Heritage Commission

CITY OF LACONIA HERITAGE COMMISSION 5:00 PM City Hall - Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber Accepted October 14, 2020 9/9/2020 - Minutes 1. Call to order Acting Chair Dorothy Duffy called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM 2. Salute to the flag Dorothy Duffy chaired the meeting in Jane Whitehead’s absence and led the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Roll call The following members were present: Mike Sweet, Catherine Tokarz, Dorothy Duffy, Mark Haynes, Lois Kessin Absent: Jane Whitehead Alternate members C. Tokarz and M. Sweet were considered voting members. 4. Recording secretary Kalena Graham 5. Staff in attendance Planning Director Dean Trefethen 6. Acceptance of Minutes from previous meeting 6.I. Acceptance of minutes from August 12 Motion to accept the minutes with the amendments noted made by C. Tokarz, L. Kessin seconded. All voted in favor. 7. City Council Liaison Report Councilor M. Haynes noted that the City recently purchased the St. Joseph campus, specifically the Busiel House and Holy Trinity. 8. Planning Board update Planning Director D. Trefethen stated there is nothing pertinent at the moment. D. Duffy brought up the fact that because she follows the planning board meetings and stays up to date, she was more comfortable with the Elm Street demolition. 9. New business 9.I. Election of Officers The commission discussed membership. M. Sweet will be applying for a full member status. Motion to continue election of officers to October 14 made by L. Kessin, C. Tokarz seconded. All voted  9.I. Election of Officers The commission discussed membership. M. Sweet will be applying for a full member status. Motion to continue election of officers to October 14 made by L. Kessin, C. Tokarz seconded. All voted in favor. 9.II. Demolition permit application: 358 Leighton Ave North The applicants Richard and Beth Compson were present. The applicant has lived at the property for 11 years. Recently they merged with the lot next door. The plan is to demolish the house and build their retirement home. The applicants plan to keep the cottage. The current owners of the cottage still live there and will stay as long as they want. The applicant will be putting in a new shared septic and well for both dwellings. Motion to accept demolition of 258 Leighton Ave made by L. Kessin, M. Sweet seconded. All voted in favor. 10. Old business C. Tokarz asked staff to send out the new demolition application again. C. Tokarz and L. Kessin toured the buildings on Court Street and found old newspapers and magazines that will be given to the Historical Society. She stated there were a lot of unique items still in the building and hoped that someone would be able to salvage the rest. C. Tokarz noted that she called the homeowners who are the recipients of the first City of Laconia Preservation Awards and only had one answer on Simpson Ave expressed their pleasure in receiving the award. She will follow up with a personal letter to each homeowner. C. Tokarz noted that he left a message with Shawna Bentley, attorney from Westcott Law who attended the August Heritage Commission meeting representing Scott Everett, regarding a walk through of the Elm Street buildings and has not heard back from her yet. D. Duffy stated that the Opera House tour was a hit. The building elevator is being built. She noted that the building was important but what was going on inside was just as important. C. Tokarz brought up the question that was raised regarding council members and voting. Planning Director D. Trefethen explained that the Commission has no liaisons, they are all members and allowed to vote per the ordinance. D. Duffy gave a brief history of the Heritage Commission and how it evolved. C. Tokarz noted that M. Haynes actually is the Council liaison as well as a voting member. 11. Other business D. Duffy brought up the fact that the last meeting was tape without their knowledge and the Commissioners preferred that they should have been made aware of this change as this was a new feature to these meetings. Planning Director D. Trefethen apologized for the unawareness and noted that all meetings are taped per the City Manager and have been for many years. D. Duffy had concerns that there are a number of meetings with public hearings with little public attendance and suggested it be posted in more areas around the city. Planning Director D. Trefethen stated there had been no update from Mae Williams yet on the Area Studies she has been hired to provide but as he reported last month, Ms. Williams plans on beginning this project by October. 12. Public comment 13. Adjournment Motion to adjourn the meeting made by L. Kessin, M. Sweet seconded. All voted in favor. 12. Public comment 13. Adjournment Motion to adjourn the meeting made by L. Kessin, M. Sweet seconded. All voted in favor. The meeting adjourned at 5:41 PM Respectfully, K. Graham