Three more members of the Russells Mills Historic District Commission revoked

Three members of the Russells Mills Historic District Commission were unanimously revoked from their roles on the Commission by the Select Board on Monday, June 8. 

The members were Gerard Koot, Janet Stanton and chair Michael Woyciechouski. In all four members of the Commission have had their roles revoked by the Select Board this June, with Andrew Spongberg having been revoked on Monday, June 1. 

The Select Board voted to remove these members due to the fact that they broke open meeting laws and ethics laws. Prior to the removal of members, there were five committee members and two alternates.

“These are not obscure rules or laws,” said member Nathan Silva. “If we expect people to trust what we do as a community, they have to be able to trust how we do it. And if we’re violating the meeting laws, that’s a problem.”

In April, the Commission voted 4-1 to not allow the Buzzards Bay Coalition to tear down the house located at 4 Tannery Lane. Of the five members who voted, three were abutters to the property. Abutters, under both state and town law, must refrain from voting. These abutters were Spongberg, Stanton and Woyciechouski. 

If a quorum cannot be met after all the abutters have recused themselves, there is a process to resolve this issue. If the three abutters stepped out, there would have been four members able to vote, meeting a quorum.  

Since April, the Commission has held multiple meetings that were not open to the public, which were held over the phone or by email. 

The Commission voted to file a lawsuit against the Buzzards Bay Coalition to request a temporary restraining order to prevent the Coalition from tearing down the house. This vote was not public, and was not discussed with the public.

The vote was disregarded, as they filed with the Building Commission rather than the Town Clerk. The lawsuit was thrown out as well. 

Earlier on June 8, the Commission announced an emergency meeting held five hours prior to the Select Board meeting. This further broke public meeting laws, as they did not give 48 hours notice to the public, according to Town Council Anthony Savastono. 

“I’ve been on boards here for over 30 years,” said member Shawn McDonald. “I’ve never seen any commission, any board in this town, do something like this. And it’s just an egregious and irresponsible act.”

Every two years, members of town committees are required to retake ethics training, which goes over all of the bylaws such as opening meeting laws and abutting. 

The original plan for the Commission’s June 8 meeting was to discuss the revocation of the three members and re-vote on whether to allow the Coalition to tear down the house. Savastono advised them against this as the planned discussion or vote would further break the public meeting law. 

The argument for holding this meeting is that a Demolition Permit has been filed, and that the power has been cut. The Select Board stated there is a long process before the building can be demolished, and the permit would have to be approved by a number of boards. Chair Heidi Silva-Brooks also confirmed that the power has not been cut, and member David Tattelbaum stated the permit does not exist. 

Commission member Matthew Cate, who voted in favor of allowing the Coalition to tear down the house, wrote the Select Board a letter on June 8 announcing his resignation. This leaves the seven member board with two members. 

To ensure that the Commission can continue to run with a quorum, the Select Board will be finding temporary replacements and putting out a call for permanent replacements. 

However, member Chris O’Neil recommended that the Select Board consider disbanding the Commission and incorporating it into the broader Historical Commission, and add extra members so that Russells Mills is represented. 

This would require a two thirds vote at Town Meeting. Savastano proposed that if they create a special act that has the Historical Commission act as the Russells Mills Historic District Commission, it would only require a 50 percent vote. 

Town Administrator Cody Haddad is now considering reaching out to the Coalition to have a public town meeting to discuss what the Coalition’s plans for the property are, and what the steps toward this goal are. 

“As a loyal long-time citizen of Russells Mills Village and a taxpayer, we have consistently been ignored, disrespected and shut down,” said John Powell, who lives on Rock O’Dundee Road.  

Another citizen of Russells Mills, Bob Smith, stated that regardless of the house at 4 Tannery Lane being less than 75 years old, houses in the Russells Mills Historic District are protected as historic under the Commission bylaws. 

The Coalition is planning to either demolish or move the house, depending on whether anyone expresses interest in buying and paying to move the house. Afterward, the property will be turned into a public park.