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

Chickens come home to roost—but the roost moves

Coops on Wheels

The rolling chicken coops that are doing double duty as portable fertilizing machines (click for larger version to see the chickens).

Could this be more affordable housing in Lincoln?

You may have noticed the “chicken condos” on the Codman South pasture land. Pete Lowy, farm manager at Codman Community Farm, has established a moving free-range, egg producing, soil-improving, locally sourced, sustainable agricultural enterprise there.

The 1,000 Golden Comet hens are fed natural certified organic grains and given plenty of water each day. But they also scratch out a living from the soil in the large fenced in area. In doing so, they aerate the soil and fertilize it at the same time. Pete moves the coops forward every two days to ensure the birds have plenty of fresh grass to eat.

Guarding the chickens especially at night when they could easily fall prey to coyotes, owls and hawks is Toby, a trained livestock guardian dog who lives in and among his feathered friends. Toby is a Anatolian Shepherd/Akbash dog and loves being a working dog with purpose. Pete asks that people not try to pet Toby or give him anything to eat. He is a working dog and, while very friendly, has a serious job to do and should not be distracted from his work. Also, the fence around the yard is electrified and should not be touched, especially by eager children. Check out the chickens and come to the Codman Barn to but some super-local fresh eggs.

Outdoor watering restrictions now in effect

water tapAs a result of the new water permit issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the town must implement a mandatory outdoor water conservation measure from May 1 through September 30.

The town experiences excessively high water demands during the summer months, primarily due to lawn watering activities, so the Lincoln Water Department has instituted an odd-even schedule for all nonessential outdoor watering. House addresses that end with an even number may water on Tuesday and/or Thursday. Addresses that end with an odd number may water on Wednesday and/or Friday. There is no nonessential outdoor watering on Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Also, watering will not be permitted on any day between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.; thus it is allowed only in the late evenings and early mornings.

Restricted outdoor watering activities include irrigation of lawns via sprinklers or automatic irrigation systems, washing of vehicles, and washing of exterior building surfaces, parking lots, driveways or sidewalks. Watering lawns, gardens, flowers or ornamental plants by means of a hand-held hose or bucket is permitted.

According to the Massachusetts Cooperative Extension System, healthy lawns require only one inch of water weekly, either from rain or irrigation or a combination of both.  Watering once a week with a deep soak is preferable. Watering a lawn lightly on a frequent basis encourages shallow rooting and crabgrass growth while making the lawn more susceptible to drought injury. Watering on hot and sunny days results in a majority of the water evaporating before it reaches the root system.

If you have a sprinkler system, please consult the system’s owners manual or contact a sprinkler company to correctly program your automatic sprinkler controller. This mandatory water restriction will be a yearly requirement, so programming the sprinkler controller now will eliminate the need for future adjustments.

Water Department staff will be monitoring sprinkler use in town and will stop to remind residents of the restriction policy. A second notice will result in a $50 fine, and subsequent violations will result in $100 fines. Anyone with questions may call Water Department Superintendent Greg Woods at 781-259-1329.

Letter to the editor: Tom Stanley running for reelection

letter

To the editor:

Serving as your state representative on Beacon Hill is an incredible honor and privilege. Working to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our community, seeing the results of this effort and the positive impact this work has had on so many people is amazing. But our work is not done. I have more to contribute to make Lincoln and Waltham even better.

Throughout my tenure in the legislature, I have prioritized supporting programs and policies that improve our lives and strengthen our community. As a member of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, I have helped deliver millions of dollars of local aid, road repair and public education funding. Also through the state budget process, I have directed thousands (and in some cases millions) of dollars in funding through amendments supporting such programs as the Hardy Pond Great Pond restoration, Fragile Beginnings for premature babies, domestic violence and shelter support services, and the education of the children of retired military at Hanscom Field, among others.

