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

New publication covers issues along Route 2 corridor

North Lincoln has another local news source just for its part of town: the Northside News.

The publication, which is posted online and sent as a PDF for free to email subscribers, joins the Lincoln Journal, the Lincoln Squirrel and the Lincoln Review as print and/or web-based publications offering news and views about the town.

The publication got started to focus more attention on the neighborhoods to the immediate north and south of Route 2, including The Commons. “There was some sentiment from some people that we’re a little forgotten about,” said editorial board member Steve Durante, a Brooks Road resident. Other board members are Bob Domnitz, Maria Hylton and Jane Herlacher. Publication won’t be on a regular schedule but will be “issue-driven,” Domnitz said.

In recent years, several projects have directly impacted the north side of town—the Route 2 construction (which began inauspiciously when the clear-cutting of numerous trees angered nearby residents), the Minuteman High School building proposal, and Hanscom Field and Hanscom Air Force Base, where noise from airplanes has been a sore spot for years. Two years ago, residents also protested a proposal by Jet Aviation, which services and stores business jets at Hanscom, to expand its facilities there.

However, Northside News is not intended to be a complaint platform; “it’s all about communications and reflecting,” Domnitz said. “To the extent that it voices any opinion, it’s just as a conduit for the community.”

The first issue of Northside News in October included articles about the most recent developments in the McLean Hospital proposal for Bypass Road, the Minuteman High School project, and Hanscom runway repaving plans at Hanscom that could result in temporarily increased noise over Lincoln.

In recapping the September 20 district-wide financing vote for the school, the Minuteman article cast doubt on the sincerity of school officials who had promised there would be no driveway access from Mill Street, because “they have recently backed away from other commitments so residents are uncertain about the future.” Those included a pledge to abide by Lincoln zoning rules (though schools are exempt from many of them) and an expressed interest in a public-private partnership for developing the land under the existing building even though officials eaid earlier that they leaned toward recreational use of the land.

Issue #2 on November 19 reported a successful effort by area residents to relocate a potentially dangerous Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School bus stop. L-S moved the Brooks Road bus stop from the corner of Smith Hill Road and Brooks Road to Route 2A and Brooks Road at the beginning of this school year, but moved it back after protests from residents and a letter from Lincoln Police Chief Kevin Kennedy.

In the future, Northside News will keep an eye on other ongoing issues, including the Battle Road Scenic Byway, a state-designated section of Route 2A with a Corridor Management Plan that will “assist the four towns and the Minute Man National Historical Park in reaching agreement about how best to preserve the area’s intrinsic resources while expanding economic opportunities, developing a balanced tourism industry, and accommodating future development,” according to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s website.

“There’s a lot going on in the area,” Durante said. “Hopefully other people will get involved, and we can share more information and be better informed.”

Letter to the editor: Fredriksen to resign from Board of Selectmen

letter

To the editor:

It is with both gratitude and sadness that I am announcing my early retirement from the Board of Selectmen. I will be resigning as of March 27, 2017 (town election day) for personal reasons.

It has been an honor to serve the town of Lincoln over the past 20 years—on the L-S School Committee, the Housing Commission, the Affordable Housing Trust and the Board of Selectmen. The faith that you have put in me has been both uplifting and humbling. I have always tried to serve the town to the best of my ability, and in return have found great rewards in this service.

During my time on the board, my focus has primarily been in the areas of housing, land use, road and traffic concerns, and human services. I served on the 2014 Community Center Study Committee and the 2015 Campus Master Plan Committee. I am enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead for our campus; I envision a renovated or new school building with a focus on 21st-century learning side by side with a community center which brings our Town together in ways we can only imagine today.

I encourage all of you who have not yet signed up to consider how you can serve the town. All of our boards and committees are run by volunteers, and everyone’s voice is valuable. The greater diversity that we have serving, the stronger the town becomes. We have a fantastic administrative team in Town Hall; they make our town run, and with them in place, volunteers’ tasks are simplified.

In the meantime, let me specifically call out Tim Higgins, our town administrator, who has always been there for me; Peggy Elder, administrative assistant to Tim, who handles all of the routine work cheerfully and reliably; and Elaine Carroll, administrative assistant to Housing and many others, who wears so many hats and yet keeps all things housing clear and on target.

If you are interested in running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen, give me a call; I would be happy to discuss it with you.

Sincerely,

Renel Fredriksen
76 Trapelo Rd.

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.

A reflective moment (Lincoln Through the Lens)

A great blue heron and his reflection make a heart. (Photo by Harold McAleer)

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.

News acorns

Members sought for South Lincoln planning group

The Planning Board is looking for residents to participate in the South Lincoln Planning Implementation Committee (SLPIC), one of two new groups intended to promote business development in town.

