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

Property transactions in January

March 6, 2017

20 Brooks Rd. — John B. Collins to Erik Larsen and Jeannie Chun for $935,000 (January 17).
118 Lexington Rd. — Patrick T. Davis to John Yee and Chung-Yee Mia for $1,460,000 (January 18).
28 Old Concord Rd. — Clifford C. Cort to Keith M. Gilbert for $2,430,000 (January 31).

Letter to the editor: time to move forward with a school project

March 6, 2017

(Editor’s note: There will be a multi-board meeting and forum on Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Gym. This is the second such meeting in recent weeks about the school project; click here for coverage of the first multiboard meeting on January 30.)

To the editor:

Last April, Lincoln again applied for state funding for a school building project from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). In December, the town learned that we were not invited into the 2016 funding pipeline. After careful consideration, we, the members of the Lincoln School Committee (LSC), have voted unanimously to recommend that the town move forward independently and begin planning a Lincoln-funded school building project. This is an opinion that we have shared openly with other boards and that we introduced to the public at the January 30 multi-board meeting. It has since been endorsed by multiple town boards and committees.

The purpose of the January 30 meeting was to launch a community process that we hope will bring the town to consensus on a Lincoln School building project. The first decision will be made at the March 25th Annual Town Meeting. The LSC is bringing forth for the town’s consideration two warrant articles that represent two different pathways:

Article 33: Using the money we already set aside in 2015, will the Town permit the School Committee to begin planning a Lincoln-funded project? OR
Article 34: Should the Town continue to re-apply to the MSBA?

The LSC views these articles as an either/or choice representing two distinct pathways and timetables. The School Committee recommends voting “yes” on Article 33 and passing over Article 34.

Article 33

As stewards of the school, we believe the time has come to act independently for the following reasons:

The Lincoln School’s building systems are at increasing risk of failure, and the fiscally responsible approach is to address the deficiencies with a thoughtfully planned single project.
We are committed to creating a learning environment that supports the town’s educational vision.
There has been considerable community engagement over the past five years, and a growing consensus that a school project is one of the town’s top priorities.

Certain systems in the school, such as the roof and boilers, are on borrowed time. With immediate action, the earliest completion date for a renovation project is late 2021. Waiting to act lengthens the timeline and increases the risk of a costly infrastructure failure that would force us to reactively spend millions of dollars.

Since 2002 when the Capital Planning Committee first recommended a comprehensive approach to addressing the school’s capital needs, the town has conducted five studies of the facility. Each study has confirmed the idea that it is fiscally prudent to thoughtfully plan a project that holistically addresses the school’s infrastructure needs.

For the past several years, because we sought to maximize the impact of the town’s investment, the LSC asked for town support to seek MSBA funding. Yet, since we applied last April, we have learned more about the current competitiveness of the MSBA process. The MSBA uses weighted criteria to evaluate proposals, including:

Is the building structurally sound?
Is there severe overcrowding?
Is there a threatened loss of accreditation?
Does the district foresee future overcrowding?
Are the major systems obsolete?
Will there be short-term enrollment growth?
Are the educational spaces outdated?

The Lincoln School, like many around the Commonwealth, falls firmly into categories #5 and #7. Many districts around us, however, are also facing severe overcrowding, and there are some facilities around the Commonwealth that are considered unusable. The MSBA is using its limited resources to fund projects around the state that fall squarely within categories #1 and/or #2. We believe that with the current focus on these top two criteria, we are unlikely to receive state support in the foreseeable future, and that given the condition of the building, the responsible financial choice is to move ahead on our own.

Supporting high-quality public education is one of Lincoln’s core values. This goes beyond academic rigor, encompassing a vision of education that is innovative, engaging and inspiring. To realize that vision, we know we need highly effective educators in an environment that supports teaching and learning. Lincoln consistently supports the educational program, and now it is time to invest in our infrastructure. Our goal is a school facility that fosters collaboration and communication, is flexible and sustainable enough to meet educational needs for decades to come, and is safe and accessible to, and supportive of, all our learners.

