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

Letter to the editor: Robinson running again for Board of Assessors

letter

To the editor,

I am a candidate for re-election as a member of the Lincoln Board of Assessors. During my years on the board, we have worked to maintain an organization responsive to the town’s and citizens’ needs. At the same time, we continually refine our ability to meet our obligation to the state of Massachusetts that assessments of properties in town be fair and equitable. I seek to help the board continue with these goals.

I am honored and pleased to have a role in overseeing this important work of the town, and to give back to the town in this way. Please consider voting for me in the town election.

Sincerely,

John G. Robinson
Trapelo Road

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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

News acorns

Spelling Bee registration extended through this weekend

The Lincoln School Foundation‘s annual spelling bee is April 10, and the registration deadline has been extended until Monday morning. Kids who want to participate but don’t have a team can email bee@lincolnschoolfoundation.org to be matched with teammates. Click here to register online.

Kids can create art with Peeps

The Lincoln Public Library is holding its first annual Peeps Diorama Day on Wednesday, March 23 starting at 2 p.m. Kids ages 4 and up are invited to come create a piece of art with Peeps marshmallow candy. Registration required; call 781-259-8465 ext. 4.

Photo exhibit at library
"Plastic Bag Lady" by Ellen Morgan.

“Plastic Bag Lady” by Ellen Morgan.

“Portraits of Sudanese Women: Photographs by Ellen Morgan, 2009-2015″ is on display at the Lincoln Public Library until March 31. Morgan traveled to South Sudan in 2009 with a young refugee, one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, as he returned to pick out a wife. These photographs are of women at the bride price negotiations in Sudan and also of other village wives here in the Boston area.

Letter to the editor: vote ‘yes’ on Article 28

letter

To the editor,

I am writing to urge all to come to Town Meeting this coming Saturday and to support, with a resounding “yes” vote on Article 28.

Once again we are at a fork in the road, and we must make a choice to move forward. We have all the critical pieces in place to make the choice to begin a collaborative process to rebuild our community campus, beginning with our schools. There are two potential directions to take. One is to seek constructive and fruitful collaboration with the Commonwealth. This is a reliable path with an experienced partner, and it is critical to build what is necessary for a 21st-century education that we can be proud of. Lincoln cannot do this alone.

The other is to attempt to travel down an unpredictable path, without any financial contribution or technical support from the Commonwealth. The first choice, offered and advocated for by the School Committee in Town Meeting in Article 28, is to reaffirm our desire to seek collaboration with the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

At last year’s Town Meeting, we strongly supported an application to work with the MSBA. Now, with additional work done during the past year, we have even more pieces in place to assure the state that we are ready willing and able to commit to a project with the Commonwealth’s guidance and financial support.

We have conducted studies of the Lincoln School’s programmatic and space needs to ensure an education for the 21st century, the most recent being presented by the School Building Advisory Committee II in February 2015.

We have completed an analysis of the programmatic and space needs for the rest of our community, served through our Council on Aging and our Parks and Recreation Department. This study was finalized in March 2015. In the course of many public meetings, it was determined that the best location for expansion of services would be on the campus, in spaces already in community use.

And finally, we have just received the final report of the Campus Master Planning Committee, which was discussed at the 2015 State of the Town meeting, completed in January 2016, and will be presented at Town Meeting. This study provides a critical overview and provides technical analysis of the physical, regulatory and infrastructure challenges and opportunities offered by the 71.5 acres of our campus.

This analysis does not offer building designs but rather provides clear outlines and constraints of zones for future development. Each zone can serve separate and distinct functions, with a variety of choices for school construction zones that are separate and distinct from other community-use zones. The study and public presentations have made it clear that each zone has trade-offs. These choices will be made after we know our direction with our school building project. And it is clear that having the Commonwealth as a partner as we approach these choices would be best for our schools and the town. A “yes” vote on Article 28 is critical to allowing us to continue on this solid direction.

On the other hand, Article 29 offers an uncertain path that, because of cost, means much less design flexibility and few to no educational enhancements. The School Committee has said they will only ask for a vote on Article 29 if the town fails to pass Article 28. Choosing the path offered in Article 29 would mean embarking on a school building project on our own, without any potential for state funding. This choice is not in our children’s or the town’s best interest.

