[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, hello, everybody. This is the Medford Historical Commission. Today is Monday, April 8. It's seven o'clock. Peter, are you good for minutes?
[Scott Vandewalle]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, great. I will call the meeting to order. I'll just do our little phrase here that we need to get going. Pursuant to Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021, this meeting of the City of Medford Historical Commission will be conducted via remote means. Members of the public who wish to access the meeting may do so by using the Zoom link provided for in the agenda. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, and public participation in any public hearing during this meeting shall be by remote means only. Okay. So we have a decent agenda tonight. So we'll just start, we'll just go in order on our agenda. So first up, we're gonna have a determination of significance for 27 Allmont Street. So just to remind folks how we got here, last month we took an application This is for total demolition of 27 Almond Street. And tonight the commission will determine whether or not the property is historically significant. And to remind everybody what that means, it means that the property is importantly associated with one or more historic persons or events, or with the broad architectural, cultural, political, economic, or social history of the city or commonwealth, or, It is historically or architecturally important in terms of period, style, method of building construction, or association with an important architect or builder, either by itself or in the context of a group of buildings. And as always, to remind people, we do not and will not consider the building's condition or any safety issues when determining something is to be significant or preferably preserved. So commissioners if somebody would like to give me a motion for 27 all month we can start the discussion.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Make a motion to find 27 all month Street, preferably dot historically significant.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thanks right. Is there a second.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Second motion okay, okay, thanks Peter.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Peter, just make a note for the minutes that Doug and Eleni are out both out tonight.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: I did.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I should have said that up front.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Thank you.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I will. Okay, Ryan, you made the motion. I will start with you for discussion.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, this is a really well preserved example of Greek Revival architecture. It's got some slightly later features such as the Italian style barge board on the front of the house, but it's largely Greek Revival. It's nice to know that there's an architect or builder associated with the property, and the houses built before 1855 are a rare and diminishing resource. There's probably less than 3,000 pre-1900 buildings, and of that, half of them are pre-1855. So this is right on the cusp, but it's really an important building to the time period of Bedford. So I'm 100% behind the preservation of this building.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, thank you. Peter, I'll come to you next.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Agreed. With what Ryan said, it's got a lot of its original, it appears to be original architectural detail. And foundation and the the box was checked on here recommended for listing in national register of historic places. I didn't see any backup at the end of the form be on that, but I don't know if I have a current for me, but.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I noticed that as well. Ryan, do we know like John usually puts the criteria on there?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, he may have just not completed it at this point, but the most of the buildings in this neighborhood are recommended for national register and I can go back and look and see if we have an area formed for this area that might encompass that, but I don't. I don't think we do, but the general recommendation was most of the buildings, given their age and preservation state are recommended for.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, great. Was there anything else Peter?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: No, I mean, it. It was known, the builder's known, and there seem to be some association with the shipbuilding industry, et cetera. So I think this is one that we want to take a pause on. And it's in, it has, you know, an unusual amount of original detail, you know, for a house of this age. I don't know if it's original, original, but it appears, you know, the exterior casings, No vinyl siding you know it's just you don't see that so.
[Jennifer Keenan]: yeah I noticed that john on the he called out some interior moldings as well that were original that kind of stuck out to me. Okay, thanks Peter. yeah I will come to you next.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: Did you say me? Yes, sorry. I was going to note the same association with the shipbuilding industry and also Stephen Bradley, one of the builders, presumably, Ryan, I would assume same Bradley as the Bradley Estate? Possibly. It's a small group of people. With that spelling. Yep. But also I wanted to ask a question of the architects on the group, which is, I noticed the comment about Gothic Revival and it made me think, what's the inventory of Gothic Revival buildings or buildings that have Gothic Revival details? Because that seems pretty small to me in Medford. I can think of one or two.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah. Yeah, it's smaller. The Great Revival time period kind of takes from, like, just predates that by about 10 years and then they start bringing in, the big highlight is the pointed pediments, so that the top of the pediments are slightly pointed, and then Gothic, they just simply round that out a little bit. You know, and it's carried through both the Gothic and the Italianate eras. So, you know, sometimes a lot of people have, the houses will have this dominant gable end form, but they may just have like subtle little details, especially on the inside that distinguish it from a Greek revival or a Italianate house.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: Those are my comments. Okay, thank you, Kit.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Ed?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: I don't have anything more particular to say.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, great. Okay. Okay. Then we have all of our commissioner comments in, so I will go around for a roll call vote as I see people on my screen. We have a motion to find 27 Alamont Street significant. That has been seconded. Peter?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Yes, for significance.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Kit? Yes. Ryan? Yes. And Ed?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes, for significance.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, then the motion passes 4-0. Next month we will hold a preferably preserved hearing for this property. We will email out instructions to put a sign in the yard and we will need a check delivered to City Hall as well for the legal ad in the newspaper. So I will get that information to the property owner by tomorrow. And then Dennis, you and I will talk about the deadline for the transcripts or the herald, whatever we have to do these days because things are so quick.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: If I may inquire only because I just took another look at the application, have we heard anything from the owners or the builders since they filed the demolition delay application?
