Today’s article on the continuation of the Jet Aviation hearing gave an incorrect date for the next session. It will be on April 9 at 7:45 p.m. in the Town Office Building’s Donaldson Room. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.- The April 3 article on the effort by a group of eighth-graders to win voter approval for the purchase of bike racks neglected to mention the key role of Town Moderator Sarah Cannon Holden, who worked with Town Clerk Susan Brooks with the students to get their citizens’ petition onto the Town Meeting warrant. “Sarah has been an essential and invaluable partner from start to finish,” Brooks said.
Jet Aviation hearing continued again
The public hearing on Jet Aviation’s expansion proposal at Hanscom Field is still going on—the next session will be Wednesday, April 9 at 7:45 p.m. in the Lincoln Town Offices’ Donaldson Room.
The Conservation Commission has already held three sessions on the proposed plan to replace a hangar and build another, along with an access road and more parking. The plan requires a special permit from the ConsComm because it would impinge on a wetlands buffer zone.
Residents opposed to the expansion and Jet Aviation have both hired lawyers to bolster their arguments, “and that’s complicated the proceedings a little bit,” said Chris Reilly, Lincoln’s Director of Planning and Land Use. “The Conservation Commission is absorbing this information from various parties” and probably will not be ready to vote at this week’s hearing, he said.
If the commission gives its assent, Jet Aviation does not require any other permits from the town. The property is exempt from further local regulation because it is owned and operated by Massport, a state agency, and the expansion would not change the overall mission at the site.
First annual “Celebrate Asia!” at L-S this weekend
The first annual “Celebrate Asia!” Festival on April 12 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. will celebrate the diverse cultures that enrich Lincoln-Sudbury school and town communities and will serve as a fundraiser for the L-S Memorial School, the high school’s sister school in Battambang, Cambodia.
Among the offerings at the festival: crafts activities for kids, cultural performances by diverse dance groups, martial arts exhibitions, henna tattoos, tai chi, yoga, Asian goods and gifts, and some of your favorite Asian foods.
The L-S Memorial School was the brainchild of Mira Vale, a 2009 Lincoln graduate of L-S, who worked with former history teacher Bill Schechter and others to create the school as a way to help the L-S community heal after the in-school murder of 15-year-old James Alenson in 2007 (see article in the Sudbury Town Crier). Community members raised money in partnership with American Assistance for Cambodia to build the 300-student school, which opened in 2009 with five classrooms furnished with desks, benches, chalkboards, school supplies, and English-speaking teachers.
The school commemorates the L-S students and young alumni who have died during the school’s 50-year history. Names of about 300 deceased students and alumni are listed on the L-S Memorial School website, along with this video of how the school became a reality.
Residents approve up to $250,000 for another school study
By Alice Waugh
At Town Meeting on March 29, residents approved spending up to $250,000 to come up with options and cost estimates for school renovation projects, but not without considerable discussion and a number of dissenting votes—though not enough to derail the measure, which required a two-thirds majority vote.
[Read more…] about Residents approve up to $250,000 for another school study
Kids rack up a Town Meeting victory
The eighth-graders who fashioned a warrant article to request new bikes racks were (left to right) Janie Petraglia, Luke Belge, Zoe Belge, Anna Shorb, Cal Hamandi and (not pictured) Jacob Strock.
By Alice Waugh
Today’s children will govern the Lincoln of tomorrow—and they had a chance to practice at Town Meeting on March 29.
Six Lincoln School eighth-graders—Luke and Zoe Belge, Cal Hamandi, Janie Petraglia, Anna Shorb and Jacob Strock—worked since last fall with Town Clerk Susan Brooks on writing a warrant article for Town Meeting. But rather than dealing with zoning by-laws or property tax rates, their effort eventually focused on something more important to kids: new bike racks.
They started with a presentation by Brooks on how town government works and then brainstormed some ideas for a warrant article they could bring up for a Town Meeting vote with a citizens’ petition. “They thought broadly at the beginning,” Brooks said with a laugh. “Some of the ideas were pretty far out.”
One of the old bike racks outside Hartwell Pod C.
Eventually the kids hit upon the idea of a citizen’s petition seeking money for new bike racks. They did an informal poll of classmates and found that quote a few of them would ride their bikes to school if there was a better rack for locking their bikes. The decades-old models now at the schools were designed to lock only the front wheel, which doesn’t cut it with today’s fancier bikes with quick-release wheels.
The process, as is usually the case with getting things done in government, required talking to lots of people and doing research. They talked to Lincoln School facilities director Michael Haynes about where on the school campus the new racks might be installed. They went online and found a $125 bike rack online that will lock five bikes (how many they’ll eventually get will depend on the maximum dollar amount that will be requested, which hasn’t been finalized yet). And they gathered signatures. A citizen’s petition for a warrant article requires 10 valid signatures, but the bike-rack group collected 60 to 70.
