Historical Commission Meeting Minutes - November 19, 2025

A meeting was held in person at the township building.
Meeting Called to Order 
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll Call of Members:
Commission Members Present: Cathy Callahan, Patty DeFroscia, Donna DiPrinzio, Mark Evans, Tom Parr, Lorraine Tindaro, and Jamie Evans
 
Commission Members Excused: Leah Jennings
 
Staff Members Present: Don Vymazal, Township Manager and Jessica Markovich, Communications and Events Coordinator
The Historical Commission November 19, 2025 agenda was posted on the Township website and at the township building on November 18, 2025. Agendas were made available to the public at the meeting. The 2025 Historical Commission meeting schedule was published in the Daily Local News on December 18, 2024.
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Public Comment – None
 
Approval of 10/15/2025 Minutes
Minutes were approved 7-0
 

1. New Business:
   1.  CCHPN Membership Renewal - The Historical Commission received their CCHPN Membership Renewal. The Manager advised the Board that as the payment wouldn’t be made until the new year, that a motion should be made to use next year’s budget
      1. A motion was made to approve the expenditure of $125 for the Historical Commission’s membership with the Chester County Historic Preservation Network to come out of the 2026 budget. The motion passed 7-0.
   2.  Joint meeting at Parkesburg HC Feb. 2026 - At the CCHPN Fall Workshop, Mark connected with Casey Wyatt from Parkesburg and proposed to the Commission the idea of having a joint meeting with the Parkesburg Historical Commission at the Parkesburg Borough Hall as we both meet at the same time and day every month. Mark corrected that they are looking for the meeting to be in January 2026. Don mentioned that as we advertise our meetings to take place at the Caln Township Municipal Building, in order to ensure that no official action is taken at an alternate site that would not be accessible to Caln Township residents, we would have to cancel our meeting and then the joint meeting would have to be unofficial. To have it be an official meeting, there would have to be a quorum in Caln, and then the rest of the members could go to Parkesburg and conduct the meeting in a hybrid manner. It was also noted that the January meeting would be the reorganization meeting, and that it would not be able to be held in Parkesburg. The Historical Commission decided to discuss with Parkesburg the joint meeting taking place in February instead.
      1. A motion was made to cancel the February meeting. The motion passed 7-0.
      2. A motion was made to pursue hosting a joint meeting with Parkesburg Historical Commission in February 2026. The motion passed 7-0.
   3.  Apply for 2026 Chester County Planning Commission/Chester County Historic Preservation Network Town Tour and Village Walk – Commissioner Evans asked the Commission if they were interested in applying to host another Town Tour in Caln. Ms. Markovich went over the various themes of 2026’s Town Tours and Village Walks. Mr. Parr suggested that we can reuse the props for the Spackman-Davis Farm tours that will happen at the township’s 250th event. The group discussed that applying for October 1st would be the best, as a tour on this date is meant to incorporate all the themes over the summer.
   4.  Partner with Coatesville HC on Caln History research projects – Commissioner Evans had met with a member of the Coatesville Historical Commission to discuss working together to share historical resources and asked the Commission their thoughts. The rest of the Commission was in agreement that working with the Coatesville Historical Commission would be beneficial. Commissioner Evans also added that other municipalities, such as Coatesville, are interested in partnering with us for an event to showcase how our municipalities once were connected and that many grew from Caln Township.
      1. A motion was made to continue working with the Coatesville Historical Commission. The motion passed 7-0.
2. Old Business:
