MINUTES REGULAR MEETING
Thursday, February 19, 2015 a t 7:00p.m.
Town Hall, 2"'1 Floor Conference Room- 302 l\1Iain Street
I. CALL TO ORDER
Chair, Diane Aldi DePaola called the meeting to order at 7:00 p. m. II. ROLL CALL
Members Present: Diane A ldi DePaola, Mar y Kennedy, Jeff l\Icotti and William Childress
Members Absent: Rich Peters, Eugene Creighton, Donald Brigham
Staff Present: Stella
Beaudoin, Recording Clerk
II. REGULAR BUSINESS
A. Minutes
The Com.mission reviewed the January 15, 2015 meeting Minutes and motioned to approve wit h one arnendtnent.
MOTI ON: To approve the l\linutes of November 20, 2014 with the following amendment; \Y/. Childress a bstained from the vote on the a pproval of the Minutes; MADE: \XI. Childress; SECONDED: M. Kennedy; IN FAVOR: D. DePaola, M. Kennedy, \XI. Childress; OPPOSED:
None; ABSTAINED: J. Meotti; APPROVED: 3-0-1.
B. Correspondence
l\Iembers were provided with a copy of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for
Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings.
C. Committee, Representa tive and Staff Reports
D DePaola stated that she has been asked to write a brief article for Old Sa y brook Events explaining the Conunission's mission s tatement and activities over the past year.
III. OLD BUSINESS
a. Historic Structures Inventory
Old S'qybrook Histori.- Distrid CommiJJion i\!Jinutes .February 19, 2015
Due to inclemen t weather, David Ta ylor was no t available to presen t the status update at this evening's meeting on the preliminary report of the Historic Resource Inventory. D. Taylor will present at the March 19, 2015 regularly scheduled meeting.
b. Review of By-Laws
At the January 2015 meeting members discussed the requirement s ta ted in the Commission's by
la ws which mandates that an a nnual meeting is to be cond ucted in the IIlO nth of December.
W. Childress sta ted that although the CT General State Statute would allow a more flexible time table for the date of annual meeting, the Town ordinance s ta tes that the annual meeting will be conducted within 30 days after the flrst of Decernber.
\Y/. Childress suggested the following amendments to the Comm.ission's by-laws:
• Article VI - Meetings, Section 1, first sentence; remove the comma at the end of the sentence and replace with a period.
• Article VIII - Hearings, Section 3, last word in the fust sentence; change from "officers" to
"o£fleer".
• Article IX- Amendmen ts; Remove "Section 1". Change the paragraph to include the colon at the end of the sentence and the following verbiage noted in italics: "The By-Laws of the Cornm.ission ma y be amended by a majority vote of the Comm.ission
me11:1bers present, provid ed a copy of the proposed amendment shall have been furn.ished with a no tice of such meeting:The Commissio11 mqy hold public hearings, in addition to req uired hearings, when it decides that such hearings will be in the public interest."
Review of Criteria
B Childress stated that at the last meeting there was a question as to what the criteria were for t he design gu.idelines a nd if it was cl.ifferent than that of the Department of the In terior. The Department of In terior sta ndards were adopted by Nor th Cove His toric District Con:mussion (NCI-IDC) at their meeting conducted on October 15, 1985. However, it is n ot clear how they were derived.
At the July 9, 1985 NCHDC meeting, copies of the Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings were distributed to the members. The head of the Fenwick Historic Dis trict was a guest at an organizational meeting, and it is specula ted that he may ha ve had input in to the guidelines. The standards were adopted at the October 15, 1985 NCHDC rneeting.
In 2003, R. Bradbury, former NCHDC Chair forwarded the Nor th Cove Historic Dis trict
Commissions draft design guidelines to the State Historical Comn.ussion. J. Pal Loether,
Government Coorcl.inator at t he CT Historical Comnussion responded sta ting that th e NCHDC draft design guidelines were fully consistent with the Secretary of the Interior's Sta ndard s and Guidelines for Rehabili ta tion, on wruch they are based.
W. Childress suggested that the Con1.n.ussion make changes to the current guidelines and to pla ce them on the Town's website. Also, to obtain the most recent Secretary of the Imerior's Standards a nd Guidelines a nd place th e m on the Tow n 's website.
Old Sqybrook 1-/istoric- Distrid Commis.rion i\l[inule.r Febmary 19, 2015
D. DePaola suggested that a statement be added to the JCHDC application directing the applicant to review the Conun.ission's
guidelines which is located on th e Tow n's we bsite, and to
state on the application how their proposal docs or does not conform to those guidelines.
W. Childress referenced a 2005 document entitled
"Identi fying Historic Properties Land Records Notice." This document was designed to address a way in which to notify the public a nd other agents on how to identify the boundaries of the NCHD and the inclividua l property contained therein. This letter suggested that i n order to facilitate compliance by the Town Clerk with the CT General Sta te Sta tutes, the Town Clerk is to be provided with a current list of the names and add resses of tl1e owners of record of properties within the boundaries of the NCHD to ensure that the proper notice on
the Grantor Index as been record ed.
