Town of Otis Historical Commission
August 1, 2023 Minutes
Meeting called to order at 4:37PM
There is a quorum
Those in attendance: Diane Provenz, Gail Gelburd, Joel Meyers, Geoff Pigman, Celeste Watman, David Modjelewski, Stephanie Skinner, Hal Kobrin
Preservation Activities:
Mass Historical RFP. After many texts, the paperwork did go out
A brief email from Larry Gould explained that the extermination cannot be done until the construction in the crawlspace has been done.
They have to dig more out in the basement before the exterminators can go in.
Gail: OPT needs to find out whether the $20,000. will be used. If not they should give it back.
We have $500,000 for Vapor Barriers, Crawlspace, HVAC, Electrical
Joel: Larry Gould will be trying to find someone to fix the boards that are hanging down above the entrance.
Geoff: Clarification on the RFP: Do we have to spend the entire $100,000?
Diane: Yes, we have to spend the entire $100,000.
Bids have to be in by August 15th. We accept a bid,then it goes to Mass Historical. Paul Holtz will do everything he can to push this through.
We have to dig out under the building to make it bigger than the crawlspace
Steve McAllister will do this as an addendum to the contract.
The basement must have “stand up” headroom. There will be columns to support it.
Joel: the basement should be for utilities etc. Should not be useable. A bathroom would be problematic. The pipes to the sewer system are across the street. The street will have to be dug up.
Gail: Mass Cultural Grant
Items to send:
- We will complete the application to say that we are not going to impact the historical nature of the building.
- Topographical maps
- Revised budget
Land Transfer
The appraisal on June 30th, is in 3 parts
- The brick house and property behind it.
- The carve out of the land
- The remainder of the property after the carve out.
The appraiser needs to be paid before they release the appraisal
East Otis School House:
Joel said Brandi is frustrated. She is waiting for the paperwork from Steve McAllister to give back to the town.
Knox Trail:
Zoom call with Mass Historical. The Knox Trail has not initially been rejected by Mass Historical in its bid to be approved by the state for Historical recognition. We cannot get it on the Historical Register unless it’s on the state register
The video should be ready to watch. Josh added some footage from the Bidwell House reenactment. We are holding $2,500 for Josh from the Otis Cultural Council.
Signs: Tabled
Lynn will continue to work with Mass DOT on the signage.
Gail asked Brandi and Larry Gould to sell surplus items that have nothing to do with Otis.
She was told that it has to be approved by the BOS.
Celeste: Rare books will be going to a dealer in West Stockbridge.
David and Hilary will be working with Ray Blant Jr at Naumkeag on a Notice Otis Event.
Library Fair: $252. In donations, not as many takers for the Antiques Road Show as last year
Marionettes: 53 people attended. It was very hot and humid. There was an hour between shows and most attendees left during that hour. Next time, there should be only 1 performance.
Chattel:
Tim Brock, partner at Dwaine Morris Law firm, has volunteered to help retrieve the Chandelier from the Old North Church in Boston
He is frustrated that his colleagues in Boston have been moving slowly. He is concerned that the Statute of Limitations will be met by the Old North Church.
He thinks there is a way around this .
OPT and the Old North Church could reach a “towing agreement”. It means that the Statute of Limitations will be frozen.
FYI: the Old North Church is not in the Diocese of Western Mass. It is in the Eastern Diocese.
Tim suggests that we see what they are willing to give back to us.
Tim would like Geoff to send a message to the Boston firm asking for updated information to be shared at our next Historical meeting that is coming up. Tim hopes this will spur them on a bit.
Gail: after speaking with the Curator of the Old North Church, she was told that the chandelier has value and that is why they do not want to give it back to us.
Hal and Geoff will set up a time to get together to discuss all of this.
Stephanie: Lynn will be stepping down. OPT will have a meeting tomorrow and David will be voted in.
Diane: There will be a Gala on the reservoir, hoping for supporters and grant writers.
Berkshire Bank: We should contact Berkshire Bank, ask them what their plan is. If they are completely closing, possibly they would donate it to the town for use by the Historical Commission.
Offer continued use of the ATM.
A motion was made by Joel to have Diane call Berkshire Bank with the above offer. It was seconded by Gail and Passed.
Our next meeting will be on September 6th at 4:30.
Gail: asked that if there is anything that needs to be purchased, please think about it now and ask. Don’t wait until the end of the year please.
The Landscape print has shown some wear as it was not framed professionally. We should bring it to Michaels to be matted and framed.
David: will send emails out looking for volunteers for the Farmers Market.
The meeting adjourned at 6PM
Respectfully submitted
Donna Thomas