Weston Historical Commission and Select Board meet to fix process, staffing gaps

WESTON — September 5, 2018 — Weston Historical Commission meets with Select Board over transparency and process concerns. In a special September 5 session, commission Co-Chair Phyllis Halpern and members including Henry S. Stone, Jr., Steve Wagner, Alfred Aydelott, and John Thompson met with Select Board member Chris Houston and town staff to review administrative approval practices, a still-incomplete historic properties inventory, and the long-vacant staff position. Houston said complaints from residents and other town boards had prompted the check-in, citing confusion visible in commission recordings about when projects require a full hearing versus chair-only sign-off. The commission reported spending roughly $2,900 of its $4,500 annual budget on the inventory database, which still lacks complete documentation for a number of listed addresses. Members and Houston agreed that staff representative John Field should begin attending regular commission meetings before any new hire is made, and the commission signaled openness to comparing its demolition-delay bylaw against the Massachusetts Historical Commission model — a change that would require town meeting approval.