Town of Sutton

Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall

26 Grist Mill Street Committee

Meeting Minutes

August 5, 2019

Members present:  Bob DeFelice, Co-Chair, Don Davis, Glenn Pogust, Andy Jeffrey and Betsy Forsham.  Absent: Dane Headley and Cindy Johnson.  It was noted that, due to work commitments, Wally Baker has had to withdraw from the committee.

Call to order:  Co-chair Bob DeFelice called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m.

Previous meeting minutes: It was moved by Glenn, seconded by Andy and unanimously approved to accept the minutes of July 29, 2019 as written.

Old Business:

The group met withAndrew Cushing of the NH Preservation Alliance on the property on July 30^th at 4:00 p.m. and found his visit to be helpful.  While he said that his #1 scenario would be to save all the buildings, he did say that some of the house and the barn are no longer very
“historic” due to the changes made to them over the years.  He also recognized that our need for parking and an area for a park might necessitate removal of some or all of the buildings.  He offered to speak with a colleague and send us some possible layouts and landscaping ideas as well as ideas of what could be done with the buildings.

Bob asked us which aspect of the house and buildings was the most important to us, the historic or the aesthetic.  After some discussion, it seemed to most members that both were important and that the two were somewhat intertwined.

Bob said he had spoken with Bill Curless, builder, who gave some very rough estimates as follows:  $30,000 to tear down all the buildings, $75 – $100,000 to keep and “preserve” just the house and $50,000 to landscape the lot, including creation of the parking area(s).  Betsy thought the house preservation figure seemed very high, considering all the work that had been done on it and the only major thing needed would be a back exterior wall where the ell used to be.  It was agreed to invite Bill to our next meeting to discuss the figures in more detail.  It was decided to ask him to come at 3:00.  Bob will convey this to both Bill and the Select Board at its meeting.

Bob distributed new and revised computer-generated visuals of the lot with four different scenarios which include parking areas, buildings and no buildings, differing shed locations and differing park sizes. These are very helpful, and thanks again to Bob for creating them!

 Bob handed out a revised draft budget schedule and noted the few changes to the 26 GMS schedule, including changing the public information session date to Thursday, 9/26@ 7:00 p.m.  It was agreed that we may not need to meet on 8/19 and will decide at our next meeting (8-12). 

New Business:

Betsy asked if members would consider meeting from 2:45-3:45 so as to not overlap into the next scheduled meeting at 4:00.  It was moved by Glenn and seconded by Andy to change our meeting time to 2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. and unanimously approved.

Committee Members’ Comments:

Don asked how to distribute any information which Andrew Cushing might send him.  Bob said to email it to the chair, copied to Betsy.  She will then email the information to everyone when she sends out the minutes and agenda unless instructed otherwise by the chair.

Adjournment:

There being no further business to conduct, it was moved by Glenn, seconded by Andy and unanimously approved to adjourn at 3:55 p.m.

The next meeting will be held on Monday, August 12, 2019 at 2:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Betsy Forsham, Recording Secretary