The SLPIC hopes to create a more vibrant, attractive place at the hub of Lincoln where businesses, the MBTA station and several types of residences are concentrated. The group will be a subcommittee of the Planning Board and will focus on planning projects and establish project-specific working teams that include additional members representing various stakeholders based on the type of project.

Anyone interested in participating in this committee or a project-specific team should contact Jennifer Burney, Director of Planning and Land Use, at burneyj@lincolntown.org or 781-259-2684.

First Parish Christmas pageant on Sunday

The First Parish in Lincoln (FPL) annual Children’s Christmas Pageant will take place on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 11:30 a.m. in Bemis Hall (there is no snow date). Goodies will be served after the pageant through donations by the families of FPL. Anyone with questions may contact Kathy Cronin, Acting Director of Religious Education, at kathycronin@firstparishinlincoln.org.

Minute Man NHP superintendent to retire

Nancy Nelson

Nancy Nelson

After 39 years of service, Nancy Nelson, superintendent of Minute Man National Historical Park, will retire on January 3, 2017. Nelson’s career has includes roles as an environmental protection specialist  and later a park planner, landscape architect and special assistant to three regional directors. She played an active part in planning for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island restoration/rehabilitation projects and for two new national parks (Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, and Lowell National Historic Park.

A primary focus of Nelson’s tenure at MMNHP since 1993 has been the development of the 800-acre Battle Road Unit of the park: design and completion of the award winning Battle Road Trail, rehabilitation of historic structures and historic agrarian landscapes, and construction of new and improved facilities to serve 1 million annual visitors. Recently, under the leadership of the Friends of Minute Man National Park, the park pursued the exploration, rehabilitation and interpretation of the site of “Parker’s Revenge,” a little-known battle on April 19, 1775.

Lincoln robotics teams shine at multiple events

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Jack Hutchinson, Dante Muzila and Calvin Terpstra operate their robot during the FTC event.

The last two weekends have been very busy for Lincoln robotics, as the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team and all six of the Lincoln Recreation Department’s FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams competed in their first events this season.

FTC is an annual challenge in which teams of students in grades 7-12 build robots that fit into an 18-inch cube to accomplish certain tasks. The game is played in a 12-by-12-foot playing field. FLL is similar to FTC, posing an annual challenge with new obstacles to be completed by a robot, though in this case the machines are made of Legos and the students are in grades 4-8. The FLL teams also create a project in which they brainstorm a solution to a real-life challenge.

At a qualifier in Canton on December 4, the FTC GearTicks received the Think Award, which is given to the team whose engineering notebook best reflects the team’s engineering design process journey. Jack Hutchinson, one of the team’s drivers, thought it was a great opportunity to test out this year’s robot. “This excellent start to our season really got our team excited for the coming year,” he said. Teammate Anna Sander agreed. “We had a great chance to meet other teams and see all the cool designs they’re using,” she said.

In separate qualifiers, the FLL Orange GearTicks took second place in their robot competition and received the Champion’s Award given to the top team at the competition, and the Green GearTicks had a great project presentation and ended the day with their robot in 11th place. The Purple GearTicks received the Inspiration Core Values Award, and the Yellow GearTicks received a judges’ award as Rising Stars. Meanwhile, the Blue GearTicks received the Robot Design Award for their interesting turret design and the Red GearTicks won the “Programming Award” for their understanding of PID controllers.

The Lincoln robotics program derives much of its strength from the support it receives from the community. Although the GearTicks FLL teams are run through the Recreation Department, they rely entirely on parent and high school volunteers to coach each team.

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The FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team. Front row: Evan Lee, Howie Tsang and Irene Terpstra. Back row: Caleb Sander, Dante Muzila, Laura Appleby, Jack Hutchinson, Calvin Terpstra, Catherine Appleby and Anna Sander.

“The judges were impressed by the range of in-town experts we consulted for our research project,” team member Emily Appleby said. For their “Active Deer Warning Signs” project, the students worked with Chris Bibbo at the DPW and Tom Gumbart at the Conservation Commission to investigate the problem of deer and cars on Lincoln’s roads.

FLL students agreed that the team has been a great experience. Emily Feng joined the Lincoln robotics program because she wanted to “improve my teamwork skills and learn about programming and building robots,” and she and her teammates certainly succeeded. The team also learned a lot about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math and how to compete under pressure.

“It’s interesting to see how other teams solve the same missions that we do in very different ways,” said Amelia Pillar.

“Out team really learned a lot and improved our teamwork,” said Alex Stewart.

“Sometimes it’s stressful to set up the robot in a gymnasium full of screaming people,” but the teams were equal to the pressure, said Stavros First.

