e e e e e e good morning hi I'm Frank massina and this is the March 18 2025 meeting of the chatam historical commission uh before
we begin we have a few announcements please note this meeting is being recorded and will be available shortly here after for scheduled and On Demand viewing on any smartphone or tablet device if anyone else is recording the meeting please notify the
chairman seeing none okay I lost my place pursuant to Governor Healey's March 29 2023 signing of the acts of 2023 extending certain provisions of of the covid-19 measures
adopted during the state of emergency suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law General law a 30 a20 until March 31st 2025 that soon isn't it uh this meeting of the chatam historical commission is
being conducted in person and via remote participation every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings as provided for in the order a reminder that persons who would like to listen to the meeting while in progress may do so by calling
the phone number 508 945 4410 conference ID 1 91 714 039 hashtag or join the meeting online
via Microsoft teams through the link and the posted agenda agenda while this meeting is a live broadcast and simal cast on chadam TV despite our best efforts we may not be able to provide for realtime access we'll post a record of this meeting on the town's website as
soon as possible have you heard anything about the March 31st date yes we got updated yesterday that they've pushed it to I don't exactly know the date in 2027 it has to go and get voted on and then it has to go to Mor's desk Governor H's desk so we're gonna have something
different to read okay yep all right uh thank you very much the first item of business here is the roll call uh Bob Vice chair here Nancy bar
clerk here thank you Nancy Stephanie Hamilton here Sandy Porter Sandy is absent Janet Tennyson here Robin Stevens he's away Florida Rob's away keep looking over there too many Bobs
Robert Wilson here here and the chair is here we continue to have one alternate position open I actually met with somebody at the chat men's club uh who's interested so uh I'll be sending out some stuff uh as the alternate we don't
have any hearings but there is one vote that we're planning so you you get to vote today okay as a full member all right thank you very much all right uh just very quickly we have no hearings but we do have one item we have to
discuss and and take a a vote on for as the commission uh but first we'll do the minutes we have the minutes of February 18 2025 any comments or questions I move we accept the minutes
as written I'll second okay got a motion and moved then second all right no other comments so we'll do a roll call Bob yes Nancy yes Stephanie yes Janet yes yes
Robert yes and the chair vote Yes okay that was simple uh as I said uh for the members of the board and the public uh the the only real significant new business item we have is the as it set it on agenda the Nicholson Homestead
archaeological dig review and discussion of the NFA and CF CCF that's the Nickerson Family Association chat con conservation Foundation final comments to the draft Dee report and
what I'm looking for is approval to submit the draft doe report and the letters of support to mass historic let me spend a minute or two just quickly bringing the members up to speed and also the members of the public this is an archaeological dig uh which we had
suspicion many many years ago uh not just us but against people in chadam the Nickerson family that this was the ancestral Homestead of the Nickerson family uh William Manan Nickerson uh Homestead uh everybody kind of knew
where we thought it was and but an archaeological dig was started I think it was in 2018 seems like yesterday uh and over the years U uh there have been Discovery and Discovery yes into confirmation from an archaeological point of view that
this truly is the the site of the an and William Nicholson Homestead uh in addition to that uh as members a few members of the commission were able to go on a site visit yesterday uh to the uh to the site well you look go a site
it's just right now it's just a piece of open land but uh we had some information I asked uh Christina to give you folks a package a copy this is a a copy of some information which was handed out to the members of the commission who are
present about the uh the archaeological sites and the specific things which they found the location and it talks about you know the furnace the workshop the Palisades The Hearth the barn and everything else
which they were able to to least archaeologically prove that this in fact is the an and William Nickerson Homestead uh having said that uh uh Gary Nickerson former George Gary Nickerson who was the U who was one of the lead
volunteers with Craig cardier who was the archaeologist you know doing the Dig and finding things he he shared with us a uh a gave us a preview of a pres of a art artifacts that the uh Nickerson Homestead Nickerson Family Association
are going to put on view there are artifacts here in the lobby actually and there are in the uh other places in town where they have shown it but this is going to be a composite of all the signicant ific artifacts the the coins they found from the 17th century the
keys and it was really quite interesting um and hopefully I believe it's going to be open in June during historic Chatham's History Month uh for public viewing uh and uh so it's just interesting so you know back to what