Finally, for the past five years the LSC has worked with the citizens of Lincoln to cultivate a shared vision of education, and an understanding of the Lincoln School building’s deficiencies. Among the several hundred people who have engaged in this process, the public has indicated consensus on several points:

Maximizing educational benefits is the community’s first priority when evaluating a potential project.
A minimum investment of $30 million (2014 estimate) is required to achieve a responsible repair project that addresses basic infrastructure and meets current safety, structural and accessibility codes.
In order to achieve an education-focused transformation of the building, a significantly greater investment will be required. According to several studies, the potential cost is $40-$65 million.
This cost range is based on the 2014 Dore & Whittier estimates commissioned by the School Building Advisory Committee II (SBAC II); the total cost of the project proposed in 2012 was $50 million.
When asked at the 2014 State of the Town Meeting, those present demonstrated strong support for a transformative project, even if we need to pay for it on our own.
Many residents are also interested in building a community center on the Lincoln School campus and favor a parallel planning process.
A school project will be a major community investment. It is important to build on the community’s demonstrated engagement in planning these projects.

Approving Article 33 is the first of three votes the town would take to plan and achieve a revitalization of the Lincoln School. Community input has been and will continue to be crucial in planning for the choices the Town will make at each of these stages. The following “feasibility study” process is based on a standard project management model:

After a “yes” vote on Article 33, the School Committee appoints a School Building Committee to choose an architect, hire an owner’s project manager, and develop a series of project concepts and budget estimates from which the town will choose.
The town votes to choose a project concept and estimated budget range. This determines key components of the project such as the number and types of spaces needed, and the footprint of the building.
— Preliminary design phase: After the town chooses a concept, the architect and Building Committee will do preliminary site planning and choose major systems and materials such as heating/ventilation, roofing, exterior materials, windows, insulation, lighting, and plumbing.
— Two independent cost estimates are commissioned and reconciled.
The town votes to bond the project, beginning the final phase:
— Final design development: The Building Committee and architect choose interior finishes, finalize site plans, and create construction drawings.
—The construction contract is put out to bid, is awarded, and the project begins.

Article 34

Article 34 asks whether the town should re-apply for funding from the MSBA. The LSC has advocated for this pathway over the past couple of years, but now believes that our near-term acceptance into the funding pipeline is highly unlikely given both the level of need around the state, and the MSBA’s available resources. As outlined above, large infrastructure items such as the roof and the heating system are at an increased risk of failure, and even the most ambitious project schedule takes four years. The LSC recommends voting “yes” on Article 33 and passing over Article 34.

Why not vote “yes” on both articles?

One advantage of funding a project on our own is that we are not constrained by MSBA limitations on building and site use, thus facilitating parallel planning with a community center.
Potential waste of taxpayer money: If we spend money to develop a project on our own and then receive an invite from the MSBA, we would have to put that work aside and begin a new, state-approved process. This would mean appropriating more money, hiring a state-approved architect and owner’s project manager, and starting the work again. This also delays planning for a community center project.
Respect for the town’s human capital. During the most recent study of the Lincoln School, SBAC II meetings consumed over 110 hours of our educators’ and fellow citizens’ time. The LSC wants to ensure that we are using our human resources judiciously and productively.

Questions? Want more information? Please join us at the multi-board meeting and forum on March 8 at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Gym.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Glass, chair (on behalf of the Lincoln School Committee)

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Correction

March 6, 2017

The first paragraph of the March 6 article headlined “More candidate answers before March 11 forum” gave an incorrect date for the upcoming candidate forum at Lincoln Woods. It is March 11, not March 27 (that’s the date of the election). Also, the last word in Laura Sander’s response was cut off. Both errors have been corrected in the original article.

News acorns

March 5, 2017

Absentee ballots available

Absentee ballots for the March 27 town 2017 election are now available in the Town Office Building. Residents can come in and vote over the counter or apply by mail. Under state law, the town cannot allow anyone to deliver a physical ballot to a voter. A family member may apply for an absentee ballot to be mailed to another family member. Click here for more information on absentee voting.

Haitian dance performance at L-S

The Jean Appolon Expressions dancers.

On Friday, March 10, there will be a performance by the Haitian dance company jean Appalon Expressions at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. The performance, “Angaje” (which means “engaged” or “committed” in Haitian-Creole) is inspired by the struggle against homophobia and the power of Haitian cultural tradition in the fight for justice. It is a reflection of various forms of social oppression and more particularly the violence against LGBTQ people in Haiti, who are not only victims of discrimination, but also the targets of violence by anti-gay groups.

