Historic Preservation Committee

Meeting Minutes – December 11, 2014

A meeting of the Mountain Lakes Historic Preservation Committee ("HPC" or the "Committee") was held on December 11, 2014, in the basement meeting room at the Mountain Lakes Library. In attendance were Co-Chairs John Grossmann and Tom Dagger, Pat Rusak, Mike DeWitt, and Margaret DeWitt. Absent were Lesley Karczewski, Ginny Cassidy, Katy Roberts, and Borough Liaison Frank Borin.

Approval of Prior Meeting’s Minutes

The minutes of the November 11, 2014 meeting were approved in the form in which they were distributed to the Committee.

Public Comments

Alex Gotthelf introduced himself and the Committee members introduced themselves to him. Gotthelf, a town resident and locally based architect, said Tom Dagger had asked him about possibly serving on the Committee. He said, departing near the end of the meeting, that he would consider the idea now that he had gotten a better understanding of the Committee’s responsibilities.

Treasurer’s Report

John Grossmann presented the report prepared by Chris Sheasby:

Opening Balance as of 11/10/14: $29,420.11

Debits:

$200.00 Town Club Holiday Boutique Fees

Credits:

$890.00 Town Club Holiday Boutique Sales

Closing Balance as of 12/9/14: $30,110.11

Archivist’s Report

Pat Rusak reported on the brisk sales of HPC merchandise at the Town Club Holiday Boutique, sharing the good news about the Town Club’s gracious offer to waive the 10 percent merchant’s charge on sales. She explained that the Shoreham, New York historical committee representative had passed on photos of Hapgood from his Dartmouth days and old photos of the original house at 68 Lookout Street, lost to fire, owned by Claude Pallister, an employee of Hapgood, who built our "sister" community in the Long Island town of Shoreham.

Borough Liaison Report

Frank Borin relayed via email that the Borough Council believes "there may be an HPC opportunity for storage purposes" should the Council vote to renovate Hagood’s dynamite shed on Tower Hill Road to make the stone building suitable for storing mostly wooden architectural salvage items. He added that he had asked Councilman Olbergo to reach out to the property owner on the Boulevard of the "Little Theatre" about possible future use by the HPC for such occasions as Open Houses. Acknowledging the gracious offer, the Committee felt it would be best to have a representative or two visit the building and see how its renovation might dictate what kinds of events might be appropriate for the space.

Old Business

Borough Website Redesign

Mike DeWitt and John Grossmann reported that they got together to check on various aspects of the HPC webpages, post-Borough redesign work. They found only limited access for making content changes, and expressed concerns that navigating throughout the site is confusing, plus fears that some previous content may not be currently accessible. Mike said he would reach out to Bob Karczewski to check on the status of the website work to learn if the redesign remains ongoing and how to best address our concerns.

302 Boulevard Notice of Intent to Demolish

Tom Dagger provided a brief update. A letter was sent to the construction official confirming the owner had satisfied the preconditions for obtaining a demolition permit.

Transition of HPC Account to Borough Administration

Tom Dagger and John Grossmann met with Borough Treasurer Tim Roberts and learned that the HPC account transfer now awaits an upcoming transfer of all Borough banking to PCN Bank, which he expected at or near the end of 2014.

Morris County Historic Preservation Grant

Lesley Karczewski reported via email that a report on the grant would not be forthcoming until at least December 15th.

HPC Articles for Mountain Lakes Living Magazine

Margaret DeWitt said that the next series of articles from the HPC would be a seasonal story on winter focusing on winter recreation. Upcoming stories will draw heavily upon themed recollections from the Oral Histories—and by referencing them in the HPC attribution at story’s end, hopefully drive some traffic to the rich collection on the Committee’s webpages.

Town Club Holiday Boutique Table Nov 20th; House Tour Dec. 5th

The HPC table at the Holiday Boutique made nearly $700, as noted in the Treasurer’s Report. Merchandise sold included Centennial books, centennial flags, and lots and lots of notecards.

Hapgood Dynamite Shed

John Grossmann reported that he had spoken with Borough Manager Bob Tovo about the building, inquiring about its history. Tovo said that he’d been told years ago by an old timer on the Mountain Lakes police force, Charley McCoy, that the structure was indeed used by Hapgood to store dynamite. Eyeing the stone building for some future purpose, Tovo set aside $15,000 in the 2013 budget for renovations—especially to the roof, which is in bad repair. He indicated that there had been Borough discussion about offering the renovated building to the HPC for a dedicated museum space that could open periodically to the public. During their conversation, Grossmann raised a second possibility: a less expensive renovation that would fix the roof and make the building water tight and also add inexpensive shelving so that the structure could serve as a new home for architectural salvage.

New Business

Committee Member Status

The Committee is still in need of a new member. The Committee agreed to reach out to Alex Gotthelf to see if he would be interested in joining, particularly given how helpful it would be to have a professional architect on the Committee.

Goals for 2015

The Committee drew up a list of goals for 2015, in no particular order:

HPC Sign for Events

Ginny Cassidy, who spent considerable time at the HPC table at the Town Club Holiday Boutique, passed on her wish that the HPC have a sign made for future events that would help draw traffic to the displays and merchandise offered for sale. Everyone agreed that the sign should best hang or be displayed off the front of the table. Pat Rusak suggested a company on Rte 46 that has made banners for town committees. She proposed a roll-up banner of some kind and said she would price such a banner and return with a design and specifications for further discussion.

Christmas Ornaments

Margaret DeWitt brought up the idea of the HPC commissioning and selling Christmas ornaments—perhaps a different limited edition ornament featuring a Borough building or scene every year for some as yet unspecified number of years. She showed a catalog she had acquired and, with an enthusiastic green light from the Committee, said she would report back with necessary details to enable further discussion.

Date for Next Meeting

Thursday, January 8, at the downstairs meeting room in the Library at 7:30 p.m.

Minutes prepared by John Grossmann and Tom Dagger.