Selectboard hears $2 million Brownfields grant pitch and prolonged public safety complaints from residents

Lincoln’s Selectboard on Jan. 5 opened a public hearing on a US EPA Brownfields cleanup grant application for a proposed riverfront park and spent substantial meeting time on public safety, sidewalk maintenance and local traffic complaints.

Selectboard members said the EPA application requests $2,000,000 to remediate contamination at the riverfront site adjacent to the transfer station and that design and testing work had been undertaken earlier under EPA-funded studies. “The grant application is for $2,000,000,” one board member stated when summarizing the request and the planning that Novus (the consultant) has already completed under an earlier EPA design grant. Board members and residents also discussed a potential $1 million Northern Borders matching award that would require a town match; the board cautioned that using a conditional match would impose constraints tied to park-focused uses.

During the public comment portion the meeting shifted to multiple neighborhood safety concerns. Residents urged the town to secure a steep embankment at the Yellow Birch construction site with snow fence and signage and to require prompt remediation or have the town step in to protect the public. One resident worried that the unstable bank could cause injury: "There's a 30 foot fall there … it's dangerous," the commenter said. Town staff and board members said they had visited the site and that the town attorney also toured the property earlier in the day.

Other residents described a separate neighborhood dispute involving a removed rock wall that had functioned as a barrier on a dead-end street. One commenter summarized local frustration about vehicle speeds and safety for small children, recounting a confrontation and asking the board to explore restoring a gate or other physical barrier. Another resident raised concerns about sidewalk maintenance and equipment operation, saying snow-clearing trucks sometimes work at speed and occasionally leave chutes in driveways; the resident asked the town to adjust plow procedures to prevent sidewalk damage and avoid forcing pedestrians into the roadway.

Board members accepted public comments, answered technical questions about remediation and financing, and agreed to follow up with public works staff about sidewalk plowing procedures. After Q&A and public input the board closed the Brownfields public hearing by motion; no grant award or formal commitment was made at the meeting.

Next steps: the town will submit the Brownfields application as scheduled; staff will continue outreach to Northern Borders regarding the match conditions and will report back on any required town match implications. The board also requested follow-up with public works and site-monitoring staff to address fencing and immediate safety protections at the Yellow Birch site.