===OCR macOS Vision===
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Board of Selectmen present: Jamie Toale, Chairman; Damon McQuaid, Vice Chairman;
Phyllis Luck, Clerk; Katey Adams, Member
Others present: Heather Lemieux, Town Manager; Adam Burney, Land Use Director
Architectural Preservation District Commission (APDC) members present: Richard
McGrath, Chair; (and Historical Commission) Cullen Dwyer (and Historical Commission), Brian
Corcoran; Jim LaVeck
Historical Commission members not present: Rebecca Lantry, Chair; C. William Lakso,
Jennifer Sanderson
Historical Society members present: Chuck Venezia, President; Bill Tyler, Vice President
The meeting opened at 7:06 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
There was none at this time
APPOINTMENTS
Reserve Police Officer- Ramon Cabrera
Ms. Lemieux asked Officer Cabrera and Police Chief Marino to come forward. Chief Marino
reported Cabrera has completed Police Training Academy. He has an Associates' Degree in
Criminal Justice from Quinsigamond Community College. If appointed, he will be required to
undergo a rigorous field training program that will allow for an extensive evaluation. This
provides town personnel an opportunity to assess his competency, work ethic, personal skills,
integrity and honesty. He has a keen interest in pursuing a full-time career in law entorcement.
He is tri-lingual, speaking spanish, portugese and english languages. He strongly recommends
Ramon Cabrera for reserve police officer. Mr. Cabrera stated he moved around a lot as a kid but
ended up in Clinton, MA and decided he wanted to be a police officer after visiting a cousin in
New York and seeing the respect he received from the community.
Motion: D. McQuaid
To ratify the Town Manager appointment of Ramon Cabrera to Reserve Police Officer
2nd. P. Luck
Vote: All in Favor
The Board congratulated Officer Cabrera and applause resounded through the meeting room.
Interim Local Building Inspector-Donald Farrar
Ms. Lemieux stated this is to fill the position vacated by Local Building Inspector Andrew
Hudson, who was filling in until we found someone permanent. It will be for 16 hours a week to
do inspections and other duties. Ms. Lemieux has put out inquiries to other towns to see if they
would like to share a Local Building Inspector position.
Motion: D. McQuaid
2nd:P. Luck
To ratify the Town Manager appointment of Donald Farrar to Interim Local Inspector
Vote: All in Favor
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2. Bond Anticipation Note for Middle/High School Construction Loan
Ms. Lemieux noted this is a routine renewal of the bond for the Middle/High School construction
loan in the amount of $2,100,000.00 with an interest rate of 2.4%
Motion: D. McQuaid
2n°: P. Luck
To sign the bond anticipation note for the Middle/High School construction loan
Vote: All in Favor
3. Minutes/ Warrants
Minutes of November 7 and November 20, 2018 were approved. An accounts payable warrant in
the amount of $225,033.77 was signed.
Action File Issue
Ms. Luck, after watching the Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting of December 11, 2018 which
she was unable to attend, and listening to the concerns of the Park Commissioners during the
skate park discussion, believed the project should be reevaluated. She stated the BOS, including
herself, did not do its due diligence before agreeing to let the group use town land for this
project. We should have reached out to the Park Commissioners and the DPW Director for their
opinion before agreeing to let the group use town land. We should have also checked to see if
there is town support for this recreational project. What will be the effect on the town's insurance
by having such a structure on town land? What is the right size for such a park? How will we
accommodate the parking needs? The project was presented as something that would not burden
the taxpayers, now it is being spoken of as a "destination." She will definitely withdraw her
support if turns out to be a tax burden. Mr. Toale stated he would schedule this as a future
agenda item.
4. Committee Reports
Ms. Luck attended the Central MA Regional Stormwater Coalition, Steering Committee meeting,
earlier this week. They are working for all 30 communities in the coalition on how to meet the
requirements of the EPA and DEP Ms4 permits. It is going to be expensive and they are creating
a lot of materials, working on templates and holding workshops that member communities can
benefit from. She hoped Lunenburg will take advantage of the assistance.
Ms. Adams attended the Charter Review public hearing and there was lots of good discussion.
