“It’s definitely not easy to do this without a town planner,” Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission Chair John Reinhardt remarked to the new owners of the former Mayo and Daigle funeral home at 40 Federal St., Robert Bond and Ernest Gallerani, who arrived at the meeting with an application for a certificate of appropriateness to add a garage. An old barn on the property had been torn down years ago.

The two men were unable to go forward with the request because the meeting agenda had not listed any certificates, and legally, there must be at least two weeks’ notice before a certificate application can be heard, Reinhardt said. This was also true for Commodore Don Davis who had a certificate application for a new shed at Wiscasset Yacht Club, and Jan Haedrich, who came to discuss tearing down a decrepit barn at her home on Lee Street, across from Castle Tucker. She said the barn is in an advanced state of decay and is a safety hazard. 

According to Haedrich, it would cost more than $100,000 to repair it. She will be seeking a certificate of appropriateness to have it torn down and replaced with a garage to blend with the home.

Bond and Gallerani  and the Yacht Club will be on the agenda for a special, Sept. 21 commission meeting. Because Haedrich was not certain how the contractors she has contacted will want to proceed in the demolition of the barn, she is on the agenda for the next regular meeting on Oct. 5.

Reinhardt said there was a need for better communication between the commission and the front office clerks, who take the information — the Bond and Gallerani application and the yacht club application had already been turned in, and the commission did not know that — as well as with Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz, so that applicants have a checklist to work from when constructing their application packets and understand the deadlines. The Wiscasset Historic Preservation Ordinance states that applications for the certificates are supposed to be turned in two weeks before the meeting date, in order to give commissioners time to review them and to get the notifications in the newspaper.

The commission finished a letter to selectmen about the importance of the historic preservation ordinance. The letter also defended the work the commission has done. The letter was delivered to Town Manager Marian Anderson on Friday, Sept. 8. The commission also agreed to create a list of contractors to give to people who are looking for contractors in various specialties. The commission would ask for the contractors to supply references, but would not recommend any particular contractor.