There will be a reception starting at 6:30 p.m. and the performance will start at 7:30 in Kirshner Auditorium. The performance is free, but donations will be accepted to benefit Partners in Health. The event is hosted by the L-S French Department and the METCO program and sponsored by SERF (Sudbury Education Resource Fund).

Also as part of World Language Week next week, the public is invited to the 14th Annual World Language Declamation Contest in the L-S Auditorium on Thursday, March 9 during block 4. Students including Lincoln residents Zoe Belge, Marissa Cannistraro, Cal Hamandi and Irene Terpstra will recite pieces they have memorized in the languages they are learning. World Language Karaoke will take place on Friday, March 10 in Kirshner Auditorium during blocks 6 and 7 with singing in French, Mandarin, German and Spanish (karaoke lyrics will be supplied). Email World Language Department Coordinator Joan Campbell at joan_campbell@lsrhs.net for more information.

Free after-school classes for kids

The Learning Hub at the Lincoln Public Library is offering free Friday afternoon classes for children ages 7-11 on four Fridays this month from 3:30-4:40 p.m. Topics include:

Picasso Cubism Paper Bag Art (March 10)
Catapulting with Marshmallows (March 17)
Make a Simple Glider (March 24)
Build a Bubble Rocket (March 31)

To sign up for any or all of the classes, contact the library at 781-259-8465 ext. 4 or email jflanders@minlib.net. Classes are provided by The Learning Hub in Worcester.

Elder law clinic on March 13

Got a question about issues such as estate planning, MassHealth, protecting assets for a loved one with a serious disability, guardianship, conservatorship or probate? The Council on Aging is offering a legal clinic with elder law attorney and Lincoln resident Sasha Golden on Monday, March 13 from 2-4 p.m. There is no charge for the 30-minute consultation, but please sign up by calling the COA at 781-259-8811.

Candidates answer questions ahead of March 11 forum

March 2, 2017

(Editor’s note: This article was expanded on March 12 to include responses that were published here and here after this first set was posted. It also includes a response via LincolnTalk from Board of Selectman candidate Jonathan Dwyer.)

There will be a moderated town-wide candidate forum on Saturday, March 11 from 10 a.m. to noon in the Lincoln Woods Community Center at 50 Wells Rd. in preparation for the March 27 town election. Each candidate will make brief opening and closing statements and take one or two questions in between.

In advance of the forum, the Lincoln Woods Advisory Committee asked everyone on the ballot to briefly answer two questions: What do you like best about Lincoln? What would you like to see change? Answers from some of the candidates are below (edited for space and clarity), in alphabetical order by their last names. Additional answers will be published as they become available.

Melinda Abraham (Bemis trustee)

Lynn DeLisi (Planning Board)

Jonathan Dwyer (Board of Selectman, three years)

What I like best about Lincoln: What I like best about Lincoln is its quirky character. Does any other town have a July 4th parade with a half time? I think this means we have twice as many parades on July 4th than any other town in the country! Our police officers have to be prepared to subdue the armed and dangerous as well as evasive juvenile bull #27 that jumps over fences daily. Our high school wins state championships in sports, and has competed at the national level in speech & debate. Middle school lego robotics competed at national and international levels. Still, the 5-way intersection flummoxes. We are a very small town charmed by farms, an art museum, a state park (reservation), a national park, and our own Air Force Base and MBTA stop. That’s quirky. And I haven’t even mentioned the people!

What I would like to see changed: The change I would like to see in town is an even greater willingness to listen, understand each other, and get involved solving problems small and big. Although every one of us is busy, it would be great if more seek to know the issues and the complexities that prohibit simple solutions, from cutting down dying roadside trees (state law restrictions) to food banks and substance abuse program (yes, people in our community use these services), positive outcomes happen more quickly with greater involvement. And when change comes slowly, unexpectedly, or is undesired, at least more of us understand why.

Jennifer Glass (Board of Selectmen, one year)

What I like best about Lincoln: As many have been before me, I was first drawn to Lincoln by its combination of beauty and location. Having grown up in the Adirondack mountains, I cherish Lincoln’s quiet woods, hidden ponds, open fields and farmland. As someone who has lived in the Boston area for 30 years, I value the ready access we have to the city. For me, Lincoln is a remarkable combination of my rural Adirondack roots and Boston’s urban energy. My family and I feel extraordinarily fortunate to call it home.

