[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, hi everybody. This is the Medford Historical Commission. Today is Monday, August 11th. I'm going to call the meeting to order. It is 7.06 p.m. We have a full agenda tonight, so we'll get started. We're going to start off by taking a few demolition applications. So we're going to start off with 4648 Pinkert Street.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Madam Chair, don't forget the governor's word.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Oh, thank you. Sorry. I it's been a day. Pardon me. I have my folder right here. Thank you. Okay. All right, 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 or members of the public will be permitted, and public participation in any public hearing during this meeting shall be by remote means only. Thank you, Ryan, for that reminder. Okay, all right, now we will get started with taking our applications. We are receiving three demolition applications tonight. We're gonna start off with 4648 Pinkert Street. Commissioners, the application paperwork was emailed around, and I will take a motion to approve when someone is ready.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: I'll move.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you, Ryan. Is there a second?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Second.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you, Peter. Okay, I'm gonna go around for a roll call vote as I see folks to accept the demolition application for 4648 Pinkert Street. Ryan. Yes. Peter. Yes. Doug.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And I'm a yes as well. Thank you. Motion passes four zero. Ryan, you wanna do form Bs?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: I already sent them off, so yes, it's all done.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, do we need to do a motion for them? No. Okay. Okay, next step on the agenda to receive the demolition application is 10 Irving Street. Again, commissioners, the paperwork was emailed around to you and I will take a motion to accept the application when someone is ready.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Madam Chair. Yes. For clarification, I have a conflict of interest with the filing attorney at 10 Irving Street. However, because I'm required for the forum of this body and no other members are present at this time, I'm going to vote for it one way or the other, but I would prefer not to make the motion.
[Adam Hurtubise]: I will make the application.
[Jennifer Keenan]: OK, thank you, Doug.
[Unidentified]: Sure.
[Doug Carr]: Motion to accept the application.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Second. Thank you, Peter. OK, motion to accept the demolition application for 10 Irving Street. And I apologize for those joining us tonight. We had two late applications that came in. So they are on our agenda. They did not make it to the public agenda. But in the interest of moving the cases along, we are going to take the applications tonight so we can get the process started for these homeowners. I have a motion on the table to accept the demolition application for 10 Irving Street that has been seconded. I will go around for roll call vote. Ryan.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Peter.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Doug.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And I'm a yes as well. So the motion passes four zero. And another late application that came in today is for 173 Arlington street. And this one is also to receive a demolition application commissioners. I will take a motion on this one when you're ready.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Motion to approve.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you, Ryan. Thanks Doug. Okay. Motion to approve the demolition application for 173 Arlington street. Ryan.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Peter. Yes. And Doug.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And I'm a yes as well. So next month we will have significance hearings for all three of these applications. Um, and to be continued on those cases. Okay. I don't see any other applications or anything on the agenda. I just want to make sure we don't have anything late that came in, Rye, before we move on.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Well, nothing late. 47 Holton Street, when we get to it down under old business, I sent around architectural plans and we discussed maybe considering lifting the delay. They've reverted back, but they're not here right this second.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, yeah, I'd rather let's do that when we get to that item on the agenda.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yep.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: And there will be a representative from to talk about the missing Valley Parkway work will be here. I wasn't expecting you quite so soon. So I said 730. Teresa's here so we can talk about later down the road at 92 High Street and Doug can talk about the. the wayfinding and I don't know if he's got anything for zoning. And there was something that came in for tent 20 Revere Beach Parkway. So there's lots of stuff to talk about. Okay.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. So we have nothing else as it pertains to demolition business besides those applications. Okay. And then we'll, we'll go to get the whole and when we get to it.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, there is a series of permits in the review queue, but nothing that looked pressing. So.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, great.
[Doug Carr]: I can't remember the last time we didn't have a significance hearing, or it's been, I think, years. It's been months. A long time, anyway.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Well, no, I mean, we've had, I think, I feel like over the winter we had a couple of light meetings, but it's been a brisk year, so. But, you know, we'll pick back up next month, Doug.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: I'm not worried.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I know, right? Okay, do we want to talk about Mystic Valley Parkway now or do we want to?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: No, no, I would prefer to table it until 7.30 until we're ready for it.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. The wayfinding project, do we want to jump to that one or we want to jump to zoning?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: That's Doug. I did not take the lead on that. You're attending that meeting or has that already happened?
[Doug Carr]: It has. It happened, I think it was Thursday last week. There's a group that are, and I think obviously probably Teresa knows about this too, but there's a group trying to improve the wayfinding in the city. And they're looking, they kind of reached out to people like myself and Keena Hamill and a few others. I forget the name of the one at the library who was there, Barbara, I think, just to kind of get our take on things.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Can you explain what wayfinding is?
[Doug Carr]: Teresa, do you want to chime in here? I could, but I think you do a better job since you live in this town.
[Theresa Dupont]: Pressure is on. Wayfinding is essentially a way to publicly advertise directions and ways to get around a city to get to points of interest or particularly important buildings or whatnot. Um, it's not just, Hey, go down this alleyway, take a right. And there's an interesting house. It involves the planning staff so that, um, you know, maximum visibility and everything like that. So it's, it's a souped up, but, um, you know, planning driven way of getting folks around the city that plugs into tourism, economic development, um, you know, just trying to get tourism through the city.
