Historic District Commission

NORWICH HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Minutes of the June 24 2024 Special Meeting Hybrid via ZOOM & Room 319, City Hall 100 Broadway, Norwich, CT 5:30PM Members Present: Timothy Dowhan (Chairman) Dayne Rugh (ZOOM) Greg Johnson (ZOOM) Gregory Farlow (ZOOM) Nancy O’Neil (ZOOM) Regan Miner (ZOOM) Members Absent: Jacob Stahl Guests: Michael Rubino (ZOOM) and Marlon Wilson (ZOOM) Timothy Dowhan reviewed the rules of a virtual meeting and clearly notified participants that the meeting would be recorded. I. Public Meeting The public meeting was convened at 5:30 pm. The order of COA presentations and discussions are at the discretion of the commission to accommodate all participants. ● COA 553 - 26 Scotland Road (Scott Learned) - Alteration/Replacement, Other, Siding The applicant was not in attendance. Timothy Dowhan stated the COA called for the east and south faces to be stained using similar colors as existing. Timothy Dowhan stated the COA read that the southeast gable shingle had been damaged and the applicant would like to replace them with identical western red cedar shingles that will be stained transparent. Timothy Dowhan stated the COA called for all repairs to be identical to the original. ● COA 554 - 181 Broadway (Marlon Wilson) - Alteration/Replacement, New Building, Soffit / Fascia Marlon Wilson stated the home had eight pieces of rotting soffit. Marlon Wilson stated he made a copy of the mold so it would be replaced with exactly the same look and nothing would be changed other than the replacement of the rotting pieces. Timothy Dowhan stated the jut outs above the soffit and facia board looked in the photos as though they needed to be replaced. Timothy Dowhan asked what materials would be used. Marlon Wilson responded with pine, wood and some pressure treated materials that would all be painted white. Marlon Wilson stated that the homeowner had a painter hired to paint everything white once it was refitted and refinished. Tim Dowhan discussed photos provided in COA.  ● COA 555 - 161 Broadway (Michael Rubino) - Alteration/Replacement, Windows, Other Michael Rubino stated there were eight windows in the rear of his home on a screened porch that had been either a 1920’s or 1940’s addition. Michael Rubino stated the windows needed to be replaced and he believed they were installed in the 1950’s or 1960’s. Michael Rubino stated the windows were not original to the home and had metal tracks with wood. Michael Rubino stated he wished to remove those and replace them with a vinyl that matches the wood trim on the inside. Michael Rubino stated they would come with the same brick mold wooden vinyl that was original to the home. Michael Rubino stated the brick mold wass a 2-inch piece of molding that is more of a colonial style that was basic for doors. Timothy Dowhan asked if visually it would look the same. Michael Rubino responded that it would. Timothy Dowhan clarified that the windows are in the rear of the home and not visible from a public right of way. Michael Rubino stated there were no grills in the double-hung windows as those did not exist at the time they were put in, so he would like to replace them as-is. Regan Miner joined the meeting via ZOOM at 5:42PM. II. Regular Meeting The regular meeting was convened at 5:43 PM. A. Action on COA’s ● COA 553 - 26 Scotland Road (Scott Learned) - Alteration/Replacement, Other, Siding Dayne Rugh made a motion to accept the motion as written. Nancy O’Neil seconded. Gary Johnson stated he thought the application was fairly straightforward. Dayne Rugh, Nancy O’Neil, Regan Miner, Gary Johnson, Gregory Farlow and Timothy Dohwan voted in favor. The motion passed unanimously. ● COA 554 - 181 Broadway (Marlon Wilson) - Alteration/Replacement, New Building, Soffit / Fascia Gary Johnson made a motion to accept the COA as written and presented. Nancy O’Neil seconded. Gary Johnson seemed like a simple COA with straightforward repairs. Gary Johnson, Nancy O’Neil, Regan Miner, Dayne Rugh, Gregory Farlow and Timothy Dohwan voted in favor. The motion passed unanimously. ● COA 555 - 161 Broadway (Michael Rubino) - Alteration/Replacement, Windows, Other Nancy O’Neil made a motion to accept the COA as written and presented. Dayne Rugh seconded. Dayne Rugh stated he would have liked to see a photo of the proposed or existing windows, but  noted the area was not from the public right of way. Timothy Dowhan stated he had requested additional information for the right of way which he