   1.  HPO Public Meeting Recap - The first public meeting for the HPO was held last week with 35 residents in attendance. They received a lot of feedback from homeowners. Cathy stated that she thought it went well. Commissioner Evans recounted that, specifically, residents want no demolition and no demolition by neglect. He noted that there was some confusion about the section regarding rehab and repairs, but that there is room to rework the language in this section. Mr. Parr asked if there would be a second meeting this year, and Commissioner Evans stated a possible date of December 8th. Mr. Parr asked if there would be enough time to advertise and Mr. Vymazal said yes. Mrs. DeFroscia asked about notifying homeowners, and Commissioner Evans and Mr. Vymazal stated that they collected the email addresses of those who attended the last meeting to notify, in addition to advertising it on the website and in the newspaper. Mrs. Callahan stated that letters should be sent out to all homeowners whose homes are on the list. Mr. Vymazal and Commissioner Evans explained that this is part of a larger zoning change for the entire township, and that more zoning changes will be proposed. If the HPO is included in the larger zoning changes, there are still multiple review stages that the HPO and all other proposed changes would have to go through before anything is approved. They explained that as the HPO is not a stand-alone ordinance itself, that sending letters to just those with historic homes would not be justified.  
   2.  CCHPN Fall Workshop Recap – Commissioner Evans provided a recap of the CCHPN Fall Workshop, remarking it was fantastic. He recounted that there was a large focus on townships, historical commissions, and historical societies working together not only within one municipality but also with neighboring ones. It also focused on historic preservation practices by encouraging property owners to manage any changes that happen to their properties that follow best practices for preservation and to communicate clearly and strategically about the benefits of historic preservation.
   3.  Caln250 Nov Meeting - Commissioner Evans stated that for Caln’s 250 events, we will need to seek out sponsors to cover much of the cost in order to bring everything to fruition. Commissioner Evans also invited anyone who was interested in coming to the planning meeting for it to do so, as it takes place at 5:00 PM before Historical Commission meetings.
3. SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS:
   1.  MEMBERSHIP - The Board of Commissioners voted to have new membership requirements for volunteers on boards and commissions, which is that once their terms are expiring, they must resubmit an application if they would like to be reappointed rather than an automatic renewal. Commissioner Evans explained that this gives other residents the opportunity to get involved and learn more about the various boards and commissions that Caln has, as well as give an opportunity to those boards and commission members whose terms are expiring to not feel pressured to continue.
   2.  EVENTS – The Historical Commission will be decorating Spackman-Davis Farm on Saturday, December 6th
   3. SPACKMAN FARM - Mark Slouf looked at the floors of the farmhouse and Commissioner Evans will reach back out to him to see what his thoughts are about fixing the floors.
   4. MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA – No updates.
   5.  HISTORICAL PRESERVATION – Covered under the 2.1 HPO Meeting Recap
   6.  CALN AT RISK – Mr. Parr reported that the corn was cut down at Lloyd Farm. He also gave a reminder to have future discussions with Wild Meadows about conducting an inspection of the house on the grounds. Mr. Parr also stated that Main Line Health presented at the Boc Meeting last week. Commissioner Evans added that Main Line Health’s final plan was approved but that adding a historic plaque to the site was a condition added to the plan. Mrs. DeFroscia stated that Justin O’Lear sent an email to the Old Caln Historical Society that he is willing to hose a walk through the Vickers House with members.
   7.  OCHS LIASON REPORT – Mrs. DeFroscia reported that they will be decorating the Old Caln Meetinghouse and the Hexagonal Schoolhouse on December 5th; December 9th is OCHS’ Candlelight Christmas Concert; and the Historic House Tours are on December 13th. Commissioner Evans had asked if tickets were on sale yet and Ms. Markovich said that the page was available.
   8.  FINANCE UPDATE – The newest expenses are a$1,200 payment to Minquas Fire Company for EMS, and a $1,250.96 payment to Jahaco for. Mrs. DiPrinzio reported that the Historical Commission’s current balance is $10,147.17. Mrs. DiPrinzio then corrected her report that the $1,250.96 payment is for a new Historical Commission branded canopy. The Jahaco purchase will be around $8,300.00, and then another expense that is to be added is a $200 payment to Jefferis for a tree at the Spackman-Davis Farm. Remaining in the budget should be around $1,647.00. Mr. Parr reported that there $12.72 was spent on purchasing cleaning supplies for the Hexagonal Schoolhouse.
4. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS:
5. ADJOURNMENT – The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 pm.