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

News acorns

Reed Wentworth to speak at LLCT

The annual meeting of the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust with a keynote address by Rand Wentworth, author of Finding Hope: The Future of Land Conservation in America, takes place on Monday, May 14 from 7–9 p.m. at St. Anne’s in-the-Fields church. LLCT members and friends are invited. Come learn how communities around the country are accelerating environmental protection in spite of federal rollbacks. Wentworth is the Louis Bacon Senior Fellow in Environmental Leadership at Harvard University and president emeritus of the Land Trust Alliance in Washington, D.C.

Hydrant flushing may affect tap water

The Lincoln Water Department will be flushing fire hydrants as part of its program to improve water quality starting Monday, May 14. Flushing will take place during the day from 8 a.m.–3 p.m. on weekdays. If tap water is used during flushing, it could be discolored and contain sediment. This discoloration only affects the appearance of the water; it does not affect the taste or water quality.

If you encounter discolored water, shut the water off and wait several minutes. After waiting, check the clarity by running cold water only for a few minutes, allowing new water to work its way into your pipes. In some cases, there may be slight discoloration for a few hours. The water may also have a milky appearance due to tiny air bubbles; they will dissipate over time and are not harmful.

Avoid washing laundry during scheduled flushing times. Wait until the water runs clear at the tap, then wash a load of dark clothes first. Flush your hot water tank by running the hot water tap for a few minutes after the cold water clears; hot water tanks can hold discolored water for some time after the cold water runs clear. Customers may also notice a more pronounced chlorine taste or odor in the water during springtime flushing. This will dissipate when water is left in an open container in the refrigerator. For additional information, call 781-259-8997.

Club Codman this weekend

Club Codman, the spring fundraising night for Codman Community Farms, kicks off on Saturday, May 19 at 8:30 p.m. in the Codman Barn with live music from DADDA. Sport the great fashions of the past and dance to music from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and beyond. No costumes necessary, but there will be much respect for the biggest hair and most polyester. Tickets are $45 for CCF members and $60 for non-members and are available online. This event sells out every year, so buy your tickets now. 

Film about borderlands trip at First Parish

The First Parish in Lincoln will show a short documentary film about a trip its members took to the Arizona borderlands on Tuesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. in the Stearns Room.  This film was produced by Lincoln resident Janet Boynton after the November 2016 trip. The film will be followed by a welcoming town and diversity discussion, co-facilitated by First Parish Ministerial Intern Terry Cumming and Peter Pease of the Lincoln Welcoming, Safe Town Committee of Lincoln.

Last community forum before school vote is May 15

There’s one more community workshop and two school tours before the milestone vote to decide which school project scheme the town should pursue.

The public forum on the six current concepts will be on Tuesday, May 15 from 7–9:30 p.m. in the Reed Gym. This session will focus mostly on audience Q&A with the School Building Committee (SBC) and other officials, and attendees will also be asked to informally rank the concepts in order of preference.

At the forum, SBC members will walk attendees through the process they used to generate and then narrow down the concepts from 12 at the start to the current six.

Last week, the committee considered two additional school design options. One of them had been in the mix before and one was a concept that the SBC requested from the consulting architects at a set price point of $85 million. However, “after discussion, it was determined that neither one of them brought anything incremental when compared to what we already had,” SBC Chair Chris Fasciano said.

The Board of Selectmen has yet to issue a recommendation on the options, though members are hoping to provide some guidance without being “overly directive,” Selectman Jennifer Glass said at the board’s May 7 meeting. The Finance Committee also debated the matter last week but decided not to recommend any of the options over the others, though they may yet recommend a dollar amount to keep in reserve when the town votes on bonding.

At its May 16 meeting, the SBC will finalize the concepts to be presented on June 9. Members will discuss on May 30 how they would rank the six options and why.

The June 9 Town Meeting will feature two votes: one using the voting machines and the second being a stand-and-count vote. In the first vote, registered voters will be asked to choose one of the six school options and possibly also what factors were most important in their decision. The votes will then be tabulated by machine, and the two options receiving the most votes will be presented for the final standing vote.

The SBC is hosting tours of the new Hanscom Middle School and the Lincoln School on Monday, May 21, where school officials will point out the educational benefits of various design attributes in both buildings. Anyone interested in the Hanscom tour must email Janice Gross at jgross@lincnet.org by noon on Monday, May 14, as all Hanscom Air Force Base visitors must provide in advance their full legal name as shown on their driver’s license and date of birth.

Visitors on May 21 must travel to the base with the group by bus, which will leave the Hartwell lot at 9:30 a.m. and return by noon, with lunch provided in the multipurpose room. A tour of the Lincoln School follows at 12:45 p.m. Anyone who just wants to tour the Lincoln School should email Gross and meet at the Smith office by 12:45 p.m.