we're here for is you do have that uh that draft uh uh revised draft report what with the corrections relative to the naming of the situation which was resolved between the two organizations and certainly I have no
problem with it and hopefully you had a chance to to look at the draft I know it's I don't know it's 40 some pages and a lot of it is the compilation of the results of the archaeological dig that uh Craig cier performed the way that
process is you know when you do it a formal archaeological dig you need permission from Mass historic not permission to do the Dig but permission to formally do the Dig and register the results of the Dig and that's what uh Craig cier did with the
help of the volunteers and those reports you know it's similar to like our form A's or form B's so you you you you document what you find and you file it in Mass historic and it was back in 2019 when I thought wow this could probably
be a national register you know site and everybody agreed and then we proceed with the process this is the culmination of the first step in the process which is a a report to be submitted to the to the mass historic for a determination of
eligibility in the site is in fact this site eligible for listing on the ma on the national register of historic places just the quickest side before I ask you any comments on the report for the your information the public what is the
process next all right we submit this report to mass historic hopefully within 30 or 60 days they're going to respond positively and say absolutely this is this site is really archaeologically significant and and potentially eligible for listing on
the national register if we do that that's a major win and then hopefully after that after that 30 or 60 days we the town of chadam looking over Christina she's obviously a big helping us get it we have to generate a contract
again with mass with uh Holly herbster pal to prepare the actual nomination form which is you know minimal cost but still is a cost we don't do that you know I'd like to say I can write a report like that but I don't okay so she will then prepare the nomination to mass
historic Mass historic then begins a quite laborious process of reviewing the site visiting the site looking at the artifacts looking at the the technical details and we'll take about a year and a half easy could be two years before
they'll come back and say yes we think this site is in fact worthy of listing on the national Lea uh list national register of historic places I use a different term not eligible but worthy after Mass
historic does that we actually through Holly Herbst to actually make a formal presentation to mass historic Commission on the nomination assuming that all gets approved then they submit it to the National Park Service right we soon the
National Park Service is still going to be around um let's hope they uh they the National Park Service then reviews the the nomination and I'm told at least a little bit of history that I have in in these in these matters once the me the
State Historical commission you know foral board formalizes it it's kind of proformer at the federal level and that's it then it gets listed it sounds like an awful lot of work but you know chadam currently has and Christina help
me here in our booklets do we have a list of all the national register sites in the uh in in chatam in our binders you're saying yeah I don't think so I can check give me a favor because uh Robert asked me the last time you know what are they and there's like so the
buildings and the districts the buildings and the districts buildings and the district so we have about 21 or 24 I forget individual places and districts which are listed on the national register so this just adds to that uh I mean you know we're not you
know some towns up in Boston which may have a 100 places you know but it it is significant and I think it adds to our uh uh the historic Chan ad if you will so that's kind of where we are any questions about the process or and more
importantly does anybody have any problems or questions about the revised draft I had a question yes is there a funding requirement to do all this work for this process and how does that work luckily the town of chadam uh Katie
Donovan our director of Community Development has put funds aside for various projects which historical commission has undertaken and this has been funded by uh by the town traditionally we used to we used to
apply for and receive Community preservation funds for this work it is that the pipeline has kind of been dried up for us with different priorities within the community preservation committee and that the such is life so
uh and I have had discussions with Katie about the next phase and she's telling me she is putting together and attempting to identify the necessary funds I would say donations are accepted uh in fact the Nickerson Family
Association has donated a small sum or committed a small sum to the uh to the task uh they probably could provide more and maybe our friends at the chatam conservation Foundation want to also uh
participate uh because they're the ones in it's their building it's their site that's going to be listed so either way I'm determined personally and I think you know we need to8 it's a long time ago guys and it's you know between covid and everything
