Lincoln Blogs the Future

A coalition of North Lincoln neighbors, the Brooks Rd Abutters Group, have filed a complaint with the selectmen over the wholesale clearing of trees in their neighborhood.  The 3-page complaint is documented with before and after photos, detailing the size of the removed trees and their locations.

At a previous Selectmen’s meeting chairman Peter Braun had asked the group for such
documentation and for the specific remedies they would propose.  This document lays out the argument for replacing trees cut down unnecessarily with new trees of similar size.

To read the Brooks Rd Abutters Group complaint, click on the link:

Lincoln residents demand replacement trees

(Below is an email from Representative Tom Stanley (Lincoln’s State Rep) in response to a Lincoln resident’s complaint about the tree-clearing of Lincoln’s woods to accommodate the widening of Rt. 2.) 

Dear [Resident]
Here is MassDOT’s response to the tree clearing/removal regarding the Crosby Corner
construction project:

The land clearing/tree removal that was completed is to the limits of that necessary to complete the entire project.  Clearing and related work is completed during the initial phase of the project, regardless of the fact that the overall roadway construction work is being constructed in phases.  This is necessary to allow the construction to proceed.  It is also done for efficiencies which result in a reduced cost to the Commonwealth.  The removal of trees is limited to those necessary to implement the work.  The project design includes an extensive landscaping plan.

I hope this addresses some of the concerns you have.  Some of the answers may not be entirely satisfactory to you, but please know that this project has been in the making for many years, primarily to address public safety concerns, and significant landscape plans are included in the project.

Thank you very much for your patience.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Representative Stanley
9th Middlesex
State House Room 167
Boston, MA 02133
(617)722-2230
Thomas.Stanley@mahouse.gov

(Neil Feinberg’s 5/23 Lincoln Journal Column)

These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her multi-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Captain’s log, stardate 4153.7.  Our destination is a remote corner of the planet Earth, way up in the frigid northeastern forest lands of North America.  We have received a distress
signal from an advanced research base in Lincolnia, a small outpost in the New England region.  It said that aliens from another galaxy, possibly Klingons, have descended on this little village and have systematically cut down all the trees within a ten kilometer radius.

Reports indicate that many residents have had to flee their homes in the face of this relentless onslaught.  These aliens brought with them giant fire-breathing, buzz-sawing monsters that have laid waste to the countryside.   These machine-monsters can cut down a tree in an Earth second, and the barren land around the highway running through Lincolnia attests to their mighty abilities.   Apparently, these ruthless alien invaders keep these monsters going day and night. The Enterprise is going to investigate this shocking occurrence.

Now that we have achieved Earth orbit, I will voyage down to the planet’s surface along with Commander Spock.  Our goal is to wrap this up quickly so that we can beam ourselves over to Miami for the weekend.  Unfortunately, the beamer thing is on the fritz, so we have to take a shuttlepod and fly down the old-fashioned, 21st century way.  We land at the nearby Hanscom Federation Air Base and are met by a delegation of Lincolnia Selectmen…

The Selectmen: Greetings, Captain Kirk.  Thank you for coming on such short notice.

Captain Kirk: I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.  But when is it going to warm up around here?  It’s practically June and my fingers are numb.  I thought it was supposed to be springtime on Earth.

TS: Ah, that is when the reign of terror began.  When the snows melted the aliens arrived, bringing their devastation with them.  These monsters have laid waste to our village, leaving only giant piles of splinters behind.  Unless something is done soon, we fear that
all of Lincolnia will become a barren wasteland with a ten-lane superhighway running
through it like an open wound.
CK:  What have you done about it?
TS: What could we do?  We are but poor, simple Selectmen–volunteers, actually–and we have no weapons–other than a musket or two–with which to defend ourselves from these marauding outer space Huns.  That’s why we called you.  We need some firepower.  Can you help us?
CK: I see two options here.  We can set up a meeting and try to reason with them.
You know, find out their motivations, see what they need and why they picked Lincolnia.  Maybe point them in another direction and resolve everything peacefully.  If that doesn’t work we can try option two.
TS: What is that?
CK: Photon torpedoes.
TS: We prefer the first option.  Lincolnia has a long tradition of supporting world peace.  Our Town Meetings vote consistently to end anything nuclear and to impeach any President who doesn’t want to disarm unilaterally.
Commander Spock:  I remember learning about that at Vulcan University.  I think
it was part of an ‘Abnormal Earth Psych’ course I had to take.  We studied the pacifist behaviors of late 20th century rich suburban North Americans.  Fascinating, but certainly not logical.
CK: Never mind that, the first step is to meet these invaders.  We can hook Spock up for one of his patented Vulcan mind melds and take it from there.

(commercial break)

TS: Welcome back, Captain.  What have you learned?
CK: These aliens aren’t Klingons, nor are they Romulans.  They’re more like the Ferengi.  They call themselves the Massdots and their entire culture is based on shifty deal-making
They roam the universe looking for backward, unsuspecting planets that want to pave their roads and they offer to build them for the inhabitants.  Then they bring down their tree-cutting machines and wipe out every tree on the planet’s surface.  After that’s done, they leave.
TS: But why do they do it?
CK: They ship all the logs to their home planet, which is one big desert.  Wood is to them what gold is to us, and they have a never-ending thirst for more and more lumber.
TS: Will they ever stop cutting down our trees?
CK: They promise that their work here is almost done.  Besides, all the trees are already gone.  They’ve decided to spare Concordia, Actonia and other surrounding villages, at least for the time being.  And, to show there are no hard feelings they even offered to actually build the road. You still want it, don’t you?
Chorus of Lincolnia residents: NO-OOOO!

