Heritage Commission

ACCEPTED MINUTES – JUNE 12, 2024 MEETING 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Marjory Wilkinson called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM. 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Marjory Wilkinson led the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members present: Scott Ringer, Marjory Wilkinson, Jane Whitehead, Mark Haynes. Lois Kessin arrived at 5:13PM. Members absent: None 4. RECORDING SECRETARY Jennifer Place 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Rob Mora, Planning Director 6. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING 6.1. ACCEPTANCE OF MARCH 14TH MINUTES Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked if anyone had time to look through the minutes and Scott Ringer stated he was looking at them right now. Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked if Catherine’s suggestions were in the minutes and Recording Secretary Jennifer Place stated they were not. Scott Ringer asked if they could be added, and Jennifer stated she would add that verbiage to the meeting minutes and would resubmit them at the next meeting. Recording Secretary Jennifer Place asked for the last name of Christina, the person who attended the tour of 1921 Parade Road. She is a member of the Moultonborough Heritage Commission. The Commission did not know her last name. Scott Ringer asked if the quorum definition was based on a 5-member Commission. Chair Marjory Wilkinson said yes. Scott stated that the Commission is now down to 5 full-time members with no alternative. Scott asked if Mark Haynes vote was considered one full vote. Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked Mark Haynes if he’s considered a full-time member and Mark stated yes. Scott Ringer asked about the gentleman who expressed interested at a former meeting in November of 2023. Recording Secretary Jennifer Place stated his name is Chuck Caverra and informed the Commission that she had followed up with him 3 times via email. Jennifer stated Chuck is currently building a home on Shore Drive and is very busy. Jennifer reported that a retired certified arborist came in for a building permit. He just moved to Laconia from Vermont and Jennifer handed him a pamphlet on the Heritage Commission and asked him if he might be interested. Jennifer has not heard back from this new resident as of this meeting date. Scott Ringer asked if the Commission could use some of the budget money to put an advertisement in the newspaper. Recording Secretary Jennifer Place stated there was an advertisement in today’s edition of the Laconia Daily Sun listing vacancies on multiple boards and commissions. Chair Marjory Wilkinson made a motion to accept the minutes as written. Scott seconded the motion with the condition of adding Catherine Tokarz’s letter of resignation with her suggestions. Recording Secretary Jennifer Place asked Chair Marjory Wilkinson if she could get a copy of Catherine’s letter. Chair Marjory Wilkinson stated she would drop off a copy. All members voted in favor. 7. CITY COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT Mark Haynes stated the City Council was knee-deep in the budget process. Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked when the budget would be passed. Mark Haynes stated it could go into the first meeting of July. He believes the Mayor wants it accepted prior to that. Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked about the unused funds. Mark Haynes stated some of the funds were encumbered for the fiscal year 2025. He stated most of the funds were for sewer projects and street repairs. 8. PLANNING BOARD UPDATE Planning Director Rob Mora asked what the Commission would like to know. Jane Whitehead wanted to know if there was a Lakes Region Planning Board meeting on the 17th. She believed they would be discussing the state school project. Rob Mora said the Lakes Region Planning Commission was holding an annual meeting on the 17th and he believed Mayor Andrew Hosmer would be a keynote speaker, but was unsure on his talking points. Rob said he thought there was a good probability the Mayor would highlight the potential possibilities of the state school project. Rob said he heard that the project had fallen through with the current buyer and the State must go back to bid. Jane Whitehead asked if the public is invited to the annual meeting and Rob stated you need to RSVP by June 7th and the ticket cost is $52 each. Scott Ringer asked when will the state school go back to bid? Scott wondered if they would wait until after the election. Lois Kessin arrived at the meeting and was greeted by the Commission. Rob Mora shared that the Bank of NH is going to the Planning Board next month to amend their approval to add different signage, as they’ve rebranded and will need to have the new signs approved. 9. NEW BUSINESS 9.1. TREASURER REPORT Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked what happened to the Heritage Commission funds. She stated the treasurer report she received showed some of the funds were no longer there and wanted to know if any of those funds were encumbered. She noted that in January, the Commission had $4,480.09 and as of May 31st the account now shows $750. She stated there was a donation $3,730, but that is not listed on the report she received from Glenn Smith in Finance. Recording Secretary Jennifer Place stated she would reach out to Glenn and ask about the report discrepancy. Chair Marjory Wilkinson stated she would give Jennifer a copy of those reports. Mark Haynes stated that was such a small amount and the operating budget is millions of dollars, so he didn’t think the Heritage Commission funds had been encumbered. Chair Marjory Wilkinson stated the Commission will revisit this at the next meeting. Mark Haynes asked Rob Mora if Jennifer was going to take care of finding out and Rob stated she would. Rob Mora reminded the Commission that if they want to spend any of the funds in the account, it would need to be presented to Finance by the 21st of the month so they can close out the books of this fiscal year. 10. OLD BUSINESS 10.1. RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE HERITAGE COMMISSION – FIRST DRAFT Chair Marjory Wilkinson stated the Commission found out about a year ago that they had never established their Rules of Procedure. The