Select Board tables historic sprinkler CPA grants, orders policy review

LINCOLN -- January 27, 2025, Lincoln Select Board tables CPA sprinkler grants for two private historic buildings, orders policy review. The board voted 3-0 to defer $87,500 for Old Town Hall and $76,500 for the Builders Club's Little Red Schoolhouse, with member Jim Hutchinson warning against "setting a precedent of determining public benefit of historic buildings where we're not sure about how much public use there actually will be." The board also closed a 35-article warrant for the March 29 annual town meeting, approved an updated Green Energy Committee charge, and endorsed a Mass Save grant application seeking up to $60,000 a year for three years for a part-time energy contractor. Town Administrator Tim Higgins reported $677,000 in new state awards, including $230,000 in Complete Streets funding for the Old Sudbury Road crosswalk and roughly $430,000 from the Community Catalyst Fund to offset water-main ratepayer costs. The annual town report was approved subject to town counsel review of language describing the IDEA Committee's work after a recent federal DEI executive order.