The Town of Lincoln, MA - Minutes

Forrest Lindwall, the traffic consultant from Mistry Associates, attended this meeting. He said that Route 2A will not become more congested because of the traffic being routed towards EDCO through the traffic light in Lexington. One of the major problems of the Route 2A/Mill Street intersection is that there are insufficient gaps in traffic to safely make a left hand turn out onto Route 2A from Mill Street or a left into Mill Street from 2A. The same situation exists from Hanscom Drive and that is why a police detail is needed there during commuter hours. He believes that in a high growth scenario to the year 2015 the level of service at the light in Lexington could go from a “B” to a “C”. He does not expect many people to access the site using Mill Street to head north off of Route 2 when there is a convenient exit for 2A.

Safety within the school complex itself should not be impaired by the additional traffic. There is a 24-foot wide roadway with speed bumps and it runs on the northern perimeter away from the physical school building and there are good sight lines in all directions. Crosswalks will be avoided. He is not sure how students are now using the western entrance to the school but does not expect it to be heavily used. Bob Domnitz got some information from the Police Dept. regarding accident data for 2A and within the last year and a half there were 35 accidents. The data does not show where each one was but it demonstrates that it is a dangerous roadway. There is no physical evidence that there is a high accident rate at the Mill Street intersection.

It is very unlikely that a traffic light will be installed in the future at this intersection because of increased traffic associated with EDCO (under the Mill Street access alternative). The overall volume of traffic is what dictates when a light is needed, not safety concerns. There is not even a light at Hanscom Drive. Police Chief Mooney came and discussed the intersection and he stated that it is very unsafe because of the poor sightlines and heavy commuter traffic. The access through the school is fine for both police and fire as long as they can use the western access this will provide for rapid access in case of an emergency. Provisions need to be made to ensure that they will have access if the gate is closed (ideally via remote operated gate). The Planning Board can condition the site plan during its review process to ensure proper public safety access at this western access gate.

An Oakdale Lane resident mentioned that the L-S High School late bus drops students off at the 2A/Mill Street intersection and then they need to walk down Mill Street. During the winter months this can mean walking in the dark and there are no street lights along Mill Street. This is another reason that extra traffic should not be routed onto Mill Street.

Mary Lincoln said she agrees that there will be an incremental decrease in safety at Mill Street if that access is used but questioned whether or not that meets the intent of the bylaw language for no “feasible alternative”. David Katsuki said he feels the Mill Street alternative is bad and Sam Perkins agreed. Sara Silverstein also said that she does not believe Mill Street to be a feasible alternative and Jim Henderson concurred that the Mill Street/2A intersection is already a serious safety concern. So the Commission agreed that it is time to move towards project review. There was discussion regarding the next step for the Commission. Elizabeth Frumkin offered that the next step after alternatives analysis is how to pursue appropriate mitigation for the projects impacts.

The applicant consented to a continuance to allow for the project engineer to come in to discuss stormwater management issues and to more closely examine the proposed work and potential mitigation. The Commission provided the applicant with a copy of Mary Rosenfelds report on vernal pool wildlife and its recommendations for site improvements at Minuteman that could improve the health of the vernal pools that lie to the south east of the work area. The Commission voted 7-0 to continue the hearing until the February 25^th meeting.

Mark Whitehead came in to meet the Commission and discuss his background and how he can assist the Commission with the variety of issues that they come across. The Commission appreciated this opportunity to meet with Mr. Whitehead and they look forward to working with him on future projects.

Oxbow Associates has agreed to conduct an ongoing study of Snider Pond to assess how the wildlife habitat changes over time. Funding remains in the accounts for this project and the Commission believes that solid data is essential for helping guide future decisions for this pond and for others that face similar issues within the community.

This is a proposal for senior housing at the North Lincoln site that was previously going to become the Minute Man Inn. There is buffer zone to wetlands on the western portion of the site but all proposed activity lies outside of the jurisdiction of the Commission.