else delaying this thing this is almost as bad when we tried Stage haror Road at National register uh Stephanie's smiling precis she was one of the few members of the commission who was here at the time that was a three years three years of disappointment but uh here we are
but you know we're moving ahead so after with that speech uh does anybody have any other further question addition to Robert I have a comment Frank because I've been involved with this for quite a while because I was on the conservation
Foundation when it got started the foundation thought they'd like to do something with this property was completely overgrown with every invasive you could find and that's sort of what led to an impetus to find out what's underneath all all that uh vegetation so
it's been a long and I would say carefully vetted Trail to uh get to this point so I have no problems with it great I I would I'm glad you pointed that out but I do would also want to note that with this particular handout
that I gave you uh these numbers here uh are actually physical sites you can't see anything you go there and it's just a piece of ground but it is the plan of the Family Association to put kiosk I guess you world that you know where
there will be a a a display explaining what is there and what's in the ground and they'll have QR codes where you can actually look at the artifacts like you know the things they found the pottery they found the the uh antique not antique the historic tools they found
Indian Indian hatchets and stuff like that so they found a lot of a lot of artifacts which are I think the public could be very interested in including you know some coins from the 17th century uh so U I think it's going to be a
fascinating tour and uh on that site by the way you know the well let me we proceed with this when we got another before the vote can I make one more statement sure yeah I'd like to call attention to table one on page 26 of this report which has a great
spreadsheet of all the stuff they found and uh I'm a spreadsheet guy and uh so it's a really nice table and there's like uh a total of 357,000 objects yeah I uh it's really impressive what page is that 26 26 I
think it is yeah right exactly uh it's funny you know you mentioned that it is that because when at yesterday's site visit uh Gary pointed out that you know there are boxes and boxes of materials
which they really have analyzed I mean they have done U what's that uh dating carbon dating so they have dated you know Carbon dated some um some items to actually know the date of
these particular things so you know it's not somebody digging in the ground with a spoon it's very it's done very and and as you as you pointed out there are hundreds of thousands of items which yet to be defined I mean it's not like they find a key oh that's what a key you know you find something you're not sure what
it is so uh it's a lot of work and uh a lot of lot of work which could continue to be done because you know the site of the house is fine but there's a larger area where there was Bond and other other things to go on U the Palisades
and all that kind of stuff U so it is it is quite interesting thank you very much for pointing that out Robie yeah okay any other comments question can we get a motion to approve it if the board's so inclined um I move the chadam historical
committee submit to the state this um draft report um for nomination of the William Nickerson Homestead and the mono homelands uh to be on the national register of historic places I second the motion thank you
very much any other further comments okay roll call Bob yes Nancy yes Stephanie yes Janet yes Robert yes and chair vote yes thank you very much uh I just wanted to add one quick
aside then I'm not a Nickerson but I do appreciate what they're doing well in addition to to this activity you know those of us who were involved in the commission with uh I can't think of the name of the street where the William nickerson's
Homestead was for his son shell Drive oh how can I forget Good Old Shell Drive which we spent a couple of years trying to save that was the We Believe William nickerson's son home unfortunately the owner he saved the house quotes but he
didn't restore it the house is there physically but the interior is pretty gutted but the only thing we were able to save in its historic pristine value is the barn which they've also carbonated and the barn also goes back
to 1700 and CPC gave money for say again which CPC gave money for I was about to go there which was funded by the community preservation committee and uh and the town of chadam and I see Dean the Castro here looking in so thank you
very much Dane we do appreciate that and what I what was shared with us at uh at yesterday's side visit with the Nickerson Family Association is sometime in June there's going to be a bond raising that their physically going to
begin to reassemble the bar with a good oldfashioned bar raising they're not going to bring a tractor in they're going to you know build the the walls on the ground and then lift it up so that should be a real photo opportunity for our friend Tim wood at the chronicle so
uh but that should be a good thing there'll be more information coming about that so at least we'll get to see some element of that original uh Historic Site you know saved okay quickly we have the only correspondence we have which you do have a copy of it
is a correspondence uh from the Cape Cod Commission in response to our uh referral form to a development of regional impact a drri where we referred