didn’t receive, but accepted that the COA was for replacing like-for-like materials. Dayne Rugh, Nancy O’Neil, Regan Miner, Gary Johnson, Gregory Farlow and Timothy Dohwan voted in favor. The motion passed unanimously. B. Minutes of the Tuesday May 28, 2024 Meeting ● Nancy O’Neil made a motion to approve the May 28, 2024 special meeting minutes. Gregory Farlow seconded. Nancy O’Neil, Gregory Farlow, Regan Miner, Gary Johnson, Dayne Rugh and Timothy Dohwan voted in favor. The motion passed unanimously. C. Chairman Report ● Timothy Dowhan reported that received an email from the American 250 CT Commission who were coming to town to celebrate the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Timothy Dowhan stated they extended an invite to anyone on the commission who wished to go. Timothy Dowhan stated that on July 24, 2024 they would be meeting at 10AM on the Norwichtown Green, the Historical Burial Ground and the Leffingwell plot. Timothy Dowhan stated they would be meeting again that day at 1:30PM at Uncas Leap. Timothy Dowhan stated he would pass along information to anyone interested. Dayne Rugh discussed what the day would entail. Timothy Dowhan noted that COA 555 may have not been required, but at the last meeting members discussed authorization for certain cases wanting to be able to pass certain things administratively within the building department when a COA was not required. Timothy Dowhan stated he spoke to Dan Coley at the building department, who noted the reason they were pushing forth COA requests was due to them trying to follow regulations by the state. Timothy Dowhan clarified that if work was done out of sight of a public right of way a COA would not be needed. Timothy Dowhan stated they and came to an agreement that things of that nature could be given approval via email. Timothy Dowhan stated that Dan Coley asked if the HDC would like to use the permitting system the building department has in place for processing COA’s. Timothy Dowhan stated he let Dan Coley know that the commission had just gone through the process of updating the COA application to a PDF with fillable fields, but noted it still had drawbacks. Timothy Dowhan stated that using the city permitting system may help with getting all the COA components online and would be separate from the building department system. Timothy Dowhan stated that Dan Coley offered to show him the system so he was planning to meet with him within the next month to do that and see if it would be a viable option. Gary Johnson stated he would be interested in hearing more. Timothy Dowhan stated that Gary Johnson brought to his attention a duck building being constructed in the rear of 16 Huntington Place. Timothy Dowhan stated to his recollection when they first began working on the duck barn years prior the homeowners were not aware a COA was needed, but now it appeared an expansion was being built. Timothy Dowqhan stated he did recall anything within the recent COA for 16 Huntington Place, for the repair of garage door and siding, discussing anything about the duck or chicken coop in the rear. Gary Johnson stated he also was unaware of a COA for the work and was not sure if one was presented at a meeting he had missed. Timothy Dowhan stated he would reach out to the property owners. Regan Miner noted the duck house originally was put up  by the current property owners without a COA, although one was requested multiple times. Discussion ensued. D. Old Business ● None. E. New Business ● None. F. Next Meeting Date ● Scheduled for Wednesday July 17, 2024 at 5:30 PM. Timothy Dowhan stated that he would not be available for the July 17, 2024 meeting and that if it were to take place he would need someone to act as chairperson. Nancy O’Neil and Gary Johnson stated they would be unavailable as well. A decision was made to wait until July 10, 2024 to determine if a cancellation or special meeting would be required. Timothy Dowhan noted that his term as chairman would be expiring in December and he was concerned with continuous and future scheduling conflicts for attending meetings. Timothy Dowhan put forth the idea for another member taking over as the chairperson and welcome discussing any thoughts regarding that. G. Adjournment ● Dayne Rugh made a motion to adjourn the regular meeting at 6:15 PM. Gregory Farlow seconded. Nancy O’Neil, Gregory Farlow, Regan Miner, Gary Johnson, Dayne Rugh and Timothy Dohwan voted in favor. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Katherine Rose Recording Secretary