The Town now has a dedicated web page on the Town’s website at www.lexingtonma.gov/PoliceStation so that residents can learn more about the project and make an informed decision on June 6. I invite residents with additional questions to contact me directly at townmanager@lexingtonma.gov or by calling my office at 781-698-4540.

 

By James J. Malloy
Town Manager

On June 6, 2022 Lexington voters will be asked to vote on a debt exclusion for a new Police Station. As most residents are aware, the Town of Lexington has been planning for over a decade to replace the existing undersized police station with a new police station that would blend in with the Town Office Building and Cary Memorial Building.

Over the past three years, the Town’s efforts on the Police Station Project have ramped up. We have looked at a number of different options for the design, including whether the Police Station should remain in its current location move to a new location, whether to build a new structure or renovate and add to the existing building as well as what was the best option for the Hosmer House. Additionally, we put the project on hold for a year while we engaged the public through a series of community conversations and training programs aimed at having a dialogue with residents over concerns related to national incidents involving the police and how this has impacted Lexington residents. The conversations and training gave us the opportunity to gather more input from the community on what they wanted in a modern-day police department and police station and design accordingly.

Since last summer when the Select Board approved moving forward with the building design, and Town Meeting approved the final design appropriation at the Fall Town Meeting, the project has quickly moved forward. At a Special Town Meeting on March 28, 2022, Town Meeting approved an appropriation for the Police Station by a vote of 174 in favor; 1 opposed and 6 abstentions (99.4% in favor). That Town Meeting appropriation is for a debt issuance that is subject to a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion.

A Proposition 2½ debt exclusion differs from an override in that the debt exclusion is only for the amount of the annual debt service payment, and it reduces over time, eventually reaching zero when the debt is fully paid. An override is a permanent override of the Town’s Proposition 2½ tax limitation for a set dollar amount and remains in effect. To be clear, we are seeking a temporary debt exclusion and not a permanent override.

The total amount of the debt that will be excluded is $33.5 million, which is estimated to be repaid over a 20-year debt issuance with the first year of debt being in Fiscal Year 2025. If the debt exclusion is approved by voters on June 6, the Police Department will temporarily move to 173 Bedford Street and demolition and construction will begin later this year, with a new Police Station in place by late 2023/early 2024.

How do we know we need a new police station?

The best practice when determining the size of a building or facility is to go through what is referred to as a space needs analysis. This analysis looks at current and projected needs of a facility over a set period of time (usually a 30-40 year planning timeframe) and then designates a certain amount of square footage for all expected uses over that planning timeframe. Lexington went through a space needs analysis for the Police Department in 2011, which found that the Lexington Police Department needed approximately 30,000 square feet of space. The current Police Station is 13,060 square feet and was found to be inadequately sized for the department and community. This study was reviewed for accuracy in 2019, and with additional community input, the current project as designed is approximately 34,200 square feet.

What has been the timeframe for this project?

Planning for this project started around 2010 with the appropriation to undertake the space needs analysis in 2011. This project was strategically planned to follow higher priority/greater need projects, such as several school buildings and the Fire Station. In 2019, the Town reviewed alternate locations prior to making a final decision to have the Police Station remain at its current location. In 2020, in response to national incidents related to policing, the Select Board put the project on pause so that the Town could engage a consultant to provide both training for town staff and the community. Additionally, there was a series of community conversations with local affinity groups, led by Select Board members Doug Lucente and Joe Pato. In 2021 the Select Board approved having the architect move ahead with the final design, and in the Fall Town Meeting approved the appropriation for the final design funding. At the Special Town Meeting in 2022, the full construction cost was approved by Town Meeting, leading to the June 6 debt exclusion election.

How much will it cost?

The total amount of the project is estimated to be $35,181,630, which includes prior appropriations. The appropriation approved this Spring at the Special Town Meeting was $33.5 million, which is the amount that would be excluded from Proposition 2½.

What is the cost to the average single-family tax bill?

The Police Station debt is estimated to cost the average single-family taxpayer $258 in the first year of the debt, down to $149 in the 20th year of the debt repayment (average of $204 per year). This works out to approximately a 1.6% increase over current taxes for the first (highest) year.
What happens if we wait?

Earlier in the project, the estimate was that construction inflation would cost approximately $120,000 per month that we held off on construction. During the pandemic, with supply chain issues, this per month inflation figure increased dramatically and most projects now are seeing much higher costs due to construction inflation. Waiting at this point in time would only increase the cost of the project.

Will this impact the plans to build a high school?

The Town undertook an analysis of the cost of the Police Station and High School Projects and started planning on mitigating the cost of these projects with long term debt planning. This included a mechanism to set aside extraordinary new growth into a Capital Stabilization Fund to provide a sustainable method of mitigating the debt costs of these projects.