[Doug Carr]: Yeah, and if I could build on that, we wanted to the big question was tell some stories about Medford that are interesting. There's a lot here, right? We're. approaching 400 years soon. And there was definitely a desire to kind of not retread kind of the historical figures that have basically been the backbone of kind of Medford's, the way Medford has told history, and to think a little bit bigger about this. And so we kicked around ideas like, what would you tell about the immigrant history of Medford to pick up on what was on, what's at the Medford Historical Society right now, a display that apparently is incredibly well put together and so far has received a lot of attention, deservedly so. So there was that, there's the, you know, the river, as the river runs through Medford, there was a story, you know, is there some way we could tell about the story about the river, how it evolved with Medford's evolution, how it's changed? I put on the table know, the Brooks Estate walking heritage trail that we did together about 10 years ago as one path, you know, that could lead people and tell a select story in Medford. I also put on my graphics board that had all the historical pieces of architecture in Medford, mostly buildings, mostly residential buildings, but other buildings as well. So this might be an architectural tour of Medford. And so they're kind of just gathering concepts right now. And they're going to, I think, propose some ideas to the city. There's also the story of slavery in Medford. That was another one, obviously. It's a significant way to think about the city. One of the ideas that we put on the table briefly is we said, whatever we do, we'd want it to be more than just signage. We want to see if we could link it to the city's website. Could it be on Google Maps? Can you find it? The Historical Society has done some walking tours. It's on their website. So there's already some beginnings of this. I think they're trying to just take it to the next step. That's my sense of it. Teresa, anything to add to that?
[Theresa Dupont]: No. I think you're absolutely right. Um, we, we did a pilot of this, uh, about 18 to 24 months ago in the city. So it, it may look familiar as, you know, you're starting to see it get rolled out. Um, the pilot was just almost like some PVC corrugated plastic signage. Um, you know, and I have a lot of positive results from that. Um, but it certainly will help in our squares. It's always nice to be able to direct people into our neighborhoods or residential neighborhoods to look at interesting spots, but it really will help in our square. So we're excited about it. And thank you, Doug, for your input on that. I hadn't known that they were really diving into more of the historical element of that. So that's good to hear.
[Doug Carr]: Yeah, I think we just wanted to keep, I think Kina especially is wanting to, some of the history is kind of in dispute all these days, you know, images of historical figures that don't exist, you know, some important people in America, but there actually are no images of them. So putting them on a sign is something that is, is challenging when you don't know what they look like, whether it's an enslaved person or even the person from the 18th century where there's actually no rendering of what they used to look like. So we wanted to pick up, kind of expand the book, so to speak, a little bit and try to pick up some more interesting stories that tell people about Medford that even if they lived here a long time, they may not know some of these layers because it's not obvious. And that's where the thing is to bring out some of these stories and show people that there's four centuries of history here. Let's see if we can explore it.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Excellent. So, is there a draft of anything that we have to go over, Doug, or we're not there yet?
[Doug Carr]: No, they're just in the gathering stage right now. I think their timeline, I don't remember. I don't know if it's the end of the year. I think they have a few months to kind of put together something and put something in front of the city. So, we won't see something until the end of the year or early 2026, I imagine. Go ahead, Ryan.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Is the sign that they used previously sort of the template or are we creating something new that then is going to be the citywide template for all wayfinding throughout the city?
[Doug Carr]: I don't think they know that yet because I don't think they figured out what they want to express yet.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Okay, I constantly just harp on the idea of some level of standardization to bring all the city squares together. And if there's nothing that's been created, look to Somerville, Cambridge, and other communities that try to bring all of their different town squares and little city squares together.
[Theresa Dupont]: That's good feedback. Thanks, Ryan.
[Doug Carr]: All right, that's it, Janice, that's my- Okay, all right, great.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thanks for that update. Sure. Zoning.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Do you ever get comments on a draft letter?
[Jennifer Keenan]: It doesn't matter, the mayor squashed the whole thing. It's dead in the water.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Is it completely dead?
[Jennifer Keenan]: Nothing's gonna happen before the election at this point. Right? Am I wrong, Teresa? I mean, I feel like the mayor just put the brakes on everything.
[Theresa Dupont]: Well, I don't know specifics. That's my understanding is that I don't I wouldn't say it's dead in the water, but I think that there's just a big massive pause button on this. But I will say while I work with the planning department, I'm not a planner there. So I do a lot of eavesdropping. But that's my understanding is just right now, everybody There's a pause button. I think. Yeah, I'll wait. I'll say that.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I would say an indefinite pause.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Well, you know, a pause until we know who's. uh who's coming in and then uh you know what the consultant can do to help the city sort of look back on perhaps all of the ideas and maybe this is something that we should discuss if we should suggest to the city while there's sort of this pause that we look at the areas of least impact to historic resources and encourage the, but that would have maximum impact. For example, Mystic Ave has limited number of resources, but would have a high impact for development to encourage the city to go to those places first and all of the main streets, things that we said at Salem Street, before they try to even tackle the major neighborhoods, the side streets, just
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah, I think they're only going to even talk about now the commercial districts, the main streets.
[Doug Carr]: I, I think, though, even though we, we said we sent the package, obviously about Salem streets, it was. Right, it was late and it was basically ignored. But I don't think the content was wrong. And I think even though the West Bedford plan has probably will never see the light of day, I still think we want to go through that process of evaluation to think for ourselves what we think is important in that realm. Because then you start to see the pattern develop, right? You know, what's the importance of the historic buildings, and areas, and resources that we know about that these plans largely ignored. So we should, I think.
