January 7, 2026 – Historical Commission – Video & Transcript
January 7, 2026 - Historical Commission
This meeting may be recorded and if recorded will be made available
to the public on WACAM as soon as possible after the meeting.
Public will be excluded from executive sessions.
Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025,
this meeting will be conducted via remote access
in accordance with applicable law.
If this meeting has only remote access, which we do,
no in-person attendance by members
or the public will be permitted.
If this meeting has remote access, one may watch or participate remotely
with the meeting link that can be found at wayland.mass.us.
When required by law or allowed by the chair, persons wishing
to provide public comment or otherwise participate in the meeting may do
so at the meeting location, remote access today.
Public comment should be limited to two minutes per person.
Please note that agenda items listed are approximate.
They may not be discussed in the order listed.
And all topics may be subject to deliberation and vote.
So I've already called the meeting to order, and Rick is taking minutes,
and now we'll open for public comment.
And we welcome Tom Holder.
Did Tom disappear?
Tom's still here.
He's just here.
No, I am here.
Okay.
Okay.
Good.
Can't see you, so.
I'm not seeing anybody raise their hands yet for public comment.
There's four people here, so.
Okay.
Do we need to have those persons introduce themselves at this point?
No.
Only if they make a comment.
Okay.
But I believe they're all set.
Okay.
Then we are going to move the Sherman's Bridge update up to now for public comment.
We invited Tom Holder as director of the Department of Public Works to let us know if there's anything
new going on.
So, Tom, would you like to start?
Yeah, certainly, and thanks very much for the invitation.
I've just got a few talking points that I can go through and then answer any questions
that you might have.
The project team is working toward making the necessary bridge deck repairs.
We have honed in on a very positive repair approach that includes the information heard
and learned from a forum, a visionary workshop that we held in Sudbury on October 9th, and those
comments are along with subsequent public input.
Some key points that are current in our design approach.
We did eliminate a proposed asphalt layer over the wood driving deck where the vehicles
would pass over.
We have been able to maintain the current five-foot walkway width.
That was a desire.
We have lowered the barrier between the driving surface and the walkway.
Initially, there was a substantial rail barrier.
We've been able to lower that and still meet the barrier tests that we have to comply with.
We are able to keep the steel-banded wood guardrails that are located on the north side bridge approaches.
Those are currently there.
We'll be able to keep those.
We have made some changes that will allow for easier access to the walkway from both the Weyland
and the Sudbury sides.
We are considering including conduit under the bridge deck, and that would be for the future location
of the current overhead utilities that you see out there.
The walkway will be made of timber boards.
The design will include a timber-wearing surface that will be constructed over the glulam decking.
The bridge itself from the Weyland to the Sudbury abutments will be constructed entirely in wood.
There are planned nominal repairs involving one piling underneath and a number of the cross members
underneath the bridge that will be included in the repair effort.
There will be no impact or restrictions to river access, as is currently enjoyed.
Along with strong support from the project design concept,
MassDOT has graciously offered to pay for the deck repair materials and have their contractor
perform the removal and installation services.
This is a tremendous financial benefit, considering the town's current financial challenges.
The current bridge repair design balances the necessary inclusion of current bridge safety standards,
along with the preservation of the bridge's historic nature, while also maintaining recreational amenities.
So, like I said, we've got a very positive approach.
What we currently have is, you know, favorably been able to accommodate much of the desired
improvements and inclusion of the things that we've heard and learned from
both the visionary workshop and also a significant amount of public input, you know, received thereafter.
Okay, thank you. Any questions for Tom?
No.
Well, I would like to compliment Tom and Sudbury for listening to the public and responding in such
a positive way on so many of the details that the public has brought up to his attention.
And so, thank you, Tom.
Well, we're happy and glad to do those things.
I'd just like to say a few words. The Historical Commission sent a letter, which I'm sure you received, regarding the historic significance of the bridge and that we value the historic significance, I personally don't feel it's appropriate that we get into the design details. And you should be commended for working with the residents and advocates. And I don't feel that our role as a commission is to weigh in on the detail, the engineering details of what you experts are working with. So, I have confidence that you've been meeting with those residents and concerned citizens and hopefully are dealing with their issues, listening and responding to the issues that you're able to accommodate. Thank you for saying so. And I see that we recently received a copy of the letter from the Massachusetts Historical Commission looking for the final planned details and so forth, so that they can move forward with a final approval of of the whole design process. Yes, yes, I was copied on that letter and we are responding with what they are requesting. Yeah, pretty straightforward request. Mm hmm. Well, I hope that he was sending a copy to the historical commission also so that we can put it into our archives. So what we will be sending, as is represented in the letter, is a project notification form. In essence, it's a form, but it's, you know, it's the bridge plans that go along with that. We had submitted that later last year, and the Mass Historic Commission got an understanding that the plans had changed, I guess, significantly enough for a second review. I'm not sure that was indeed the case, but having received this request from them, we are resubmitting, you know, the project notification form package, which is what they will require for their review. So that is what has been sent to them with some of the nominal changes in the design. I don't believe that those nominal changes will have an impact in the historic, you know, review of the bridge, you know, proposal. But we are doing that just the same. Okay, good.
Okay. Any other questions or comments for Tom? Okay, well, we appreciate your being here. That's wonderful to bring us up to date from what your team is doing. And I know your time is limited. So we appreciate it very much. All right. Well, it was good seeing you all. Thanks very much for having me. Thank you. Bye bye. Any other comment on Sherman's Bridge?
Nope.
Any public comment?
Yes, there is someone raising his hand, so I will allow him. One minute. Here we go.
Okay. All right. Are we ready to go? Ready to go. All right. Hi, this is Doug Stotz. I think that was good news from Mr. Holder. I heard half of his in the car and half running upstairs. But it sounds like putting natural wood decking atop the glulam is now something final in the plan. And if so, I find that very good news and a big step towards keeping the historical authenticity of the bridge. The other loose end that was, I didn't hear get battened down, but it may have been, is at the December 9th Sudbury Historical Commission meeting. One of the points being brought up was that there was still going to be some exposed steel on one of the approach guard, or two of the approach guard rails on the Sudbury side. It sounded from the tenor of that conversation that that was a pretty easy fix to cover that and, you know, basically sheathed in natural wood. And if so, you know, if both those items are taken care of, I think from a historical character and authenticity point of view, we've gotten to a pretty good approach. Well, I believe he said that the steel would be wood covered. So I'm assuming that he means all the steel, not just one side or the other. If so, that's very good news. The other point worth mentioning at the December 16th meeting of the Board of Public Works, he clarified the previous statements. It turns out that the glulam decking itself is not a safety requirement. You know, it certainly makes for a more solid bridge.
