Meeting House – Preserve & Revitalize Project – MEETING-NOTES
Date: MONDAY, OCT 2,2023
Time: 2:00 PM In person at Town Office (no Zoom available)
Attendees: David Carter, Mary Harwood, Michael Carroll, Pamela Surprenant, Sandy Gregg.
Absent: Linda Seavey, Carol Tremble, Terry Robinson, Sarah Kjelleren
1. Call to Order at 2:00 by David C.
2. PHASE 1
Updates:
• VT Heavy Timber requested to revisit the Meeting House tomorrow (Tues. Oct 3rd) at 8:00 AM to double check on framing. Arrangements have been made with the Grannies. Thank you Judy D. and Ethlyn D. for agreeing to meet us at the building at 8:00 AM with keys/fobs.
• As a result of the 2nd visit by VHT there may be some updates that need to be made by the Architect. Miles J-VHT will talk directly with Rebecca A. – Arnold & Scangas and inform her of his findings.
• Invoice #955760 from Vermont Heavy Timber for $850 for inspection work: Motion to approve payment by Michael C. and second by David C., the vote was unanimous. David C. will give the invoice to Town Treasurer, Kim Julow for payment.
Timeline: Spring 2025 for work to begin. Possibly late fall 2024 but doubtful.
3. Grants Report – Mary Harwood
• Mary successfully submitted an on-line State Historic Preservation Grant application on “Timber-Framing” historic restoration of 1816 SHMH. This is a match grant: Grant funds = $20,000 + Town match of $20,000 = Project total $40,000. Match funds are already in-hand…thank you voters! The Town is the Applicant with Town Administrator, Sue Arguin as grant administrator, and David C. as Authorized Grant Signer.
• Idea” Tribute Giving = honoring someone living or not…get quote why you support eh SHMH in this way.
• Status of National Historic Registry Application: the following email was received by Mary H. and Sandy G. from Jenna Lapachinski, PTVT:
On Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 10:02 AM Jenna Lapachinski <[email protected]> wrote:
Mary and Sandy,
I want to let you know that we did not make the cut-off for the October Advisory Council Meeting. I am so sorry for this delay; I did not keep close enough tabs on the status of the consultation process with the Division for Historic Preservation, and there was just too much to try to fit in before the required 30-day notification period.
I did connect with Devin Colman about the new timeline and he said that once reviewed and approved by the ACHP, we’ll make any final edits that might be necessary and then he sends it off to NPS. Upon receipt, NPS has 45 days to review the nomination and list the property. The ACHP meeting is on January 18, so if everything is sent to NPS by February 1 the listing should be done by March 15 or so.
We have a new staff person who will be working with me on the Bruhn Grants and some of our other federal grant programs. I will be passing the National Register workload over to her so she can keep closer tabs on the process. There were benchmarks in the agreement, I assumed they were being met, and things appeared to be on track. I think it was just a miscommunication between Brian and me about who was handling the consultation process with the Division. Nicole will be a huge help in moving this along and making sure this and future nominations meet the planned timelines.
Devin now has the draft and he’ll provide an initial round of comments. We’ll just make sure the nomination is in excellent shape so there are minimal final edits and a quick turnaround after the Advisory Council review.
Looking back over the previous year’s schedules, CDS requests are typically due in early March. PTV can write a letter of support for the South Hero project, which can include an update that the nomination has been submitted to the National Park Service. The district should be listed by the subcommittee deadlines if they follow a schedule similar to 2023.
This shouldn’t delay the submission or review of the plans, but I know it’s very disappointing. I’m so sorry for letting you down.
We’ll right the ship so you’re in good shape for the CDS submission.
I am working “remotely” this morning in an area with terrible cell service and have a string of meetings this afternoon, but am around all day tomorrow if you’d like to chat.
Thanks so much,
Jenna
Jenna Lapachinski
Field Services
Preservation Trust of Vermont
4. Public Comment & Announcements;
• End of Year Donor Letter: Mary H. stated that in order to get the South Hero Foundation year-end Donor letter to hit the mail 10 days before Thanksgiving the letter has to be at the printers 2 weeks ahead of time. That makes the deadline for the letter Oct 30th. Mary H. will start a draft for our next meeting
• Vermont Heavy Timber proposal list of items included: Sandy G. offered to create a one-page sheet to add to the Donor Packet.
• Brief Discussion about creating a sheet of quotes about what the Meeting House would be used for as some people are having trouble understanding the term “flexible-use space”. Sandy G. will contact: Rec Commission, Let’s Pretend Catering, Jim Julow for performance ideas.
• David C. described a possibility of a new building being put up parallel to the Highway Dept, one story with partial loft for storage, ~ 80 X 30 SF to serve the Grannies. David met with Robin Way to measure the area, Robin appeared to support the idea as a possibility.
5. Next Meeting: Monday, Oct 23,2023 at Town Office – 2:00 PM
6. Adjourned 3:05 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Sandy Gregg, Scribe
South Hero Meeting House Committee
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