Historical Commission Meeting Minutes - November 18, 2020

​Historical Commission Member Attendees: (5– Quorum)

• Catherine Callahan, Chair
• Lorraine Tindaro, Vice-Chair
• Mark Evans, Secretary
• Dawn Coughlan
• Tony Wagner

Historical Commission Member Absent (3):

• Patty DeFroscia (Excused)
• Leah Jennings (Excused)
• Paul Stephens (Excused)

Historical Commission Guests (4):

• Paul Mullin
• Mike Bedrick
• Peter Callahan
• Licia Carini

 
OPENING:
The meeting was called to order by Chair Callahan at 7:09PM, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Secretary Evans announced that the meeting was being recorded to expedite transcription of minutes.
 
Chair Callahan continued with Members Roll Call, and Introduction of Guests.
 
Approval of 9/16/20 Minutes
TONY W MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE 9/16/20 MEETING
SECOND BY DAWN C.
VOTE CALLED BY MARK E
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
OLD BUSINESS:

1. EDGE’S MILL HISTORIC DISTRICT
   1. Cathy C stated that 320 Hx properties and 27 Districts in Chester County are on the National Register, 88 in the northern area, and if approved, Edge’s Mill would be the oldest district, and the houses in it would be the third oldest (after the Bull House and the Log House). [Cathy’s Zoom kept freezing due to a bad connection]. She asked if we were any closer to making a decision about approaching the BOC re Edge’s Mill.
      1. Dawn said she was concerned about whether the 3 Hx Com members who are home owners might have to recuse themselves on the vote, since they all have a vested interest
      2. Cathy said that our responsibility as an Hx Com was to put it before the BOC
      3. There was discussion as to whether there were legal issues regarding recusing,
      4. Lorraine T stated that as long as the residents who live there disclose that they live in the District, then it’s open disclosure. It all benefits Caln in the end
      5. Tony W stated that he was in favor of moving things forward, but could not comment on legalities

Tony W proposed that we make it an action item for the next meeting to review the proposal, determine whether or not anyone needs to abstain, and then take a vote.  
 
MOVED BY MARK W
SECOND BY DAWN C
Discussion of recusal and benefits to homeowners ensued. Guest Paul M stated that he thought that if you’re going to benefit from the vote, you may have to recuse.
VOTE CALLED BY MARK E
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

1. SUB COMMITTEE REPORTS
   1. SPACKMAN FARM
      1. Mark E announced that at their last meeting, the BOC approved the expenditure of $134,000 (more than expected) for the Barn Roof Replacement. 2-year financing, payments to be made out of funds received from the farmer who rents the land
         1. Dawn C stated that she had spoken with Paul S and he was planning to be at the meeting. He wanted to convey that he did get in touch with the group that manages the house at Valley Forge, and sent some photos at their request. If he does not hear back from them he will follow up to find out from them if they think this is a viable project
         2. Dawn said that she is very grateful to the BOC for approving the spending, even at 50% more, and given some residents’ concerns
         3. Mark recognized the Hx Com for their foresight in requesting that the farmer’s funds be used for the farm, which laid the groundwork for the financing. Otherwise, with Covid tax losses, we could not have replaced the roof. And thanked Kristen Denne for coming up with the terms of the financing
      2. Mark E added that he had reached out to Kristen re obtaining short-term insurance for a Farm Tour, but with all that’s going on did not expect to hear back right away – budget season, Covid, etc. Hopes to have an answer in January

 

1. MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA

1. Tony W reported that he had done some website updates, added new photos, and worked with Abbey to try to highlight some of the other historic properties that she has images of
2. Abbey put up a rotating image on Hx Com page, Tony is going to work with her to reformat so it isn’t so large
3. There are images of another 5 or 6 properties in Caln that have some history to them
4. Tony followed up on September Action Item (from minutes) with Abbey about getting articles in Daily Local News and Community Courier to see if she’d made any headway with the contacts he’d given her
5. Tony is interested in getting feedback from the Hx Com about doing a Profile of one of our Hx properties every quarter, with a small blurb in the newsletter to try to highlight the property and bring some awareness to the general public about the history of Caln. Asked for suggestions from members on what to profile
   1. Mark E suggested Spackman Farm and the Baker-Smith that had been offered to the Township to be a park, and read Cathy’s email about it to the Hx Com. Mark suggested that by bringing a spotlight to it could attract some $ to support a park. He also added that Lloyd Farm should be featured at some time
   2. Cathy suggested Edge’s Mill, that the owner is working so hard on it
   3. Dawn suggested that Spackman be the first one featured
   4. There was consensus that Spackman Farm should be the first featured historic property
   5. Dawn suggested that the Edge’s Mill District be next in queue, especially with a possible BOC looming
   6. Mark said that he’d draft a blurb on Spackman Farm for Tony

