LINCOLN — In Lincoln this week, residents approved more than a million-and-a-half-dollars in town spending, elected several town officials (including one new face) and conducted the usual town meeting business.
Without too much ado, residents at Monday night’s town meeting in Burnham Hall passed the following three budget items:
•  $1,052,578 in highway fund spending.
•  $424,452 in general fund spending.
•  $150,000 for the Paving Reserve Fund.
Afterward, townspeople considered whether or not Lincoln should grant a tax exemption to the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Company.
A chorus of “ayes” signaled approval, followed by a lone “nay,” which the speaker admitted was a misspeak.
Article 10, which asked Lincoln voters to approve the purchase of a seven-acre parcel of land for the purpose of operating a municipal sand pit, took up an hour and 13 minutes of discussion.
After that, most people seemed satisfied with the topic, but many of them also seemed to have had enough. Less than half of the 113 people who started the meeting stuck around for the recess or the second half.
Those who left early ended up missing one of the best parts of the meeting — the moment during recess when Lincoln Community School Principal Tory Riley gave an impromptu school report.
Riley spoke eloquently and passionately about the connections between school and community, and lamented the ways that educational funding structures created superficial distinctions between the two.
After the recess, the remaining voters approved a slew of appropriations totaling $143,006.
In Australian balloting Tuesday, they and their neighbors approved the land purchase, 443–105.
Also on Tuesday, incumbent selectboard member Bill Finger, running unopposed, was re-elected for a three-year term.
And in Lincoln’s contested selectboard race, Bay Jackson edged out incumbent Ellie Bryant, 276–263.
Matthew Collins was elected First Constable and will now fill Josh Otey’s metaphorical shoes.
Rob Backlund, running unopposed, won election to the Mount Abraham Unified School District Board.
The school district budget and an additional article passed easily on Town Meeting Day. Lincoln voters, along with MAUSD voters from four other towns, approved $31,399,182 in educational spending for the coming school year, 2,391–1,611, with all ballots commingled.
They also approved the creation of a Capital Reserve Fund, to be initially funded with $610,118 of the district’s audited fund balance existing on June 30, 2018.
In Lincoln 526 ballots were cast in the Democratic Presidential Primary and 93 ballots were cast in the Republican Presidential Primary. For the Democrats, Bernie Sanders was the winner with 330 votes, followed by Elizabeth Warren, 78; Joe Biden, 69; Mike Bloomberg, 34; Pete Buttigieg, 7; Julian Castro, Tulsi Gabbard and Amy Klobuchar, 2 each; and one apiece for Mark Stewart and Andrew Yang.
President Donald Trump won on the Republican side with 71 tallies, followed by Bill Weld, 21, and Rocky De La Fuente, 1.