The estimated impact for the Police Station Project for the average single-family home in Lexington is $258 per year (or $21.50 per month) which is approximately a 1.6% increase in the property taxes for an average single-family home. It is anticipated that the High School Project debt service, which is currently estimated at $15.2 million per year ($350 million project) will be offset by a transfer from the Capital Stabilization Fund of approximately $11.5 million from new tax revenue generated from commercial projects that have already been approved. With the next debt service of $3.7 million, the High School Project is anticipated to add $318 per year to the average single-family home or a 1.9% increase.

Since the repayment on the Police Station Project will begin several years prior to the High School Project, the highest anticipated increase is 3.1% in the first year of the combined Police Station/High School debt. This does not include additional new growth that could offset costs of these projects, only the new growth associated with projects that have already been approved. Based upon this debt analysis and the long-term planning the Town has undertaken, we believe this amount of debt is acceptable against the benefits of these two projects.

What are the plans for the Hosmer House?

The Town has issued three different Requests for Proposals (RFP) to have the Hosmer House moved by a private party. We are currently working with the bidder on the most recent RFP to hopefully work through the permitting and approval process to move the Hosmer House to a new location off-site so that it can be re-used as a residential property. If that does not get fully approved and moved to a new site, the Town will consider moving the house to a portion of Fletcher Park outside of the footprint of the Police Station and will develop plans to integrate the house into the final design for the park.
Where can I get more information?

The Town now has a dedicated web page on the Town’s website at www.lexingtonma.gov/PoliceStation so that residents can learn more about the project and make an informed decision on June 6. I invite residents with additional questions to contact me directly at townmanager@lexingtonma.gov or by calling my office at 781-698-4540.

We appreciate the Town’s support on this project. We have worked to make sure the project is inclusionary and following the Town’s integrated building design and construction policies to ensure the project is sustainable. We believe the new Police Station will provide an outstanding facility for our Police Department and our entire community.

 

 

By Jeri Zeder

Food insecurity in prosperous communities

Last school year, thirteen-year-old Eliza Kuechle learned lessons she’ll never forget.

Eliza lives in Lexington, attends Belmont Day School, and was blessed to have as her seventh-grade social studies teacher Gretchen Fogelstrom, who taught a class on food justice. The students learned about the food industry—from Big Corn to harvesters, truckers, meat packers, food deserts, and food waste—through the lens of the people directly involved, and engaged in a “design-thinking action challenge”: identifying population groups affected by food injustice and crafting solutions to mitigate their struggles.

Of particular interest to Eliza was food deserts. A food desert is an area where most of the community lives at least one mile from, and has very limited access to, the nearest supermarket. People in food deserts tend to rely heavily on fast food and convenience stores—not particularly healthful options.

“I never really realized that this was the case,” says Eliza (her last name is pronounced KEEK-lee). It dawned on her that, for her class project, she could write a cookbook to help people in food deserts prepare healthy meals.

Eliza’s journey to authoring Keek’s Cookbook has lessons for us all about food insecurity, and not just in food deserts, but right here in Lexington, where relative affluence can mask real need.

HUNGRY IN LEXINGTON   Food insecurity is the condition of living without access at all times to enough food to live an active and healthy life.

Before the pandemic, around one in fourteen—some 2,300 Lexington residents—were food-insecure. During the pandemic, that number rose to one in ten—around 3,300—likely an undercount, says Adriene Worthington, Director of Nutrition Programs for The Greater Boston Food Bank. This hardship causes more than hunger. “We find that a lot of people who are having a hard time affording food have to make really difficult choices between paying for food or paying for things like heat or medication,” Worthington says.

Even before the pandemic, the Lexington Food Pantry was serving around 140 people each week, primarily seniors. That number shot up to around 252 during the pandemic, at one point hitting a high of 350, and the demographics shifted from mostly senior households to mostly families with children. The stimulus checks brought those numbers down, but as recently as June, the pantry was still serving slightly more than 200 people a week.

“There is this perception that, if you live in Lexington, you couldn’t possibly need help,” says Usha Thakrar, a member of the Lexington Food Pantry’s board of directors and executive director of Boston Area Gleaners, a nonprofit that connects farms to those in need. “I can’t tell you the number of people who say to me, what do you mean, there’s a food pantry in Lexington?” That lack of awareness, she says, “creates this barrier to asking for help or accessing services because of the perception that if you live in this town and can afford to live in this town, you must not need assistance—which is not accurate.”

Harriet Kaufman, one of the founders of Lex Eat Together, a nonprofit offering community meals, says, “We knew that there were people in Lexington who were food-insecure, and we thought that it was probably beyond what the public records show.” During the pandemic, when community meals weren’t possible, Lex Eat Together turned toward financially supporting the Lexington Food Pantry and helping to get to the Pantry meals made by Minuteman High School students from food rescued by Food Link, an Arlington-based nonprofit.

Lexington, in fact, is a diverse community with wide economic disparities, according to Melissa Interess, Director of the Town’s Human Services department. In this town, where the median home value is around $1.3 million and median household income is more than $186,000, the following is also true:

• 3.2 percent—around 1,300 Lexington residents—live at or below the federal poverty line (2019 numbers).
• 8 percent—around 2,600 Lexington residents—are enrolled in MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program (2018 numbers).
• Since December 2016, the number of Lexington residents receiving SNAP benefits (also known as food stamps) hovered around 700. That number swelled to nearly 900 during the pandemic.