The FTC team advanced from the Canton qualifier and will compete in the Massachusetts FTC State Competition on March 4 at Natick High School. The Orange GearTicks also advanced to the Massachusetts FLL State Tournament, in which they will compete on December 17 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The Red and Blue GearTicks FLL teams will also compete in further qualifiers.

Lincoln is #5 in the state for early voting

ballotIn the inaugural year of early voting in Massachusetts, Lincoln wound up with 40.7 percent of its residents casting ballots early—the fifth-highest percentage in the Commonwealth.

The highest percentage belonged to Eastham with 47.4 percent, followed by Carlisle, Mashpee and Concord. Overall turnout (the proportion of eligible voters who cast ballots) in Massachusetts was 68 percent in Massachusetts and about 58 percent nationally. The official number for Lincoln wasn’t in as of late last week, but Town Clerk Susan Brooks estimated it would be close to or slightly above the 2012 turnout of 78 percent.

Thirty-four states permitted early voting in some form for the election last month. “There are a lot of variations on the theme” in terms of when, where and by what method early voting may take place, Brooks said. As it was this year in-person early voting (in addition to absentee ballots) will be an option in even-numbered years in Massachusetts from now on.

“Lincoln is highly educated and highly opinionated,” Brooks said when asked why she thought Lincoln had such a large early turnout. Also, it’s possible that “people voted early to be done with paying attention” to the bitterly fought race, she added. “They just wanted to be able to check out.”

 

 

Correction

correction-smThe December 8 article headlined “Dwyer hopes to modernize town government’s outreach methods” incorrectly stated that Jonathan Dwyer met his wife Carolyn at the First Baptist Church in Newton. They actually met when both were students at Hamilton College. The article also gave the wrong year for when he started serving on the Parks and Recreation Committee. Dwyer joined in 2010 and is currently in the first year of his third three-year term.

Obituaries

Peter Pantazelos

Peter Pantazelos

Peter Pantazelos, 85 (November 26) — Executive nice president and CFO of Thermo Electron for 40 years.

Edward Gerrig, 87 (November 14) — husband of Bernice “Bunny” (Hoffman) Gerrig; resident at The Commons.

Mary T. Tori, 90 (November 17) — wife of the late John E. Torri, great-grandmother of five.

 

Dwyer hopes to modernize town government’s outreach methods

Jonathan Dwyer at home.

Jonathan Dwyer at home.

Jonathan Dwyer’s forte at work and as a volunteer is making incremental improvements, and he hopes to apply the same skill set to the job of selectman if he is elected in March to replace outgoing Selectman Peter Braun.

Dwyer, 48, currently works for a large insurance company doing internal consulting to improve software speed and quality after doing something similar for Fidelity for many years. The Mahopac, N.Y. native moved to Lincoln with his wife, Lincoln native Carolyn Caswell Dwyer, around 1999. He started his Lincoln public service as chair of the Celebrations Committee, succeeding Nancy Pimental in heading up planning for the town’s Fourth of July events as well as other holiday commemorations. In 2010, he joined the Parks and Recreation Committee, which he now chairs.

“I feel strongly that you give back,” Dwyer said. “Being engaged in the town’s civil and government life opens up a whole bunch of relationships with people who work for the town and the citizens, people who are enthusiastic about making a difference in other people’s lives. Understanding how the town works and being a part of that is personally satisfying to me.”

Dwyer already has a busy life as the father of three girls, the youngest of whom attends the Lincoln School. He knows that if he becomes a selectman, he’ll have to step back from some of his outside activities, including one that has taken much of his time for the past several years: being moderator of the First Baptist Church in Newton.

As Dwyer described it, a church moderator is sort of a president or CEO—”a person who organizes its governance, makes sure the minister has what e or she needs to be effective, making sure the budget is being actively managed so the church is financially sound and the congregation is engaged.” His contributions have included making the service more approachable for people who did not grow up in the Christian tradition and modernizing the church’s governance.

Modernizing things by degrees—whether with software, a church or town government— is Dwyer’s sweet spot. “A lot of these institutions were designed 150 yrs ago. There are ways of collaborating and relating to each other that are different from back then, and we have to keep on adjusting,” he said. For example, in many situations involving software development, “people have grown into silos of not working together over time. My job is to bring people together, make decisions earlier and turn out improvements more incrementally.”

Getting residents involved in big decisions

The town is at various stages of pursuing some major capital projects including a renovated or rebuilt Lincoln School, a community center, expanded recreational facilities and more affordable housing. Given the costs involved, “we’re going to be living with these decisions for a long time, and it would be good if more of the town was engaged. I’m not so sure our dialogue today includes everybody, and I’m wondering if can do better in getting folks to understand what decisions are coming up and why their opinion is important,” he said.

