12.17.24 Historical Commission

uh good evening everyone I would like to call tonight's meeting of the Fall River historical commission into order this is a hybrid meeting um it is Tuesday December 17th 2024 uh the time is 6:01 pm. um and this meeting uh as I mentioned is hybrid so we have in person at Government Center and virtual via Zoom uh pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video video recording of this

public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible um I got a roll call John John present Connie Connie Sol here Rick Mancini present Joyce R Joyce Rodrick present Jason bushard nqi presence um do I have any board members that are

attending virtually no okay um so we do have uh Ashley dakuna is absent as well as Elizabeth d block uh we do not have any open seats um let's see uh item number one we have the review and approve the minutes from November 26th 2024 Elizabeth sent those around in an email thank you I'll make a motion to approve the minutes for November 26th okay second and John okay so motion by Connie seconded by John for

the minutes of November 26th uh roll call vote John yes Connie Yes Rick Rick manini yes Joyce Joyce Rogers yes and Jason bushard nocki yes thank you um is there any citizens input for tonight no one signed up okay um I did not receive any notices of intent to demolish um item number two is a correspond uh an email dated December 12th 2024 regarding um this is from the mass Massachusetts historical commission

regarding round 31 of the Massachusetts preservation projects fund and the availability of three virtual workshops related to the program um I did send that out to everyone for review um the deadline um is March 16 2025 um so I will be likely attending one of the virtual meetings on on this um just because I am interested in how this program fully Works um this could be this can be I believe the eligibility

for this is um open not just to um our commission but also to nonprofits in the city any preservation agency I believe even City departments are eligible for using this um it's a 50% matching Grant um the only public funds that can be used as the matching grants or the matching component um is CPC funds um any federal back or public funds that can be used um but uh usually

they're for this is for study grants or uh preservation related projects so it's a it's a good program and now that we're certified um uh yeah so I believe it says it is anticipated that funding will be in the range of 1 million so I believe they do cap off at certain limits for different projects so it might be $50,000 for our study Grant or something like that um I believe they go

higher on preservation F uh projects themselves I think up to 75,000 or 100,000 I'm not sure but yeah um so there's that um under new business item number three um we have Ryan LLC here requesting continued letters of support uh for their historic tax credit applications um including 3A which is Sanford spinning at 206 glob Mills Avenue um 3B which is Notre Dame rectory at 529 Eastern Avenue and 3C Union belts

at 66 Troy Street um and I believe we do have a representative from Ryan here to present hi Emily Domani Ryan here hi Emily how are you good good thank you um so um I guess if we can go down the line um regarding the so these are continued letters um of support regarding Sanford spinning um is there any updates on that I believe the last time that we met they were still cleaning out the

property yeah so the only update there is they got their first allocation in August so now um they will be able to close on the construction loan and hopefully get moving with um construction by late spring this in 2025 that's awesome right um late spring and so that's the only update for them yeah okay um are there any questions for that that's that's encouraging rck you have a question not

on that my my question will be not to dble when we get to it um so there's no questions we so what we'll do is we can approve these as a package um so regarding 3B Notre Dame rectory at 529 Eastern a um have there been any updates on that project um no major updates there um just that they have been doing some of the initial remediation there um they've removed an old oil tank and they're

doing some Le and ausus testing before construction starts um and they are planning a May to June 2025 start for construction may do they have an estimated timeline as to how long that will take the construction um I think it was just over a year and is there um start of construction dependent on receiving a first allocation no they've received allocation they have okay yeah all right

Emily question the building is stagnant I go by there on a regular basis and you know you never see any activity I've tried to peek in the windows and things nothing seems to change what's holding up the process I know you're saying it's going to start in may but what's been holding the process back do you know um I I'm not sure what is holding them back I mean obviously you know they

have had some delays getting power into the building um and I think that this is the first rehab project for them so just it's taking a little bit longer than expected to get things moving along okay but they've had uh so far they've had as she mentioned um lead and lead and AB bestus testing plus remediation which I'm sure you that building hasn't been occupied in quite some time um um so

that that's pretty that's pretty standard too with any type of rehab project too the the remediation and so forth takes but at least they have um a starting date a starting date yeah and I believe we'll see you again um so this is for the the round of applications that are due in January um and I believe we'll see you again in April that's the next if I'm not mistaken um so hopefully

by then we'll have a a more firm update on on start of construction and um if the plans have changed or anything of that nature um yeah okay all right any questions on the Notre Dame rectory no no okay I know we it is it is encouraging to hear more firm plans uh that are coming up especially um I mean uh Sanford spinning has the um the uh construction start in the spring

so we're I mean Notre Dame is a very significant building as well we're just we're eager to see process uh uh uh yeah a process over there um if you could go ahead if you could take a few notes and and and give us you know a little deeper understanding of what's going on with those properties in next meeting it would be nice okay sure thank you um um regarding