Before we moved to Lincoln 10 years ago, Andrew and I often visited Drumlin Farm and the deCordova with our daughters, and so had found ourselves drawn to the town for a long time. We were fully prepared to enjoy it for the ease of Andrew’s train ride, the peacefulness of our street, and the charming vistas of sheep and cows swathed in morning mist. What we did not realize was how welcoming our neighborhood was, or how easy it would be to become part of the fabric of the community. After getting our daughters settled in the Lincoln School, a seamless, mid-year transition, I decided to jump into the civic life of the town by volunteering to serve on the Lincoln School Committee’s Class Size Policy Subcommittee. I did not imagine then that a decade later I would be finishing my third term on the School Committee and running for selectman.

Lincoln’s commitment to engagement inspires me. During my time on the School Committee, I have worked with thoughtful, creative, collaborative committee members and administrators. We push one another to clarify our thinking, and our collective experience and skills make us better than the sum of our parts. I have had the same experience with numerous other boards and committees on topics ranging from policy development to emergency planning, and from budget development to planning for a school building project. Being on the School Committee has taught me to see any given issue from multiple viewpoints, and to try to make sure that we fully understand the consequences of our decisions. It’s work that is both intellectually and emotionally stimulating and satisfying.

What I would like to see changed: As a selectman, I would not want to change Lincoln. Rather, I would want to work with my colleagues to strengthen the flow of open communication and collaboration between the Board of Selectmen and town citizens. This will allow each of us to view our particular interests within the broader context of the town and to function at our best.

We are on the cusp of decisions that have the potential to positively impact every individual in town and that will shape Lincoln for decades to come. These choices include: How do we maximize our investment in public infrastructure, such as our educational, recreational and community facilities? How do we ensure a vibrant town that serves and supports each generation? How do we meet sustainability goals? What is our town’s role within our wider region? How do we ensure that the tradition of engagement remains strong? These are complex questions that require regular, proactive communication among our citizens and all of the town boards and committees.

Ruth Ann Hendrickson (Water Commission)

What I like best about Lincoln: I like the fact that Lincoln has so carefully protected the watershed and swamps that supply our drinking water.

What I would like to see changed: I wish we had a “no lawn irrigation” ordinance.

Rakesh Karmacharya (Housing Commission)

What I like best about Lincoln: I like the small-town feel of Lincoln and the warm and welcoming community. I love living in an idyllic setting while still being able to commute to work in Boston.

What I would like to see changed: I would like to explore possibilities of increasing nontraditional affordable housing options in Lincoln while nurturing meaningful interactions within our community. On the one hand, there is a dearth of housing options in Lincoln for millennials and young families. On the other hand, we have some elderly members of our community who are trying to decide whether they can still safely live in their houses or whether they need to move to an assisted living facility due health and safety concerns. Is there a mutually beneficial opportunity for interested elderly members in Lincoln to provide a room or two in their houses to a young person or a young couple in return for help with some tasks around the house? This arrangement enables the elderly to continue living safely in their houses while providing new housing opportunities for young folks who are attracted to Lincoln.

John MacLachlan (Bemis trustee)

What I like best about Lincoln: My favorite thing about Lincoln is the sense of community although I was initially drawn to Lincoln by the open space and trails.

What I would like to see changed: I’d love to see the already impressive community become further engaged and to see more interaction between the relatively new residents with long term Lincolnites.

Fred Mansfield (Board of Health)

What I like best about Lincoln: Lincoln’s emphasis on land conservation and open space.

What I’d like to see change: I’d hope that more people would take an interest in town government by attending Town Meeting and voting in town elections.

Rick Rundell (Planning Board)

What I like best about Lincoln: What I love about Lincoln is the strong sense of stewardship for our shared physical heritage. In other words, people here really care about the community, about each other, and about the unique character of our physical environment.

What I’d like to see change: I would love to see even broader civic engagement from citizens of Lincoln across all of our populations. The more people who participate in making this town work the stronger we are as a community.

Laura Sander (Board of Assessors)

Stanley Solomon (Bemis Trustee)

What I like best about Lincoln—While my wife Susan and I moved from Lexington to The Commons only about six years ago, I have been hiking and leading hikes in Lincoln for more than 40 years. From this, you might surmise that I rate Lincoln’s integrated conservation effort a gem. We see it as the town’s leading attribute.

