The Outreach Team wishes you and your families moments of rest and regeneration, joy and peace, and love and laughter as we close out 2018 and welcome 2019.
See you next year!
…to the almost 1000 fellow citizens who came to Town Meeting.
…to the over 1600 voters who voted at the ballot box.
…to the many people who regularly attended and participated in SBC meetings.
…to everyone who participated in outreach sessions, sent us questions, or came to community forums.
…to our design and Owner’s Project Manager teams.
…to other Lincoln boards and committees that spent time analyzing and shaping the project, and then preparing the town to understand its ramifications.
…to the School’s and Town’s professional teams that supported the SBC’s work in innumerable ways.
…to all those who asked hard questions, and those that helped articulate answers.
…to the fleet of people who took care of all the December 1st and December 3rd logistics: Our public safety officers, our custodial teams, our technology teams, our administrative support teams.
…to those who provided sustenance, and those who tended children, at Town Meeting.
…to the people who talked about the project with neighbors, friends, and new acquaintances.
This has been an intense period of community focus and engagement, and it really does “take a village.”
And now a new type of work begins…
Logistics:
Background Materials
THANK YOU!!! Literally hundreds of people have been engaged and involved in this process. We are immensely grateful to each of you – we hear your voices, and they are part of the fabric of this process and of this Lincoln School project. See you in the morning!!
– The Outreach Team
Over the past 19 months, the Lincoln School project has been forged by the willingness of residents with a wide range of values, priorities, expertise, opinions, and viewpoints to come together to try to collaboratively solve an incredibly complex problem. The goal of the SBC has been to create a process and a platform for individual ideas to be heard and to give direction to its work. In June, we presented 5 viable ways to move forward, and our community made a group decision, in an unprecedented way, about which project best balanced those priorities and delivered the most value for the investment.
At the end of that Special Town Meeting, an overwhelming majority chose the project known as “L3.” The clarity of the vote was due to the fact that many people, with many ideas, were willing to passionately champion their values while demonstrating their willingness to compromise; finding a balance among multiple needs and interests.
The result is a project that is a reflection of resident values; it is “ours,” as a town, in every sense of the word.
What did it take to get to this point?
When we started this process, many challenged us to go beyond a school that is “safe, warm, and dry” and to focus on transforming the educational environment. They noted that the neighborhood model of classrooms, which supports how our educators teach (with future flexibility), would be easiest to achieve in a new, more compact building – not one with classrooms strung out along a long corridor.
Many residents focused on the opportunity to live up to the green energy goals LIncoln set for itself a decade ago, when the town voted to adopt a fossil fuel reduction standard for its public buildings. They focused our attention on “energy use intensity,” the importance of a well-insulated building, new heating & cooling technologies, and the need to generate electricity on site in order to further reduce our carbon footprint. This would be easiest to achieve with new construction.
Others drew our attention to the deep historical ties the town has to the Ballfield Road site. It was the home of the Lincoln Mohawks baseball team in the first half of the 20th century, and where the town regularly gathered in the grand stands. The Lincoln School itself was designed by two Lincoln-resident modern architects, Lawrence Anderson and Henry Hoover. They helped transform school architecture by providing ample access to natural light, connections to the outdoors, and moveable (dare we say flexible?) furniture that wasn’t bolted to the floor. Many residents saw the important connection of the current building to our town’s history, and wanted to ensure that we re-used as much of it as possible and preserved the integrity of the campus.
The Lincoln School is an important center of the community, and many emphasized its role in our recreational and civic life. They placed a high value on retaining both of our full-sized gyms and the Auditorium.
And everyone wanted to ensure that the project would provide good long-term value for the up-front cost – while being mindful of the immediate impact on the community.
As is quickly apparent, it is not easy to reconcile all of these priorities – but there was a lot of determination! As a result of the creativity of our design team and our committee, and a high level of community participation in the process, we all decided that L3 did the best job of drawing all of those interests together.
On Saturday, we will come together to test that hypothesis.
We know that people will come to the meeting looking at the project through different lenses and their own set of experiences. While we all listen to the presentations and the ensuing debate, the following questions might serve as a framework:
Each of us may answer these questions in different ways. We look forward to a thoughtful and thought-provoking conversation on Saturday.
Lincoln has long been a leader in land conservation and stewardship. Over the generations, we have put land into conservation, created and maintained an extensive trail network, and inspired modern architects to build houses that meld into the landscape.
With this project, we would take a big step into the future of environmental stewardship by driving down the school’s energy consumption per square foot, switching to an all-electric heating/cooling/ventilation system, and generating energy on site. The building would be fossil-fuel free (except, for now, an emergency generator – battery storage in the future?)
