Weston Historical Commission and selectman clash over bylaw, staffing at joint session

WESTON — January 8, 2018 — Weston Historical Commission meets with selectman over staffing gap and demolition bylaw disputes. Co-Chair Phyllis Halpern told a joint session with a Board of Selectmen member that the commission has been operating without adequate administrative support since its first dedicated staff planner resigned in August 2017, logging 52 demolition delay reviews in a year — 21 percent more than the Conservation Commission, which has one full-time and two part-time staff. The former staff assistant, a 31-year Massachusetts preservation planning veteran who also worked at the state historical commission, said she estimated spending roughly 600 hours working exclusively for the Historical Commission in her one-year tenure and described the commission's operations as out of step with the demolition delay bylaw as written by town meeting. Member Henry S. Stone, Jr. argued the comparison to the Conservation Commission was damning: "How can you let us hang like this?" The selectman said he had heard consistent complaints of micromanagement, inconsistency, and possible overreach and pressed the commission to streamline procedures before the upcoming budget cycle, when a new staff position would need to be funded.