Vacancies show the rift in town
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

The Westminster Historical Society has four open positions after the resignation of two of its members during the month of February.

The resignations, Mike Volmar and Richard Spencer, came to both the Board of Selectmen - the appointing authority - and the town clerk. The letters from both state they believe their time and opinion on the commission was not being well used by the Selectmen.

"Over my time in service on the Westminster Historical Commission I have observed that: the Commission and its place in decision making have been ignored or circumvented/by-passed; or its consultations, recommendations, etc. have been rejected by the Town in relation to the historical aspects of Westminster," wrote Spencer, who was 20-year member.

Spencer's resignation took effect Feb. 15.

In his letter, he sites the most recent disconnect between the Selectmen and the commission over whether to allow memorials on the Town Common, and the procedure used to give approval of that, as the part of the history between the two groups. The Selectmen have repeated issued apologizes for the oversight.

Volmar, whose resignation took place effective Feb. 1, wrote, "It is clear to me the WHC is superfluous in the town planning process as it is currently executed."

Volmar is also a member of the Cultural Council, which he submitted a Sept. 1 resignation for as well.

"I am also going to step down from the Westminster Cultural Council after I finish helping Donna (DiRusso) administer the 2007 grants," he wrote.

In a separate interview, Volmar said the committee has been frustrated for a number of years, and that as a relatively new member he didn't think even before the issues of the use of the Town Common, that the commission was being "meaningful in the planning of the town."

"They were doing a lot of other things, other than planning," he said.

According to the town, the Historical Commission is the board responsible for ensuring that preservation concerns are considered in town planning and development decisions, which includes working with the Massachusetts Historical Commission and they are to serve as local preservation advocates, as a resource for information.

Volmar said the dispute about what to put on the Town Common simply inflamed hard feelings. He said not only was the lack of notification as issue but also the fact they were called into review what "was basically presented as a done deal," and then their treatment at the Selectmen's meetings.

He said the commission needs to be involved sooner in these processes.

"The Selectmen have to care to involve (the commission)," Volmar said.

He thinks the only way to do this is to get some members of the board sympathetic to the commission.

Each of the three Selectmen said they were not sure how to improve the relationship between the two groups. John Fairbanks, Nick Hay and Tom O'Toole each agreed the commission, like every other board in town, needs to start taking proactive steps on issues and not waiting until the last minute to raise concerns.

"They, like our other boards, are reactive and not proactive," said O'Toole. "I expect them to know what is going on in town."

O'Toole cited issues such as the reuse or demolition of the old Town Hall on Bacon Street, as something that has been discussed for years but the commission has yet to comment on.

Fairbanks agrees that the boards throughout town need to be proactive and he hopes that the new policy of the Selectmen to send the weekly agenda to the chairs will help that happen.

He said the Advisory Board started sending representatives to many of the major committees to keep informed of their activities, and he suggests that to others as well.

For more information, contact the commission's secretary, Candi Hitchcock at (978) 874-2868 or attend a meeting, which are held at 7 p.m., on the second Monday of the month, at the Town Hall.