A quirky rivalry has two groups competing over which house marker to use for historical homes in town, prompting one selectman to scratch his head.
“I’m a little confused as to what is going on or what is being asked,” said Selectman Mark Kost after listening to a public exchange at a recent selectmen’s meeting.
The Historical Commission and the Westford Remembers Committee are in the midst of a rift over which historical house markers to use in town.
Historical Commission member Robin Connell told selectmen on Sept. 27 that she’d like to see a basic white marker with black letters used. But David Christiana of the Westford Remembers Committee addressed selectmen at the same meeting seeking their approval for the brown markers he designed and has been using as a fundraising item for about two-and-a-half years.
Christiana, a Westford firefighter, is a sculptor who has created the Westford 9/11 Memorial next to Town Hall and the Westford Knight on Depot Street. He’s now working on a sculpture of a Westford Minuteman. He said he uses the funds raised to support his art.
The matter came to a head at the late September meeting when Connell and David Gutbrod, chairman of the Commission, went before selectmen for approval of a white marker with black letters.
Connell lobbied to have only one marker for residences in the town.
“I would prefer to have just the one,” she said.
When Kost asked for clarification, Connell said she believed it is part of the Commission’s charter to maintain the “historic significance of signs,” and asked to control the program in the interest of “uniformity.”
Christiana also sought direction.
“We’d like to know…can we continue?” he said.
But Selectman Andrea Peraner-Sweet noted that the board was not authorized to make such a decision.
The whole matter came to a crashing halt when Ellen Harde addressed the board. Harde is a member of the Common Restoration Committee, town moderator and a former selectman.
“What hat am I wearing?” she said to a room full of laughter. “…this shouldn’t even be before the Board of Selectmen and I ask that you move on with the agenda.”
Harde’s words brought the discussion to an end, leaving Christiana and Connell to work out the matter between themselves.
Follow Joyce Pellino Crane on Twitter @joypellinocrane and WestfordCAT news @westfordcatnews.
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