It is time for the town to come together and give the educational future of our schools a clear and resounding “yes” on Article 28, and to then support the School Committee when it asks us to pass over Article 29. This is the critical first step in realizing our shared vision for our community campus. It is an investment in all our futures. It is the choice at this fork in the road we must take now.

Please vote “yes” on Article 28 and vote to pass over (or vote “no”) on Article 29.

Sincerely,

Sara Mattes
71 Conant 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.

Voters urged to OK a new school funding application

schoolBy Alice Waugh

Four town boards have unanimously recommended that residents authorize the town to apply again to the state for funding for a comprehensive school project.

The Board of Selectmen and the Finance, School, and Capital Planning Committees unanimously voted earlier this week to recommend a “yes” vote on Article 28 at Town Meeting on Saturday. A “yes” vote would authorize the town to apply for funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for a comprehensive renovation of the Lincoln School.

In December 2015, the MSBA informed Lincoln officials that the town would not be invited into the funding process for 2016. The application deadline for next year’s funding is in April.

This was the second time that the MSBA has turned down Lincoln’s request. Several years ago, the state approved a $21 million grant for a Lincoln project estimated to cost a total of $49 million, but the project failed to garner the necessary two-thirds majority from residents at Town Meeting in 2012. The town also applied in 2013 but did not get invited into the funding process.

“This is a little bit like [the movie] ‘Groundhog Day’,” School Committee chair Jennifer Glass said at a March 14 Board of Selectmen meeting, noting that residents at Town Meeting a year ago voters overwhelmingly to try for new MSBA funding.

The 2015 funding requests from Massachusetts cities and towns included several from school districts with “very severe needs,” Glass said. “There were a number of districts threatened with overcrowding or loss of accreditation due to conditions.”

In discussions with the MSBA after the latest denial, Glass said the agency “understood we had done a lot of work as a town to build consensus and understand what went wrong in 2012.”

If Article 28 is not approved, residents will vote on Article 29, which authorizes spending a previously appropriated $750,000 on a feasibility study for a school project to be funded entirely by the town. The article notes that a project that meets long-range facilities needs and includes educational enhancements will likely require a minimum town investment of $30 million.

“We fully believe that, to achieve a project to meet our educational goals and is fiscally responsible to the town, we must work with the state,” Glass said.

Concerns over rising costs

However, even if voters pass Article 28, “I’m starting to really worry there’ll be a way in which some people in town will think we’re kicking the can and that people will begin to say, ‘OK, if we don’t get the state money, I’m not going to think about what that means or what we need to do,” said Finance Committee member Eric Harris.

Interest rates and construction costs are rising, “and I think $30 million is probably no longer a good estimate of what it will be a year from now” in terms of the minimum cost to the town, with or without MSBA funding, Harris added. “I don’t know what to do about that, but it worries me a little… two years in Lincoln is a long time,” he said.

It’s also possible that MSBA money will never be forthcoming. “Some of us think the chances of getting state money are about as good as the chances of John Kasich getting the nomination—it’s possible but not likely,” Harris said. “I worry we’re piling up enormous expenses that taxpayers have never really had to confront before… is there a backup plan?”

Officials cautiously optimistic

Others were more optimistic about the chances of getting MSBA money. “I believe that tenacity and commitment with the state can mean something. I think we’ve learned a lot and cleaned up our game,” Eckhouse said.

Selectman Peter Braun echoed that sentiment. “I think at the beginning [of recent discussions with the MSBA], we were concerned that maybe that Lincoln is sort of on the blacklist, but now I think the opposite seemed to be true,” he said. “The ears were wide open and the eyes were wide open.”

The MSBA has been “very open to our requests for conversation,” Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall said. “I think all along have shown that they’re open to accepting Lincoln into the process.”

After Lincoln was turned down in December, MSBA program director Diane Sullivan indicated that this round of funding went to meet the needs of “extremely needy schools this year,” McFall said.

“This may pave some opening way in the coming year for schools that might be at our level of need. [Sullivan] expressed that they understood the [Lincoln] facility’s needs and have an assumption that the needs are the same and probably worse given that time has passed and we we have not addressed them, and they highly encouraged us to reapply,” McFall said.

School officials noted that there are no building problems they know of that must be immediately addressed, and that the town has funded expenditures for crucial repair needs as they came up in recent years.

“If something should arise that would affect the safety or operation of the school, we would ask, even if it had to be reversed later” by new construction, Glass said.

