September 2, 2026 – Historic District Commission – Video & Transcript
September 2, 2026 - Historic District Commission
welcome everybody yeah that's fine we're going to kick off the historic district commission
meeting today for september 2nd and my name is greg dale the chair of the
commission and we have a president in the room um seymour mysore and
and on the phone we have that's when we're calling a woman colleague and presenting we have steve bowler that's correct to everybody so it's 7 35 you can open the hearing yes yes yeah let's open the public hearing and let's take notes i'm taking notes i'd be happy to you did last time okay so thank you so the public hearing is now open and uh we have an application for 34 votes road and um steve you're going to present it on behalf of the homeowner as you're doing uh the installation and construction work right yeah that's correct yeah thanks for having me guys uh like greg said my name's steve bowler i'm a design consultant with renewal by anderson boston's corporate location um and i'm here representing uh neil and donna olmsted at 34 bow road for their uh proposed window replacement project i can just kind of go over and provide you guys some simple details regarding the project and most importantly how the existing exterior appearance of the home will be maintained so the first things are the existing exterior window trim will not be removed or changed these are insert replacement windows allowing us to install the new windows within the existing frames and preserve the exterior trim that's currently on the home so we are not changing the trim at all we do use a small piece of white l-shaped transition trim approximately a half inch to three quarters of an inch depends on what the gap is there that will be used to immediately around the new window frame to create a clean transition from the new frame to the existing exterior trim the existing window sizes shapes and styles will remain exactly the same the same. We are not changing the architectural configuration of the windows at all. The existing grill patterns will be maintained as well. The proposed windows use a three-quarter inch traditional or colonial profile real wood grill, maintaining the same divided light pattern and proportions currently seen on the home. The finish is a factory applied white paint. Our acclaimed replacement windows incorporate traditional mortise and tenon style joinery, helping maintain the appearance and character associated with Anderson's traditional wood windows. Of the windows included in this project, only three face the road and they are actually on the second floor. The majority of the replacement windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. The windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. The windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. The windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. The windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. of the primary street facing elevation. Most importantly, viewed from the road, the overall appearance of the home will remain essentially unchanged. The existing exterior trim is being preserved and the window configurations, the proportions and grill patterns that contribute to the character of the home are being maintained. So, yeah, that's pretty much it. You know, as illustrated in the presentation, that we provided to the commission. Our goal is to improve the performance and the operation of these windows while preserving the existing exterior appearance and architectural character of the property.
You mentioned one thing, you said real wood, but aren't they vinyl muttons? No, so we actually use a real wood. So it's either maple or oak. I think on the interior wood. On the interior, yeah, but on the exterior. Exterior, it's a composite material. So it's called Fibrex. That's what our windows are made out of. So it's actually 40% wood and 60% thermal polymers to make a composite material. It's very similar to like a Trex decking or a TimberTech decking. That's the same thing that our frames, our sashes are made out of. So it's plastic. They're double-glazed. So it's 60% plastic then, right? Yeah, 40% wood, 60% plastic. Yeah, it's a composite material. So they are double-glazed and then there's a separator, something that, because the muttons obviously don't go through, they're applied to the exterior and applied to the interior. Yeah, that's if you're doing, so little yes and no. So what we're doing for the homeowner, so the homeowner selected a three-quarter inch traditional profile. The real wood grills on the interior. So this home's already had replacement windows that were installed prior to the historical designation using an interior grill approach. So we're maintaining the consistency of what already exists in the home. I think most importantly, we're keeping the same grill pattern and proportions. So the existing exterior casings stay the same and the overall divided light appearance from Bow Road remains the same. Yeah. Is that essentially, you know, the same. But are they some sort of, something that is applied to the glass? I'm not worried about the interior. No, the interior, we have no jurisdiction. I want to understand the exterior. Yeah, so the homeowner, what they chose to do is the interior wood applied grills. So if you look from Bow Road to the house, you're going to see the same exact pattern. If you went up to the second floor, you know, if you touch the glass, you're not going to feel the wood on the outside. There's no wood on the outside. That's what I was wondering. That's the problem. Sorry.
Steve, so just so I'm clear, you're telling me there's no wood buttons on the exterior. Yeah, so the homeowners chose that to match the existing profiles of all the windows that were already, you know, replaced at the house. The present windows have, have exterior muttons. Oh, in the wooden. Excuse me. Sorry. The present windows have exterior muttons. It's not just reading the pattern, but it's also the profile that they, you know, there's a little bit of a, they project from the glass. These are not going to have anything that projects from the glass. So yeah, the project that we built, out was the interior wood grill to match the same profiles. We did not build out the project with the exterior ones as well. Right. You know, one thing I noticed, you know, being in Bow Road many times now, you know, a lot of, you know, the other houses on the road, replacement window configurations, you know, they have just the grills between the glass that I've noticed. They don't have anything, you know, on the outside or interior as well. So my understanding, that was just maintaining the visual character and griddle pattern from the public way was the main concern. You know, if there's a different standard that applies, you know, for this property, you know, I'm happy to understand that for them. The same standard for all of them. We have moved away from the wood and allowed vinyl and some sort of, you know, composite. But what you're telling us, I think is that there will be no grill on the exterior. It'll only be what you can read from the interior. Yeah. So the visual appearance from the road, you will still see the grill pattern, but if you walked up, you wouldn't be able to touch and feel. Even if you wouldn't, but even if you're standing way far away, you don't get the profile, the depth. Correct. You don't get the depth. Sure. You don't get the thickness. Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. If you, I mean, you know, yes, yes. You wouldn't be able to see that if you can see, notice that from the road. Yes. From, you know, up on the second floor. Right.
