By Elizabeth Wilson

The majority of The Commons residents are NOT for the expansion. It’s very interesting that only committee members who work directly with the administrators, and who do not accurately represent the residents, are posting propaganda about the proposed expansion to The Commons.

The Commons is not going bankrupt. The money they take in from the expensive buy-ins and monthly assessments for each apartment and free-standing home can sustain the operations of The Commons. However, the new owners need to make money for themselves and to cover the debt they have incurred when buying the property and ultimately the debt they will take on in order to build the overly huge and expensive expansion proposal.

Why do people want to live at The Commons? Because Lincoln is a town that loves the principals of quiet open space. The people living at The Commons chose not to live in the Brookhaven “city” in Lexington/Waltham or the older, larger Bedford Carelton-Willard, or the large apartment-like Newbury Court in Concord or the ultra-modern new Waterstone in Lexington. People choose to live at The Commons because it is like their own home and neighborhood used to be. It feels like home. As it is.

I am a family member of a resident at The Commons. I am trying to give voice to the actual feelings of the body of residents at The Commons who are afraid, who feel helpless and are not heard, and who do not want the proposed expansion. The small group of committee members should not control the information given to the public and Lincoln residents. The committees do not represent the actual feelings of The Commons resident majority.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

By David Levington

I’m 94 years old, and I’ve lived at The Commons for eight years. I certainly don’t look forward to two or three years of noise and disruption of life here, but I am voting in favor of the proposed expansion, and so are all eighteen residents on the two committees that have been most involved in developing the plan. Why? It’s the finances. We have one asset (The Commons) worth maybe $100 million, and liabilities of $180 million (see this financial statement). We owe $90 million in municipal bonds that pay 6-7% and another $90 million to our residents in refundable deposits.

We’re in this position because, when the prior owners decided to sell, as part of the change of ownership all the cash available was withdrawn and, using The Commons as collateral, $100 million in municipal bonds were sold (as an aside, municipal bonds that pay 6-7% are commonly referred to as “junk bonds.”

Those of us with long memories remember that we’ve been through bankruptcy; we don’t want to go through that again. The projections prepared for us show that if financial conditions continue as they are, the Commons can get through the next few years, but only on a level basis. No major improvements. But we have no financial cushion to get us through a disruption, like a pandemic. The Commons survived the pandemic, when we could admit no new residents, because we were financially healthy. That hadn’t been the case in 2013, when The Groves couldn’t survive a dip in the housing market. And that wouldn’t be the case here if we experienced a recession, a drop in the housing market, another pandemic, or any event which stopped us from admitting new residents. Not only does income go down, but we are obligated to refund the deposits of residents who die or leave for any reason.

The expansion plan will affect us all, some much more than others. There will be noise, construction traffic, heavy equipment. We will lose attractive green spaces. Despite all this, the members of the Resident Council, who are our liaison to management, all vote in favor of the proposed plan. They have been involved in every step of the plan’s development and have kept the residents aware of each step taken. A Steering Committee was formed, with six residents and staff to advise and consider each iteration. (I am a member of the Steering Committee.) We are also unanimous in support. We urge you to vote in favor of the expansion plan; I believe it is in the best interests of the residents of The Commons and the town of Lincoln.

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.

By Joanne and George Carlisle

At the recent meeting of Lincoln’s Planning Board, we thought the presentations by The Commons, where we’ve lived for five years, were excellent. But we were surprised and horrified by the negativity, even mean-spiritedness, of many residents’ comments. We are great supporters of the emerging proposal for expansion, and we want to be sure that readers of the Lincoln Squirrel know that a recent survey showed that a significant majority of our residents understand and support the current proposal.

After the January 2023 initial proposal by our new nonprofit ownership, we have been given continuing surveys and individual, small, and large group meetings to learn of the need, advantages, and many considerations discussed by our Resident Council and Steering Committee and ownership/management. And we have given many of our own suggestions.

During our professional years before retirement, we learned the benefits of communal living in the many boarding schools we served. Kindness and trust and truth-telling — exactly the things we value most here at The Commons. We are especially pleased that The Commons offers such a rich mix of residents and staff — professionally, geographically, spiritually and in personal gifts and experiences.

Going forward, we are confident the expansion proposal which emerges will of course meet all of Lincoln’s town requirements while continuing, through the PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] program, our significant contribution to the tax base and providing some additional affordable living apartments. It will also benefit considerably our financial strength, and our ability to stay competitive in the world of growing demand for continuing care retirement communities.

Thank you for this chance to share our support and enthusiasm for plans for expansion at The Commons!

“My Turn” is a forum for readers to offer their letters to the editor or views on any subject of interest to other Lincolnites. Submissions must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Items will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Submissions containing personal attacks, errors of fact, or other inappropriate material will not be published.