Selectmen authorize $1 million Green Communities grant bid after state designation

LINCOLN -- May 24, 2010, Lincoln wins state Green Communities designation, races to file $1 million grant by June 4. The Board of Selectmen unanimously authorized Town Administrator Tim Higgins to execute the application after Assistant Town Administrator Anita Scheiper reported the Department of Energy Resources had confirmed designation hours before the meeting. Green Technology Committee Chair John Snell walked the board through a package covering town and school retrofits, an APOD building rebuild with $18,000 in classroom monitoring equipment, and a residential initiative recruiting 100 households to cut energy use 20 percent. Selectman Noah Eckes pressed on unfunded-liability risk: "We don't end up with this uh-oh kind of budget gap." Separately, Chair Gary Taylor announced the McDowell closing, 21 acres of pasture plus 56 acres of APRs, 77 total, while Higgins reported only two bids on the Hollingsworth property, topping out at $351,000 against a higher appraisal. The board also approved a $25,586.82 three-year dog officer contract with Boardman Animal Control Services.