The last mile (Lincoln Through the Lens)

Fran Doyle (center) is thrilled with the completion of a new Lincoln Road sidewalk between the Ryan Estates, where she lives, and the Cambridge Trust Co. building, making it much safer for her and others to walk to the mall and other South Lincoln locations. The sidewalk is one of several planned roadway improvement projects in town. With her are (left to right) DPW Superintendent Chris Bibbo, traffic consultant John Vancor, and DPW Foreman Steve McDonald.

Correction

The May 9 article headlined “Community center group narrows focus to two concepts” incorrectly stated that the Community Center Planning and Preliminary Design Committee had formally voted not to request funding for a community center at the June 9 Special Town Meeting. The group’s charge was only for preliminary work to further the community center, inform the school process and keep the campus coordinated. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.

Community center group narrows focus to two concepts

The group planning a future community center has narrowed down its choices to two schemes that will be presented at the Special Town Meeting on June 9, probably followed by a non-binding “sense of the town” vote on which one residents prefer.

At its meeting last week, the Community Center Planning and Preliminary Design Committee decided to eliminate Scheme 2 (“L on main campus green”), but members were evenly split over which of the other two ideas they preferred. The two remaining concepts both locate the parking on the east side of the Hartwell site and leave some open space on the west side for a playground between the building and Ballfield Road.

Scheme 1 calls for removing two of the existing pods and replacing them with a community center that’s all new construction. The third pod would be renovated and used for LEAP, and a fourth small building would be used for school maintenance. Scheme 3 incorporates two of the existing pods and adds connecting space between them; as with Scheme 1, the remaining pod would be used for LEAP. Both call for at least part of the building to be two floors. In Scheme 3, the second-floor part would cover only a portion of the ground floor, which would havea  larger open area.

 

The CCPPDC’s work will conclude after the June Town Meeting, with a future group expected to supervise detailed design and final cost estimates. The June meeting will not include a community center funding vote because the campus can’t accommodate both construction projects at the same time. Even if it could, the CCPPDC determined that the town wouldn’t see any cost savings, primarily because the projects are of such different scope that contractors would not bid on both as a package, as well as the need for installing expensive temporary classrooms.

Nonetheless, it will cost more to build a community center later rather than sooner. “Just as the cost to build a new school has skyrocketed between the first school project in 2012 until now, building costs will likely increase between now and 2023, when we are likely to break ground on a community center,” CCPPDC Vice Chair Margit Griffith said. “In today’s terms, the designs have a price tag of about $13–15 million, which looks like it will go to $20 million if building costs increase at the same rate. There are a few models that suggest things are slowing a bit—time will out.”

On the other hand, by 2023, the town will have paid off some of its debt and property values will rise in the interim, meaning the town will have “headroom” under its borrowing limit. Debt payments will be smaller in early years of repayment than if the entire sum for a school and community center was borrowed at once. 

Some residents are worried that delaying the community center is politically risky because it could be seen as “pushing it off” and disappointing seniors and others who are more interested in using that facility than a renovated school. Asked why those people should first approve an expensive school project, Griffith said, “Because it’s the right thing to do. From a value-for-dollar perspective, we can pay a hell of a lot to put an Ace bandage and keep limping along on our bad knee (the current school), or foot the bill for the knee replacement that will last for a generation or more. From a ‘Lincoln way’ perspective, we value education and this town. Now is the time to put our money where our mouths are. From a personal interest perspective, property values in towns all around us are eclipsing ours—they have new schools, we don’t.”

The CCPPDC will incorporate feedback at the June 9 Town Meeting into its final report. That feedback may take the form of a standing “sense of the town” vote or with sticky notes as at earlier public forums. The committee has three more meetings scheduled before that.

 

Lincoln Kitchen shuts its doors; ingredients for a successful business debated

Lincoln Kitchen shortly before its opening in early 2017.

Just 15 months after it opened, Lincoln Kitchen shut its doors last week, leaving Lincoln once again without a restaurant.

Asked why it closed, co-owner and Lincoln resident Jim White said simply, “It didn’t work. Perhaps I should have known better, because there were plenty of people who turned down an opportunity to put a restaurant in that space. The difficulty with it, now that I know a little bit more, is there is just isn’t enough population density and the location is out of the way. Maybe we’re wrong and didn’t know what we’re doing… I live in town and I’d love to see something succeed there.”

Lincoln Kitchen opened in February 2017, nine months after the closure of AKA Bistro. In summer 2016, White and his daughter, co-owner Elizabeth Akehurst-Moore, signed leases for that building as well as the former Whistle Stop Cafe property nearby. Trail’s End Cafe opened in the latter location in October 2016 but closed in February 2018. White said he was negotiating a termination agreement on the Lincoln Kitchen lease with the Rural Land Foundation, which owns both properties.

In 2016, Lincoln resident Richard Card made an offer for the AKA Bistro space, but the RLF went with White instead. Card had proposed a business called Blazes, a combination bookstore, restaurant, coffee shop, and cocktail bar that would also host music performances (a website for the proposal is still live).

Card said this week that he planned to reach out again to the RLF but was also seriously considering a different site in town that he declined to specify. The biggest issue with that site is the septic system, he said.