[Jennifer Keenan]: No.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Fair enough.
[Jennifer Keenan]: No. Okay. Okay moving on next up we have 82 Greenleaf Avenue commissioners we had a heads up on this one there's been a fire at this property so we went ahead and ordered the form be. You know, kind of out of order in the sense that we wanted to kind of get this 1 through the process tonight so tonight we're going to. both take the application and determine significance here because the form B is available. I did send around a link to the file so you should have everything there. And when somebody is ready, I'll start with a motion for the acceptance of the application and then we can go into the discussion on significance.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: I'll move to accept the application as to form.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you add. Second okay, thank you can. Okay motion to accept the application for demolition for this for total demolition for 82 Greenleaf Avenue Peter.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Yes, excuse me, yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Ryan, yes, and add.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, so we will accept the application for zero and now we will move on to determination of significance. So I'll take a motion from one of the commissioners when you're ready for our significance or not here.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Motion to find for significance with the understanding I'm going to shoot it down.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, thank you, Ryan.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Having heard that I will be seconding.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, thank you, Ed. Okay, Ryan, why don't you start the discussion?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, John was nice enough to document this building's history, but because of the fire loss, I am inclined to let it go. And I think the number of changes on this building warrant, you know, the letting go of this building.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, thank you, Ryan. Ed, anything to add?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Well, again, history aside, the rendering of Form B is really just, at this point, just imagining what it could look like. I don't think in a situation like this, we're supposed to be doing design review of a rebuild, of an inevitable rebuild. So I'm inclined to vote no, not significant.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, thanks, Ed. Peter, anything to add here?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Only a small anecdote that I was present the morning of the fire, walking my dog past the house, and it was a pretty serious fire. So I doubt if there's anything left. I mean, the house was already altered significantly, like the entire facade was replaced, et cetera. You know, the only reason I would want to see it voted. For significance is for, you know, design review, but I don't think that that. That's a worthy reason at this point, so.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah, I noticed 2 and looking at the form B and, you know, they're like, oh, it's queen and and I'm like. Well, maybe it once was. It once was. It had that flat front. So I certainly had made the comment in my head as well that it had already undergone some significant changes over the years. So yeah. Kit, do you have anything to add on this one?
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: I don't. I mean, I don't think it's our role to, I don't know who said it, but I don't think it's our role to be the design review on this one.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yes. Okay, great. Okay, so we have a motion on the table to find for significance for 82 Greenleaf Avenue that has been seconded. I'll go around for a roll call vote. Peter?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: No.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Kit? No. Ryan?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: No.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Ed?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: No, understanding for no significance.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. Okay, so the motion fails zero to four. Great, so that one will get the owners on their merry way for that so that they can start their rebuild. Fantastic. Okay, moving right along. We have an application for 289 Fells Way West. Commissioner, it's just a little background. This one, they had started to do work on the property. kind of inadvertently came down according to the building department, but apparently was in pretty bad shape anyway. So we did get an app, you know, the building department halted the project and diverted them over to us for review.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Right now, we're just merely going to accept the application.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yes, that is the plan. Well, that was the intent for them to apply for demolition.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Now, just so I understand, the photographs which were submitted with the application, were they now the currently existing conditions?
