Historical Commission

Chicopee Historical Commission Voting Record and Minutes The Historical Commission of the City of Chicopee public hearing for Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 5:30 PM, in the Department of Planning & Development and Conservation, 4 th Floor, City Hall Annex, 274 Front St., Chicopee, MA 01013 and via Zoom. Meeting was called to order at 5:30PM, by Vice Chair Louise Osetek Historical Commission attendance: Member Present Absent Excused Ray Hoess-Brooks X Chair Louise Osetek X Vice Chair Linda Menard-Mruk X Clerk Kathryn Gawron X Ronald Chimelis X Joseph Stadnicki X Lisa Hagar X Planning Staff attendance: Member Present Absent Excused Lee Pouliot, X Director James Dawson, X Development Manager Patrick Collins X Nick Kiser X Item 1: Commission Elections – In February 2025 the Commission voted to continue holding Commission Elections in the month of September. The slate of officers consists of Ray Hoess-Brooks, Chair; Louise Osetek, Vice Chair; and Linda Menard-Mruk, Clerk Motion to keep the Board positions unchanged was made by Linda-Menard Mruk and seconded by Louise Osetek. Vote was 5-0 to keep the elected positions of the Board unchanged. Member Approve Deny Table Abstain Louise Osetek X Linda Menard-Mruk X Kathryn Gawron X Ronald Chimelis X Joseph Stadnicki X Item 2: Presentation – Commissioner Ronald Chimelis will provide the Commission with his presentation on the City of Chicopee that he intends to present to the Chicopee Public Schools. Ronald Chimelis presented his outline for the proposed school presentations on the History of Chicopee. The plan is to hold the presentations at each school. Mr. Chimelis will contact School Superintendent Marcus Ware for approval. Presentations will be ready after Christmas break. They will be tailored to the audience; and they will be approximately 25-30 minutes in length. The presentations may also be extended to the Senior Center and the Chicopee Historical Society. Item 3: Letters – Ronald Chimelis and Joseph Stadnicki will present their letters to the Commission for review, collaboration, and approval at the October 14, 2025 meeting. The letters once approved will be sent to residents informing them that they reside in a historic district and provide information regarding the Historical Commission process if they are interested in doing any work/rehab on their homes. Ronald Chimelis read his letter to the Commission. Joseph Stadnicki will have his letter ready for the October meeting and plans to email a copy to the commissioners upon completion. Item 4: Historic Property Individual Presentations – At the June 10, 2025 Commission Meeting, each Commissioner was assigned a historic property in the City to research and be ready to provide a short presentation on at the September meeting. Commissioners will present their findings on their assigned property to the Commission. Since Raymond Hoess-Brooks was excused from the meeting, the Commission decided to table this item to the October 14, 2025 meeting. Motion to table to October 14, 2025 was made by Louise Osetek and seconded by Ronald Chimelis. Vote was 5-0 to table to October 14, 2025. Member Approve Deny Table Abstain Louise Osetek X Linda Menard-Mruk X Kathryn Gawron X Ronald Chimelis X Joseph Stadnicki X Item 5: Minutes from June 10, 2025 and August 25, 2025 Special Meeting June 10, 2025 Motion to approve the minutes from June 10, 2025 was made by Kathryn Gawron and seconded by Joseph Stadnicki. Vote was 5-0 to approve. Member Approve Deny Table Abstain Louise Osetek X Linda Menard-Mruk X Kathryn Gawron X Ronald Chimelis X Joseph Stadnicki X August 25,2025 Motion to approve the minutes from August 25, 2025 Special Meeting was made by Ronald Chimelis and seconded by Kathryn Gawron. Vote was 5-0 to approve. Member Approve Deny Table Abstain Louise Osetek X Linda Menard-Mruk X Kathryn Gawron X Ronald Chimelis X Joseph Stadnicki X Item 6: Discussion/New Business Wren Wood reported on his series of history walks that were held in July 2025. He presented ideas about a possible History Trail to be held in the future. He donated the narrative of the History Walks to be used by the Historical Commission. He also suggested that Ronald Chimelis include the specific standards from the Massachusetts History and Social Science Frameworks in his upcoming school presentations. Item 7: Adjournment – Next regularly scheduled meeting is October 14, 2025. Motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Stadnicki and seconded by Commissioner Gawron. Vote was unanimous to adjourn. Member Approve Deny Table Abstain Louise Osetek X Linda Menard-Mruk X Kathryn Gawron X Ronald Chimelis X Joseph Stadnicki X Meeting adjourned at 6:05 PM.