Westport News

Present
Member: Wendy Goldberg, Janet Jones, Ted Kinnari, Jane Loos, Geraldine Millham
Alternate: Anne (Pete) Baker, Norma Judson, Sean Leach, Christine Vezetinski

Absent
Member: Jim Collins, Donna Lubell
Alternate: none

Others in attendance:
Daryl Breda & Bill Russell 218 Horseneck Road, Westport
Richard Brewer 1971 Main Road, WPT
Jed Dickerson Producer of Movie John the Bastard
Joshua Duarte, Jr. 15 Loretta Way, Westport
Jennifer Dubois TTOR, 1100 Main Road, Westport
Barbara Koenitzer 1953 Main Road, WPT
John McDonough 1965 Main Road, WPT
Paul McDonough 1807 Main Road, WPT
Rick Mercier Architect for 1963 Main Road, WPT
Dennis & Ruth Rog 1967 Main Road, WPT
Betty Slade 2037 Main Road, WPT
Beverly Schuch 1963 Main Road, WPT
Robert Trippp 1834 Main Road, WPT
Dennis Talbot Builder for 1963 Main Road, WPT
Joshua Youman Location Manager for Movie John the Bastard
4 Maryland St., Dorchester, MA

Chair Wendy Goldberg (WG) opened the meeting at 7:00 pm in the basement meeting area at Town Hall. WG named Alternates Norma Judson (NKJ) and Christine Vezetinski (CV) as voting members for tonight’s meeting, bringing the total to seven.

A. General Business
1. New Member. WG introduced Ted Kinnari (TK), recently appointed by the Board of Selectmen (BOS) to the Commission. The meeting thanked him for volunteering and bringing to bear his considerable experience in historic preservation, construction, and contracting.

2. Minutes of August 1, 2011 Meeting. Jane Loos (JL) explained that the draft minutes had been circulated electronically to all members. Geraldine Millham (GM) moved and Janet Jones (JJ) seconded a motion to approve the draft minutes as circulated The vote was 5 in favor, with two abstentions because they had not attended that meeting (WG, TK).

2. Treasurer’s Report. GM informed that there were no changes since the August report. An updated report will be presented for the September meeting.

3. Mail.
(a) WG read to the meeting a notice of a Planning Board sponsored workshop of the
Narrows section of town.
(b) WG read to the meeting a BOS notice concerning Town procedures to be followed in the
absence of a Town Administrator.
(c) WG read to the meeting the July 27, 2011 letter from John Clemmey concerning the back ell at 1954 Main Road, and her response dated August 15, 2011 (Attachment 1).
(d) WG reported that WHC received clarification from the Westport Housing Rehabilitation Program that there will not be any demolition, in whole or in part, in the proposed rehabilitation of the property at 375 Old Bedford Road, a house on the Westport Historic Inventory.
(d) WG informed the meeting that the Town Planner circulated for comments a Draft Land Use Permitting Guidebook for comments by various Town Boards/Commissions. WG asked JL to review and respond as necessary.
(e) WG informed the meeting about an invitation to be briefed about the forthcoming Massachusetts Estuaries Project regarding the Westport River watershed, on September 14, 2011 at Town Hall Annex.

4. Certificate of Non-Applicability for 1967 Main Road. Ruth and Dennis Rog apologized for not presenting the required application for work on their house in advance of commencing work; they explained that the work is now completed and they hoped to regularize their standing with both the Building Department and WHC. They inquired when the rules had changed, and were informed that WHC guidelines were updated about 7 years ago (and copies delivered to all houses in the historic district on at least two occasions since then) and that the Building Department was acting on the State building codes approved several years ago. They presented the following work on the exterior of the house --removing awnings and replacing like for like the French doors on the west side entry and the south facing second story deck. The work also included reshingling the areas around the French doors and repainting the house and trim like for like.