[Jennifer Keenan]: But isn't a lot of this in the Medford Comprehensive Plan?
[Doug Carr]: I don't think so.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Like the historic buildings, and we might want to look at that again.
[Doug Carr]: Yeah, I think we need to look through what's in our surveys, but also what's proposed. Whether it's Salem Street or West Medford, there's a lot of buildings that could be torn down under this scheme that I think we want to express the quality of life and the character of neighborhood issues as clearly as we can. So when it does come back in whatever form, and it could be a different council, it could be, frankly, a different mayor at some point, not this term, obviously. But I still think we want to go on the record saying, here's what's important for this neighborhood from our perspective. And not react to their plan, but have their plan react to us to the degree possible.
[Jennifer Keenan]: But should it be neighborhood by neighborhood, or should it be citywide?
[Doug Carr]: Well, I think we could do this for, we've already done it for one quarter, right? We know where the other places would be, right? West Medford, obviously, Haines Square is part of the Salem Street, Mystic Ave, Medford Square, I would say it was still worth taking a look at, you know, like, you know, like, cause we don't know what that plan would be, but you're right. There is a little bit of bringing in some stuff about the comprehensive plan, because there is some thoughts there that I think lay the groundwork. But again, historic resources, I still think we want to kind of stick up for them in advance rather than react.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And so here's another thought. Should we be doing this jointly with the district commission? And we put together a united front and say, you know, from your city, historical entities,
[Doug Carr]: Right between, but they live within the district, which are, I don't think are affected by these. Right.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: I don't think any, but their role is to create more districts. So if there's areas that we would suggest protecting, uh, versus the creation of housing or densification, then they would have a role in that.
[Doug Carr]: Then if that's the, if that's the intent, I would agree with both of you. Let's bring them in.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I mean, do they have, I mean, Do they have a target list of the next few districts? I don't know. No, I don't think anybody.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: And Teresa, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the next logical step would be to have a consultant come in, even just to take them through the process of looking at what we've inventoried, working with us to say, you know, these are the areas we think are critical, and to get the consultant to sort of put together a master plan for creation of historic districts, so that there's no, similar to how we have a survey plan, they need a local historic district creation plan. So as their guide, so then they can just reference it back, you know, just like we referenced the survey plan, we do what they're, you know, they're saying, so.
[Theresa Dupont]: If I may, through the chair. Absolutely. I've been kicking around the idea of perhaps a citywide preservation plan. There have been other communities at a historical preservation plan. Other communities have done that. Salem just implemented one, I believe, last year. And I think as I was flipping through it, it just seemed like there was a lot of cohesion between all these various bits of little projects. I will say the Historic District Commission is newer with new members. So we just had some turnover and reestablishing ourselves. We do not currently have a list, to the best of my knowledge, of targets. But I love the idea of taking the surveys together, perhaps, you know, some of the thoughts from the district commission and kind of folding that into a citywide preservation plan, which is a big feat. You know, it's not something that's easy to whip together, but I see that as like an end goal. But in the meantime, we can certainly have joint conversations between the two commissions about how we can address things immediately, as well as work towards that long-term plan. I think that's a great idea.
[Doug Carr]: I think you and Jen are saying the same things. It's different. I think you're taking it to a more structured. Would this be entirely volunteer? Do you think we'd actually have some consultant support to help us do this, to make this happen?
[Theresa Dupont]: I think that there is a lot of, I think there's an opportunity to bring in consultant works on this. Like I said, The one that I'm thinking of in Salem was, I believe, funded by CPA. So there's some funding there to bring in a professional consultant to help put their plan together. It's kind of been, again, something in the back of my mind on the back burner, but it sounds like maybe it's time to pull it to a front burner. So I can certainly look into that and bring it back to this board as the And for the record, Teresa Dupont, City of Medford staff, I also staff support the historic district commission. Just to clarify that for, I have a lot of friends on this board, you know, but it's fun to clarify that. So I think it would be good. Yes, of course. I think it would be a good idea. We're having a district commission meeting this Thursday, and I will add to it as an agenda item to have a, just to bring that, this concept up there. And then perhaps we can have a joint meeting together with the two commissions and kind of iron all Our concerns our goals, you know, as we're looking towards modernization and zoning, we definitely want to have a plan. And I like what you said, Doug, you have it react to our plan rather than react to theirs. So I'm very much on board with that.
[Doug Carr]: Yeah, and I think we should invite Teresa to all our meetings because she brings money. You know, that's what's great.
[Theresa Dupont]: I bring the opportunity for money, not actual cash.
[Doug Carr]: I give you that. I stand corrected for the moment.
[Theresa Dupont]: All right. So I will, like I said, I will add that to our agenda item as an agenda item for this week. And I'm sure that everybody there, they're all historically minded folks as well. So I foresee that being an agreeable thing. But I will.