In 2019, thanks to donations and public trust funds, the Town of Lexington Human Services department distributed $2,800 in grocery assistance and $20,738 in financial assistance to residents in need.

“Don’t make assumptions. That’s what I hope people take from these numbers,” Interess says.

TURNING DATA INTO ACTION   As Eliza discovered, it’s challenging to transform information into truly effective solutions. The very first recipes she developed were wonderful, but they needed tweaking to reflect the limited groceries that are available to low-income people marooned in food deserts. At Ms. Fogelstrom’s suggestion, Eliza visited a local convenience store to better understand what her target audience was up against. “I noticed that every food that they sold there was canned. And so, I had to back up and say, well, in my recipes, none of the food was canned. I basically had to start again,” she says. Her original breakfast parfait recipe called for yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola. “But,” she says, “they don’t have granola or fresh fruit at convenience stores. So, I created a new recipe: a parfait with yogurt and shredded wheat.” In a sad but realistic nod to convenience-store shopping, with the exception of bananas, none of Eliza’s recipes include fresh produce.

What Eliza accomplished—that shift in her thinking—is a lesson for anyone seeking to make a difference. “We tend to approach solutions from our own vantage point,” Ms. Fogelstrom says. “Eliza had to take that very mature step and get out of herself and realize, well, I do want to make an impact, and that means I need to do something that maybe I won’t necessarily want to use myself. And once she started figuring it out, she caught fire, and it was great.”

LEXINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO THE RESCUE    In a typical year, nearly 650 Lexington Public School students, or 8 to 9 percent of the student population, receive free or subsidized lunch through the National School Lunch Program. But when the pandemic hit, nothing was typical. The economy tanked. Schools closed in March of 2020. Through a combination of state and federal support, the LPS Food Services department quickly pivoted to offering free breakfast and lunch to anyone aged 0 to 21, and did so for the next fifteen months, seven days a week, summer included. Staff members worked while masked and socially distanced and largely before there were vaccines to protect them.

“There’s been a tremendous sense of pride to be part of that,” says LPS Food Service Director Kevin Silvia.

From March 2020 to June 2021, the Lexington Public Schools Food Services department prepared and distributed 175,952 free breakfasts and 335,657 free lunches to residents aged 0 to 21 experiencing food insecurity. Photos courtesy of Lexington Public Schools. Courtesy photos.

By the time the program ended this June, LPS had served 175,952 free breakfasts and 335,657 free lunches by dropping meals into the trunks of cars lined up at the “open site” at Lexington High School, or, in the case of about twenty-five families unable to travel, by delivering to their homes. It was a lifeline. “Some people got emotional when we were giving them the food,” recalls LPS Procurement Operations Manager Debbie Harvey. “They were like, ‘We never asked for food before, but we really need it.’”

Though that program is over, during academic year 2021-2022, LPS will provide free lunch to all in-school students through a nationwide program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The importance of this assistance for children’s growth and education can’t be overstated. “A child who goes without nutrition in their system for twelve or more hours—it does terrible things to their ability to focus and learn and synthesize information,” says David Coelho, LPS’s Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations.

POKING HOLES   As Eliza delved into her project, her cookbook kept improving. “My teacher is really into poking holes,” Eliza says. “That’s what she calls it. It’s really making your brain think deeper. If it weren’t for her poking holes, I definitely wouldn’t have this final product.”

That final product, in addition to recipes, has some nifty features: a Google map identifying food deserts and convenience stores in Malden, Waltham, and Woburn; a shopping list and week’s meal plan; and tables comparing the nutritional value and cost of each recipe to a McDonald’s meal. “I didn’t realize that McDonald’s is actually pretty expensive compared to the recipes that I created,” Eliza says. She adapted many of her recipes from those provided on the Campbell’s Soup website, and she kitchen-tested each one herself.

Of course, part of the fun of project-based learning is seeing what your classmates come up with. Some students developed a prototype for a biodegradable six-pack soda ring. Others assembled a website dedicated to a meatless diet. Still others created podcast episodes addressing food inequality, access, and waste. “The kids were fully engaged,” Ms. Fogelstrom says. “I heard them say over and over again, ‘I didn’t know about any of this! We have to do something about it!’”

Lexington resident Rachel Mott-Keis has shared Keek’s Cookbook with the nutritionists at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, where she is a family physician. “Most of my patients who are struggling financially are working one and even two jobs, and they still can’t make ends meet. It’s an unfortunate testament to our current economy and how wealth is distributed,” she says. “Everyone’s health is improved when the health of the community as a whole is better.”

And as Eliza shows us, there’s so much we can do if we’d only give it some thought.