uh 3 SE Union belts at 66 Troy Street uh that's well under construction from what I can see yeah that's really moving along and we'll be done um you know probably again late spring early summer of 2025 um they've already if you've been by there you probably seen Windows have gone in they're doing work on the outside um interior as well um yeah so things are looking good over there excellent

okay um perfect um so that's it for those three items um any questions for her on any of those no okay excellent um so these are letters of support continued letters of support I did include them in your packets um that I've Pro provided in the past um so we can approve these as uh package approve her decline whichever but yeah I'll make a motion that we approve the package for Ryan LLC these

three items sanit spinning Notre Dame rectory and Union Belt thank you second Connie all right so I have a motion by Rick seconded by Connie uh to approve letters of support for items 3 A B and C uh roll call vote John yes Connie Yes Rick Rick manini yes Joyce Joyce yes and Jason bushard and IR rocki yes um Emily I will have these over to you when um when do you need the the letters in

by the is January 15th so we have some time but before I'll get those in before the end a couple days before that perfect okay thank you so much you have a good night thank you a good night you too thank you have a good holiday um next uh item four uh 4 A B and C this is Heritage Consulting Group uh continued letters of support for historic tax credit applications 4 a is

Wyoming Mills at 110 Chase Street 4 B is Flint Mills at 135 Alden Street and 4 C is the dery trust building at 80 to 84 North Main Street and I believe we have um can you uh state your name and uh who you are representing please y uh Nathan Kerwin from Heritage Consulting Group thank you um so same thing we'll be approving these uh as a package and going through the med package um so for

a Wyoming Mills um is there any update on the project there they're working with the architectural team to address some of the initial comments from MHC and the initial application um so as of right now construction Y is still stagnant um so just kind of working with the architectural team there okay uh what were the concerns from uh MHC just some more details in relation to the proposed plans Windows Doors and and

the like we got in a pretty a pretty Bare Bones application just to try to get in a deadline so okay so still working with the architectural team there okay um and when is that um anticipated to have everything finalized on that I mean we're hoping sometime early next year I mean Hope by the next application deadline will be able to answer some of those questions sure um but okay what are they kicking back on

colors of Windows and and style and it's just more the typical kind of details just making sure that what we're proposing meets the standards from what is already there um it's a lot of just in kind replacement I mean there lot of historic Windows there his doors making sure those details are appropriate to the standards okay okay perfect um thank you um and uh when we when you do get a

more complete I guess uh uh set of plans for the project uh can you forward those over to us uh so we have we can take a look at those and we'll end up having if there's any changes we'll we would like to see that um uh at least before the April request um sure okay perfect thank you any questions for uh Mr kwin no all right um so for B Flint Mills uh 135

Alden Street has there been any updates over at that property I can say that's basically the same as as 110 Chase it's the same same ownership and everything there um so so kind of doing those two projects in tandem have they been cleaning the property I thought thought I saw some work going on to at least clean up the site but I'm I'm not sure if that's what exactly what I had saw

seen uh I can try and confirm to see exactly if there has been some cleanup um probably just some general stabilization uh I'm sure has been has been going on but okay as far as I know I mean everything is basically status quo from the last one okay all right any questions regarding the flip Mills no um for C the dery trust building on North Main Street uh any updates there so we did submit an amendment

application back in October that addressed uh some of the outstanding concern well not outstanding concerns but comments from MC from the last application round um so just kind of checking up all the boxes there for the PO plans and believe we're I got to double check if we've uh received the comments from from see yet on that application U but trying to get all those plans finalized in relation to the

the uh the rehabilitation of it but it's it's looking good so far sure thank you um I know that we uh I believe at our last meeting we had uh approved a letter of support for uh CPC or CPA Grant funds for the windows um so I know the owner is going uh utilizing that program for the uh replacement windows on the structure um so know that that's that happened and then um I believe that's

that did happen that did happen yeah and anything well that'll be discussed on the 7th and 9th of January and then voted on the 14th of January okay yeah okay that's so you you'll have a yes or a nay on the 14th M for the windows okay for the windows for the yeah the Grant application um okay any questions regarding the dery trust building no no okay um the the

only thing is maybe you could uh same as what we asked earlier from U Elaine if you could get more you know try and dig in get a few more details uh presenting okay I'm not sure is is not very uh convincing sometimes so if you could maybe pick up on some of these details uh give us some you know information a little research would be nice so we get a more comprehensive

overview sure yeah thank you excellent thank you Nate um if there's no uh questions this is for a letter of letters of support for for ab and C all right well I'll make that motion to support the Wyoming Mills the Flint Mills and The BMC dery trust with Heritage Consulting Group have a motion uh do I have second that John thank you all right so I have a motion by Rick seconded by John to

