Heritage Commission

CITY OF LACONIA HERITAGE COMMISSION JULY 10, 2019 MINUTES I. Call to Order: Jane Whitehead called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. II. Present: J. Whitehead (Chair), D. Duffy, C. Tokarz, M. Sweet, M. Haynes Staff: D. Trefethen (Director) D. Wood (recording the meeting) III. Minutes: The Minutes of the meeting on June 12, 2019, were reviewed. C. Tokarz made a motion to approve the Minutes. D. Duffy seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously. IV. Redevelopment of Laconia State School: Public meeting July 16, 2019, 7:00 PM: J. Whitehead said she has been attending these meetings and will attend the July 16th meeting. Discussion at these meeting is about athletic fields. C. Tokarz said there was an article in the Sunday newspaper about “Does your house have a history?” She suggested maybe the Commission could invite Andrew Cushing to give a talk. D. Duffy made a motion to ask Andrew Cushing to speak to the Heritage Commission. The motion was seconded by M. Sweet and passed unanimously. V. St. Joseph’s Church: Attorney Christopher Boldt got up and said he had been recently hired to represent the Diocese. He said that J. Whitehead should recuse herself because of public comments she has made to the media. C. Tokarz said she had written a letter to the editor and also to the Pope. Attorney Boldt said both J. Whitehead and C. Tokarz should recuse themselves. J. Whitehead noted that if this happened they would not have a quorum. C. Tokarz said the City Attorney should be consulted. J. Whitehead asked D. Trefethen to arrange a meeting with the City Attorney. Attorney Boldt also discussed the e-mail from Rob Eib, Director of Real Estate and Construction, Diocese of Manchester, requesting a postponement of discussion of the Demolition application until the September meeting. M. Haynes said maybe the Commission should table discussion of St. Joseph’s Church. J. Whitehead said items IV & V of the agenda will be tabled until the September meeting. All Commissioners were in agreement. VI. Area Studies: C. Tokarz said she has 2 names of applicants for doing the area study who actually do area studies. J. Whitehead asked C. Tokarz to contact the applicants and see what they charge so the Commission could see if it’s in the budget. VII. Adjournment: D. Duffy made a motion to adjourn. C. Tokarz seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5:33 pm.