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Food Insecurity in Lexington—Ways to Give and Get Help

• Raise your consciousness. Lexington’s reputation as an affluent community can mask hidden need and impose stigmas.
• Vote for candidates committed to food justice.
• Learn new cooking tricks.
• The Greater Boston Food Bank’s Click ’N Cook, https://clickncook.org/, has simple, appealing recipes approved by registered dieticians.
• Keek’s Cookbook, https://tinyurl.com/hkzrueyw, by 13-year-old Lexington resident Eliza Kuechle, has recipes limited to ingredients available at convenience stores.
• Talk up the many assistance programs. Get help if you need it. Donate if you can.
• Lexington Food Pantry, https://www.lexingtonfoodpantry.org/
• Food Link, https://www.foodlinkma.org/
• Lex Eat Together, http://www.lexeattogether.org/
• Fund for Lexington, https://unipaygold.unibank.com/customerinfo.aspx
• Greater Boston Food Bank, https://www.gbfb.org/
• Project Bread, https://www.projectbread.org/
• Free and Reduced School Lunch, https://sites.google.com/lexingtonma.org/lpsfoodservices/home
• Pandemic EBT Program, Additional Food Support During COVID-19, https://www.map-ebt.org/k-12
• Lexington Public Schools Financial Assistance, https://sites.google.com/lexingtonma.org/lpsfinancialassistance/home
• SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program
• WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic
• Town of Lexington Human Services Department, https://www.lexingtonma.gov/human-services
• Meals on Wheels and other nutrition services, https://www.lexingtonma.gov/human-services/senior-services
• Check-in on neighbors. Depending on the situation, you could help them apply for benefits, give a needed ride, or drop off a meal.
• Volunteer. Use the Greater Boston Food Bank’s food-finder tool on its website to locate food pantries that might need help. Remember that volunteering can include skills-based assistance, like accounting, electrical work, or plumbing.

BY E. ASHLEY ROONEY

We have all heard the saying that America is a nation of immigrants. Almost all Americans today either immigrated themselves or are descended from immigrants, whether from England in the colonial era, other parts of Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries, or Latin America and Asia in more recent times. This trend shows no sign of stopping, and, on a national, state, and local level has made us a more economically dynamic and culturally rich society.

According to the American Immigration Council, one in six Massachusetts residents is an immigrant, while one in seven residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent. Here in Lexington, immigration trends have changed over the centuries. With each new settlement, the look of Lexington has also changed. From Irish workers in the 19th century to the more recent addition of Asian professionals, immigration has made our town that much richer and more diverse.  And it will continue to evolve and develop in fascinating ways.

Irish immigration 

By 1850, the Irish were the largest ethnic group in Boston. A significant number of Irish immigrants found work in Lexington, maintaining the railroad, working on farms, or as maids – especially at local hotels. It was only natural that those who farmed in the old country would migrate to farming communities such as Lexington.

By 1865, the number of Lexington citizens born in Ireland had grown to 353. The flood of Catholic Irish into town brought about the founding of the first Catholic church in 1875. In the Centennial of St. Brigid’s Parish, Robert Wright (p. 9) stated that “the foundation of the infant church and later the large super structure would thusly be paid in large part by the maids and the gardeners and the farmers out of the meager earnings they gathered in the great houses of the town.” Of the 266 families surveyed in the 1885 Lexington census, 61 had a head of household born in Ireland.

Most of the Irish lived across the railroad tracks by the streets now known as Woburn, Vine, and Cottage. Integration with the long-term Lexington citizens was slow. Some Irishmen found it difficult to purchase land, but eventually they succeeded.

By 1870, approximately 12 Irish residents had managed to purchase their own farms in Lexington. Situated at the corner of Burlington and Hancock Streets, the 200-acre Kinneen farm spanned the area from Grove Street to where Diamond Middle School now stands and included what is now Kinneen Park. The Maguire family purchased the Katahdin Woods property in 1864; they owned the eastern length of Wood Street by the turn of the century. James Alexander Wilson, who immigrated in 1877 to work on his uncle’s farm, bought a farm along Pleasant Street in 1903. We know that farm today as Wilson Farms.

Lexington became well known for its dairy and animal breeding. In 1875, only Worcester produced more milk and grazed more cows than Lexington.

The Next 100 Years

According to the 1885 State Census, the proportion of residents who were first or second-generation immigrants was 45 percent. By the end of the century, Lexington was becoming more of a town as the farmland turned into house lots.

In the 1950s and 1960s, after Route 128 was opened, entire neighborhoods were created such as Turning Mill and Peacock Farm.  The fields of celery, corn, and tomatoes were cleared, and affordable houses aimed at young middle-class families were built. Lexington was now  accessible to young families desiring to live in the green-grassed suburbs but commute to work along 128 or in Boston.  Many of the men worked at nearby universities and research institutions. Their wives cared for the children, ran the household, and volunteered in the community.

