Historic Preservation Committee

Meeting Minutes – September 4, 2014

A meeting of the Mountain Lakes Historic Preservation Committee (“HPC” or the “Committee”) was held on September 4, 2014, in the basement meeting room at the Mountain Lakes Library.  In attendance were Co-Chairs John Grossmann and Tom Dagger, Mike DeWitt, Margaret DeWitt, Lesley Karczewski, Ginny Cassidy and Borough Liaison Frank Borin.  Absent were Pat Rusak and Chris Smith.  Also present for the initial portion of the meeting were guests Bob Karczewski and Miguel Bravo of the Borough’s Communications Committee and Borough Councilman John Lester.

Approval of Prior Meeting’s Minutes

The minutes of the July 10, 2014 meeting were approved in the form in which they were distributed to the Committee.

Borough Website Update

Bob Karczewski, Miguel Bravo and John Lester met with the HPC to discuss and explain the plans and schedule for the imminent updating of the town’s website.  A deadline of October 1 was set for the HPC to update its boilerplate pages, such as Committee member information, that will be standardized across the Borough’s Internet presence.  Mike DeWitt volunteered to work on prioritizing the HPC’s many existing links.

Treasurer’s Report

John Grossmann presented the report prepared by Chris Sheasby:

 

Opening Balance as of July 8, 2014: $29,535.97

 

Debits:

$201.20        Erie Landmark for one plaque

  178.76         Archive Supplies

    93.00         Pat Rusak for Historic Photos

$472.96        Total Debits

 

Credits:

$155.00        Two Centennial Books and one ML Book

  528.00        Two Plaques and one Centennial Print

    50.00        Donation

    29.00        Historic Photos

$762.00        Total Credits

 

Closing Balance as of September 2, 2014:  $29,825.01

 

Archivist’s Report

Pat Rusak reported via an email update that in her ongoing effort to make space in the crowded archives, she had disposed of two 32-gallon trash bags with duplicative materials. She also said that she is now most of the way through her continuing project of pulling county deed records to double check construction dates of Hapgood and Belhall houses.

Borough Liaison Report

Borough Councilman Frank Borin brought up the recent suggestion of the Borough Council to tap the Centennial Fund surplus account to install two new bathroom windows at The Station at an estimated cost of about $5,000.  The Committee had previously requested, but had not yet been provided, the particulars of that estimate, so it could better understand the nature of the replacement.  The general sense of the Committee members was that ongoing maintenance of Borough-owned properties was not an appropriate use of the Centennial Funds.  The question was also raised of how much rent the Borough charges annually for use of the Station building and whether some of that annual income has been effectively set aside for ongoing maintenance of the structure (as opposed to being diverted entirely to the Borough’s general funds), and if not, why not.  

Old Business

Transition of HPC account to Borough Administration

Since it’s been nearly a year since Tom Dagger and John Grossmann met with the Borough’s finance officials to go over the specifics of the transition, they thought it best to request another meeting to review those procedures to ensure the switchover goes smoothly.

Morris County Historical Preservation Grant

Lesley Karczewski reported that she still did not know if there would be 2015 grants, but wanted to be ready to submit one from the HPC should word come soon that money would be available.  Money would be sought for the Archives, which could benefit from a dedicated laptop computer and PhotoShop and museum database software.

New Committee Members

John Grossmann said that he had lined up a potential new member, Katherine Roberts, who has lived in a Hapgood at 162 Lake Street since April 2013.  She is an adjunct professor of health and behavior studies at Columbia University.  Because she currently teaches on Thursday evenings, will be unable to attend meetings until December, after which she will schedule her classes for a night that will not conflict with HPC meetings.  John told Frank Borin that he would email her bio for presentation to the Council for consideration.  John reiterated that another new member is still needed to fill the slot of soon-to-resign Chris Smith.  

Trolley Tracks Roadbed Repair Project

John Grossmann reported that repairs to the rain-damaged roadbed should be completed in the near future.

New Business

HPC writing projects

With the end in sight for the string of Historic Walking Tour excerpts for Mountain Lakes Living magazine, Margaret DeWitt, the editor of those pieces, raised the topic of continuing to supply the publication with additional articles.  All agreed that was a good idea and Margaret was asked to brainstorm some possible topics and report back.

Date for Next Meeting

Thursday, October 16, at the downstairs meeting room in the Library at 7:30 p.m.

Minutes prepared by John Grossmann and Tom Dagger.