What I would like to see changed—Town transportation, sewers, more restaurants, increased retail opportunities—these would all be nice to have, but they all come with consequences that, at best, change the appearance, operation and charm that Lincoln now exudes. From following LincolnTalk, it seems that a number of Lincolnites feel that spending one day a year on town government and/or two hours per election exceeds the time they have allocated to being Americans. I indeed would like to see this change.

Allen Vander Meulen (Board of Selectman, one year)

What I like best about Lincoln: The people—regardless of age, race, color faith or any other differentiator, we are all part of an unusually tight-knit and supportive community. This is part of what we mean when we talk of “the Lincoln Way.” You see this in how our town is run, where there is a focus on creating “win-win” situations wherever possible, and in being supportive to our fellow Lincolnites, whether newcomers or longtime residents. This is what has helped Lincoln retain its rural feel and small-town atmosphere despite the increasing suburbanization all around us.

What I’d like to see change: There is general (although not universal) agreement as to the goals and priorities we as a town must address in the next few years. Our differences mostly lie in the timing and sequence of what needs to be done, and in the specifics of how and what to accomplish with respect to each goal. So for me, the real question is not what to accomplish, or what to change, but how to get there.

The phrase “the Lincoln Way” has long been a call to action for us as a town, but the goal of a culture of inclusion and supportiveness that underlie what we mean by “the Lincoln Way” has always had gaps. Those gaps are becoming more apparent with time, challenging our communal understanding of what “the Lincoln Way” means.

How we come together to make tangible progress on the challenges in our immediate future will set the tone for our community’s conversations and leadership for the coming generation. I am convinced we must find new ways to include our neighbors who feel ignored, marginalized, or otherwise excluded from active participation in our community, so that they also can participate in the decisions and tasks before us. Otherwise, we will not be able to accomplish all that we hope (and need) to do. And so, we must reaffirm our commitment to “the Lincoln Way” and deepen and broaden our understanding of what it means.

Glass brings School Committee experience to bid for selectman

March 2, 2017

Jennifer Glass.

After nine years on the School Committee during a period when the town planned and then failed to advance a school building project, committee chair Jennifer Glass is hoping to apply what she’s learned to a new town government position: Board of Selectman member.

Glass is running against Allen Vander Meulen for the remaining year in the term of Selectman Renel Frederiksen, who is resigning from the board as of this month. Also on the ballot for selectman in the March 27 town election is Jonathan Dwyer. He is running unopposed for the open seat of Selectman Peter Braun, who is stepping down after two terms.

The Glass family—Jennifer her husband Andrew, an attorney, and their daughters Caroline and Emily, who are juniors in college and at Lincoln-Sudbury, respectively—have lived in Lincoln since 2006. She has a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies and a master’s in education, and taught kindergarten in Newton before from Brookline to Lincoln, where she has been a full-time parent and volunteer.

“I moved here and jumped in pretty quickly [into school matters], and I’ve enjoyed the fact that this is a town that welcomes people who want to do that. It’s easy to feel engaged, and it’s what has made our time here a lot of fun,” she said.

“What drew me to [running for selectman] was the confluence of events going on in the town right now,” said Glass, referring to a renewed school project push as well as a municipal solar installation at the landfill, economic development in South Lincoln, a possible community center and the Complete Streets initiative. “There are a lot of pieces that individual committees have talked about for a while but are all coming together in a big picture, which I find very interesting and exciting… I believe the experience I’ve had in meeting with other [town government] committees will help further the conversation about how we manage all of these different ideas and projects that seem to be coming together at the same time.”

School building saga

During the first school building process (which ended in defeat in late 2012 when less than two-thirds of voters approved a $49 million total expenditure at a Special Town Meeting), Glass had many dealings with other areas of town government including the selectmen, the Finance Commission, the Capital Planning Committee, the Council on Aging, and the Parks and Recreation Committee.

Reflecting on those events four years later, the failure to advance the project was “really due to a combination of factors,” she said. “There was some initial sticker shock—these are big numbers we’re talking about for the town. To support a project of that magnitude, you have to feel like you’re getting good value for the money you’re spending. Though we had a majority, not everyone was ready to say ‘yes, this was the right value for my dollars,’ whether it was because of the layout of campus, a purely financial decision, or a desire to better understand the connect between a building and the delivery of education,” she said.

