Thank you for putting in the time to provide this detailed, relevant information and links.
It is refreshing to see how peer town leaderships provide such extensive and transparent information with no agenda driven pitch on their websites; allowing for residents to be informed and make their own decisions. Zero mention of how complicated these transactions are and the reason the general public is not informed on the details. And when Lincoln residents are informed/ misinformed, it's typically at the 11th hour selling an agenda. Please analyze the substantiated and substantive links and facts that several caring, smart residents respectfully and dignantly put forth. And then comment. One who courteously presents relative substantiated facts should not be shamed. It's insulting and comical to hear town leadership and the RLF - "everyone must make sacrifices." Did any of them abut the station/mall rezoning area or Oriole Landing or this latest Farrington/ Panetta/ Nature link proposal? What exactly are they sacrificing??? The Farrington / Panetta transactions could easily be separated. As none of the regular people are entitled to be in the know on the details of behind the scenes negotiations and are presented sugar coated details, if one wants to be informed with real facts then they have to do their own digging. If those private parties want to go the open market, let them. The town can still purchase the properties at market rate (they convinced the townspeople to endorse a many million dollar Community Center that could have been accommodated with other much less expensive options and available spaces - and for a mere, according to some, who vote for these extravagant projects, handful of million dollars can protect 77 Acres (of which the majority is in essence already protected being wetlands and wetlands buffers) - I think would be pretty easily approved. Until the open market is tested, no one knows the true market value of these properties. It would be interesting to know who the supposed multiple developers were that decided the project was too rich and risky for them, other than civico who negotiated with rlf and what terms were on the table. Land cost of $165,000 per unit is chump change for Lincoln, even factoring in the three affordable units, the cost of a 20 unit septic system and road infrastructure. Civico said they would never go to town meaning again, but here they are. The numbers must work pretty well for them. To spin this as holier than thou affordable and is helping solve the housing problem is absurd. Except fot 3 units, there's nothing affordable about any of these units to an average income earning person or family like mine. Even with modest build-out, new construction single-family homes in Lincoln are going to sell for more than the predicted prices. I'm a realtor of 38 years. Farrington does some commendable wonderful things for underprivileged but they also appear to be mismanaged. I'm not an accountant but if I'm reading these numbers and graphs somewhat accurately, their staff has recently expanded in 2020 from 1 to 5 doubling their expenses while the revenues have stayed the same - roughly half of what they disperse and not coincidentally the salaries have multiplied exponentially. It appears they are running out of money. Link here for the latest numbers I could find from 2023: https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/the-farrington-memorial-incorporated,042138907/ And now they want to seemingly strong arm the town to get access from Page Rd. They have been accessing Route 2 for years as I also used to do, with no incidents that I'm aware of. Based on their own analysis, for approximately $250,000 in today's dollars, they could get much safer/ improved access than they have now. And in the interim and long-term, the state could install a flashing yellow light, reduce the speed limit for that section or perhaps law enforcement could enforce the 45 mile an hour limit. One citizen's opinion. With respect and kind regards, Scott Clary 617-968-5769 Oak Knoll Sent from a mobile device - please excuse typos and errors On Sat, May 31, 2025, 10:30 AM ٍSarah Postlethwait <[email protected]> wrote: > > It’s frustrating to see the same core issues from the HCA debate > resurface. > > I am completely on board with any unbiased information being posted to the > website that includes official documents submitted to the town, upcoming > meetings and/or public hearings that address the topic, without promoting > or discouraging the proposal in anyway- these are all great ways to ensure > residents are informed, but NOT influenced by the town website. > > The town website is funded by tax payer dollars and should not be used to > promote a private party’s interest by hosting unvetted FAQs, and especially > without allowing an opposing party to also submit their own FAQs. > > Here are some examples of how other towns handle similar proposals: > > > https://sudbury.ma.us/pcd/2017/02/06/the-coolidge-phase-2-comprehensive-permit-application-2/ > > https://concordma.gov/3442/Residences-at-Thoreau-Comp-Permit-Applic > > https://www.lexingtonma.gov/932/Current-Projects > > Sarah Postlethwait > -- > 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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