Lincoln Select Board reorganizes, elects Mattes chair as Braun joins

LINCOLN — April 4, 2011 — Lincoln Select Board reorganizes and grapples with misleading census numbers. The board unanimously elected Sarah Mattes chair and seated new member Peter Braun, who moves over from the Finance Committee, before Town Administrator Tim Higgins walked through 2010 census data showing the town's population down nearly 1,700, or 21 percent — almost entirely driven by a 55 percent drop at Hanscom Air Force Base during base housing reconstruction. The Lincoln tract itself was down just 76 people, or 1.5 percent, while housing units in the Lincoln tract rose 78, or nearly 4 percent. Chapter 90 road aid for fiscal 2012 is projected to rise from $200,000 to $270,000. The board also authorized a $6,500 school feasibility study reallocation, agreed to a third bidding round on the Hollingsworth property, and sent a Hanscom Field letter with member Noah Eckhouse's softened "serious concerns" language replacing outright opposition.