[Jennifer Keenan]: So I asked them, they had said that they didn't really have any photos because the house was mostly gone. And I asked them if they had any photos of what it looked like, just so we could get a sense of, you know, this was what was standing. So there's a little bit of a mix of, you know, you can see where there's one wall still standing, and then there's some other photos that look like it's more intact that does not exist anymore.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: would that understanding move to accept the application as to form?
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you, Ed.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Point of clarification? Yes, Ryan, go ahead. Because the building's not standing, I did talk with John Clemson. He was not going to be able to reconstruct this building. And what he suggested was that we consider putting some time and effort into documenting the larger group of buildings that it's a part of, the ones that are around it that are still standing. I would recommend to the commissioners that we pass on review because there's nothing left to this building at this point. I think I would agree.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: I was going to suggest the same that we accept the demolition application and then maybe have a second motion to pass on review.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Okay, yeah, I'm fine with that.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: I don't know if that's okay.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, we should accept the application because theoretically before they started demoing this building, it would have come before us. It's a pre-1900 building, not by much, but it is pre-1900 building, so.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, so then why don't we, yeah, and they took the time to send the application, so I think that we should accept it and act on it, so.
[Adam Hurtubise]: So with that, I'll second the application.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, thank you, Ryan. Okay, so we have a motion on the table to receive the demolition application for 289 Fellows Way West. Peter?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Yes, to accept the demolition application.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Kit? Yes. Ryan? Yes. And Ed?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Moved, yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, and then does somebody want to make a motion to pass on review?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: So moved. Second.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, motion on the table to pass on review for 289 Fells Way West. Peter?
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Kit?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Ryan? Yes. And Ed?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes, particularly looking at the Google Maps picture, which may have predated the collapse.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. Okay, so we will pass on review Okay, so we'll get a letter out to that homeowner letting him know that he can move forward with this project. And I, Ryan, should we, do we wanna make a motion to get a form, get some?
[Adam Hurtubise]: We don't have to make motions, we have a standing order to just do it, so.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, okay. We should also, there was another fire property that came in today on the permitting that we should add to that list.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Which is?
[Jennifer Keenan]: I think it was Pleasant Street.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah.
[Jennifer Keenan]: The one on the corner of Riverside. Yeah. Yeah, 3 Pleasant Street. So we can be ready for that one next month if we get their paperwork. Okay. Next up, we have an application to receive for 18 Wedgmere Road. And commissioners I sent around that paperwork that's a partial demo if I remember correctly the property owner is seeking to potentially add on a second story.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Move to accept the demolition application. Thank you.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I'll take ads, thank you Peter and add. Okay, we have a motion to accept the demo application for 18 Wedgmere Road that has been seconded. Peter?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Kit?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Ryan?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Ed?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes, that's the form.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. Okay, so we'll get a form created for this property and next month we will have a significance hearing on this one. And similar situation for 9 Trout Avenue, which is our next case on the on our agenda. Also roof change on this one as well. And they did there a little bit farther down on there. So there's some plans and things in the file if folks want to take a look at that. For the application.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Move to accept the application as submitted.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, thanks Ryan. Okay, thank you, Kit. Okay, motion on the table to accept the application for 9 Trout Avenue that has been seconded. Peter?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Kit?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Ryan?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Ed?
