BENNINGTON HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
             Bennington Town Office Conference Room
                   Wednesday, April 11, 2007
                            MINUTES
MEMBERS PRESENT:  Tordis Ilg Isselhardt,  Laura Gresh, Scott Murphy and Meg Campbell.
ALSO PRESENT:  Town of Bennington Planning Director, Daniel W. Monks, and Beth Antognioni.
Jim Secor-Owner-Bennington Station
Jeff Goldstone, BMA & Collin Tyler, BMA.
1. Minutes of February 28, 2007
Minutes were approved with the following amendment.  Item #2 DRB. Last sentence should read: The HPC was hoping that there might be money from Preservation Trust to help out with the expense of replacing the windows. 
2. DRB - Bennington Station Platform - Preliminary Review
BMA Architects & Jim Secor presented preliminary sketches of the Bennington Station Platform being renovated and utilized as additional dining area and adding two bathrooms  
along with the addition of a  blunt nose bulb out platform extension for additional seating.  The following suggestions/concerns were noted:  
· It would be less intrusive if the addition were added to the other side of the building.
· Would like the platform area to be more transparent as transparent as possible.
· Somehow make the blunt nose bulb out platform not so blunt.
· It's hard to get the feel of the windows as presented in the sketch.
It was also noted that Jim Secor was not opposed to place the addition on the other side of the building, however he believes the Town owns that parcel.  Jim Secor wondered if HPC would support the idea for the addition to go on the other side of the building, HPC noted they would need to see a sketch before making any comment. HPC would like to have Jim Secor present another sketch with changes made as suggested/noted above.   
Town Office Windows
Meg met with Larry to discuss the replacement of the Town Office windows.  Meg was able to obtain funding from Preservation Trust to have Sally Fishburn come down and make an assessment of the possible window replacement.  Sally will submit in writing to the Town of Bennington and to Meg her findings.  
3. Community Meeting Updates - 
Design Committee & BBC - Meg noted that the Design Committee looked over plans for the street lighting, bulb outs and cross walks that will be done on West Main Street Enhancement from Depot Street up to the Sacred Heart Saint Francis Church.
Bennington in Bloom funding will be taken over by the Town.  
Additional banners will also be added to West Main Street once the work is complete.
BBC would like to start up the Design Assistance Program again. Action Item: Future Discussion needed.
4. Other Preservation Issues - Meg noted that the Historic Preservation Conference is Wednesday, May 16, the agenda can be found on the following website - ptvermont.org.
Meg wants to discuss with Scott the need for HPC to apply for funding in the next CLG round, perhaps the Town could pay for members to attend the meeting in May.  Maybe next funding round ask for money retroactively for meeting in May.
It was suggested that meeting times should be changed so all current HPC members could be in attendance.  The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Action Item: Needs further discussion.
Discussion involved the need for additional members to HPC.  Some suggestions were made, however it was suggested for members to think about some suggestions and come back to the next meeting for further discussion.  Action Item: Members to think about suggestions made today and also bring ideas back for discussion.
Meg noted that HPC discussed inviting people to HPC meetings, she suggested inviting Bob Stanndard to the first meeting in May, all other HPC members should think about inviting other people in the community.  Tordis suggested inviting the President of SVC to a future meeting.
Meg would like to add a an agenda item for the next meeting to include a discussion regarding "Making Defensible Decisions".  Action Item: Add "Making Defensible Decisions" to next agenda.
Laura Gresh noted her disappointment on how things were handled regarding the CLG RPF.   Beth will share her thoughts with Scott.
                    Future HPC Meeting Dates
                        April 25th, 2007
                           2:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
Scott M. Murphy, Secretary, HPC
Community Development Director
Beth Antognioni,
Community Development 
K:\Community Dev\HPC Folder\Minutes\Minutes\2007\041107.wpd