You know, reverting to the natural decking would be a great savings, but I'm not sure the state would pay for it. But in any event, you know, to have a natural wood-wearing surface is what's important from a historical appearance point of view. Well, that's true. I think, as Rick pointed out, we're not talking about specifics, but there has been still some questions about when the river floods, which it has done previously, that whether the glulam will stand up and the extra cost of going under the bridge, because they can only repair the glulam from under the bridge, not above, is a concern. And renting a barge to do so. Right, exactly. The other thing perhaps worth a mention of at the December 16th meeting is, at that meeting, Tom Siaka, who is Wayland's representative on the Federal Sue Asko River Stewardship Council. Apparently, Tom has been voted by his fellow members of the council to represent them on all matters regarding Sherman's Bridge. And at that meeting, he spoke of both the River Stewardship Council and having a second walkway added to the bridge, but perhaps more importantly, spoke of their potential willingness to, you know, put $50,000 to $100,000 towards funding that. So, you know, while not strictly within the remit of the historical commission, I thought that was an interesting point. And, you know, if that could help get that second walkway done, all the better. Well, I believe Tom has pointed out in the past that perhaps the bridge is not designed to hold a second walkway on the other side, but I think that you could certainly contact him and inquire further whether the redesigning would do that or not. Well, actually, one of the neighbors on Sherman's Bridge is one of Mojo Safdie's partners, and she is responsible for the design of the Marina Sands Casino. And in Singapore, among other things, she's taken a look at the bridge. She's had her structural engineer take a look at the bridge. Both of them think that it's actually robust enough to simply run some sisters out from the existing crossbeams could very easily accommodate a second walkway. You know, you're talking about 500 square feet of decking, basically, and the ability to hold three or four humans at a time. Well, that's certainly an interesting concept, and I know that she's conveyed that to the DPWs. So let's hope that things work out. Yeah, again, not strictly within your remit, but I think with those couple of points he just made about the natural wood wearing surface and the covering up the guardrails were actually very close to a solution that should work for everybody. And that, of course, is the bridge itself. A separate issue, which is being negotiated separately, hopefully negotiated, is that of the 1971 Neighborhood Agreement, which emerged from the Historical Commission's archives in September. Right, I believe that Doug Stoats has got that notarized now as the only person who was at that meeting that is still alive. No notes were taken. There's no record in the DPW. Of course, they weren't, I think it was the Highway Department at that time. Highway Department, yeah. Yeah, and there was no open law to require them to do any posting or recording of it. So I would think that would be helpful if anything went to court, that it's notarized. Yes, there's both his affidavit, but also, you know, not just the one article that you found, Kate, from the Wayland Town Crier, but three or four leading up to it. And, you know, also some corroborating evidence that, you know, the part of the agreement was that the right-of-way be no wider than 33 feet. And, in fact, that right-of-way today is 33 feet versus 40 elsewhere in town. The fact that 10 months later, the landowners on Sherman's Bridge, you know, the subset of folks who gave land to the straightening, did so without consideration, being happy with that agreement. And, you know, the fact that the town meeting vote was unanimous, reflecting that, you know, certainly the residents of Sherman's Bridge Road were happy with that agreement. Right. Okay. But, you know, that's history and probably of no interest to this group. Well, we certainly have been trying to keep history alive in Wayland and protecting it and so forth, so we appreciate that you acknowledge that as our archives is the only source that has talked about it or saved information about it. Well, actually, I also found a copy in the library files on the bridges of Wayland, so it's in two places at least. Okay.
Okay, good. Any other questions for Doug?
It's Norm, isn't it? It's it. Well, no, Norm's my business partner, and somehow I ended up walking. Oh, I see. Okay. You must have his phone. Got it. Okay.
I guess to close, the next two meetings I think of that are important to the bridge are both on January 20th. The Wayland Board of Public Works will probably discuss it at 6 p.m., and the Sudbury Historical Commission at 6.30 p.m.
Hmm. Well, I can't attend either one. I have a CPC meeting tonight. Yeah. So if anybody else on the Historical Commission would like to attend, that would be appreciated. Yeah, those are both on the 20th. On the 20th. Oh, on the 20th. Oh, okay. On the 20th, yes. January 20th. Sorry, I misheard. But, you know, all that was an encouraging update from Mr. Holter. I thought it was. Yes. I thought he listened to people's concerns and has responded.
Which is what everyone in town who's involved with this was hoping would happen. So that's good. Yes. That's good. Well, thank you, Doug, for tuning in and bringing us up to date from your angle on Sherman's Bridge. And I'd like to thank the commission for your continued interest in this.
Okay. Any other public comment?
Okay. Then I think we will move on to our minutes from our December 3rd meeting.
Everyone have copies? Any other additions? We've sent two corrections to Ann already. Do you have a copy of any corrections or changes that were made?
In the opening, Ann Gordon called the meeting to order. Not Kay, Gardner-Westcott. And in the railroad report, the third paragraph, last sentence, has a K without the Gardner-Westcott as a full name. So we made that change. So are there any others? I have one comment under the railroad. The bottom paragraph on page two, you're looking at it in print, where it says, R. Conard raised the issue of photo credits. The next sentence, he donated a photo to the Whelan Historical Society. My intention was he donated a copy of a photo. Okay. So if you could add the words, copy of a photo? If that's what you said, she can only report what you said. If you didn't use the words, copy, you can correct your statement in today's minutes, but not the last minutes. Well, that was my intention. And if I had donated the one and only copy of the photo to the Historical Society, then obviously they should get the credit. But if I donated a copy of a photo and kept the original, then that's what I did in this particular case. So I'm just trying to explain what I intended to say and believe I said or thought I said at the meeting. Okay. Fine. Just put it in there. You're taking minutes. So just put it in the minutes today that that was what your intention was if it was not clear in the last meeting. Okay.
Okay. Any anything else in the minutes? Brad, did you spot anything?
Did we lose Brad? I don't know. No. Yeah, I was unmuted. Okay. No, I missed the meeting, so I don't have any comment. You have a comment. Okay.
Oh, all right. Then with the corrections that we have made, we will vote to, is there a motion to accept the minutes? So moved. That's corrected. Okay. Brad, is there a second? Second. Okay. Thank you, Kay. Then we shall vote and we need to say our names and our vote. So I'll start. Brad, we'll start with you. Brad Carver, yes. Rick Conner, yes. Kay Gardner-Wescott, yes. Sherry Ann Bryant, yes.
Next item is our History at Play, 250th. Deborah Sampson, performance this Sunday and a report. Kay, can you bring us up to date on what's happening with that? Well, what's happening is, as far as I know, the play is continued on schedule. I have heard recently that the star performer has been sick, but I have not heard that she's not recovered or does not intend to have the play. Unfortunately, registration was not possible for this particular performance. There is a limit of 140 seats. However, since the Historical Commission is sponsoring this program, it is up to us to get people to help direct the parking of the cars. I don't know if you're familiar with folks' theater, but they have to park very tightly in, so people just barely get out of their cars. And it's parked three rows steep. The recommendation is that a car back in rather than pull straight in because you don't want them backing out into the crowd that's leaving the theater when it's done. So, therefore, we need people to help with the parking, and we need people to greet them at the door and be sure they understand this is a historical commission project. And also, to hold up a donation pot, we need at least two, one on either side of the door, so people who would like to donate could do so. We're hoping to use this funding to create a sign for the constituent ball field, much like the other signs that we're currently designing. So, we need people to step up and participate. Right. This is, by the way, it's on Sunday, January 11th at 2 p.m. I would recommend that you be there no later than 1.15. Because of the limited seating, people will be arriving early to get their good seats. Of course, we will guarantee any worker a seat in the house, maybe up in the, not the loft. Balcony? Thank you, the balcony. But you'll be able to see it, and the balcony seats really give you a whole different aspect to the play. Well, I can be a greeter, so I'll volunteer for that. Yeah. I'm unfortunately going to be out of town, so I apologize.
Okay. I will try to arrive early and maybe help with the parking. Parking. Okay. Thank you. Great. I will be there as greeter as well, and also apparently introducing the play. Right.
Okay. And then we'll have to check with Amanda, see if she can be there, and check with Tanya. Right. And if we can think of anybody else who can help with the parking, we should attempt to do that. And let me know, because we are also reaching out to other people. It may be a case, Rick, where you're in charge of delegating parking to other people who are there to help, adults or high schoolers, because we haven't gotten a response from them, but we've reached out to them. If I'm helping with parking, I'd like to reserve a seat. Well, if you're helping with the parking, you will automatically get a seat. Okay. Yeah. There was someone who sent an email to us, to historical commission members who inquired about tickets. I assume that person has been contacted and informed that there are no tickets. It's basically, as I understand it, first contact. I left a phone number, a phone message, and I emailed them. Great. Okay.
Apparently, according to Town Hall and who was the other, not Park and Recreation, but anyway, I've gotten from two different people. I've heard that there have been phone calls and asking and inquiring about it, so hopefully we will fill the theater because, unfortunately, without registration, we don't know how many people. I'm told that it has been publicized by History at Play, who is putting on the production in three or four different websites. We've sent out information to the newspapers and to the school parents' network, and I believe Mary Farley is doing some on Instagram for us, as well as Scarlet, so hopefully the word has gotten out.