[Jennifer Keenan]: So then, Doug, what should our next step be? Should it be to like sketch out an outline either, you know, by neighborhood or some kind of off the top historic? I don't know. I don't even know how to start this. I mean,
[Doug Carr]: Yeah, I think I would like to see some sample plans, maybe, Teresa, to help us think about the structure, think about deliverable. Salem is different from Medford, obviously, but size-wise and historic resources-wise, it's actually not bad as a template. So if we saw that, maybe a Somerville one, if there's one. And we have a lot of data. We have 15 years of survey. We have a ton of stuff. We've talked a lot about potential historic districts. I know that comes up a lot on our meetings and our Form Bs, but not all of them are created equal, obviously. Some of them seem like they're more viable and more real and have more potential for getting over the finish line than others do. But there's also the single home districts that we talked about for many meetings for many years, which is a great way to think about saving resources we care about. I think we add that to a kind of neighborhood analysis from a couple of key places. And we have, I think, the framework for the beginnings of a plan that we could then write a grant to and look at a consultant for. And we talk about the current round, right, Teresa? This is a round that's just starting soon.
[Theresa Dupont]: So unfortunately for this round, no. But this could qualify. you know, for our small grants, you know, I can, I can look, um, look to seeing what we can implement for fiscal 26 here.
[Doug Carr]: Is this because you received the eligibility letters?
[Theresa Dupont]: Yeah. Yeah. Those were due at the end of July. Um, but we can, uh, I'll, I'll look to see what options we can do there.
[Theresa Dupont]: Okay.
[Jennifer Keenan]: All right, Ryan, we should keep this on the agenda for the next few agendas so we don't forget. Yeah, yeah.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, that's why I somewhat revised the template for next meeting.
[Unidentified]: Perfect.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, do we want to circle back to Mystic Valley Parkway now that it's 7.30?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: That depends on if the consultant is here. I don't see David yet.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm here.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Oh, you are there. Oh, there you are.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: How are you, David?
[SPEAKER_02]: Good. Thanks for having me on and having mutual interest in your resource there.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, that's great.
[SPEAKER_02]: We were approached a few years ago to do an assessment by a team Halverson tie and bond design, and, uh, our company, um, Commonwealth cultural to highlight the assets and resources of both above and below the ground where it could impact the design of improved walkways, uh, overlook areas for sitting benches, improved access, And we came up with, it's quite a long report. So I'm going to try to bounce around the outer parts. And if you want me to zoom in, just holler out and I can kind of zoom in. But basically the results of that report gave us this map, which is probably really hard to read. I can maybe share my screen. Let me see here.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Um, I can, yeah, you don't have the ability to share your screen, but I can, I can give it to you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, look at page 85. Um, I think I gave you guys the full report.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Now, if you have the, if you have the report, send it over and I'll upload it to the Google drive right now.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Okay. Um, David, what's your last name? Sorry.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: I have the PNF, but it only included like the first five pages or so.
[SPEAKER_02]: Got it. Some of the information was not for public sharing because of the pre-contact, but that wouldn't include you guys. I would hope you'd have full access to all of the pre-contact sites and historic archeology sites.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah. No, nothing like that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay. Well, give me a moment and I'll try to send you a link. And we'll see if you can pull it up. Excuse me, David, can you tell me your last name? Yep, G-U-T-B-R-O-D. Could you just say it to me, please? Yep, David Gutrud. Okay. And if somebody wants to give me their email, I will type it in the sharing.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: It's a historical commission at medford-ma.gov.
[SPEAKER_02]: Historical with an L, commission, all one word.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yep. At medford-ma.gov.
[SPEAKER_02]: At Medford- I put it in the chat.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I put it in the chat.
[SPEAKER_02]: Put it in the chat. Okay. Did you say Medford dash or dot? Nope, dash. Dash M-A dot gov. Dot gov. Yeah. Okay, did you get that?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: One minute to come through.
[Jennifer Keenan]: You should also be able to share your screen now if you'd like.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay. Well, that might be easier because I can bounce around a little bit. Let's see here. Entire screen, share. All right. Is that a little visual for you?
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yes, great.
[SPEAKER_02]: OK. So basically, a report, I don't know if you're familiar with culture resource layout reports, but it basically goes over the impact area and then takes MHC data, uh, together with the field review and comes up with an assessment of where sensitivity both above and below the ground. So it would include historic assets as well as potential native American resources, which are known to exist and also could exist. So like, if you look at this graphic here and most of the graphics have the Winchester portion, cause this project is actually titled the Mystic Lakes segment. There's also a West Medford segment that is in earlier stages. So it hasn't gotten to the point of getting a permit. It only has an assessment and some early design path widening conversations and benches and things like that. But the Mystic Lakes portion has both Winchester and Medford, so every map would have the northern segment as well. But I guess to keep it closer to home here, the blue boxes are where known historic archaeology sites are. So if you trace this, you can see it lines up with the Middlesex Canal mostly, that section there. There's a pre-contact element, which I hope they'll be able to bounce to here.
[Doug Carr]: Well, David, this is being recorded. This is a public meeting. I don't know if you want to put anything sensitive on the screen. I think not.