The exodus  from the older neighborhoods in Greater Boston to the suburbs created new Jewish communities in many towns, including Lexington. Many Jewish scientists, business people, and entrepreneurs found careers in Route 128 industrial parks west of Boston. The welcoming and caring spirit of the town is evident in that three Lexington churches—Methodist, First Parish, and Hancock—generously offered worship space to the Jewish congregation. Temple Isaiah, with 71 families, was on its way.  In May of 1963, the first Annual Meeting was held in the new building; on September 13-15, 160 member families celebrated  the official Dedication Weekend for the new building.

Between 1979 and 1990, Lexington residents came together through the Lexington Ecumenical Resettlement Coalition to help 16 Cambodian families fleeing the horrors of genocide in their country and assist them in resettling here in Lexington. Within this supportive network, the Cambodian families adjusted to the United States and had the opportunity to create a community for themselves.

From the early 20th century, waves of Armenians arrived In the United States for political reasons and economic opportunities. In 1982, Armenian Sisters’ Academy at 20 Pelham Rd. opened, and Armenian families moved to Lexington to offer their children an Armenian/American education. The now-defunct Armenian Sisters’ Academy was a comprehensive Armenian elementary and middle school committed to educating the whole person.

Today, Lexington has continued its tradition of being a warm, welcoming community by forming a coalition of concerned citizens from the town and surrounding communities, calling itself the Lexington Refugee Assistance Program or “LexRAP.” LexRAP is a Lexington-based non-profit organization helping refugees to settle in the United States and to become productive and well-adjusted members of the community. This assistance includes a support network for housing, food, clothing, transportation, health care, education (especially learning English), employment, legal aid, and socialization. Beneficiaries of this assistance must have received (or be legally seeking) permission to live in the U.S., either temporarily or permanently.

Asian Immigration

In 1940, Lexington residents included only five people from a race other than Black or White in its population of 13,187. The 1970 census shows Asians composed  2% of the population, but in those days, the categories listed under ‘Asian’ were only ‘Chinese’ and ‘Other Asian.’

The loosening emigration restrictions under Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China, in the late 1980s and the end of the Soviet state in 1991 stimulated more foreign-born scientists and researchers to immigrate. Although Chinese immigration to the United States dates back to the 19th century, the Chinese immigrant population multiplied during the 1990s and 2000s. According to the Migration Policy Institute, today, there are almost as many native-born U.S. citizens who claim Chinese ancestry as there are Chinese immigrants.

The Chinese moved to Lexington because of its good schools, welcoming diversity, and proximity to Boston and Route 128.  My friend Jinling says, “Living in  Lexington  made us feel we have been truly living in our American Dream:… having the opportunity to become whatever we want to be as long as we are willing to work hard;  being  able to get  our children the best education  we can have in the world; being accepted by a lot of  friends who are well educated, open-minded and warm-hearted intellectuals in this diversified community .”

According to the Pew Research Center, “the Indian population in the United States has doubled since 2000. Many are engineers, doctors, and scientists. Indians are highly educated (72%) with bachelor’s degrees or above compared to other U.S. Asians (51%) and the general U.S. population (30%).”

Today, according to a recent Boston Globe article (6/7/2021), Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in Greater Boston, “surging 207 percent from 1990 to 2019 compared with 166 percent for Latino people and 52 percent for Black people.  Disparities within the Asian American community are enormous, often reflecting the wide range of immigration paths from refugees to employment-based visas.”

In 1990, Lexington’s Asian population was about  6.5%. Like many others, they are skilled professionals wanting to settle down and attracted to Lexington because of its professional and academic residents and commitment to good schools. Many Asians are engaged in town government and participate on its many boards or committees.

The U.S. Census (July 1, 2019) estimates that the town’s population was 33,132, the racial makeup of the community was 63.8% White, 30.1% Asian 1.3% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.5% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino were 2.1% of the population. Although Lexington may not precisely reflect immigration trends nationwide, our town has nonetheless benefited immeasurably through the centuries from the influx of people from other countries. Our culture is enriched, ideas exchanged, and minds expanded. Who knows what Lexington will look like in another 100 years?

By Mark D. Sandeen

Q: How are climate and infrastructure linked?
A: When we invest in infrastructure like airports, roads, buildings, and power plants, we are making investments we hope will last for 50 years or more. But almost every week we hear about major infrastructure failures caused by climate change. Extended power outages, massive flooding, buckling roads, aircraft grounded, all caused by unprecedented temperatures, drought, and extreme storms.
Infrastructure designed to work in yesterday’s climate, just doesn’t cut it in today’s climate, to say nothing of tomorrow’s climate. Roads in the Pacific Northwest buckled in the 116°F heat, fully 10 degrees hotter than the previous hottest day on record. Steetcars shut down when power cables sagged and melted and thousands lost power when they needed it most. 70% of our power plants are dependent on cooling water to operate. Those plants reduce power or shut down when the cooling water gets too hot or is no longer available due to drought conditions. Climate change is both increasing demand for power while simultaneously damaging the grid’s ability to deliver that power.
Solar and wind power are not dependent on cooling water to produce power. Local renewable energy systems combined with batteries provide resilience when the grid is stressed. In a rapidly changing world, we need to design for the future.