Letter to the editor: vote no on ‘dark skies’ again

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To the editor:

Article 34 at Town Meeting on Saturday is a replay of last year’s failed effort by the Planning Board to limit the choice of light fixtures and bulbs used outside homes and businesses. It should be defeated for these reasons:

  • It limits the selection of outdoor fixtures to those that do not emit light upward, even if the fixture is under an overhang (such as a porch) that prevents light from beaming up.
  • Although existing fixtures are exempt, existing bulbs are not. The proposed by-law states without exception that “All exterior lamps shall have a Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) value of 3000K or below,” and “Exterior lights on residential properties shall have a maximum output of 900 lumens,” the equivalent of a 60-watt incandescent bulb. All bulbs that fail to comply will have to be replaced immediately. Existing fixtures will have to comply if replaced.
  • The limit of 900 lumens is not adequate for outdoor security lights. Bulbs in the street lights in Lincoln’s condominium communities undoubtedly exceed this limit, so will have to be replaced with bulbs that provide less illumination.
  • Federal law requires that American flags flown at night be lighted. The proposal has no exception for this. This point was raised at last year’s town meeting, so the omission must be intentional. “Take your flag down at night,” was the Planning Board’s response last year.
  • The changes, if adopted, will have no discernable effect on the night sky. A dark rural Lincoln will still bask in the glow of the brightly lit urban areas that surround it. How much restriction on our personal liberties must we endure for no effect?

Sincerely,

Michael R. Coppock
214 Aspen Circle

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: Craig seeks support for Board of Selectman

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To the editor:

While a bit belated, I would like to thank the Lincoln PTO for organizing and hosting the recent “Meet the Candidates” forum. The forum provided a great opportunity for all of the candidates (myself included) seeking positions on various town boards and committees to introduce ourselves to those in attendance and to each other.

As many of you are aware, I am running for the open seat on the Board of Selectmen. Since announcing my candidacy a few months ago, I have had the pleasure of meeting and hearing from many fellow Lincolnites about issues of importance to them. Listening to the needs and values of the town is at the core of the mission statement to the Board of Selectmen, and if elected, I look forward to the opportunity to continue this critical function.

I would also be remiss if I did not remind and encourage everyone to attend Town Meeting this coming Saturday. Each year, Town Meeting provides all of us the opportunity to participate and vote on issues concerning the governance of our town. Important discussions about town finances, potential school and community center building projects, as well as several citizen petitions, will take place. All of that, and a boxed lunch at an affordable price! I hope to see you all there.

Lastly, I once again ask for your support at our town election on March 28.

Sincerely,

James Craig
10 Farrar 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.

Letter to the editor: Solomon seeks Bemis trustee vote

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To the editor:

Good morning. I am the “outside” candidate for Bemis Trustee, Stan(ley J.) Solomon. My wife is Susan Solomon. We have lived at The Commons for approaching five years. Before that we lived in Lexington for over 50 years, where I spent my spare time with Boy Scout Troop 119 while Susan was a Town Meeting member, on the Conservation Commission and Tree Committee, and president of the Lexington LWV. We both were Garden Club members.

We were serious hikers and less serious cross-country skiers. I added downhill skiing and whitewater paddling. We have hiked Lincoln trails for some 40 years; I was gifted with leadership of Professor Dirk Struik’s Appalachian Mountain Club walk behind Walden in the (now) conservation land when he aged.

I was born in eastern Ohio (Youngstown) and Susan grew up in South Brookline. I came to Boston for MIT; Susan went to Simmons. I am a physicist and worked in industry on semiconductor process development. My name is associated with ion implantation and also solar cell development. Susan worked in factory automation. Her name is not associated with the famous Lucy episode.

I am a candidate for Bemis trustee because I was invited to run. After looking at a short list of past Bemis speakers, I was honored to have been asked. I accepted and did go beyond The Commons for nomination signatures.

My opponent, in a March 13 Lincoln Squirrel letter, amply covered the history and recent accomplishments of the Bemis and Todd Trusts. Any expansion would be superfluous. She, a former trustee who moved on to higher office, appears to have some information on the Trustees’ current plans. As I do not, I find it impossible to give a specific answer as what I anticipate being able to do for them. However, I do not see that as detrimental.

Given past Trustees’ actions record and what I assume are the Bemis Trust’s constraints, it appears that a trustee’s function is simply to select one or more desirable, affordable and available individuals or groups to perform in Lincoln. (It has been explained that the job included physical management of that performance as well.)