Over my years of service, I have been proud to work with our state delegation and local officials for the district’s best interest. Together, we have:

  • Earmarked $2 million for a new visitor center at Walden Pond in the Environmental Bond Bill (2014)
  • Fought with federal, state and local officials in the BRACC [Base Realignment and Closure Commission] process to keep Hanscom open
  • Fought the expansion of commercial aviation at Hanscom Field
  • Created a new budget line item to fund municipal school transportation for homeless children
  • Passed legislation to protect open space in the western Greenway
  • Transferred control of the Fernald property to Waltham, preventing its overdevelopment
  • Earmarked millions in a bond bill for the proposed UMass Urban Center for Sustainability
  • Advocated and arranged meetings for public school building funding assistance for Lincoln
  • Helped secure $350,000 for the invasive aquatic species removal in the Charles River and other watersheds with an amendment to the fiscal year 2017 budget
  • Increased funding for Council on Aging servicing our seniors

The most rewarding part of the job is assisting the hundreds of people who have contacted me through the years with their personal or family struggles. And, most recently, it has been an honor to work with you all as we struggle to tangle our state’s fight against addiction and the stigma that comes with it.

Lincoln and Waltham need an experienced and effective State Representative who has demonstrated leadership and accomplishment at the state and local level. In this year’s election, I ask for your support and vote so that we can continue to move forward and build stronger and safer communities for everyone.

Sincerely,

State Rep. Tom Stanley (9th Middlesex)
Waltham

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.

Letter to the editor: diversity event a great success

letter

(Editor’s note: This event, which can be viewed online here, was organized by the Lincoln Diversity Committee, which includes writer Sharon Antia.)

To the editor:

At the “Discovering Diversity in Lincoln” event on May 2, much of what our panelists had to say was new to those in the audience and in fact quite eye-opening. About 80 people heard the panelists — Police Chief Kevin Kennedy, School Superintendent Becky McFall, First Parish Senior Minister Manish Mishra-Marzetti, Domestic Violence Services Network Executive Director Jacquelin Apsler and Council on Aging Director Carolyn Bottom — provide an overview of the work they do and some of the needs they see in Lincoln.

Our beautiful town has a rich and varied membership that includes people from a wide variety of backgrounds, gifts and challenges. It was gratifying to learn that one of our many gifts is the wisdom and compassion to help those in our community when they are in need. As Carolyn said, “We are not giving charity, we are not giving to people. We are enabling people to stay in our community who we really need in our community… we are lucky to have them.”

The second half of the evening was given over to the audience, and while participation started a little slowly (I know, surprising for Lincoln), by the time the hour was over, I had to wrestle back control of the microphone to call it a night!

People in attendance were honestly interested in hearing what was said. There were moments when quite heartfelt comments and concerns were raised and it was an honor to be in a room where folks felt safe enough to speak their truth. People shared experiences as low-income residents of our town, Native American, gay, young and worried for the future and having young children and wishing for grandparents to help guide them. We were not there to “solve” anything, and we did not make the attempt. What we did was try our best to provide a venue for all of us to begin to know the people in our neighborhood, and we all agreed it was a good first step.

There was some concern that the majority of the audience was “of a certain age” and not as representative of the town as we may have liked. We struggle with how to reach out to the people that were not there. It was suggested that perhaps, as Rev. Manish pointed out, what works for the people in the audience may not work for the people at home, and one of our jobs is to find out how to engage them.

This meeting was the first of what the newly forming Lincoln Diversity Committee hopes will be many ongoing conversations and activities designed to help all of us better support one another. We are not looking to change the makeup of our community and we certainly do we want to decide who should live here. We believe those of us living here are the people who should be here, and our charge is to ensure they, you, me and we all feel welcome and empowered to be our best selves.

As we wrapped up the evening’s events, many of the attendees stayed and talked for up to another 45 minutes. The sense that we are building community was palpable and people were excited to share their thoughts. We plan to have more of these conversations and hope even more people will be able to join us. Stay tuned and thank you to everyone that came.

Sincerely

Sharon Antia
165 South Great 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.

Tully running for 9th Middlesex seat

Stacey Gallagher Tully

Stacey Gallagher Tully

Stacey Gallagher Tully of Waltham has announced her candidacy for State Representative for the 9th Middlesex District, which includes all of Lincoln and part of Waltham and has been held by Rep. Thomas Stanley since 2001.

Tully, a Waltham native, serves on Waltham’s Board of Recreation in the City of Waltham and as president of the Friends of Waltham Senior Citizens. She is a graduate of Boston College and a long-time dance and fitness instructor, She was also a director of Gulf Resources, an international corporation based in London, and worked for several years in the hotel industry in human resources, personnel and training.