Q: What does that mean for us here in Lexington?
A: While Canada was getting heat wave headlines, we were having our own unprecedented heat wave right here in Lexington. We sweated through temperatures of 95 to 96°F for 3 days in June that felt like 104 to 112°F according to the National Weather Service’s heat index. If we were living in a stable climate, the odds of Lexington having 3 days over 95°F in June would have been 1 in 5 million.

Lexington had 8 days in May and June over 90°F. The Town canceled school because our older school buildings could not provide enough outside air ventilation to keep students healthy at temperature and humidity levels that used to happen only in July and August. On the other hand, our newest school buildings were designed to operate effectively in a climate more like Baltimore than Boston. And those schools were designed to produce 100% of their own power from solar and operate with battery backup in case of outages. Surprisingly our new schools built to these standards have lower total life cycle costs than conventional designs.

Q: What other infrastructure decisions can have a major impact on climate?
A: Parking. Yes, parking has a big impact not only on climate, but on many other issues we care deeply about in Lexington, such as affordable housing, traffic, health, justice, and economic development. Roughly 52% of the buildable commercial land on Hartwell Avenue is dedicated to parking.
Our laws establish separated zones for housing, working, and shopping. Those laws then require developers to provide enough parking spots to enable travel between those zones in single-occupancy vehicles.

There are four parking spots for every car in America. And much of that land sits empty much of the time. This is a waste of valuable real estate that could be used for housing or lab space. It is also a massive subsidy for the automotive and oil industries. We all pay for this subsidy in higher housing costs, office rents and increased traffic, noise, and air pollution that affects our health and quality of life.

If you can drive to work and park for free a couple of yards from the front door, that certainly makes driving a car seem like the obvious choice. But if car owners began paying the true cost of parking, they’d be much more likely to choose public transportation, (e)biking, or walking.

It’s a virtuous circle. Fewer parking spots mean more people taking public transportation, which justifies increased frequency of service, which means more people taking public transportation, which means less traffic, less air pollution, less noise, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The Town earns new commercial tax revenue, which lowers our residential taxes, all from changing the status quo on free parking.

It’s also a virtuous circle when it comes to affordable housing. Reducing parking requirements from 1.5 to 1 spot per apartment, lowers housing costs while increasing the number of affordable apartments by up to 50%. If you’d like to learn more, I’d highly recommend reading “The High Cost of Free Parking” by Donald Shoup.

Instead of staying parked in the past, let’s ride into the future!

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Send your sustainability questions to questions@sustainablelexington.org.

By E. Ashley Rooney

 

Lexington Historical Society (LHS)  is pleased to announce  that Carol S. Ward will be the new Executive Director beginning September 7. Previously, Carol was the Director of One River School of Art and Design in Larchmont, New York, where she oversaw business, education, and administration oversight for the for-profit art school and contemporary art gallery.

For the previous ten years, she served as Executive Director of the Morris-Jumel Mansion, an historic house museum and arts education center in Washington Heights, New York City. Her experience spanned a wide variety of departments including programming, education, curatorial, marketing, development, fundraising and board relations. Under her leadership she increased the operating budget significantly and led the Mansion to record attendance.

Here in Lexington, she will provide strategic thinking and hands-on management for a vibrant organization serving the local community and visitors from around the world. LHS manages and interprets to the public three historic house museums with significant connections to the Battle of Lexington, provides stewardship of important collections and archives spanning three centuries of Lexington history, and provides year-round programming to the community at its Lexington Center headquarters and program center, its historic houses, as well as on a virtual platform.

Carol comes to LHS with nearly 20 years of experience. She has focused on connecting organizations with their community, increasing fundraising and earned income opportunities, and developing “outside the box” programs and events to make historic sites more contemporary and relevant. She intends to use all these skills at LHS and already has some ideas percolating in her head about ways to connect contemporary art to the historic mission of the organization. She also wants to establish a stronger relationship between the downtown area of Lexington and LHS, creating ways to activate the Depot and the outdoor spaces of all the properties.

When asked about her vision for LHS over the next five years, Carol replied, “LHS is an amazing organization that has an exciting institutional history and so many great things going on now. My goal is to take the organization to the next level using my background in strategic planning, marketing, operations and programming. LHS should showcase the dynamic history of Lexington for the diverse communities that surround it. Honoring the mission and history is of utmost importance to me, and then developing innovative new things to expand the offerings to assist in fundraising efforts and to diversify how people see and perceive LHS. The story of Lexington needs to be told and shared with as many people as possible!”

People skills are essential to success in an organization that depends on the coordination of staff and volunteers. In all of her  previous positions, Carol has led a staff (from commissioned sales people to arts educators) and also had a dedicated volunteer corps to help lead tours, work on events, interface with the community, and achieve  fundraising goals. She is experienced in building strong relationships with current and prospective donors and  fostering productive partnerships with other entities.

LHS President Barry Cunha noted that “…during our talks with Carol, she stood out immediately as someone who combines many strengths derived from her experiences in both the non-profit and business worlds, as well as in both historic houses and contemporary art. We are confident she will bring LHS to a new level and excited to work with her.”