MOTION: To amend the criteria of the North Cove Historic District Conuniss.ion Guidelines by incorporating the tluee suggestions contained
in tl1e letter to R. Bradbury dated .t\pril 14, 2003 from J.
Paul Loetl1er, Local Goverru11ent Coordinator, State of CT Historica l Co1ru11ission, and to change the name from North Cove Historic District Commission to Old Say brook Historical
District Conunission; MADE: D. DePa ola; SECONDED: J. Mcotti; IN FAVOR: D. DePaola,
M. Kenned y, W. Childress, J. Meotti; OPPOSED: None; ABSTAINED: None; APPROVED:
4-0-0.
W. Childress .reported that per the (CGS) Connecticut General State Sta tu te Section 8-1c, "Fees for municipa l land use a pplications", which states tl1at "Any mutucipality may, by ordinance, establish a schedule of reasonable fees for the processing of applications by a municipal z011ing conunission, planrung comnussion, combined pla n and zoning conunission, zoning board of appeals or inland wetlands commission."
W. Childress stated that tlUs CGS allows land use to hire an expert to advise tl1e va rious boards and conunission on matters related to the land and to construction. The fees for tlus service are to be paid by the a pplicant. The experts that tl1e conullissions retain will provide an estimate of cost, and the formula for pa yment is the cost which is multiplied by 1 Vz times. t\ bond is then posted on
that amount. W. Childress stated tl1at statewide, the Historic District Commissions were omitted from tlUs Statu te.
MOTION: For D. DePaola to approach the local representative concerning an amendment to the CT
General State Statute to include Historic District Com tnissions in tl1e provision allowing boards and comnussions to require the retention of an expert whose services will be paid for by
the applicant; MADE: W. Childress; SECONDED: J. l\!Ieo tti; IN FAVOR: D. DePaola, M.
Kennedy, J. Meotti, W. Childress; OPPOSED: None; ABSTAINED: None; APPROVED:
4-0-0.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 7:50 p.m. until the next regular meeting on March 19, 2015 at 7:00 P.M., Town Hall, 2"u Floor Conference Room, 302 tviain Street:; MADE by J. Mcotti; SECONDED by M Kenned y; IN FAVOR: D. DePaola, M. Kennedy, J. Meotti, W. Childress.
OPPOSED: None; ABSTAINED: one; APPROVED: 4-0-0
Respectfully Submitted,
Stella Beaudoin, Recording Clerk
STATE OF CONNECTICUT
CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Ms. Randi Bradbury
Chair
North Cove Historic District Commission
Old Saybrook Town Hall
Box 618- 302 Main Street
Old Saybrook, CT 06475
Subject:
Dear Ms. Bradbury:
April 14, 2003
Thank you for forwar:ding a copy of the North Cove Historic District Commission's draft design guidelines. They appear to me to be qmte good, as well as fully consistent with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Rehabilitation on which they are based. Having finally had a chance to review them in detail, I offer up several modest, but hopefully useful, suggestions::
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a) For the sake of overall clarity of intent, you may want to consider inserting an additional introductory paragraph which describes in general terms the authority and purview of your Commission with respect to the North Cove District- e.g., that "the North Cove Historic District Commission in accordance with a town ordinance enacted pursuant to C.G.S., Sec. 7-147a through C.G.S., Section 7-147m, regulates any changes
(other than routine maintenance) made to the exterior of buildings and structures which are located withinthe
_ - ho!.mlhries.of.the-ilistrict; which.a.r,e..a:ffixed to-the--·h!nd; and which are·visible :frvm-:a-public-S"'"ueet; way·ol- place." You may also want to indicate that specific guidelines/recommendations which fall outside the scope
of your Commission's regulatory purview (if any) are included for
educational/advisory purposes only.
b)I would also recommend that in final form, the document include either a table of contents or an index which locates the various types of treatments discussed (i.e., masonry, new additions, etc.) by page number ·within the document as a whole. This will make the piece much more effective and useful (especially for the previously uninitiated) on a day-to-day basis.
c) You might also consider specifically indicating that it is your Commission's intent that the guidelines be "consistenf ' with the Secretary' of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Rehabilitation, and incorporate these Standards and Guidelines in their entirety into the document by reference. That way, if any "gray areas" arise in the North Cove guidelines regarding design issues which fall under the North Cove Commission's purview, the SOl Standards and Guidelines can be utilized to support a Commission decision. Incorporating the SOl Standards in this way my also serve well ifwith respect to planning and zoning issues which may relate to the district or adjacent areas.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment. apologize for having
taken sol long to accomplish this review.but as
rm sure you are aware, our declining staff and budget situations here in Hartford are taking their toll.
Ifyou have aizy questions regarding my comments, please feel free to contact me at 860-566-3005, ext. 326 or at paul.loether@.po.state.ct.us.
.: .- ":i •.. 
Certified Local Government Coordinator
TEL: (860) 566-3005 e-mail: cthist@neca.com FAX: (860) 566-5078
59 SOUTH PROSPECT ST. - HARTFORD, CONN 06106 -1901
AN EQUAL OPPOR1TJNITY EMPLOYER ·
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