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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-8-20Minutes of the August 20, 2019 Nantucket Historical Commission Meeting as approved by the September 27, 2019 Meeting 2i13 uC'I 22 AM ! I : 4c In attendance: Commissioners: Mary Bergman, Angus MacLeod, Tom Montgomery, Mickey Rowland, Hillary Rayport, David Silver Alternate Commissioners: Clement Durkes Staff Holly Backus Absent: Don DeMichele (Alternate), Georgia Raysman (Commissioner) Guests: Kate and Tom Piemonte, #1 School Street Michael Burns, Transportation Planner. Kevin Keuster, Sign Advisory Board Hillary Rayport called the meeting to order at 9:35 am Angus MacLeod offered a motion to approve the minutes of the 7/18/19 meeting. Tom Montgomery seconded, minutes were unanimously approved. The homeowners of 1 School Street, Tom and Kate Piemonte appeared for public comment regarding the 3 horsehead hitches/bollards outside their house. They have been told by a neighbor that the bollards were going to be removed by the DPW, at the request of the owners of #3 School Street. The Piemontes like the hitches, believe they contribute to the character of the neighborhood, and don't want them removed. Also, they had not received any notice about the removal. The Piemontes presented an application made by their neighbor to the DPW, requesting the removal. The Piemonte's shared that the hitches became an issue for #3 School Street after the homeowner requested and gained approval from the HDC to move their driveway from the left to the right side of their home, over where a garden had been. Now, the hitch, which is in the public way, is at the driveway edge. The neighbor wants the hitches removed to improve access. The NHC questioned why this hadn't been addressed at the time the driveway was applied for with the HDC. The Commission advised the Piemontes to reach out to Rob McNeil at the DPW and not to assume that the hitches were going to be removed, given that there was no notice to # 1 School Street. The Commission also said they would follow up with the town on the matter, and thanked the Piemontes for appearing. HHR announced the Preservation Mass Inc. annual meeting in Plymouth, MA. September 20th and encouraged attendance. The subgroup of TM, MB, and HHR met last month regarding archaeology. There are many Native American sites and artifacts on Nantucket. The conclusion is we require more guidance and information from tribal authorities and professionals regarding our interest in education and protection of these historic assets. TM said the Commission should invite a professional to a meeting in the future. HHR offered an update on L8 undergrounding and the Commission looked at the new route (Weymouth, silver, Atlantic, Sparks) proposed by PLUS. The NHC has expressed the importance of getting wires underground, and at this point must wait to see what the town is willing and able to do. The NHC also submitted memo on bike parking to BPAC and the Transportation planner. Suggestion is to use bollards, not racks, in the OHD. Recommended removal of the "test" rack placed at the Pacific Bank. Update on financial logistics. NHC can raise funds and have the town hold these funds in a budget for us. But we cannot spend funds directly — we would need to request funds be spent on our behalf, and comply with town procurement guidelines. We can also accept gifts of services and items. HHR and AM met earlier this month with the Chair of the Select Board, the Town Manager, and the Assistant Town Manager to discuss objectives for the coming year. Suggestions and discussion topics are in the packet. The Commission discussed the idea of a listening tour. All were in favor. Holly Backus recommended reaching out to departments and asking to hear from them. That way many people can be involved. HHR asked for Commissioners to email her ideas of who should be on the list and volunteers to interview folks. Discussion of whether to bring some people into our meetings, vs. interview in the field and report back. A mix is probably best. The Town would also like the NHC to work on a sign by-law with the Sign Committee, that also addresses temporary signs. There is a bylaw in Harwich that makes sense to look at. Also, work on policies and locations of street furniture such as benches and bollards. Mickey Rowland (MR) noted that the bollards often come up in discussions regarding accessibility. Would be good to know what is truly historic. HHR gave an update on historic streetscape review/ draft street guidelines. Michael May, HHR, Marty Hylton, Pen Austin all met with Rob McNeil to discuss the prospect of a Historic Streetscape Study, and discussed the draft guidelines for working on historic streets that the NHC passed in its last meeting. HHR and Angus also discussed the draft guidelines for historic streets in their meeting with Dawn, Libby and Greg. They discussed protocol: the ad-hoc sidewalk working group formed at the direction of the Select Board last April and chaired by Rob McNeil is still active and charged with making recommendations to the Select Board about standards for sidewalk work. Dawn and Libby recommended that Mary, Mickey, and Holly (members of both the sidewalk committee and the NHC) to liaise with sidewalk working group and historical committee. NHC will be able to communicate directly about our concerns through our representatives to the sidewalk work group. Holly will reach out to Rob to find out timeline of sidewalk working group meeting schedule. HB: It would be good to get a specific plan about what DPW is planning to do. HHR: We are in favor of the street being fixed. There are portions of the sidewalk that have been destroyed by the construction projects on the street and we are in favor of the sidewalk being repaired. But we want it to be repaired with original materials. We've submitted draft guidelines. We'd like them to be considered by the DPW and sidewalk work group. We're in conversation with PIN to document the downtown core's streets. This will help with proper maintenance and repair of the historic streets. How the streets are treated ultimately lies with the DPW. The NHC discussed the Milestone Road safety and accessibility project currently underway by the MASS DOT. Mike Burns, Transportation Planner, was present to answer questions. The NHC didn't exist at a