Was that more expensive to not put some grills on the outside or what was the reason? You know, the homeowners more did it to match all the windows that they have currently replaced in their house. So that was the kind of the goal to keep with what they've already replaced. And yes, it is more expensive whenever you apply ones on the outside and the inside. Right. I think, I don't know. I mean, we certainly do that. You know, with Anderson, we can absolutely apply that we were just going, you know, for what they've already replaced, you know, to keep it consistent with them, you know, and just match the existing profiles of the grill. So from the road, if you looked at the window, you're still going to see, you know, the colonial, you know, look. The, the commission also reviews windows, windows, windows, windows that are visible from the public way. Right. And in our walk past the house, the driveway windows are on the side. They're, they're very visible. Right. And so since the one on the side of the house is on the first floor, that would be closest to anybody standing in the street. Right. And so what we're learning in my understanding, the window that's there now on the side door has wood dividers on the outside of the glass. Yes. And, and we prefer architecturally historically to keep that same look because there, you've got a glancing reflection. If you take them away, the reflection is a solid sheet of glass. You follow me? And it doesn't look, doesn't look historically old at all. Sure. So, so this will bring the discussion to the side of the house too. Right. Yeah. And I think, you know, this is, you know, obviously hoping to, you know, present the interior wood grill and that was acceptable, but also, you know, we know that, you know, we have to comply with, you know, with you guys in the historical, you know, commission. Anderson, we can absolutely change the project. Nothing's been ordered. We haven't released the order to the factory, nothing like that yet, you know, until obviously we get approvals. So if that is a, you know, if that's a, you know, a stop at a mandatory thing for them, then that's just something we're going to have to do. And the homeowner is going to have to, you know, either move forward with the project or, or cancel the project. One or the other. Yep. So you mentioned that other windows did not have that. So are you saying that other windows in the house that are visible to the road do not have a wooden exterior grill? They, I'd have to see if they're, I can't remember every single window. I know they replaced a handful of them. The ones on the first floor that are facing directly on the road, they're actually not replacing those because they want to keep the wavy glass and the single pane look. Cause not only do they think it's, you know, pretty cool looking, but I think they thought you guys would really appreciate that as well. But no, I would have to count how many windows there are exactly that don't have that, but there are a handful. Yes. That have been. Sorry, go ahead. No, I was, I was going to just say, so I'm, so I'm clear. You're not sure if the windows on the ground floor facing the road have muttons or not on the exterior. The bottom ones do. Yes. And the second match. So I guess, I guess where my mind goes then immediately is well, if philosophically, as you told us, they wanted to match. The, the, the, the windows that are on the ground floor. Of the front of the house. With the upper floor. Of the front of the house. They would have muttons. Wouldn't they? Sure. Yeah, no. And absolutely. So that's why I'm not, not quite understanding the logic. I can easily relate to them that you're requesting muttons on the exterior. And we're going to make that happen. It's not, not an issue. Yeah. Just to clarify for everybody to visually, when you look at the house. The first floor front. Has a. Of course. A screened in porch. So you, you can't really. See, you can't see it. You can't see it. You can't see it. You can't see it. You can't really. Right. See the windows. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's in the picture on page one. Yeah. That's right. You can see it. But, but, you know, if you're looking closely at the house, it sure would be nice. So it's my house. Did all the windows look the same? Yeah, I would think so. Well, there's also the. If there are windows that do not have. Exterior. Doors. On the front. Yeah. They might be on the back. They might be on the back. They might be on the front. They might be on the back. They might be on the back. They might be on the back. But that's not. That's what I'm thinking. Public way. Yeah, our progress. I believe that. Exactly. The other ones all do have. It would make sense. Yes, I do. Right here. Maybe a good compromise is anything, you know, on the side or the front. Face. You know, they have to have exterior wood grills. But you know, if they're on the backside of the house. interior wood grill maybe that's they're not in our jurisdiction period they can do whatever they want yeah and they're not in our jurisdiction so steve can i just say one thing uh what we are and it may seem minute to you but we are the historic district commission we were only concerned with architecture within these two small districts in town and it's whatever we can see from the public way and in this case you can see both sides of the house in the front can't see the back at all right so the back is out of our jurisdiction is just the three sides okay great so just to clarify one thing does it dildo martin's exist in the current windows right now in the top yes they do exist yes i believe they're the original windows of the house the original house yeah they do open fully you know single pane glass and can that be reused no because they want to um okay have the double glazing right yeah yeah and it makes sense that double glazing yeah again it's more energy efficient you know and why they want new windows i get it um completely i think we all do we've all you know have these issues um but that was the only thing that i missed in the uh all of the photographs and the information that you sent the application sure i did not because i thought that the um business about the um fiber what's it called fiber fibrics fibrics um was for the exterior grill got it yeah if there was any miscommunication there and that's what we were kind of you know you know trying to find out what exactly you know was the um you know what you guys wanted in those windows they weren't sure if the interior would only grills were going to be acceptable or not um so that's why i'm here you know kind of representing them to find out and um you know it's very easy to um you know change the project and add that it's a very simple thing for us i mean we really don't if they don't want to have anything on the interior that's okay with us too because we wouldn't know we don't have jurisdiction there sure so good to know too they might want it but you know it's actually probably awesome yes it might be the same cost for them if i take away the interior and just apply the exterior yeah yeah let's go back to that it doesn't have to be i mean a lot of people have um switched from real real proper wood you know old wood um to some sort of a foam closet as you said uh for the exterior because you know it's we've got a lot of issues with our weather etc we understand that that's what people are doing and we've it's a slippery slope but we've we've gone that route right yeah and just to reiterate like i said it's it's our it's our fibrex composite material in the exterior that's what you use it's going to be your traditional you know profile raised contoured profile yeah three quarter inch so it will match very very closely to what's on those windows um and it's a in the way the finish the the white um you know color it's actually baked into right material so it won't chip and peel and crack that stuff for them Steve can i ask you have you done this before with it just on the outside and not on the end yeah yeah we do a mixture on the outside on the inside I mean you know we do full divided light in the space or in the glass you know whatever you know Anderson been around for 125 years all right we might have even created the kitchen I don't know for certain but would the um mountains be a similar profile and similar width to the existing exactly so it matches the Colonial style so they're three quarters uh inch thick and then they're contoured out I didn't I don't know the exact step that they come out but it's you know half inch or three quarters of an inch something like that whatever you know whatever you want to call it or whatever that is makes sense yeah Desmond are you I'm listening I'm listening I'd love I'd love to see uh you don't have a drawing um Steve you can put up the section through the window do you um do you have the application I do yeah Greg does the application so you can yeah show you the okay I'm gonna share it yeah
great okay what page would I go to Steve um let me see on that let me bring that up
yeah that's the yeah I don't know if I don't know if Marissa she's the one who built this out if she put that in there let me see if I can yeah something I could share yeah one second yeah I don't see that at all see Desmond how you can see the right profiles on the existing I think you know the good thing about the depth actually casts a shadow you look at it at certain angles right so I think that's what's very important uh I agree with you I agree with you it will be important yeah oh absolutely um you can do either or we can do um removable ones which most people are doing because it's easier to clean um or you can do factory applied factory applied will will cost them more money yeah yeah
I'm sharing a picture now it gives you a better view of this I see I see 102 101 yeah yeah yeah yeah I see them all yeah this Ryan trying to find a good um permanent oh my okay so they'd want to be permanent okay got it yes yes permanent not stamp on the only problem is the stuff the the the snap on snap off the ones is if you do lose it or break it or chip it it's always though yeah oh all right that's it there not put it back because hmm okay so what would be um
