Lincoln selectmen form Route 2 oversight committee to confront construction complaints

LINCOLN — May 23, 2013 — Lincoln selectmen create Route 2 oversight committee as construction complaints mount. The board voted unanimously Thursday to stand up a cross-cutting committee with planning board, conservation commission, public safety and neighborhood representation, after Brooks Road resident Vince Valentine described a Sunday near-miss in which a four-year-old in a motorized toy car crossed Route 2 through cleared roadside vegetation. Selectman Noah Eckhaus successfully renamed the body from "coordinating" to "oversight," saying it needed to "dive in with teeth," and floated roughly $50,000 a year for a part-time construction clerk-of-works to monitor the $50 million MassDOT project. Town Administrator Tim Higgins said heavy hauling on Sandy Pond Road should end within two weeks. Separately, the board and Board of Health jointly appointed Dr. Stephen Kanner, a Beth Israel internist, to fill Dr. Arnold Weinberg's elected seat.