Historic Preservation Committee

Meeting Minutes -- Nov 07, 2007

A meeting of the Mountain Lakes Historic Preservation Committee was held on Nov 07, 2007 at the Mountain Lakes Borough Hall.  In attendance were co-chairs Andy Bulfer & Peggy Bulfer, John Grossmann, Maria Iacullo-Bird, Bonnie Rosenthall, Chris Sheasby, and Pat Rusak.  Absent was Borough Council Liaison Ellen Emr.

Opening Items

• Treasurer's Report -- Treasurer Chris Sheasby reported the following financial information for the period Oct 03, 2007, 2007 through Nov 07, 2007.
  
  

  Opening balance (10/07/2007)	$2407.12
  Revenue	$0.00
  Expenses	$188.80
  Closing balance (11/03/2007)	$2218.32

  Sheasby noted that expenses were $30 for historic photos and $158.80 to Erie Landmark for one plaque.

Public Comments

None.

Old Business

• Public Awareness of the Historic District -- The Committee reviewed several designs for signs and chose one.  It is bronze with bronze and black letters:
  Chris Sheasby reported that the signs will cost $780 each plus shipping.  Manufacturing and delivery will take about 2 weeks.  The cost does not include posts or installation which the Committee assumes would be done by the DPW.  The Committee decided to purchase two signs, one for each end of the Boulevard.  Andy Bulfer will notify the Borough Council by e-mail one more time that we are doing this.  If there are no objections, Sheasby will place the order.
• Mountain Lakes 100th Birthday -- Mountain Lakes centennial year is 2011.  The first house was occupied on March 7, 1911 and the first party was on St. Patrick's Day of that year.  Andy Bulfer reported on the presentation to the Borough Council on Oct 22, 2007 about the Anniversary by him and Pat Rusak.  The Council's reaction was very positive.  The longest lead time is a book on the history of Mountain Lakes.

  The Committee's original plan was to commission a professional author to write the book for a fixed fee.  The book would be an attractive "coffee-table" book, 8½ by 11 with a mixture of text and historic photos in grayscale.  The author's commission and the printing costs would be paid from sales of the book.  The Borough may have to cover the up-front costs which would be reimbursed from sales later.  In order to get started, Andy and Peggy Bulfer with help from John Grossmann developed an RFP for potential authors to submit proposals.

  Maria Iacullo-Bird argued for a different approach.  She felt it should be a more scholarly book with notes and references.  As a Ph.D. in history, she believes she could write it based on the research she already has done for the award-winning Historic District Application -- she was the main author of the Statement of Significance and Historic Narrative sections.  She felt there need be no conflict between a beautiful product, an interesting read, and an academically researched and documented book.  If it is published by an academic press, it could have greater sales and be a significant contribution to the historical literature of New Jersey.  She said she has long planned to write a book anyway and had expected to receive royalties from it.  But if the Borough decides to commission a paid author, she wishes to be considered for the position.

  The Committee agreed to consider her for the position and asked her to submit a formal response to the RFP.  It also asked her to provide examples of the type of book she is proposing to reassure members that such a book could be both attractive and interesting as well as rigorous.  She agreed to do so by mid-December.  In the meantime, the Committee will solicit proposals from other local authors via the December Home and School Bulletin.

• HPC Open House -- Bonnie Rosenthall reported on planning for this event.  She has recruited two other people to help her.  The open house will be held on the weekend of Mar 1-2, 2008.  She has approached the Masonic Temple for the venue and reported they would be delighted to hold it there.

  The open house will include an Arts and Crafts art show as well as local vendors of Arts and Crafts products such as rugs, lights, tile, furniture.  The Craftsman Farms gift shop has already agreed to participate as has a large up-scale local home furnishings store.  Tours of the building (which few in Mountain Lakes have seen) will be given, and visitors will have the opportunity to purchase house plaques, historic photos, and HPC merchandise such as shirts with the sign design.  There was also discussion of some type of raffle.

  The Committee was pleased and excited by Rosenthall's report.  It was decided to advertise the Open House in the January and February Home and School Bulletins.  It will be named "Arts and Crafts Design Open House" and branded as sponsored by the Historic Preservation Committee.

• HPC Brochure -- Peggy Bulfer has ordered the paper which should come in the next few days.  It was decided to put a stack of them in the Library and Borough Hall and to offer them to local realtors.  Unlike last meeting, there was no discussion of sending a direct mail piece with the brochure to owners of contributing buildings.
• Representative to the Borough Hall Facility Committee -- Pat Rusak reported on the Committee's plans for a public hearing.
• Oral Histories -- John Grossmann reported that the Duke Smith session has been transcribed and forwarded to the Borough Webmaster for posting on the Web site.  He also described plans for oral histories by Faith Robertson and Peter Haas.
• Updating the Borough Master Plan -- It was reported last time that updating the Historic Preservation element will be delayed until the entire Master Plan is reviewed which is scheduled to be completed by Oct 2008.  However, to the HPC's knowledge, a Master Plan Review committee has not been formed.  Andy Bulfer will remind the Mayor and Borough Manager that this needs to be done.
• Audio Walking Tour -- John Grossmann and his committee have begun drafting the text.  There will be 12 "stops" on the tour:
  1. Midvale Market
  2. Train Station
  3. Midvale dock
  4. Luellen House
  5. Mountain Lakes Club
  6. Lake Drive School
  7. Boulevard Trolley
  8. St. Peters Church
  9. Little Theater/Original Sales Office
  10. Kaufmann Park at the corner of Briarcliff and the Boulevard
  11. Community Church
  12. Briarcliff School

  There may be several intermediate stops along the way to point out houses with architectural interest.  The HPC has promised to lead a walking tour for the Town Club on April 9, 2008.  If the weather is inclement, the event will be held in the Library with a slide show of the "stops" showing both old and current photos.  Andy Bulfer was assigned to provide photos of the stops and develop a PowerPoint slide show.

No Progress

• Updating the HPC Pages on the Web Site
• Picture Scanning.
• Morris County Acroterion Survey.

New Business

• Response to the Home and School Article -- Andy Bulfer submitted an article for the November Home and School Bulletin that discussed the historic district, availability of house plaques, availability of historic photos, and the HPC architectural salvage warehouse.  Pat Rusak reported that there was significant response.  She has had 8 orders for historic photos.  Chris Sheasby concurred.  She reported that she has had 3 orders for bronze house plaques since the article appeared.

Date for Next Meeting

The next meeting will be on Thurs, Dec 6, 2007 at 9:00 AM in Borough Hall.

Andy Bulfer