what would be really useful is to is to see uh um a profile of this um button um yeah I've got one up just I'm on my other computer but I just you know easily just went to Anderson's our website and I've got the other profile up it says you cannot start screen sharing while the participant is sharing okay i know okay let me see here yeah does he have to be does robbie have to there we go okay yeah so this is the profile that would be applied to the outside so it's three quarters inch thick very similar to your traditional colonial you know it doesn't have to be the way so the next question that jumps to my mind is do we know what the existing profile looks like um yes i have a feeling that it has more of a peak but i'm not so sure that we want to get that specific on you know okay do you know what i mean yeah yeah i understand yeah i i think i think the good thing is having you know muttons on the outside that read that's it the read to dimension that read to to shadow that don't give us a blank a blank um glazed um shimmer at an obtuse angle i i think all those things are are what we would like to see sure no understandable i would um i mean i'd love it if the same profile but if it's not the same profile i think that's that's too far yeah i can let i can let that go okay great um yeah so i mean it's very easy i mean i can just go back to the homeowner and say this is what's required um you know do you guys want to change the project and apply those changes or um you know do you want to uh not replace your windows i'm assuming for a couple hundred dollar change or whatever it might be they're going to be fighting with it it seems it seems relatively inexpensive yeah the number that came up there was like 179 i assume a foot or whatever it is it doesn't no it's a huge number yeah that's just if you you bought them that's the um that's the snap-on ones yeah yeah but i'm i'm i'm sure i'm sure that it's it's it's doesn't escalate the price to a point where it's painful it's not going to change it thousands of dollars if you can yeah especially if you can not have the ones on the inside but just have them on the outside that's what you say yeah um right right right probably saving they might not like that you know they may have one boat right yeah yeah and exactly and i'll give them that option but i'll you know very clear what the requirement is um and i'm sure they'll be fine with that yeah and so are the um exterior ones that you're showing us of exactly the same width as the interior wood ones that she wants so that they match up so there's not a little bit of a yeah so a lot of times somebody will have you know one color i'm thinking more for them on the inside because you're there and it's really close to you and if the outside mutton is wider yeah that would be very unsettling yeah no they're the same size yeah okay actually if they don't have buttons on the inside easy to clean yes yeah just out of curiosity do you have a picture of the one without the outside mutton that only has an inside mutton do you have a picture that we can just take a look uh just out of curiosity i don't have one handy i mean i can take it don't worry about it i don't think we need it we don't need it i was just curious as to what yeah the effect was because i don't think i like it but i just lack of effect exactly lack of exactly okay so i'd like to um does anybody have a motion to close the public hearing we don't have anybody attending i i have a question though first okay do we want to see uh you know here what the homeowner wants what do we want to continue the hearing in order to approve it once in case they want to change it or are we going to approve what we've talked about you know what i think would be very nice is to um approve what we've talked about yeah and they can come back to us if they don't like it right is what they can do but i think that giving them an approval tonight to do as we've described uh gives them a pathway and if they don't like it they can come back to us okay so the their approval would have a requirement that exterior yes trim is applied yes exterior mutton mutton to match the right right any any any windows that you can see from the road at all all right only those three we don't yeah if they don't have it for the back they're fine right but they might want to have them all just them all match you know i'll find out from them but yeah it's clear um you know and i can relay that to them you know what you guys are willing to approve and then like you said if they have any issues they can always the other not just the driveway side so just so yeah desmond were you mentioning there was another window in addition to the three that might be visible would you say i don't know they're doing some on the back it's just the driveway i think it's the three on the front of the house up on the second floor yeah and those ones that greg was talking about on the driveway it was the other one there are also windows on the other side right see the three sides of the house are visible from the public way right yeah right the only thing we can't see is the back yeah and i don't think let me let me see one thing so we're not concerned with the back at all but the sides we are the three sides we are yeah but then they're only they're only talking about the full front three so i don't know if they're talking about the others okay well if there aren't any on the um they're not replacing those there are on all sides i think to be clear we just we just say any windows seen from the public way right yeah and it's and i'm looking at the pictures now there's it's only the three on the front but then there's four on that side of the driveway there's nothing on the side of the house the restaurant thank you thank you yeah all right there's several back but there's nothing on the other side of the house no if you're looking at the house it's the three okay three up top and then the restaurant in the back okay just the driveway side okay just this side here yeah which i agree because that's the most open side too if you are coming down you yeah you can't see that side of the house exactly it's quite visible yeah esmond you're trying to say something no i'm good it's okay okay all right so do you like a motion we like we want to close the hearing first close the hearing first close the hearing you could also make the motion and then vote on it because if there's any problem with the motion that they want to let's go they can't they can't come back and start talking it's okay i'm learning i just saw oh okay so we can do a motion just so for any discussion in case there's any problem or we have to ask steve something so do we have a motion to consider for the application and i think it's it's add exterior mountains treatment to the windows visible from the front three and the side four yes so we're accepting the replacement windows but they must have applied on the exterior on the exterior yeah you can do whatever you want yeah well yeah i think it's okay so we're accepting the replacement windows but they must have applied on the exterior yes okay do i have a second for that second
so now is there any discussion to you know just to make sure that i mean we can talk about it afterwards but just make sure that steve is okay with that motion yeah no it's i think that was the goal tonight is to you know get a clear understanding and all come to an agreement which i think we did now i can you know relay that to uh to neil and donna um in a clear way um and yeah everything should be fine and like you said if for some reason they have an issue with it then they'll come back to you guys and request a hearing but from my understanding is you know because we have lead times right now that are about six to eight weeks out they want to get these in before the cold weather comes so i'm sure i don't think it'll be an issue okay i'm going to be close to hearing a second second one favor hi hi hi hi desmond hi hi and all in favor of the motion say hi are you ready motion with the uh caveat that it has to they have to add the exterior mountains yes that's how i'll write up to see you yeah that's wonderful okay all right so do you want to vote on that now yeah let's vote on that okay we have to vote to do a roll call because we're up online yeah all in favor of the motion to approve it with the mountains at it i seem to see him say Simone. Marjorie. Gretchen, yes. Greg, yes. Desmond, yes. Thank you. Five, zero, zero. Okay. Steve, thank you. Yeah, thank you very much. Guys, what should I, I'm going to relate to Donna and Neil. What's the next steps? Do you just, can I have Marissa, who does all of our permings, reach out and she gets the clearance from you guys, or how does that work? So you can verbally tell them what we decided here. I'm going to write it up tomorrow, and we just, I file a PDF with the town and send you all a copy. And that's it. It'd be a certificate of approval with the caveats that we discussed. And can you send it directly to Steve so that he sees? Yeah, I can. So it'll be sent to you too, Steve. Yeah, that'd be great. Then I can forward that to, you know, our permitting and, you know, HOA department that handles all that stuff. So they have it on file. That'd be great. Yeah, perfect. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Good night. Thank you. Desmond, don't go anywhere. I won't.
All right. Next on the agenda, we have approval of previous meeting minutes, which I did not send out, but they were beautifully written up. And I'm going to put it on the screen right now. For Desmond. Thank you. Oh, thank you. This was a meeting, the last meeting that you weren't at, Desmond, so maybe you don't have to read this. The four of us were, right? Us four? Right. Cool. Yeah, I was not in attendance. Right. So this was the discussion about the windows at Townhouse Bistro Cafe. Oh, right. The old Collins Market. Yep. Yep. Yeah. Where they're putting in really nice windows. Good. I read it. I'm happy with it.
You know what I was grateful for with the minutes is, and I'm often a minute taker, but I love the detail that Gretchen brought. And I know that Kirsten, who's the applicant, refers back to minutes. So I'd like to have it complete and full. And it really was for the discussion and all the details. Thank you. That's great. That's great. You do. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes as written? So do. Second that. Second. And a vote. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. So. And Devin, you would abstain? I was, I was, I'll abstain. I was not attending. Okay. 4-0-1. Thank you. It's okay. Thank you. Next on the agenda is the annual report. Which I created and sent out. And.
