Sharon Historical Commission

And

Sharon Historic District Commission

 

Meeting Minutes for

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

 

In attendance:  Gordon H. Hughes, Chairman, Robert S. Young, Vice-Chairman

Members -                   David A. Martin, Deborah G. Pitman, Shirley A. Schofield,

Alternates -                  Marie E. Cuneo, Brent L. Gundlah, & W. Reese Schroeder

 

 

Meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm.

 

  1. G. Hughes met with Ben Puritz to discuss the 2006 Commission budget.  Figures were shown with level funding, and increase of 10% and a decrease of 5%.  No decisions were made nor recommendations to the Board of Selectmen.
  2. In updating the Commission about the fate of 143 Pond Street, G. Huges indicated that no demolition request was sent to us nor has there been any contact with the owner/developer Joe DiScippio.
  3. A reminder was sent to Joel Fishman, Esq., attorney for Herb Chambers Motors and the new owner of the historic home on the Providence Highway.  The six month demolition delay has expired, and we’d like the opportunity to continue see if we can find some entity to take the home.
  4. G. Hughes mentioned that we were waiting for the developer for Washington Place to stop by to discuss her plans for development and desire to demolish properties on South Main Street – she never came.
  5. Selectman David Grasfield stopped by to remind us about our sponsored Article on the upcoming Town Warrant and that despite reporting by the Sharon Advocate to the contrary, he had supported our measure to increase the demolition delay by-law from 6 months to 12 months.
  6. R. Young reported on the upcoming Town Meeting and indicated that he was prepared to speak on behalf of the Commission.  With regard to the Third Historic District he indicated that an application was still in need of filing with the Registry of Deeds.  Marie suggested that we contact April Forsman in the Town Engineer’s office for assistance.
  7. S. Schofield reported that through the efforts of Borderland State Park, the Tisdale Cemetery was recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  8. W.R. Schroeder suggested that we consider putting together a plan for the town to create a “village” with historic properties for various town uses.  After some discussion we agreed to take this up at a future time.  Schroeder, our representative to the Wilber Reutilization Committee reported that the first meeting was held this week and that the Committee planned to meet weekly to begin the lengthy process ahead.  R. Young was to provide him with research information on grants, gifts, and low interest loans available for the Town with regard to the Wilber School project.

 

 

  1. Lou Modestino, Jr. of 51 Hixson Farm Road appeared before the Commission to show us a copy of a report he did independently for the owners of the Hannah Leonard House in Sharon.  He did an extensive research that took him to the Probate Courts and Registries of Deeds in Dedham and Boston and created a valuable resource document.  He let us know that he is available for hire and that a complete analysis would cost in the vicinity of $400-$500.  The Commissioners thanked him for his time and information.

 

 

  1. Myron Kaufman of 111 Pond Street {Amasa Dunbar House} made an appointment and came to speak before the Commission about his being given notice to vacate this property by the current owner, The Jewish Community Center of Sharon, Inc. (also known as Temple Israel or TI).  However, his remarks initially were with concern for the property not his tenancy.  “The Temple wants to knock the house down (111 Pond Street) for no reason, bulldoze it.  The House Committee maintains the property and they want less to be concerned with.”  This was Mr. Kaufman’s opening remark.

 

 

Mr. Kaufman offered several suggestions for involvement by the Commission to act on his behalf.  Upon each of those, Commissioners advised Mr. Kaufman that any such action was outside our authority and that in our opinion this was a private matter with his landlord.  It was suggested to him that he might want to seek advocacy as his route and that perhaps the Sharon Housing Authority might be better able to advise him. 

 

After more than an hour the Chairman thanked Mr. Kaufman for his concerns and reminded him one last time that his tenancy was not a matter for the Commission and that the Commission does not tell owners of private property how to conduct their business. 

 

No further business on the agenda, D. Martin made a motion to dismiss.  This was seconded by M. Cuneo and so moved.