Ability to harmoniously work in a group setting would seem to be a prime requisite. I believe I can answer the call there. Beyond this capability, I suspect that knowledge of “important” persons is a desirable asset. Because I am, I suspect, from a rather different background, I believe I can more adequately broaden the pool of potential candidates than can those who would have introduced names when they had a prior opportunity.

I do have one operational difference with my opponent. She expressed at a recent PTO meeting that she wants the Bemis Trustees to be more “interactive” with other Lincoln town boards and committees to produce better “harmony.” I totally oppose this for two reasons. These “interactees” would have been elected or appointed to manage a specific function themselves, not to do so with the advice and consent of another group. Further, I am sure that for Bemis Trustees to participate in this sort of interaction would certainly exceed powers delineated in the trusts.

As I am a few months from being 85, you can be assured that, if elected, I will not be a perennial candidate rattling around Lincoln politics.

Sincerely,

Stan Solomon
1 Harvest Circle, Ste. 231

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: support uniform U.S gun laws

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To the editor:

The lack of uniform gun laws means that all of us are subject to a flood of weaponry purchased in the least restrictive states, in many cases without background checks on the buyers. This is inexcusable. There are uniform national and comprehensive federal background check procedures and data within the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), linked to the national terrorist watch and no-fly lists. We must enact uniform gun laws to take advantage of this and other critical information. As it stands now, unqualified buyers, including potential terrorists and the mentally ill, can freely buy guns at gun shows, on the Internet, and in retail stores in states with weak or nonexistent gun safety laws.

Warrant article 36 in our March 19 Town Meeting, which seeks endorsement of “A Petition to the U.S. Congress to Adopt a Uniform National Gun Safety Law,” encourages our federal elected officials to eliminate state-by-state differences that permit the spread of lethal weapons through illegal sales and trafficking. Let’s give ourselves a chance to enforce reasonable laws and keep weapons out of the hands of people we know should not have them.

Sincerely,

Peter Pease
40 Huckleberry Hill

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.

Important changes coming for the Squirrel (please read)!

news+squirrelDear readers,

I’m writing to let you know about some changes coming to the Lincoln Squirrel. I really enjoy bringing town news to Lincolnites—so much, in fact, that I’d like to devote even more time this pursuit. Although I’ve had a part-time job since I started writing Lincoln stories, I can’t spend even more time on the Squirrel (my first love) without earning more income from it. What this means is that starting on April 1, the Squirrel will cost $3.99 a month.

There’s no need to worry about making the transition—my web developer and I have worked hard to make it as painless as possible. After you choose a password and enter your credit card information, you’ll only need to log into the Lincoln Squirrel website once on each device (home computer, smartphone, etc.). Your credit card will automatically be charged once a month through PayPal. If you prefer to pay by check or credit card over the phone, I can do that as well.

Because I’m so grateful to all those who have made voluntary monetary contributions to the Squirrel, I’ll provide discount codes to everyone who’s donated in the past 12 months entitling them to six months of the Squirrel for free.

As a paid subscriber, what can you look forward to? Among other things:

  • A new, cleaner look that will make the Lincoln Squirrel easier to read and navigate.
  • A dedicated web server to make the site (I hope) faster and avoid server glitches such as the one we experienced in January.
  • A responsive website that will automatically adapt its appearance to whatever type of device you’re using.
  • More time for me to devote to running the Squirrel and covering Lincoln news.

The bottom line: you’ll get your Lincoln news and features just like you have for the past three years, and it will still cost less than the local paper ($47.88 a year for Squirrel stories in your inbox almost every day, compared to $69 a year for weekly newspaper home delivery).

I’ve given a lot of thought to this in the past several months, and I’m really looking forward to the long-term benefits for everyone. This evolution will let us continue to create and read community journalism without a corporate go-between. Like you, I love getting information from the web for free, but this model isn’t sustainable for local news websites like the Squirrel that have far fewer resources than The Boston Globe, The New York Times, etc.—news outlets that once earned most of their money from print advertising but now also charge for unlimited online access.

I’ll have more information in the coming days about how to subscribe. Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions or comments about this change. I look forward to your continued readership, and I very much appreciate your loyalty!

Sincerely,

Alice Waugh
Editor, the Lincoln Squirrel
781-259-0526 (h)  |  617-710-5542 (m)
lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com