Historic Preservation Committee

Meeting Minutes – October 11, 2012

A meeting of the Mountain Lakes Historic Preservation Committee (“HPC” or the “Committee”) was held on October 11, 2012, in the meeting room at the Mountain Lakes Borough Hall.  In attendance were Co-Chairs Tom Dagger and John Grossmann, Brigid Walsh, and John Lester.  Pat Rusak, Chris Smith, Roberta Matalon, Beth Mauro and Borough Council Liaison Peter Holmberg were absent.

Approval of Prior Meeting’s Minutes

The Committee approved the minutes of the September meeting in the form distributed to the Committee in advance of the meeting. 

Treasurer’s Report

            John Grossmann read the monthly accounting provided by Chris Sheasby:

Opening Balance as of 9/10/12:  $27,928.87

            Debits:

            $421.08           Pat Rusak for scans and copies at UPS Store

     7.48           Chris Sheasby for flash drive

            $428.56

            Credits:

            $125.00           centennial poster

              450.00           centennial books

  515.00           note cards ($40); walk. tours & Laker Voices ($225); cent. Books ($225)

$1,090.00

Closing Balance as of 10/10/12:  $28,590.31

Archivist’s Report

John Grossmann relayed information from Pat Rusak that she had finished scanning the archives collection of Borough documents for the years 1911-1923.  There was a brief discussion of what methods should be used to store these and future electronic versions of the archives to ensure survivability and accessibility.

Public Comments

None.

Old Business

Work Plan for Historic Preservation Incentive Ordinance

Tom Dagger provided an update on activities and plans concerning the development of the website on the incentives ordinance, the HPC letter to residents of Contributing Dwellings, the Contributing Dwelling list, and documentation guidelines for homes subject to a demolition permit application.  Work is ongoing and the hope is that the Committee would provide final review and approval of each of these items at its next meeting.

Fall Open House at Library & Centennial Merchandise Sale

With staffing for the two-day open house set, the matter of publicity was discussed.  John Grossmann said the October issue of Mountain Lakes Living magazine with the Open House story had just been published.  He said that the listings on the right hand side of the Borough home web page should rise back up to the top as the date approaches, according to webmaster Andy Bulfer.  John said he would remind Michele Reilly at Borough Hall about the blast e-mail notification that she’d promised to send. 

Midvale Stores Sidewalk Project

John Grossmann read an e-mail he’d received from Borough Council liaison Peter Holmberg explaining that he’d briefed his colleagues about the centennial sidewalk proposal and that Borough Manager Chief Tovo would talk again with Bill Covelli, the owner of the Midvale Stores. The e-mail stressed that the 2013 budget was already set, and that to pursue such a sidewalk project would necessarily mean postponing something else already budgeted for. 

Salvage Trailer

John Grossmann shared that with the help of Mike Dewitt and his pickup truck, and the assistance of Jonathan Holasek of 8 Laurel Hill, that two loads of chestnut window and door trim and other interior pieces, plus a couple good runs of plate rail were transferred from the Holasek’s garage to the salvage trailer.  The plate rail will need to be measured and photographed so it can join the inventory of doors and windows on the webpages being readied by Keara Walsh for uploading to the HPC website.

John also reported that the yet-to-go-live pages got a successful trial run when he steered a Hapgood owner, Lisa Graf, of 28 Bellvale, to the link for the photos so she could search for doors for a renovation project. She e-mailed within minutes that she had found at least one, #3 that she wanted.  Pick-up was arranged.  A donation is forthcoming. 

Tom Dagger reported that Tom Menard had recently indicated December might be a possible time for his crew to help build shelving to allow for better organization of the trailer.

Oral Histories

At the suggestion of Peggy Bulfer, Edihy Marcellis, believed to be in her 80s and now living in Boonton, will be contacted to see if she’d be willing to be interviewed about her years in Mountain Lakes.

New Members

No candidates were presented. The call for suggestions remains ongoing.  It was hoped that perhaps at the upcoming Open House a willing volunteer might be tapped from those attending.

New Business

None.

Date for Next Meeting

Thursday, November 8th, at the Mountain Lakes Borough Hall.

Minutes prepared by John Grossmann and Tom Dagger.