They will be holding at least one more public hearing. She attended the Planning Board meeting
and they continue to work on their marijuana regulations. There is a new solar project on Electric
Avenue and an interesting barn project on Lancaster Avenue.
Mr. McQuaid reported Capital Planning met and a full report will be presented next week.
Mr. Toale will be attending an MPO meeting tomorrow in Leominster.
Before the joint meeting, the Board moved to the lower table to join the other boards.
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The Architectural Preservation District Commission is charged with preserving historical structures in the
Architectural Preservation District established by bylaw in Lunenburg. To that end, it is my duty to inform you that the
town is in violation of the APD bylaw with respect to the Old Primary School. The Brooks House is also of
Section 2 of the APD bylaw explains the concept of Demolition by Neglect. This describes a situation where a
contributing property is in the gradual process of demolition without permission from the APDC through lack of
maintenance. Section 10 of the bylaw makes it explicit that demolition by neglect is illegal. Page 18 of the APD
Guidelines explains more about Demolition by Neglect and how the AP DC should handle the situation when it arises.
We believe that the Old Primary School is in a state of Demolition by Neglect because failure to perform basic
maintenance hasled to further damage which has compromised the integrity of the building as awhole. Ifleft
unchecked, this damage may be too costly to repair, and lead to the total demolition of the structure.
Viz:
• Roof leaks have allowed water into the walls, causing them to disintegrate.
• Vegetation has been allowed to set root around the base of the building, damaging the foundation.
• Plumbing has not been properly winterized, causing flooding and damage to HVAC systems.
The APDC requires the Town of Lunenburg to take action on these items, as well as amy other maintenance items that
might be required to prevent further deterioration.
It is furthermore our opinion that the disuse of historic buildings is and will remain a disincentive to their maintenance.
We feel it is consistent with our mission to recommend that the Board of Selectmen return them touse. The Building
Reuse Committee put considerable effort into finding away that the Town coulduse the Old Primary School, but in
the enddeclared it"surplus" along with the Brooks House. Since that time, the Town Manager and community
leaders have sought to create anoverall redevelopment plan for the downtown that wouldretain possession and
control ofmunicipal properties. While their intentions are laudable, they have failed to produce any acceptable plan
for how these buildings will be used and thus preserved in the future. Meanwhile the Old Primary School has continued
to deteriorate, and the Brooks House may soon suffer the same fate. The APDC therefore recommends that the Board
of Selectmen seek to lease or sell these two properties as soon as possible.
Respectfully Submitted,
Richard McGrath, APDC Chair
Mr. Toale stated so we are on notice that the Town is in violation of the APD bylaw for at least
one property and perhaps getting close on another.
Mr. McGrath stated we have been discussing it and there have been differing opinions on the
commission as to the approach. As a model, the Jones House was demolition by neglect as it was
not maintained for a number of years while the Town rented it. The Susan Brown House on
Massachusetts Avenue was in the same condition. There was a lot of opinion in town to tear
down those two historic buildings. They ended up selling them and putting them back on the tax
rolls. The people that bought them fixed them up and they are still part of the community and
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Mr. Loale reviewed the history of getting to where we are today. I he irst plan was to move all
town offices to Town Hall and declare the other four buildings under-utilized. For many reasons
arising from the Tappe Study, that was not going to work. The next thought was to add on to the
Ritter Building and make that our municipal office space. The final plan we arrived at was to use
the TC Passios for municipal offices and then leave the other four buildings as under-utilized.
We believe we need somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 square feet out of the 55,000 to
57,000 total area. It does not make sense to tear down the gym or cafeteria; they could be used
for community purposes. The Town does not have an immediate plan at this moment for the
Ritter Building, the Brooks House, Town Hall or the old Primary School. We have heard loud
and clear that people love these places and that they did not want them torn down. What do you
want to do with them; do you sell or lease them? We had made several attempts at town meetings
to get partial approval to keep going forward for studies and drawing up plans. We did put out a
Request for Proposals, but it did not have any incentives and there was a short response time
period and we got no response. We did not put any thought into who might be best motivated to
use these spaces. That is where we stand now. We are trying to get ideas on how do we best
utilize these buildings.