Okay. Can I comment at this point about the other upcoming projects that Historical Commission is involved with? We are going to be doing the tour of the North Cemetery with re-enactors in April, and on April 10th, we're having Frances Perkins, another one-act play by a woman, talking about an historical woman. And that, hopefully, we'll be over at the COA new building. We're working that out with the town at the moment, and that will hold over 300 people, so we really need to get out and beat the bushes for that.
And hopefully we'll have a way to register. Right. Right. So the North Cemetery re-enacting is in April also? Yes, it's in April, and I believe it's the same weekend. I don't have any calendar here in front of me. I want to say it's, let me see if I can pull it up quickly. And, come on, I'll get back to you on that, because I don't want to hold up the meeting. And the actors for that are already selected and working? Well, Fox Theater has actors who are volunteering, and they are interested in, we have five actors to date, maybe more. Let me see, here, April 10th is the Frances Perkins, and, oh, I don't have anything down for the 12th. I was thinking it was the 12th, but maybe the 5th is Easter, the 19th is the weekend of the school vacation, and the 26th, I believe, there's already another program. So that only leaves the 12th for us to try and have this program in the cemetery.
It'll be Revolutionary War soldiers that will be reenacted.
Hi, Amanda. Amanda, Amanda, we've been asking for volunteers for the History at Play Sunday performance this coming Sunday at 2 o'clock.
Hey, I have to go home every weekend. I have to go to my folks' place. I'm sorry. So those are the two projects that are coming up, and hopefully we can get press releases out concerning the Cemetery Walk and Frances Perkins. Okay, so we have a busy schedule coming up of activities we are sponsoring for the 250th. So thank you for all your work on this one for Deborah Perkins, Deborah Sampson, and let's hope it's a good turnout and a great play, and she's feeling good on Sunday for the performance. But these performances do not come cheap, because it's the first time we've used her. We got $100 off. We didn't have to pay for travel or staying someplace because her father lives in Framingham. So this is a cost, not to us, but to the 250th of $900, just for your own information.
Wow. Okay. That's why we want a full house. Right.
Okay. Anything else on history at play for this Sunday? No, I don't think so. All right. Okay. We'll move on to the next topic, our house plaques report. We have one that's pending. I've actually got a template prepared by the vendor for the homeowner to take a look at. It's on Old Connecticut Path. That's the only one that we have pending at this point. Have you got the completed list yet of all the ones we've handed out? Yeah. I handed that list in a few meetings ago. Okay. Well, I thought I had given you some since then.
I don't think so. Rick had given me a couple of corrections to it that I added. I don't remember any additional, Kay. The ones I had found in our archives that I thought I had sent you that you didn't already have.
Boy, I don't remember that, Kay. I mean, if I missed the email, can you resend it? I don't remember that. Like I said, I know I circulated the list. Rick made a couple of corrections, and I added those. And I had been waiting on Alyssa to fill out the list, and that's what I had circulated once I had heard from Alyssa. Okay. Well, yes. So when you get the added people on, we need to have a copy in the office. Sure. Yeah. If you'd send along, I'll get it and prepare it for the next meeting. Okay. Thanks.
Okay. Moving on, then, to Cemetery Project update. I've been communicating with Kelsey. We need the next step we have to do with the Cemetery Project is to basically re-procure the remaining work. And I have to work with Kelsey in terms of what the process is for that and the protocol. She said she can't meet with us until mid to late January. And I understand, Sherry, and you want to participate in the meeting. So I'm going to be asking Kelsey today or tomorrow to give us several dates that she can meet with us. At the same time, Josh actually just sent Ann Gordon something this morning, having a chance to look at it, sort of documenting some of the work that had been done and asking if there was anything else he can do to sort of make sure that we have documentation on all the work that has been done. And I think we do, because we have all the invoices, the invoices list, each headstone that was worked on with a picture of it. It's all in the documentation that Josh previously submitted in terms of what was done and what remains. So I think the next step is to work with Kelsey in terms of the re-procurement process. Okay.
All right. So there's some progress there, which is good.
Then, no questions. If there are no questions for Brad on that, let's move on to the archaeology lab report.
Amanda, you and Rick, and maybe Kay. Kay was there this morning. No, I didn't make it this morning. You didn't make it. Okay. Amanda and I were there this morning. And we talked, we kind of strategized what to do on future sites. We thought maybe we would come up with a kind of a listing of all the miscellaneous sites and kind of figure out our priorities after we prepare a list of the other sites, other than Castle Hill and Sand Hill, which are the two big ones. After just about 10 minutes after Amanda left, a person walked in the door by the name of Sandy Coy, who introduced herself and said, I'm the new tax write-off person to help in the archaeology lab. So I was pleased, and I showed her what I gave her a tour of both of our rooms and told her the work is not always exciting. It can be a little bit boring, recopying information and re-bagging things. But she previously had worked with Royce Kaler on typing some of his reports and material. So she was familiar in general with some of the work that we did. And she offered to come again to the lab next Wednesday, 9.15 or 9.30 or so. And we can enlist her help. And Amanda, if you're able to come, you can explain more of the technical work than I'm able to do. But I showed her the clerical work that I'm doing of re-bagging things and making the list. So that was very encouraging today that we have a new person to help in the lab. Yeah. That's great news, Rick. Thank you for that. I have Sandy's contact information, if anyone needs it.
Just making a note about it. Sandy Coy, C-O-Y. She lives on the Hawthorne Road, I believe it is. Not far from Kay. Not far from me. You must know her. Yeah, right. Neighbor. I do know her. I spent Thanksgiving with her. Maybe you twisted her arm. No, actually, she asked. If there was a tax write-off project that she could do. And I suggested just what you did, Rick. Also talking with Tanya and straightening out the file cabinet that's in the lab that Tanya has taken concern with. So there's that project and then, of course, there's always helping Margaret in the office. Sandy has worked for the last couple of years at the public library. She has a great background. She's a good transcriber. I know that Tanya is hoping that she still has the records from Roy Taylor. So that, because apparently they're missing from the lab. And Tanya's quite concerned about it. So Tanya was not in today. Is that what you're saying, Rick? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Because we have been talking to Tanya about Sandy coming, but I didn't realize that she wasn't going to be there today.
So anything else with the lab work? Or it's just going along as usual? I have a question. I have a question, Amanda. How many others, quote unquote, other sites are there? Well, at one point I made a list and I think we counted something like 27 or, but, but they're not really sites, right? They're surface finds from, and collections that we've inherited and inherited. And it could be just like one or two artifacts. So that's one thing, even though I want to finish up Sand Hill and I thought maybe we could take a break from it. And, and knock out some of these really smaller ones. And that might be more fun for everyone involved and just to kind of a change of pace. Yeah. And I mean, because really they'll fit into one box, right? So each of us could work on kind of a small collection. And Rick and I talked about describing the collection and then just entering it into an Excel spreadsheet kind of thing. And I think it wouldn't take a lot and it would make the place feel cleaner, more organized to be in their own, the newer box, you know, archival boxes. So, yeah, that was just an idea. So if you are discarding some of the soil boxes and charcoal boxes that really aren't necessary from the other site, was that Sand Hill site? Do you have any idea how many other boxes are left? I mean, I have to get up to the attic. There's quite a number. I didn't throw out, I think I just threw out charcoal. I don't think I actually threw out any soil and I am hoping that Tanya is still on board with, with, you know, the way she felt before Christmas. And so I'd like to get rid of more of the charcoal and then get rid of the soil. The question is how to get rid of the soil. I mean, I don't think we just want to throw it in a garbage can. I don't, that's, that's something that I need to just discuss with Tanya beforehand and whether or not we wait until spring and we find somewhere like the old Sand Hill by the, by the transfer station and just double, double check each bag through a screen, through a fine screen, just to be sure. Um, but without somebody on hand who could do floor, the seed analysis, really the soil is not going to tell us very much and, and it would be very costly. Um, and if Tanya doesn't think it's worth it, then I certainly don't, don't think it's worth it. Um, so we haven't got quite to the soil part yet, but yes, we were disposing of some of the charcoal that she said was from mixed site. And probably from when they burned the, um, the house down as a practice for the fire, um, fire department. If it's comforting to you, last time I talked to Tanya, which was a couple of weeks ago, she still was of the mind to get rid of those boxes. Great.