Any comments on it? I've got until the end of September to turn it in, but look through it. I kind of want to get it done. Yeah. And it's. I put two exemplary pictures in there, the nice garage. Right. And townhouse Bistro. Yeah. This. And it's a summary. Of more or less what we did for the year. Right. I'm looking forward to that building in build. I see what's going on. Beautiful. And you know what? I'd like to see the town address the parking. Yes. I mean,
she posts pictures all the time on Instagram, which she had to show to me. Cause of course I don't do Instagram. Yeah. Neither do I. Okay. Well then he asked one of your kids to look at it because there it's so cushy. And welcoming and what she has done VR VR type renderings of the inside. It's really good library with books and stuff. Yeah. And names the different rooms historically, uh, very well done. It sounds great. I can't wait to, I can't wait for them to open. Actually. Yeah. Hey, I'm, I'm waiting for that town to do something about parking. And I'm hoping that Gretchen has a report on that. Cause she's you don't meet with Michael. Yeah. Does he want a committee? To yes. Have they done anything? No. Have they met? Yes. Okay. Is there agreement or no? Huh? So Gretchen, is there, is there any way any of the rest of us on the, on the commission can, um, articulate it? It all gets wonder. I don't know of anything. I don't know what to say. Yeah, I don't. The one that is really systems. When she goes through. We had me. I don't think that's a video. Well, I was there because Greg said, they said, one of those series district. He said, Oh, here we are. I know these, the room. So yeah, here's one. And there's more people. There's more. Okay. And I can't recall right now. If you scroll up, what you see in the room, somebody think this is the one. This is the video. I think you're right. I think this is it. Um, at any rate, they, um, everybody just chit chat it and Kay tried to report on what was a voted. And this is 1988. Yeah. Uh, you shut her down real fast. Really? Yeah. And so he didn't want to hear it because it does say the town meeting article. If 1988 says, um, that we were getting the parking area, uh, along the road trail, uh, for library use and other municipal use, and, um, they have put up signs and it's not made for library use. Uh, so, uh, you know, she wasn't able to finish her statement. And so I copied what she had found in the, um, town meeting minutes. Yeah. And, uh, sent them to him, uh, to Michael, um, call and to everybody that was on that committee. Okay. And I've heard nothing zip. Um, that's, that's not, that's really disappointing, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, I, we tried to be very, I mean, you all were great because you said you walk me off the cliff and say, wait a minute, let's just be positive about this. And, and, uh. Make it a positive thing and collaborative. And that's what we tried to do, but the, the library is pretty upset. Gretchen, I will say one thing that I surprised me and pleased me. Um, the new owner of the new town center has signs now for real trail parking only, uh, on the side near the rail trail. And I don't know how many there are. There could be a dozen or so, but it says for real trail. And it's kind of between where stop and shop is and the local. I mean, it's there and I think that's great because if somebody really wants to park and bike down there or walk, what is it? It's an eighth of a mile. Maybe. Yeah. It's doable. Yeah. It's just making sure people know it's there. That's all. Yeah. Right. That's the big, that's the, that's the big, that's the big thing. We need to get it into the Whalen post. Yeah. It's the Whalen post. Yes. You're right. Pearson's not opening until December. So really December. Okay. There's time here to get, you know, I wonder if she'll be ready in December. I don't know. Oh, the bistro. Yeah. The terrain house is open. Um, I, I think we just have to keep pushing. There's not much else we can do it, but you know, um, I don't know. Maybe the historic district could. Okay. Send a memo to Michael and say, any progress. I have another question. I was told the, uh, at one point the chair of the select board, Carol Martin gave me a call because I tried to speak about this issue. And, um, she explained to me that one of our long-term suggestions was to hire a planner that would come up, uh, would evaluate all the land and come up with an intelligent plan that would be safe for, okay. And so what she told me is that, um, they don't have the money for that right now. It has to go into the budget. It has to be voted at town meeting so that we can go ahead with that. Somebody has to come up with the article though. Who would come up with the article? The select board or the planner planner planner. I suppose we could go to the planning board and ask them to, if they were. Yeah, if they would consider it, I think that's the next thing to do. I think to be proactive is good. I'm sorry. I think we need to be proactive. We do and, and pull out the stops. I mean, this is just one thing we could do is maybe go to the planning board. Yeah. Okay. See if they couldn't support, um, Carol Martin was at the meeting and AIDA was not, but the director of the library was at that meeting too. Yeah. So they've all received the, um, memo that I. Said, and Carol Martin was the only person funded with interesting.
Uh, uh, how was that? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So that's, that's the news there. Thank you, Gretchen. Thank you for that. And I'm going to put in the minutes that the thought was shared that you might be in touch with the planning board and see if they might want to put a budgetary item in the town. Exactly. That'd be a good idea. Um, the other thing that I've noticed is that, um, I mean, I think it looks fine. I think we would approve it, but the, I went back and Greg sent me the, uh, certificate of appropriateness for 20 Concord road, the, um, red, uh, Reeves house that's sort of up on the hill at the beginning of the road, um, that is no longer red and it's kind of a fond color now. I mean, it's nice and it's fine, but the application. Very clearly said, we're not changing the paint color. And so I think that we want to just ask them to submit an application and make it right. Could it be a primer? Yeah. Could it be a primer? Well, I wondered about that, but all the trims done and it's been, the primers been on for about a month. Well, he's, he's doing it himself. So it's very slow. Everything's very slow. Maybe, maybe it is. I'll never forget when, uh, was painting his place and he put a primer on that. It was pink or it was pink. So what was asking? Yeah, that's what I thought before I would do it later. I mean, you know, definitely. So would you ask him? I can contact a guy. Well, that would be good. Just to check. Yeah.
Paint color is, does need to go through the process. Yes. And they specifically in the application that we're not changing the paint. And again, I don't think it is. I mean, as I said to you, uh, Greg, I have always been for not reviewing paint color too, because it's not an irrevocable change. Right. Right. That's what I think we're really trying to preserve. But the problem is that if you do leave it at pink, the chances of this person wanting this, they wanting them wanting to change it to red and the future is maybe another two years or three years. So I don't know why people are not changing house colors every day. Right. Yeah. Cost money. Yeah. I mean, it's just a policy thing. I know so many district commissions have dropped paint because it's a hotbed for people, but we haven't had a problem with it in the past. And so, and people didn't on the commission, when I brought that up, didn't agree. So fine. I mean, that's fine. We review paint. I think that since we do, we just have to be consistent. That's all. I'll take the action. Cause I actually want to see his progress, just like I want to stop in and see, um, Mary's garage progress. Right. Exactly. It's coming. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I see that too. Right. So, um, The town report. The town report. Any comments? Well, I was sent away. That was terrific. The other thing I love about the town report, you put so much detail in it and it is permanent. The 10 years from now, that report is it's forever. Okay. It's forever. Do we make it permanent? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean, it was I'm sorry. You keep it. I mean, they used to say no more than Leith. Did you get Pulitzer. As I got clearly around a thousand words. Okay. But okay. I mean, I just did the word count. Oh, okay. It was 1,200 in the . That is they may, they may pull if they want it shorter, some of the pictures but they said they would reform that. Oh. Yeah. Okay. That's all right. They could choose one or both. Yeah. Good. Fantastic. Yeah, do it right now. Yeah. Okay. Do we need to vote on this? We just don't need to afford in a minute. Yeah, we all like it. Yeah. Yes. And report.
We thought we could just thank Greg for doing it. We think thank Greg. Yeah. Any other agenda items for tonight?
