Lincoln selectmen appoint Green Energy Committee, advance McDowell APR vote

LINCOLN -- February 1, 2010, Lincoln selectmen appoint Green Energy Committee and tee up stretch code vote for March town meeting. The board unanimously appointed 10 members for one-year terms and heard Chair John Snell outline five state "green community" criteria that, if adopted, would let Lincoln compete for up to $1 million of a $10 million state grant pool. Selectman Gary Taylor pressed for clearer public education on the stretch building code, which member Ed Lang noted sits roughly 15 percent above a new statewide energy code becoming mandatory in July. Town Administrator Tim Higgins said improved state aid projections, a 4 percent cut versus a planned 20 percent, now make a no-override FY11 budget possible. The board deferred its McDowell purchase-option vote to Feb. 22 after the Rural Land Foundation and Mass Audubon reported raising roughly $470,000 of a $680,000 private-share goal, and unanimously acknowledged state interest in APRs on a 21-acre McDowell parcel.