2020 HPC Meeting Minutes – February

TOWN OF ROCHESTER HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION—Minutes for 2/17/20

PRESENT: Wilton Duckworth., Chair, Alice Cross, Alice Schoonmaker, Franz Dannaker, Jens Verhaugh, Francesca Noble (new member)

ABSENT: Elaine LaFlamme, Secretary (awaiting Town Ethics Board decision, whether there is a conflict of interest with her new position as Town Judge). Minutes taken in her absence by Joan Ewing, who is awaiting acceptance as a member of HPC

GUESTS: Jack Schoonmaker, Joan Ewing

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING, held on November 17, 2019. Alice C. and Franz D proposed approval, with a suggested change of spelling for the name “Gazlay”.

AGENDA: Alice C and Alice S moved to approve. Approved by a unanimous vote.

WELCOME NEW MEMBER: Francesca Noble was warmly welcomed as a new member. She noted that she will complete the membership process by taking the oath in the next days.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• Future meetings of the HPC will be held at the Harold Lipton Community Center in Accord, as the Town Hall building will be undergoing construction for additional office space.
• At the request of Councilperson, Erin Enouen, Wilton D will be joining a committee to review codes and the Town of Rochester Comprehensive Plan, which has not been evaluated for a number of years.

OLD BUSINESS–HAMLET SIGNS: Generally, it was agreed, as Alice C. suggested, that the hamlet signs in the Town of Rochester, numbering approximately 16, need to be revisited and some repaired.
Some are known to be in disrepair, such as the St. Josen sign, the Rochester Center sign, which Jens said has delaminated, and the Mombaccus sign, which now resides in the museum. Frank D said he does not like the way that the signs are attached to the post. Alice S suggested an “adopt a sign” project, with individuals or groups such as the scouts, Wild Earth or the Fire Dept .each caring for a sign.

Alice C suggested a professional sign company in Kingston, which has already done considerable work for the Town of Rochester. They cost approximately $300/sign. An advantage to working with them is that they can provide a uniformity of style across the area.

Frank and Jens volunteered to go around and check out the signs.

OLD BUSINESS—ACCORD HISTORIC DISTRICT: Supervisor Mike Baden came out from his office to answer a few questions. In the process, he announced that the federal government has now approved the Accord Historic District as a National Historic District. New York State
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had previously approved it in December, 2019.

Francesca N asked what this means. Mike B said that homeowners can get funds for work on buildings, possibly tax write-offs. If the building is commercial, there could be possible grants.
Resources: Neil Larsen, who did research to justify the application for the Accord Historic District. Maria Reitelbach, longtime Accord resident, who has just recently moved to High Falls.

Francesca, who is a real estate broker, was asked about the Anderson Feed Mill. She offered to find out more about its current status. Francesca was also asked about the Gazlay House. Francesca said she believed that it is still owned by the bank. She noted that it is expensive to do repairs, especially considering mold and water damage to the house.

Alice C suggested a celebration for homeowners in Historic Accord, perhaps in May, including refreshments. Alice suggested a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, so that weekend homeowners could attend. Possible date : May 30. Possible times: 4:00-6:00pm or 5:00-7:00pm. What name could this celebration have? Alice S suggested “Historic Gathering”.

Jack S suggested looking at how Historic Accord looked different in the 1800s from now. Jack noted that a number of houses that he himself remembers from his younger years, such as the old post office, are now gone. There was a suggestion that Jack get together with other people who remember Accord at an earlier time.

NEW BUSINESS—D AND H CANAL WALKS: (D and H stands for Delaware and Hudson)

Wilton D noted that the idea to plan D and H Canal historic walks was originally presented to him by Elaine L.

Wilton spoke about the possibility of organizing historical and cultural walks and events along the old D and H Canal toe path . Wilton noted that the canal was central to the history of New York State and our local communities. It was built to bring coal from Pennsylvania to the Hudson River, to be transported to New York City. Wilton described the coal operation and canal as an engineering feat, involving the use of gravity to bring coal cars down hill to the canal boats and empty cars back up for more coal. It was energy efficient, with the use of one mule to pull a boat along the canal itself.

Wilton said that he was especially interested in the culture—the stories, songs, poetry surrounding the canal. He said he believed that these things could bring life to the history of the canal, excitement to our local area and promote an educational mission.
Wilton said that organizing these events could bring together different groups in our communities to work together.

Alice C said that Bill Merchant, Curator of the D and H Canal Museum,, had written articles for the Accordian publication for the month of March, 2014. Alice noted an interesting piece of information: The D and H Canal is 108 miles long, with 108 locks. It was build in 3 years.
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Alice also noted that there is a website with a synopsis of each of the Accordians over the years.

Frank D added that he wished that they had kept the water in the canal, which would be of great interest to people visiting this area. Another person (I don’t remember who) noted that it would have been very difficult to maintain the water in the canal trough.

Mike B spoke about the O and W Trails Commission, of which he is a member, which could be a resource and possible partner in this project. Mike suggested that Carl Pezzino from Marbletown could be a point person. He also mentioned Flynn O’Connor, who is the current head of the Trails Commission.

ADJOURNMENT: Alice S. moved that the meeting be adjourned. Franz D seconded the motion..