Nothing I'm thinking of right now. I'm going to type up the minutes. This is well, it's fresh in my mind tonight. I'll send a copy to you to make sure I have a motion to close the hearing. Yes. Oh, with the hearing closed. Meeting. The meeting. Adjourn the meeting. Adjourn the meeting. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Second. Hi. Hi. Okay. Bye, Desmond. Bye, Desmond. 820 and we're all off the hook.
and on the phone we have that's when we're calling a woman colleague and presenting we have steve bowler that's correct to everybody so it's 7 35 you can open the hearing yes yes yeah let's open the public hearing and let's take notes i'm taking notes i'd be happy to you did last time okay so thank you so the public hearing is now open and uh we have an application for 34 votes road and um steve you're going to present it on behalf of the homeowner as you're doing uh the installation and construction work right yeah that's correct yeah thanks for having me guys uh like greg said my name's steve bowler i'm a design consultant with renewal by anderson boston's corporate location um and i'm here representing uh neil and donna olmsted at 34 bow road for their uh proposed window replacement project i can just kind of go over and provide you guys some simple details regarding the project and most importantly how the existing exterior appearance of the home will be maintained so the first things are the existing exterior window trim will not be removed or changed these are insert replacement windows allowing us to install the new windows within the existing frames and preserve the exterior trim that's currently on the home so we are not changing the trim at all we do use a small piece of white l-shaped transition trim approximately a half inch to three quarters of an inch depends on what the gap is there that will be used to immediately around the new window frame to create a clean transition from the new frame to the existing exterior trim the existing window sizes shapes and styles will remain exactly the same the same. We are not changing the architectural configuration of the windows at all. The existing grill patterns will be maintained as well. The proposed windows use a three-quarter inch traditional or colonial profile real wood grill, maintaining the same divided light pattern and proportions currently seen on the home. The finish is a factory applied white paint. Our acclaimed replacement windows incorporate traditional mortise and tenon style joinery, helping maintain the appearance and character associated with Anderson's traditional wood windows. Of the windows included in this project, only three face the road and they are actually on the second floor. The majority of the replacement windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. The windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. The windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. The windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. The windows are located on the sides and the rear of the home and are not replaced. of the primary street facing elevation. Most importantly, viewed from the road, the overall appearance of the home will remain essentially unchanged. The existing exterior trim is being preserved and the window configurations, the proportions and grill patterns that contribute to the character of the home are being maintained. So, yeah, that's pretty much it. You know, as illustrated in the presentation, that we provided to the commission. Our goal is to improve the performance and the operation of these windows while preserving the existing exterior appearance and architectural character of the property.
You mentioned one thing, you said real wood, but aren't they vinyl muttons? No, so we actually use a real wood. So it's either maple or oak. I think on the interior wood. On the interior, yeah, but on the exterior. Exterior, it's a composite material. So it's called Fibrex. That's what our windows are made out of. So it's actually 40% wood and 60% thermal polymers to make a composite material. It's very similar to like a Trex decking or a TimberTech decking. That's the same thing that our frames, our sashes are made out of. So it's plastic. They're double-glazed. So it's 60% plastic then, right? Yeah, 40% wood, 60% plastic. Yeah, it's a composite material. So they are double-glazed and then there's a separator, something that, because the muttons obviously don't go through, they're applied to the exterior and applied to the interior. Yeah, that's if you're doing, so little yes and no. So what we're doing for the homeowner, so the homeowner selected a three-quarter inch traditional profile. The real wood grills on the interior. So this home's already had replacement windows that were installed prior to the historical designation using an interior grill approach. So we're maintaining the consistency of what already exists in the home. I think most importantly, we're keeping the same grill pattern and proportions. So the existing exterior casings stay the same and the overall divided light appearance from Bow Road remains the same. Yeah. Is that essentially, you know, the same. But are they some sort of, something that is applied to the glass? I'm not worried about the interior. No, the interior, we have no jurisdiction. I want to understand the exterior. Yeah, so the homeowner, what they chose to do is the interior wood applied grills. So if you look from Bow Road to the house, you're going to see the same exact pattern. If you went up to the second floor, you know, if you touch the glass, you're not going to feel the wood on the outside. There's no wood on the outside. That's what I was wondering. That's the problem. Sorry.
Steve, so just so I'm clear, you're telling me there's no wood buttons on the exterior. Yeah, so the homeowners chose that to match the existing profiles of all the windows that were already, you know, replaced at the house. The present windows have, have exterior muttons. Oh, in the wooden. Excuse me. Sorry. The present windows have exterior muttons. It's not just reading the pattern, but it's also the profile that they, you know, there's a little bit of a, they project from the glass. These are not going to have anything that projects from the glass. So yeah, the project that we built, out was the interior wood grill to match the same profiles. We did not build out the project with the exterior ones as well. Right. You know, one thing I noticed, you know, being in Bow Road many times now, you know, a lot of, you know, the other houses on the road, replacement window configurations, you know, they have just the grills between the glass that I've noticed. They don't have anything, you know, on the outside or interior as well. So my understanding, that was just maintaining the visual character and griddle pattern from the public way was the main concern. You know, if there's a different standard that applies, you know, for this property, you know, I'm happy to understand that for them. The same standard for all of them. We have moved away from the wood and allowed vinyl and some sort of, you know, composite. But what you're telling us, I think is that there will be no grill on the exterior. It'll only be what you can read from the interior. Yeah. So the visual appearance from the road, you will still see the grill pattern, but if you walked up, you wouldn't be able to touch and feel. Even if you wouldn't, but even if you're standing way far away, you don't get the profile, the depth. Correct. You don't get the depth. Sure. You don't get the thickness. Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. If you, I mean, you know, yes, yes. You wouldn't be able to see that if you can see, notice that from the road. Yes. From, you know, up on the second floor. Right.
