LYNNFIELD — The town of Lynnfield has severed all ties with the Lynnfield Historical Society, only the society isn’t going away quietly.
Society Treasurer Robert Gillon, the husband of Society President Linda Gillon, attempted to speak at the Select Board’s most recent meeting, interrupting Historical Commission President Kirk Mansfield’s presentation on a proposal to paint the interior of the Pope-Richard Historical Family Centre.
Select Board Chair Chris Barrett refused to recognize Robert Gillon after Gillon repeatedly blurted out, “Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman” to which Barrett responded, “we are not taking public comment right now.”
Gillon tried again twice, but again Barrett held firm, saying “you are not recognized.”
Mansfield continued his presentation, only to be interrupted again again by Gillon again, saying, “I am going to file a complaint.”
Gillon didn’t state the basis of the complaint or indicate to whom the complaint would be sent.
“I don’t have anything more to say than I did at the meeting, and that was just we were not in public comment,” Barrett said Friday.
Bad blood has been brewing between the Town, the Commission and the Society for quite some time over maintenance of the Centre as well as issues concerning its finances and failure to make mandatory filings with the Attorney General’s office (AGO), the Secretary of State (SOS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Town Counsel Thomas Mullen said the parties had been operating on a mistaken assumption that an agreement was in place which delegated the Centre’s maintenance responsibility to the Society and the Society’s use of the Meeting House, confirming that the Society’s 501(c)(3) status had been revoked by the IRS in 2011. The revocation calls into question whether the Society has been operating illegally for the last 10 years.
“Legally, there is no written agreement between the town and the Historical Society concerning the management of the Old Meeting House or the 35 South Common house (the Centre) ” said Mullen. “Instead, the parties had been operating under kind of a handshake deal or a misunderstanding that there was something in writing, but there was not.”
Mullen said the Society is not in good standing with the AGO. AGO records show that the Society is not registered. The Society has not filed forms required by the IRS. In addition, the Society has also failed to get town approval for its operations.
“Improvements to and use of municipal buildings require town approval,” Mullen said. “That’s the law and we don’t want to violate the law.”
Crawford confirmed that the locks have been changed to ensure that Society members cannot enter either building and operate illegally without town approval.
According to Mullen, Society representatives have been informed that there is no formal, legal relationship between the Society and the town concerning either the Meeting House or the Centre and that there are deficiencies in their filings and status with the IRS and the AGO.
Crawford said the town has been trying to identify those deficiencies and is still waiting for a complete response to two requests sent by Town Administrator Rob Dolan asking for production of records, including the most recent three years of financial reports; filings and correspondence (for the last three years) with the IRS, SOS, AGO and any other state agency regarding the Society’s finances or tax-exempt status. Dolan’s request also demanded copies of bank and investment statements, a report on the Society’s 501(c)(3) status and copies of all correspondence relating to the Meeting House and Centre.
“They haven’t produced any financial reports relating to mandatory filings, they have produced one treasurer’s report from May of 2020 and maybe a bank statement, but they refuse to answer anything on their tax-exempt status,” Crawford said, adding it appears that the Society has about $350,000 in funds.
“As long as the two organizations have been in existence, the Historical Society has never been willing to collaborate with the Historical Commission, for whatever reason,” said Mansfield. “Once I became the chairman of the commission, it all made sense, and I find the situation deeply, deeply disturbing.”
There was good news, however, at the Select Board meeting — the board approved the Historical Commission’s request to hire Donald Ross & Sons to paint the interior of the Pope-Richard house at a cost of $9,000.
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