[SPEAKER_02]: Got it. Fair enough. Well, it's not divulging great amounts of information. They're actually pretty large boxes. But as you can imagine, since the Mystic Lakes were glacial in origination, they have a lot of potential for areas that weren't disturbed to have Native American artifacts, potential site habitation along the eastern border where the Mystic Valley Parkway was designed. So our work is to put all that together so Again, the impact overlaying the resources known, and then the resources that have potential to be recovered or impacted, therefore, can we avoid them? So we designed a testing strategy based on that, that the MHC comments on and then adjusts. And then we go back and give them a final permit application, which was received on, I think it was July 15th. And then we have certain amount of time to perform. Uh, we, we go 50 by 50 centimeter test pits down to either, uh, at the most, meter but even that is pretty deep it's generally 50 to 70 centimeters and obviously we're encountering a lot of fill soils because of the Olmstead redesigned parkway and landscaped area but areas did have and do have Native American sites known and we've confirm that in the field. We have discovered two new ones. And ironically, one of them to, I guess my surprise was right where the canal crosses. So because it was semi preserved, the towpath, the dirt was not moved as much and there is intact soil there. So kind of exciting. That one might just be a fine spot. And some of these, I don't know if you're familiar with the Charlestown Dam 1862 to 65. There is some portions of that which were kind of intriguing, like this little tunnel entrance on the south side of the lower lake. So the upper part of the lower lake built right around the Civil War period, has these bars on it, which I was sort of fascinated seeing the construction of that. So our strategy is really to do these intervals, come back with, there's a potential ice house, which we found historic mapping of, but nothing on the ground yet. And actually, an interesting story. A gentleman who worked for DCR for many years, I'm not sure if he's still employed, came up to me at 7 a.m. His name is Michael James, and then he had a third name. He, about 35 years ago, had pulled from the water an ice wedge, ice chisel, about four feet high. And he was telling me about it. And I was all excited because I have this map that has a ice house on it, but there's no remains of it. There's no record of it historically beyond this map, except in your town records in 1894 and 1895, there's talk about the large income from corn pond and fresh pond supplying the, the Ice King, which was the name of Tudor, who was in charge of this massive world market for supplying ice. And he mentions, or not him, but the Medford town documents mention that they would be interested in pursuing mystic lakes as a potential income producing ice house. So I have these pieces to the puzzle, but I don't have it all put together yet. But he comes out to me and he says that he pulled this from the lake in 1990 and he stored it in the Shannon Beach shed. I was all excited, we went over there, it's very dark and there's no light in the shed and we're trying to find it and he's going behind some tools and he gives up, he says it's not there. And then my heart sunk, I was like, oh, darn. Well, let's keep looking, because it's 7 a.m. And sure enough, behind one of these lockers that the lifeguards put their equipment in, I got my hand back there, and this metal, four-foot-high chisel, encrusted, rusted chisel, and apparently it has like a leather, hardened leather cracking. You can't even tell it's leather. which would have saved your hands from the work. And it was there. So we are going to put that into our collection. The collection eventually is technically owned by the DCR, but it will go to the Mass Archaeological Society, the Robbins Museum. This particular item, I don't think they're eager to, it's pretty big and it's not in a box. We were thinking of, because this was found on the Winchester side of approaching the LOCK, L-O-C-K-E museum, they have a ice house on that property actually. But I'm getting ahead of myself, that's sort of a DCR answer and we're gonna propose that as a potential but,
[Jennifer Keenan]: one of the yeah like if we could circle back to what you need from us anytime interrupt yeah like what what how can we help you so there's a you have filed i'm sorry to interrupt you go ahead
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Oh yeah, I was just going to say, Jen, there's a project notification filed for section 106 review. So basically we get to comment on the project. So I was curious as to just quickly, like what the project was, what they were doing and, um, and how we could be of service commenting on it, you know, providing you guys with any direction.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. Well, this, by the way, did you get that link?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: No, I didn't see it come through.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a pretty large file, so it should have come through.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah, if you send it, Ryan, if we could just make sure we get that, and then we can circulate it to the commissioners, and then we can make comments and get those back to you for your project.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah. Awesome. It's divided up into basically the earliest assessment and then the permit application which gets into quite a lot of detail and then the obviously a lot of photos and then the end of it is the design which is only in a working phase of path alignments conceptual improvements and that's where we sort of have our guidelines. So I can't propose to the MHC to go test on the East side of the parkway, even though it would be fascinating because of the tow path and, you know, certain parts of the canal may be still intact, but we're, we're sort of tied to where only improvements are being discussed.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, I just sent you an email, so if you just reply to that with the link, then you should be able to get it to us and we'll send it around. Okay. Thank you.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Great. Thank you so much for coming, and we look forward to commenting on the project. Okay. Thanks for having me. You're so welcome. Okay, Rye, you want to update us on the database? Yes. Okay.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Hey, David, you might want to stop your screen share.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Oh, yeah. Thank you. Thank you all. Yeah, so I talked with former Commissioner Jess Farrell, who is sort of a IT tech consultant right now, and she told me that that we could do a database. We're using the term database, but what she actually sort of wanted to direct us to is like a site wiki that would be able to extract all the information on the MHC inventory forms and make it searchable. So MACRIS has a database already, so there's no reason for us to recreate the wheel there. What we're looking to do is to take all of the inventory forms, make them accessible without going to Macros, but then also be able to make all of that information OCR readable so that then Sites like Google and other search engines can then extract that information and have it be referenced so that somebody like, say, David, if he was doing work, he might be able to find references to a specific architect or whatnot in Bedford. she's going to sort of do a test area on the hillside district to sort of see what it would be like in terms of creating a wiki for that small area to get a sense of what it would cost to run us a bigger project but she's intrigued by it she seems to think that it's it's a wiki is much less than an actual database because it doesn't require so much data entry it's just making the data that's already existing accessible that's all so uh we'll talk to um we'll talk idea it'll be up to somebody else to take on that idea in that project and make it uh fully functional and accessible because it will not be me that leads that charge so i have i have tapped out on projects so i'm just sort of getting it off the ground and then somebody else can take it from there That's it. That's all I got.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. That's great. I mean, it sounds like there's a good baseline there to potentially start with. So yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. Awesome. Okay. We have here 10 dash 20 Revere Beach Parkway discussion and comment.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, so two things. So both of the buildings that are on that site, Cappies and Monroe Muffler, do we want to have MHC inventory forms for them because they're slated for demolishing? Cappies is kind of an interesting building. I'm less inclined to vote Monroe. It's just a simple concrete block structure. But the Cappies building in its day is one of the last remnants of the late deco, early 1960s period in Medford that Wellington was once known for. There were so many commercial buildings in that area that are now gone. So I would like to see it documented before demolition so that at least we can have some information about it. Plus, it actually may actually even be covered under our demo review. So when that time comes, we can look at it.