Was that more expensive to not put some grills on the outside or what was the reason? You know, the homeowners more did it to match all the windows that they have currently replaced in their house. So that was the kind of the goal to keep with what they've already replaced. And yes, it is more expensive whenever you apply ones on the outside and the inside. Right. I think, I don't know. I mean, we certainly do that. You know, with Anderson, we can absolutely apply that we were just going, you know, for what they've already replaced, you know, to keep it consistent with them, you know, and just match the existing profiles of the grill. So from the road, if you looked at the window, you're still going to see, you know, the colonial, you know, look. The, the commission also reviews windows, windows, windows, windows that are visible from the public way. Right. And in our walk past the house, the driveway windows are on the side. They're, they're very visible. Right. And so since the one on the side of the house is on the first floor, that would be closest to anybody standing in the street. Right. And so what we're learning in my understanding, the window that's there now on the side door has wood dividers on the outside of the glass. Yes. And, and we prefer architecturally historically to keep that same look because there, you've got a glancing reflection. If you take them away, the reflection is a solid sheet of glass. You follow me? And it doesn't look, doesn't look historically old at all. Sure. So, so this will bring the discussion to the side of the house too. Right. Yeah. And I think, you know, this is, you know, obviously hoping to, you know, present the interior wood grill and that was acceptable, but also, you know, we know that, you know, we have to comply with, you know, with you guys in the historical, you know, commission. Anderson, we can absolutely change the project. Nothing's been ordered. We haven't released the order to the factory, nothing like that yet, you know, until obviously we get approvals. So if that is a, you know, if that's a, you know, a stop at a mandatory thing for them, then that's just something we're going to have to do. And the homeowner is going to have to, you know, either move forward with the project or, or cancel the project. One or the other. Yep. So you mentioned that other windows did not have that. So are you saying that other windows in the house that are visible to the road do not have a wooden exterior grill? They, I'd have to see if they're, I can't remember every single window. I know they replaced a handful of them. The ones on the first floor that are facing directly on the road, they're actually not replacing those because they want to keep the wavy glass and the single pane look. Cause not only do they think it's, you know, pretty cool looking, but I think they thought you guys would really appreciate that as well. But no, I would have to count how many windows there are exactly that don't have that, but there are a handful. Yes. That have been. Sorry, go ahead. No, I was, I was going to just say, so I'm, so I'm clear. You're not sure if the windows on the ground floor facing the road have muttons or not on the exterior. The bottom ones do. Yes. And the second match. So I guess, I guess where my mind goes then immediately is well, if philosophically, as you told us, they wanted to match. The, the, the, the windows that are on the ground floor. Of the front of the house. With the upper floor. Of the front of the house. They would have muttons. Wouldn't they? Sure. Yeah, no. And absolutely. So that's why I'm not, not quite understanding the logic. I can easily relate to them that you're requesting muttons on the exterior. And we're going to make that happen. It's not, not an issue. Yeah. Just to clarify for everybody to visually, when you look at the house. The first floor front. Has a. Of course. A screened in porch. So you, you can't really. See, you can't see it. You can't see it. You can't see it. You can't see it. You can't really. Right. See the windows. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's in the picture on page one. Yeah. That's right. You can see it. But, but, you know, if you're looking closely at the house, it sure would be nice. So it's my house. Did all the windows look the same? Yeah, I would think so. Well, there's also the. If there are windows that do not have. Exterior. Doors. On the front. Yeah. They might be on the back. They might be on the back. They might be on the front. They might be on the back. They might be on the back. They might be on the back. But that's not. That's what I'm thinking. Public way. Yeah, our progress. I believe that. Exactly. The other ones all do have. It would make sense. Yes, I do. Right here. Maybe a good compromise is anything, you know, on the side or the front. Face. You know, they have to have exterior wood grills. But you know, if they're on the backside of the house. interior wood grill maybe that's they're not in our jurisdiction period they can do whatever they want yeah and they're not in our jurisdiction so steve can i just say one thing uh what we are and it may seem minute to you but we are the historic district commission we were only concerned with architecture within these two small districts in town and it's whatever we can see from the public way and in this case you can see both sides of the house in the front can't see the back at all right so the back is out of our jurisdiction is just the three sides okay great so just to clarify one thing does it dildo martin's exist in the current windows right now in the top yes they do exist yes i believe they're the original windows of the house the original house yeah they do open fully you know single pane glass and can that be reused no because they want to um okay have the double glazing right yeah yeah and it makes sense that double glazing yeah again it's more energy efficient you know and why they want new windows i get it um completely i think we all do we've all you know have these issues um but that was the only thing that i missed in the uh all of the photographs and the information that you sent the application sure i did not because i thought that the um business about the um fiber what's it called fiber fibrics fibrics um was for the exterior grill got it yeah if there was any miscommunication there and that's what we were kind of you know you know trying to find out what exactly you know was the um you know what you guys wanted in those windows they weren't sure if the interior would only grills were going to be acceptable or not um so that's why i'm here you know kind of representing them to find out and um you know it's very easy to um you know change the project and add that it's a very simple thing for us i mean we really don't if they don't want to have anything on the interior that's okay with us too because we wouldn't know we don't have jurisdiction there sure so good to know too they might want it but you know it's actually probably awesome yes it might be the same cost for them if i take away the interior and just apply the exterior yeah yeah let's go back to that it doesn't have to be i mean a lot of people have um switched from real real proper wood you know old wood um to some sort of a foam closet as you said uh for the exterior because you know it's we've got a lot of issues with our weather etc we understand that that's what people are doing and we've it's a slippery slope but we've we've gone that route right yeah and just to reiterate like i said it's it's our it's our fibrex composite material in the exterior that's what you use it's going to be your traditional you know profile raised contoured profile yeah three quarter inch so it will match very very closely to what's on those windows um and it's a in the way the finish the the white um you know color it's actually baked into right material so it won't chip and peel and crack that stuff for them Steve can i ask you have you done this before with it just on the outside and not on the end yeah yeah we do a mixture on the outside on the inside I mean you know we do full divided light in the space or in the glass you know whatever you know Anderson been around for 125 years all right we might have even created the kitchen I don't know for certain but would the um mountains be a similar profile and similar width to the existing exactly so it matches the Colonial style so they're three quarters uh inch thick and then they're contoured out I didn't I don't know the exact step that they come out but it's you know half inch or three quarters of an inch something like that whatever you know whatever you want to call it or whatever that is makes sense yeah Desmond are you I'm listening I'm listening I'd love I'd love to see uh you don't have a drawing um Steve you can put up the section through the window do you um do you have the application I do yeah Greg does the application so you can yeah show you the okay I'm gonna share it yeah
great okay what page would I go to Steve um let me see on that let me bring that up
yeah that's the yeah I don't know if I don't know if Marissa she's the one who built this out if she put that in there let me see if I can yeah something I could share yeah one second yeah I don't see that at all see Desmond how you can see the right profiles on the existing I think you know the good thing about the depth actually casts a shadow you look at it at certain angles right so I think that's what's very important uh I agree with you I agree with you it will be important yeah oh absolutely um you can do either or we can do um removable ones which most people are doing because it's easier to clean um or you can do factory applied factory applied will will cost them more money yeah yeah
I'm sharing a picture now it gives you a better view of this I see I see 102 101 yeah yeah yeah yeah I see them all yeah this Ryan trying to find a good um permanent oh my okay so they'd want to be permanent okay got it yes yes permanent not stamp on the only problem is the stuff the the the snap on snap off the ones is if you do lose it or break it or chip it it's always though yeah oh all right that's it there not put it back because hmm okay so what would be um
