Politics & Government
Designation Will Allow Historic District More Freedom
Council approves commission authority to apply for grants.
Tuesday night, the Town Council authorized the Historic District Commission to make application to become a Certified Local Government.
The reason for the designation is that through the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the Culture and Tourism Commission, the Historic Commission will enhance its ability to apply and be eligible for grants.
Mary Dunn, who works for the State Historic Preservation Office, said the designation will help the commission in many ways.
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"We offer lawyers and planners as well as funding to help you," she told the council. "As a certified local government we would assist you in planning and feasability studies and it also allows you to apply for the two grants we give out."
Corporation Counsel William Weber said there is no downside to granting the designation.
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"You can use this as much or as little as you want," he said. "There is no downside and the benefits seem very substantial. I think it's a good thing."
Mayor adam Salina asked Dunn how the grants were given out.
"They are given out on a rolling process so that if you receive a grant and exhaust it you could apply for another one immediately," she said. "There are two grants. One is $2,800 and is often used to print brochures or to fund walking tours and things like that. The other one can go as high as $30,000 and that is often used for feasability studies, plans for a building or to make a historic buidling ADA compliant...things like that."
"I think in this world of what are we doing now and what the future holds, sometimes we forget to take a look back at our history and see where we came from," Salina said. "We have a rich history in this town and it is one we need to remember so this seems like a great thing for our historic commision."
The motion was passed 5-0 as Councilors Rochette and Dacey were absent.
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