 

1. Tony and Abbey are working on getting an article about the Schoolhouse improvements in the DLN and Community Courier.

 
 

1. HISTORICAL PRESERVATION
   1. FLEX PROPERTY
      1. Mark reported that the Flex Property is for sale, and that the Conditional Use remains in place – meaning whatever the Hx Com hammered out is still required
   2. SIGNAGE at AUGER FABRICATIONS
      1. Dawn stated after Cathy C spoke to the owners, they planted Kale and Boxwood around it, and that the lighting appears to now be somewhat
      2. Cathy said he seems to want to work with the Hx Com, and that Ray S had also been happy with his interactions with him
      3. Dawn said she was concerned about the neighbor who had been doing a lot of work and may want to move back into the house
      4. Mark E recognized Cathy for her work on this
   3. HX PRES ORDINANANCE
      1. Cathy said she and Leah were working on things, and brought up Mary Sue Boyle who writes ordinances, but she is too expensive so they’ve been pulling together other township’s ordinances to try to pull something together as a model.
      2. Said that the New Garden ordinance was pretty good and added that ours isn’t bad but needs to be tweaked.
      3. Asked if she should distribute their suggestions to the Hx Com. Mark E said yes, that since the Zoning Update Taskforce will actually be putting the ordinance together, we should dream big with our requests.  
2. BUDGET
   1. Cathy asked where we were with the Budget. Mark E stated that the BOC would be discussing the budget the following night, and believed the requested amount was $1K, but may have only been $500
   2. Tony W asked if the budget included the $1-$3K items we were asked to suggest. Mark E replied that no, that we would continue to ask that higher dollar items be paid for by the Township, and the list was compiled so the Township would have a ballpark idea of what to put aside should it be needed

 
NEW BUSINESS:
 

1. ZONING TASKFORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
   1. Cathy C brought up that the Zoning Taskforce wants to get rid of overlays, and that scared her to death because they worked very hard to get the Hx Overlay through. Mark said that the purpose was not to get rid over the zoning changes and protections provided by overlays, it was to incorporate them into the actual Township Zoning, that Overlays are exceptions to the zoning, and when there are a number of them, the actual zoning gets confusing. “It’s taking what was an ‘overlay’ and codifying it into the actual zoning. The historical protections will carry over into the zoning. Cathy C added that the protections run from 322 all the way up Reeceville Road along Rt 30 and up. Mark reiterated that anything that is currently in the Historical Overlay would simply become “official”, a permanent part of the Zoning. Mark asked Lorraine if she could explain it better than he was able to. Lorraine stated that she believed Mark E had explained it pretty well – there will be no overlays, what is an overlay will become the standard. Cathy C asked what that means, that she’d been told by historians that you never want to lose an historical overlay once you have one. Mike B stated that it was his understanding that trying to establish policies that can apply anywhere in the township for an historic site, building, or district. Pete C asked why one choice as to the inclusion of the other? If there’s a steep slope preservation overlay district and a woodland preservation overlay district and a historical preservation overlay district, that were hard fought for 40 years ago, why would they be abandoned and how would they be replicated and protected by zoning that’s R-1, R-2, etc.? Pete C then asked how can he get to the Zoning Update Meetings, how does he listen in? Mark E said he believed they’re open to the public and it should be on the Township Website and Dec 1 was the next one. Pete said he believed it was worth exploring how overlay districts would be replicated and protected by zoning if the overlay is abandoned, forfeited, or not protected. Expanding it to other properties not in the geographical foot print makes a ton of sense. Mark E said that he believed we were all on the same page, that we want the protections in place, and his understanding is that they will be. Lorraine T again said that she agreed that no one loses any protections. Cathy C brought up the loss of Lloyd Farm due to it not being in the Historic Overlay District. Mark E said that’s why we’re going for an ordinance with teeth that will allow us to designate what is historic and what isn’t, that the Hx Com would not give up one inch of ground  

Mark asked if there was any other business. There was none.
 
Mark E asked for a motion to adjourn.
Moved by Tony W, second by Lorraine T
Mark E called the vote.
Motion passed 5-0.
 
Meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM.