Lincoln Select Board approves Pierce House budget, disbands two working groups

LINCOLN — June 3, 2024 — Lincoln Select Board approves Pierce House budget, disbands two working groups and weighs state dispatch takeover. The board voted unanimously June 3 to approve the Pierce House operating budget after committee member Peter Braun reported event revenue down roughly 25 percent and a roughly $50,000 unplanned kitchen rehabilitation, offset by a trust fund "in better shape than last year, mainly due to approximately $67,000 in interest, donations and the stock market." The board formally disbanded the Property Tax Working Group (2019–2021) and the Housing Choice Act Working Group (2022–2024), appointed Donald to fill Alan Vander Nuen's Housing Commission seat, and authorized Town Administrator Tim Higgins to extend the Regional Housing Services Office agreement at roughly $30,000. Acting Police Chief Sean Kennedy told the board Lincoln is exploring joining a new state-run regional dispatch center in Milford, potentially shifting the town's roughly $420,000 communications budget plus retirement and OPEB obligations to the state. "It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when," Kennedy said.