Linda Towle, who has been chairwoman of the Cortez Historic Preservation Board for about eight years, is asking the board to find a replacement for her.
One of the items on the agenda for the board’s monthly meeting on Wednesday was the election of a new chairman. Towle took the opportunity to say that, while she enjoys her work with the board, it has begun taking up too much of her time, and she hopes to step down from the position in the near future. The rest of the board voted to retain her as chairwoman, but she said she would only take the job again on certain conditions.
“This year so far, I have spent 223 hours volunteering to be chairman of the board, which comes out to a measly five work weeks,” Towle said. “I’m retired, and I’m volunteering to do this.”
She asked if anyone else would be willing to “step up to the plate” and take over from her this year. If so, she said it might be possible to ask the city to offer some pay for the position. If not, she said she and City Manager Shane Hale might consider adding Historic Preservation duties to someone else’s job in the city government.
Board member Mitchell Toms quickly nominated Towle for chairwoman again, and the rest of the board agreed with him.
“You’re so good at it,” Toms said.
But Towle said there would have to be some changes if she was going to be chairwoman for another year.
She said the most time-consuming part of the job is administration, sending out letters and other little things that add up over the course of a year, and she doesn’t want to spend her time on those things anymore. The board’s new intern, Whitney Wyngaert, will help take on some of those responsibilities, including helping to organize this year’s Historic Preservation Day celebration.
For the future, though, Towle asked the other members to start looking for ways to replace her. Although she wants to remain on the board, she said she definitely plans to step down from the chair position by next year.
The board voted 6-1 in favor of re-electing Towles for another year. Danny Giannone was the only member who voted against it.
“If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine,” he said. “I think that’s honorable. You retired for a reason.”
Meanwhile, one of Towle’s biggest projects for this year, an application to make Montezuma Avenue a historic district, is moving forward. She said the board will hold a public meeting on it later this month, although they haven’t set a date yet.
The board is also applying for two grants this year, one from the Cortez Retail Enhancement Association and one from Certified Local Government.
This story was updated on Nov. 11, 2016, to correct the reference to the Historic Preservation Day celebration.
