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 Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

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.

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.

To the editor:

Warrant Article 36 petitions Congress to enact “uniform national gun safety laws.” If such laws were enacted, it is likely that they would be significantly less restrictive than those of Massachusetts, and that Congress would invoke the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, thereby replacing Massachusetts gun laws with the weaker U.S. law. What a dream for the NRA; what a nightmare for Massachusetts.

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.

(Editor’s note: there are three candidates for two seats on the Planning Board at the town election later this month. Links to their letters are at the end of this post.)

To the editor:

I would like to offer my strong support for Steve Gladstone, candidate for the Planning Board.

Steve served with me recently on the Community Center Study Committee, where his insight and thoughtful decision-making was critical to our weekly committee work, our findings and our 2015 written report to the town. He is highly intelligent, polite, a real pleasure to work with, and cares deeply about our town and its cultural and physical landscape.  We are all fortunate that Steve is willing to serve on this very important town board, and I hope that you will join with me in supporting him.

Penny Billings (former selectman, chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and chair of the Community Center Study Committee)
Lincoln 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.