Ms. Adams expressed concern about selling a historical building without ensuring it would not
be demolished and placing a massive development on the site. She prefers focusing on municipal
open spaces. She believes the Old Primary School could be demolished and the land could be
used as town open/recreation space. She stated how unsafe it is to have many people try to access
the tree lighting at the gazebo in December. Mr. McGrath noted the APDC would have a say on
whether a building can be torn down in the APD.
Discussion ensued about the zoning (and zoning restrictions of the Village District and/or the
Architectural Preservation District (APD). Ms. Luck stated she would love to see senior housing
in the center where the old Primary School is located as it is close to the Senior Center and town
center. She did not see the old Primary School area as a good open space due to it being tucked
back off the road and being secluded from view. Ms. Luck would like to see the road blocked off
on Leominster Road from the beginning of the triangle where the gazebo is located down to
Whiting Street.
Mr. Toale noted the benefit of having these boards here tonight is to talk about the historical
value of the buildings. We plan on having additional discussions with Parks Commission and
Open Space and some other groups to talk about other things.
Ms. Adams asked why the rest of the Historical Commission wasn't present as she would have
liked to hear some feedback from them. Mr. Cullen stated Ms. Lantry had another obligation but
he did not know why Ms. Sanderson or Mr. Lakso were not here. He stated Ms. Lantry wanted to
share her vision with them for the old Primary School which would be the Town using it as a
farmer's market locale, art center or a location for other public events.
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Mr. Burney stated the uses discontinued because bs been more mal two years Stice I tas
been a residence. In the Village District, you need a special permit to construct a new single
family home but this is not a new home; another issue is that it currently resides on the same
property as the TC Passios and the parking lot that serves the rear of the Public Library. You
would need to create a new lot for that house and the house currently has no driveway access to
Massachusetts Avenue. You would need a curb cut permit from MassDOT and with the
proximity of the library driveway and Middle/High school driveway, there could be some safety
concerns from Mass DOT. This could make it a difficult sell with a lot of practical obstacles.
After some discussion, Mr. McQuaid asked if the APDC would be comfortable with the Town
putting out Requests for Proposals for reuse of some of the buildings. Mr. McGrath concurred.
Mr. Venezia asked if there has any discussion about fixing up the old Primary School. Mr. Toale
stated if he was reading the APD letter correctly, we either have to fix it up or get rid of it.
The APDC members agreed with his statement. APD member Jim LaVeck entered the
meeting
Mr. Toale inquired if the Historical Society needs more space to show artifacts. Mr. Venezia
stated no, they were satisfied with the building they have. Mr. Toale noted we would have to
resolve parking access for your building before we do something with the old Primary School.
He asked about Town Hall and the Ritter Building. Given the path we are taking, it's possible we
would be moving town offices to the TC Passios, then we would have an empty Ritter Building
and Town Hall. Any suggestions for future uses from a historical or APDC point of view?
Mr. Corcoran stated we definitely want to save them. Mr. LaVeck said he had heard several
options, farm to table restaurant, an art space, and community space for those kinds of
endeavors. The one issue we could run into is interest by "x"
group and actually moving
something forward.
Discussion turned back to the Brooks House and selling it as a single residence and what would
be involved. Discussion returned to the old Primary School and putting out an RFP. Mr. Burney
noted the more you limit the use, the more you reduce the amount of people who will be
interested. Also, there are a series of limited uses that are allowed in the Village District.
Focusing on the physicality of the building may open up opportunities for the redevelopment and
reuse of that building that may not be there if you go for a keyhole of specific uses. Mr. Toale
thanked the Boards and stated this has been helpful. He invited them to continue providing
feedback. We will continue to keep moving forward, our hope is to ask Town Meeting to
provide funding for detailed plans for the TC Passios, so an actual cost to move offices there is
provided. He also stated if the Historical Commission Chair would like to come back and
discuss, we would be happy to schedule it on a future agenda. Mr. McGrath stated they are
meeting tomorrow night so he would bring that up.
Mr. Toale reviewed the Board's upcoming meeting schedule. They meet again on January 22,
and then on February 5, 12, and 19.
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Respectully submittea,
claire M. Peters on
Elaine M. Peterson
Executive Assistant to the Town Manager