“My campaign will focus on issues important to the 9th Middlesex constituents, including education, veterans, senior citizens, traffic/transportation infrastructure, and the opioid crisis,” Tully said in a statement. “I plan to work hard, and work together, with the people of Lincoln and Waltham.”

In 2014, Lincoln resident Sharon Antia ran unsuccessfully for the 9th District seat.

 

Squirrel is experiencing technical difficulties

correction-smDear readers,

You may have noticed in the last day or two that when you click on a link in the Lincoln Squirrel website, you get an error message. Our web developer is working on the problem and will have it fixed as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.

— Alice Waugh, Lincoln Squirrel editor

Lincoln Minute Men to appear in a song-and-dance on Thursday

stampThe Lincoln Minute Men will appear in a show at the Old South Meeting House in Boston this Thursday, May 19 in a show written by Lincoln resident Martha Lufkin to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act.

As you may recall from history class, the British government in 1765  imposed the Stamp Act on the American colonies to require payment of a tax on various official documents including marriage certificates. This gave rise more than two centuries later to Marriage is Taxing, Lufkin’s comedy about the little-known fact that there was a rush on marriages to avoid the new tax before the Stamp Act went into effect.

Lufkin, an attorney and a member of the Lincoln Minute Men, has published light mysteries involving lawyers in Alfred Hitchcock magazine. She was casting about for a mystery plot involving lawyers set in the colonial era and happened to learn abut the marriage rush as a result of the British legislation.

Martha_Lufkin_1

Martha Lufkin

“Since I’m a lawyer and tax planner for families, I thought this was so funny that I sat down and write a story about it,” she said. Recently she learned that the Old South Meeting House was celebrating the 250th anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act. “I contacted them and they loved the idea” of performing Marriage is Taxing, which is told as a series of letters written by a woman to her sister, she said.

Lincoln Minute Men members Don Hafner, Steve McCarthy, Doug Unkel, Ruth Hodges and Bev Malone participate in the performance, interacting with the guests and chatting about the joyous news about the repeal of the Stamp Act. The evening will also feature 18th-century music by Kairos, a Boston-based flute and harp duo, and dinner.

Tickets are $40 and include a light supper, one complimentary beverage and dessert. A cash bar with beer, wine and soft drinks will also be available. To reserve tickets, click here or call 800-838-3006.

 

McLean Hospital to go before Planning Board on May 24

The house at 22 Bypass Rd. where McLean Hospital hopes to house clients age 15-21. The house on the adjacent 16 Bypass Road can be seen at far left.

The house at 22 Bypass Rd. where McLean Hospital hopes to house clients age 15-21.

Representatives from McLean Hospital will hold a meeting for neighborhood residents this Wednesday and will appear at a Planning Board meeting later this month to explain and answer questions about their controversial plan to house patients in a large house on Bypass Road.

Questions and protests arose after it became known that McLean had purchased abutting properties at 16-22 Bypass Road for the purpose of opening a nine-bed “nine bed educational therapeutic residence” for patients aged 15-21, similar to a facility for adults at 5 Old Cambridge Turnpike. Officials from McLean had a meeting with Director of Land Use and Planning Jennifer Burney to determine what steps they would have to go through with the town. They mad the case at that meeting that the facility was exempt from zoning rules relating to use of the property because it falls under the Dover Amendment, a state law that exempts educational and religious organizations, nonprofits and other uses from local bylaws.

Burney consulted Town Counsel Joel Bard on that matter so she could determine the proper course of action for McLean, she said Monday. In a May 2 letter to her, Bard said the proposal did indeed qualify as an educational facility. As a result, the Planning Board will hold a Determination of Minor Change to an Approved Site Plan, which means they will decide if there will be exterior changes to the property are indicated, such as an addition to the building or construction of more parking space, but will not address how the property will be used.

“It’s not like this is a done deal. I’m sure the Planning Board still has a lot of questions,” Burney said.

McLean originally planned to hold a neighborhood meeting in June, “but we reached out to them and suggested they do it much earlier,” she said.

The neighborhood meeting will be on Wednesday, May 18 from 6-7 p.m. at 22 Bypass Road. McLean will appear before the Planning Board on Tuesday, May 24 at 7:45 p.m. in the Town Office Building.

Lincoln resident bilked out of more than $1.4 million

handcuffsA Malden woman who was working as a bookkeeper for a client in Lincoln has been sentenced to three to four years in prison after she was convicted of stealing more than $1.4 million from her employer, a woman in her 80s, over an eight-year period.