Asked about how he sees these projects falling into place, Dwyer said, “I’m coming in with an open mind. I’m in favor of all these building projects, but I don’t know about the priority yet. I hope we can do all of them, but I don’t know if we can. The town should have the opportunity to prioritize and decide.”

As part of that process, Dwyer (if he is elected) hopes to begin by making Town Meeting—the town’s primary decision-making apparatus—easier to follow and attend. Among his ideas, which he has shared with Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden, are making the informational slides shown in the auditorium larger and more legible, or perhaps videotaping presentations by town boards and committees and making them available online beforehand. Other possibilities: having a time limit and a timer that speakers and audience members could see to control the amount of time at the microphone, and allowing instant feedback or even voting via a smartphone app or another digital device.

Although streamlining processes and helping people work together more effectively is central for Dwyer, so is the independent and questioning spirit that is part of the “Lincoln way.” He was raised as a Catholic but later found a home at the First Baptist in Newton (which is American Baptist, a denomination from which Southern Baptists split off just before the Civil War). He liked the fact that congregants felt free to think about and interpret the Bible and sermons in their own way.

“I was looking for an open-minded place that didn’t tell you what to think,” Dwyer said.

Braun reflects on his two terms on Board of Selectman

Peter Braun (2014 photo)

Peter Braun (2014 photo)

Looking back on his six years as one of Lincoln’s selectmen, Peter Braun is proud of his accomplishments but is looking forward to a future oriented more around grandchildren than town government.

“I feel strongly that it’s important to encourage new people to come into the office and for selectmen to step aside and play some other role, if they are so inclined,” Braun said when asked why he decided not to run for a third two-year term. “It’s not about me, it’s about the long-term stability and governance of the institution we call the town of Lincoln.”

A second consideration for Braun is the pending arrival of a grandson, the child of his son and daughter-in-law in Jamaica Plain. “This is going to a big deal for us,” said Braun, adding that he and his wife “are very baby-oriented.” His daughter-in-law and her family are Chilean, so he also plans to learn Spanish. Meanwhile, his career as lawyer working for community hospitals is winding down, largely because many of his clients have been swallowed up by larger hospitals.

“I’m getting to a point where my life circumstances are changing,” said Braun, who is 67. “You reach a certain point in life where you real you need to think about the horizon.”

As Braun ran for his second term in 2014, the town was grappling with the fallout of the failed school funding vote in 2012. Challenger Vincent Cannistraro—who had been a critic of the projects’ cost estimates—ran a vigorous campaign against Braun but lost to the incumbent by a margin of 487-372.

Parks and Recreation Committee Chair Jonathan Dwyer, who has declared his candidacy for the vacant seat, “has my strong endorsement,” Braun said. Dwyer’s father-in-law John Caswell, himself a former selectman in the 1980s, was one of those who urged Braun to try for a seat on the board. “He was one of my inspirations to run for selectman,” said Braun, adding that Caswell unfortunately passed away shortly before his mentee was sworn in.

As a selectman, Braun played a major role in expanding the membership and overall role of the Capital Planning Committee. The panel, which at one time consisted of a single at-large member and four members from other boards and committees, added four at-large members.

The planning for Minuteman High School’s new building and the construction of the Route 2 flyover at Crosby’s Corner were two “challenging issues” that also reached major milestones during Braun’s tenure, though Braun noted that the Route 2 project had been in the works long before he became a selectman. “I was just a steward for the implementation phase” of the Route 2 project, though “it happened to be a pretty active tail end,” Braun said, referring to the controversy over tree-cutting when work commenced in 2013.

As for Minuteman, “I know not everyone was happy with the result, but I think in the long term it will serve us well,” Braun said. Lincoln residents voted to withdraw from the Minuteman district in late 2015 after failing to win concessions from other towns for being the host community for the new school.

Still unresolved is the fate of the Lincoln School. After the 2012 defeat, the town reapplied several times for state funding and expects to hear by January about its 2016 application. Braun initially raised questions about the project but eventually became an “avid proponent,” he said. Now the town may be faced with paying for a major renovation of school replacement entirely with its own money.

“This is a truly essential part of our future. Whether we fix what there is in place or do some more expensive and transformative, it’s essential that we step up and do the right thing for our schools,” Braun said.

Braun was also instrumental in launching the Selectman’s Newsletter and serving as an active liaison to Lincoln’s state and U.S. legislative delegations, as well as with Hanscom Air Force Base and the Hanscom Area Towns Committee. Going forward, he hopes to stay involved with those efforts in an informal or ad hoc way, “but that would be up to the future Board of Selectmen,” he said.