HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-12-15 Historical Commission MinutesTown . 0.
E' Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Historical Commission
Date: December 15, 2021 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall
Address: 16 Lowell Street
Purpose: General Business
ATTENDEES
Members - Present:
RECEIVED
TOWN CLERK Q�
READING, MA. 9
2022 JAN 13 AH 8: 33
Location: Conference Room
Session: Open Session
Version: Final
Virginia Adams, Associate (VA)
Jonathan Barnes, Member (JEB)
Samantha Couture, Chair (SC)
Christine Keller, Associate (CK)
Sharlene Reynolds Santo, Treasurer (SRS)
Pino D'Orazio, Member (PO)
Daniel Moresco, New Member (DM)
Members - Not Present:
Amelia Devin Freedman, Secretary (ADF)
Others Present:
Peter Maguire
Joshua E. Latham, attorney for Postmark
Mark Colangelo, owner Common District Meeting House
Ugo DeBlasi, DeBiasi Home & Postmark Condo Trust
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Sharlene Reynolds Santo
SC called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. She made VA a voting member for the evening.
Topics of Discussion
Lafayette Marker: Peter Maguire (PM) came to speak to RHC regarding General Lafayette's farewell
trip to America, which included a stop in Reading. There is a group that places historical markets
along the path, if they can confirm with primary documents. PM had a page from Lillie Eaton's book
that did reference Lafayette's visit to Reading. He inquired about what other sources may be available.
RHC agreed to work with him to pursue this possibility. Sam motioned to support idea and work
with PM et al. JEB seconded Vote: 5-0. RHC will check what the town would need to support this
effort.
Signage Postmark Square: Mark Colangelo presented the sign designs that they will be bringing to
CPDC and ZBA for their approval. VA voiced concerns about the name Common District Meeting
House. Realty sign seems too large and too long. Group also discussed fonts on the signs. RHC
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agreed to give input to ZBA for tomorrow's meeting. Group agreed that a wall sign for ZBA meeting
re: free standing sign so a wall is not needed. CPDC will be meeting in January. JEB suggested that
we email that RHC feels free standing sign is more appropriate and do not approve of the wall size.
CPDC will be dealing with size and positioning in January. VA concerned about size of realty sign
RHC prefers consistent fonts and sizes and each sign.
40 Grove St: The property developer was invited to attend to discuss his plans for the two structures
he has proposed, however he didn't attend. His plans for the structure subject to the demolition delay
were submitted yesterday. RHC reviewed the current plans and design which is still considered to be
very large for the site, particularly given the second residence now located on the original property.
Demo Delay will be over in early March 2022.
186 Summer Avenue: There has been no response to the letter that the town counsel sent to the
owner on behalf of the RHC and HDC. If there is no response by the deadline, RHC agreed that the
town should take the next step which is legal action. PO to contact town counsel. JEB made the
following motion: "Moved to revisit the vote of October 16, 2021, to pay Matthew Bronski up to
$2,000 for structural engineering consulting services at the 186 Summer Ave. site inspection; and to
further move that as this consulting contract is within the scope of numbered paragraphs 2. and 3. of
the Usage Guidelines of the Guidelines for the Historical Commission Preservation Trust Fund, to
approve this payment up to $2,000 from that Trust Fund account" SRS second. Vote 5-0.
24 Gould Street: CK wrote up verbiage for the last plaque. SC will send this to Dave Traggorth
and request a mockup of the design.
25 Haven Street: No movement on this project.
531 Main Street: Some movement on this project
Certificate of Merit Plaques: Postmark Square and School House Condominiums plaques me ready.
RHC to discuss with recipients where each could be placed on the buildings and then will coordinated
a photo op. SC will try to coordinate this for a Saturday at the end of January. JEB will work on
possible press coverage.
Utility Box Project: SC has one of the original photos from the town hall conference room, the
image will be used on the utility box proposed at Memorial Park. Group discussed preserving these
original photos which have been on display in the TH conference room. SC will get the one photo
digitized for Franklin Marval, the artist on this project.
Historic Marker Project 6 more markers me ready to be picked up at Markarian Sign in Wakefield.
Town Archives — Group reviewed items for the accession into the archives collection. CK & SC
have been working in the Archives and had several items that have been donated. Group discussed
what to do with these items. SC moved to accession 8 items into the town archives as discussed and
reviewed in meeting. PO seconded. Vote 5-0.
Finance: Submitted payments have come out of accounts.
New Business:
2022 RMLD Calendars me now available
17 Longview JEB brought up that at a previous meeting, the owners of this structure on the
Inventory had discussed the possibility of a preservation restriction agreement. JEB suggested
pursuing that possibility. However, it appears that those owners have recently sold the property.
MHC will send us a disk of all the properties on the Inventory.
Minutes: to be reviewed at next month's meeting.
Next Meeting: January 12, 2022
Adjourn: Motion to adjourn at 9:50 pm. SRS Motion JEB second; Vote 5-0-0.
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