“I was disappointed in the first [AKA Bistro] situation and I don’t want to lead people on when we’re not far enough down the line to have any kind of concrete commitment,” Card said. “I thought we had a situation with the RLF and it didn’t work out, which was disappointing to me and a lot of other people. One of the reasons given to me was that they went with Lincoln Kitchen  because they had a track record and [the RLF] couldn’t afford failure. Potential restaurateurs are going to think twice about going in there, as am I.”

If Blazes does open somewhere in Lincoln, Card hopes that a more “community-based” business with events like music and poetry readings will draw enough customers to succeed. “The idea is to spark a conversation, not just go in and out,” he said. “It’s a struggle because it’s a small community, but it’s not just commercial—it’s who we are to each other.”

In the wake of Lincoln Kitchen’s closing, numerous ideas for the site have been floated on LincolnTalk, but White warned that even a small food-related business must comply with Board of Health regulations, including licensed servers. “It’s not as easy to set up as some people might think it is,” he said.

The bigger obstacle, he added, was “people wanting to see a viable commercial district conflicting with why we all moved to Lincoln in the first place: peace and quiet and open space.” To have staying power, any restaurant in Lincoln “is going to have to be subsidized in some way, either by the town, if that’s legal, or by a wealthy individual.”

L-S School Committee disputes lawsuit allegations

The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee released a statement on May 7 denying charges in a recent lawsuit that the high school discriminated against the victim of an alleged sexual assault on campus in 2013.

A former student identified only as “Jane Roe” filed suit last month, charging L-S with failure to train and supervise response to sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and discrimination on the basis of gender in violation of Title IX. In addition to the school, the suit names Superintendent/Principal Bella Wong, Director of Special Education and Director of Student Services Aida Ramos, and East House Housemaster/Associate Principal Leslie Patterson as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, after Jane was sexually assaulted by two boys during a football game, the school did not adequately protect her from coming into contact with the boys at the school and did not provide her with sufficient educational and counseling resources. Jane later went to a therapeutic school and eventually graduated from Lawrence Academy, the suit says.

“These allegations were fully investigated at the time by the Sudbury Police and School District officials. Upon learning of the incident, School District personnel immediately provided the female student with the support and assistance necessary to pursue her studies in a safe and harassment-free environment. Appropriate measures were also taken against the alleged assailants,” the School Committee’s statement reads.

“Any allegations that the school district dragged its feet, was unresponsive to the student, or somehow tried to sweep the incident under the rug, are entirely false. Due to the nature of the incident and ages of all involved, the school district was obliged to maintain strict confidentiality.”

The statement includes a link to a 2017 letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which investigated the district’s response to the incident and said it found “insufficient evidence to support the complainants’ allegation” that “the school discriminated against the student by failing to respond promptly and appropriately.”

“The Superintendent-Principal and her administrative team have kept the School Committee apprised of the matters related to the incident and subsequent proceedings at all times,” the School Committee wrote, adding that it “stands behind its policies and unequivocally supports the administrators named in the lawsuit.”

Letter to the editor: mulling Trump’s Nobel nomination

To the editor:

Recently, a group of conservative Republican Trump supporters from the House of Representatives sent a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee nominating Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Notwithstanding the fact that nothing substantial has been accomplished yet, the intrinsic role of the President in the recent North Korea peace initiative is still unclear. Leaders from South Korea and North Korea have played more constructive roles. Based on previous examples, the ultimate result may take years to fulfill. 

How does Trump’s diplomatic stature compare to previous Nobel laureates and goals of the Peace Prize to justify his consideration? According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who “shall have done the most or the best work for the fraternity between nations, for the abolition of standing armies, and promotion of peace congresses.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee specifically invites “qualified people” to submit nominations, and the Nobel Foundation specifies categories of nominating individuals. Examples of such nominators include international organizations for peace and justice; university professors of history, law and social sciences; directors of peace research and international affairs institutes; former recipients; and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and Norwegian Nobel Institute.  

I wonder how a few U.S. House of Representatives conservative members fit on that list, particularly those running for higher office this election year?

The 110 past international laureates include Malala Yousafzai, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the Red Cross (1917, 1944 and 1963), and United Nations Commission for Refugees (1954 and 1981). The 21 past U.S. laureates include four Presidents and one Vice President, Martin Luther King Jr., Elie Wiesel (chair of the Holocaust Commission), Linus Pauling (author of No More War!), and Nicholas Murray Butler (Columbia University president and head of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).

Taken as a whole, I wonder how the Nobel Committee, the Nobel Institute, and the 131 Nobel laureates might consider the overall fit of Trump’s “unique” style, attitude regarding norms of international respect and diplomacy, and political motivation and standing of his nominators as “qualified people.” 

Lastly, when it comes time to consider his nomination, I also wonder how Norwegians will remember Trump’s offensive comments on immigration last January following the visit of Norwegian Prime Minister Solberg. The Norwegians didn’t think his standing was so worthy at the time.

Sincerely,

Gary Davis
20R Indian Camp Lane, Lincoln