Re: [LincolnTalk] Fwd: Letter of support

[Carol Ryan]

I am wondering g what the priorities are for this project. I thought the COA and Parks and Rec need an office upgrade and the seniors in Lincoln are in need of a gathering space. Aren’t the facilities at the new school sufficient for the youngsters ? If children are too young to walk on their own to locations off the school grounds, I think there are options for families to hire an after school helper. It seems more like “smart development” to locate a senior center at Lincoln Station. Carol R Sent from my iPhone On Nov 27, 2022, at 12:29 PM, DJCP <djcp0...@gmail.com> wrote:  Separate centers is what we have now! But in actuality parks and rec doesn't have a center. They have space in the school they are allowed to use. Diana  Giles rd  On Sun, Nov 27, 2022, 10:59 AM Dennis Picker <dennis.pick...@gmail.com> wrote: As I said in a previous post, the reason options other than the current pair of Ballfield Rd proposals were dismissed was because the options presented were constrained to follow the model of a single community center that encompassed all of parks and recreation and COA/human services.  The years of committee work NEVER gave adequate consideration to other approaches that did not require a single common facility.   The current statement from the Community Center Building Committee "Why Hartwell Campus" (https://lincolncommunitycenter.com/2022/11/11/why-would-the-community-center-be-on-the-hartwell-campus/)  continues to stick to the rigid adherence to a model that claims the only way to address the needs of the COA and parks and recreation is to build a single shared facility on Ballfield Rd.  The claims of significant cost savings because most of the spaces would be shared between the uses of COA and parks and recreation are suspect.  They ignore the existence of several other perfectly good existing public meeting places in town that can be used for some COA activities.  They ignore the fact that COA fitness/exercise classes always could arrange to share use of parks and recreation facilities-- as long as it was not required that those classes be in the same location as the COA offices.  The claim that the only way to get the cost benefit of shared spaces is by building an entirely new building is just not true. Yes, if we delay, the costs of the two current proposals is likely to go up.  But that is not a reason to have never given fair consideration to an entirely different approach that could offer drastically lower costs while still meeting the needs.  It is a process failure that we spent almost 10 years with tunnel vision that ruled out reasonable alternative approaches.  But, that is not a reason to keep marching in that direction.  In addition, years ago when community center thinking converged on the current approach we did not know that we would spend $100 million on a new school. As for fundraising helping to offset the cost to taxpayers:  I am grateful that Lincoln has organizations such as the Friends of the Council on Aging and the Friends of the Lincoln Library to help enrich our public services beyond what taxes support.  It is good to hear that the Friends of the Council on Aging are committed to fundraising for a community center.  How much are they aiming for?  $100,000?  $5 million?  Until I see a fundraising goal along with some binding leadership pledges that would lead me to believe that the goal is attainable I will not factor this intangible offset into my evaluations of the tax burden of the project. Dennis Picker On Sat, Nov 26, 2022 at 11:52 PM sally kindleberger <skindleber...@gmail.com> wrote: Wonderful letter Dilla!  As a member of the COA board, I am fully behind moving forward with the funding of approximately $325,000 for the OPM & Architect to explore how to best fund and support this worthy project.  I keep saying this project has been in the works for ten years, with many committees and meetings.  Many of the suggestions on Lincoln Talk such as a change of location etc. were discussed long ago and dismissed. Please don't shut everything down now!  Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Let the fundraising committee do its thing.  We have lots of creative thinkers in this town who can figure out ways to offset a substantial tax increase. In closing, I am single and have never had kids, but I fully supported the schools being built If we keep delaying and shutting down the project all the previous work that has been done will be for naught!     We may never have a Community Center, or by the time we get around to discussing it again prices will be through the roof. Thanks for listening to my concerns! Sally On Thu, Nov 17, 2022 at 11:18 AM dilla tingley <dillating...@gmail.com> wrote: Please see the attached letter of support for the Lincoln Community Center.     -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. -- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.

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