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

Letter to the editor: leaf blower committee responds

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To the editor:

I am writing on behalf of the town’s Leaf Blower Study Committee to respond to Squirrel’s recent article on 1) our proposal to restrict leaf blower use and 2) on our interactions with the Board of Health (“Board of Health: residential areas don’t need leaf blower regulations,” January 9, 2015). We object to the term “crackdown,” you used to describe our recent proposed regulation and think it is premature to entitle your article “…residential areas don’t need leaf blower regulations.” Our reasoning is explained below.

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Letter to the editor: leaf blowers can be used year-round appropriately

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To the editor:

We were not able to be in town on the evening that the Leaf Blower Study Committee held an open forum to discuss its proposed regulations on leaf blower usage, but we were able to view the proposal that was distributed online. Since the recommendation goes far beyond guidelines and education to outright restrictions on summertime use and penalties for violation, we felt compelled to speak up about the proposal.

We thank the LBSC for making us aware of the environmental impacts from the use of these devices in terms of noise, air quality, and in some cases, safety. We understand that their current use by contractors and private citizens doesn’t always take these impacts into account. There are times when overuse, use at inappropriate times, and improper use cause problems.

That being said, leaf blowers do serve useful purposes despite their drawbacks—uses that include more than just fall leaf cleanup, which appears to be the only time that the committee believes their use is legitimate:

  • They make it possible to remove leaves in late spring and early summer from difficult-to-reach places to allow proper growth of useful vegetation without damage from raking
  • They make debris removal possible without strenuous raking for those less capable or for those with large areas to work
  • They make it possible to remove pine needles from decks, roofs, and other areas that can’t be raked or easily swept (pine needles in the many forested areas of Lincoln seem to fall all summer long)
  • They make it possible to blow debris from summer lawn work off of walkways and back onto lawns to aid mulching and keep walkways safe
  • They make it possible year round to keep porches and decks clear of debris that blows in from yards and from trees

The proposal to prohibit their use absolutely in Lincoln from May until September is far more restrictive than the committee may believe. Leaf blowers provide useful time and labor-saving benefits year round.

The committee needs to find a way to help people use them appropriately, not to prohibit their use. Many of the cited problems are more acute in the fewer denser areas of town and not on the prevailing larger tracts of land. With two-acre zoning, most homeowners who are using leaf blowers safely and with regard for their impacts should be able do so without harm to others. Perhaps restrictions on use should be focused on their use in denser areas of town.

While we are not in favor of any restrictions, we could imagine some kind of permitting process that would at least require users in certain areas of town to conform to usage guidelines in order to be allowed to use them. This kind of approach would still allow usage while requiring that users understand and comply with the need to use them properly.

We believe that most citizens of Lincoln are intelligent, reasonable, environmentally conscious, and highly wary of regulations that limit individual rights. We encourage the committee to find ways to help Lincoln residents become more aware of the conditions under which leaf blowers are harmful, and to trust us all to make informed and respectful decisions about their use.

Sincerely,

Mark and Tricia Deck
11 Boyce Farm Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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: leaf blower proposal adds to overregulation

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To the editor:

We are increasingly overregulated in this town. Our zoning restrictions appear to increase every year and are time-consuming and expensive to comply with. Restrictions on water use are cumbersome and excessive. The average American uses more water than we do. Restrictions or regulation of leaf blower use in the densely built-up areas makes sense, but should not be imposed on the whole town.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Fitzgerald
Juniper Ridge Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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: Taylor running for Planning Board

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(Editor’s note: Taylor is challenging incumbent Bob Domnitz for a seat on the Planning Board. Domnitz’s letter to the editor announcing his candidacy can be found here.)

To the editor:

With election season approaching, I would like to let people know that I shall be running for a position on the Planning Board. For those of you who do not know me, I have been involved in various aspects of town governance for many years, serving on the Finance Committee, the Capital Planning Committee, the Housing Commission, the Board of Selectmen and the School Building Committee. I was one of the principal developers and authors of Lincoln’s first Housing Production Plan and the At Risk Properties Report, planning documents that helped the town move forward successfully in affordable housing and in shaping development of key parcels of land.

I feel strongly that it is time for a change in orientation for the Planning Board. Much of the success in maintaining Lincoln’s small-town rural character is attributable to leaders in the past who kept their eyes on the future and prepared for what they saw coming. We need that same foresight now. Unfortunately, the focus of the Planning Board seems to have drifted towards minutia in site plan reviews, while important matters like building consensus around a plan for the South Lincoln Mall area receive insufficient attention.