Okay. Okay.
All right. So if there's nothing else on the lab, uh, let's look at the railroad and rail trail, Rick. Well, we are continuing work on the rail trail sign design project, which has turned into quite a project with a great deal of assistance from, um, the Whale and Historical Society Museum folks. Uh, and, uh, um, we've gone through several additional versions of the signs on December 13th, uh, Greg Dale offered to take pictures. Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh a good selection of images from which the graphic designer could choose and this morning I just received the latest version of the rail trail signs and I did not have a chance to review them in great detail but I did send them out to historical commission members just before this meeting I apologize that I didn't send them out earlier but I was at the lab this morning and so the latest version which I'm calling version six I don't know if others are keeping track but incorporates several additional changes answers a few questions that I had raised and I was looking mainly at the suggestions that I had made and I don't know how many of the other changes that were suggested by Kay and by Ann Gordon made comments so we'll be looking at those and uh so feel free to contact uh Bonnie Gossels with your comments on the latest version um so I I'm not sure that we are a hundred percent there but we're making great progress um and as far as the contract for installing the signs uh we were supposed to meet in well we did meet in early December um and the the follow-up meeting had to be canceled because Kelsey was not available and a follow-up meeting has not yet been scheduled uh to my knowledge so um I believe Ann Gordon has been working with Carol Holtz the graphic designer on the Dudley Woods and the Castlegate sign design uh which are being done as substitutes for some of our rail trail signs so I understand that uh Ann is going to continue with uh with that even though she's stepped off the commission is that everyone else's understanding we do not know at this point if she has actually submitted her letter of resignation to the town clerk uh but her understanding is she wanted to finish the project great um Kay has been asking me about uh repainting the freight house so um I spoke with Mike Fea the facilities director this morning and offered to meet with him he was busy this morning but I have found some information on the paint colors that were used on the freight house when it was last painted in 2012 so I expect to meet with Mike Fea at some point to review what information I have Mike Fea asked about the Mellon Law Office which I understand scouts want to repaint so I referred Mike to Greg Dale who's chair of the Historic District Commission to answer specifics about that project um I went on the uh January 1st walk along the rail trail that the historical society organized and one of the participants was a fellow from Marlborough by the name of Andy Kirschbaum who I had met while I was clearing brush at the railroad site about a year and a half ago and I talked with him and some tree limbs have come down near the turntable uh not the turntable the water tank foundations so after the walk was over I walked back to see those and show those to Andy and lo and behold the following day he came out on his own and uh with his saw and sawed up some of the limbs um so um there's a concern that if Eversource comes in uh the neighbors have been notified that Eversource might be coming in and if they come in with heavy machinery they may damage some of the artifacts and so we were trying to do as much clearing as we can ourselves so that Eversource will not come in with heavy machinery so that was unexpected that uh we have a volunteer who volunteered on his own to work on to work on some of the brush so if we do another brush clearing next may uh and if we can get the transfer station to provide us with a container for brush we'll have lots of material to put in put in if uh if an Eversource brush clearing contractor doesn't come in and chip it first okay any questions other questions comments for Rick things are moving along which is good um okay the next step is signage for Castlegate and Dudley Woods um and just to repeat again because I sent out the note from Ann um is that she's working with Carol to get to the next step she's waiting for permission to use a couple of photos that Carol and she found on digital commonwealth and one that Kay's pursuing still with I guess Minnesota historical yes Evangeline Simpson as a young woman yeah um Ann would like to get a draft of the three signs to our commission for review when we get to that point and the commission does have to approve the designs for um these two locations before they're fabricated so it'll be important for us to stay on top of that uh when they're ready uh for us to uh preview um she says she's determined that the RFP and the bids for the installation of the rail trail signs is covers 13 which technically includes ours um but since ours are two additional sites and not on the rail trail she doesn't yet know the logistics of how that will work and whether this vendor who has been chosen to uh put in the signs on the rail trail is aware of the fact that that the Dudley Woods and the Castle Gate are at a different location in town um and uh we know because I talked to Kay yesterday about it we we do know the location for the Castle Gate sign but we have not decided on the location for the Dudley Woods signs on that trail so that's something that's uh in the weeks ahead or months ahead for us to um make a decision on um so any other thoughts or have you heard anything else about uh the Dudley Woods and the Castle Gate okay um then we're down to matters not reasonably anticipated by me as interim chair um um I wanted to ask uh Brad to report on the 105 plain road preservation restriction um work that that you did uh you're muted uh you're muted you're muted okay sorry about that um I do have a written report which I can submit uh at the next meeting uh but yeah in terms of 105 plain road uh you know by way of background um in it was in December of 2022 that we got the uh exterior preservation or conservation restriction on 105 plain road um and that was provided if you remember by the developer uh with the intention that the original house would be preserved and then they uh they did the cluster development in the back um we went back and forth uh on the negotiations um for that conservation restriction or the preservation restriction but it the final version does have a requirement that um approximately once a year um the historic commission is supposed to go and do a uh uh basically a site visit just to make sure that the uh the building is being preserved in accordance with um the various restrictions that are set forth in a uh in the document um i i did a drive by in all in the fall of uh 2025 and then subsequently um the interestingly the owner of the the new homeowner mr folds uh wanted a house plaque and so um i actually delivered the house plaque to him and i i talked to him on his front porch and front yard and so i you know i told him we're supposed to take a look at the the building and as best as i can tell based on reviewing the uh conservation restriction as well as uh viewing the property it appears uh that that the property's um in accordance with the uh with the restriction
okay very good can i just ask a question are you absolutely certain that the uh the conservation restriction has been recorded in the deed to the property the reason i ask is because there was something in the newspaper uh a day or two ago about a completely unrelated project where a conservation restriction restriction of some sort was supposed to have been recorded by the registry of deeds this was somewhere in maine and the parcel was sold and uh auctioned off and uh lo and behold the uh the restriction was never actually recorded in the deed as it was supposed to have been done some 10 years earlier hmm well i guess i what i can say rick is i know that at the time uh tampos of the developer was very anxious to get it uh filed there was a lot of email traffic in fact i looked at this um you know a couple weeks ago there's a lot of email traffic going back and forth in terms of getting getting the conservation restriction filed uh with in the recorder's office the email traffic that that that i saw was that it was recorded i mean we didn't we didn't do it ourselves but all the email traffic i saw said that it was in fact recorded because it had to be recorded in order to effectuate the sales of the property so the the developer was very anxious to get it recorded um i i can i can ask town council to verify that for us uh you can look it up on the south millisex uh registry page oh okay yeah okay yeah i'm not sure how to do that but i can i can figure that out i can check
thank you good question okay um what else do i have uh upcoming uh which doesn't exactly affect us but i think we're interested in the town house the old collins market building and the board of uh zoning appeals is having a meeting and uh the millbrook group who has bought that building uh has applied to um get zoning for a an outdoor patio at the building so if you're interested in keeping tabs on what's going on over there um i suggest that you uh check in on that meeting it's coming up fairly soon i don't have a date down for that um our future meetings uh because um i didn't assume there was going to be a problem with space at the town building for today's in-person meeting but obviously there was because they said they didn't have room for us so i'd like to get the next meetings on the town calendar so that we have a place to meet um so if we do the first wednesday of each month at 1 p.m like we are currently doing and it's february 4 march 4 april 1 may 6 and june 3 so that's yeah oh i'm sorry can you state those give me those dates again i'm sorry yeah february 4 okay march 4 april 1 may 6 june 3 okay this would be the first wednesdays if that works for everybody i will notify the town um building and whether it's the clerk's office or the town manager town manager manager's office the administration office abby and and ask them to have space for us for those dates and then um because we are without a permanent chairperson and i looked at the calendar in december and i said okay january february march works for me to fill in as a temporary person someone else has got to look at their calendars to see what works for them i had suggested a three-month stretch uh and so after the march meeting i'm no longer being chair temporary chair for our group so the rest of you have got to think about uh what might work for you to to do this and if not if there's no one then we obviously don't have a historic commission so um it's got to be up to us to keep it going if we want to prepare and i'll volunteer to be the temporary chair for april may and june wonderful okay
