Joe Theriault resigned his positions on both the Historical Commission and the Board of Assessors Dec. 14. Theriault, who served on the commission for four years and held the position of chairman for about a year, cited a number of reasons for his resignation, including a disagreement with some of the selectmen over town bylaws regarding maintenance work on houses in the town’s historic districts. He also expressed disappointment in the lack of funding available for projects presented to the selectmen in the Historical Commission’s five-year plan last September. Moe Dancause will take over as chairman of the Historical Commission, and the selectmen are responsible for appointing a new assessor to the three-member Board of Assessors.
Resident complaints
Recent letters from the Historical Commission to residents in the town’s historic districts prompted complaints to the selectmen, according to Selectman Ken Swanton. In those letters, residents were told, “[T]he town bylaw on historic districts requires that the owners and municipal managers of the properties in the historic districts meet with the commission before doing work on the exterior of their properties that is visible from the public ways.” This interpretation of the bylaw meant that owners would be required to let the commission know of any maintenance, repair, or same-color repainting of their house. For decades, the commission’s interpretation of the historic district bylaws, specifically bylaw 48-6(C), did not require residents to notify the commission of these activities, according to Swanton.
Swanton asked Town Counsel Mark Lanza for an interpretation of 48-6(C), and Lanza’s interpretation agreed with Swanton’s. Lanza said, “No one is required by law to consult with the Historic District Commission for a determination prior to making publicly visible repairs, maintenance, and repainting of structures in the Town’s Historic District which do not involve a change in design, material, or the outward appearance of the structure.”
Theriault’s response to ruling
Theriault said he doesn’t disagree with that ruling. He said that the commission is not requiring a “determination,” but simply wants to know of residents’ plans to do maintenance work on their properties. Once notified, he said, the commission would issue a “Certificate of Non-Applicability,” typically the next day. Theriault said that the process has already been used in several cases with no problems. He added that most historical commissions in Massachusetts use this interpretation of the bylaw, including Concord and Acton.
But Theriault said he thinks that any further debate would be futile, adding that one of the selectmen told the Historical Commission officers that if the maintenance and repair section of the bylaw was not clear, he would personally submit a warrant article to change it. Theriault said that this leaves the commission “in a position of not being able to manage the changes that are made to the town’s historic district properties as other segments of its bylaw requires.” He said that it often happens that residents remove architectural ornamentation on their house to make siding replacement easier. He added, “This action will quickly cause a historic property to lose its historical significance.”
Lack of funding
Theriault also cited a projected lack of funding for Historical Commission projects in the near future. He said that a lot of the commission’s projects depend on Community Preservation Committee (CPC) funds, 10 percent of which are required by state law to fund historical preservation projects. But the CPC will begin funding debt service on $1 million for the renovation of Town Hall for the next 20 years, more than fulfilling its 10 percent obligation for funding historic preservation over that time period. This year, the Historical Commission asked for $15,000 in CPC funds to match a Massachusetts Historical Commission grant for a full historic district inventory. The CPC denied that request, and the project is now “mothballed,” according to Theriault.
But CPC Chairman Didi Chadran said, “There’s nothing to block our board members from approving non-Town Hall-related projects under the Historic Preservation category.” He added that the CPC plans to propose funding to preserve historical town documents this year, and that a Historical Commission project could be recommended next year if the funds are available.
Will be missed
Swanton said that Theriault will be missed, both on the Historical Commission and on the Board of Assessors. “He put his heart and soul into his work,” said Swanton, citing not only his work on the commission itself, but also on its substantial website. “Joe has done an amazing amount of great work on the Historical Commission in the last four years. While it is of course important for all boards to administer town bylaws as interpreted by our town counsel, Joe deserves a great deal of thanks for his many contributions to education and preservation of Harvard’s rich historical assets.”
