Town of Sutton

Town of Sutton

Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall

26 Grist Mill Street Committee

Meeting Minutes of July 1, 2019

 

Members present:  Dane Headley, Chair; Bob DeFelice, Co-Chair; Don Davis, Glenn Pogust, Cindy Johnson, Andy Jeffrey, and Betsy Forsham. Absent: Wally Baker and Don Davis. Members of the public present: Direct abutters Gene and Deborah Schwartz and Catherine Paden and Laura Kiristy.  Also interested citizens Bob and Linda Preston, Joe Eisenberg and Sue Esposito.

Call to order:  Chair Dane Headley called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.

Appointment with Direct Abutters – 6:00 p.m. – Dane welcomed the abutters and reviewed the mandate of the committee and what it has been looking at thus far regarding parking options on the property and the disposition of the buildings, while honoring the history and aesthetics of the village. He noted that the committee will come up with two or three scenarios which will ultimately be put on the warrant for next year’s town meeting, where Sutton’s citizens will vote on the final plan.  Parking issues were raised, especially as the Schwartz family looks down on the lot.  They all wanted to know the number of parking spaces being considered (20 +-). It was noted by members that the parking area would be bluestone, might possibly be towards the front of the lot, would not be an eyesore and would be integrated into a park like setting with old fashioned lighting, granite post and chain fencing like what is around the Sutton Mills cemetery, etc. Dane and Bob explained some of the committee’s ideas for the buildings (keeping the front part of the house for storage and aesthetics and demolishing the rest, demolishing everything or nothing, creating a carriage house from some of the old lumber, etc.).  We have yet to explore the costs of the various scenarios which will be a big factor.  Bob also brought up the possibility of pursuing building an addition on to the back of the town hall, which was first presented in 1988 and voted down, mainly due to lack of parking.   Betsy relayed a telephone conversation she had with abutter Priscilla West on 6/9/19 (owner of the apartment building who was unable to attend).  Priscilla felt that part of the house should be retained as it is an historic part of the village and is pretty.  She had no objections to a parking area and sees the need for one.

All the abutters seemed in agreement with the committee’s concepts and did not feel that the project would adversely affect their properties.  They were all thanked for attending and encouraged to share any other ideas they may have going forward as well as to come to future meetings which are always open to the public.

Dane opened up the meeting to public comment, as follows:

–  Joe thinks the buildings should be saved, as long as they are sound, and used for a community center, with the barn used for a small theatre, with a stage.

–  Sue liked the idea of a carriage house and encouraged the removal of the hearse from the town hall stage so that that stage could be used for activities (especially in the winter) and events and fund raisers for local groups such as the Sutton Historical Society, who now have to go out of town to find a suitable venue.

Everyone thanked for coming and sharing their ideas.  It was noted that we will be conducting one or two evening meetings to which the public will be invited to ask questions and share ideas.

Previous meeting minutes: It was moved by Glenn, seconded by Andy and unanimously approved to accept the minutes of June 17, 2019 as written.

Old Business:

Andrew Cushing of the NH Preservation Alliance was unable to come to the house this past week and will reschedule.  Bob will let us know the date and time.

New Business:

Betsy let members know that she has been in touch with Geddes Moving Company and hopes to have some sort of rough estimate for moving a building, both on lot and off lot.

 

Bob thinks we need an end game and presented some dates to consider, going forward, as follows:

–  Scenarios with associated costs (no more than 2 and maybe 3) should be ready to present by    November 1.

–  We should narrow our ideas down by September, and have costs nailed down in October so that we can conduct a public meeting (s) that month.

 

–  Bob agreed to create a written schedule of these dates and what has to be done, when.

 

Discussion ensued about creating visuals and the fact that we don’t have much money to do much ($1,000 or so).  Andy reiterated his offer to photo shop various scenarios onto a basic aerial view of the property his nephew took with his drone.

 

Bob and Cindy agreed to work together.  Cindy will take photographs of the buildings and grounds and send them to Bob who has a program whereby he can do charcoal sketches of various scenarios.

 

There being no further business to conduct, it was moved by Glenn, seconded by Bob and unanimously approved to adjourn at 6:58 p.m.

 

The next meeting will be held on Monday, July 15, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Betsy Forsham

Recording Secretary