Historic Preservation Committee

Meeting Minutes – November 19, 2015

A meeting of the Mountain Lakes Historic Preservation Committee (“HPC” or the “Committee”) was held on November 19, 2015, in the basement meeting room of the Mountain Lakes Library. In attendance were Chairlady Lesley Karczewski, Pat Rusak, Mike DeWitt, Alex Gotthelf, Ginny Cassidy, Sima Chowdhury and Katy Roberts. Absent were Borough Council Liaison Dan Happer, Margaret DeWitt and Vice Chair Tom Dagger.

Approval of Prior Meeting’s Minutes

The minutes of the October 8, 2015 meeting were approved with one correction by Pat Rusak to the Archivists report. The last sentence in the Archivist’s report is deleted. The minutes were accepted as revised.

Treasurer’s Report

Lesley Karczewski presented the report:

Opening Balance as of 9/2/15: $29,889.86

Debits:

$155.00 – Boonton Photo for Historic Photos

$76.74 – Pat Rusak for fan and archive supplies

$18.77 – Pat Rusak for HPC Open House supplies

$250.51 – Total Debits

Credits:

$821.00 – HPC Open House, includes: 1 banner, 1 poster, 2 plaques, 2 centennial books, 2 ML books, 14 historic photos, notecards, 1 walking tour

Closing Balance as of 11/12/15: $30,460.35

Archivist’s Report

Open House: Pat reported that the open house went well. She passed around the sign in sheet. She commented that the meeting could have started later as nobody showed up in the morning. She complimented and thanked all who participated in staffing and providing tables. She noted that the library is in the process of purchasing more tables.

Lions: Question/comment from citizen about house at 100 Laurel Hill potentially being location for live lions. This has not been verified, but may be connected to a former resident actress Pauline Fredericks.

Blue prints: Ginny said she will get the blue prints of 105 Lake Drive, a Belhall, from current owner Nina Kroos who has offered them to us. The Kraft family had donated a set of blue prints from an original house. These prints are very rare and a valuable addition to the archive. One other set has been donated by Peggy Bulfer.

Photo Identification: A photograph of 115 Ball Road was identified at the Open House.

Pollard Road Construction:

Major congestion due to several projects

Demolition of one residence at 130 Pollard seems to have escaped the Committees review. Possibility that it was partially demolished and slipped through a loophole. The Committee would like to have Tom Dagger comment on the matter.

Appears that the residence across the street is also scheduled for demolition with a “new homes” sign out front.

Ranch house demolished on double lot. Menard is developing two new homes for the sites.

Cabin in the Woods: Information provided by Mr. Higgins visiting town…oral history.

Hapgoods Grave: Image of Hapgood’s grave in Australia was circulated to the Committee. The grave is in the Rosewood Necropolis in New South Wales.

Borough Liaison Report

No report. Dan Happer was absent.

Old Business

HPC Website Redesign Problems

Development server was approved.

Looking for webmaster.

Mike DeWitt will have access to the development server for updates. Mike felt it was not critical to have access until the server is available.

Minor changes have been made by Lesley:

Lesley Karczewski replacing John Grossman as Chairperson

Alex Gotthelf as the new Salvage Shed contact

Morris County Heritage Grant

A grant application was prepared and submitted by Katy Roberts to fund digitizing pictures and documents from the archive. The grant request is $2,700 based on cost estimates prepared by IDI. A decision is expected by December 2015.

Hapgood’s Dynamite Shed

Lesley reported that the Shed will not be cleared out until the Spring.

Application for Certified Local Government Status

Lesley reported that Tom Dagger has some concerns about the agreement obligating the Borough to requirements it cannot satisfy. Lesley and Alex agreed that Tom is the appropriate person to review and comment on the agreement. Once the agreement has been carefully reviewed/modified and is in a form the Borough will be able to accept we will forward it to the Borough Manager for approval.

Salvage Shed

Alex met with three residents since the last meeting. All were delighted to find matching trim, a window sill and a window sash for renovation projects in historic homes around town.

Several requests have been made to donate pedestal sinks that were original to Hapgoods. Question posed if they were worth keeping. The Committee didn’t see them as important items to be saved.

203 Boulevard

Building permits have been issued and the new house will not require any variances.

HPC Long Range Goals

Lesley requested that the Committee study the Long Range Goals in preparation for the next meeting. She is asking that the Committee be prepared to discuss prioritizing the goals.

New Business

League of Historical Societies of New Jersey

Lesley told the committee that she had received an invitation for the HPC to join the League of Historical Societies of New Jersey. She recommended that for $40 it would be a good deal for us. They host 3 meetings per year and it looks like we might get some valuable information from them. She read their recent newsletter and learned about the availability of grant money from the 1776 Foundation which provides grant money for historic structures. This may be a possible source of funds for repair work on the salvage shed. The committee agreed that Lesley should proceed with joining the League. Pat Rusak and Sima Chowdhury agreed to be named as delegates to the League.

RESOLUTION

Banking signature authorization/changes

MOTION: Katy Roberts made a motion to modify the names on the signature card for the bank accounts as follows:

Remove the names:

Joan Nix

Jim Cinnamon

Add the names:

Lesley Karczewski

Ginny Cassidy

SECOND: Pat Rusak

APPROVED: Unanimous

Date for Next Meeting

December 10^th in the Library. The basement is not available.

Minutes prepared by Lesley Karczewski.