Commission met on January 9th at the home of Catherine Tokarz where she took the minutes and produced the draft for our Rules of Procedure. There are some highlighted changes, one being that up until now we’ve only elected a chairperson. Marjory went on to read the Rules of Procedure. Section A (Heritage Commission) states the Commission shall consist of no less than 3 members and no more than 7 members. At this point in time we’ve have 5, 4 being community members and 1 being a council person. Scott Ringer asked if this should be changed. Chair Marjory Wilkinson said instead of having 5 members, maybe we should increase that number. Rob Mora said if the Commission wanted to increase the number of members, an evaluation would need to be done. The ordinance reads 5. If you want to increase that, you must go before the City Council. Rob said the Conservation Commission decreased their number a few years ago and they had to go before the City Council. Rob reminded the Commission that when you have more members, your quorum goes up. Rob reminded the Commission that it might be more advantageous to have more alternate members. Lois Kessin asked if there were term limits. Jane Whitehead said there were not. Chair Marjory Wilkinson wondered about why the Heritage Commission isn’t merging with the Historic District Commission. Rob Mora stated that’s another option to look at, but you would have to look at the state statute to see what it allows and we would have to evaluate what we’ve adopted in our current ordinance to figure out the best practice moving forward. Rob stated there are pros and cons to both. They both have slightly different functions and it depends on how you design it. Chair Marjory Wilkinson stated there are lots of communities who’ve gone to that model of merging their Commissions. Durhan was very successful. Jane Whitehead asked what determines the disqualification of a member? Chair Marjory Wilkinson stated an example would be if your uncle was the owner of 1921 Parade Road, then you should not be voting on or signing the demo permit application. Jane Whitehead stated that’s more of a recusal than a disqualification. Lois Kessin stated not showing up to meetings might be means for disqualification. Scott Ringer agreed.  Chair Marjory Wilkinson recalled the suggestion of former member Catherine Tokarz to include a junior or senior from Laconia High School. Perhaps that student can sit as an alternate in case of absence or disqualification of a regular member. Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked if the Commission should elect a vice-chair and possibly a treasurer. Chair Marjory Wilkinson said an ex officio shall not serve as the Chair. Jane Whitehead asked who the ex officio is. She thought it might be Mark Haynes, but Mark stated it was not him. Mark stated this was discussed many times at City Council. Mark stated he was a member of the Heritage Commission and not the ex officio. The Commission agreed to remove the term ex officio. Section D (Officers) shall change the verbiage of “Planning/Code Enforcement Department” to “Planning and or Code Enforcement.” Chair Marjory Wilkinson read through Section E (Schedule of Meetings). Recording Secretary Jennifer Place reminded the Commission that there was no meeting in January. Rob Mora gave the Commission an example of how the Planning Board handles their annual meeting and what that looks like. Each year they set a date (that is recorded in the Rules of Procedure) for the annual meeting when they elect officers. The Planning Board holds their annual meeting in July. The Planning Board does not have a treasurer. The Planning Department manages their budget. However, they do have a vice-chair and a secretary. Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked why the Commission would need a secretary if they already have a recording secretary. This position has always been filled by a City employee. Rob Mora stated it’s the same way with the Planning and Zoning Boards and the Historic District Commission. The City has a staff member that attends the meeting and takes the minutes. Those minutes are then sent out to the Board for review and approval. Rob Mora discussed the hierarchy of officers. If the Chair and vice-chair are absent, then the voting power falls to the secretary (not the recording secretary). Chair Marjory Wilkinson stated it’s just like our government. Scott Ringer stated he doesn’t think the Commission needs a secretary. Rob Mora suggested electing a Chair and a vice-chair. Mark Haynes went over how things work with the budget. For example, if someone wanted to attend a workshop that cost $500, they would have to go to Finance and submit a request to Glenn Smith who would then cut a check for that workshop. He doesn’t think there’s a need for a treasurer. If someone gave a donation to the Commission, that check would be given to Glenn Smith. The Commission agreed to elect a Chair and vice-chair as officers. The last parage of Section D (Officers) should be removed, as there is no treasurer. Chair Marjory Wilkinson discussed the annual meeting and asked the Commission what month they thought it should be held in. It was decided that the annual meeting for 2024 would be held on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 at 4PM. It was also decided that the Rules of Procedure would go into effect on September 30, 2024. Lois Kessin asked if a meeting could be held via Zoom if someone was ill. Rob Mora stated there still has to be a physical quorum in order to hold a legal meeting. Rob Mora told the Commission that the City might be getting funds for the Master Plan in the coming year. Chair Marjory Wilkinson brought up St. Joseph’s Church. Recording Secretary stated there was never a formal demolition permit application submitted. Mark Haynes stated that if the Diocese of Manchester wanted to move forward with the demolition, they would need to start the process all over again. Lois Kessin noted that the church is not being kept up by anyone. Mark Haynes stated the Preservation Society has a sizable amount of money. 11. PUBLIC COMMENT None present. 12. OTHER BUSINESS 13. ADJOURNMENT Chair Marjory Wilkinson asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Lois Kessin made the motion. Scott Ringer seconded it. The meeting was adjourned at 5:53 PM. Minutes accepted & approved 07/23/2024.