A.
Appointment. Members of the Historic Preservation
Commission shall be appointed by the Town Council.
B.
Qualifications. The Commission shall consist of five regular members and two alternates. All members shall be residents of Standish. Appointments shall be made on the basis of demonstrated interest, knowledge, ability, experience and/or desire to promote historic preservation in the Town of Standish within the meaning of § 181-127 of this Part 5. To the extent available, members shall have architectural design skills related to historic preservation, such as history, architectural history, landscape architecture, planning, engineering, law, archaeology and building construction, and should include a member of the Standish Historical Society. Regular and alternate members shall serve without compensation.
C.
Regular members. The regular members who are first
appointed shall be designated to serve terms beginning July 1 and
ending June 30 as follows: one for one year, two for two years and
two for three years from the date of their appointment. Thereafter,
said Commission members shall be appointed for terms of three years,
except in those instances in which the appointment is made to fill
a vacancy, in which case the appointment shall be for the remainder
of the unexpired term. The Council shall act within 60 days to fill
a vacancy, including expired terms. Regular members may be reappointed.
Members shall continue in office until their successors are appointed.
D.
Alternate members. Alternate members who are first
appointed shall serve terms beginning July 1 and ending June 30 as
follows: one for one year and one for two years. Thereafter, said
alternate members shall be appointed for terms of three years, except
to fill a vacancy, in which case it will be for the remainder of the
unexpired term. They shall participate in all hearings and discussions.
They shall vote only if the Chairman appoints an alternate to act
in place of a regular member who is absent, has resigned, or has been
disqualified because of a conflict of interest. Alternate members
may be reappointed.
E.
Advisory members. In addition to regular and alternate
members of the Commission, the Town Council may appoint other persons,
not necessarily residents of the Town of Standish, who shall serve
on an advisory or consultant basis to assist the members of the Commission
in the performance of their functions. Such members shall not be voting
members of the Commission.
F.
Removal. Any regular or alternate member may be removed
by the Town Council for cause upon written charges after a public
hearing. Three consecutive unexcused absences or four unexcused absences
out of five consecutive meetings of the Commission shall be considered
sufficient cause for removal of a regular or alternate member.
G.
Officers. The Commission shall elect annually a Chairperson,
Vice Chairperson and a Secretary from its membership. Three members
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business before said
Commission, but if less than a quorum is present, then the meeting
will be adjourned. The Secretary shall maintain a permanent record
of the activities of the Commission, including but not limited to
such items as the number and type of cases reviewed and their disposition,
new designations of historic sites, landmarks and districts made,
resumes of the Commission members, attendance records, appointments
to the Commission, correspondence and minutes of all meetings.
H.
Procedures. The Commission under normal conditions
shall apply Roberts Rules of Order.
I.
Meetings. All meetings of the Commission shall be
publicly announced, open to the public and have a previously available
agenda. Public notice shall be provided prior to any special meeting
of the Commission.
J.
Duties. The duties of the Commission, at a minimum,
shall be to:
(1)
Advise and inform Town officials and owners on physical
and financial aspects of preservation, renovation and rehabilitation
of historic buildings, structures or sites;
(2)
Advise and inform owners and abutters of the requirements
of this Part 5.
(3)
Make recommendations to establish historic districts,
sites or landmarks;
(5)
Review all proposed National Register nominations
for properties within the jurisdiction of the Historic Preservation
Commission of the Town of Standish;
(6)
Serve an advisory role to the Town officials regarding
local historic and cultural resources, and act as a liaison between
local government and those persons and organizations concerned with
historic preservation;
(7)
Conduct or cause to be conducted a continuing survey
of local historical and cultural resources, in accordance with the
Maine Historical Preservation Commission guidelines;
(8)
Work to provide local residents with continuing education
on historic preservation issues;
(9)
Undertake other duties as deemed necessary or desirable
by its members to advance the purposes of this section;
(10)
Cooperate with federal, state and Town officials
in the pursuance of the objectives of historic preservation; and
(11)
Participate in land use planning efforts of
the Town, state and federal government.
K.
Gifts, grants and funding. Gifts, grants and funding received within a fiscal year from entities other than the Town may be expended with Council approval for purposes of historic preservation in the Town of Standish. A dedicated fund shall be established by the Town's Finance Director to receive unused gifts and grants received in the current year. The Town Finance Director will establish such operational accounts for the Commission as is deemed appropriate for the Commission to accomplish its duties, such as training, providing notices to the public, etc. These accounts can be funded through the normal budget process. Funding to support an incentive noted in Section 181-132 will be accomplished through the regular budget process or by Special Town Meeting as recommended to and promulgated/accomplished by the Council.
L.
Administrative support. Administrative support to
include processing applications, providing public and abutter notice
of hearings and findings of the Commission, and retention of copies
of the permanent records of the activities of the Commission shall
be provided by the Planning Department.
