Rockport historical panel moves ahead on $30,000 in markers and watches a fire damaged School Street building

Rockport's Historical Commission, the volunteer board that reviews changes to buildings in the town's historic districts, approved new attic windows for a Main Street home on Oct. 1 and heard that money is in hand for two projects it has been waiting on: new historical markers and a preservation consultant.

What happened

• Four attic windows on the side walls of a Main Street home can be replaced with Andersen 400 series wood windows, as long as they are full frame replacements, not inserts.
• The commission has $30,000 from the town's Community Preservation Committee for historical markers. A request for proposals is nearly ready to go out.
• The commission found it has about $20,000 in a trust fund and $1,100 in this year's town budget, enough to hire a preservation consultant.
• No demolition permit has been issued for a fire damaged building on School Street. The town plans an engineering report first.
• The commission will post a folder of light fixtures on its website that fit both historic buildings and the town's dark sky bylaw.

New windows on Main Street

The owner of a unit on Main Street asked to replace four windows in the attic, two on each side of the house. The windows are about 30 years old and in poor shape, the owner said. Because they are on the side walls, not the front, the commission's rules allow Andersen 400 series windows there.

Members caught one problem. The owner's letter called the windows full frame replacements, but the supplier's quote said insert windows. A full frame window keeps the glass the same size as the original. An insert window adds a second frame inside the old one and shrinks the glass. The commission wants full frame.

The current windows are one over one, a single pane above a single pane. Older windows on the front of the house were two over two. The owner may keep one over one or choose two over two to look more historic. If two over two, the dividing bars must be simulated divided lights with a dark spacer bar, not a snap in grille.

The commission issued a certificate of non applicability with those conditions on a roll call vote with no votes against, so no public hearing is needed. The owner will send a supplier letter confirming the windows meet the conditions before work starts.

A garden shed project on Broadway did not need a new review. The owners are going ahead with the design the commission already approved, with two wood windows.

Markers, a consultant and redactions

The $30,000 for historical markers came through the Community Preservation Committee. A town staff member said the request for proposals was nearly ready and that accounting would set up the accounts for it.

Chair Kate Johns said she had learned from the town administrator that the commission's trust fund holds about $20,000 and that the commission also has $1,100 in its town budget this year. She will go ahead with Chris Skelly of Skelly Preservation Services, a consultant the commission had put off hiring until it knew it had the money.

The town administrator also told the chair that applications posted on the town website must have personal contact information redacted, while the commission can keep unredacted copies in its own files. Town staff suggested moving contact information to a cover sheet so the rest of an application can be posted as is. The harder problem, a member said, is the emails and specifications that applicants send later, which also carry addresses and phone numbers. Staff will ask the town's IT department about that.

Letters, a blacksmith shop and a fire damaged building

The chair said she has sent letters to four property owners about work done without the commission's approval. One, a church, wrote back with an application. The commission plans to notify abutters and take it up as a public hearing at a coming meeting.

The chair said she had been told informally that the renovation of the former blacksmith shop on Mount Pleasant Street has run out of money. The commission decided to wait and see before sending a stricter violation letter.

On School Street, where a building was damaged by fire, the chair said she spoke with the town administrator and the official who would issue a demolition permit. No permit has been issued. The town plans an engineering report to see whether the building must come down, though the official said he would issue a permit if he believes the building is unsafe. The owner has not decided between demolition and renovation. The chair is looking for a company that can measure the outside of the building with drones and laser scanning so that existing conditions drawings exist before anything happens to it.

Dark sky lighting

Two residents sent the commission photos of light fixtures that fit historic buildings and meet the town's dark sky bylaw, which limits light that spills upward. The commission agreed to post the photos in a folder on its website as suggestions. Members said the commission could update its guidelines to remind applicants about the bylaw, but a member noted the commission is not the zoning board; the building inspector enforces the lighting bylaw.

One resident raised the light fixture chosen for the Town Hall renovation. A town staff member said that project is already past the commission and that comments on it belong with the Select Board, which will take up the lights, paint colors and other details at a coming meeting.

What was decided

• Minutes of Sept. 24: approved, 4 to 0 by roll call.
• Main Street attic windows: certificate of non applicability approved on a roll call vote with conditions (full frame replacement; simulated divided lights with spacer bar if two over two). No votes against.
• Posting dark sky fixture photos on the commission website: agreed without a vote.
• Adjourn at about 4:48 p.m.: approved by roll call.

What happens next

• Members will send the chair three dates for an hour long Zoom session with town counsel, offered by the town so the commission can ask its legal questions.
• The chair will arrange for the consultant to come to a meeting.
• Oct. 22: next regular meeting, on Zoom. The agenda lists Nov. 5 after that.

Where to find the records

• Historical Commission page on the town website, with members and guidelines.
• Oct. 1 agenda in the town's document portal.
• Recorded Zoom meetings, where the town posts the recording.

Earlier coverage: Gloucester planners take up Sargent Street subdivision Thursday as council panels weigh police grants (Oct. 1), which listed this meeting.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked item names against the agenda. Votes are as heard on the recording; the commission's minutes will carry the official record. These are our meeting notes, not the commission's minutes.