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

Town election is on Monday

March 27, 2015

On Monday, March 30, polls will be open in the Smith gym from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the town election, which includes numerous town office races and two ballot questions (see sample ballot at right; click to enlarge).

Two of the races (Planning Board and Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee) are contested. Below are links to letters to the editor in the Lincoln Squirrel about these races, listed in chronological order.

Planning Board

Letter to the editor: vote for Domnitz (March 24)
Letter to the editor: group of residents supports Gary Taylor (March 23)
Letter to the editor: Taylor asks for your vote (March 23)
Letter to the editor: support Domnitz for reelection (March 23)
Letter to the editor: Domnitz “comes down on the neighborhood’s side” (March 18)
Letter to the editor: vote for Domnitz (March 16)
Letter to the editor: support Taylor for Planning Board (March 6)
Letter to the editor: Taylor running for Planning Board (January 11)
Letter to the editor: Domnitz running for reelection to Planning Board (January 7)

Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee

(Editor’s note: residents may vote for two of three names on the ballot. The Lincoln Squirrel has not received any letters to the editor from candidate Robert G. Stein of Sudbury, although he is mentioned in Eric Harris’s letter on March 23).

Letter to the editor: vote on Monday for Marshall and Quirk (March 23)
Letter to the editor: Marshall is “the whole package” (March 18)
Letter to the editor: Marshall deserves reelection (March 17)
Letter to the editor: vote for Quirk, Marshall (March 16)
Letter to the editor: vote for Marshall (March 15)
Letter to the editor: Quirk runs for reelection to LSSC (March 3)
Letter to the editor: Marshall seeks voter support (March 2)
Letter to the editor: reelect Nancy Marshall (March 1)

Bemis Hall basement to get makeover if voters approve

March 26, 2015

By Alice Waugh

One of the Community Preservation Act requests that will come up at Town Meeting on Saturday is $290,000 to reconstruct the Bemis Hall basement to add 1,200 square feet of usable space and install a fully handicapped-accessible bathroom, which the building now lacks.

Students’ Town Meeting article seeks funds for field work

March 26, 2015

The eighth-grade warrant article group, left to right: Amalia Munn, Allie Dwyer, Colin Christian, Greer Harnden and Elena Christenfeld.

Six Lincoln School eighth-graders are hoping voters at Saturday’s Town Meeting approve a citizens’ petition for funding to clear the edges of one of the school playing fields.

Elena Christenfeld, Colin Christian, Allie Dwyer, Greer Harden, Amalia Munn and Irene Terpstra have been meeting every Monday since September withTown Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden and Town Clerk Susan Brooks to experience the process for getting an issue before Lincoln’s Annual Town Meeting.

After conversations with the Parks and Recreation Department, the students first came up with the idea to clear the edges of the playing fields next to Codman Pool, the Smith school building and the Town Office Building where brush is growing into the playing area. They eventually settled for just the Smith field as well as an adjacent student emergency evacuation area.

Community center on Hartwell campus would cost $13 million, panel says

March 26, 2015

The Community Center Study Committee's "preferred option." Click on the image for more options and interior design ideas.

The Community Center Study Committee’s “preferred option.” Click on the image for more exterior and interior design ideas.

By Alice Waugh

Residents on Saturday will have the chance to hear the final report of the Community Center Study Committee (CCSC), which proposes a community center to be built on the Hartwell campus at a total cost of about $13 million, including roads and other site work.

Amended motion for school project released

March 25, 2015

By Alice Waugh

Town officials have released amended wording for a school project measure at Town Meeting that more closely ties a $750,000 feasibility study with Lincoln’s acceptance into the state funding process.

Resident aims to open bookstore with food, coffee and cocktails

March 25, 2015

By Alice Waugh

Lincoln resident Richard Card wants to open a combination bookstore, coffee shop, and wine and cocktail bar in the South Lincoln business district that would offer “an ambience that promotes higher-minded conversations,” he says.

School warrant article to be amended

March 25, 2015

Editor’s note: shorty after this was published, town officials released

By Alice Waugh

Just days before the annual Town Meeting, officials are scrambling to tweak the wording of one of the warrant articles relating to the school building project.

Carvings reflect conservation ranger’s love of birds

March 25, 2015

A montage of Jane Layton’s bird carvings (click to enlarge).

One of the exhibits at the Town Office Building looks like it could almost take flight.

Jane Layton has been carving birds and working part-time for the Lincoln Conservation Department for 26 years. Her carvings at the library, which are on display until April 1, include local favorites such as the white-breasted nuthatch and the chickadee as well as puffins, a golden-crowned kinglet and more. [Read more…] about Carvings reflect conservation ranger’s love of birds

Letter to the editor: vote for Domnitz

March 24, 2015

To the editor:

The Town of Lincoln has been fortunate throughout its history to have been served by individuals who care deeply about its direction. Through careful planning and respect for all its resources, they have created a place we can all be proud to call home.

As a member of the Planning Board, Bob Domnitz has embodied the ethics and pragmatism that have guided this community for the past 260 years. He has served the town of Lincoln exceptionally well, and I endorse him wholeheartedly.

Sincerely,

Margaret Flint
Lexington Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, 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 warrant article on climate change

March 24, 2015

Editor’s note: Article 45 is a citizens’ petition that asks voters if they support a resolution “that urges town boards, commissions and committees to consider, in relevant cases, and report in their minutes, the impact of their decisions on climate change; or take any other action relative thereto.”

To the editor:

Lincoln has a long history and a national reputation for being a progressive, proactive community in conservation and environmental protection that is reflected in our landscape. The town must now continue with this tradition of creative and innovative planning in finding effective ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change.