 

By Cindy Atoji Keene

 

Of course, there’s a dog named Kennedy in Lexington. And pups named Fenway, Boston, Fig Newton, and Sox. There must also be many owners who like food, as other dog names in town include Hashbrown, Cucumber, Tofu, Creampuff, Maple Sugar, Marzipan, Noodles, Clementine, Juice, and 14 dogs named Cookie.

Perhaps the longest dog name we saw on the town clerk’s list was Maximillian Sir Pugs A Lot (imagine calling that in a dog park). And the most popular dog’s name in Lexington? Looks like it might be the 40 or so dogs named Charlie.

Abbey to Zuzu, the 2114 dogs licensed in Lexington last year are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole, as the quote goes. “Dogs are one of our purest loving relationships; they are just so eager to connect and love and please. We share a very particular intimacy with dogs,” said psychologist Amy Briggs Bledsoe who shares her Frost Road home with her family and dog Maisy, part Jack Russell Terrier, dachshund, mini pinscher, and a mix of other breeds.

It was Bledsoe who got the idea to form a Facebook group just for dog owners during the height of the pandemic. She had moved to Lexington and found it a very dog-friendly town, but there was no dedicated social media site for the community of dog owners. If a dog was lost, or neighbors had questions about vets, leashes, or dog food, they had to ask on other town forums.

So she started chatting with fellow dog owner Cindy Savage about forming a Facebook group simply called Lexington Dog Owners Group. The group now has over 800 members in less than three months and is a resource for everything from dog adoption, pet food recalls, free crates, groomers, coyote sightings, flea collars, dog ophthalmologists, and much more. What to do about a carsick dog? Or a sheepadoodle who gets the zoomies, or a lost dog?

The Lexington Dog Owners Group especially coalesced around a dog named Zane, who escaped from his owner in February. Zane had just been brought up to Lexington by a Texas rescue organization and was in the process of being adopted when he got spooked and ran into the woods. For almost a week, Zane was spotted running around Lower Vinebrook and attempts to lure him were in vain. Missing Dogs of Massachusetts, a non-profit organization that works to locate missing dogs, got involved and some volunteers even went door to door with flyers, asking others to help find the dog. Zane’s story stirred people who were worried about the dog shivering in the winter cold with no shelter. Savage, who was actively involved in Zane’s rescue, said she even had strangers coming up to her in the grocery store, asking, “What’s going on with Zane? Is he okay?”

The capture of Zane was almost made for the movies; it was so serendipitous. There were many Zane sightings, and then amazingly, Zane approached a woman walking her dog Rudy in Lower Vinebrook. She knew it was Zane but didn’t have a collar, but her husband happened to look down, and amazingly, someone had left a collar and leash right there on the ground. Zane was captured and adopted by another family, and the Zane saga ended. And yet, it didn’t because the whole episode brought the Lexington Dog Owners Group Facebook group even closer together.

But there’s another angle to this story, one that ties Lexington to southern states like Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, as well as Caribbean countries like Aruba and even overseas in places like Qatar. These are all locations where homeless dogs are rescued, transported to the U.S., and then adopted by families, including here in Lexington. Savage, for one, had never known the joys of owning a dog until she adopted one from a shelter; then, completely enamored, she began looking for ways to help abandoned dogs in other countries. When she and her family traveled to Aruba for vacation a few years ago, they brought home four puppies in carry-ons, who all found new homes in the area. There are also dogs in town who might have formally been street dogs in places like Turkey, Puerto Rico, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, and more. In most developing nations, only about 5 percent of dogs have owners in the Western sense, compared to 95 percent in the U.S., according to reports from the Humane Society of America. The rest are strays who rely on handouts, or ferals who feed at landfills, vacant lots, or slaughterhouse waste piles. Potcake dogs from the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, for example, are a familiar sight in Lexington; a name given because locals feed the caked remains of a cooking pot to the dogs. The dogs typically look like a mix of hound, mastiff, spaniel, terrier, or retriever and are typically smart, loyal, and loving.

In Lexington, as across the country, there was a pandemic puppy boom during the pandemic. COVID-19 lockdowns spurred a scramble to secure canine companionship to fill the void. The Lexington Dog Owners Facebook group reflected the boom in dog ownership. Many new puppy parents posted questions and photos, including pictures of dogs napping during Zoom calls. One overwhelmed dog owner wrote, “Anyone else out there totally love their new fur baby, but also overwhelmed by the demands of their new puppy?!” She wanted to commiserate with other pet parents, but did she have regrets? Absolutely none.

For Bledsoe, whose clinical psychology practice in Cambridge has been booming during these ruff (pun intended) times, it has been a relief to be able to come home to her four-legged friend. “The pandemic has been so painful and isolating, and to be able to come together around the love of dogs and share with others who have that passion has been extra special during this time which is otherwise so dark,” she said.