support letters uh letters to support for four a b and c uh roll call vote John yes Connie Yes Rick Rick Mancini yes and Joyce Joyce yes and Jason bushard and rocki yes um so I will have those over to you um before the deadline of January 15 so so you'll have that awesome appreciate it sir my pleasure thank you have a good holiday he thank you guys too thank you thank you

um all right so item 5A uh we have Epsilon Associates and mass can Capital regarding uh continued letters of support for the application at Globe Mills 460 Globe Street and I believe we have uh if you uh can state your name and your affiliation please hello Ed with m capital thank you and um have any updates to the projects we have just received about two three weeks ago uh phase two approval

from national park services great um and I believe was there um oh let's see I believe wasn't there uh have you made any Headway with the application uh or at least the research of the property from the Fall River historical societ Society I think wasn't that I believe there was a delay in getting I know they've been closed for renovations and their archives have been closed up um and I believe that there's

some additional info that was being sought for the property uh I'm not uh okay but we haven't had any problem uh getting information that we needed Phil excellent okay thank you and um has any work started on the property or just um no uh no physical work has been done and we are on a schedule to start the construction in Q3 2026 with placement in service q1 2028 this is the original schedule that

we had last year and we are on a schedule okay okay so little so there's a so there's okay so there's still some Dil yeah some leeway time between now and then for the work to start okay um all right um any questions for Ed no any questions at all all right thank you um so uh this is for a letter of support 45a Globe Mills I'll make a motion to approve thank

you motion by Connie I'll second that John thank you all right motion by Connie seconded by John for letter support for the globe Mills uh roll call votes John yes Connie Yes Rick Rick Mani yes Joyce yes and Jason Bard and rocki yes Ed thank you very much I will have that letter over to you uh before the application deadline thank you uh I believe you need a document by January

9th uh for that would be great but I appreciate uh your support and happy holidays same happy holidays thank you same to you all right um item 6A uh we have first Bristol Corp uh regarding a continued letter support for the Dominican Academy St Katherine's Convent building at 37 Park Street good evening hi everybody hello how are you I think I've ever had the room to myself in the hot seat you Fe you feel

deserted yeah usually there at least a few how's everybody doing how are you good good thank you for uh squeezing Us in my pleasure um so project uh Jamie car first Bristol corporation uh one of the owners of 37 Park Street former uh Catherine's Convent and Dominican Academy building there you go that with the world can hear you yes thank you um since the last time we've spoken the project uh has not changed um our

application is still for an office product within the building um we've gone along the process um going that route but there's been a lot of changes it was going to be for St an's hospital to move in Administration there increase uh clinical space with San changing over and having some Financial issues they were bought out by lifespan another hospital group um so we've been trying to figure out some

different ideas in the project um we're looking at a residential component um rather than an office component but to dat we haven't changed anything so as of right now we're still going forward with the office we've got some uh application in front of the zba for residential use but we haven't gotten approved and haven't committed to that so as of right now just to keep going at the the path

we're going um and then if that does come to fruition we'll go for a modification of the application okay yeah so that'll keep you in the queue correct exactly yeah that's uh good we're good discussing project anything we do I mean you know inside might change slightly in terms of how the rooms or walls are set up but outside still would remain the same in in that area is is a good choice also so you

know both applications are really good y exactly can understand that I would be curious of the comments from um so if if if residential is the way you're going on that or you know down the line and this is for a later I guess a later discussion but i' would be curious once um those plans are submitted over to MHC what their comments are for some of the larger spaces I guess like the um I want

to say it's the chapel so yes is a twole chapel there's a gym um most likely you probably can't use you know divide those up as easily into rooms it might have to be some kind of um Sports type space or you know common common room movie room type something like that I've seen that happen a few times where projects were plans were denied on that aspect because of you know significant spaces being carved up

so that's what what I'm I'm curious about that but um and that's what we're trying to look at now in the process of what walls you know with the classrooms were a lot smaller then some were bigger so how do you get those walls to line up or existing walls to line up you know hallways are easy U comedy areas are easy but the the bigger spaces are tough to figure out

yeah great um I have no questions otherwise you have any no I just I'm just thinking all your allocation goes for Designing well that's that's that's where we're at now it's you know a whole new design with new new layout so before we submit we want to make sure we it it works it makes sense yeah who's the I forgot who's the architect again um it was a a separate company now we've got U

MB design um company out of New Hampshire done done more residential stuff sure okay all right well if we look for a motion I'll make a motion to approve a first Bristol call I'll second I just want to thank you for getting through this yes thank you especially after the bankruptcy issues with the hospital that had to be worse than a hurricane yeah yeah well glad the hospital's still there and still still

operating seems like operating as status quo which is great yeah yeah um and that especially too I'm thinking along the lines too since it's part of Brown University Health now um which I'm curious if that would make the hospital teaching Hospital which might make residential more in demand in that neighborhood I don't know that's a no I I I agree yeah um all right so I have thank you Joyce for but um so I have a

motion by Rick and second by John for letter of support for Domin Academy roll call votes John yep Connie Yes Rick Rick Mancini yes Joyce Joyce yes and Jason bushard nocki yes thank you everybody thank you very much thank you holiday to have a nice holiday season thanks for coming down thanks for having me thank you um so we next uh item seven um this is regarding um election of officers for

