Duxbury Historical Commission
Meeting Minutes
Date: Thursday, February 17, 2000
Time: 4pm
Adjourned: 5:30 PM
Place: Town Hall old kitchen meeting room
Members in attendance: Meg Davis, Molly Foster, Martha Himes, and Jody Hall
CALL TO ORDER: 4:02 pm
READING OF MINUTES: The minutes for the January 20, 2000 meeting were read and accepted unanimously with no changes.
DEMOLITION APPLICATIONS:
New Applications: None
Pending Applications: None
Other: Meg indicated that she remembered that the house on South Station was a depot—probably for mail and parcels. We need to be more thorough in our research of titles and uses.
ACTION ITEMS:
Survey Grant Update: Martha received a letter from the Mass Historical Commission indicated they had reviewed and accepted our pre application for the 2001 Survey Grant. They said they would move forward last’s year’s application saving us the time and effort to prepare a second full application. However, Mass Historical Commission may not be able to fund the project to the same level as the previous grant Martha will call for clarification of some points in the letter and to verify the next steps.
Warrant Articles: Jody and Martha attended the Planning Board Public Hearing on the two articles intended for Town Meeting in March. Following questions and discussion from the board and the residents the board deadlocked on Article 29 and Voted not to recommend Article 30 to town meeting. The general consensus was that the terminology was too broad and too vague. Following discussion with the Historical Commission, Jody moved to indefinitely postpone Articles 29 and 30. The motion was seconded and unanimously passed. The Historical Commission will meet with the Planning Board after town meeting to discuss our goals and hear their suggestions as to how they may be obtained.
Local Historic District Study Committee: Prior to this meeting Susanna suggested that before requesting the Selectmen to appoint a Study Committee, we thoroughly research the Clipper and the Ledger for any articles, editorials, etc. that might shed some light on why the High Street District did not pass. This would also help us to locate those residents in favor of Local Historic Districts. Following some discussion, Molly and Meg volunteered to conduct some initial research and Martha and Jody will complete it. We may be able to obtain the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society’s member list to use as a basis for gaining support when we reach that point.
Brochure: Molly reported that the committee met to further work on the brochure. She volunteered her husband to take photographs of local homes that could be used in the brochure as artwork and illustrations. They must also insert the preamble to the Demolition Regulations By Law. Susanna is looking into the cost of printing. The committee’s goal is to have the brochures available for distribution before July 4, 2000. They will be distributed to Real Estate offices, Town Hall, and the Library.
South Shore Historical Commission: Jody and Nicki met to plan the South Shore Historical Commission meeting to be held in Duxbury on March 18. The meeting will be held in the Mural room of Town Hall from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon. The town will subsidize the refreshments and paper goods. Coffee, juice, muffins, coffeecakes, and tea breads will be served. Martha, Molly, Jody and Meg volunteered to bake. Jody will supply the serving platters. Molly has a 50-cup coffee urn, as does Jody. The agenda for the meeting will include a roundtable discussion on Demolition Regulations and a speaker on establishing Local Historic Districts. Meg will work on locating the speaker.
Roster: At Susanna’s request, Jody passed around the current roster and asked that any necessary information be updated. A revised roster will be distributed at the March meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
Surplus Street Video- Tape Project: Karen Wehner telephoned Jody to inform her of a meeting she will be having with the architect on March 2. The Historical Commission is invited to attend this meeting and perhaps videotape (with the architect’s permission) the proceedings.
Budget: Jody informed the commission that the finance committee would not approve a $10,000 budget as requested; however Rocco Longo suggested that the Historical Commission might be willing to compromise and lower the request. He suggested we ask for $4000.00. Jody and Nicki reviewed the line items and readjusted some figures and agreed with Rocco’s suggestion. A revised budget request was submitted to Town Hall. The commission has been unofficially notified that the selectman approved the budget figure. Martha has volunteered to keep track of expenditures. A copy of the final budget will be distributed to all Historical Commission Members.
NEW BUSINESS:
Planning Board: The Commission will invite members of the Planning Board to attend an evening meeting in April. The agenda will be set at the March meeting.
DR&HS: The Historical commission will invite a liaison from the DR & HS to attend regularly scheduled meetings. Martha will call Patrick Browne to see if he can suggest an appropriate person.
OTHER: Martha reminded Jody to include a space on the agenda for miscellaneous discussion items.
ACTION ITEMS FOR March:
-Meg will search for a speaker on Local Historic Districts for March 18 SSHC meeting
-Jody will prepare invitations for SSHC meeting March 18
-Martha, Jody, Molly and Meg will research the Duxbury Clipper and The Patriot Ledger for information on the High Street Historic District.
-Updates on grant, brochure
SCHEDULE NEXT MEETING: March 16, 2000. 4pm Town Hall old kitchen meeting room
ADJOURNMENT: 5:30PM
Respectfully submitted,
Jody Hall, Co chairwoman
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