PROGRESS

There was tremendous public support shown for our 2006 Labor Day events: the Tag Sale run by Laurily Epstein, and the George Packer Lecture coordinated by Maggie Leonard. This gives us confidence that our community will respond enthusiastically to our scaled-back plan, even in these tepid economic times.

We have a reasonable and frugal plan for the renovation of the main floor, which will also include repairs on the structure of the house to make it worthy and stable. We now know what will be required to satisfy the Massachusetts Building Code for such renovation, and our cost estimates for the work itself total less than $90,000.

Reroofing the house, with repairs to the roof structure that were necessary, is now complete. Next on the list will be seeing to the necessary foundation work, and structural repairs within the post and beam framework.

The SelectBoard has been most helpful in the process of applying for a Building Permit for the renovation work. We submitted our application in late February, 2009, and the process was on hold temporarily pending the Town's application for a Special Permit to satisfy Zoning Bylaw requirements. The property has always been a residential one, and for it to host municipal uses requires the Special Permit, even though the owner of the property is the Town itself. Following a public hearing on the matter on Oct 7, 2009, the Zoning Board of Appeals granted the municipal use status to the property, with specific approval for its use as a Community Center.