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Home My WebLink About2023-12-13 Historical Commission MinutesF Orq O ei Town of Reading „�? Meeting Minutes a 1 ��- '�xaoxapQ'� Board - Committee - Commission - Council: r ";I ^L.ERK G MA. Cu '� jl; I i Ai'I 10' 16 Virginia Adams (VA), Jonathan Barnes (JEB), Samantha Couture (SC), Amelia Devin Freedman (ADF), and Christine Keller (CK). Pamela Adrian (PA), Sarah Brukilacchio (SB) and Pino D'Orazio (PD) participated by phone per the Mullin rule. Members - Not Present: Others Present: Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Christine Keller Topics of Discussion: Vice -Chair SC led the meeting and called it to order at 7:05PM. Annual Report to the Archive SC made a motion to accession the 2023 Town of Reading Annual Report to the Archive, JEB seconded, roll call vote 5-0 to accession the Annual Report. Charter Review Committee JEB is serving as one of the three Town Meeting Members appointed to the Charter Review Committee, which is chaired by Chris Haley. At JEB's request, the Committee is reviewing the language in Article 4.8 around the number of Select Board appointed members of the RHC. The group discussed the issue and unanimously agreed to recommend that the Commission amend the language to specify five voting members and three associate members of RHC. Community Preservation Act PD, with SC as back up, represents the RHC to the committee exploring the Community Preservation Act (CPA), which Ben Cares leads. The RHC recognizes the benefits of the CPA, a smart growth tool that supports communities' efforts to preserve open space and historic sites, create affordable housing, and develop outdoor recreational facilities. SB volunteered to be part of the study group to determine how Reading could benefit from historical grants. Hose House documents Robin Merrow (RM), our Archivist, has organized the documents and will prepare a summary of them for our January meeting. Page 1 1 Historical Commission Date: 2023-12-13 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Berger Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: r ";I ^L.ERK G MA. Cu '� jl; I i Ai'I 10' 16 Virginia Adams (VA), Jonathan Barnes (JEB), Samantha Couture (SC), Amelia Devin Freedman (ADF), and Christine Keller (CK). Pamela Adrian (PA), Sarah Brukilacchio (SB) and Pino D'Orazio (PD) participated by phone per the Mullin rule. Members - Not Present: Others Present: Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Christine Keller Topics of Discussion: Vice -Chair SC led the meeting and called it to order at 7:05PM. Annual Report to the Archive SC made a motion to accession the 2023 Town of Reading Annual Report to the Archive, JEB seconded, roll call vote 5-0 to accession the Annual Report. Charter Review Committee JEB is serving as one of the three Town Meeting Members appointed to the Charter Review Committee, which is chaired by Chris Haley. At JEB's request, the Committee is reviewing the language in Article 4.8 around the number of Select Board appointed members of the RHC. The group discussed the issue and unanimously agreed to recommend that the Commission amend the language to specify five voting members and three associate members of RHC. Community Preservation Act PD, with SC as back up, represents the RHC to the committee exploring the Community Preservation Act (CPA), which Ben Cares leads. The RHC recognizes the benefits of the CPA, a smart growth tool that supports communities' efforts to preserve open space and historic sites, create affordable housing, and develop outdoor recreational facilities. SB volunteered to be part of the study group to determine how Reading could benefit from historical grants. Hose House documents Robin Merrow (RM), our Archivist, has organized the documents and will prepare a summary of them for our January meeting. Page 1 1 Future Event Displays PA has adjusted font, color, and house images for the RHC banner design. The banner will have a white background, and there is room on the banner for extra text. PA will circulate her designs for our review and discussion at our next meeting. Historic Inventory Process SB will confirm that the Historical and Architectural Inventory list is complete. Amanda Beatrice will maintain and control distribution of the list, which includes posting on the Town website. 25 Haven Street - Nothing to report. MBTA Communities Law Mary Benedetto will meet with the Historic District Commission on December 20 to discuss historic districts, national register districts, etc. PD will invite Mary to meet with RHC in January to continue the discussion with RHC. A GIS map has been generated of the historic districts, and we want to be sure that the properties on the Historic and Architectural Inventory are also represented. Rev 250 Committee - Nothing to report. 166 Summer Ave. - Nothing new to report. Archive Software and Archivist RM has been thinking about the arrangement of the contents of the Archive and prepared draft documents for the RHC to review, including RHC Citation and Permission to Publish, RHC Deed of Gift, and RHC Condition Assessment Form. SC is the interlocutor with RM, and we will discuss edits to the draft documents at our January meeting. VA presented an Atlantic Supermarket paper shopping bag for accession to the Archive. SC made a motion to accept, JEB seconded, roll call vote 5-0 to accession the Atlantic Supermarket paper shopping bag. CK will continue to send thank you letters to Archive donors once items are accessioned. Historic House Marker Program There are three applications with payment for historic house markers, and it was noted that the application had the wrong price for the marker. The application will be updated to show that the markers are $45 each. The RHC will cover the difference. PD made a motion to authorize payment of up to $40 total for the house marker price discrepancy, seconded by SC, roll call vote 5-0 to pass the motion. Audio Tapes from Joan Feeney - Nothing to report. Future Agenda Topics • Review of historical documents submitted by the family of Roberta Sullivan for donation to the Archive. 707 Pearl Street - request for historical information about the property - SB will forward articles from The Chronicle to the homeowner and refer her to the RPL History Librarian. • RMHS History Award and award verbiage (ADF) • SB will provide an update on the research she has conducted on four houses. • 409 Grove Street renovation project: PD to invite the homeowner and architect to our next meeting. Page 1 2 Finance/Treasurer's Report • JEB noted that the Budget Reports from the Town were received today. • The Select Board recently met to review department budgets for the FY25 town budget. In previous years, the RHC had a specified $,1,500 budget line in the budget, rather than being one of several boards/ commissions/ committees applying annually for funds from a "pool" of money as has been the case the last two fiscal years and is proposed again for the FY25 budget. JEB asked the group to consider the two funding methodologies, and whether there was interest in advocating for one or the other going forward. There was group discussion about whether the RHC should appeal for funding to maintain the Archive. The discussion will continue. Meeting Minutes from November 8, 2023 The minutes were reviewed. JEB made a motion to approve the minutes as amended; SC seconded; roll call vote 5-0 to approve the minutes. Executive Sessions Minutes The minutes have been reviewed by ADF, and she suggests that the minutes remain confidential. ADF will review them again in March 2024, unless otherwise indicated. Motion to adjourn 8:SSPM by SC, ADF seconded, roll call vote 5-0 to adjourn. Next meeting: January 10, 2024, at 7:0013M in the Berger Room. Page 1 3