Hi June, While I agree that a pause in this work would be prudent, it's not going to happen I'm afraid.
A few controversial, but I think accurate, points... 1) There is a sub-group of residents who believe that the construction of a community center is a long time in the making. They believe that the volume of planning work and discussions already done over the years justifies its construction (i.e. we've been working on it for a long time, so it must be a good idea). 2) This same group generally believes that the renovation of the school came with an implied promise to build a community center. 3) This group was massively emboldened by the town's willingness to authorize $325,000 to develop alternatives and create plans at various levels of cost. These levels were largely arbitrarily determined in the meeting, in real time, in an effort to reflect the town's concern about costs vs. actual needs. And (mostly) allow everyone to go home since the meeting itself took ten times as long as it needed to. Most younger folks, especially those with kids, had to leave long before the vote was actually taken. 4) Now the construction project has an architect, and is a solution looking for a problem. Exercise classes with 4 attendees now need dedicated spaces, staff members need large and new dedicated offices, etc. The list goes on. The CCBC is a community center *building* committee. They want to build a community center, that's why they didn't ask in the survey if people thought we needed one. They don't want the answer to that question. And candidly, I'm inclined to agree with them that it doesn't matter. The will of the town and the opinions of survey respondents are irrelevant to both sides. *This will be put to a vote and the only thing that matters is the will of the people who actually show up and vote.* Seth Seth I Rosen Cell: 617-771-5602 Email: [email protected] On Wed, Jun 28, 2023 at 8:13 AM June L Matthews <[email protected]> wrote: > I agree that this (a “pause”) would be a good idea. Back when the CCBC > survey came out a resident wrote to say that it didn’t contain the > important question as to whether the responder was in favor of building a > community center at Hartwell (or at all). The CCBC was requested to send > out a second survey but this never happened. Moreover, the meeting (in > 2018?) at which there was a “unanimous” vote for the Harwell site was not > attended by anything like a majority of town voters. Someone estimated > that there were perhaps 150 people there. And, as you point out, this was > a long time ago and many things have changed since then. > > > > June Matthews > > Greenridge Lane > > > > > > *From:* Lincoln <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *judyta > frodyma > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 27, 2023 12:28 PM > *To:* Sara Mattes <[email protected]> > *Cc:* Peter von Mertens <[email protected]>; Lincoln Talk < > [email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [LincolnTalk] Site visit for Community Center > > > > These are great and I'm happy to see the transparency. > > > > However, is there an option to pause all this work forward on the > Community Centre and actually check in with the whole community whether > they want this project to go ahead? (Method to be determined, perhaps some > kind of mandatory vote? Don't tear me apart on this specific, I'm just > thinking out loud.) > > > > Seems to me that there's been a lot of turnover in people living in > Lincoln, many of whom, like ourselves, are young pandemic or post-pandemic > transplants. We did not have a say in whether this is a project that we > wanted (or can afford) since the vote happened so long ago, and many of us > are new or first time home owners. > > > > Given the incredible amount of division on the issue, especially on > Lincoln Talk and at town meetings, maybe we can pause and check in before > plowing ahead? > > > > Thank you, > > Jude Frodyma > > Conant Rd > > > > > > > > On Thu, Jun 22, 2023, 7:38 PM Sara Mattes <[email protected]> wrote: > > Thank you-please alert us when they are up. > > Sara > > ------ > Sara Mattes > > > > > > > > > > On Jun 22, 2023, at 11:41 AM, Peter von Mertens <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Yes we have asked specifically that they be available in advance of > Wednesday's meeting > > > > Peter > > > > On Wed, Jun 21, 2023 at 10:49 PM Sara Mattes <[email protected]> wrote: > > Will options for the updated site plans be available on the website, in > advance? > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Jun 21, 2023, at 5:04 PM, Peter von Mertens < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > There will be a site visit prior to the Community Center Building > Committee meeting next Wednesday, June 28. We will begin promptly at 6:30 > in front of the Hartwell building. All are welcome. We will try to have > printouts of the latest site designs from our architects > > > > The CCBC meeting is at 7:00 in the Hartwell Multipurpose room. > > > > Please come > > > > Peace Peter von Mertens > > -- > > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > > 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 [email protected]. > 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 [email protected]. > 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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