and just and just to follow up on uh the thought i i'm not going to be available uh february 4 for that meeting but i will be okay okay okay great um there is a new format the town clerk sent out for the agenda which i tried to follow they've corrected me several times on it uh it's something i'm obviously not doing like they want but they want it they want a system um systematic look you know like to all the boards uh with their agendas and with their minutes so um uh common thread there um it's not difficult once we once we get it set i think we'll be okay this time it was the fact that we're all on zoom and not in person that made a difference in and then i was asked to revise it to put in the sherman's bridge topic so um that created a little different situation too with the agenda but once we get it set it's just a matter of sending it at least 48 hours ahead of time of the meeting so that it gets posted um uh let's see anything else there anything else anyone else wants to bring up of meetings they've been attending uh to keep us in tune with what's going on in town if i could back up yeah to your um minutes and an agenda um if there's a holiday in the week prior to the meeting that's going to mean that you have to send out your uh agenda earlier so just keep that in mind and sherry and we'll share with brad the format for the and is there a format for the minutes that rick should have yes and i and i sent that to rick yeah yeah a couple weeks ago i don't think it's anything super difficult it's kind of on the on the layout that ann's been doing there may be something in the heading that they want different they they want the town seal the town of wayland thing at the top of the agenda and i think that may be true with the with the uh minutes as well i don't know but anyway i did send that to rick so thank you and whoever does the minutes you know we got to take turns on doing minutes too so um we're not leaving that just with rick to do so if anna's coming back maybe she'll take the minutes yeah while she's with us good that'd be great because she gets she does it on her computer and it's much faster than handing handwriting them so um okay well if nothing else i guess we're ready for a motion to adjourn so moved thank you brad is there a second k second thank you all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed anyone abstaining thank you very much
I'd just like to say a few words. The Historical Commission sent a letter, which I'm sure you received, regarding the historic significance of the bridge and that we value the historic significance, I personally don't feel it's appropriate that we get into the design details. And you should be commended for working with the residents and advocates. And I don't feel that our role as a commission is to weigh in on the detail, the engineering details of what you experts are working with. So, I have confidence that you've been meeting with those residents and concerned citizens and hopefully are dealing with their issues, listening and responding to the issues that you're able to accommodate. Thank you for saying so. And I see that we recently received a copy of the letter from the Massachusetts Historical Commission looking for the final planned details and so forth, so that they can move forward with a final approval of of the whole design process. Yes, yes, I was copied on that letter and we are responding with what they are requesting. Yeah, pretty straightforward request. Mm hmm. Well, I hope that he was sending a copy to the historical commission also so that we can put it into our archives. So what we will be sending, as is represented in the letter, is a project notification form. In essence, it's a form, but it's, you know, it's the bridge plans that go along with that. We had submitted that later last year, and the Mass Historic Commission got an understanding that the plans had changed, I guess, significantly enough for a second review. I'm not sure that was indeed the case, but having received this request from them, we are resubmitting, you know, the project notification form package, which is what they will require for their review. So that is what has been sent to them with some of the nominal changes in the design. I don't believe that those nominal changes will have an impact in the historic, you know, review of the bridge, you know, proposal. But we are doing that just the same. Okay, good.
Okay. Any other questions or comments for Tom? Okay, well, we appreciate your being here. That's wonderful to bring us up to date from what your team is doing. And I know your time is limited. So we appreciate it very much. All right. Well, it was good seeing you all. Thanks very much for having me. Thank you. Bye bye. Any other comment on Sherman's Bridge?
Nope.
Any public comment?
Yes, there is someone raising his hand, so I will allow him. One minute. Here we go.
Okay. All right. Are we ready to go? Ready to go. All right. Hi, this is Doug Stotz. I think that was good news from Mr. Holder. I heard half of his in the car and half running upstairs. But it sounds like putting natural wood decking atop the glulam is now something final in the plan. And if so, I find that very good news and a big step towards keeping the historical authenticity of the bridge. The other loose end that was, I didn't hear get battened down, but it may have been, is at the December 9th Sudbury Historical Commission meeting. One of the points being brought up was that there was still going to be some exposed steel on one of the approach guard, or two of the approach guard rails on the Sudbury side. It sounded from the tenor of that conversation that that was a pretty easy fix to cover that and, you know, basically sheathed in natural wood. And if so, you know, if both those items are taken care of, I think from a historical character and authenticity point of view, we've gotten to a pretty good approach. Well, I believe he said that the steel would be wood covered. So I'm assuming that he means all the steel, not just one side or the other. If so, that's very good news. The other point worth mentioning at the December 16th meeting of the Board of Public Works, he clarified the previous statements. It turns out that the glulam decking itself is not a safety requirement. You know, it certainly makes for a more solid bridge.
You know, reverting to the natural decking would be a great savings, but I'm not sure the state would pay for it. But in any event, you know, to have a natural wood-wearing surface is what's important from a historical appearance point of view. Well, that's true. I think, as Rick pointed out, we're not talking about specifics, but there has been still some questions about when the river floods, which it has done previously, that whether the glulam will stand up and the extra cost of going under the bridge, because they can only repair the glulam from under the bridge, not above, is a concern. And renting a barge to do so. Right, exactly. The other thing perhaps worth a mention of at the December 16th meeting is, at that meeting, Tom Siaka, who is Wayland's representative on the Federal Sue Asko River Stewardship Council. Apparently, Tom has been voted by his fellow members of the council to represent them on all matters regarding Sherman's Bridge. And at that meeting, he spoke of both the River Stewardship Council and having a second walkway added to the bridge, but perhaps more importantly, spoke of their potential willingness to, you know, put $50,000 to $100,000 towards funding that. So, you know, while not strictly within the remit of the historical commission, I thought that was an interesting point. And, you know, if that could help get that second walkway done, all the better. Well, I believe Tom has pointed out in the past that perhaps the bridge is not designed to hold a second walkway on the other side, but I think that you could certainly contact him and inquire further whether the redesigning would do that or not. Well, actually, one of the neighbors on Sherman's Bridge is one of Mojo Safdie's partners, and she is responsible for the design of the Marina Sands Casino. And in Singapore, among other things, she's taken a look at the bridge. She's had her structural engineer take a look at the bridge. Both of them think that it's actually robust enough to simply run some sisters out from the existing crossbeams could very easily accommodate a second walkway. You know, you're talking about 500 square feet of decking, basically, and the ability to hold three or four humans at a time. Well, that's certainly an interesting concept, and I know that she's conveyed that to the DPWs. So let's hope that things work out. Yeah, again, not strictly within your remit, but I think with those couple of points he just made about the natural wood wearing surface and the covering up the guardrails were actually very close to a solution that should work for everybody. And that, of course, is the bridge itself. A separate issue, which is being negotiated separately, hopefully negotiated, is that of the 1971 Neighborhood Agreement, which emerged from the Historical Commission's archives in September. Right, I believe that Doug Stoats has got that notarized now as the only person who was at that meeting that is still alive. No notes were taken. There's no record in the DPW. Of course, they weren't, I think it was the Highway Department at that time. Highway Department, yeah. Yeah, and there was no open law to require them to do any posting or recording of it. So I would think that would be helpful if anything went to court, that it's notarized. Yes, there's both his affidavit, but also, you know, not just the one article that you found, Kate, from the Wayland Town Crier, but three or four leading up to it. And, you know, also some corroborating evidence that, you know, the part of the agreement was that the right-of-way be no wider than 33 feet. And, in fact, that right-of-way today is 33 feet versus 40 elsewhere in town. The fact that 10 months later, the landowners on Sherman's Bridge, you know, the subset of folks who gave land to the straightening, did so without consideration, being happy with that agreement. And, you know, the fact that the town meeting vote was unanimous, reflecting that, you know, certainly the residents of Sherman's Bridge Road were happy with that agreement. Right. Okay. But, you know, that's history and probably of no interest to this group. Well, we certainly have been trying to keep history alive in Wayland and protecting it and so forth, so we appreciate that you acknowledge that as our archives is the only source that has talked about it or saved information about it. Well, actually, I also found a copy in the library files on the bridges of Wayland, so it's in two places at least. Okay.
