LINCOLN TOWN OFFICE PROJECT UPDATE
PROGRESS
DETAILS
We are happy to report that our Town Office addition and renovation project approved by voters at March Town meeting continues to make good progress. Bid documents were delivered to three qualified contractors on April 3. We were disappointed that one of the contractors has declined to bid citing his success in winning three substantial contracts in one week. We met with the two remaining contractors on April 10 and are looking forward to their bid submissions on April 30. Each contractor is required to assemble a professional team of architects, engineers and tradesfolk to assure that the Town gets the best possible value while fully complying with a myriad of permits and regulations.
We are pleased to have received state water and wastewater permits for the project. The permit applications, site planning and system design were completed by Lincoln Applied Geology and required generous cooperation of the Town’s neighboring property owners, Weathervane United, Inc. and the Lincoln Historical Society. A minor boundary line adjustment with Weathervane will enable the new addition to meet all set back requirements. An easement from the Lincoln Historical Society will facilitate construction of a septic mound system. In exchange for the easement, the Historical Society will gain controlled access to the new restroom and conference rooms in the new Town office. A separate agreement will provide some space in the new Town vault for the Historical Society to securely house some delicate, irreplaceable documents.
The Select Board is preparing to make final arrangements for project financing before the middle of May. The Town has proposed to finance the project through the services of the Vermont Bond Bank. Since Town Meeting we have been approached by a Vermont bank offering financing at very competitive interest rates for the same twenty year term. The bank financing would be structured much like a residential mortgage with equal annual payments comprised largely of interest in the early years with principal payments increasing annually. The VMBB payments are structured so that principal is paid in equal amounts for each of the twenty years while the interest rate varies depending on the performance of the bond market. The end result in total principal repaid and interest paid is virtually identical. The main advantage to the bank financing appears to be significantly reduced application and administrative requirements. No matter which financing vehicle is chosen. The total annual payments made by the Town will fall well within the current taxes collected to fund the capital plan.
Assuming all goes well with the bids received and construction contract negotiation is successful, ground will be broken, hopefully this summer.
Once again we extend our thanks to this community for support of this important project. We are confident that Lincoln will be graced by an appealing building that will serve the Town’s needs well for many years to come.
The Mt. Abraham Union High/Middle School budget vote on April 14th, failed by a count of 755 NO and 485 YES. The ballots are co-mingled from all the five towns, so we do not have individual counts for each town. Thank you to everyone who turned out to vote. Lincoln’s participation was the highest percentage (22%) of the 5-towns with 226 out of 1,026 voters weighing in. Pay close attention for a warning to re-vote again soon. If you know you will be away in the next few weeks and want to submit an absentee ballot request to your town clerk, I can hold it for immediate processing on the day I receive new ballots. Please e-mail or call, to make a request.
Attention Lincoln Voters: We will be voting on the Mt. Abraham School Budget for FY16 on Tuesday, April 14. Polling hours are 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Burnham Hall. Please plan to participate in this important decision! Call the Town Clerk’s Office right away if you need an absentee ballot: 453-2980.