what would be really useful is to is to see uh um a profile of this um button um yeah I've got one up just I'm on my other computer but I just you know easily just went to Anderson's our website and I've got the other profile up it says you cannot start screen sharing while the participant is sharing okay i know okay let me see here yeah does he have to be does robbie have to there we go okay yeah so this is the profile that would be applied to the outside so it's three quarters inch thick very similar to your traditional colonial you know it doesn't have to be the way so the next question that jumps to my mind is do we know what the existing profile looks like um yes i have a feeling that it has more of a peak but i'm not so sure that we want to get that specific on you know okay do you know what i mean yeah yeah i understand yeah i i think i think the good thing is having you know muttons on the outside that read that's it the read to dimension that read to to shadow that don't give us a blank a blank um glazed um shimmer at an obtuse angle i i think all those things are are what we would like to see sure no understandable i would um i mean i'd love it if the same profile but if it's not the same profile i think that's that's too far yeah i can let i can let that go okay great um yeah so i mean it's very easy i mean i can just go back to the homeowner and say this is what's required um you know do you guys want to change the project and apply those changes or um you know do you want to uh not replace your windows i'm assuming for a couple hundred dollar change or whatever it might be they're going to be fighting with it it seems it seems relatively inexpensive yeah the number that came up there was like 179 i assume a foot or whatever it is it doesn't no it's a huge number yeah that's just if you you bought them that's the um that's the snap-on ones yeah yeah but i'm i'm i'm sure i'm sure that it's it's it's doesn't escalate the price to a point where it's painful it's not going to change it thousands of dollars if you can yeah especially if you can not have the ones on the inside but just have them on the outside that's what you say yeah um right right right probably saving they might not like that you know they may have one boat right yeah yeah and exactly and i'll give them that option but i'll you know very clear what the requirement is um and i'm sure they'll be fine with that yeah and so are the um exterior ones that you're showing us of exactly the same width as the interior wood ones that she wants so that they match up so there's not a little bit of a yeah so a lot of times somebody will have you know one color i'm thinking more for them on the inside because you're there and it's really close to you and if the outside mutton is wider yeah that would be very unsettling yeah no they're the same size yeah okay actually if they don't have buttons on the inside easy to clean yes yeah just out of curiosity do you have a picture of the one without the outside mutton that only has an inside mutton do you have a picture that we can just take a look uh just out of curiosity i don't have one handy i mean i can take it don't worry about it i don't think we need it we don't need it i was just curious as to what yeah the effect was because i don't think i like it but i just lack of effect exactly lack of exactly okay so i'd like to um does anybody have a motion to close the public hearing we don't have anybody attending i i have a question though first okay do we want to see uh you know here what the homeowner wants what do we want to continue the hearing in order to approve it once in case they want to change it or are we going to approve what we've talked about you know what i think would be very nice is to um approve what we've talked about yeah and they can come back to us if they don't like it right is what they can do but i think that giving them an approval tonight to do as we've described uh gives them a pathway and if they don't like it they can come back to us okay so the their approval would have a requirement that exterior yes trim is applied yes exterior mutton mutton to match the right right any any any windows that you can see from the road at all all right only those three we don't yeah if they don't have it for the back they're fine right but they might want to have them all just them all match you know i'll find out from them but yeah it's clear um you know and i can relay that to them you know what you guys are willing to approve and then like you said if they have any issues they can always the other not just the driveway side so just so yeah desmond were you mentioning there was another window in addition to the three that might be visible would you say i don't know they're doing some on the back it's just the driveway i think it's the three on the front of the house up on the second floor yeah and those ones that greg was talking about on the driveway it was the other one there are also windows on the other side right see the three sides of the house are visible from the public way right yeah right the only thing we can't see is the back yeah and i don't think let me let me see one thing so we're not concerned with the back at all but the sides we are the three sides we are yeah but then they're only they're only talking about the full front three so i don't know if they're talking about the others okay well if there aren't any on the um they're not replacing those there are on all sides i think to be clear we just we just say any windows seen from the public way right yeah and it's and i'm looking at the pictures now there's it's only the three on the front but then there's four on that side of the driveway there's nothing on the side of the house the restaurant thank you thank you yeah all right there's several back but there's nothing on the other side of the house no if you're looking at the house it's the three okay three up top and then the restaurant in the back okay just the driveway side okay just this side here yeah which i agree because that's the most open side too if you are coming down you yeah you can't see that side of the house exactly it's quite visible yeah esmond you're trying to say something no i'm good it's okay okay all right so do you like a motion we like we want to close the hearing first close the hearing first close the hearing you could also make the motion and then vote on it because if there's any problem with the motion that they want to let's go they can't they can't come back and start talking it's okay i'm learning i just saw oh okay so we can do a motion just so for any discussion in case there's any problem or we have to ask steve something so do we have a motion to consider for the application and i think it's it's add exterior mountains treatment to the windows visible from the front three and the side four yes so we're accepting the replacement windows but they must have applied on the exterior on the exterior yeah you can do whatever you want yeah well yeah i think it's okay so we're accepting the replacement windows but they must have applied on the exterior yes okay do i have a second for that second
so now is there any discussion to you know just to make sure that i mean we can talk about it afterwards but just make sure that steve is okay with that motion yeah no it's i think that was the goal tonight is to you know get a clear understanding and all come to an agreement which i think we did now i can you know relay that to uh to neil and donna um in a clear way um and yeah everything should be fine and like you said if for some reason they have an issue with it then they'll come back to you guys and request a hearing but from my understanding is you know because we have lead times right now that are about six to eight weeks out they want to get these in before the cold weather comes so i'm sure i don't think it'll be an issue okay i'm going to be close to hearing a second second one favor hi hi hi hi desmond hi hi and all in favor of the motion say hi are you ready motion with the uh caveat that it has to they have to add the exterior mountains yes that's how i'll write up to see you yeah that's wonderful okay all right so do you want to vote on that now yeah let's vote on that okay we have to vote to do a roll call because we're up online yeah all in favor of the motion to approve it with the mountains at it i seem to see him say Simone. Marjorie. Gretchen, yes. Greg, yes. Desmond, yes. Thank you. Five, zero, zero. Okay. Steve, thank you. Yeah, thank you very much. Guys, what should I, I'm going to relate to Donna and Neil. What's the next steps? Do you just, can I have Marissa, who does all of our permings, reach out and she gets the clearance from you guys, or how does that work? So you can verbally tell them what we decided here. I'm going to write it up tomorrow, and we just, I file a PDF with the town and send you all a copy. And that's it. It'd be a certificate of approval with the caveats that we discussed. And can you send it directly to Steve so that he sees? Yeah, I can. So it'll be sent to you too, Steve. Yeah, that'd be great. Then I can forward that to, you know, our permitting and, you know, HOA department that handles all that stuff. So they have it on file. That'd be great. Yeah, perfect. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Good night. Thank you. Desmond, don't go anywhere. I won't.
All right. Next on the agenda, we have approval of previous meeting minutes, which I did not send out, but they were beautifully written up. And I'm going to put it on the screen right now. For Desmond. Thank you. Oh, thank you. This was a meeting, the last meeting that you weren't at, Desmond, so maybe you don't have to read this. The four of us were, right? Us four? Right. Cool. Yeah, I was not in attendance. Right. So this was the discussion about the windows at Townhouse Bistro Cafe. Oh, right. The old Collins Market. Yep. Yep. Yeah. Where they're putting in really nice windows. Good. I read it. I'm happy with it.
You know what I was grateful for with the minutes is, and I'm often a minute taker, but I love the detail that Gretchen brought. And I know that Kirsten, who's the applicant, refers back to minutes. So I'd like to have it complete and full. And it really was for the discussion and all the details. Thank you. That's great. That's great. You do. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes as written? So do. Second that. Second. And a vote. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. So. And Devin, you would abstain? I was, I was, I'll abstain. I was not attending. Okay. 4-0-1. Thank you. It's okay. Thank you. Next on the agenda is the annual report. Which I created and sent out. And.
