CHILMARK HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 @ 5:00 PM
Present: Jane Slater, chair, Steve McGhee, Lenny Jason, John Flender
Todd Christy, Administrative Assistant
Not Present: Karin Wetmore, Barbara Armstrong, Bette Carroll
Call To Order:
Jane Slater, Chair, opened the meeting at 4:55 p.m.
New Business:
Nomans Island:
US Fish and Wildlife Service would like a submittal of the purpose for members of the Chilmark Historical Commission to travel to Noman’s Island for review of the cemetery for the purposes of Photographing and identifying artifacts. They would also like to find and photograph a foundation or root cellar that existed at one time. Andy Goldman and Jonathan Mayhew have both offered their boats for the trip. Todd will draft a letter with the help of Tim. Todd would like to get the names of everyone interested in going.
Todd informed the commission that Chilmark resident John Scott had offered to speak to the members concerning the Rune stone. The Commission has had many experts consulted concerning the rock and thanked John for his offer, but will hold off on that talk.
Stone Wall:
The Commission discussed the fact that the Selectmen would like to be presented with a Policy concerning Stone Wall Restoration. The Commission placed the Phrase, “The Policy in Accordance with the Specifications listed…” The members briefly discussed the fact that the specifications were quite clear as to how and what may be allowed.
(Past discussion as part of the May 19 CPC meeting Jane Slater included an outline of the process by which a Stone Wall may be repaired:
-The Historical Commission will select the sections of stone walls for restoration. The plan has been to restore the walls along public ways leading to and from Town Center.
-The stone wall restoration guidelines will be followed and have Historical Commission oversight.
100 percent of the cost to restore the walls will come from the $30,000 CPA Historic Resources appropriation that was approved at the April 2010 Annual Town Meeting.
-The residents who own property abutting the stone wall will be contacted in writing with the liability release form. The abutters will be asked to prune the brush overgrowth after the initial clearing and restoration is finished.
-After the letters of consent are received the Historical Commission will request quotes for the work and award the job.)
Silva House, Tea Lane Farm:
The committee had a lengthy discussion concerning the Silva Farm house and barns, particularly the possible restoration and refurbishing of the farm house. This house is a historic Chilmark house and the structure appears fine. It lacks modern amenities and needs many issues addressed, such as proper bathrooms and insulation in the second floor.
There has been some discussion concerning the possible tear-down of this house and then rebuild to the same appearance, but as a modern house capable of housing a family. The Commission voted to send the Selectmen a memo concerning the possible tear-down, which would need to go through the demolition bylaw, forcing a 6 month delay on a historic home tear-down. The Commission unanimously voted to say:
The Chilmark Historical Commission would like to inform the selectmen of their unanimous vote to voice strong objection to the proposed demolition of the Silva Farm House located at Tea Lane Farm on Middle Road and recommend the renovation and refurbishing of this historic Chilmark home.
The Chilmark Historical Commission would like to assemble a volunteer committee to develop a plan for saving the house while advising the Historical Commission from time to time as to how to meet the goals set forth by the town’s vote to purchase this significant historical farm.
The commission members look forward to the cooperation of the Board of Selectmen as achieve the goals of maintaining a functional and relevant historic structure in town.
(Final Version)~
The Chilmark Historical Commission at their June meeting, after discussion, voted unanimously to make every effort to save the historic farmhouse from demolition.~ The Commission requests your approval to become the building committee and to use the additional assistance of volunteers when necessary and to finance the renovation of the house with available CPA monies.~ We see the need for a renovation of the structure so that it will serve a modern day farming family.~ It is our hope that the basic structure of the house can be saved and the interior restructured to meet required codes. We see this as historic preservation as well as a way to protect and advance a Chilmark way of life. We look forward to discussing the details with you and hope for your approval and cooperation in this effort.
~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Respectfully,
The Commission agreed they would like to see the relevant historic nature of the house be restored, maybe to the 1939 era house that was most recently associated with the dairy. This would be a ¾ cape but the refurbishing may include a backside dormer to allow space for a modern bathroom upstairs.
The Commission will approach several volunteers based on their knowledge and expertise in this process, including: Roland Kluver, Ben Clark, Mitch Posin, Mark Hurwitz, and John Scott.
This refurbishing process will require money from the CPC. Karin Wetmore will attend the CPC meeting on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 and discuss the options of funding. Todd will prepare her with minutes and memo.
With no more business to discuss, Ms. Slater adjourned the meeting at 5:45 pm
Minutes respectfully presented by Todd Christy Administrative Assistant
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