Lincoln Select Board renames Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day in 3-0 vote

LINCOLN — October 3, 2022 — Lincoln retires Columbus Day and opens a 14-month sprint on state-mandated multifamily zoning. The Select Board voted 3-0 Monday to rename the holiday Indigenous Peoples Day, following the Lincoln Public Schools' 2020 change and overwhelmingly supportive resident comment; opposition came from Italian American Alliance board members John Toto and Brian Patakiola, neither a Lincoln resident. The board also convened a multi-board session on the state Housing Choice law requiring an action plan by Jan. 31 and compliant multifamily zoning by Dec. 31, 2024, with Lincoln's obligation ranging from roughly 563 to 645 units depending on whether Hanscom's housing counts. "It's a lot of millions of dollars of future money that could be left on the table," Member Jennifer Glass said of $250,000 Housing Choice grants, MassWorks awards and the roughly $570,000 in other state grants Lincoln received in 2021. The board separately approved National Grid's petition to replace roughly 3,050 feet of 1930s-era gas main on Tower and Pierce Hill roads, conditioned on a paving-mitigation report back; closed Codman Road for the Oct. 16 Scarecrow Classic; and declined Lincoln's vacant seat on the Massport Community Advisory Committee.