HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
P.O. Box 65
Accord, NY 12404

Minutes

Monday, April 17, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.

Members Present: Alice Cross (President), Carl Chipman (Town Board Liaison), Elaine Laflamme, Ward Mintz, Alice Schoonmaker, Howard Kagan.
Absent: Frank Dannecker

Call to Order – Alice Cross called the meeting to order at 2:08.

Minutes – The minutes from February 27, 2017 were circulated prior to the meeting..
Action – Ward Mintz moved to approve the February Minutes. Howard Kagan seconded the motion. All approved.
Historic District Designation Project
Alice Cross asked if there was any update on the Historic District Designation Project. Payment was discussed. Alice Cross confirmed that the documented prepared for SHPO by N. Larson was submitted for a formal response. Alice Cross believes the document received a favorable response.
Hamlet of Accord Revitalization Project (HARP)
Elaine Laflamme reported that no meeting had been held since the last report on HARP provided by L. Archer, however, Maria Reidelbach had inquired about new banners for Main Street. Alice Schoonmaker will reach out to Barbara Mullen. Ward Mintz noted that replacing the banners and the Welcome to Accord signs would make good starter projects for HARP.
Howard Kagan raised the lack of enforcement of zoning violations, a topic discussed at the last HARP meeting. It had been suggested that the lack of enforcement was a result of the court not pursuing the cases brought be-fore it. Another potential reason cited for the lack of enforcement was that no one showed up at court from the code enforcer’s office. Carl Chipman disagreed with that observation noting that the Town sent representatives to the court but often times the cases were postponed for 30 days time and again.
Other Business
Alice Cross reported that the O&W Historical Society currently located in an old brewery in Middletown had been asked by the owner to vacate the premises. She had been contacted by Jeff Otto, President of the Society, about space for the extensive O&W Railroad archives maintained by the Society. Various possibilities were discussed including Ulster County (Chris White was mentioned as a possible contact) and different colleges. It
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was determined that as a first step, Alice should reach out to J. Otto to determine the size in linear feet of the
collection. From there, the Board would have a better idea of possible new homes for the archives.
The Board next discussed Neil Larson’s recent presentation at the Annual Members Meeting of the D&H Canal
Historical Society. It was noted at that meeting that Ulster County lagged behind other NY counties in terms of
public ownership of the canal bed. A discussion had ensured at the annual meeting about ways to protect those
stretches of canal still in private hands. A. Cross mentioned the possibility of having stretches of the canal located
in the Town of Rochester designated on the Federal Register of Historic Places. C. Chipman mentioned
the possibility of treating canal beds as exempt under local taxes if the owners maintained the canal beds. Ward
Mintz noted it was time to revisit the issue of adopting a CLG Law in the Town of Rochester and suggested the
Board have Tim Hunt come and address the board about the Town of Marbletown’s experience in adopting its
CLG Law.
Ward Mintz recapped some of the sessions he attended at the 2017 NY Preservation Conference. One such session,
Building Relocation as Historic Preservation: Pros and Cons, discussed moving an historic structure as a
strategy for preservation. An important component was moving the historic building to a sympathetic site. Alice
Cross mentioned that the attempt to have the School House moved to a location behind the Friends of Rochester
building was rejected. Ward mentioned that the National Park Service’s thinking on the subject is evolving
and that a federally registered historic building could be moved to a sympathetic site without losing its National
Registration.
Ward Mintz also discussed the efforts to preserve the black leisure developments in Sag Harbor, NY discussed
in the session entitled The Requiem of Black Leisure Places: A case study for preservation and piety of the historic
Black resort community movement created during the Jim Crow Era. Ward Mintz started thinking of the
evolution of black leisure communities in the Town of Rochester and queried whether the Town should be
thinking about preserving Peg Leg Bates for example. Another such leisure place is the Wicky Wacky Club located
on Clove Road in the Town of Rochester and Smitty’s Ranch, also on Clove Road but in the Town of
Marbletown. Elaine Laflamme offered to set up a meeting with the current owner of the property that housed
the Wicky Wacky Club who had researched the club and met with the owner on a number of occasions. Alice
Cross emphasized the importance of writing down the history of these places and mentioned the Accordian, the
newsletter prepared by the Friends of Historic Rochester. Alice Schoonmaker will look into getting past issues
of the Accordian online.
A discussion ensued about making the project on Peg Leg Bates a joint project with another group such as the
Sage Group. Elaine Laflamme will discuss a possible Peg Leg Bates project and the banners with Maria
Reidelbach.
Next Meeting – Monday, May 15, 2017 at 2:00 p.m., Town Hall
Adjournment – motion made by Ward Mintz, seconded by Howard Kagan and passed by all.
Respectfully submitted,
Elaine Laflamme, Recording Secretary