75 hallway hallway Street to the Cape Cod Commission the letter you got have a copy of was a registered letter to their attorney Mr Riley informing them that they have received it and they have so many days till April 29th in order to
hear that case so this process is really something which is the cape cot commission's activity I'm not sure if in one we will be involved they may ask us for for information or something but uh
traditionally I believe Christina will confirm they really don't go ahead yes so the town she said is kind of out of it at this point Point um you will the the commission will be invited to any hearing that they will be scheduling so I will keep my she'll keep me informed
of all of that but as as the town is concerned right now and the commission is we do not do anything further very good okay well that takes care of that um review of rules and regulations as we have dis briefly discussed uh in the
past we're moving ahead with this The Next Step as it's actually was in the minutes and uh that we just approved from the 18th and unfortunately nothing has changed yet is uh M development and Katie Donovan the director of Community
Development with Christine's assistant is preparing the necessary forms to submit a request to the Town Council the New Town Council on an opinion on determining historical significance and how it can be delegated as well as the
continued you know applic so we needed a legal opinion on that so that's that's where we are so we're kind of stuck in the water the other item on that same issue I'm going to jump down because I think we're doing with new business old
business is the demolition by neglect you know that's kind of been on the back burner and I've asked Community Development to meet with me and the uh new principal planner Christine ogrady you know to see where we are on that and how we're going
to proceed if not uh uh in addition also in your old business just to give you a highlight Christina she got a lot of work going on we're meeting and discussing with Eric Dre on the process of getting the updated of form A's and form
B's uh uh first item in Old business we just took care of and that's the uh submission of the uh doe the return of the boat house uh that's moving along I mean the projection now is hopefully the fall of
uh I think the fall of next year uh you know that it would plan to be come back there's still work to be done by the people who own the the boat house and uh before it comes back down again so that's moving along um we don't have any
demolition delays that we need to know take note of or anything happening so I I'm um 75 hallway should be in there I forgot to put that in but I did want to update you 322 Bridge Street did go and get approved through zoning um I have not seen anything come through on the
building side if for um permits or anything like that and 230 barclift has um they applied for their demo and rebuild permits that's just the changes one thing I would add on the Chairman's report is that the issue of
1553 Main Street uh there is a you know we've submitted our comments to mass historic and to the to the um I submited to everybody including the select board and the zoning board you know the comments from our particular
meeting but the comment I wanted to make and I'm digging for my calendar here I apologize on next Monday on May 24th I think at 5:30 March say again March March excuse me uh 5:30 uh on
March 24th at 5:30 the planning board that's the next step just as they just as the uh the uh the potential developer pinrose presented to us and to the hbdc they're now going to present to the uh
planning board I think that's the last stop you know these are informal courtesy reviews where the rubber meets the road is the is the zoning board which will be it's not it's not yet scheduled and that's where What's called the comp
comprehensive permit rather than the the applicant because it's a 40b having to go to each board and get separate approval there's one approval which is the zoning board they act as like the Grand Master if you will and review everything uh I plan personally to go to
the uh planning board on the on the 24th to just reiterate our particular comments and one of the reasons I do that is that also when I listen to the hbd they had similar comments and concern
relative to the to the the plainness or the the commercial look of the of the development versus really fitting into the streetscape so you know hopefully they're listening and they're making some changes and more importantly the uh the approving
Authority which I believe is the uh the final approving Authority and I'm going to ask Mr dcastro who's in the audience is the final approving approving authority of the whole thing the zoning board or does it come back to the select board the zoning board the zoning board
zoning board they the final approving Authority all right yes that's that's my that's my understanding this is the first time we've done this but that yes thank you that was Mr Dean the Castro or select board person all right I think I've done
it guys anything else anybody have any other comments questions Nancy anything out there you enjoying yourself no all set yes I am thank you yeah thank you very much all right so
motion to adjourn please I move we adjourn the meeting I'll second okay I don't assume there's no discussion Bob yes Nancy yes Stephanie yes Janet yes Robert
yes chair votes yes thank you very much very good for