Town's Bid for Scottish Rite Property Could Top $10M

Lexington Selectmen will consider the negotiating team’s final offer this Thursday, March 14, and a special Town Meeting would vote a potential purchase next Monday, March 18.

In a move it acknowledged as “certainly unusual,” the negotiating team for Lexington’s Board of Selectmen has publicly revealed its final offer to purchase a portion of the Scottish Rite property at 33 Marrett Road. The offer of $10,950,000 was made March 12 without formal approval from the board, according to an email from the negotiating team to Town Meeting members, which was shared then with the media Tuesday night. According to the letter—sent by selectmen Peter Kelley and Norm Cohen and Town Manager Carl Valente—the Board of Selectmen will meet at 6 p.m. this Thursday, March 14, to consider the negotiating team’s third and final proposal. If agreed to by the board, the town’s offer would then be officially submitted to the Scottish …

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Andrei Radulescu-Banu

4:36 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013

The open house hours have changed - they are 12-3 PM. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexington/message/31467   more ›

VIDEO: Remembering Margery Battin

In a thoughtful ceremony held before Lexington's Nov. 19 special Town Meeting, the auditorium inside Cary Memorial Hall was officially dedicated as Margery Milne Battin Hall in memory of the former longtime town moderator.

In the videos above, Town Moderator Deb Brown and Selectman Norman Cohen say a few words during a ceremony dedicating the auditorium inside the Cary Memorial Building as Margery Milne Battin Hall.

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Recapping Lexington's Nov. 19 Special Town Meeting

A look at the articles, what they asked and the actions taken.

It was a four-hour marathon session that began with the dedication of Margery Milne Battin Hall to the late, beloved former moderator and ended with postponement of an article on electronic voting. Here's a look at the articles, what they asked and the actions taken at the special Town Meeting held Nov. 19 at Lexington's Cary Memorial Building: Article 2 – Amend Fiscal 2012 Operating, Enterprise Fund and Community Preservation Budgets What It Asked:  For voters to permit adjustments to the current fiscal year appropriations of the general fund, enterprise funds and Community Preservation budgets. In practice, the article was split into multiple parts – a contribution to the retirement fund, a $15,000 increase for the budget for property …

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Town Meeting Approves TIF Town Hopes Will Keep Vistaprint in Lexington

In a voice vote not quite close enough to count, Town Meeting members on Nov. 19 approved a tax increment financing proposal that would offer tax relief as an incentive for the company to expand.

  With Town Meeting’s approval last night of a tax increment financing plan, Lexington took what supporters called important step toward convincing Vistaprint to keep its North American operation here for the long haul. The plan, known as a TIF, offers 13 years of tax relief to Vistaprint and its landlord, Hobbs Brook, in exchange for an expansion to the Ledgemont campus on Hayden Avenue that could allow Vistapint to expand and generate more than $600,000 annually in real property taxes for the town.  According to estimates, property tax projections put the financial benefit of the Ledgemont expansion at about $7.8 million over 13 years, with the TIF offering about $1.2 million in tax relief to Vistaprint, an online company that provides …

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Special Town Meeting: A Dedication, Then On with the Money Business

A special Town Meeting convening tonight will take up articles seeking additional funding for the Estabrook School building project and access improvements, along with a tax increment financing request from Vistaprint.

It'll start with a dedication, and then they get down to the money business. At 7 p.m. tonight at Cary Memorial Hall, prior to the start of a special Town Meeting, a ceremony will be held for the dedication of the building’s auditorium, to be renamed as Margery Milne Battin Hall. Over the summer, the Board of Selectmen approved the naming of the auditorium after Battin, a former longtime town moderator and role model for women who died less than two weeks after that decision. “I can’t think of anybody in this whole community who has made more of a contribution to the community,” Norm Cohen, a selectman, said at the time. The dedication came after a request from Bill Dailey, another respected resident, who suggested naming the auditorium …

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Could Electronic Voting Be Coming to Lexington?

A proposal for a change in Town voting bylaws would allow for electronic voting could be decided at this November's Special Town Meeting.

  Joe Pato, chairman of the Recorded Voting Committee, went before the Board of Selectmen on Monday, Oct. 1, to discuss his board’s proposal to bring electronic voting to Lexington's Town Meeting. The primary goal of the warrant article would be to change current bylaws to enable electronic voting to be adopted by Lexington over a period of time. The secondary objective of the warrant article has “no substantive changes,” according to Pato, who explained that the warrant article gives power to “clarify language and preserve the existing system” of voting in town. Passage this warrant article would not create any electronic voting system, but rather just adopt the means to move towards electronic voting for future Town Meetings, Pato said. …

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Patch Facts

Five Things: Special Town Meeting Preview at Selectmen Tonight

A quick look at five things to see, do or know today in Lexington.

1. Special Town Meeting Preview? The Board of Selectmen is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. tonight at the Town Office Building and its agenda includes, among other items, a number of items related to possible warrant articles at a November special Town Meeting, such as a presentation by Vistaprint on the company's proposed expansion, a presentation on Town Meeting Electronic Voting Article and a fiscal 2013 budget update. 2. Other Public Meetings Posted for Today: According to the town website, the only other public meeting posted for today is the Lexington Council for the Arts at 7 p.m. at Cary Memorial Library. But there's also Rotary Club of Lexington meeting scheduled for 12:15 p.m. at Waxy O'Connors. 3. Features Launching Today: In …

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Special Town Meeting Set for Nov. 19

Understanding the need for a special fall Town Meeting, the Board of Selectmen passed a motion to hold one on Monday, Nov. 19.

  The Board of Selectmen Monday voted to hold a special Town Meeting on Monday, Nov. 19 at Cary Hall. Anticipated warrant articles include fiscal 2013 budget adjustment, Estabrook School road access improvements, a switch to electronic voting at all Town Meetings and Vistaprint’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposal. It seemed Vistaprint's urging of a TIF proposal tipped the balance in favor of holding a fall Town Meeting for the selectmen, who seemed weary that, if this wasn't voted on soon, Vistaprint may not be able to expand its lot in town, which is currently located at Ledgemont Building #2 at 95 Hayden Avenue. The board mentioned that Vistaprint hopes to contact Hobbes Brook Management regarding plans to rezone the space at …

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Patch Facts

Five Things You Need to Know Today: Sept. 24

Grocery store specials, meetings and more today in Lexington.

1. BOS Meet Tonight: The Board of Selectmen is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. tonight at the Town Office Building and its agendaincludes an update on Elder Service Center Closure, a DPW Presentation on Estabrook Road Access Project, a presentation on the fiscal 2013 Water/Sewer rate recommendations;  a discussion of a special fall Town Meeting and warrant and a talk about public comments on the Farm Draft RFP. 2. Have You Checked Out Our Grocery Store Specials? Patch has launched a grocery store specials to help you find local food specials and coupons you can print. Check it out here. 3. Other Public Meetings Posted for Today: According to the town website, public meetings posted for today include the Hastings Elementary Site Council at 7:45…

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Patrick Ball

10:40 am on Monday, September 24, 2012

Hi Wanda, Thanks for asking. There are three ways that you can get to the grocery specials. The first is to hover your mouse over the "More Stuff" tab in the blue navigation bar below the "Lexington Patch" banner at the top of the page until the options drop down to reveal "Grocery Specials." The second would be to scroll down the homepage and find it among the ads along the right side of the …   more ›