14 February 2002

Rockland Historical Commission Meeting Minutes 7 February 2002

Those members in attendance were: Peter Dow, John Burrows, and Jerry Martin. Non-members: Gil Arbuckle (Brockton Enterprise).

1. The meeting was called to order at 7: 10 PM.
2. Minutes: The Minutes of the 24 January 2002 meeting were read and accepted.
3. Treasurer's report:

-General: $1,544.24 -Donation: $195.81 -Postal: $19.59 -Total: $1,759.64 Report was reviewed and accepted.

4. Old Business:
A. 1745 House Update:
John Rogers had done a walkthrough in the basement and assessed the materials he would need as part of the 1st phase of structural repair. Peter had discussed the plan with John, and decided that the 1st option would be for RHC to solicit donation from The Home Depot (and/or another vendor, such as Cape Cod Lumber). If that failed, RHC could afford materials purchase for this stage. Peter had sent RHC members a list of the materials via email on 1/28/02.
A "big ticket" item on the list are house jacks, so Peter suggested RHC members ask around to borrow jacks, rather than purchase or receive donation. Jerry will ask Fred Clark about this, as well as discuss general issue of the House's repair.

Peter sent solicitation letter to John Degre, Manager of the Rockland Home Depot, asking for the materials donation. No firm answer yet, but initial conversation was positive. Follow up will be done prior to next meeting, and a similar letter to CCL will be sent if Home Depot does not assist us.

B. Web Site www.HistoricRockland.org
Jerry has created a database for the historic survey data to store a variety of fields from the paper surveys. Database structure will allow sorting capability on any type of data, such as architectural type, lost y/n, date, owners, etc. He has also typed into a word format the architectural history of Rockland, which is the introduction to the survey book. 

C. RHC Sign 

The proposed RHC sign at the intersection of Hingham and Webster Streets is moving along. With the support of The Knights of Columbus, Lions Club, and Rockland Garden, Jerry has been working with Bill Wallace to create the sign. Jerry will be meeting with the Parks Dept on March 4, at which time he hopes to get approval for the sign. The sign will be some kind of composite material (not wood), and will be angled on the island such that opposite sides face oncoming traffic from Hanover (heading west on Rt. 123) and Hingham (heading south on Hingham St).
Plantings will be provided by Rockland Garden.

D. Union St. Telecommunications Tower Peter had a final discussion with MHC regarding the proposed 180 foot monopole telecommunications tower to be built at 1119 Union St, next to SWNAS. Given the 500 foot setback for the tower and its significant distance from surrounding areas of historic significance, MHC sent approval back to the petitioner. MHC was very glad to have our input and encouraged us to continue to be involved in any future requests.
Apparently, few local Commissions respond to such mailings.

5. New Business:
Steve received a volunteer's interest in assisting RHC, generated via the Administrator email on HistoricRockland.org. Brian White on 642 Beech St. wants to help in any way, but can't join as a full member due to a conflict with RHC meetings and his school. We'll keep in touch.

6. Correspondence:
-12/31/01 ledger for various RHC accounts.
-MHC nomination form for Preservation Awards

7. Open Forum:
-John will bring passes/info on the Preservation show in March to the next meeting if anyone is interested.

8. Next Meeting: 28 February 2001 at 7:00 PM in the Town Hall Lounge.

9. Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was made and accepted. The time was 7:52 PM.

As recorded by;

Peter Dow Chairman of the RHC (Recorder of minutes in absence of Steve Miller)