Getting formal town consensus on a school and campus design before the funding vote “was really that missing step. We had public forums and neighborhood coffees and so forth, but somehow that step where we made a choice between keeping the building in the general shape it is now and approving the other scheme, somehow there just wasn’t enough vetting of that,” Glass said.

Asked what lessons she drew from the 2012 experience, Glass said, “I’ve certainly learned the importance of talking early and often, whether with other boards or the public. We tried to be very transparent at the time, but you can never stop trying to be transparent. You just have to be very clear and up front about what the decisions are.”

The reversal didn’t sour Glass on the town’s commitment to education—far from it. “Immediately after the [2012] vote, people came to me and said, ‘I couldn’t vote for this but I want to help. What can we do?’ That told me it was not that the town didn’t want to do something, but that we had to go back and figure out how to do a better job of communicating,” she said. “We knew we had to put in place a moment where, after developing a bunch of options, we would come back to the town to get a vote” on one of those design option before the actual funding vote.

Asked about how a community center might fit in with a school project, Glass said she was “very much in favor of those two processes going forward together.” Actual construction may have to be staggered, “but we just don’t know the answers yet. Both feel like good long-term solutions. What we’re trying to aim for is how do we get the most out of both projects.”

Likewise, planning for South Lincoln should move forward even though the town doesn’t yet know the final plan, Glass said. “Depending on what budgetary implications there are, we have to see if the town has the bandwidth, but the conversations have to keep going, even if means there isn’t immediate action on development.” The commercial district can benefit fairly soon from relatively low-cost measures such as marketing and signage, she added.

A young board

Regardless of who is elected to the Board of Selectmen this month, the group will be short on experience, with two new members and a third (James Craig) who has been serving for only a year. “It means that there would be a steep learning curve, clearly. But there’s a deep institutional knowledge in Town Hall,” Glass said. “And there are many people in town who have served in this role before who I’ve always found to be very wiling to give their input and advice and fill in on the historical info that I may not have at my fingertips.

“While I certainly have a lot to learn, I understand how town government works and how the meeting law works and how all of these pieces fit together. I don’t see it as a problem because I know there’s this kind of support network out there” of professionals and volunteers,” she said.

Glass feels that the past nine years have honed her political skills a well as procedural knowledge. “I think I’ve shown that I have a fair amount of perseverance and willingness to continue difficult conversations and find common ground. I think I’m willing to listen and keep talking and try to find solutions that bring people together,” she said.

Letter to the editor: DeLisi running for Planning Board reelction

March 2, 2017

To the editor:

I am enthusiastically running for re-election to the Planning Board of the town of Lincoln.

I am an academic psychiatrist and during the day work outside of Lincoln, mainly treating veterans with serious mental illnesses and conducting research projects that hopefully will improve the quality of life of all people with these illnesses.

Some time back, I decided that it was time to devote a portion of my life to public service that extends beyond my relatively small circle of colleagues sharing my work interests. I thus volunteered for an opening on the Planning Board when it was advertised because I love the uniqueness of Lincoln and enjoy its surroundings so much that I wanted to contribute to the lives somehow of my neighbors and the wellbeing of the town in general.

Thus, during my four years on the board, I had a steep learning curve to be able to understand the town zoning bylaw and how to protect it. I was tutored extensively by my fellow board members on how to protect our wonderful environment that is filled with rich farmland and wildlife of all kinds. During these years, I actively participated in several issues and task forces, including serving on the committee that recruited a new director of planning for the town (Jennifer Burney), and composing a report with recommendations for revitalizing the center of South Lincoln. I was also involved in several controversial decisions that affected residents and their neighborhoods in major ways.

Finally, I worked with the new director of planning to change and simplify some of the burdensome processes that new homeowners find in dealing with the Planning Board. Hopefully, when you now come before the Planning Board, you will see a changed atmosphere and a desire of all of us to help you with your building projects and expedite their progress, yet still responding to and respecting the requests of abutters.

In the next three years, I will continue to advocate for the preservation of our unique Lincoln environment, and the sponsorship of new regulations if needed to preserve that atmosphere. I will, most of all, be sensitive to the needs and concerns of the town and its residents during these changing times.