From observing the board in action, I also believe that it could be much more efficient and user-friendly. Although there are on occasion proposals that are well out of bounds, most applicants before the Board are land owners seeking to improve properties in reasonable ways. The board’s approach should be to help them achieve their goals while honoring bylaw requirements, and this should not require numerous appearances before the board, as is often the case now. Problems with applications should largely be worked out with the Planning Board’s staff in advance of any hearing to save everyone time and spare applicants the expense of yet another round with an architect. Spending less time reviewing applications would leave more for actual planning.

There are several other areas for improvement such as better coordination with the Zoning Board of Appeals and more attention to implementation of the town’s Comprehensive Plan, and I look forward to discussing all these issues with Lincoln voters in seeking their support.

Sincerely,

Gary Taylor
2 Beaver Pond Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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.

Board of Health: residential areas don’t need leaf blower regulations

leafblower-compositeBy Alice Waugh

The Board of Health, which is on record as saying airborne particles and noise from gas-powered leaf blowers are a health hazard, has issued a statement distancing itself from a crackdown on use of the machines by homeowners, saying that in Lincoln, leaf blowers cause the most problems on paved surfaces, especially in the business district.

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Letter to the editor: Support We the People Act

Sen. Mike Barrett meets with constitutents, Move To Amend and WolfPAC supporters about the We The People Act to be introduced at the State House this month. Clockwise from lower left: Elizabeth Cherniack and Jean Palmer of Lincoln, John Kelly and Carol Kelly of Bedford, Greg Laing and Joe Megerman of Waltham, Marie Roberts of Lexington, Dilla Tingley and Peter Pease of Lincoln, Sen. Barrett, Dan Melnechuk of Waltham, Bob Wallhagen of Carlisle, Gary Davis og Lincoln. The meeting took place at the Concord Public Library.

Sen. Mike Barrett meets with constitutents, Move To Amend and WolfPAC supporters about the We The People Act to be introduced at the State House this month. Clockwise from lower left: Elizabeth Cherniack and Jean Palmer of Lincoln, John Kelly and Carol Kelly of Bedford, Greg Laing and Joe Megerman of Waltham, Marie Roberts of Lexington, Dilla Tingley and Peter Pease of Lincoln, Sen. Barrett, Dan Melnechuk of Waltham, Bob Wallhagen of Carlisle and Gary Davis of Lincoln. The meeting took place at the Concord Public Library.

To the editor:

We the undersigned, along with residents from other towns in his district, recently met with our State Senator, Mike Barrett, to ask him to support the We the People Act being submitted to the Massachusetts legislature this month. We are concerned about the corrupting influence of massive amounts of money in elections and how human rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution to human beings are being used by non-human entities like corporations in harmful ways. Sen. Barrett enthusiastically agreed at the meeting to co-sponsor the proposed bill and actively support its passage.

We also met recently with Rep. Tom Stanley in Waltham to ask him to co-sponsor the We The People Act as well. He, too, enthusiastically agreed to support the act and will do everything he can to help it pass. Rep. Stanley said he views this issue as one of the most important at this time.

The We The People Act calls on Congress to propose a constitutional amendment to affirm (1) that rights protected by the U.S. Constitution are the rights of human beings only, not corporations, and (2) that Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and spending.

This act also proposes that if Congress does not pass the amendment, the Massachusetts legislature will call for an amendment convention as Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides. If a recalcitrant or dysfunctional Congress blocks reform, two-thirds of the state legislatures can petition Congress to call a convention—not for overturning or changing the Constitution, but for proposing an amendment. California, Illinois and Vermont have already passed such legislation. The threat of such a convention can force Congress to act, as it did with the 17th amendment, to elect senators by popular vote instead of by state legislatures. The results of any such convention would still require three-quarters of the states’ approval.

A growing coalition of citizen groups across the country also supports this bill. For more information on this issue, check out Movetoamend.org or VoteYesforDemocracy.org.

Please contact Sen. Mike Barrett (617-722-1572 or Mike.Barrett@masenate.gov) and Rep. Tom Stanley (617-722-2230, Thomas.Stanley@mahouse.gov) to thank them for supporting the people on this issue. Also please call, email or talk to friends and family in Massachusetts as well as across the country to tell them how important this Move to Amend is to accomplishing anything in the future for the people about any issue of import to them, their children or their grandchildren. We need to put the power to legislate back in the hands of the people and out of the power of big money.

Sincerely,

Jean Palmer, Tower Road
Gary Davis, Indian Camp Lane
Dilla Tingley, Laurel Drive
Peter Pease, Huckleberry Hill
Elizabeth Cherniack, South Great Rd
Joanna Hopkins, Linway Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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: Schmertzler running for reelection

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To the editor:

I, Alvin Schmertzler, am pleased to enter the election for School Committee.

