Historic Preservation Committee
Meeting Minutes – December 15, 2016
A meeting of the Mountain Lakes Historic Preservation Committee (“HPC” or the “Committee”) was held on Thursday December 15, 2016, in the main reading room of the Mountain Lakes Library. In attendance were Chair Lesley Karczewski, Vice Chair Tom Dagger, Ginny Cassidy, Margaret DeWitt, Alex Gotthelf, Rob Infante, and Borough Council Liaison Bill Albergo. Absent were, Sima Chowdhury, Mike DeWitt, and Katy Roberts.
Approval of Prior Meeting’s Minutes
The minutes of the November 17, 2016 meeting were approved in the form in which they were distributed to the Committee.
Treasurer’s Report
Lesley Karczewski presented the report:
Opening Balance as of November 14, 2016: $32,066.42
Debits: $700.00 Debra Schiff for Archive Assessment
Credits:
$100.00 Mountain
Lakes books
$29.00 Historic Photo
Total Credits: $129.00
Closing Balance as of December 13, 2016: $31,495.42
Archivist’s Report
Consultant’s progress
Lesley Karczewski reported on the progress of consulting archivist Debra Shiff. Shiff has completed the first phase of her work: a review of the archive and identification of the most pressing needs including proper storage of historic documents and increased storage space. Shiff will be in the archive for two days in January to complete her assessment and recommendations.
Digitizing photos
Rob Infante reported that he is continuing to digitize photos from the archive and that we are quickly running out of free cloud storage space. The board agreed to the short-term solution of adding additional cloud storage at roughly $20 per month. The board also agreed to seek a longer-term solution in conjunction with the Borough through either the Communications Committee or the newly forming Technology Committee.
Alex Gotthelf reported that he has not been successful in speaking with the Borough DPW regarding the work that needs to be done on the shed. Bill Albergo recommended following up with Rich S. to schedule the work early in the New Year.
Borough Liaison Report
This time was used for the board to express its appreciation for the support and guidance of Bill Albergo during his 12 months as Borough Liaison.
Old Business
Ordinance edits
Tom Dagger reviewed final changes to the ordinance specifically in regard to determining the “street-facing” side of a house. The final version of the ordinance will now be read at two meetings of the Borough Council and one meeting of the Planning Commission. Passage is expected in the first quarter of 2017.
32 Condit
Alex reported that the owners of this home have agreed to deconstruct the house to help salvage as much as possible. Alex will prepare a plan and timeline to facilitate documentation, removal and distribution of as many of the house parts as possible without the HPC actually taking possession of materials.
New Business
The board discussed some of the many ways to inform residents about the work of the HPC and about the value of historic preservation. These included continuing use of the HPC Facebook page, monthly articles in Mountain Lakes Living, a postcard mailer, and posting news to the borough website. Rob Infante will be spearheading many of these efforts.
Date for Next Meeting
Next meeting date – January 19 at 7:30 in the Mtn. Lakes Library.
Minutes prepared by Margaret DeWitt and Lesley Karczewski.