2025 um just to get a jump on it so we can start the new year um we have the chair Vice chair secretary and the commission representative for the community preservation commission all right well there's no question we should keep you as chair so I will make a motion I'll second that motion and I accept thank you uh for chair um are there any any comments from John and Joyce on this okay

um all right so uh okay we have a motion by the comment is do you accept I do accept yes um so I have a motion by Rick second by Connie I accept for chair for 2025 um R Hall vote John yes Connie Yes Rick Mancini yes Joyce yes and do I vote Jason yes all right um for the vice chair um do I have any nominations for the vice

chair I I do nominate Rick to continue serving as Vice chair I seconden that all right and I will accept thank you Rick very gracious all right um so um all right so I made the motion for uh Rick as Vice chair and John seconded uh roll call vote John yes Connie Yes Rick Rick man yes chice yes and Jason bard yes um for secretary um I let's see so it's currently Elizabeth um I nominate

Elizabeth to be and I'll second that in absente um I did speak with her she's not able to attend tonight um and on the if she was nominated again she said she does accept uh um so um unfortunately she had um she was not able to attend tonight um uh so yes she has provided a very vital service with um getting everything in line um so I so motion by Connie seconded by Rick uh for Elizabeth

for secretary John yes Connie Yes Rick Rick Mancini yes Joyce yes and Jason Gard rocki yes thank you everyone um and for the commission representative for the CPC I nominate Rick Rick I'll that okay and I'll accept the nomination thank you RI it would be a bad time for you not to be there mid mid funding season um so I have a motion by Connie uh seconded by John for Rick on the CPC

uh roll call John yes Connie Yes Rick man yes Joyce yes and Jason Bard and Rocky yes thank you everyone so um I will let Allison know in City Clark I also have to update the MHC which there's no changes but um they just so they can have that listed on their database um regarding item eight the meeting schedule for 2025 currently have it set for every third Tuesday of the

month does that work six o'clock start keep it the same um so what I will do is I will work with Carrie to book all the uh book the rooms each month with what I did in January I believe that that caused a little uh uh uh a little uh not controversy but a little um little hiccup in uh with some of the other boards on the weeks that there's a

holiday on Monday um oops that's all right that's let's just keep it Tuesdays um all right so I do that yeah that works so I um and I'll keep it the Tuesdays even if there's a a Monday holiday I'll just keep it as the Tuesday um so I will work with Carrie we can pre-book the space um all right so um we vote on so we're going to accept the

you get a motion to accept then to do we have to keep this do we need to vote on I mean we do okay all right so this is a um a vote to keep the schedule as is every third Tuesday of the month at 6 PM in person I'll make a motion to keep the um the meetings as they are scheduled now the third Tuesday 25 third Tuesday of the month and I'll

second that motion okay thank you I have motion by Connie seconded by Rick uh to keep the schedule as is for 2025 every third Tuesday of the month at 6m uh roll call John yes Connie Yes Rick yes Joyce yes and Jason bardi yes thank you we're moving right along tonight um all right so next up um initiative for 2025 um there's a few different things here um

so regarding um I have uh for 9A we have community outreach um 9B promoting the register of significant structures um 9 C is the annual uh possibly creating an annual letter to the property owners within the 40c I think we've discussed that in the past and then 9d which is discussion of any additional initiatives um so we can just create this as a open open discussion for this um

um uh regarding Outreach one thing that um I did reach out to Pam Li Liberty regarding um that talk that she would like to have regarding architectural styles to and the differences between historic districts with uh Realtors um she has a uh she has access to a very large community of Realtors and I think that would be extremely beneficial um so we have that I did ask her again for a

date so she will give us one one and we'll get that going um so any other things we could think about um May is Preservation month um so just to add on just to add to that with the discussion to the Realtors the national or not National but I guess the local representative for this region of Realtors is on Eastern Avenue main office you might want to send a notification to them when it's held that

way they can can put it out to their membership that's great get a larger membership deployment there sure okay and depending depending on how many people we get we can always um we have room in here um or you know if necessary we can have it elsewhere but um if we don't have uh if we don't have a full board um it wouldn't constitute as a public meeting I think so I believe

