Historic Commission Gets OK For Phase Two Of Survey

In order to preserve and protect the historic structures in town, one must know how many of these structures actually exist, said Lawrence Ouellette, Jr., chairman of the town's Historic District Commission (HDC).

This is important, said Ouellette at a recent Board of Selectmen's meeting, because in the future, increased development in town may impact its 150 plus antique and historic buildings.

And that's not necessarily progress, he said.

Recently, the HDC received a $30,000 state grant to finish a survey of historic buildings. The first half of the survey was completed using another state grant, that one for $20,000.

Even though the $30,000 grant does not require matching funds by the town, it does require the town to spend some money - $2,385.50 to be exact.

The money is needed to fulfill the regulations of the grant which require that the town hire a professional planner. Ouellette said he and the members of the HDC would like to hire Jay Northrup (Clinton's former town planner) who is an employee of the Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency.

"The total cost to hire someone like Jay is $6,850," said Ouellette, noting they can use $4,500 of the grant to partially pay for his services. The balance needs to be paid for by the town.

Once the full survey is complete, the HDC can take a look at the location of historic homes and buildings and decide if the creation of small village districts or historic districts would be in the best interest of preserving and protecting them, said Ouellette.

He said he expects a request for proposals to go out in May, that the HDC would hire an architectural historian in early July, and for the survey to take about two to three months in the Fall.

The Board of Selectmen gave the HDC an informal nod of approval for the money which would come out of the 2012-2013 budget.They can begin the survey using the grant money and the balance can be reviewed by the Board of Finance in 2013.