[MassHistPres] Local Commission Virtual Meetings

[Sarah White]

Somerville has been holding virtual meetings using GoToMeeting/Webinar since March 17th. The first GTM/W board/commission/committee meeting that was held by the City was the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) on March 17th . All Planning Division staff were remote as well (we have not gone into the office since 3/13). While this first commission meeting was brief (all cases were continued to the April HPC meeting), it went well. The April HPC meeting was a full meeting with demo review cases and LHD alteration cases. We record the meetings through GTM/W as well.

The Chair ran the meeting as usual, with the addition of roll call votes per the requirements of the governor's emergency order.

In Somerville, we have professional planning staff that attends all meetings. I also have a colleague who ran the technical side of the GTM/W so that I could concentrate on assisting the Commission from a regulatory perspective. We are very clear with the HPC and attending public as to how these meetings will be conducted, how attendees can indicate that they wish to comment when public comment is opened, etc.

Our legal notices have been updated to include the GTM/W access links and meeting codes and how to access the meeting via computer and just via phone call-in. This info is also included on our agendas and we individually provide applicants with this info directly as well.

We have had zero issues thus far with the HPC with inappropriate video conference "bombing" by using GTM/W. GTM/W provides excellent controls on the administrative end and we have versed ourselves in these controls ahead-of-time. Further, the only person allowed to share their screen is staff - as applicants have provided staff with all plans, visuals, etc. in order for us to do a regulatory assessment of their proposal, I have all of that at my fingertips to share with the commission and the attending public.

We also made sure to do trial runs with our commissions prior to the meeting to ensure that we could work through technical issues/questions.

I realize that  a lot of what we are able to do in Somerville to provide and support these meetings is due in large part to having a good-sized staff of professional planners to assist; I recognize that this is not the situation of every municipality.


Sarah M. White, MDS-HP
City Planner & Preservation Planner
Ward 5 Zoning Case Review Planner
Historic Preservation Case Review & Regulatory Planning
Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) Liaison
Mayor's Office of Strategic Planning & Community Development
93 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143
617.625.6600 x2534
swhite at somervillema.gov<mailto:swhite at somervillema.gov>
PLANNING OFFICE HOURS:
M-W  8:30AM - 4:30PM
Th  8:30am - 7:30pm
F  8:30am - 12:30pm




From: MassHistPres [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Michele Clarke
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2020 11:27 AM
To: Skelly, Christopher (SEC); masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Local Commission Virtual Meetings

Good morning
The Town of Chatham is currently holding all of its meetings virtually using Microsoft Teams.  The Historical Commission held a meeting on April 21st using Teams and it went very well.  We had a healthy agenda and for the first time through using a virtual platform and the Commission members handled the business with ease.  The Chairman ran the meeting efficiently and members were able to comment and view plans that were shared during the meeting.  With time and practice the process will become more proficient but it was well received.
Thank you
Michele

Michele Clarke
Staff Liaison, Chatham Historical Commission
Town of Chatham

________________________________
From: MassHistPres <masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu> on behalf of Skelly, Christopher (SEC) <christopher.skelly at state.ma.us>
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2020 4:38 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Subject: [MassHistPres] Local Commission Virtual Meetings

If your local historical commission or historic district commission has held a virtual public meeting, please let me know. I would like to hear how it is going and what kinds of resources you would find useful.

Chris.

Christopher C. Skelly
Director of Local Government Programs
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us<mailto:Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us>
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