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Massachusetts

Leverett

Town of Leverett
9 Montague Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Town Clerk: (413) 548-9150
Tax Collector: (413) 548-9666
Assessor: (413) 548-4945
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Historical Commission Meeting

Monday, February 11, 2019, 7:00 pm until 8:30 pm
Town Hall
A meeting of the Historical Commission

Meeting of Historical Commission

Members: (Quorum)

  • Absent: Sara Robinson
  • Absent: Susan Lynton
  • Present: Ann Tweedy, at 7:00 PM
  • Present: Susan Mareneck, Chair, at 7:00 PM
  • Present: Edie Field, Honorary, at 7:10 PM
  • Present: Anne Schuyler, at 7:00 PM
  • Present: Eva Gibavic, at 7:00 PM

See original Agenda Final Minutes

Meeting opened: 7:10 PM

Meeting closed: 9:06 PM

  1. Meeting Preliminaries

  2. 1. Cemeteries

    • Cemetery Conservation

      General Discussion...
      Ta Mara Conde (Historic Gravestone Services)'s work on Chestnut HIll/ Mt. Hope Cemetery has been approved by the Community Preservation Commission and the Leverett Cemetery Association. Edie and Skip Fournier visited the cemetery and received pictures from Ta Mara. 60 markers have been conserved, 20 will be completed next summer. The Cemetery Association will not be submitting an application to CPC for funding this year.

    • Individual Cemetery Issues - Leverett Cemetery Association; Town website corrections; 2017 Form E submissions

      General Discussion...
      The Historical Commission made a printed copy of Martha Lyon's Veterans' Recognition Grant report to be housed at the Leverett Library in the "Local Collection". A copy was also printed and given to the Leverett Cemetery Association for their records and information.

      Edie and SM will follow-up with Sharon Raskevitz of the Cemetery Association regarding a meeting to discuss signage once we have a couple of designs.

      Susan M. will follow up with Betsy Friedberg at Mass Historical Comm. re questions regarding several of the Form E submissions from 2017.

    • Veterans Recognition Project - Martha Lyon/Martha Lyon Landscape Architecture, LLC Final Report - Signage design.

      General Discussion...
      Bill Rathbun has been working on interpretive signage designs. We are looking for a few options to present to the Cemetery Association. SM, Ann T and Anne S. will meet to discuss and then follow-up with Bill.

  3. 2. History-related Cultural Events

    • Leverett 250 - Planning for "semiquincentennial" (or, "quartermillenial", or "sestercenternnial") in Leverett.

      General Discussion...
      We believe it would serve the town to create a 250th Anniversary Committee. Discussion centered on inviting all residents to attend an event at the Library on a Sunday in May or June when we could show the Bicentennial Film and the Bicentennial quilt and have food and discussion to see how people want to organize themselves. SM to check the library calendar.

    • Schooling in Leverett - "One-Room School House" Oral History Project. "Go Local..." MBLC grant update; transcriptions.

      General Discussion...
      Ann T is working with Natane (and consultant Kate Butler) at the Library on a "Go Local..." grant to hopefully secure funding for transcription of the 14+ hours of "One Room School House" interviews. The funding would allow us to hire UMASS Public History grad students to do transcribing. Sara Robinson and Margot Lacey (LES) will write letters of commitment/support. If we receive, we will write to all the participants to bring them up-to-date.

  4. 3. Strategic Planning for Historical Assets Survey

    • Historical Assets Survey Questionnaire - HAS Questionnaire - - Final Report - Strategies for reporting findings. - Funding

      General Discussion...
      Next steps for rolling out the HAS Report - print a few copies - need a new cover (color, old/new photos? Box Shop? Sawmill? Use historic photos? Please come to March meeting with ideas. We will also produce a one page Executive Summary, easy to take in - visually appealing.

  5. LHC - Schedules/ Meetings/ Duties

    • Annual Report - 2018 topics list

    • CPA Monitoring - Signage for CPA funded projects.

      General Discussion...
      Not clear whether signage about public access is needed. Maybe in specific cases when the HPR mandates. CPC has asked LHC to find out why the Sawmill HPR was not signed off on by MHC.
      Review of Historic Preservation Restrictions protocol would be a start. Eva, Ann and Susan M will meet to look at samples.

    • Demolition Delay Bylaw - 1. Draft Warrant article 2. Follow-up on 257 Montague Road - historic farmhouse status

      General Discussion...
      Several of us will attend the next Affordable Housing Committee meeting on 3/12 to discuss the viability of moving the Dickinson farmhouse to a lot where it could become part of the Affordable Program.

      In terms of creating a list of all "historically significant" houses to give to Building Commissioner at FRCOG, EG's project of scanning Ruth Field's Leverett deed transcriptions will assist us in identifying "significant" houses not in the National Register Historic Districts.

      We drafted a Warrant Article for Town Meeting re language change in Demolition Delay Bylaw.

      1. LHC_DraftWARRANT_ARTICLE.docx

  6. 5. LHS

    • Brief update of activities

      General Discussion...
      SM delivered Maynard Journal to Special Collections at UMASS. Rob Cox will have it digitized and catalogued for us.

  7. New Business

    • Archaeology - MHC - Archaeology requirements

      General Discussion...
      Jonathan Patton @ MHC told Eva that Leverett does not need to have an official policy regarding archaeological materials in order to request copies of archives held by the state. We will prepare a locked file cabinet. Eva will write a letter to Brona Simon, State Archaeologist, requesting copies of whatever materials they have. We have received news that Eversource has hired an archaeologist to investigate Brushy Mountain. They have right-of-way around the power lines and to-date have been sensitive and responsive in terms of incursions on landscape and remains.

    • Town website - "Leverett History" on town website

      General Discussion...
      Members will take a look at "Leverett History" on the Town website to see if we want to update or expand it for next month's meeting 3/11/19)

      Eva is planning to scan Ruth Field's typewritten transcription of early Leverett deeds so they are searchable PDF's. She shared that there are two white notebooks in the vault with National Register forms (for Leverett Center Historic District?)

  8. Meeting Wrap-up

The listing of matters is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.

Minutes prepared by SM

Minutes approved on Tuesday, Apr 2, 2019