I have been a member for eight years, during which time we have chosen a new superintendent, Ms. McFall, and worked diligently to develop plans for restoring the school facility and bringing it up to 21st-century standards. We are still hoping to develop a plan that will gain the support of two-thirds of the Town Meeting and hopefully one that we are in a position to submit to the MSBA for financial support. To inform the town’s citizens of the variety of options that have been developed and to obtain their questions and ideas, we have increased and expanded outreach to the citizens. We hope it has been and continues to be helpful.

Working with the administration team, new education goals have been developed that will guide the schools toward continued progress in educating all out students to the best of their abilities. We are continuing our efforts to develop ideas and plans to close the achievement gap for underperforming students and we continue to enroll METCO students from the inner city. Working with the Department of Defense, a new middle school is under construction at the Hanscom campus and a plan for a new lower school is awaiting final approval.

I am asking for your vote so I may continue to work on these and other tasks as they arise.

Respectfully,

Alvin Schmertzler
142 Chestnut Circle, Lincoln
als1reg@verizon.net

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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.

News acorns – 1/7/15

acornSee videos of First Day in Lincoln

Intrepid Lincoln photographer/videographer Harold McAleer has posted some videos of First Day in Lincoln on January 1. Have a look at some of the socializing and see Rob Loud belting out Auld Lang Syne. You can see other videos by Harold on his YouTube channel.

SBAC’s final public forum is Jan. 13; COA preview on Jan. 9

The School Building Advisory Committee will present a draft of architectural consultant Dore and Whittier’s final report with cost estimates for a Lincoln School project at its fourth and final public forum on Tuesday, Jan. 13 from 7-9 p.m. in Reed Gym. At the third public forum on December 2, 76 percent of residents expressed a preference for Option 3, which calls for a comprehensive package of facilities and educational upgrades costing $54.7 million to $58.8 million.

Residents, especially those who are unable to come to the January 13 meeting, are also invited to a meeting on Friday, Jan. 9 at 1 p.m. at Bemis Hall. This meeting at the COA is an opportunity to get a preview of the final report and to continue the discussion about renovation pathways and the decisions the Town will need to make to move a project forward.

Obituaries

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. in the First Parish Church in Lincoln for Eleanor Locke Donaldson, who died on November 6 at the age of 100. She held numerous positions with the church and was active in the Lincoln Garden Club and the Lincoln Bell Ringers.

Maraget F. Chisholm also passed away on December 28 at the age of 94. She was a Lincoln native and worked for many years at a phone company in town.

Snowshoe tours at deCordova

The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is offering guided snowshoe tours of the sculpture park led by a trained instructor on five dates between January 17 and March 10, with alternate dates for each occasion in case of too little or too much snow. Click here to register and pay (tickets range from $10 to $20 and snowshoe rentals are $12).

 

Gray creatures (Lincoln through the lens, 1/8/15)

Wildlife enjoy the wreath-shaped seed feeder at the McAleers' house. —Photo by Harold McAleer

Wildlife enjoy the wreath-shaped seed feeder as seen through the window at the McAleers’ house. —Photo by Harold McAleer

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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.

Letter to the editor: Domnitz running for reelection to Planning Board

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To the editor:

My thanks to the editor of the Lincoln Squirrel for reminding all of us that it’s time to throw our proverbial hats in the ring and volunteer for town boards and committees. I’m pleased to announce that I will be running (again!) for reelection to the Planning Board. I have appreciated the town’s support of my candidacy for the past 12 years, and with your support I will continue working to preserve what we love about our town.

We benefit in Lincoln from the farsighted, altruistic actions of residents who placed large tracts of land in conservation and knowingly gave up opportunity for personal gain by adopting large-lot zoning and development controls. We are all stewards of this precious legacy.

There are major projects and initiatives before the town at this time: the K-8 school building project, the Community Center, the Route 2 project, modifications to The Commons (formerly “The Groves”) campus, construction of a new Minuteman Regional High School building within Lincoln, and the Planning Board’s upcoming proposal to unify zoning at Lincoln Station to provide an expanded range of options for revitalization. I’d like to continue working with my dedicated, creative colleagues on the Planning Board as we assist the town through these changes.

I’d be happy to discuss with you any ideas or concerns that you may have. Please feel free to call me at 781-259-1080.

Sincerely,

Bob Domnitz
21 Mill St., Lincoln

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrrel.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.