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes is the form.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, so we will have a significance hearing for that property as well next month. So next month we'll have preferably preserved for 27 Allmont and then two significances for Wedgmere and Trout Avenue. You got all that Peter?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Everything passed 4-0.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: That makes it easy.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Makes it easy, yes. Okay, just before we have the building commissioner on, I just want to see, does anybody else have any new business as it pertains to demo delay or cases before we move on from those? Okay. Okay, I wanted to welcome our building commissioner here, Scott Vandewall. Thank you so much for joining us.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Thank you.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yes, and we were kind of emailing back and forth and thought it would be good to have him come on and kind of introduce himself to us and get a little, you got a little flavor here of how we work. Um, in our process, but, you know, just wanted to we've had such great working relationships with our previous commissioners and, you know, wanted to continue that, um, as well. So, um, I will let you have the floor.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Well, thank you. And I think we all want to continue that as well. I'm about eight weeks in here, Medford. I do come from Salisbury, which has very minimalist historic area, but it does have some. So we didn't have much of a historical commission. So I'm kind of looking forward to getting involved with this one here. It should be fun. Again, most of our conversations will probably come around properties that have suffered some sort of damage and how we move forward and that sort of like Three Pleasant, which is when they'll come to you next. It suffered a significant fire a few weeks ago, just as 82 Greenleaf did. We've actually had several fires lately, so we may see more. I'm always here to try to be helpful and always ready to work with folks. I'd like to do work in concert. I don't care to work against anybody. We all have our needs and our stuff, so I'm happy to be here.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Right. Yeah. And we chatted a little bit just for the commissioners. We chatted a little bit the other day. And, you know, I think our biggest challenge in the past has been really pertaining to partial demolitions and, you know, the subjectivity in that. And, you know, our our biggest thing is, you know, the. the kind of the, and we're, to be very clear, we are not anti-development here. Every job that all of us have touches real estate in some way, whether it's architecture, real estate, you know, archivist, attorney, you know, and we would be out of a job if not for, you know, what our developers do. But we, you know, we're all about balance, right? And preserving our historic resources and really, you know, you know, keeping our neighborhoods looking, you know, as they can and preserving where we can and honoring where we can. And I think there's always that balance of, you know, something is not bad enough to tear down, but we'd love to see it saved in some way, shape or form. And so it was nice to have our conversation the other day where, you know, You know how they are. They're like, oh, it's going to fall down tomorrow.
[Scott Vandewalle]: You have to just condemn it. I know. Developers and builders have a very different perspective. I won't say it's fully grounded in reality. We'll try to tread the middle distance between them and make sure they have their time to speak with you folks whenever it's appropriate. And I always sort of err on the side. If there's any questions, go speak to a committee. Those are the local folks who live in the community and have the strongest voice about the community. I'm not going to be that one. If I'm not sure, just go speak to the folks. They're happy to talk to you.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah, and we welcome, I mean, anybody that comes to us, we're welcome to kind of talk to them, guide them if they're thinking about doing something, have a plan. Ryan and I typically kind of monitor the email. We don't speak for the whole board, but we can kind of give you a sense of, give any owner a sense like, yeah, that would fly, that might not fly, that might get delayed, that might not get, you know. So I think, yeah, I think our biggest challenge is in the past of where things have just, you know, gone around us all together. And it's, you know, all we ask is that we have the opportunity to review and, you know, just do the process as we talked about the other day.
[Scott Vandewalle]: I've been talking with the mayor and their staff about some revisions we need to make to our permitting programs and stuff, and it'll lean more towards making sure we reach out to everybody rather than us deciding if and when and not. Let's just reach out and let everybody work through the process. It will hopefully become more functional and cooperative with you and others, and we'll let everybody have their moment.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Great great commissioners is anybody have a question or comment or anything for. For Scott. No, we are missing 2 members tonight, so we're moving along pretty quickly.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: One thing about process, and I'm not sure where the responsibility lies, is a lot of our applications are basically, we want to keep the look of the house, but we need another foot in the second floor today. We need to take out, although that probably wouldn't be our jurisdiction, we need to take a foot out of the basement. And, you know, how do you sort of get that set, you know, even with some concern for design, you know, more expedited, I guess, you know, because that's probably 30 to 40% of the cases coming in right now.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Oh, I since I've only been eight weeks, I'm going to say I'm going to plead a little bit unclear on how we want to do that. I think as we get into this and Jennifer and I work back and forth, like she said, we've had a few conversations. We had heavy conversations about Greenleaf Avenue because that sort of popped up on my plate very early on. I think it's continuing to understand what you guys want. to do and how you want to function with it and figuring out how to integrate that in with the decisions that we have to make on our end. And that's just going to come with a little bit more time, a little bit more just understanding the process. Like I said, Salisbury really didn't have historical district. Other communities have historical districts and they're very strong. I think of Marblehead as having a reputation. So somewhere in between it seems to be you folks and we just have to learn to figure out where you will fit in the process and we'll work to fit the process into you.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Great. Awesome. Well, we look forward to it. Welcome to Medford. Hopefully your first eight weeks have been somewhat smooth.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Smooth and busy. There's a lot to be done.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Busy is good. Yes, there's a lot to be done. And we have such great people, I think, all around. And boards, commissions, city hall, everybody that volunteers. works, so we're lucky that we all want to make Medford a great place to continue to be, so.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Well, thank you.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you for coming, and you're welcome to obviously stay as long as you'd like, and we're going to continue on with our meeting. I might just sit and listen.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Yeah, have at it. It helps me gain perspective and context, and this is all about it.
