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Historic District Commission - 11 15 2017 - ApprovedCITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES COMMITTEE /COMMISSION: Historic District Commission SUBCOMMITTEE: DATE: November 15, 2017 LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street MEMBERS PRESENT: William Finch - Chair, Suzanne LaMont - Vice Chair, Martin Lian ABSENT: Wendy Pearl and Jim Younger OTHERS PRESENT: Emily Hutchings, Dan Lohnes - Historic Beverly, Sue Goganian - Historic Beverly, Caroline Mason, Raymond Freeman -Lynde RECORDER: Travis Lovett Finch calls the meeting to order at 7:OOpm. Landscape Master Plan for Hale House, 552 Hale Street LaMont said the master plan for Hale House landscape was beautiful. For interpretation #3, the photos were largely taken by Hannah Bancroft. It may help to qualify who she is. It would also help to have a site history as part of the master plan. Finch understands the concepts, but said he has trouble with the organization of master plan as a report that someone in the future can follow. There needs to be a clearer link between the items and items should be clearly annotated, he said. Finch said he would provide a thumbnail of the plan and he encouraged Goganian to make the link between historic photographs and future plans. Finch said the text serves as a caption to the photographs and the photographs should have a clear purpose. Goganian said the point of the review is to approve the master plan of what a restoration /rehabilitation would look like on the site. Finch asked Goganian to highlight the high priorities within the plan. He said he is seeking phases in the master plan. Goganian is seeking approval for the plan itself. Finch said the Historic District Commission approval means approving of a concept, not approving the work itself. Lohnes said the historical society will set the priorities, as determined in conjunction with the building committee. Finch said the discussion of each item should expand to include projected costs and the priority of the items being proposed. Finch said trellises might nice but they may not be as critical as creating pathways, so it helps to have a sense of priorities. Hutchings said she thinks the plan is a great start and said there needs to be additional narrative related to the pictures provided. Lohnes said inclusion of historic photographs or sketches would help to emphasize what the plan will look like. Lohnes said that a wooden fence in one location may be a priority over a wooden fence in another location. Finch said he would like for the plan to describe the site and how it Historic District Commission November 15, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 5 evolved. He said potential funders will be examining the master plan. LaMont asked Goganian if the barn was still there. Goganian said the barn is not still there. There is a photo that shows the wall on the property before Bancroft Ave. cut it off. Finch said the map could have a caption that creates references to other sections of the plan. Finch said the concept is fine. Goganian has a 50 percent review by the HDC as set forth by the Community Preservation Committee. Goganian said they are working on an estimate for that. Goganian has six weeks for the CPA (January) to get approval. Certificates of Appropriateness, Non - applicability, Hardship LaMont said the form should be changed for appropriateness, non - applicability, or hardship. For Letter C on the form, there should be a blank space to enter the number of days before the meeting. Finch said they are not giving a description of what a certificate of non - applicability is. LaMont said the description should be in the instructions. Hutchings will define each of the three terms on the form. Work that requires an in -kind replacement may not require a full certificate of appropriateness and may require a certificate of non - applicability and may not require a public hearing, Finch said. A certificate of non - applicability is something that would be handled administratively. There are some definitions in the rules of procedure, Hutchings said. Hutchings will include the definitions from the rules of procedure on the form. LaMont said the language should read that certificates for appropriateness or hardship should require a public hearing. Finch said work items should include drawings or sketches to make the work being done clear to the commission members. LaMont said the applicant should also include their email address on the form. Hutchings will email the changes to the HDC members. GAR Hall Restoration Finch said the terms "renovation" and "rehabilitation" have been attached to the GAR Hall project, but what is really being talked about at the moment is restoration of the facade. Finch said this language should be reflected at the bottom of the second page under item number four. Hutchings will make replacements within the document. Finch said Phase I of the project is just focused on the restoration of the front facade. Finch asked if the planning department needed to be mentioned in phase two. Under the bidding section, Finch said that reviewing bids also includes reviewing bidder qualifications. Finch wants contractors to articulate their recent relevant experience with respect to basic historic preservation work. LaMont asked where digital copies of RFP bids should go. The National Register application for the GAR Hall project should say center business district. Hutchings said they want the front facade of GAR Hall to be finished by fall 2018. LaMont said unless the construction is really moving, it would take a few months to get through tasks one through three. Finch said it would probably take two to three months to do the construction and he Historic District Commission November 15, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 5 recommends explicitly stating that there should be meeting memos for each of the site visits. 