Elizabeth and I had gone around um parts of the city in the fall to take some photos um and now that the leaves are gone like we can probably get some better photos to show um different styles and features so um okay that's good I didn't know that about that um all right so contact thank you um um I know the preservation Society will probably be doing things down

through the month of May um I did speak with um Petty rioo with Viva Fall River about doing something with the trolley tours um and um I know she has something coming up in May um with I forget the name of the program um but um we can probably I can reach out to her to see if there's any other type of Engagement that we can get with the public on that

um uh trying to think what else um we have a Facebook page it's not utilized enough um admittedly it's very difficult to keep up on that and post regular regularly um so if that's something we can focus on maybe or add to our plate I guess um and we've got that we got Gregory melar who he and his people were going to present or or showcase like a YouTube presentation or YouTube

program I'm really not sure we we made the presentation to us and they're anxious to get involved with the historic commission at no cost to the city nor us to take all of our data and and put it on this system and and that would be again open to the general public uh we should see if that works uh and it it it could be either under the C the opes umbrella or a standalone historic

commission feature you know I I I don't know where that would look we'd have to discuss that with the city and the attorney they're pretty the and um the IT department is pretty tight when it comes to allowing things to work within the city website um so um as it is it's just to get outside links or links to outside pages is difficult even trying to link things over to the macus database with the MHC

or anything with the MHC for that matter um they like to try to keep everything within in house um so I don't know about an external database but um I mean they see they are if if if it's approved by the city and the City attorney uh then it might be a good thing to do get us we then be independent with our own little YouTube whatever you want to Facebook whatever

you want to call it a program and they're willing to put all of our data run there that would go well for the Steep Rook buo reserve and 40c expansion we could put all of that on there I have um I have reached out to the IT department to see what their capabilities are um and I have cleaned up a lot on the historical commission's page um because there's a lot of uh

forms that were outdated very outdated um so I've updated quite a bit um I do need to streamline some of it especially the register of significant structures I think the the process is not clear as to how how that works and what the approval process is so I'm looking to see if we can get like um especially for that like uh any I want to say like a not collateral but like a some sort of

diagram that shows like the approval process I guess um and then cleaning up um because everything is on a drop down down menu on or with a link a hyperlink on the web page um so it's just a matter of especially for Steep Brook because there's a lot of files there um so I'll I'll ask them again to see like how once we can set that up um thank you for that um and regarding the

register of significant structure so yes um I it would be great if we can promote that more and that's something we can do easily on our Facebook page um um and there's no harm in nominating a building um and uh especially if it's income producing then they especially if it's like a or if it's for a nonprofit or income producing for that matter you know they would be eligible for certain

benefits of that that nature um and then also protected for six months for for demolition um but um and the register that we have um been updating some of the information on there too just filling in the blanks with like U like from the form BS for the um the highlands local historic district when those were done about 10 years ago um any information from there that needs to be updated onto the register I've been

updating that um filling in Architects and building dates and things like that um so but yeah um maybe in one of the future meetings I'll have like a a chart prepared that we can look at to see how we can streamline that maybe um a letter to the property owners was that before my time on the historic district commission was that something that was produced I know we talked about

it we talked about it we did it and then it was supposed to go out and I think it was Carrie That was supposed to mail them out and I'm not 100% sure if they ever got mailed out okay and I don't have a template or anything the last batch no the letter you're talking about like an annual letter yeah an annual letter to 4C like when because many homes get sold

and yeah oh I you know I I don't I don't think it went out I don't think it it occurred I think a letter did did it did get put together yeah it did get put together but I don't I think supposed to go out um and I think Carrie was mailing them out and I'm not sure what happen after that okay yeah neither am I but I I don't know yeah and I don't have in

Kristen's files from didn't I didn't get anything no so I we can draft a letter um I think we should absolutely uh because there's there have been a few changes um and I think one the church the church Little White Church oh yes next door yeah um there and I believe like holy Union I believe uh the compant might be changing another house on Rock Street a significant house on rock rock Street

changed um and then just to also let them know of the design guidelines um yeah okay um so that would be good um and we can even include in there the process of obtaining a permit and what things we reviewed like a very brief synopsis of that um okay um I wonder if maybe even on the letter there's like a I'm just thinking out loud loud um a hyp

u a QR code that will just link them over to the design guidelines on the website could probably do that yeah a letter um okay um okay uh yeah we can we can get something drafted before the next meeting and then get that over to Carrie um and it should be pretty easy to get the address I mean the addresses are all there so it's just just has to pull them

um okay um any other initiatives any ideas um what about neighborhood groups well you mean to attend yeah well that's always a good idea um but that would be just something we could make ourselves available to I think most are aware that there is the North End is uh now starting to uh come alive again they've been dormant for a while and I've been attending so uh so that that that should be okay I I

don't think the Highland group I think that's dead in the water yeah at this point um but the North End is also taking in the western part of the um I'm sorry the eastern part of of Fall River also it's taking a whole geographical area yeah it's sort of s of merged in a bit and the south end and Flint those are two very active neighborhood groups yeah um Maplewood also is active

