Rhonda, I and I believe many fellow citizens concur with your general sentiment, but I believe the core of the nervousness is the concern that the $325K will be spent on flushing out one of the existing designs, of which we have been informed could be a $25MM+ project and a portion of the community is not comfortable spending that sum of money on a community center. We are then put into a potential situation where we spend $325K on a design that is then rejected by the community.
Collectively, perhaps the town is comfortable spending a lower amount - perhaps the original price tag of $15MM is a good target? - if that is the case, how do we capture that sentiment now to give direction to the CCPC and the architecture firm for this next phase of design? Perhaps the vote does not need to be so discrete with a Yes or No vote on just allocating $325K. Perhaps attaching a max project cost constraint would reassure people that spending the $325K now won't lead to a project that is ultimately rejected by the town and thus wasting $325K (a significant sum, regardless of the source). bob On Wed, Nov 16, 2022 at 9:27 AM Rhonda Swain <rhondasw...@gmail.com> wrote: > In the last few weeks, Lincolnites have engaged in a lively discussion on > Lincoln Talk about the pros and cons of building a new Community Center. > Some voices urge a “no” vote at the November 30 Special Town Meeting to > stop the Town from spending $325,000 to hire an owner’s representative and > an architect to flesh out the existing Community Center schematic designs. > > > > To me, the idea of halting the project at this point fails to honor many > aspects of the kind of democracy on which Lincoln prides itself. > > > > · First, it would simply discard the decade of hard work that > resulted in the designs we have in hand today, effectively saying > “Everything has changed, so the work of the past is invalid.” This seems > short-sighted. The benefits of a Community Center have been > well-documented and long promised to the residents of Lincoln. It seems > unlikely that things have changed so much that we need a hard stop at this > point. > > > > · Second, it doesn’t give the current Community Center Building > Committee a chance to work with professionals to come up with complete > proposals on which the Town can vote. Approving the expenditure to hire > professionals to develop more complete designs doesn’t commit the Town to > any design. Property taxes will NOT increase because of this vote. There > will be another chance to vote on the final project, with much better > information on costs, trade-offs against other Town priorities, and > property tax impacts. > > > > · Finally, shutting the project down now does not give private > fundraising a chance to tap into the generosity of Lincoln’s residents who > may well be willing to make a significant contribution to the cost of the > Community Center project in order to reduce the Town’s portion of the cost > and the consequent burden on property taxpayers. > > > > I strongly urge everyone to come out to the Special Town Meeting on > November 30 and vote in favor of moving the Community Center project to the > next phase. In this way, we can give residents a chance to get a fair look > at what a Community Center will provide and what it will cost. > > > > Call the Lincoln COA&HS at 781-259-8811 if you need a ride to the Town > Meeting. > > > Rhonda Swain > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
-- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