The contractors for this vegetation removal project conducted all of the clearing work in Lincoln during the past week and a half. The frozen ground conditions were ideal for the large equipment operation. One beneficial change in the plan is that in some isolated wooded areas it was decided to top and girdle trees rather than building temporary access roads to the sites (which would be very destructive) and removing the trees completely. This alternative will leave wildlife snags and the additional shading will help limit the spread of invasive shrubs in the understory. In the spring the field area needs to be grubbed and seeded.

Ruth Silman, legal counsel for the Brummes, attended the meeting and provided draft language changes in the Order of Conditions. She said that the intent in the changes was to come to a common middle ground that would achieve the Commissions objective to properly restore the site and to give solid guidance to the Brummes for how to complete the project. Changes include the following: site visits need 24-hour notice to the owners, timeline for the OOC should be the typical 3-year period, cutting down on the number of reports required after year one of restoration, and specifications for assessing restoration (similar to those for replication).

The Commission will allow the Brummes to apply for an amended Order of Conditions and this needs to have abutter notification and legal notice just as the original Notice of Intent did. This hearing should be scheduled for the February 25^th meeting.

The Towns Finance Director, Colleen Wilkins, informed Tom Gumbart that municipal finance law prohibits the money in the old land acquisition accounts from being used in any way except rolling the funds into bonds of identical terms as those originally approved by Town Meeting.

Sean Hale reported that a residents dog got caught in an illegal leg-hold trap that was on conservation land. Two leg-hold traps were confiscated from the site where a deer carcass was being used as bait, presumably for trapping coyote. This was reported to the Lincoln Police and to the Environmental Police.

The staff Land Management Group met with Drumlin Farm staff to discuss their upcoming proposal to increase the parking capacity of their lot and to incorporate better traffic flow internally and out onto Route 117 with a new curbcut. Work is proposed within the buffer zone and so Mass Audubon will have to come in with a Notice of Intent for the Commission to review the new plan.

Elizabeth Frumkin reported on the February 3^rd meeting of this group. She expects that we will get on the warrant for getting approximately 25% of this years CPA money. The proposal submitted asked for 50% of the money. It looks like we may get $97,500 of new funding, $24,000 of money from last year that was not allocated, and $42,000 that was the open space share from last year, for a total of $163,500. This is all proposed to go into the Conservation Fund.

Tim Higgins, Mark Whitehead, and Tom Gumbart have been researching what options exist for a municipality to work on water conservation. There is a wide array of regulations, bylaws, and educational efforts that can be made by the Water Commission, Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, Board of Health, and Conservation Commission. On February 23^rd the Selectmen will hear the results of this preliminary work and all the Commissioners are invited to attend this meeting.

Max Mason and Richard Silver have been in to the Conservation Office to discuss the possibility of dredging out the smaller pond that lies in the middle of the circular driveway. Sean and Tom have discussed the permitting that would be required with them and they wanted to let the Commission know that they would like to pursue this.

John Bingham spoke with Tom Gumbart about what possibilities might exist for expanding the trail access on conservation land for disabled citizens. Tom felt that it would be best to set up a meeting along with the Land Trust because of the interconnectivity of the trail system. Hopefully a meeting can be arranged in March.

Richard and Heidi Nichols are again maple sugaring along Concord and Old Concord Road. Some of the trees they tap are on conservation land. This work is endorsed by the Commission and the participation of the neighborhood, particularly the children, is a strong point of this venture.

The Commission voted unanimously (Toby Feibelman - yes, Elizabeth Frumkin - yes, Jim Henderson - yes, David Katsuki-yes, Mary Lincoln-yes, Sam Perkins-yes, Sara Silverstein-yes) to enter into executive session to discuss ongoing litigation pertaining to the Hobbs Brook Farm case. Mary Lincoln stated that the meeting would not reconvene in open session.