Holyoke Historical Commission
Meeting Minutes
May 8, 2017
Attendance: Richard Ahlstrom, Olivia Mausel, Joe Paul, Frances Welson, Alexandra Puffer, Paola Ferrario, James Sheehan
Municipal Staff: Debbie Oppermann (OPED), Barbara Bou (OPED)
Alternate: Christopher Gauthier
Associates: Dan Fitzgerald, Jean Jonker
Public in attendance: Robert Comeau
1) Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm.
2) Review of 4-13-17 minutes: Joe Paul made a motion to accept the minutes for April 13, 2017, motion seconded by Richard Ahlstrom, vote to accept-unanimous.
3) 185 Pine Street – Greg Virgilio, Virgilio Property Management. No representative from Virgilio Property Management in attendance.
4) Preservation Plan update – Debbie Opperman stated that Preservation Plan revisions are well underway. The draft plan offers little history of the city after the major industrial era. The history beyond that is relatively cursory, lacking information on Latin immigration, arson, degeneration of apartment buildings, etc. throughout the 1960s – 1990s. OPED is trying to bolster those sections with additional information including a description of the City’s latest Urban Renewal efforts , the philosophy behind it now and how it contrasts to earlier urban renewal activities (early UR = large scale demolition vs current UR = renovation/investment combined with economic incentives). Debbie has also added information that will help readers understand the narrative such as explaining what the three letter abbreviations in the Inventory tables mean, types of architecture with examples and using more pictures to illustrate things like the extent of demolition and charts to illustrate population figures. She will have another update at the June meeting.
5) Native American Project update – Olivia Mausel stated that the committee working on this is continuing to fact find, currently with Amherst College and Springfield Museums. They are also putting together a presentation using PowerPoint and maps (from Lester Garvey) for this project. Joe asked Olivia to email him and the board the PowerPoint presentation.
6) Display of Mill Building (replica currently at City Hall) – Dr. Zrike, Superintendent of Schools has decided to display the wooden replica of the Albion Mill, built by a Dean Tech carpentry class, at the school system’s central office. There was some discussion of one day displaying all of the replicas built by Dean at the Holyoke Children’s Museum permanently.
7) Commission’s Facebook page- Alexandra Puffer will be monitoring the Commissions Facebook page and will be working on putting together community guidelines. Ali and Frances Welson agreed to be the subcommittee handling FB. The board will discuss at the next meeting.
8) Workshop availability – Debbie Opperman stated there are a few workshops available to the
Commissioners this summer. Debbie distributed flyers for the upcoming workshops with registration information if Commissioners were interested. The workshops available to the commissioners are the MHC Demolition Delay Ordinance workshop on May 15, the Historic NE Workshop on Historic Preservation on May 23, Open Meeting Workshop on May 30, the Two day Gravestone workshop scheduled for June 15 and 16, and the Pioneer Valley History Camp scheduled for July 29.
10) Canal Tour – Bob Comeau asked tour participants to register for the tour. He asked participants to donate two items (clothing or canned food). The bus departs at 10:30am and 27 people have registered so far.
11) New Business:
a) Mater Dolorosa- Alexandra Puffer stated that she has had a hard time getting ahold of the bishop directly. Francis Welson asked if it is time to send a letter. Alexandra stated yes, we should send them a letter to let them know that we are trying to reach out to them to try to find another solution besides demolition.
b) Plaque Program- James Sheehan discussed the Plaque Program and the changes that have occurred recently. Signs Plus, who had been doing the plaques for free for the City, is now defunct so now Mr. Sheehan is using Dinn Brothers. Jim researches the houses, checking all necessary record, in order to confirm that the building is an historic building, and then buys the material (the wood) and brings it to Dinn Brothers to make the plaques. The plaque cost was previously $30 with Sign Plus, but Dinn Brothers would charge $35. Mr. Sheehan stated that his idea would be to change the application to add that checks should be made out to Dinn Brothers directly. Debbie will check with people in her department and the Treasurer’s office to figure out the easiest way to handle the transaction between the building owner, the City and Dinn Brothers.
c) Gravestone Workshop- Olivia stated that there are 20 slots available for a two day hands on workshop and is free admission to the public. This is a two day hands on workshop. Olivia Mausel is seeking individuals to sign up for the workshop.
d) New Chairperson - Joe Paul stated that he will be stepping down as Chairperson. Joe Paul made a motion to elect Richard Ahlstrom as the new chair. Ahlstrom, Paul, Welson, Puffer and Ferrario voted yes. Mausel voted no, and Sheehan abstained from the vote. During the discussion, the committee asked Debbie to research conflict of interest rules. She will report on such at the June meeting.
e) Bob Comeau raised the issue of pursuing recognition for the James Newton house. He is interested in researching and preparing the nomination form.
12) Adjourn- a motioned was made by Paola Ferrario to adjourn, seconded by Joe Paul – Unanimous vote at 8:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Bou
Administrative Clerk
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