[Scott Vandewalle]: Thank you.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you. Thank you. All right, guys, moving right along. Uh, anything properties currently under demo delay? I don't know that we have any updates. Oh, well, we're actually going to talk to the subcommittee is going to talk to 56 Wareham later tonight. They have reached out and wanted to kind of talk through some initial design that is under demo delay. So Peter and Ryan, myself, we can, we'll stay on the call and they'll come on later. So we can potentially lift them sooner than the 18 months. And Ryan, we haven't heard anything from Winchester Street, right? Okay, that one only has, well, it still has a ways to go. Okay. Nothing was still, you know, permits, we're still getting assigned permits. They've been a little trickle here and there, but I am sure as Scott gets up and running, some more things might get diverted to us. And don't be shy, you can send them over. Ryan and I try to tackle them once a week to keep them moving. So when in doubt, just put it over to us and we'll either let it go or ask for them to submit an application for a formal review. Ryan, do you wanna update on the Cross Street Project?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, the CPC accounting is done. I think they're just waiting for the financial department to pull the trigger and then there's a grant account that needs to be set up. And as soon as that's set up, then we can get the headstone restoration project underway the. The other project, the archaeological dig at the old cemetery site is in the works. I'm in the process of drafting the invitation for bid. I have the scope of work, but I need to revise it to make sure it meets procurement. I'm working with Fiona on that. As soon as we have that, then we can go out to bid and get quotes for the work. And then once we select the lowest qualified bidder, then we will get underway there.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: When you say there are procurement issues and hiring an archeologist, what does that mean?
[Adam Hurtubise]: So because it involves excavation, we have to format the invitation for bid to include some information about requirements for OSHA and just safety things to protect the city during those processes. And because it involves excavation, it's gonna be required to The bid for the excavation work, um, that, uh, what's the right word I'm looking for? it's not competitive wages, the prevailing wages, that's the word. It's gonna be a bid with prevailing wage. So the archeological work will be one, basically, they'll have a subcontractor, but that subcontractor is responsible for being paid prevailing wage. So it just makes it fair for everybody, because they're all being paid the same rate. Basically, it's just a matter of how much time they feel they need for excavating.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, so essentially, we are still hiring a social scientist who knows how to hire. Excavator.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Correct. Yeah. The city DPW didn't have enough time to commit to the four days of digging. We just put it on the consultants to give us a ballpark figure. The whole project should see somewhere in the vicinity of $35,000 to go in the ground to do the trenching and to check the site. It also came to light during some recent understandings that if the city should sell that particular site, given that the state gave it to them in 1994 after working on deaccessioning it to them, they're required to pay the state fair market value for that price, for that parcel. So I'd be interested to know whether that's fair market value of the date that they gave it to them or whether that's fair market value for the price of the parcel today.
[Jennifer Keenan]: let's hope it's the earlier version.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I'd like to think it's maybe- But do they put in, even if it's not appraised as of 2024, is there an inflation kicker as of 1994?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, I don't know. The city was talking about turning that particular area into a parking lot and recreational facility of some kind. So they may not actually end up selling it. So that kind of avoids that issue.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: I'll say the call of the musicians.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: Ryan, just to be clear about the history, so that was presumably private property that was taken by the state and deaccessioned to the city.
[Adam Hurtubise]: It was a cemetery that was in the city's possession from 1811 to 1957. It's the first parcel taken for eminent domain in Medford because they had to figure out what they were going to do with it, which was ultimately, the city told them, you want the highway to come through, so you relocate it. So they did. And the city came up with a location for them to relocate. And they then used the site for construction staging. And I guess the site was kind of vacant up until 1980 or so. And then they put in a commuter parking lot. And that's when the ring road went in around Medford Square. That's the time that it first got paved and then after that, it's just been used as a commuter lot and then it got kind of absorbed into the hotel project there. I think the high uses it as overflow parking as well.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: But it was city property that was taken by the state, then given back to the city. Yep.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Basically, in 1985, the McGlynn administration petitioned the state to transfer the property to Medford because Medford wanted to use it as additional parking for City Hall. And it took them from 1986 to 1993 to actually go through the executive channels, because it required approval from the feds and the state, because it was a federally built highway project. once they got their okay, they were finally able to transfer it in 1994.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: Did the city of Medford ever receive any money for that property?