5. GM moved and Janet Jones (JJ) seconded a motion to approve a Certificate of Non-applicability for this work. The vote in favor was unanimous. JL explained that she would provide a copy of this certificate to the Building Inspector ASAP to facilitate the process of obtaining an ex-post Building Permit. General Business continued below ….

B. Public Hearing – Certificate of Appropriateness 1875 Main Road
7:15 pm
1. WG read to the meeting WHC’s mandates, restating the nature of WHC’s oversight of properties in the Westport Point Historic District.

2. Joshua Duarte, Jr. represented the owners M. Beck and W. Pardee in their request for approval of plans to add two skylights to the north-facing roof of the main house. The skylights would be of the same dimensions and type as the existing skylights on that roof.

3. JL moved and JJ seconded a motion to approve a Certificate of Appropriateness for the Plans dated July 14, 2011 and project checklist dated September 6, 2011. The vote was six in favor and one opposed (CV).

C. Public Hearing – Certificate of Appropriateness 1963 Main Road
7:30 pm
1. Beverly Schuch, owner, presented plans for adding a second story over the western-most portion of the existing house, explaining that the plans presented this evening are the same as those discussed at the August 1, 2011 preliminary review.

2. John McDonnaugh, abutter, inquired about the procedures to notify abutters about the proposed changes. JL explained that the only legal requirement is to notify abutters at least two weeks in advance of the public hearing, which was done. In addition, she clarified that the two preliminary reviews of this property were specified on the agendas for July 5 and August 1, 2011 meetings that were posted at the Point Post Office and also on the Town website.

3. JL moved and GM seconded a motion to approve the plans as presented. The vote in favor was unanimous. WG named CV and JJ as monitors.

D. Proposed Demolition of 98 Horseneck Road
1. WG read into the record the Building Inspector’s August 16, 2011 letter to Mr. Robert Russell, notifying that the Building Department would not act on his request for a demolition permit of this dwelling until after the Westport Historical Commission had addressed this matter (Attachment 2). WG also explained that this property was on the Westport Historic Inventory and therefore subject to WHC oversight under the Westport Demolition By-Law.

2. Bill Russell represented owner Robert Russell, 417 Hix Bridge Road, Westport. He explained that the house at 98 Horseneck Road (built sometime in the mid 1800’s) was in poor shape when they purchased it at auction in 1995, and that it had deteriorated further. The owners were pursuing plans to demolish the house, possibly with some salvage of useful artifacts and materials by New Bedford Salvage. The owner had also agreed to allow a movie crew to use the site for scenes that would involve burning around the windows over two nights. Thereafter, excavators would bring down the house. He also explained that the payment from the movie would help defray the cost of the demolition (Demolition Request form filed with the Building Department indicated that the cost of demolition is $12,000).

3. CV showed a slide show of photos of the house in its current condition. WG read into the record the comments of Tim Bryant, architect and former WHC alternate, who had visited the house and conveyed his comments for the record (Attachment 3). JL noted that when she visited to site a few days ago, all the window sashes had been removed and the building was open to the weather from that as well as from where roof flashing had separated from the chimneys.

4. Jed Dickerson, producer, and Joshua Youman, location manager, respectively of the movie John the Bastard explained their expectations for the burnings. They assured the meeting that their technique of flame bars inside the window casings, on the south side of the house, would result only in some singeing around the window frames and would not result in demolition of the house. They explained that the house would be watered down by the Fire Department to contain any blaze. TK noted that in his experience, pressure from fire hoses can cause major damage to houses; he suggested that the owners ensure that the Fire Department was aware of the need for care, especially with an old house.

5. WG concluded that on the basis of the representations made by the owner and the movie producer/location manager, and Bill Russell agreed, that this discussion had established that the possible use of the house for a movie was a separate matter from the proposed demolition.

5. JL moved and CV seconded a motion to designate the house as a preferably preserved building under the terms of the Westport Demolition By-Law. The vote was six in favor and one abstention (WG). JL moved and GM seconded a motion to invoke a delay in the demolition for up to 365 days, to allow more time to find possible alternative solutions for preservation of the house. The vote was six in favor and one abstention (WG).

