Lincoln Select Board delays vote on Commons ownership transfer to Thursday meeting

LINCOLN -- December 13, 2021, Lincoln Select Board postpones Commons ownership-transfer vote over property-tax concerns. Acting Chair James Craig and Member Jennifer Glass voted 2-0 Monday to take the proposed sale of The Commons in Lincoln under advisement until a special meeting Thursday at 7:30 a.m., one day before the buyer's Dec. 22 closing. Benchmark Senior Living is selling to NELP-Commons LLC, a newly formed nonprofit advised by One Point Advisors and financed by Hamlin Capital Management. Town Counsel Shirin Everett of KP Law told the board the regulatory agreement protects the 30 Flint-building affordable units in perpetuity but does not allow Lincoln to condition consent on a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal, the property is Lincoln's largest taxpayer. "Verbal assurances are great, but mean nothing," Craig said. Town Administrator Tim Higgins also previewed a $232,000 FY23 preferred budget slate including a $100,000 DEI consultant potentially eligible for ARPA, and a Green Energy Committee request to add $50,000 for Massachusetts Class I RECs.