time when the Milestone Road plans were being developed, and a Section 106 review was requested by the Massachusetts Historical Commission but not completed because of lack of staff to do the work. We can still review the plans but they are already in process and our feedback may or may not be accepted. What kind of a road is Milestone Road? What do we want from a historic asset protection standpoint? Milestone Road cuts through so much conservation land and connects the two main towns directly and is so heavily traveled. We want to treat Milestone Road as part of our cultural landscape, the connection between our two historic towns. HHR: According to the plans, there are about 80 new signs going in from Rotary to New Street. Traveling the speed limit, you will see 4.5 new signs (not including existing) every minute. Darker yellow old signs will be replaced with reflective bright signs. One of the areas getting the most new signs are Do Not Pass zones. There are no "no passing" signs now, just the striping on the road. There will be fewer passing zones and they will be marked with signs. MR: This is a state highway. I imagine there are rigid state regs regarding signage. If we have dotted lines in the road, do we need by law to have passing signs? Mike Burns: It's not a requirement, but there have been so many crashes involving passing that this is a data driven design element. HHR: The road safety audit says 94% of the crashes involved intersections. The biggest change to Milestone Road is reconfiguring the intersections so that they are safer. Intersections that are a "Y" right now will be more of a "T." From the data that I've seen, it's rear -ending, turning and hitting people, 14% of crashes were deer. We're not seeing a high volume of crashes from lane departures. Is that fair to say? Mike: I don't know. But when someone is slowing down to make a turn and the driver behind them tries to pass them while they are turning, we see crashes happen then. In that instance, that's a passing related crash occurring at an intersection. Clement Durkes (CD): Nowhere else on this island is the redundancy of the double yellow line and the big no passing signs. Mike Burns: Hopefully this all results in lower crash data. If it doesn't in ten years, they it didn't work. Mickey Rowland: To really study the sign thing, we need to look at each sign and determine --do we even have a say in this? --are they necessary or not necessary. HHR: A parkway is a high-speed limited access road that goes through a park. Milestone Road is not a limited access road, but it is high speed and it does go through a lot of public land. The Mass DCR has a guidance on signs for parkways which is that signage should be kept to the minimum necessary. It should not be excessively large. Visual clutter should be reduced. It should be clear that it's necessary. HHR gave the example of the 4'x4' "scenic view" sign that went up last spring and was removed after complaints. This is evidence that the plans were not reviewed to make sure the signs were appropriate Mike Burns: It's not that no one looked at these plans and things just happened. Traffic safety people looked at the signs. We did request that a lot of the signs be removed, but there is data that shows that there are crashes on this road. That data backs up the need for the signs. AM: How much do these signs help reduce accidents? If someone is going to pass somebody because they are being reckless, will a sign stop them? MR: Is there a way this can go back to the state highway? Mike Burns: You could request that BOS request that the signs are removed. The state would have to approve it. They are the owners of the road. TM: I think more police presence would be an immediate deterrent for bad driving behavior. David Silver: Is there any data that shows that the signs have more effect? Mike Burns: I don't have an answer. HHR: We always want fewer crashes but you can't prevent all crashes. HHR has studied similar roads and crash data. Milestone Road is a safe road when compared to other similary roads in the state. We have a mandate to conserve the beauty of this road. AM: There is data that shows visual distractions are dangerous. HHR: This is a state road. We have State funding for this road. Are we spending money on this road that would be better spent on a more dangerous road? We should figure out what we need. Kevin Kuester: What options do we have as far as color and size and height? Are the colors mandated or can we request something different? HHR: We need to do what we can to keep this a rural road to reduce visual clutter. One of our goals is to get ahead of these issues. CD: I think HHR should write a letter to the BOS stating all that's been discussed regarding our concerns and recommendations on the road. HHR: We should form a subcommittee similar to the sidewalk work group. There was a discussion regarding the bus pullouts and the asphalt berm curbs. There is a lot of president for slanted granite curbs. The Milestone Rotary has slanted granite curbs. There are also plans to request funding to widen the road by 3'. HHR: I would like to see if the committee would be in favor of opposing widening of the road. HHR shared Federal transportation data that wider roads contribute to higher speeds. Mickey Rowland agreed that wider roads are going to make people drive faster. But pointed out it is not the place of the NHC to advise on what does and doesn't contribute to speed. AM: All this has to do with the rural character of the road, which is changing quickly. AM: Motion to write a letter expressing our concerns about the threatened rural character of the historic milestone road. Second: Tom Montgomery Vote: unanimous in favor. The discussion turned to the proposed Bartlett Rd. rotary. HHR: Would like to see slanted granite at Bartlett Road and Surfside Road proposed rotary. Given lack of time and need for further study, the discussion about Bartlett Rd. Rotary was postponed. The next meeting was set for September 27`" at 1:00. Action items: Work on Milestone Road memo — DS offered to do some research on effectiveness of signs. Anyone to spearhead Bartlett Road 25% plans? HHR will look at plans more closely and talk to sign committee. Priority for next meeting: Building With Nantucket In Mind Tom Montgomery: motion to adjourn David Silver second Adjourned 11:31 am