CHILMARK HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 21, 2011 @ 5 PM
Chilmark Town Hall
Present: Jane Slater, chair, Lenny Jason, Karin Wetmore, Steve McGhee,
John Flender, Todd Christy, Administrative Assistant
The meeting was called to order at 5:05pm
Minutes:
Minutes for July and August were not prepared and postponed to October.
The Stone Wall restoration project using CPA Historical Funds has restored many Stone Walls along the scenic byways over the past several years, most recently including the Mayhew wall and Allen Farm wall. During the June meeting, the Commission members agreed to assess the walls along Middle Road and then identify walls capable of being restored. One criterion includes having most of the stones still in place on site. The members agreed to photograph and identify the stones at the Carey-Block house; Lazerus; Carroll and Shanok. Todd will photograph those walls and assess the need for stones and identify if most of the stones are still in this location. The members discussed whether if it would make sense to restore two walls that connect, saving funds with through economy of scale.
Lenny will contact Ethel and Ralph Sherman and Todd will mail a letter to Martha Cottle.
The United States Coast Guard has been working on a new Menemsha Boathouse design they would like to solicit input from several Town entities. The Historical Commission has not yet received this physical design or project outline. The Commission hopes to review the proposed design at their next meeting in October.
The Commissioners discussed the funds to be used by the summer speaker. The Commission would like Karin Wetmore to oversee the financial aspects of the Commission. The Commission had resources available to spend on the summer speaker, but those funds are through the CPC and designated “other purchased services and supplies.” The bill for the summer speaker covered one night at the Menemsha Inn (Beach Plum Inn) and stipend, boat and travel, totaling $1195.00
The cooperative owners of the ‘Barn House’ located on South Road in Chilmark have applied for designation on the National Historic Registry. The application is available for the general public at the Library. Ms. Slater asked the commission members to please read the application and be ready to discuss at the October meeting.
The Martha’s Vineyard Museum had asked the town last winter, March 2011 for funds to begin preservation and archiving process for items and documents in the Museum. This was a general request for cataloguing that went to all the island towns for partial funding. Town counsel had been asked about the use of CPC Historical Funds for this type of archiving project. The response was that this is not an appropriate use of these funds. The Commissioners agreed to draft a letter to the Museum saying,” In light of Town Counsel’s recommendation regarding the use of CPC Historical Funds we are unable to move forward with this allocation. We would like to propose that the $9240.00 requested for archiving be used for the purpose of restoration of the Nomansland Boat now residing at the Museum.”
Stone Walls around the world: August 2012
Possible summer speaker for next year?
The Chair adjourned the meeting at 5:45pm
Minutes respectfully transcribed and submitted by Todd Christy, Administrative Assistant.
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