[Doug Carr]: I would agree with that. It's a building that I think almost everyone who grew up here knows about and has probably entered at one time in their life. And it is a building that people just take for granted, but looking at it closely, I think it might have an interesting story to tell. So I agree. Getting a Form B for that building, knowing it's coming down, is a good move.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Great. You know, we've been invited to, like all the other municipal boards, to comment on the proposal for 10 to 20 Revere Beach Parkway. It's two nice-ish looking residential high-rises similar to Wellington across the street. So, I mean, I'm inclined to maybe take a look at it, but I didn't have any comments. But Doug, you and Peter might
[Doug Carr]: How much time do we have before we need that letter in?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: If they do, yes, sent it out yesterday. So let me see what we should have 30 days.
[Doug Carr]: Okay. I'll take a look at it. I know Peter, if you want to take it, just maybe we can talk offline and we can just see if we, if we want to say anything you want me, I have the elevations up here.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Do you want to look?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: I mean, it says the schedule to be heard at September 17th community development meeting. So please submit your written comments by September 5th. So that's just before next meeting. So yes, we have about 30 days.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: I don't know where my screen share is now. I got a new, I guess I got an update.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: It should be right in the middle of the... It says share, but... Yeah.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Oh, there it is. There it is. Okay. You see it? So those are the elevations. I mean, I think there's a rendering in here.
[Jennifer Keenan]: They're not keeping anything of Cappy's?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: No. They're keeping a building in the corner, I think. They're keeping some little thing in here.
[Jennifer Keenan]: That's the tattoo parlor. Yeah, they don't own that.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: There's a site plan there somewhere. There's a site plan and there is, I think there's a 3D.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, there was like a 3D rendering that showed like.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: I thought I saw it somewhere, but now I can't find it. Anyway, that's a tattoo parlor right there. It's like the clubhouse for the for the. It's got to be. It's going to look kind of odd, I think. Maybe they could just give them a new tattoo parlor inside the building or something.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Well, I mean, they, they, so I, I see the game plan, right? So the game plan is they'll let them build this up and then they'll complain about lack of sunlight and everything else. And they'll take a hit and then they'll sell that building and then it will be demolished and either become more parking or more building. So, you know, I, or, or ultimately they'll complain enough that it'll become a part of this project eventually. So.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Anyway, you get the idea. I can't find that rendering, but if I find it, I can get back there. I mean, it doesn't look too bad of a building.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I mean, it's the right spot for residential with that close to the T. It makes sense.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yes, that's the area that we're trying to encourage development areas that are underutilized like that in Wellington Circle and the Wellington Station before they have it. Just if people want to look at the rendering, it's on page 14 of the formal application paperwork, which is attachment, It's like their cover letter. It's down at the very bottom. Appendices. So page 14 are the appendices.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, so we'll send comments in for that. Yep. And then what about 92 High Street?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: They're proposing some preservation work.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Teresa, that's your... Okay, I got the rendering now, finally. Do you want to see it?
[Jennifer Keenan]: Oh, yeah, pull it up real quick.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Oh, yeah, with the ghost building in the front.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: They're required to, the Mystic Valley Parkway, and I think the other side street, which I think is Middlesex Ave, have sizable street setbacks, so they're pretty far off the street, so they'll have some nice green space.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: I see a future pocket park.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, yeah.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Building formerly known as Tattoo Parlor.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, 92 High Street.
[Theresa Dupont]: Hi, yes, so again, Teresa DuPont. I'm an addition to staff support to the Historic District Commission. My day job is I'm the Community Preservation Act Manager for the city. It's a grant position. I'm here just to kind of lightly introduce that 92 High Street, which is the Medford Armory building, will be going through some exterior restoration work, some emergency restoration work. Their facade is, It's the, everybody should be familiar with it. It's a big, very prominent building. It's called the Light Guard Armory, but it was built, I believe, late 1900s. Now, I just wanted to get that date right, I apologize. Anyhow, but regardless, it's well over 130 years old at this point and is in need of some restoration work to its facade. It's all cut granite slabs that are just now starting to fail. They've had some water inundation in the building, and so I just wanted to bring to your attention that that building is getting some emergency restoration work that we probably will start seeing in the next few weeks here.
