in Thursday, she wrote:

“Lincoln Water Superintendent MaryBeth Wiser started her job with a fully staffed department and level-funded budget. Preventative maintenance measures were not in place, and maintenance was reactive when equipment broke. It was soon evident water rates needed to increase to perform further reactive maintenance. Superintendent Wiser, while managing to perform reactive maintenance, continually fails to prioritize needs and create a long-term plan for maintaining Lincoln’s aging system. In addition, staff morale continued to degrade like our water system, and a hostile work environment festers. The department needs a leader who can lead them out of crisis mode and into the modern world.”

“She doesn’t have the knowledge she represents herself as having” about how the plant operates, Bernard said. “She uses the vocabulary well, and she comes off as being educated on the subject… but she gets her information from the engineers. They keep taking money and giving her suggestions.”

Bernard has complained repeatedly to Higgins and Assistant Town Administrator Mary Day about allegedly abusive conduct by Wiser and safety issues at the plant, “and their collective reactions have been ‘Do your job,’” he said. He acknowledged he has been cited several times by Wiser for insubordination and was accused by former Superintendent Greg Woods of harassment “because I wouldn’t drop the subject when he told me to” after Bernard raised concerns about operational or safety issues.

“They tell me I’m overreacting… but I have fought and fought to get the right things to happen up there,” he said.

But Bernard has not been the only employee to clash with Wiser. Since she was hired 19 months ago, a water treatment staff member and three administrative assistants have resigned. “I have not investigated this personally, but my experience in the private sector is that when you have a bunch of people leave like that, there’s probably an underlying cause,” Antia said.

Several of these former employees, who spoke to the Lincoln Squirrel on condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation, agreed with Bernard’s views on Wiser.

“I really don’t think she knows how to run the treatment plant,” said one.

“The environment was extremely toxic and she was verbally abusive. I had no choice but to leave to save my health and my sanity,” said another.

In a statement emailed to the Lincoln Squirrel on Thursday, Bernard expanded on his comments:

“I make these statements in fear and expectation of retaliation. Due to the town administration’s repeated acknowledgment of how impressive it is that MaryBeth Wiser has received so much money from the Water Commission, I assume I will be fired for making these statements, but the people who pay for and drink the water should know…

“I have moral objections to the way money is being wasted in our department due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of our superintendent. I have always advocated for the needs of the department and the quality of the water in this town. And due to the over $0.5 million invested in me by the town of Lincoln over the past eight years, and the home I own and maintain with that funding, I feel obligated to try and address the real issues within our department. I have always stood up and addressed public and personnel safety issues and have been met with swift and irrational retaliation for it. I have no reason to expect differently now, but I have hope that the real problem will be addressed before MaryBeth Wiser is allowed to destroy another life and career of personnel under her control,” Bernard wrote.

As superintendent, former employees say Wiser has taken a markedly different approach from that of her predecessor. “Greg was a working superintendent; he got his hands in there and did whatever needed to be done,” said one. In contrast, Wiser has her staff do most of the operational work and relies much more heavily on outside engineering consultants, sources said.

When asked to describe Wiser’s management style, Hendrickson was diplomatic. “It’s not clear… who knows… it’s very hard to put your finger on that. I’m not there on a day-to-day basis,” she said.

Spending requests

The Water Commission has been taken aback by the recent spending requests. “It was a difficult situation. [Woods] never asked for more money by saying ‘I need this and that, or we need more maintenance.’ We wondered, how did this happen?” Hendrickson said. “Here we had Greg, who we all thought was wonderful, and then MaryBeth says “this is broken, this is broken and this is broken.’ It took a while for us to really believe that what she was saying was true.”

Reached by phone on Thursday, Woods declined comment on his or Wiser’s work as superintendent.

During the DEP inspection in 2018, several sources said, Wiser actually encouraged the inspector to find deficiencies. “I think she thought the sure-fire way to get money out of the Water Commission was having the DEP cite us and say we have to do something,” a former employee said. Water Department staff “were not trying to hide anything, but she was practically pointing stuff out. She’s addicted to spending money when it’s not hers, and she loves brand-new things.”

After the Lincoln Squirrel published a story on October 25 about the upcoming bonding request, an anonymous reader (later confirmed to be a former employee) commented underneath, “As long as the vampiric rapaciousness that has run rampant under her tenure is allowed to continue, more and more money will be requested, and Lincoln residents will be asked to pay up.”

The dollar amounts for some requests have also changed. Wiser told the commission in October 2018 that the total cost for the 240 filter modules would be about $192,000. At a meeting last week, she said the cost would be $325,000, while the motion at Saturday’s Town Meeting asks for $364,000.

According to the 2019 ATM warrant, the Water Department’s annual operating budget was $1.11 million in fiscal 2018 and $1.19 million in fiscal 2019. Figures from earlier this month show a budget of $1.37 million in fiscal 2020, while the initial request for fiscal 2021 (not yet voted on by the Water Commission) is $1.75 million, a 28% increase from the current year.

The future

Unfortunately, this year’s combined $2 million in bonding for the Water Department won’t mark the end of its financial needs. The Tower Road well is more than 40 years old, with reduced capacity and more frequent cleanings needed, and is slated to be replaced in the next couple of years. In fact, Wiser’s original request for capital spending in fiscal 2021 included $500,000 for a new well.

The water tank on Bedford Road is also showing signs of age, with a possible leak and a deteriorating concrete lid. The water treatment plant was “designed like a glove to fit around the equipment that’s there and was not designed with enhancements in mind,” Hendrickson said, and the pumping station next to Flint’s Pond is maxed out in terms of space as well. And then there are the miles of aging water mains all over town.

One bit of good news, however: in three years, the 20-year bond for construction of the treatment plant will be paid off, which will free up about $187,000 a year.

The Water Commissioners are frustrated at the slow pace of the the design, approval, and bidding process for getting work done, and they’re chagrined at having to repeatedly seek money for upgrades, Hendrickson said, but the alternatives — years of delay and millions of dollars for either an entirely new treatment plant or a possible alliance with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority — aren’t necessarily more palatable. “But we’re all unanimous that the money we’re asking for is really needed or we wouldn’t be asking for it.”

State of the Town meeting on Saturday

Updates on the school project, South Lincoln rezoning proposals, community electricity aggregation and property tax relief will make for a full agenda at Lincoln’s annual State of the Town meeting on Saturday, Nov. 2 at about 9:30 a.m., after the conclusion of a Special Town Meeting on Water Department funding. These links and Lincoln Squirrel stories offer some background on the issues.

School project
South Lincoln rezoning
Community electricity aggregation
Property Tax Study Committee