I believe in preserving the beauty of our historic district. I believe in the highest quality of education available to our children and in the modernizing of the facilities in which their education occurs. I believe also in a safe and supportive set of facilities and functions for our senior residents. I would like to see a vibrant community center for all. Most important, I stand for maintaining the peacefulness and natural environment of our residential neighborhoods and the health and safety of our residents.

I hope you will consider allowing me to continue to serve you as a member of the Planning Board over the next three years. I welcome comments, suggestions, and requests at any time. You can email me at DeLisi76@AOL.com or call me at 781-257-5046.

Lynn E. DeLisi
South Great Road

Vander Meulen charts a people-centered path

March 1, 2017

Allen Vander Meulen.

ADDENDUM: This article was updated on March 2 to include Vander Meulen’s campaign website.

(Editor’s note: The Lincoln Squirrel will profile Board of Selectman candidate Jennifer Glass on March 2. Click here for an earlier story about candidate Jonathan Dwyer.)

Allen Vander Meulen has been an IT executive and a minister. Now he hopes to parlay his experience in facilitating communication and “finding solutions where no one had even thought of them” into a new role as selectman in Lincoln.

Vander Meulen is competing with Jennifer Glass for the remaining one year in the term of resigning Selectman Renel Frederiksen. Also on the ballot for selectman in the March 27 town election is Jonathan Dwyer. He is running unopposed for the open seat being vacated by Selectman Peter Braun, who is stepping down after two terms.

After studying history at North Central College in Naperville, Ill., Vander Meulen spent 25 years in the information technology field in managerial and executive roles, “oftentimes fixing chaotic situations… I could come in, calm people down, and negotiate with both the IT folks and our clients,” he said. “I was good at it and I enjoyed it, but my focus was always on the people, not the technology.”

Living all over the country with his first wife, a conservative Christian, Vander Meulen attended all sorts of churches. “It gave me a real appreciation of the depth of the faith experience and the racial experience in this country,” he said. He subsequently decided to become a minister and earned his M.Div. degree from Andover Newton Theological Seminary in 2013. His father was a minister in Vermont but later became a professor of economics; “I went in the opposite direction, but it took me a lot longer to get to that point,” he observed.

Vander Meulen was a student minister at the Memorial Congregational Church in Sudbury and more recently a part-time minister at a church in Dalton, a post he is leaving in June. He has lived in the Boston area since 2006 and moved to Lincoln two years later with his wife Stephanie Smart, a chiropractor, and their seven-year-old son, who attends a private school in Lexington.

Lincoln appealed to Vander Meulen and his wife because of the open space and the town’s “leadership in zoning and conservation values,” he said. In the eight years since moving to town, he came to appreciate the supportive culture of volunteer town government.

“One thing I’ve noticed about Lincoln is that there are so many people who not only work hard at trying to build consensus and making sure people are heard, but who also really want people to succeed,” he said. He is now co-chair of the Housing Commission and expects to be involved one way or another with the South Lincoln Implementation Planning Committee. (If elected to the Board of Selectmen, he will resign from his other town positions.)

Like many Lincolnites, Vander Meulen is pondering the best way forward for the Lincoln School, which will have to be substantially repaired or replaced, most likely without state funding. “Replacing the entire structure, particularly doing it at one shot, is a bad idea,” he said.

A new school that attracts lots of young families may have unintended consequences, he added. “If we put in a big beautiful new building all at once, we could become another Sudbury,” where people move to town only for a few years and then leave once their kids are out of the house. When he was a student minister in Sudbury, “It was very apparent that was the case… people came, stayed for 12 years and moved, but people in Lincoln move here and stay,” Vander Meulen said.

Although more expensive in the long run, it would be wiser to rebuild the school a piece at a time, he said. This would also give the town a chance to adjust to changing enrollments without being “locked into a set of assumptions about how many students there will be.” An incremental approach would also lower the year-to-year cost by spreading payments over a longer period of time, Vander Meulen added, saying, “we don’t need to replace it all in the next five years or 10 years.”

Affordable housing, economic development

Affordable housing is another important issue facing Lincoln, which is in danger of falling below the state-mandated 10 percent minimum when the 2020 census is taken. “We’re right on the knife’s edge,” Vander Meulen said. If this happens, a developer could be allowed to build affordable housing as part of a large subdivision that normally wouldn’t pass zoning muster. Creating more affordable housing with incentives for accessory apartments would avoid large-scale construction while maintaining the economic diversity of Lincoln. “We need people in town other than those of us who are wealthy,” he said.

