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BHDC Minutes February 24, 2016 - ApprovedBeverly Historic Commission Minutes — February 24, 2016 Board: Date: Location: Members Present Members Absent: Others Present: Recorder: CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES Historic District Commission February 24, 2016 Beverly City Hall, City Council Chambers, 191 Cabot Street Beverly, MA. William Finch, Chair, Suzanne LaMont and Wendy Pearl Martin Lian and James Younger Allison Crosbie, Staff Planner Eileen Sacco Finch called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Community Preservation Plan Update Pearl reviews the Beverly Community Preservation Plan with the Commission and explains that there have been some small amendments made by the Community Preservation Committee. Pearl reported that they are still waiting for the recreation piece of the plan and the housing piece is in draft form. She notes that they are asking City Planner Aaron Clausen for assistance with the housing draft. Pearl reports that the next step will be the presentation of the full draft of the plan and an opportunity for public comment will be given for questions and comments from the public. Determination of Historic Significance Beverly City Hall Historic Records Conservation Project 2016 -2017 City Clerk Wesley Slate addresses the Commission and explains that they were awarded $25,000 in each of the last two rounds of CPC funding for the preservation of City documents. He states that he intends to continue this project and has requested $50,000 for this round of CPC funding given the quality of the documents and the need for this work and the ability of the vendor to accommodate our materials. Slate explains that Beverly has documents going back to 1626 that include birth, death, marriage, land, town meeting, and other miscellaneous records, some of which have already been preserved, but many of which have not. He explains that the City and he, as City Clerk, are charged with the care and custody of the documents and as time goes on and the conditions under which they are kept, preservation and restoration are a critical need in his office. Page 1 of 5 Beverly Historic Commission Minutes — February 24, 2016 Slate also reports that they have joined the City of Beverly Public Library in a grant application to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners for their "Town Wide Preservation Assessment and Collection Identification" program which will allow us to bring in a professional archivist to evaluate our collections of materials and provide us with a needs assessment of the same, something which is critical to the application process for state and local grants for restoration and preservation. He further notes that the city is also on the list to have an environmental assessment done of our facilities in 2017. He further notes that they will continue to pursue other grant opportunities that present themselves through the City's Grants Director, Priscilla Walsh. Slate also reports that he will include in his FY2017 budget request to the Mayor and City Council continued and hopefully increased funding for this purpose, though those funds are limited. Finch asks who the vendor is that is doing the work. Slate explains that it is KO Files out of Chester, Vermont. Finch asks what kind of documents are being preserved. Slate explains that the last batch of documents that were done were a mix of birth certificates, death certificates and marriage records. Slate also explains that representatives of the Smithsonian approached the city looking for records for specific dates in the 1700s and we had them, noting that they had been preserved. He reported that those records will be on display in the Smithsonian. Pearl asks if priorities have been set for the documents that are being preserved. Slate explains that former City Clerk Kathleen Connelly had an archivist come in and do a survey to determine the greatest need, and the documents in the most critical need were selected for preservation first. Pearl questions if there is a need for the Commission to continue to re- determine that these documents have historic significance each year. Finch agrees and suggests that the Commission could advise the CPC to request a determination if the City comes back for a request, documents that are 100 years old are included in this approval. Pearl asks if the documents will be available online. Slate explains that the paper copies are treated and conserved and they also get a digitized copy as well. Pearl asks if the digital copies are kept at City Hall. Finch asks if they have considered off -site storage of the documents. Slate explains that the short answer is no, explaining that they have a responsibility to keep the documents for easy public access and they have not considered off -site storage. He also notes that they will be working with an archivist on a city -wide inventory of documents including the City Clerk's office, Fire and Police departments. He suggests that the Library may have space for storage of records now that the renovations are complete. Page 2 of 5 Beverly Historic Commission Minutes — February 24, 2016 Pearl: Motion to determine that all permanent records in the City Clerk's office that are 100 years or older are historically significant. LaMont seconds the motion. The motion carries (3 -0). City of Beverly, Emergency Management Agency — Beverly Nike Site Launcher Area — Mark Foster Pearl asks what buildings the Commission is being asked to look at. Foster explains that they are here for a determination on the entire site. Foster addresses the Commission and explains that the in 1954 the U.S. Government acquired the land adjacent to the Beverly Airport for a Nike Ajax missile defense system. He explains