Lincoln Selectmen briefed on landfill solar lease concept, no vote taken

LINCOLN — November 3, 2014 — Lincoln Selectmen weigh leasing the capped landfill for solar generation. Town Administrator Tim Higgins briefed the board on a Green Energy Technology Committee effort to install solar on town-owned property under a power purchase agreement, with a third-party developer owning the equipment and the town receiving discounted electricity and a possible PILOT. A 1995 town meeting vote gave the transfer station parcel Article 97 protection, so any lease would require a town meeting authorization. "It makes much more sense for a municipality, since we can't take advantage of the tax credits, to lease than to own," Higgins said. The board also heard that the Minuteman building committee is trending toward a renovation in place in Lexington rather than new construction on Lincoln land, and unanimously approved the Boy Scouts' Christmas tree sale, the permanent appointment of Anthony Clement to the DPW crew, and a roughly two-week closure of the Old Lexington Road spur for Arbor Vitae Cemetery wall work starting on or about Nov. 14.