Vander Meulen is also in favor of more economic development, especially in South Lincoln, as well as measures to encourage people who visit Lincoln for one reason (such as going to Drumlin Farm) to sample other attractions such the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, or Codman Community Farm. He’d also like to make it easier for pedestrians to get from the library area to the deCordova, and along Route 117 from the police station toward Stonegate Gardens.

“When Allen approached me about running for the Board of Selectmen, I said great—not because we’ve been here forever, and not because he has any firm opinions about how Lincoln needs to change, but because he has the skill set to help the government achieve what they want to happen,” Smart said.

“I want everyone to have a seat at the table. People may sometimes be irritating, but they need to be listened to,” Vander Meulen said. “The emotion is always valid, so you need to understand why they’re feeling that way.”

Students sponsor three Town Meeting citizens’ petitions

February 28, 2017

L-S students Lucy Bergeron (left) and Anjuli Das with a single day’s worth of discarded water bottles at the high school.

This year, the eighth-graders’ group assisted by Town Clerk Susan Brooks and Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden is hoping to have Lincoln voters approve funds for two portable, 15-foot aluminum benches with backrests and shelves for use by sports teams who play on the fields next to Codman Pool. The benches would cost $800 to $1,200 apiece, according to Maria Hamandi, one of the students.

“A lot of times, [athletes’] personal belongings get in the dirt, including the mouth guards, which we find pretty unsanitary,” Hamandi said. The bench’s shelves will keep phones and other items off the ground, which will be especially helpful during rain (“they don’t only play when it’s beautiful weather outside,” she noted).

Other students involved in the 2017 citizens’ petition effort are Max Borden, Maya David, Achla Gandhi, Sophie Herant, Rhea Karty, Sarah Lammert and Dasha Trosteanetchi.

The Environmental Club at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High school is proposing two warrant articles in both Lincoln and Sudbury (though Sudbury’s Annual Town Meeting is not until May 1). One measure seeks to ban single-use plastic check-out bags at supermarkets and other retail stores. Thin-film plastic bags without handles that are used for meat, produce, newspapers, dry cleaning, etc. would not be affected.

The other measure would ban the retail sale of plastic single-use water bottles in town. Specifically targeted are polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles of 1 liter (34 ounces) or less containing noncarbonated, unflavored drinking water. Bottles could still be given away, however. The ban, if approved, can also be lifted if there is ever an emergency affecting the availability and/or quality of drinking water to residents.

L-S junior Lucy Bergeron of Lincoln wrote the bottle article based on one that was passed in Concord in 2012. “We spoke to people there and they say it’s going pretty well,” she said.

Several other cities and towns including Cambridge have banned supermarket check-out bags. In that city, whose law went into effect a year ago, customers must bring their own reusable bags for their groceries or purchase paper bags for 10 cents apiece. The Lincoln proposal says stores may charge a fee to recoup the cost of providing paper bags (or selling reusable bags) but does not specify a price.

In time-honored Lincoln political tradition, Bergeron surveyed residents at the transfer station about how inconvenient it would be to stop using plastic water bottles and how important the environment was to them.

“I got pretty positive feedback,” she said. “Most people said [disposable] water bottles are not that important to them; they use them mostly if they’re traveling or don’t have a better alternative.”

Bergeron and Lincoln freshman Anjuli Das noted that fossil fuels are used to manufacture and transport plastic bottles. Also, “some people seem to think that bottled water is better, but often it’s just tap water,” Bergeron said.

Last year, the Environmental Club collected the plastic water bottles discarded in a single day at the high school and used them to build a tower showing how much plastic they used (the tower still stands in one of the school lobbies).

Those in favor of banning single-use plastic grocery bags note that they pose significant environmental hazards because they do not readily biodegrade and can harm animals and fish that ingest them. Discarded bags are also harder to recycle than other products (the Lincoln transfer station does not accept them, for example), and they can wind up as unsightly litter and clog storm drains.

Acting on last year’s eighth-grade citizens’ petition, residents approved the purchase of a hydration stations for the Lincoln School’s Reed Gym. Students can use them to refill their reusable plastic water bottles with filtered tap water as well as get a quick drink, as with traditional water fountains.