Maplewood yes thank you and I I know the chair to that for that group very well okay so um that's great uh because that's a good way of promoting pushing the uh register to um and then because I we had a schedule what happened to that like I think it needs to be updated the neighborhood group schedule one of the things that's Fallen I I think maybe by the wayside is that

uh groups like The zoning board the planning board the parks department we would have a representative from this board just sort of get the agendas so that if something came up they get email to us exactly so we would be able to see the agenda and say oh I think I'll attend tonight because there's something going to affect it I did reach out I did send uh we had divied that up before and

I had emailed each uh board with the request um so you might be getting emails well I get the pox board every month I get zoning you get zoning I get zoning um I think you get some too yeah and I think Joyce you get some as well so there are some that um they uh they don't have a mailing list uh so they told me flat out that they don't email

them out to a group of people um so but they are all if we have an idea of what the schedules are we can go on um the city's website I believe you could even put an alert on the city's website to um when things are posted um they have to be posted within 48 Hours of um 48 Hours uh before the meeting for open meeting law um ex excluding H holidays um so yeah I

believe and I have my yeah I have the list back here when we have a signed every one um uh but yeah the meetings of the neighborhood groups um I'll take a look on I think there's a commun uh a neighborhood p uh link or a tab on the city's website that has that information there I don't know um I can take a look though but we have one two

three four of the groups and I'll check about I don't think Highlands is active anymore the high the lower Highlands lower Highlands is oh the upper Highlands is is merging with the North End got it so the upper Highlands the North End and and the whole eastern part of the you know the buo reserve area that whole area is all appears to be falling under one umbrella okay okay that's

good um and then uh anything else for initiatives no um we do nothing go ahead what's up I'm sorry do you have anything else for initiatives uh not really but um I I have a couple of emails that I would like to send to you okay um not for discussion here because it's at the end of the meeting but um I have a couple of emails to send to you and to Alex Silva

okay all right thank you we can we can talk about that um uh item 10 the creation of the 2024 annual report um so I since last year it took a while for that to get going but I will have so now that I have a template um I will get cracking on that after the New Year um so we have that hopefully before the uh the January meeting um so

we can approve that because uh now that we're certified I do have to send it over to MHC so they have a copy of that um they just they want to see us making basically following protocol um so I will do that um and I'll send it out for any reviews um regarding register significant structures I don't have anything there um old business um so number 11 the Olstead Park adoption on Highland Avenue

Maple Street High Street uh Rick do you have an update no I don't I but I promise to have it for the January meeting okay thank you thank you um item 12 the Steep Rook bio Reserve bio Reserve Form B update uh yes uh actually Tuesday I attended the Roger Williams University presentation the students uh presented their projects for step Brook uh great job again just as as concise and precise as the last set that that

they presented last uh year uh and they're going to Professor Styles is going to pull something together and she spoke to the students and they're willing to present here oh good uh I don't know what whether that's going to be March April or May but as soon as she puts things together the difficulty here is that she's going on sabatical she's on sabatical now she was going on last

week o over the weekend so once she gets back she'll pull things together but so that's good and uh the Steep Brook uh that's that's really good Mike and myself and I we met with uh the pal people uh yesterday today uh they've done all of their research and we went out we looked at a few sites that they had questions with uh they've got the maps with all of the locations and

photos and now it's a matter of their their I guess VP person who's in charge pulling all that together so uh they're looking to fully present probably in May or June and I I threw out the question of maybe presenting to us and that doesn't seem to be an issue so we might be able to get a presentation here uh but that that's just what's going to happen in the future they're they're

still you know trying to condense everything so we should be pretty well completed with both projects I would say by June that's great it is great fast over there wow and especially on the bioer I could just yeah that's that's incredible um great um we looked at just this is off this is just chatter but maybe interesting uh Mike is there's a a sistern and it's all encapsulated in stone uh but it it

cannot be that old because it's got concrete cap so they're thinking maybe in the early 1900s But the irony of that is that when you look in this it's spring fed but there's this fine fine white sand and and uh bubbles huge bubbles coming up so there's a gas in the ground and the bubbles it's bubbling Spring Water along with this these gassy bubbles that shoot out it is the most amazing thing

you you think you're yeah you think you're in Yellowstone Park you know it's a it's a a good size opening I would say maybe 10 foot by 20 oh wow and it's uh oblong and and it drains it's got a running stream out of there so the flow of water that's coming out of the ground is good these huge white fine fine fine white is this paper sand coming out of

there where is this it's in the bio Reserve okay it's off grounds the the general public okay but it's one of the documented locations and it's something you wouldn't want the general public to get in and stop destroying you know and that that's the beauty of what we're doing now with the bio Reserve it's going to get documented it's going to be presented and it's it's going to be put

on the mass historic and on the pox uh uh property zoning and uh Heritage so that's it's going to be a real coup for the city when that gets put together great and I didn't realize um the bio reserve the land uh it's they're also affiliated with the city the water department I guess that operate so they are affiliated with the trustees of the reservation up in they're based out of

