Lincoln Select Board approves curb cut, withdraws from federal HOME Consortium

LINCOLN — December 3, 2012 — Lincoln Select Board clears curb cut, exits HOME Consortium, continues Groves liquor hearing. The board unanimously approved Gary and Susan Taylor's application to relocate a curb cut about 16 feet at 2 Beaver Pond Road and remove a white pine in the right-of-way, with applicant Susan Taylor using her time to urge wider distribution of the town's permitting guide. The board voted to withdraw Lincoln from the Newton-administered HOME Consortium, which had returned only about $4,000 most recently against substantial federal compliance burdens — "overly encumbered money is no gift at all," Chair Noah Eckhouse said. Disabilities Commission Chair John Ritz won expansion of the commission from five to six seats and the appointment of Nancy Torti and Jan Lipcon. A club liquor license hearing for The Groves, presented by Executive Director Rob Fallon, was continued pending a written operations plan after member Peter Braun questioned how pre-dinner wine service would meet Lincoln's full-menu food-service requirement. Town Administrator Tim Higgins also previewed an FY14 base budget at roughly 2.5 percent growth with a $143,000 preferred-budget overlay, much of it for GIS, the town clerk's office, and a second weekend transfer station attendant.