Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
It’s the closest thing to a compliment Shirley’s paid me. “It better not be one of those blasted condominiums. Can you imagine one of those ugly concrete things right in the heart of our town?” Her face pinches with anger. “Like I said, Gump’s been changing all the bylaws for density and height. That’s zoned for mixed use right now. If there’s no rezoning involved with his plan, then there’s no need for the public meeting. No announcements, no chance for the public to have their say and appeal the town’s approval.” Shirley scowls at her cards before swapping out another.
“Which means no way to stop it.” Just like Garrett said. He probably got a kick out of my tantrum as I stormed out.
“Oh, we’re going to stop it, don’t you worry. Or at least become a festering boil on their asses.” Shirley winks at me. “There’s a reason they’re trying to hide this project. You see, a lot of towns and cities don’t protect historic buildings. They just give them a nice little label, and then they let the owners do whatever the hell they want. But Polson Falls is different. The historical committee, which I’m a voting member of, made sure of that.”
“Sounds like I’m talking to the right person about this.” I had no idea she was part of such a thing, but it makes sense, given how fired up she is and how often she complains about the significant changes Polson Falls has seen in recent years.
She peers over her glasses at me. “It’s not all aquatic aerobics and card games around here. A few of us keep up to speed with what goes on in our town. Hold town council members’ feet to the fire, so to speak, so they know we’re watching every move they make.” She sets her cards on the table, pausing the game. “I’ve been on it for years, ever since that idiot mayor Wilson allowed a developer to tear down the town’s first bank to put in a parking lot. What a beautiful building that was. There was a two-hundred-year-old elm beside it that went too. Developer stood in that town meeting and promised to save it, then turned around practically the next day and cut it down. That’s how these guys work. They’ll tell you anything you want to hear, make all kinds of promises, offer to pay for things, all to get what they want. Slick as sin. All liars, every last one of them.”
“Don’t I know it.” I’ve seen it firsthand.
“We got rid of Wilson for that. The next mayor, Benjamin Orly, he was a good fellow, rest his soul. He cared about protecting the town’s heritage. We worked with him to establish local historic preservation ordinances and install a heritage commissioner. Of course, when Gump came in, he tried to replace her with one of his cronies and water down those bylaws to nothing. We got the state preservation office involved. Shut him down.”
“I knew you were a badass, Shirley.”
She chortles. “I don’t like losing, that’s for sure.”
Neither do I, and it feels like that’s all I’ve been doing. “Okay, so what’s the plan, then?” The hefty, helpless weight that settled on me when I saw Garrett’s true colors and watched Ned deflate with the news is noticeably lighter.
“Passing a historical designation using the town’s ordinances takes time we don’t have, and if they take a wrecking ball to it before our clock strikes twelve, this is all moot. That’s how these guys get away with it.”
“It sounds like that’s what Garrett was hoping for.”
“I’ll call the commissioner first thing in the morning to get the bug in her ear. I have her personal number, after all.” Shirley says this with pride, as if it’s a special gift bestowed upon her and her alone. “Our ordinance states that if the commissioner flags just cause to claim historical landmark status before permits are approved, the town must pause its permit process for up to six months while a decision on the building’s status is made.”
“And if we get Todd’s building—well, Garrett’s building now, I guess—”
“Shame on that boy for selling off his family’s history like that.” A subdued look passes across her face. “I knew Dieter. Ned too. Good men, both of them, and that’s a rare breed. I can understand this being hard on Ned, having these developers come in and erase everything he’s known his whole life.”
Yesterday afternoon at work was quiet and somber. Ned left early to go home, saying something about needing to rest. I think he needed alone time to deal with the news that an era—what he’s known for his entire life—is coming to a definitive end. “So, if we get the building designated as historical, they won’t be able to tear it down?”