And then there were the meetings. The students presented their idea to the School Committee, the Board of Selectmen (“they were really enthusiastic about it,” said Luke Belge) and finally the Finance Committee. The last session was “a more serious formal meeting, said Luke’s sister Zoe, who chaired the student group. “They had a lot of questions.” Finally, they had to make their case to voters before Town Meeting, so they divvied up the tasks of writing articles for the school newsletter, the Lincoln Review and the Lincoln Journal, and creating and rehearsing a PowerPoint presentation for the big day.
After patiently waiting for their warrant article to come up, the students took turns detailing the need for new racks. Shorb explained how the old bike racks are too small, especially on Wednesdays, when some of the older students bike from school to the Whistle Stop after school. Shorb and Petraglia explained how they aren’t really secure. And Hamandi assured any voters wary of hidden costs that there would be no sales tax for the tax-exempt school and no spending required for installation, since school custodial staff would do that as part of their regular duties.
Residents passed the measure unanimously and also gave the students a round of applause along with appreciative town officials.
“This really takes it to a new level to go through this process,” said Selectman Peter Braun.
Letter to the editor: Thanks from Planning Board
To the Editor:
The Planning Board thanks the town for approving three important zoning amendments on this year’s Town Meeting warrant:
- Article 32 relaxes the limits on building height in the Lincoln Station area. The new limits are 36’ and 2 ½ stories, identical to the existing limits on residential construction in the R1 residential district. The increase should facilitate attractive, viable development in the Lincoln Station area.
- Article 35 adopts a new requirement for site plan review when building permits are requested for projects that will generate more than 50 vehicle trips per day. This provision will close a significant gap in our bylaw that has allowed nonresidential projects to locate in residential neighborhoods without adequate review and control.
- Article 36 remedies an incorrectly drafted provision in the zoning bylaw dating back to 2003. The provision has allowed, without site plan review, new construction on lots that had preexisting structures, in situations where the new construction was not attached to any of the preexisting structures. This loophole is now closed.
We will continue to monitor the operation of our zoning bylaw, with your guidance, to ensure that it protects and enhances our beautiful town.
Sincerely,
Bryce Wolf, Lincoln Planning Board chair
52 Birchwood Lane
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published. Letters may be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor.
Community center, Bemis Hall studies move forward
By Alice Waugh
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the funding and timeline for school repairs, the town will move ahead with investigating specific sites and costs for a community center as well as the cost or renovating Bemis Hall to help Council on Aging in the more immediate future.
[Read more…] about Community center, Bemis Hall studies move forward
Braun beats Cannistraro in surprisingly close Selectman’s race
In unofficial results from the March 31 town election, incumbent Selectman Peter Braun defeated challenger Vincent Cannistraro by a vote of 487-382, or 56 to 46 percent. Braun’s margin of victory was about the same in both precincts. Precinct 1, which includes the southern and western portion of Lincoln, went to Braun by 56 to 44 percent, while Precinct 2 (the northeastern part of town) voted for Braun 55 to 45 percent.
| Candidate | Precinct 1 | Precinct 2 | Total votes |
| Peter Braun | 320 | 167 | 487 |
| Vincent Cannistraro | 242 | 130 | 372 |
| Blanks | 7 | 9 | 16 |
In the only other contested race, Patricia Mostue of Lincoln and Elena Kleifges of Sudbury retained their seats on the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District Committee by winning the highest totals tallied from the unofficial results from Lincoln and Sudbury:
| Candidate | Lincoln votes | Sudbury votes | Total votes |
| Patricia Mostue | 796 | 1,415 | 2,211 |
| Elena Kleifges | 236 | 1,842 | 2,087 |
| Sofya L. Gruman-Reznik | 62 | 1,121 | 1,183 |
| Blanks/write-ins | 656 | 1,918 | 2,574 |
The two ballot questions in Lincoln were overwhelmingly approved. By a vote of 729 to 83, residents approved granting one-day alcohol licenses to nonprofits for special events, subject to Board of Selectmen approval in each case. By a vote of 731 to 86, voters OK’d a beer and wine license for the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Although alcohol has been served at the deCordova in the past, the museum had been required to hire licensed outside vendors to do so.
Candidates comment
Vincent Cannistraro
Cannistraro said he was “absolutely thrilled” at the closeness of the vote. “I think a lot of people were really surprised. I don’t think anybody thought I would get more than 30 percent of the vote” with no endorsements from town officials. “I think it spoke a lot about how the town is trying to cope with this concept of change over time.”
“I’m pleased that voters reelected me and that I’ll have the opportunity to continue to serve the town for another three years in a volunteer capacity and give back to my community,” Braun said.