6. Bill Russell inquired what assistance WHC would offer to pursue possible alternative solutions to the demolition. JL explained that one way WHC could assist would be to bring the house to the attention of people interested in historic preservation via the Massachusetts Historical Commission list serve. The owner should provide specific information about what terms he would be willing to consider ( –e.g., sale price, possible contribution towards and timing for moving the house, salvage arrangements) so that information can be included on the listing.

A. General Business, continued
6. WHC Subcommittees. WG thanked Jennifer Dubois, TTOR, for attending the meeting to complete arrangements for WHC subcommittees to work with TTOR on the Oscar Palmer Farm and the Town Farm. Mrs. Dubois explained that the terms of reference for WHC involvement at these two properties were contained in the Town Farm Lease Agreement and the historic preservation restriction for the Oscar Palmer Farm. WG thanked TK for agreeing to join the Town Farm subcommittee, and thanked CV for agreeing to step down from the committee. The WHC subcommittees dealing with historic properties outside the Westport Point Historic District are:
Town Farm – GM, Jim Collins, TK
Oscar Palmer Farm – GM, WG, JJ
Handy House – GM, WG, Anne (Pete) Baker

7. JJ informed that the CPC planned to take up items pending from their August meeting for funding of historic preservation work at the Oscar Palmer Farm. JJ explained that the contract for the proposed masonry work had been approved by CPC, and that the major outstanding contract to be taken up next was for reshingling the barn, house and one outbuilding.

8. Procedures for Notifications. Sean Leach (SL) requested the meeting to discuss in more depth how procedures for abutter notifications are handled, and how WHC presents its comments during preliminary reviews. He noted that preliminary reviews are held with no individual notice to abutters of the property in question. SL advised that giving advice during a preliminary review could be construed as signaling a decision that should not be made outside of a public hearing. CV volunteered to check with Massachusetts Historical Commission about possible mis-match of MGL 40:C with the recent changes to the Open Meeting Law, and report back to the next WHC meeting.

9. The meeting agreed that, during preliminary reviews, WHC would refrain from offering detailed suggestions, but rather refer the applicants to the applicable WHC Guidelines topics as they relate to the proposed project (e.g., scale/mass, window materials, etc.). During the public hearing, WHC can ask detailed questions and offer detailed comments about the proposal, and if a request for a Certificate of Appropriateness is denied, then WHC may make suggestions for how to amend the plans to make them acceptable (MGL 40:C, para 10).

10. The meeting noted that WHC had not yet begun sending email notifications of WHC meetings to owners of property in the Westport Point Historic District. JL confirmed that a large number of emails had been assembled from various sources, and that she would set them up in a database mailing file; she would then email a copy of the agenda for each WHC meeting to those who had provided an email address.

11. WHC Clerk will continue to send formal written notice of a public hearing to all abutters within 75 feet of the property in question. The Clerk will also post a copy of the notice to abutters at Town Hall and at the Point Post Office at the same time as the formal notice is mailed to abutters.

12. The Chair will provide the Town Clerk the agenda for official posting no later than 48 hours before the planned meeting, and post a copy of the agenda at the Point Post Office. JL undertook to load an electronic version of the agenda on the Town website.

13. The meeting agreed that it would not post the application form, but would pin up a copy of the plans submitted with the application on WHC’s bulletin board in Town Hall. These plans would be available for public inspection during Town Hall office hours.

The Meeting was adjourned at 10:05pm. The next meeting will be October 3, 2011 at 7pm.

draft prepared by JL, approved October 3, 2011

Attachments:
1. Letters re: 1954 Main Road
2. Building Inspector’s August 16, 2011 letter re demolition request for 98 Horseneck Road
3. Tim Bryant’s comments re 98 Horseneck Road