Okay, good. Any other questions for Doug?
It's Norm, isn't it? It's it. Well, no, Norm's my business partner, and somehow I ended up walking. Oh, I see. Okay. You must have his phone. Got it. Okay.
I guess to close, the next two meetings I think of that are important to the bridge are both on January 20th. The Wayland Board of Public Works will probably discuss it at 6 p.m., and the Sudbury Historical Commission at 6.30 p.m.
Hmm. Well, I can't attend either one. I have a CPC meeting tonight. Yeah. So if anybody else on the Historical Commission would like to attend, that would be appreciated. Yeah, those are both on the 20th. On the 20th. Oh, on the 20th. Oh, okay. On the 20th, yes. January 20th. Sorry, I misheard. But, you know, all that was an encouraging update from Mr. Holter. I thought it was. Yes. I thought he listened to people's concerns and has responded.
Which is what everyone in town who's involved with this was hoping would happen. So that's good. Yes. That's good. Well, thank you, Doug, for tuning in and bringing us up to date from your angle on Sherman's Bridge. And I'd like to thank the commission for your continued interest in this.
Okay. Any other public comment?
Okay. Then I think we will move on to our minutes from our December 3rd meeting.
Everyone have copies? Any other additions? We've sent two corrections to Ann already. Do you have a copy of any corrections or changes that were made?
In the opening, Ann Gordon called the meeting to order. Not Kay, Gardner-Westcott. And in the railroad report, the third paragraph, last sentence, has a K without the Gardner-Westcott as a full name. So we made that change. So are there any others? I have one comment under the railroad. The bottom paragraph on page two, you're looking at it in print, where it says, R. Conard raised the issue of photo credits. The next sentence, he donated a photo to the Whelan Historical Society. My intention was he donated a copy of a photo. Okay. So if you could add the words, copy of a photo? If that's what you said, she can only report what you said. If you didn't use the words, copy, you can correct your statement in today's minutes, but not the last minutes. Well, that was my intention. And if I had donated the one and only copy of the photo to the Historical Society, then obviously they should get the credit. But if I donated a copy of a photo and kept the original, then that's what I did in this particular case. So I'm just trying to explain what I intended to say and believe I said or thought I said at the meeting. Okay. Fine. Just put it in there. You're taking minutes. So just put it in the minutes today that that was what your intention was if it was not clear in the last meeting. Okay.
Okay. Any anything else in the minutes? Brad, did you spot anything?
Did we lose Brad? I don't know. No. Yeah, I was unmuted. Okay. No, I missed the meeting, so I don't have any comment. You have a comment. Okay.
Oh, all right. Then with the corrections that we have made, we will vote to, is there a motion to accept the minutes? So moved. That's corrected. Okay. Brad, is there a second? Second. Okay. Thank you, Kay. Then we shall vote and we need to say our names and our vote. So I'll start. Brad, we'll start with you. Brad Carver, yes. Rick Conner, yes. Kay Gardner-Wescott, yes. Sherry Ann Bryant, yes.
Next item is our History at Play, 250th. Deborah Sampson, performance this Sunday and a report. Kay, can you bring us up to date on what's happening with that? Well, what's happening is, as far as I know, the play is continued on schedule. I have heard recently that the star performer has been sick, but I have not heard that she's not recovered or does not intend to have the play. Unfortunately, registration was not possible for this particular performance. There is a limit of 140 seats. However, since the Historical Commission is sponsoring this program, it is up to us to get people to help direct the parking of the cars. I don't know if you're familiar with folks' theater, but they have to park very tightly in, so people just barely get out of their cars. And it's parked three rows steep. The recommendation is that a car back in rather than pull straight in because you don't want them backing out into the crowd that's leaving the theater when it's done. So, therefore, we need people to help with the parking, and we need people to greet them at the door and be sure they understand this is a historical commission project. And also, to hold up a donation pot, we need at least two, one on either side of the door, so people who would like to donate could do so. We're hoping to use this funding to create a sign for the constituent ball field, much like the other signs that we're currently designing. So, we need people to step up and participate. Right. This is, by the way, it's on Sunday, January 11th at 2 p.m. I would recommend that you be there no later than 1.15. Because of the limited seating, people will be arriving early to get their good seats. Of course, we will guarantee any worker a seat in the house, maybe up in the, not the loft. Balcony? Thank you, the balcony. But you'll be able to see it, and the balcony seats really give you a whole different aspect to the play. Well, I can be a greeter, so I'll volunteer for that. Yeah. I'm unfortunately going to be out of town, so I apologize.
Okay. I will try to arrive early and maybe help with the parking. Parking. Okay. Thank you. Great. I will be there as greeter as well, and also apparently introducing the play. Right.
Okay. And then we'll have to check with Amanda, see if she can be there, and check with Tanya. Right. And if we can think of anybody else who can help with the parking, we should attempt to do that. And let me know, because we are also reaching out to other people. It may be a case, Rick, where you're in charge of delegating parking to other people who are there to help, adults or high schoolers, because we haven't gotten a response from them, but we've reached out to them. If I'm helping with parking, I'd like to reserve a seat. Well, if you're helping with the parking, you will automatically get a seat. Okay. Yeah. There was someone who sent an email to us, to historical commission members who inquired about tickets. I assume that person has been contacted and informed that there are no tickets. It's basically, as I understand it, first contact. I left a phone number, a phone message, and I emailed them. Great. Okay.
Apparently, according to Town Hall and who was the other, not Park and Recreation, but anyway, I've gotten from two different people. I've heard that there have been phone calls and asking and inquiring about it, so hopefully we will fill the theater because, unfortunately, without registration, we don't know how many people. I'm told that it has been publicized by History at Play, who is putting on the production in three or four different websites. We've sent out information to the newspapers and to the school parents' network, and I believe Mary Farley is doing some on Instagram for us, as well as Scarlet, so hopefully the word has gotten out.
Okay. Can I comment at this point about the other upcoming projects that Historical Commission is involved with? We are going to be doing the tour of the North Cemetery with re-enactors in April, and on April 10th, we're having Frances Perkins, another one-act play by a woman, talking about an historical woman. And that, hopefully, we'll be over at the COA new building. We're working that out with the town at the moment, and that will hold over 300 people, so we really need to get out and beat the bushes for that.
And hopefully we'll have a way to register. Right. Right. So the North Cemetery re-enacting is in April also? Yes, it's in April, and I believe it's the same weekend. I don't have any calendar here in front of me. I want to say it's, let me see if I can pull it up quickly. And, come on, I'll get back to you on that, because I don't want to hold up the meeting. And the actors for that are already selected and working? Well, Fox Theater has actors who are volunteering, and they are interested in, we have five actors to date, maybe more. Let me see, here, April 10th is the Frances Perkins, and, oh, I don't have anything down for the 12th. I was thinking it was the 12th, but maybe the 5th is Easter, the 19th is the weekend of the school vacation, and the 26th, I believe, there's already another program. So that only leaves the 12th for us to try and have this program in the cemetery.
It'll be Revolutionary War soldiers that will be reenacted.
Hi, Amanda. Amanda, Amanda, we've been asking for volunteers for the History at Play Sunday performance this coming Sunday at 2 o'clock.
Hey, I have to go home every weekend. I have to go to my folks' place. I'm sorry. So those are the two projects that are coming up, and hopefully we can get press releases out concerning the Cemetery Walk and Frances Perkins. Okay, so we have a busy schedule coming up of activities we are sponsoring for the 250th. So thank you for all your work on this one for Deborah Perkins, Deborah Sampson, and let's hope it's a good turnout and a great play, and she's feeling good on Sunday for the performance. But these performances do not come cheap, because it's the first time we've used her. We got $100 off. We didn't have to pay for travel or staying someplace because her father lives in Framingham. So this is a cost, not to us, but to the 250th of $900, just for your own information.
Wow. Okay. That's why we want a full house. Right.