Boston or ipswitch they have hundreds of properties across the state um but and and whether they're uh just land easements or um actual historic sites that are open to the public um so that's I mean that's significant because it's it's like the historic New England the other um organization but I mean it's it's reputable that's fantastic I didn't realize that there was the the relationship between the city and them

so that's great yeah it is the deeper I'm I'm getting drawn into it because that's not my forte but it is so interesting yeah it is really drags you right in gets really interested in what's going on there yeah and ined and an area of the city that doesn't see a lot of people um no thank you that's great um anything else for the for the update uh no you might want to just

embellish the adarac farm a little bit oh yes so we um a number of us were able to go visit in different turns um to go visit the adonic farm um with Mike laaser and um f furland and then um oh goodness I can't remember her name from the architectural firm um but um so regarding the property and which was F fascinating what how intact it is and what the plans are for it um

so I am curious what I'm curious about some of the designs that they have chosen for the barn with the windows um only because of I mean they're not going through MHC per se but that's as as the comments were at that meeting it they might and they might be going to various maybe CPC for funding and things and and a couple of the items as right Jason's suggestion uh leads to is there were

some things changes they wanted to make to the bond that would have historically removed it from that opportunity so uh the comment was made check with the msh uh you know MHC I'm sorry yeah uh and and get get that squir away before you make any major changes I think they they Paul took that into consideration big time he he woke up with that one so I I I think they'll they'll be verifying

those changes for that's good I mean I I mean it would be great to get some additional Lighting in there but I don't know if placing that many windows on the structure is the way right um and and putting in that additional door in the back so that you can view the river I mean walk around the bond right you know get in the terrain you not that's going to change the the complete nature of

theond well they want to put a big deck on the back not connected to the building though well connected but not structurally reliant on the building right right right and that's been done too in uh Newport at the breakers The Visitor Center that's there um the foundation of the visitor center is resting on um it's like it's it's above a a Subterranean um subterran uh uh boiler plant and the the building is not

resting on that it's actually cancer levered over um but it's awfully close to that historic resource you're going to S sry you going to say something no oh okay so what was your take John on that meeting I thought it was informative I think it's nice I think you made a good point with you know some of the changes uh all the windows and the doors I mean certainly it's going to detract

significantly from the historical relevance of of what it is getting rid of the whole like uh Second Story in there where the hay was I think that you know I was actually surprised when they said that because all the windows they wanted to add I think were on the second floor and they want to get rid of the second floor so but it's cool and you know to get that into something that the

public can use and enjoy I think is a really positive thing absolutely and that and that property is surveyed as part of the bio Reserve Steve Brook yes yep yes so um the cemetery that's in the back might be interesting to because I think that falls under a different form uh not a Form B or it might be is it not area but it might be um there's one was

that the d d it might be yeah um and so because they'll have to document the stones and so forth so that's a that's another step but yeah um when you said that there's a cemetery in the back like oh that's it kind of changes slightly it's just a different survey process but yeah um great um all right so let's see uh item 13 um Bank Street Armory update uh there was a meeting with the

committee on Finance on December 3rd uh 2024 um I was invited as well as Alex Silva from the preservation Society um there was a resolution that was made um at a past city council meeting um I believe it was from Council president um CRA regarding an update on the property uh so they can update city council and um so the city administrator Seth Akin was um updating City Council

on um there's a group that is interested in buying it I believe there I think it was that day they received their costs um a cost estimate um so the mayor was working with or somebody was going to be working with that group to figure out um you know what that means and um if they can get more locally based numbers on the rehab of that building um so not too much has not not too much

information has been made because nothing has this is there still in an exploratory phase at this point um but uh there was a topic that was brought up um regarding what the historical commission and the preservation Society can do in the meantime um such as doing um getting uh uh an updated feasibility study or a structural assessment on the building um so we will be working with

the preservation Society to look at you know if that's something that we can do that help the project along with this group that might be interested in buying it they'll have to do the same thing but we at least we'll have that updated form or that updated um report um and uh but I believe they also U uh I forgot who it was in city council they also don't want us to start work on

something if the building might be sold um but it's a nonprofit um so they will be likely going after Grant funds uh to rehab the structure and I would almost think that that mppf funding is available to do some evaluation of the property also which would give you you know more up to-date idea of what to do exactly Direction yep so um is the building weather tight it is supposedly now supposedly this being

told that it is weather typ they did repair the roof on the upper the upper roof over the the head house so I know the CPC funds I think covered the middle roof uh in the past and then just recently they worked on the upper roof to secure that because there are some leaks and the windows quote unquote been closed up and sealed not back to their original but sealed make them watertight so um there