[Doug Carr]: If I could add on to that, we had a very robust few meetings with some of the representatives from this building. It is 1891. I just looked up the date, I happen to have it nearby on my handy dandy poster. But one of the things that made this a little different than most of them is this is a privately owned building, obviously, it's a bunch of condo owners. And they have millions of dollars of need, but we wanted to kickstart the process, but we're not gonna be that bank for them because we have, obviously the CPC has, Many, many needs, many of them non-profits, many of them think of Royal House and a lot of buildings in Manfred, historic churches, et cetera, that qualify. But we thought it was important to get There was a public access component of this project that they committed to that made it, I think, more attractive, which is opening up that building, I think, a couple of times a year, I came with Teresa, to the public so that people can get in there and have a reason to go there because they actually have, obviously, an amazing history to tell. But they have some nice spaces there that the public should see. And that made it very attractive.
[Theresa Dupont]: Yeah. Yeah, a functioning elevator that I believe was also put in in 1891. That's very cool. Open air elevator. You know, the basement there used to be flooded back whenever the Mystic River was titled, they would flood it and then launch the boats out onto the river. So it's a very cool, very unique building that, you know, they take pride of ownership in. They've definitely kept up on the inside and now it's just time for the outside to get some love.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, can I just hop in and clarify? Apologies for jumping. I have no idea where the 1891 or 92 date came from. The date of this building is 1900 on the dot. So it's 1900 to 1902 is the date of construction. I worked on the building for four and a half years, but also Bacchus has it, has the correct date. I don't know where the wiki information came from that has that date, but the National Register has it right. It's 1900 to 1902.
[Doug Carr]: You check the site register as well, because I think there was a link on the city's, there might be a few other dates floating around there.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, the Department of Public Safety records, which are the date that they reviewed the construction, they have the physical construction plans. And those are the dates that usually when they submit them, they're submitting for a building permit and application to Occupy. And the date of that is July 1900. And then the construction dates according to John are two years following that. So, and it's a Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, which is the successor firm to H.H. Richardson. So it's a really, it's a really important building for Medford.
[Doug Carr]: Oh, yes. I think we got two Therese's here. Oh, we did. My Zoom is haunted. Thank you for clarifying, Ryan. I apologize for the wrong date. I don't know where I got it, but it's, it's so the right, it was finished in 1902. Is that correct? Yeah. Yeah.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: If you look at the, the plaque that's on the inside and it's, um, it's, uh, all sorts of, um, all sorts of dates. The date that Macross has it is 90 high street. I believe the actual address today is 92 high street. Um, at least that's the address that we always used. Um, so, um, You know, I don't know where that 1892 date came from, but the modern form has it at least, so.
[Jennifer Keenan]: OK, good. Is there any other new business before we move on to old business? OK. I don't think we have any updates on our vacant seats.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: I reached out to one of the HTC potential candidates who didn't get chosen for the HTC. So we'll see. He's a Medford, Somerville school teacher who lives in Medford, very interested in local history. He lives in South Medford in the district that they proposed. But if he's interested in historic district, I'm hoping he's interested in commission so we can have a full seat.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Great. Okay, yeah, and I'll try to do some posts around that too. Try to recruit your friends, people.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: All your friends were a lot of fun.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yes. Any update on the preservation ordinance, Ry?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: No, we were going to sit tight on that.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: based on our last discussion to see how many buildings come in and see how administration goes. So like, we'll look at Arlington Street, that's a pre-1900 building. We'll look at Irving Street, also a pre-1900 building. Pinker Street is 20th century, but I don't know what the deal with that will be, so.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. Any update on the Oak Grove access road and stormwater assessment?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: No, but I was going to follow up with them because they were supposed to have their plan sort of loosely together now. So I can follow up and see what they've come up with for recommendations. And I think the cemetery is also looking at the seven acres project, right, Doug, for the Brooks Estate.
[Doug Carr]: They are. They have a meeting this week that I'm going to be attending.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Okay, I did just the information that I just sent that just I will upload to our Google Drive for the DCR project has some relevant information to that. And I will point that out in a direct email to you both. Okay.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Great.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, nothing on the state historic preservation law changes.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: No, I think those are those are tabled until, you know, I think we can remove those off of there.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. And cross street cemetery.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Uh, yeah, I'm just going to meet with Stacey Clayton to review the file application. Then it's going to go to Teresa and then from Teresa, it'll go to the board. So that'll be Doug's hands. It's about $125,000 worth of work, which includes all the rest of the stones, the cleaning of the exterior stonewall fence, and the recreation of the metal gates that were at the front. We're missing one. I don't know where it went. So we're going to just recreate both of them. It'll be easier to do it that way.
[Jennifer Keenan]: OK. Okay. All right, properties under demo delay, 47 Holton Street. Have you guys discussed this in subcommittee?