Okay. Anything else on history at play for this Sunday? No, I don't think so. All right. Okay. We'll move on to the next topic, our house plaques report. We have one that's pending. I've actually got a template prepared by the vendor for the homeowner to take a look at. It's on Old Connecticut Path. That's the only one that we have pending at this point. Have you got the completed list yet of all the ones we've handed out? Yeah. I handed that list in a few meetings ago. Okay. Well, I thought I had given you some since then.
I don't think so. Rick had given me a couple of corrections to it that I added. I don't remember any additional, Kay. The ones I had found in our archives that I thought I had sent you that you didn't already have.
Boy, I don't remember that, Kay. I mean, if I missed the email, can you resend it? I don't remember that. Like I said, I know I circulated the list. Rick made a couple of corrections, and I added those. And I had been waiting on Alyssa to fill out the list, and that's what I had circulated once I had heard from Alyssa. Okay. Well, yes. So when you get the added people on, we need to have a copy in the office. Sure. Yeah. If you'd send along, I'll get it and prepare it for the next meeting. Okay. Thanks.
Okay. Moving on, then, to Cemetery Project update. I've been communicating with Kelsey. We need the next step we have to do with the Cemetery Project is to basically re-procure the remaining work. And I have to work with Kelsey in terms of what the process is for that and the protocol. She said she can't meet with us until mid to late January. And I understand, Sherry, and you want to participate in the meeting. So I'm going to be asking Kelsey today or tomorrow to give us several dates that she can meet with us. At the same time, Josh actually just sent Ann Gordon something this morning, having a chance to look at it, sort of documenting some of the work that had been done and asking if there was anything else he can do to sort of make sure that we have documentation on all the work that has been done. And I think we do, because we have all the invoices, the invoices list, each headstone that was worked on with a picture of it. It's all in the documentation that Josh previously submitted in terms of what was done and what remains. So I think the next step is to work with Kelsey in terms of the re-procurement process. Okay.
All right. So there's some progress there, which is good.
Then, no questions. If there are no questions for Brad on that, let's move on to the archaeology lab report.
Amanda, you and Rick, and maybe Kay. Kay was there this morning. No, I didn't make it this morning. You didn't make it. Okay. Amanda and I were there this morning. And we talked, we kind of strategized what to do on future sites. We thought maybe we would come up with a kind of a listing of all the miscellaneous sites and kind of figure out our priorities after we prepare a list of the other sites, other than Castle Hill and Sand Hill, which are the two big ones. After just about 10 minutes after Amanda left, a person walked in the door by the name of Sandy Coy, who introduced herself and said, I'm the new tax write-off person to help in the archaeology lab. So I was pleased, and I showed her what I gave her a tour of both of our rooms and told her the work is not always exciting. It can be a little bit boring, recopying information and re-bagging things. But she previously had worked with Royce Kaler on typing some of his reports and material. So she was familiar in general with some of the work that we did. And she offered to come again to the lab next Wednesday, 9.15 or 9.30 or so. And we can enlist her help. And Amanda, if you're able to come, you can explain more of the technical work than I'm able to do. But I showed her the clerical work that I'm doing of re-bagging things and making the list. So that was very encouraging today that we have a new person to help in the lab. Yeah. That's great news, Rick. Thank you for that. I have Sandy's contact information, if anyone needs it.
Just making a note about it. Sandy Coy, C-O-Y. She lives on the Hawthorne Road, I believe it is. Not far from Kay. Not far from me. You must know her. Yeah, right. Neighbor. I do know her. I spent Thanksgiving with her. Maybe you twisted her arm. No, actually, she asked. If there was a tax write-off project that she could do. And I suggested just what you did, Rick. Also talking with Tanya and straightening out the file cabinet that's in the lab that Tanya has taken concern with. So there's that project and then, of course, there's always helping Margaret in the office. Sandy has worked for the last couple of years at the public library. She has a great background. She's a good transcriber. I know that Tanya is hoping that she still has the records from Roy Taylor. So that, because apparently they're missing from the lab. And Tanya's quite concerned about it. So Tanya was not in today. Is that what you're saying, Rick? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Because we have been talking to Tanya about Sandy coming, but I didn't realize that she wasn't going to be there today.
So anything else with the lab work? Or it's just going along as usual? I have a question. I have a question, Amanda. How many others, quote unquote, other sites are there? Well, at one point I made a list and I think we counted something like 27 or, but, but they're not really sites, right? They're surface finds from, and collections that we've inherited and inherited. And it could be just like one or two artifacts. So that's one thing, even though I want to finish up Sand Hill and I thought maybe we could take a break from it. And, and knock out some of these really smaller ones. And that might be more fun for everyone involved and just to kind of a change of pace. Yeah. And I mean, because really they'll fit into one box, right? So each of us could work on kind of a small collection. And Rick and I talked about describing the collection and then just entering it into an Excel spreadsheet kind of thing. And I think it wouldn't take a lot and it would make the place feel cleaner, more organized to be in their own, the newer box, you know, archival boxes. So, yeah, that was just an idea. So if you are discarding some of the soil boxes and charcoal boxes that really aren't necessary from the other site, was that Sand Hill site? Do you have any idea how many other boxes are left? I mean, I have to get up to the attic. There's quite a number. I didn't throw out, I think I just threw out charcoal. I don't think I actually threw out any soil and I am hoping that Tanya is still on board with, with, you know, the way she felt before Christmas. And so I'd like to get rid of more of the charcoal and then get rid of the soil. The question is how to get rid of the soil. I mean, I don't think we just want to throw it in a garbage can. I don't, that's, that's something that I need to just discuss with Tanya beforehand and whether or not we wait until spring and we find somewhere like the old Sand Hill by the, by the transfer station and just double, double check each bag through a screen, through a fine screen, just to be sure. Um, but without somebody on hand who could do floor, the seed analysis, really the soil is not going to tell us very much and, and it would be very costly. Um, and if Tanya doesn't think it's worth it, then I certainly don't, don't think it's worth it. Um, so we haven't got quite to the soil part yet, but yes, we were disposing of some of the charcoal that she said was from mixed site. And probably from when they burned the, um, the house down as a practice for the fire, um, fire department. If it's comforting to you, last time I talked to Tanya, which was a couple of weeks ago, she still was of the mind to get rid of those boxes. Great.
Okay. Okay.