“I valued the many conversations I had with people across all segments of our community,” Braun continued. “I learned a lot, and I’m eager to continue to learn from as many people as I possibly can, including having the opportunity to speak to people who did not vote for me so I can continue to have as comprehensive understanding of residents’ issues as I can.”
Peter Braun
Asked if he was surprised at his relatively narrow margin of victory, Braun said he was. “It appears to have been the case that there was an organized effort by more than just the candidate to convince people to vote for my opponent,” he said.
Shortly before the election, Cannistraro wrote and dictated a “robocall” that was phoned to what he said was somewhere between 500 and 1,000 homes in Lincoln. In his call, which he supplied to the Lincoln Squirrel on Wednesday (read transcript here), he asked residents to vote in the election and outlined his experience in the construction industry. “I wanted people to always see or hear me directly and not take it from my friend or my acquaintance,” he said.
Using call-em-all.com, customers can record their message and have it robocalled to a list of phone numbers they upload for a about nine cents per number. Cannistraro said he aimed his robocall at phone numbers for residents who he guessed had lived in Lincoln for 10 to 20 years and/or were 45 to 60 years old. He did not include every Lincoln number to keep the cost down, adding that he spent $70 or $80 of his own money. The tactic is comparable to the one by an unknown person who put pro-Braun flyers under the doors of residents at The Commons, he added.
To anyone who might have thought robocalling was not “proper politics,” Cannistraro said, “That really depends on your perspective. I don’t think it’s appropriate for people you appoint to come out and endorse you,” he added, referring to a letter to the editor of the Lincoln Squirrel in which Conservation Commission co-chair Peter Von Mertens (who was appointed by the Board of Selectmen) expressed support for Braun before the election.
“It was a campaign of contrasts, to a certain degree—older vs. younger, insider vs. outsider experienced vs. a new perspective,” Cannistraro said. “That’s what interested me about the campaign. It wasn’t a personal thing about Peter… I think he ran a great campaign and it’s obvious that he loves Lincoln, and I respect him for that completely.” Cannistraro thanked various people including Braun in a letter posted on Lincoln Blogs the Future, a blog by resident Neil Feinberg, who was until recently a columnist for the Lincoln Journal.
“I really was a political nobody, and I think the result made a statement,” said Cannistraro, who has never held public office in Lincoln but said he would be interested in serving on a town board or commission in the future. “I’d feel compelled to serve for the people who supported me if I have the time to do a good job. It’s definitely a possibility,” he said.Asked which area of town government would interest him, he said, “I think my strengths are probably in the finance/CapComm [Capital Planning Committee] area… I’m really tuned into the fact that the town has a lot of potentially big-ticket items out there that they’re grappling with.” He added that he might also be interested in serving on the new School Building Advisory Committee that will be formed to work with consultants on identifying specific school repair/renovation project items and costs, “but maybe they want a fresh face of their own,” said Cannistraro, who served on the first SBAC.
Care Dimensions postpones next ZBA appearance
Architect’s drawing of the proposed hospice building and parking (click to enlarge).
Care Dimensions has for a postponement of the next Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on its Winter Street hospice proposal while it amends its submission. The company is now scheduled to appear before the ZBA on May 1.
The ZBA was scheduled to meet on April 3 to to continue the hearing that began on March 6. But in a March 27 letter to the board, Care Dimensions project consultant William Jackson said the architectural and engineering team “is in the process of making comprehensive improvements to the project plans” that will address the concerns of residents and board members. Those concerns centered on the scope of the project, including the size of the building footprint and potential traffic impacts. He asked that the hearing be continued to the ZBA’s May meeting and said revised plans would be sent to town officials before that.
Company representatives indicated at the March meeting that scaling down the project would not be economically viable for the company, but on Tuesday, Care Dimensions senior marketing director Jean Graham said they would definitely be back with something they hoped would be more acceptable to the ZBA and residents.
“We’re evaluating all our options to be responsive to the ZBA’s concerns and looking at how we can possibly modify the size,” Graham said.
Why did the amphibians cross the road?
The rainy early-spring nights last weekend this week brought out the annual migration of spotted salamanders and wood frogs from the uplands across the woods and fields (and roads) to vernal pools to breed. As in past years, the amphibians chose the night after Lincoln’s Annual Town Meeting to make their move, noted Tom Gumbart, Lincoln’s conservation director, who took these photos.
The salamander is about eight inches long and the wood frog is about 3.5 inches. Both species lay eggs in water that hatch into larvae with gills, which eventually grow lungs and legs. (In contrast, the Mexican axolotl, which is the subject of this entertaining song and video, is neotenic, meaning it does not undergo metamorphosis but keeps its fins and gills through adulthood—and no, drinking salamander goo will not change its developmental fate).
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