No doubt the dog community in Lexington will continue to grow, and maybe even someday, the town will get a dog park. In the meantime, according to the list of names maintained by the town clerk, there is even a dog in town named Lexington. But dog owners, take note: there’s no dog named Massachusetts! Maybe it’s time to name your new pup after our beloved Bay State.

Thelma Goldberg loves the math and the magic of tap.

By Cindy Atoji Keene

A dancer who is an academic might seem like an oxymoron. But that’s only if you haven’t met Thelma Larkin Goldberg, Ph.D., who just received her doctor of philosophy from Lesley University last March. The accomplished tap dancer was defending her dissertation just as the pandemic hit, and while others were cleaning out their offices and rushing to go home, she conferred with her advisor in the barren building. As the state and city shut down, Goldberg never was able to attend a cap and gown ceremony nor the symbolic hooding, but her advanced degree affirmed what everyone who is acquainted with this tousled hair spunky blonde realizes: Goldberg knows her stuff.

Goldberg’s dance studio, the Dance Inn, is a fixture in Lexington, located on the bottom level of the Monroe Center for the Arts on Massachusetts Avenue. With 400-500 students a year, tens of thousands of dancers have waltzed through the Dance Inn classes for over four decades, learning tap, jazz and ballet, hip hop, and adaptive dancing.

But despite her dance business and its numerous productions – recitals, performances, parades, competitions – Goldberg is at heart a tap dancer. Tap dance, rather than just a style of dance, has a complex history with an African American narrative intertwined through its rich origins. While tap dancing today seems to be a lost art featured only in old, grainy black and white movies like Singing in the Rain, Goldberg has centered her life and career around using her body and feet for percussion.

Goldberg would be the first to admit that she doesn’t have a typical petite and diminutive dancer’s body. “I was never raised to see dance as a career,” she said, standing in the living room of her Ledgelawn house. She doesn’t have tap shoes on but demonstrates shuffles and ball changes, brushing lightly against the hardwood floor. “Teachers encouraged me to be excellent in dancing but said, ‘you have to go to college and pursue other things.’” She danced and taught while she earned her degree and was an educator in Boston. But she wanted to take a break, and her husband, Stephen “Goldie” Goldberg, an accountant, agreed that they could open their home, then a small Cape on Hill Street, to students. They moved all the furniture out of their front room, and while the young dancers sang, “I’m a little teapot, short and stout,” Goldie’s tax clients laughed in his adjacent office.

Thus Dance Inn was born, a blur of students, teachers, and recitals. Lexington, said Goldberg, was a perfect place for her studio because the town is clearly dedicated to arts and education. Lexington, as well, is a community of intellectuals and Goldberg’s cerebral approach to dance fits right in. “In order for tap dance to become more relevant in today’s dance world, teaching training programs should be designed to include ‘how’ and why’ to teach tap history and music theory,” she said. Goldberg considers tap-dancing very mathematical, with order and pattern sequences. “I love thinking about rhythm, breaking it down into quarter notes, 16th notes, triplets. Am I swinging or standing? How long can I hold a silence? How many notes fit in a phrase and stay with the choreography or movement I’m trying to express?” Goldberg, who has written two instructional books about tap education, also has an active social media presence, with a YouTube tap dance channel and tap notes blog, and more.

Perhaps the most significant measure of a dance studio’s success is its impact on its students. Countless numbers of Dance Inn trainees have gone onto have their lives changed by dancing. Goldberg’s own children, Sebastian and Robin, are professional dancers. Ryan Casey, a Spanish teacher at Lexington High School, began at the Dance Inn when he was five and went on to become a choreographer, dance journalist, and nationally recognized dancer. “Goldberg puts tap at the forefront of her school, whereas most schools do that with ballet. Putting rhythm-based dancing in the lead is very unconventional,” said Casey.

Goldberg is 68 now, and as tap dancing can be demanding on the back, knees, and feet, she has suffered her share of injuries. Her beloved husband Goldie passed away three years ago from cancer, and she often cries as she dances alone in her living room to songs like Better than Anything by Natalie Cole and Diana Krall. The pandemic has hit the Dance Inn, making it impossible to hold student’s hands while she’s teaching them steps and forcing her to purchase microphones so students can hear instructors through their masks. Portable tap dance floors make it possible to have classes outside, and Zoom sessions have become indispensable.

But does Goldberg have any plans to retire? Absolutely not. Her dance adventures are only just beginning, she says. “I still have too much to do.” Her father, an avid ballroom dancer, didn’t stop dancing till he was 92, and she plans to follow in his footsteps and beyond.

She walks over to her brightly painted stand-up desk, customized for her. Her library – books on tap dancing America; tap dance dictionary; steppin’ blues; vaudeville and jazz bands – perch nearby. Goldberg sees tap dance as having a renaissance lately, with developments and improvisation; she’s having conversations with other experts about the assimilation of tap dance and its musical history, as well as teaching and philosophy. “The integration of music with movement can be an academic experience,” she says. Dancer academian? Hardly an oxymoron when it comes to Goldberg!

 

 

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