Any comments on it? I've got until the end of September to turn it in, but look through it. I kind of want to get it done. Yeah. And it's. I put two exemplary pictures in there, the nice garage. Right. And townhouse Bistro. Yeah. This. And it's a summary. Of more or less what we did for the year. Right. I'm looking forward to that building in build. I see what's going on. Beautiful. And you know what? I'd like to see the town address the parking. Yes. I mean,
she posts pictures all the time on Instagram, which she had to show to me. Cause of course I don't do Instagram. Yeah. Neither do I. Okay. Well then he asked one of your kids to look at it because there it's so cushy. And welcoming and what she has done VR VR type renderings of the inside. It's really good library with books and stuff. Yeah. And names the different rooms historically, uh, very well done. It sounds great. I can't wait to, I can't wait for them to open. Actually. Yeah. Hey, I'm, I'm waiting for that town to do something about parking. And I'm hoping that Gretchen has a report on that. Cause she's you don't meet with Michael. Yeah. Does he want a committee? To yes. Have they done anything? No. Have they met? Yes. Okay. Is there agreement or no? Huh? So Gretchen, is there, is there any way any of the rest of us on the, on the commission can, um, articulate it? It all gets wonder. I don't know of anything. I don't know what to say. Yeah, I don't. The one that is really systems. When she goes through. We had me. I don't think that's a video. Well, I was there because Greg said, they said, one of those series district. He said, Oh, here we are. I know these, the room. So yeah, here's one. And there's more people. There's more. Okay. And I can't recall right now. If you scroll up, what you see in the room, somebody think this is the one. This is the video. I think you're right. I think this is it. Um, at any rate, they, um, everybody just chit chat it and Kay tried to report on what was a voted. And this is 1988. Yeah. Uh, you shut her down real fast. Really? Yeah. And so he didn't want to hear it because it does say the town meeting article. If 1988 says, um, that we were getting the parking area, uh, along the road trail, uh, for library use and other municipal use, and, um, they have put up signs and it's not made for library use. Uh, so, uh, you know, she wasn't able to finish her statement. And so I copied what she had found in the, um, town meeting minutes. Yeah. And, uh, sent them to him, uh, to Michael, um, call and to everybody that was on that committee. Okay. And I've heard nothing zip. Um, that's, that's not, that's really disappointing, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, I, we tried to be very, I mean, you all were great because you said you walk me off the cliff and say, wait a minute, let's just be positive about this. And, and, uh. Make it a positive thing and collaborative. And that's what we tried to do, but the, the library is pretty upset. Gretchen, I will say one thing that I surprised me and pleased me. Um, the new owner of the new town center has signs now for real trail parking only, uh, on the side near the rail trail. And I don't know how many there are. There could be a dozen or so, but it says for real trail. And it's kind of between where stop and shop is and the local. I mean, it's there and I think that's great because if somebody really wants to park and bike down there or walk, what is it? It's an eighth of a mile. Maybe. Yeah. It's doable. Yeah. It's just making sure people know it's there. That's all. Yeah. Right. That's the big, that's the, that's the big, that's the big thing. We need to get it into the Whalen post. Yeah. It's the Whalen post. Yes. You're right. Pearson's not opening until December. So really December. Okay. There's time here to get, you know, I wonder if she'll be ready in December. I don't know. Oh, the bistro. Yeah. The terrain house is open. Um, I, I think we just have to keep pushing. There's not much else we can do it, but you know, um, I don't know. Maybe the historic district could. Okay. Send a memo to Michael and say, any progress. I have another question. I was told the, uh, at one point the chair of the select board, Carol Martin gave me a call because I tried to speak about this issue. And, um, she explained to me that one of our long-term suggestions was to hire a planner that would come up, uh, would evaluate all the land and come up with an intelligent plan that would be safe for, okay. And so what she told me is that, um, they don't have the money for that right now. It has to go into the budget. It has to be voted at town meeting so that we can go ahead with that. Somebody has to come up with the article though. Who would come up with the article? The select board or the planner planner planner. I suppose we could go to the planning board and ask them to, if they were. Yeah, if they would consider it, I think that's the next thing to do. I think to be proactive is good. I'm sorry. I think we need to be proactive. We do and, and pull out the stops. I mean, this is just one thing we could do is maybe go to the planning board. Yeah. Okay. See if they couldn't support, um, Carol Martin was at the meeting and AIDA was not, but the director of the library was at that meeting too. Yeah. So they've all received the, um, memo that I. Said, and Carol Martin was the only person funded with interesting.
Uh, uh, how was that? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So that's, that's the news there. Thank you, Gretchen. Thank you for that. And I'm going to put in the minutes that the thought was shared that you might be in touch with the planning board and see if they might want to put a budgetary item in the town. Exactly. That'd be a good idea. Um, the other thing that I've noticed is that, um, I mean, I think it looks fine. I think we would approve it, but the, I went back and Greg sent me the, uh, certificate of appropriateness for 20 Concord road, the, um, red, uh, Reeves house that's sort of up on the hill at the beginning of the road, um, that is no longer red and it's kind of a fond color now. I mean, it's nice and it's fine, but the application. Very clearly said, we're not changing the paint color. And so I think that we want to just ask them to submit an application and make it right. Could it be a primer? Yeah. Could it be a primer? Well, I wondered about that, but all the trims done and it's been, the primers been on for about a month. Well, he's, he's doing it himself. So it's very slow. Everything's very slow. Maybe, maybe it is. I'll never forget when, uh, was painting his place and he put a primer on that. It was pink or it was pink. So what was asking? Yeah, that's what I thought before I would do it later. I mean, you know, definitely. So would you ask him? I can contact a guy. Well, that would be good. Just to check. Yeah.
Paint color is, does need to go through the process. Yes. And they specifically in the application that we're not changing the paint. And again, I don't think it is. I mean, as I said to you, uh, Greg, I have always been for not reviewing paint color too, because it's not an irrevocable change. Right. Right. That's what I think we're really trying to preserve. But the problem is that if you do leave it at pink, the chances of this person wanting this, they wanting them wanting to change it to red and the future is maybe another two years or three years. So I don't know why people are not changing house colors every day. Right. Yeah. Cost money. Yeah. I mean, it's just a policy thing. I know so many district commissions have dropped paint because it's a hotbed for people, but we haven't had a problem with it in the past. And so, and people didn't on the commission, when I brought that up, didn't agree. So fine. I mean, that's fine. We review paint. I think that since we do, we just have to be consistent. That's all. I'll take the action. Cause I actually want to see his progress, just like I want to stop in and see, um, Mary's garage progress. Right. Exactly. It's coming. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I see that too. Right. So, um, The town report. The town report. Any comments? Well, I was sent away. That was terrific. The other thing I love about the town report, you put so much detail in it and it is permanent. The 10 years from now, that report is it's forever. Okay. It's forever. Do we make it permanent? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I mean, it was I'm sorry. You keep it. I mean, they used to say no more than Leith. Did you get Pulitzer. As I got clearly around a thousand words. Okay. But okay. I mean, I just did the word count. Oh, okay. It was 1,200 in the . That is they may, they may pull if they want it shorter, some of the pictures but they said they would reform that. Oh. Yeah. Okay. That's all right. They could choose one or both. Yeah. Good. Fantastic. Yeah, do it right now. Yeah. Okay. Do we need to vote on this? We just don't need to afford in a minute. Yeah, we all like it. Yeah. Yes. And report.
We thought we could just thank Greg for doing it. We think thank Greg. Yeah. Any other agenda items for tonight?
Nothing I'm thinking of right now. I'm going to type up the minutes. This is well, it's fresh in my mind tonight. I'll send a copy to you to make sure I have a motion to close the hearing. Yes. Oh, with the hearing closed. Meeting. The meeting. Adjourn the meeting. Adjourn the meeting. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Second. Hi. Hi. Okay. Bye, Desmond. Bye, Desmond. 820 and we're all off the hook.