Lincoln Select Board approves union-backed health insurance changes, hears community center update

LINCOLN — September 26, 2011 — Lincoln unions unanimously ratify health plan changes saving up to $175,000 a year. Town Administrator Tim Higgins told the Select Board on Sept. 26 that all three collective bargaining units approved the Dec. 1 plan-design changes, layered on roughly $350,000 in savings from last year's restructuring. Acting chair Noah Eckhaus, sitting in for an ill Sarah Mattes, also heard from Community Center Feasibility Study Committee Chair Bob Sutherland, who said the group chose not to spend the full $45,000 town meeting appropriation on a detailed study, instead hiring consultant Judy Barrett of Community Opportunities Group to develop site-evaluation criteria across five candidate locations: Hartwell, the Smith School, the Groves, Pierce House and Wells Road. Council on Aging Director Carolyn Bodum reported per-square-foot construction costs at recently built senior centers ranged from $214 to $545. Member Peter Braun pressed for the final report to include non-co-located options, saying he wanted "all the choices laid out." A final report is due by year's end; the board adjourned into executive session on Airport Road.