All right. So if there's nothing else on the lab, uh, let's look at the railroad and rail trail, Rick. Well, we are continuing work on the rail trail sign design project, which has turned into quite a project with a great deal of assistance from, um, the Whale and Historical Society Museum folks. Uh, and, uh, um, we've gone through several additional versions of the signs on December 13th, uh, Greg Dale offered to take pictures. Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh a good selection of images from which the graphic designer could choose and this morning I just received the latest version of the rail trail signs and I did not have a chance to review them in great detail but I did send them out to historical commission members just before this meeting I apologize that I didn't send them out earlier but I was at the lab this morning and so the latest version which I'm calling version six I don't know if others are keeping track but incorporates several additional changes answers a few questions that I had raised and I was looking mainly at the suggestions that I had made and I don't know how many of the other changes that were suggested by Kay and by Ann Gordon made comments so we'll be looking at those and uh so feel free to contact uh Bonnie Gossels with your comments on the latest version um so I I'm not sure that we are a hundred percent there but we're making great progress um and as far as the contract for installing the signs uh we were supposed to meet in well we did meet in early December um and the the follow-up meeting had to be canceled because Kelsey was not available and a follow-up meeting has not yet been scheduled uh to my knowledge so um I believe Ann Gordon has been working with Carol Holtz the graphic designer on the Dudley Woods and the Castlegate sign design uh which are being done as substitutes for some of our rail trail signs so I understand that uh Ann is going to continue with uh with that even though she's stepped off the commission is that everyone else's understanding we do not know at this point if she has actually submitted her letter of resignation to the town clerk uh but her understanding is she wanted to finish the project great um Kay has been asking me about uh repainting the freight house so um I spoke with Mike Fea the facilities director this morning and offered to meet with him he was busy this morning but I have found some information on the paint colors that were used on the freight house when it was last painted in 2012 so I expect to meet with Mike Fea at some point to review what information I have Mike Fea asked about the Mellon Law Office which I understand scouts want to repaint so I referred Mike to Greg Dale who's chair of the Historic District Commission to answer specifics about that project um I went on the uh January 1st walk along the rail trail that the historical society organized and one of the participants was a fellow from Marlborough by the name of Andy Kirschbaum who I had met while I was clearing brush at the railroad site about a year and a half ago and I talked with him and some tree limbs have come down near the turntable uh not the turntable the water tank foundations so after the walk was over I walked back to see those and show those to Andy and lo and behold the following day he came out on his own and uh with his saw and sawed up some of the limbs um so um there's a concern that if Eversource comes in uh the neighbors have been notified that Eversource might be coming in and if they come in with heavy machinery they may damage some of the artifacts and so we were trying to do as much clearing as we can ourselves so that Eversource will not come in with heavy machinery so that was unexpected that uh we have a volunteer who volunteered on his own to work on to work on some of the brush so if we do another brush clearing next may uh and if we can get the transfer station to provide us with a container for brush we'll have lots of material to put in put in if uh if an Eversource brush clearing contractor doesn't come in and chip it first okay any questions other questions comments for Rick things are moving along which is good um okay the next step is signage for Castlegate and Dudley Woods um and just to repeat again because I sent out the note from Ann um is that she's working with Carol to get to the next step she's waiting for permission to use a couple of photos that Carol and she found on digital commonwealth and one that Kay's pursuing still with I guess Minnesota historical yes Evangeline Simpson as a young woman yeah um Ann would like to get a draft of the three signs to our commission for review when we get to that point and the commission does have to approve the designs for um these two locations before they're fabricated so it'll be important for us to stay on top of that uh when they're ready uh for us to uh preview um she says she's determined that the RFP and the bids for the installation of the rail trail signs is covers 13 which technically includes ours um but since ours are two additional sites and not on the rail trail she doesn't yet know the logistics of how that will work and whether this vendor who has been chosen to uh put in the signs on the rail trail is aware of the fact that that the Dudley Woods and the Castle Gate are at a different location in town um and uh we know because I talked to Kay yesterday about it we we do know the location for the Castle Gate sign but we have not decided on the location for the Dudley Woods signs on that trail so that's something that's uh in the weeks ahead or months ahead for us to um make a decision on um so any other thoughts or have you heard anything else about uh the Dudley Woods and the Castle Gate okay um then we're down to matters not reasonably anticipated by me as interim chair um um I wanted to ask uh Brad to report on the 105 plain road preservation restriction um work that that you did uh you're muted uh you're muted you're muted okay sorry about that um I do have a written report which I can submit uh at the next meeting uh but yeah in terms of 105 plain road uh you know by way of background um in it was in December of 2022 that we got the uh exterior preservation or conservation restriction on 105 plain road um and that was provided if you remember by the developer uh with the intention that the original house would be preserved and then they uh they did the cluster development in the back um we went back and forth uh on the negotiations um for that conservation restriction or the preservation restriction but it the final version does have a requirement that um approximately once a year um the historic commission is supposed to go and do a uh uh basically a site visit just to make sure that the uh the building is being preserved in accordance with um the various restrictions that are set forth in a uh in the document um i i did a drive by in all in the fall of uh 2025 and then subsequently um the interestingly the owner of the the new homeowner mr folds uh wanted a house plaque and so um i actually delivered the house plaque to him and i i talked to him on his front porch and front yard and so i you know i told him we're supposed to take a look at the the building and as best as i can tell based on reviewing the uh conservation restriction as well as uh viewing the property it appears uh that that the property's um in accordance with the uh with the restriction
okay very good can i just ask a question are you absolutely certain that the uh the conservation restriction has been recorded in the deed to the property the reason i ask is because there was something in the newspaper uh a day or two ago about a completely unrelated project where a conservation restriction restriction of some sort was supposed to have been recorded by the registry of deeds this was somewhere in maine and the parcel was sold and uh auctioned off and uh lo and behold the uh the restriction was never actually recorded in the deed as it was supposed to have been done some 10 years earlier hmm well i guess i what i can say rick is i know that at the time uh tampos of the developer was very anxious to get it uh filed there was a lot of email traffic in fact i looked at this um you know a couple weeks ago there's a lot of email traffic going back and forth in terms of getting getting the conservation restriction filed uh with in the recorder's office the email traffic that that that i saw was that it was recorded i mean we didn't we didn't do it ourselves but all the email traffic i saw said that it was in fact recorded because it had to be recorded in order to effectuate the sales of the property so the the developer was very anxious to get it recorded um i i can i can ask town council to verify that for us uh you can look it up on the south millisex uh registry page oh okay yeah okay yeah i'm not sure how to do that but i can i can figure that out i can check
thank you good question okay um what else do i have uh upcoming uh which doesn't exactly affect us but i think we're interested in the town house the old collins market building and the board of uh zoning appeals is having a meeting and uh the millbrook group who has bought that building uh has applied to um get zoning for a an outdoor patio at the building so if you're interested in keeping tabs on what's going on over there um i suggest that you uh check in on that meeting it's coming up fairly soon i don't have a date down for that um our future meetings uh because um i didn't assume there was going to be a problem with space at the town building for today's in-person meeting but obviously there was because they said they didn't have room for us so i'd like to get the next meetings on the town calendar so that we have a place to meet um so if we do the first wednesday of each month at 1 p.m like we are currently doing and it's february 4 march 4 april 1 may 6 and june 3 so that's yeah oh i'm sorry can you state those give me those dates again i'm sorry yeah february 4 okay march 4 april 1 may 6 june 3 okay this would be the first wednesdays if that works for everybody i will notify the town um building and whether it's the clerk's office or the town manager town manager manager's office the administration office abby and and ask them to have space for us for those dates and then um because we are without a permanent chairperson and i looked at the calendar in december and i said okay january february march works for me to fill in as a temporary person someone else has got to look at their calendars to see what works for them i had suggested a three-month stretch uh and so after the march meeting i'm no longer being chair temporary chair for our group so the rest of you have got to think about uh what might work for you to to do this and if not if there's no one then we obviously don't have a historic commission so um it's got to be up to us to keep it going if we want to prepare and i'll volunteer to be the temporary chair for april may and june wonderful okay
and just and just to follow up on uh the thought i i'm not going to be available uh february 4 for that meeting but i will be okay okay okay great um there is a new format the town clerk sent out for the agenda which i tried to follow they've corrected me several times on it uh it's something i'm obviously not doing like they want but they want it they want a system um systematic look you know like to all the boards uh with their agendas and with their minutes so um uh common thread there um it's not difficult once we once we get it set i think we'll be okay this time it was the fact that we're all on zoom and not in person that made a difference in and then i was asked to revise it to put in the sherman's bridge topic so um that created a little different situation too with the agenda but once we get it set it's just a matter of sending it at least 48 hours ahead of time of the meeting so that it gets posted um uh let's see anything else there anything else anyone else wants to bring up of meetings they've been attending uh to keep us in tune with what's going on in town if i could back up yeah to your um minutes and an agenda um if there's a holiday in the week prior to the meeting that's going to mean that you have to send out your uh agenda earlier so just keep that in mind and sherry and we'll share with brad the format for the and is there a format for the minutes that rick should have yes and i and i sent that to rick yeah yeah a couple weeks ago i don't think it's anything super difficult it's kind of on the on the layout that ann's been doing there may be something in the heading that they want different they they want the town seal the town of wayland thing at the top of the agenda and i think that may be true with the with the uh minutes as well i don't know but anyway i did send that to rick so thank you and whoever does the minutes you know we got to take turns on doing minutes too so um we're not leaving that just with rick to do so if anna's coming back maybe she'll take the minutes yeah while she's with us good that'd be great because she gets she does it on her computer and it's much faster than handing handwriting them so um okay well if nothing else i guess we're ready for a motion to adjourn so moved thank you brad is there a second k second thank you all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed anyone abstaining thank you very much