that the land was to be used for three missile storage bunkers and 12 missile launchers. He notes that also located on the site were the Mess Hall, Administrative Offices, barracks, a missile assembly facility and emergency generators. He further explains that a track of land approximately 2 miles away on a hill was also acquired for the radar facility that tracked the target aircraft as well as controlled the flight of the missiles. He noted that there were 11 other similar facilities around Boston. Foster explains the history of the site noting that the Army used it for a period of time and it was taken over by the Massachusetts National Guard and they continued to man it until January of 1964. He states that 9 of the 11 missile facilities were closed at that time. Foster explains that in 1965 the City of Beverly Emergency Management Agency began to use the launch area as a training site. He explains that they pumped out underground water that had seeped into the bunker 92 and also connected the bunker to commercial electricity. He also explains that they excavated the driveway into the side of the bunker and used the bunker for storage of emergency vehicles, training and accommodations. He notes that use by the City's Emergency Management Agency continues today noting that on 9/11/01 the Massachusetts Task Force departed from this site and traveled to the World Trade Center and was the first Federal Search and Rescue to work at the site. He notes that a memorial to 9/11 and a large piece of the North Tower reside at a memorial on the Nike Site. Foster reported that four of the original buildings as well as three of the underground bunkers remain at the site. He notes that there is also a radar sail, Nike Trailer, Nike Hercules Missile on the site and while most of the Nike Sites in the Boston area have been obliterated but the Beverly launcher remains in good condition. Finch states that the site is barely 50 years old. He also notes that what is left of the site with regards to its historical significance, the buildings are more functional for what they are being used for today. Finch asks what they intend to do with the CPC funds. Foster explains that they are requesting the Determination of Historic Significance for the site to be cataloged for historic preservation and be included in the historic preservation inventory. Page 3 of 5 Beverly Historic Commission Minutes — February 24, 2016 Finch states that there is a proper way to add this property to the inventory with proper documentation as long as it is not time dependent. Foster explains that the determination is part of their game plan to have the historic value of the site determined to prevent it from being destroyed. Pearl states that the site should be inventoried and documents to be included on the inventory. Pearl: Motion to approve the Determination of Historic Significance of the 3 bunkers and the launcher pad at the Nike Site and that the Nike Site be added to the list of properties being inventoried by the City of Beverly. LaMont seconds the motion. The motion carries (3 -0). Camp Mitchman — Former Laura Shuman Memorial Camp — 0 Standley Street /36 Foster Street Finch explains that he had a conversation with Wendy Murray, a representative of Edenic Development and they submitted all of the information requested for the review of the determination including a description of the property history and architecture and culture in Beverly, the architectural significance and associational significance. He notes that this material was included in the members packets for the meeting. There being no questions or comment regarding this matter: Lamont: Motion to approve the Determination of Historical Significant for Camp Mitchman based on the information submitted. Pearl seconds the motion. The motion carries (3 -0). Beverly Golf and Tennis Club Proiect Review Pearl explains that as part of the Memorandum of Understanding they are required to show the Historic District Commission what they are doing. Finch recalls that they are working on handicapped access, replacing doors and changing a non historic railing. Pearl notes that the screened -in porch was also included in the project. She also notes that there is concern that the CPC funding is meant to fund rehabilitation work and it may have gone toward to screen porch repairs /rebuild. There being no further questions or comments regarding this matter: Pearl: Motion to accept the scope of work as being in compliance with the standards, ad of the accepted design. LaMont seconds the motion. The motion carries (3 -0). Powder House Update Page 4 of 5 Beverly Historic Commission Minutes — February 24, 2016 Finch explains that Lance Daly has requested an evaluation of the Powder House structure's eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. He explains that they are looking at applying for a grant and that designation would be a benefit. Finch explains that representatives of Windover Development have looked at the building and Meridian Associates is going to do a survey. He states that there is not much that has changed with the building in the last five years. Historic Survey Update Crosbie states that the Commission needs to review a proposal for additional work requested on the Historic Survey. Finch explains that he has reviewed the proposal noting that the Commission requested the inclusion of the Prospect Hill area and the Montserrat area which is a large area. Pearl suggests that Prospect Hill should be included and not Montserrat if funding is an issue. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Beverly Historic Commission this evening, LaMont moved to adjourn the meeting. Pearl seconds the motion. The motion carries (3 -0). The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Page 5 of 5