Report of the Historical Commission

The Preservation Commissions have been established by local governments throughout the United States to promote the preservation and appropriate development of heritage resources in their communities. Southwick, in establishing its Historical Commission, has recognized the value of the resources that reflect Southwick’s history.

Thus, in its preservation role, the Historical Commission finds itself involved with many projects that affect Southwick’s historical resources. For example, the construction of a boat dock or a housing development may impact fragile archaeological sites, the construction of a cellular tower might compromise a historic or culturally significant landscape or property, or a road improvement could harm historic properties. There is a “tool” which empowers the Commission to influence decisions which may negatively impact historic resources. This “tool” is the Section 106 Review.

In the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), Congress established a comprehensive program to preserve the historical and cultural foundations of the nation. Section 106 of the NHPA requires that consideration of historic preservation take place in the development of any project having federal involvement. Section 106 Review encourages that preservation values are factored into the planning and decision making process of any project. The Section 106 Review process follows the following steps. The first step begins with the federal agency involved, second, the State Historic Preservation Officer (the person who coordinates the state’s historic preservation program) is involved, and third, the local community represented by the Historical Commission is consulted.

The Southwick Historical Commission each year finds itself engaged in a number of Section 106 consultations. This consultation process consists of seeking, discussing and considering the views of the various parties involved about how the project’s effects on the historic resource should be handled. This process may take many meetings with, or correspondence with, the parties involved before a resolution is arrived at.

Besides Section 106 Reviews the Commission this year has been involved with numerous requests for family or town history. The Commission is hampered many times in providing an answer because the early town documents are not stored in such a manner that provides easy access for a researcher. The Town Clerk working with the Historical Commission during 2010 has been researching the best and most economical procedure to follow in implementing an organizational process that will allow for the retrieval of information by all town boards and commissions. Hopefully, the town will fund the project with its Community Preservation Fund.

The Commission wishes to thank both Rebecca MacEwan and Robin Wichroski for their assistance. New commitments prevent them from continuing their invaluable volunteer work; particularly in research and with the historic resource inventory project.

The Historical Commission continues to maintain representation on the Community Preservation Committee. Barbara MacEwan was designated by the SHC to represent historic preservation on the CPC. Ten percent of the monies that have been raised are dedicated to historic preservation.

The Historical Commission meets on the first and third Monday of the month at 3pm in Conference Room 101 at the Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara MacEwan, Chair
Karen Brzezinski
Todd Shiveley