To read prior blog posts that have been “tagged” under sustainability, click here.
Click here to read the Green Energy Committee’s answers to FAQs about Power Purchase Agreements.
For even more information, visit the Sustainability page of the website.
And please visit the Lincoln Green Energy Committee website!
Just for Fun!
What was the name of the semi-pro baseball team that played (and won championships!) on the center field? Click here to find out!
Each year, with input from the community, the Lincoln School Committee and Administrative Team set strategic priorities for the district. These priorities guide professional development and collaboration in the Lincoln School and in the Hanscom Schools. Since the new Hanscom Middle School opened in 2016, the district has had the opportunity to see how a school designed around grade-level neighborhoods and flexible common spaces can support our educational priorities, and how it makes it easier for our teachers to engage in the kinds of collaborations that spark creative and engaging curriculum.
Our teachers are our best educational resource. The building and environment can make their work easier or harder. Below are some resources to learn more about the impact of the learning environment:
Some Financial FAQs (with assistance from the Finance Committee & Town Finance Team)
I’ve seen that taxes would go up 17% – 19%. Would they keep going up by that much every year?
No. Paying for the bond is like making payments on a fixed rate, 30-year mortgage. The cost for the bond remains constant once it is fully added to the tax bill. However, unlike taking out a mortgage, the Town is likely to issue the bond in two “tranches” or pieces, that will mean the increase in taxes will likely be phased in over 3 years.
When would the project show up on my tax bill?
Based on the currently anticipated borrowing schedule, the first impact would occur in the tax bill for the second half of calendar year 2019.
Will it happen all at once?
No. Based on the currently anticipated borrowing schedule, about 45% of the total increase would appear on the tax bill for the 2nd half of calendar year 2019. That same amount would be included in both semi-annual tax bills of calendar year 2020, bringing that year’s added payments to 90% of the total increase. The two semi-annual added payments in calendar year 2021 would be slightly higher and add up to 95% of the total increase, and then the tax bills from calendar year 2022 onwards would have the full increase included. In other words, it will take about 3 years until we are paying the full “mortgage payment” on the school.
When do we vote on the project?
How long does the Town Meeting Last?
There is no definitive answer to that question, but here is what we DO know:
Can I bring my children to Town Meeting?
YES! They are welcome anywhere – and if you think your child needs some running room, the back half of the Reed Gym will have open space for play. The front half of the Gym will be set up with chairs for when it’s voting time.
How many votes are needed?
Do we still have a ballot vote on Monday if the project doesn’t pass at Town Meeting?
I can’t be at Town Meeting on Saturday, can I vote absentee?
NO. You must be present to vote at any Town Meeting.
I can’t make it to the polls on Monday, can I vote absentee?
YES! Absentee ballots are now available at the Town Clerk’s office.
Just for fun…What do temporary classrooms look like?
Click here to see the temporary classrooms our Hanscom K-3 students are currently using while the new Hanscom Primary School is being finished. (The Lincoln Public Schools District includes the Lincoln School and the Hanscom Primary and Middle Schools on Hanscom Air Force Base.)
The Outreach Team wishes everyone a turkey-and-pie-filled, enjoyable few days!
We will be on hiatus for just a bit…and then you’ll be hearing from us quite frequently in the final days before the Special Town Meeting which is a week from Saturday!
A few links in case you’re trying to avoid doing the dishes:
Lincoln School Project Overview (this should have arrived in the mail along with the official Town Meeting warrant notice and a glossary of Finance Committee terms.
FAQs: Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)
FAQs: Tax Deferral and Abatement Programs
Click here to visit the Town’s page dedicated to the December 1st Special Town Meeting. Lot’s of information!
~~ TONIGHT! Multi-Board Meeting ~~
7:00pm – 9:00pm Hartwell Pod B
The School Building Committee, Finance Committee, Capital Planning Committee, and Green Energy Committee will present updated information in preparation for December 1st.
The public is welcome and encouraged to come ask questions!
FAQ: Are there any ways to mitigate the impact of the property tax increase?
The Town of Lincoln offers all of the tax deferral and abatement programs authorized by the state. Below is a chart of the available programs. For more information about property taxes, please visit the Assessor’s web page on the Town website.
See the Latest!
After getting strong guidance from the community that it preferred a “sloped roof” approach to the new center of the building, our design team incorporated the feedback people gave and created updated drawings of the exterior. Take a look!
Bring them to us! This week’s outreach sessions…:
And other meetings…
And on Saturday, December 1st!…