was discussion about also installing heat into the building but there's no the furnace that's in there there's no way that is not that can be an operation but um just to kind of Safeguard the interior some more over the winter but I think for the deterioration and I believe they made repairs in the back on the um the drill Hall where there are some issues with the roof like the Slate is good but it's

the sill um that not the S the um is the water getting in between the two sections of the building I don't think so uh from my understanding there there shouldn't um there isn't the there was an area on the upper head house roof that uh water was coming in because it it's there's a Ravine and it's coming in one area on the the I guess the fourth floor um so they fixed that but I'm sure

it was just a temporary fix that needs to that just to prevent it um but I guess during their exploratory phase the the company that the organization that's looking at buying it just uh discovered that the drill Hall doesn't there's not a full Foundation underneath the drill Hall it's dirt like not the entire drill Hall but like a significant area which is interesting yeah um just fascinating yeah

a very small crawl space that's um so whether that you know what that means in terms of you know their weight requirements for the organization that's moving in um yeah but uh the other thing too um they will be also working with their architect will be working with um I believe MHC um because I did mention that because of the restrictions that are on the property um it would be

beneficial to work with may see uh or and we can also reach out too if necessary to determine what um the deed restrictions um like how set in stone those are um for any type of work that they want to do um so it's moving along um but they were supposed to have an update uh regarding the organization's funding or finances with the project at their next meeting which I think actually might be going on right

now um so I will wait to hear an upate on that um Highlands local historic district expansion um so I have ready for carry the so the updated add oh sorry the amended addresses um those the list has been finished I have the material I just had to bring it over to Carrie they're going to be getting the first surveys that we sent out in July just changed the dates um so they'll be

getting that um with a anticipated response date by January 31st and it's only 17 houses um and one Church um and then the second round those will be going out right after that um so do apologize on the delay in getting these out um but that letter has a QR code that will bring them over to a Google doc or Google form Google form um which will have all the it'll have the um

attachments on there the uh there's a difference form that came from the MHC uh along with um the questionnaire that they can answer and it all for it all fills into a um uh Auto generates into a spreadsheet so we have the responses so I think that we might get a better response from there I'm not sending um I'm basically it's almost like three letters so there's the the original

package that we sent back out back in July that's going to the 17 new houses um a another round of surveys to the previous round that um that did not reply and then third letter is just thank you for we've received it we're still processing information to the 33 houses uh property owners that have replied um and that there will be an update forthcoming um so that's that's that if we need to vote on the letters

at all or I can email it out I don't know I I don't think so because we''ve already worked yeah I'll send it out this work in progress to the 17 added addresses does that have the code on it it'll have the code too so that it'll be an updated let up it upd and then the second round to non yeah it'll be the same letter just with the update with

the QR and then um uh but I'm if they want to send it back paper mail they can do yeah yeah um and I'll give the access to the form also to Carrie so she has direct access to it so it's not just sitting on us um so she's recording it because the um all the paper surveys were mailed out to her uh were returned to her um so that's what I have for the

update I um regarding trying to think uh one of the properties and it was tough how to like I don't know how how it would fall in one of the properties in the amended District or the target area is the I think it's Union Methodist on Highland and here Street um because that was a that's a double lot and there's a house in the back that's not it still has that address but it's um on

Highland Avenue but it's almost on a separate lot so I only sent it for the church building itself um which is still fairly it's newish um and then I went um trying to think what was the other one oh and then there's the bacon laot Highland Avenue so but um yeah but anyway so that's that um so hopefully we get a better response with a QR code I think hopefully that might

be um and basically it's just a drop down and then there's like a bubble check um so they click on their address or they do a drop down and you know what addresses are you representing or they'll fill in the address sorry and then that'll fill um it'll autof fill into a a spreadsheet so that should be up and rolling hopefully by the end of January we'll have more responses um and I believe that's

when um when will would the the preservation Society had applied for that grant for the form bees um and I I believe they did they get three um three quotes do you know uh not yet no but okay no they did not yet but that's that's okay we yes okay okay all right just want to make sure that that's still a thing so okay no it's it's okay it's okay okay um because that would take

that would be a huge huge uh weight off of our shoulders to have them handle doing a Form B survey um okay um so that is any questions on anything at all all right so that is there was one one uh quoted yep number that came through which sort of flies it's very difficult today to get contract practice to give you those kinds of quotes when it's a maybe project right okay so it's

extremely difficult not easy exactly so we have to we have to be a little judicious with with those requests okay okay okay um I don't have anything else um so with that said um 7:06 um if I can get a mo oh so actually the next meeting will be before I forget um the next meeting will be on uh Tuesday January 21 that'll be our first meeting of the New

Year time is flying um so it's 706 may I get a motion to adjourn I'll motion to adjourn thank you I'll second the motion thank you I have a motion by Connie second and by Rick to aurn at 7:06 roll call John yes Connie Yes Rick Rick Manon yes Choice yes and Jason bardi yes thank you everyone