(the end)

(This is the unedited version of the column which appeared in the 5/16 edition of the Lincoln Journal)

Section 18 of Document #602984 HWY 0280 (the Wetlands Replication Plan section of the contract governing the construction of Rt. 2) clearly states: “the contractor shall attempt to retain mature native trees.”  The contract defines those trees as “10 inches in diameter, or greater.”  That means many of Lincoln’s larger, more mature trees were supposed to have been left alone.  So, why were so many of these mature trees mercilessly cut down?  Why the wholesale destruction?  What happened?  And who’s to blame?  Let’s consider the facts and the events as they have unfolded, and see if we can come to any conclusions.

The Boston Globe reported in its April 18 edition that trees had been cleared from 10 hectares of land along Rt. 2, from Bedford Road to just west of Sandy Pond Road–most,
if not all of it, in Lincoln.  Each hectare equals about 2.5 acres, so that’s about 25 acres of trees.  The construction contractor, D.W. White Construction, subcontracted the tree removals to the Cook Company which is based in Upton MA.  Cook’s website
describes the company as “a fully mechanized land clearing company.”  Boy, they sure describe themselves well!

The construction contract between MassDOT and the contractor calls for the removal of all trees within the roadway footprint and along the sides of the access roads.  That’s to be
expected.  It also creates a wide construction easement.  It was assumed, and it was negotiated by town representatives, that trees within that easement would be cut down only sparingly and as required.  That’s why that clause is in that document.  Instead, the Cook Company clear cut all the trees, mature or not, all the way to the boundaries of those
easements.

One Cambridge Turnpike resident said that he ran outside when he saw the tree-cutter in operation and asked that a few mature maple trees on his property, that were not near the roadway, be spared.  They were left standing that day.  A few days later he went away for the weekend and when he returned, the trees were gone.  His wife cried when she saw the devastation.

How did Lincoln allow this to happen? It’s complicated, but you might call it history falling between the cracks.

Lincoln has been represented over the two decades of planning and design of
this project by a number of town officials.  These include Selectmen Roz Delori and Sara Mattes and Planning Board members Tom DeNormandie, John Snell and Dan Boynton.  Of these, only Boynton lives in the area affected.  The others, while diligent during their terms and frequently after, had no skin in the game and they eventually faded away.

The current Board of Selectmen, with virtually no history on the project, and perhaps lulled into complacency by years of inaction on the project, didn’t even bother to appoint a Rt. 2 representative from among themselves, even as the construction phase was kicking in.   Before long, the responsibility for oversight fell to Chris Reilly, Planning Board Administrator.  Unfortunately, Chris is relatively new to town and has no project history either.

So, when the trees came down, town officials just assumed that it was done in accordance with the contract.  Sure, it was ugly, but that’s how construction looks in the beginning.  Nobody in town government was aware of the Wetlands Replication Plan; nobody had any
history on the project.  Last Monday, a contingent of Brooks Road residents met with the Selectmen to voice their complaints about the tree removals and the increased noise and the headlights that now shine into their living rooms and bedrooms.   The Selectmen showed empathy, but didn’t think there was much they could do.

Selectman chairman Peter Braun, a lawyer himself, told the group to take a look at the contract and see if they could find a violation upon which to build a case.  He could have directed Town Counsel to pore over the contract and report back post haste, but he left it to Dan Boynton and his Brooks Road neighbors to do that.

Well, now they know about  Document #602984 HWY 0280.  The Selectmen know that the contract called for saving trees over 10 inches in diameter whenever possible.  They know this wasn’t done.  They know the town has been pillaged by tree marauders.  What, if
anything, will they do about it?

Notice from the Town of Lincoln:

On April 18, 2013 M.I.T. Police Officer Sean A. Collier was killed in the line of duty while patrolling the M.I.T. campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts by accused Boston
Marathon Bombers.

Officer Collier was a former Special Police Officer for the Town of Lincoln from February 2011 to February 2013.  Sean was a well-respected police officer who was known for his caring and compassionate demeanor.  Sean volunteered his time to various groups and organizations in order to make the community around him a better place.  In honor of Sean, the Lincoln Police Association wishes to create a permanent memorial in the lobby of the Public Safety Building.

Anyone who would like to contribute to this effort may send a contribution to the Lincoln Police Association, Attention Sean Collier Memorial, 169 Lincoln Road Lincoln, MA 01773.  Any excess funds received will be forwarded to the Sean Collier Memorial Scholarship Fund established at Wilmington High School.

Peter Braun, chairman of the Lincoln Board of Selectmen reported at their meeting last night that the Rt. 2 bridge over Rt. 128 will also be under reconstruction this summer.  This project is separate from, and in addition to, the reconstruction of Rt. 2 from Bedford Road to Rt. 126.