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: I sent it around, but I only heard back from Peter. So I took that as we should send it to the entire board because the plan is that the owners have And I think I talked with him just this afternoon. According to the owners, they have withdrawn their plans from the zoning board, or at least have instructed their attorney to withdraw their plans from the zoning board. And when I last talked with Dennis, it was sort of in building department limbo. So I don't know if it still has formally gotten kicked off of the agenda, but, um, I'm just sort of watching this project. So the plan is no longer demolition, but rather to renovate the existing building. And the owners would just like to move forward with the plans that they submitted. So they're just doing a single house, single family building. So I'm perfectly fine with that. I just, You know, they're not, you know, it's a basically proposed gut rehab, it seems. So all new materials on the outside.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: And it looks like the form, you know, there's no change in massing, I believe.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, exactly. They're not proposing any additions or anything. They're just simply renovating. And it looks like they just made some changes like around the front door to sort of highlight the porch. And that's about it. So, you know, if we don't have any changes and we believe that this plan is okay and avoids demolition, we can release the demo contingent on that they move forward with this plan. I don't want any sort of, and this is not an accusation, I don't want any sort of bait and switch. So it's, you know, contingent that they file these plans and move forward with this plan.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah, because I think if they had just applied for a renovation permit and we got this in the permitting system and we saw this, we'd be like, yeah, OK, good to go. But I agree with you. I think it has to be all the other things have to be satisfied, like removed from zoning agenda and plans uploaded and all of that before we lift it. Right.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: So any questions, anything from Doug?
[Jennifer Keenan]: Nope. I mean, I think it looks good. It's nice to see that it will be renovated.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, it's staying a single, so that'll be a nice single in this neighborhood. Uh, then in that case, I will make a motion to release the demolition delay on 47 Holton street, provided that, uh, they withdraw their application from the ZBA and that they proceed with filing these plans with the building department, um, and proceed with this project. And that any alteration or deviation from this project will require our review otherwise.
[Doug Carr]: Second.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay. So we have a motion on the table. I'm not going to repeat everything Ryan said with regards to lifting the demolition demolition delay at 47 Holden Street. yeah i'm writing okay so contingent upon withdrawing application from zba and when was like were they was that going to go before the august meeting no was that a july meeting no it wasn't july it was later than that i think it was pushed way back into september because it was like in building department limbo dennis can correct me if i'm wrong but i believe that
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: that the building commissioner needed to sign off on something and it was on the agenda, but I think they had pulled it.
[Denis MacDougall]: Yeah, we never actually... I don't know if you can hear me. Yes, go ahead. Okay, good. All right. So it never actually even went forward to being put on the agenda because the building commissioner placed a hold on it. So basically what happens when... Just to give a little... When a zoning application comes in, I review it first, and then I just do a cursory review, and then it goes up to Scott. and Danielle in my office, and they both review it for, Danielle reviews it to see if there's any CD board issues with it. And then Scott reviews it just to put to a full zoning thing. And either of them, they both have to agree to put it forward. And Scott didn't put it forward. Scott put a hold on it and had some questions for the applicant. And I think that's when they decided to just not move forward.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Okay. Yeah, just deny the building permit in order to get it on the
[Denis MacDougall]: No, no, that's basically, it's sort of, it's kind of like what you all are sometimes doing when you're sort of like skipping the first step. Basically, they're telling folks, you know, when they come in to file for a permit, they're like, this is going to get denied, just apply for the variance now. And, and then sort of get the process started right away.
[Jennifer Keenan]: So, yeah.
[Denis MacDougall]: So I think that
[Jennifer Keenan]: Dennis, we should get emails Ryan from Dennis as ZBA rep and Scott as building commissioner that, you know, just confirmation that this project, you know, the any demolition or whatever is kind of. I hate, this is like the third time tonight I've said dead in the water, but.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: That the application has been. Yes, thank you. Formerly removed from. Yes. You know, formally withdrawn.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Right, and then once we have confirmation that, you know, that the permit has been applied for and the plans are uploaded for this project, then we can approve them like we would anything else. So Peter, we have that. You have. You want me to have that?
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: As part of the motion that the zoning and building department emails must be received, whatever.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah.
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Okay.
[Jennifer Keenan]: I think just to have an official record from them, um, that this is no longer moving forward and that it's a straight renovation of an existing property stating that the zoning application has been withdrawn from those two or that it was never even, you know, never proceeded. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So we have a motion on the table that has been seconded. I will go around for roll call vote. Ryan.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Peter.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Doug.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And I'm also a yes. Okay. Great.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: I did. I did talk with Sid, they are not interested in coming to the table, even letting them know that we would be willing to support a project perhaps in advance of zoning, but they're not coming to the table. That's for Manning Street.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Yeah, they're going to hold out on that one. And no word from our friends on Allmont? Okay. That is our demolition delay update. Um, I, we have no update on Thomas Brooks park. Nope. Okay.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Um, surveys, Hastings, uh, Teresa and I attended the opening meeting, um, in typical, it was long and governmenty and, uh, boring. And now we're trying to get them to move forward. So,
[8Sqy8gyjolU_SPEAKER_08]: Okay, great. That's for Hastings.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Yeah.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Great. Is there any other business for tonight before we move to the meeting minutes, approving meeting minutes? Does anybody have anything else? Okay. Peter sent around the meeting minutes from last month and I will take a motion when someone is ready.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Move to approve.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you, Ryan.
[Doug Carr]: Second.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Thank you, Doug. OK, motion to approve the meeting minutes from July 2025. Ryan. Yes. Peter.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Doug.
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And I am a yes as well.
[hsUGO5ihrRw_SPEAKER_31]: Motion to adjourn.
[Doug Carr]: Second.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Okay, motion to adjourn at 8.16 p.m. Ryan?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Peter?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: Doug?
[Adam Hurtubise]: Yes.
[Jennifer Keenan]: And I'm a yes as well. Thank you all, everyone. We will see you next month on September 8th.
[Theresa Dupont]: Good night, everyone. Good night.