Lincoln police declined to identify the victim, whom Lt. Sean Kennedy described as “a wealthy individual” who is “as sharp as you and I.” Several years ago while living in another town, the victim interviewed people for the job of keeping her accounts and paying her bills a few hours a week. Marie Medeiros, now 52, was hired after her background was checked, said Kennedy, who investigated the case along with Detective Ian Spencer and the Middlesex District Attorney’s office..

From April 2007 until August 2015, Medeiros stole money on a regular basis from her employer. “She was frequently entrusted with blank checks intended to be used to pay routine expenses. Instead, Medeiros would insert her own name as the payee on certain checks and thereafter deposit them into her own bank account,” according to the District Attorney’s office.

Over a period of several years, Medeiros wrote more than 90 checks to herself in amounts ranging from $9,900 to $20,000, Kennedy said. The money was used to pay for travel to Europe and Las Vegas, cruises, a luxury car and other items. Medeiros also used some of the money to pay more than $80,000 to the University of Arizona for her daughter’s education. “She was bold,” he said.

Medeiros was finally tripped up when the victim got a call from her bank asking about a suspicious withdrawal. Medeiros pled guilty this week in Middlesex Superior Court to six counts of larceny over $250 from a person over 60. She will serve time in MCI-Framingham followed by 10 years’ probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution totaling over $1.4 million to reimburse her employer.

According to Kennedy, Medeiros had no criminal history. “All indications were that she was someone who could be trusted. She certainly had the qualifications and there were no red flags,” he said.

As for the victim, “she’s mortified,” Kennedy said. “She trusted this woman. The money’s the money, but the betrayal is awful.”

“This case is a reminder that, although there is always a concern about being a victim of a random scam, those close to us can also be financially exploiting us, and we must all remain vigilant and monitor our financial transactions. If something seems amiss, you should immediately alert authorities,” District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement..

News acorns

House-1Residents invited to take accessory apartment survey

The Lincoln Housing Commission is looking into the feasibility of implementing an affordable accessory apartment program in Lincoln and invites residents of Lincoln and other towns to complete this brief anonymous online survey. They are particularly interested in hearing from those who already have accessory apartments, but everyone in Lincoln in invited ti respond and send the survey to people in other towns. The Housing Commission is also holding a forum on Monday, May 16 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall where they will provide details about a possible plan, answer questions and solicit input.

Annual school district art show

The public in invited to the Lincoln Public Schools District Art Show in the Hartwell multipurpose room until May 16-24 from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The opening reception will be Tuesday, May 17 from 4-6 p.m.

Talk on climate and river flooding

Join us for a presentation titled “Is it Really Changing? The Impacts of Climate Trends on River Flooding in New England” at OARS’s 30th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 24 from 7-9 p.m. at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center (680 Hudson Road, Sudbury). David Vallee, hydrologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s Northeast River Forecast, will examine observed climate trends, increasing rainfall intensity of our weather systems, and the impacts on river flooding on the Assabet, Sudbury and Concord rivers. A short business meeting will precede the presentation. Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public. Learn more at www.oars3rivers.org or call (978) 369-3956. RSVP appreciated but not required: office@oars3rivers.org.

Pick-you-own CSA at The Food Project

PYO (pick your own) is a new CSA (community-supported agriculture) option this year at The Food Project in Lincoln, which is offering the PYO at a special discount for the season running for 20 weeks starting June 7. A PYO share is regularly $325 but for a short time, you can purchase a share for only $250. Shareholders have the option of coming on Tuesdays or Thursdays from 1-6 p.m. The wide variety of produce includes strawberries, peas, tomatoes and more. Click here to purchase and enter the discount code PYO2016 when you check out. Other CSA options can be found on The Food Project website (click on “Purchase a CSA Share.”)

Free admission at Gropius House, Codman Estate

Historic New England’s Gropius House and Codman Estate will offer free admission on Saturday, June 4 with guided tours on the half-hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Gropius House will also host a tour and evening slide show on Friday, May 20 from 7-9 p.m. to show visitors how Walter Gropius’s innovative lighting scheme comes to life at night. Light refreshments provided. $30 for Historic New England members, $40 for nonmembers. Space is limited and preregistration is required; please call 781-259-8098 or buy online.