[Adam Hurtubise]: I don't think so, but I believe that they were compensated in the way that the state agreed to move the cemetery. So that was a $80,000 proposition then, which is a lot of money.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: It's interesting to think about what the fair market value is.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, I'm sure that question will be made available to the general public when they decide to assess all the parcels for deaccessioning or even whatever they plan to do. I would assume that they would have a fair market assessment of each one of them.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Or they'll just use the current tax value.
[Adam Hurtubise]: which is nil in this case, right? Because it's not, it doesn't have any.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Well, it's still, every parcel still has an assessment. So they'll make one.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: But part of it is gonna be contingent on what they zone it for or what people believe it will be zoned for. I mean, right now it's, you know, it's vacant land with, you know, it's been vacant land for 40 years and no particular connection besides parking to the street grid or anything else.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: And it may not be as vacant as everybody thinks, right? Yeah. We're talking above ground.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Above ground.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: Above ground is vacant, sure. Subterraneously, it might be a little different. Yeah.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Let's pray it's not, but we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Approaching it as it's not vacant until I see it in the ground. So, yeah. where I would rather plan for disaster than to let disaster just rear its head.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: I think by your definition of disaster, we certainly need to plan for it.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right, so the next update for CPA for Thomas Brooks Park. Did we get our money, Ryan? Do we know?
[Adam Hurtubise]: No, it's... Is it tomorrow night? Tomorrow.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Tomorrow is the meeting. Yeah. So we were just waiting for the CPC had asked if we could take down the amount of the project to see if the DPW could take on some of the tree work so that they could give some of the funds that we were asking for to. I don't know another specific project or just in general to have a little bit more left in the pot. The DPW came back and said they do not have the money in their budget to take on the tree work. So therefore, we are back to asking for the full amount of the project that it was. So are they voting tomorrow night? or is it?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Doug's vote was very clear. It was conditional that they took it down to 200,000. But if they didn't have money for the tree work and DPW declined to do the tree work, that he advocated approving the application in full. So they kept that money in reserve. So ideally, they should have the whole amount just sitting there waiting for us. And all they've got to do is prove the whole thing.
[Jennifer Keenan]: So CPC is approving it or the city council's approving it?
[Adam Hurtubise]: CPC has to approve it first, then it'll generate a money paper and go to city council and the city council will approve it.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, so it's the CPC approval tomorrow night that we're waiting for.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yep. Okay, and then- Ideally we can be on the next city council agenda provided we make the deadline.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yes, because we wanna start getting that RFP out. I mean, it's already April. So hopefully, so fingers crossed everybody that that just gets finalized tomorrow night and then we'll be on our merry way with phase two of the park work. Okay. Well, this might, oh, and Ryan, anything on survey project, product, product, projects, project, products?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, the consultant plans to wrap up by May, I believe, for Fulton Heights, so next round of product, phased product is coming.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Great, okay. I'm shocked that our meeting has gone by this fast, but does anybody have anything else before we approve the minutes from last month?
[Adam Hurtubise]: How's things going with the Brooks Estate?
[Jennifer Keenan]: Things are going well, actually. We met with, we had a second interview for a new president over there. And it looks, I mean, I think me, Doug and Zach are all on board to bring her on. Of course, we have to have a full board approval and then we can put it before the, uh, voting membership for the nonprofit. So that, uh, our hope is to get the board on the board on board this month, and then we'll have to arrange for any, like, a pseudo, you know, kind of interim annual meeting to have a formal vote. Um, but the goal is to get that going. We're going to have to give, I think, a 30-day notice for the meeting, um, so we can get that posted before the end of this month, and we can have it next month. So yeah, so things are good. Yes.