26 Front Street Freeman -Lynde is interested pursuing window restoration or renovation work for the property at 26 Front Street. Freeman -Lynde doesn't want vinyl windows and he said a couple of companies mentioned wood composite windows. Mason Cook is coming to give an estimate of what the project would cost. Freeman -Lynde would fill out a certificate of appropriateness. Freeman -Lynde said some of the windows have been painted in. Hutchings said that the estimate from Cook should give a better sense of the work that needs to be done. Historic Plaque Program Plaques are made of medium density overlay, Hutchings said. Hutchings said she discussed with Goganian the porcelain and steel plaques developed for the Boston Preservation Alliance. Finch said that strikes him as overkill. LaMont said the plaques with scroll -lined edges seem to reflect a certain time period. Hutchings said there are multiple types of plaques in many different places. Finch said the plaque on his house came from the Beverly Historic Society when they conducted a walking tour. Bob Leonard, the plaque maker based in Providence who made many of the existing plaques, is willing to come to meet with commission members, Hutchings said. One idea discussed was having the public pay for historic documents and signage with respect to historic properties. Some cities and towns provide a one page history, others provide a much more extensive history, Hutchings said. In Swampscott, preservation awards include a historical assessment of the property which are paid for by the residents, Finch said. Hutchings will talk to Goganian to see what kind of resources or time Historic Beverly could commit to this. For houses that aren't on the historic inventory, a history would have to start from scratch, Finch said. Finch said the housing inventory records may have inaccuracies. There are 800 historic plaques in Salem, LaMont said. Hutchings said the plaques should have some standardized language. Hutchings asked if homeowners should cover all of the costs or will there be a budget for this. Finch said it would be nice to have a budget, but the reality is homeowners would need to contribute to this. Finch said he does not view it as appropriate for the Historic District Commission to make money off of plaque purchases. LaMont said Historic Beverly is the first option to develop house histories and recommended working with Bob Booth to glean what is important to put on the plaque. LaMont asked if a project would require a bid if it is managed through the city. Hutchings asked if they want to address inaccurate plaques or if they want to build a template. Hutchings said the sign ordinance is about to be revised. Historic markers on houses is Historic District Commission November 15, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 5 permissible without review as long as it meets specific criteria set forth by the design review board, Finch said. Preservation Award Program Hutchings said they would need to apply for funding to create a preservation award program and she likes the program that Swampscott created. Hutchings said her first question is what types of properties should be eligible. Finch said that any historic property should be eligible. The term "property" also allows for the preservation of documents, Finch said. Hutchings said that Goganian's interpretation of interior eligibility was a question about whether or not the public had access to the interior. Finch said if there was a different outcome with the Loring House, that property would have certainly been deserving. Lian said he would be in favor of issuing a certificate in a frame to award winners. There could be a presentation at the City Council meeting, LaMont said. LaMont thought that the Lobster Festival at Beverly Homecoming could be a great place to give an award. LaMont said they would have to find a thoughtful committee with some selection criteria. Finch said the committee shouldn't be required to give an award every year. Hutchings would like to see a representative from Historic Beverly on the committee. Mason thinks it's a great way to heighten visibility for restoration and adaptive reuse. It shows people what the possibilities are and the value it enhances, Mason said. Finch recommended adding a press release highlighting the work and he recommended having a project or two that deserve recognition before generating publicity. LaMont said she would like to have a budget in place to support a preservation program. Finch said it would be helpful to have a list of funding needs to support the Historic District Commission's work. Finch said a booklet was produced a number of years ago highlighting historic properties. Mason said a brochure for a walking tour would be great. Mason said that Portland has a really great guide to historic properties. The problem with doing tour brochures is that it's very time consuming, Finch said. LaMont said she has some time and Mason said she would be willing to help. Lian and Finch said there needs to be some groundwork in place in order to get the program going. Review of Ongoing Projects The historic resources survey request for quote deadline is Friday, November 17, 2017. The one question is when the survey could be done, Hutchings said. The deadline for CPC funding ends next October, Hutchings said. Hutchings said the Hale House Preservation Restriction has been put on hold until next week. The Powder House Preservation Restriction has been sent to Historic Beverly. Hutchings spoke with officials in Somerville and Cambridge about Community Preservation guidelines for providing funding assistance to private homeowners and she is working to put a final outline together. There will be guidelines to review by the next meeting. Historic District Commission November 15, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 5 Meeting Minutes LaMont motions to continue the review of minutes for lack of attendance. Finch seconds the motion. The motion carries 3 -0. Adjournment LaMont motions to adjourn the meeting at 9:22 pm. Lian seconds the motion. The motion carries 3 -0. The next Historic District Commission meeting will be held in Beverly City Hall on December 20th at 7pm. Historic District Commission November 15, 2017 Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 5