[Adam Hurtubise]: I was, let's see, old business. I was asked by Teresa to help with the interpretive panels around Riverbend Park over by the new, well, the formerly new schools, but we'll just call them the new schools, because that's what everybody calls them. The McGlynn and the Andrews. And so we're working on that. I think we want to change the text up a little bit. It would be great to have some help on that. We want to pare down the text. We want more images to pare down the text because they're very text heavy. I think with just a simple change up of text that focuses on maybe some of the shipyard workers, their houses, and some of the builders themselves, and some maps and things like that, that we can just get much nicer information on them this time.
[Jennifer Keenan]: How many panels are over in that park?
[Adam Hurtubise]: There's five, three of them are environmental, two of them are history. So the environmental ones are in Alicia's hands and the history ones are in our hands. Right, so we're also working on trying to come up with like a standard. We talked about this for Thomas Brooks Park and standard city sign so that we can have the same interpretive panels no matter where they go. None of this changing up for different panels. We want the same consistent look and feel throughout the entire city. of all the temples. Yeah.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah. I think that's a great idea because they are like a mishmash. There's one in the Brooks Estate too, like over by the pond that you will be redoing that one too. I think having a consistent look would make a huge difference.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, I chose not to reinvent the wheel. I simply recommended that we follow the National Parks interpretive panels, which they come in basically four different sizes. They come in a small size, like it's what's at the Brooks Estate, come in a slightly bigger size, like what's on Clippership Park. That's that lowish panel, and then they come with some much larger things that I don't think we would typically use in this time period, because we don't have large sweeping vistas like they do, so. So there's that that's working Andrew school also mentioned I was I mentioned to Teresa that. it was a little bit sad to see the course of the Mystic River gone out of the McGlynn playground. And lo and behold, I got an email from the folks who are designing that saying, oh, we missed this. We wanted to include this in our panel somewhere. So I pointed them to the 1855 map because their playground is actually a point, an important point in the Mystic River. It's a bend called Labor and Vain that was one of the first sticking points for navigation in the Mystic River. So in the 18th century, they cut a canal to, You know, change the channel basically, and that's one of the first of many improvements to the Mystic River. They wanted to highlight that. So they're keeping that information on their interpretive panel as well. So another opportunity to add history to the students information there. Trying to think if there was anything else, but I don't think so. That's keeping us pretty busy now.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Is there like, do you want to can you put the existing panels in a Google drive and send the link around and we can all look at it and. And maybe an example of a national park 1 and then.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah, and I mean, we have the ones that we've worked on. We did the Wellington panel that had some just reduced information down. We did the one on Salem, the Riverside Plaza that kind of points people to different locations. The goal was to tie other locations into the area that they're standing in. So people are encouraged to not just investigate the history there, but also the history of other sites.
[MCM00001614_SPEAKER_01]: Is there any role to include the Historical Society in this?
[Adam Hurtubise]: No, I think this is such a small project that I think they'll come into play when we deal with images, but I think that they have a lot of them in our files. It's just a matter of getting the originals from them. There's a lot of pictures of actual shipbuilding towards the end of the 19th century, which I think is far more fascinating than some maps of the Mystic River that don't really show much information.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah, I think that's a good point, Kit. They might want to, Theresa might want to reach out to them or just like, hey, heads up, we're working on this and our goal is to make them all templated across the city moving forward.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yeah.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, good. Yeah, but Ryan, send those around and we can look at them and provide feedback.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Okay.
[Jennifer Keenan]: All right. Does anybody else have any business before we review the minutes and finish up? Okay. All right. Peter emailed around minutes the other day. If somebody would like to make a motion for those.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Motion to approve.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, thanks Ryan, thanks Ed. Okay, motion to approve our meeting minutes from March 2024. Peter, since you wrote them.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Yes, I did one spell check.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Ryan?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Ed?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Aye.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, so those pass 4-0. Okay, we'll close out the meeting here. It is 7.47. Thank you, everybody. Our next meeting will be Monday, May 13th. Ryan and Peter, stay on because we're gonna have the folks from Wareham come on. Okay, closing out the meeting at 7.47. Peter, motion to adjourn? Yes. I made a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Kit.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Ryan.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And Ed.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: Yes, we adjourn.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you, everybody.
[MCM00001222_SPEAKER_04]: I'll be off in a minute.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Have a good month.