HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION, Town of Rochester, 10/19/20,
Minutes
Present: Wilton Duckworth, Alice Cross, Franz (Frank) Dannecker, Elaine LaFlamme, Francesca Noble, Joan Ewing (taking minutes)
Absent: Jens Verhaegh, Adam Paddock, Town Board Liaison
Guests: Bob Anderberg, Guest Speaker
Wilton called the meeting to order.
Moment to Honor Long-Time HPC member and Town Historian, Alice Schoonmaker, who Passed on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 — We went around the room and people offered memories and tributes. Alice Cross said that she had met Alice Schoonmaker 60 years ago, and they have been friends and worked together since that time. Her husband and Jack Schoonmaker were friends since childhood. Frank said that he met Alice through the fire company, where Jack and he were both members. Alice Schoonmaker was a great grandmother, grandmother, mother. Everyone agreed that Alice had a warm, inviting presence, like a big hug, and she had a wonderful way of helping people to feel welcome and relaxed. She will be missed by all of the HPC members, who have known her both a long and short time, as well as the many members of her family and friends throughout our local communities.
Presentation on Rail Trails by Bob Anderberg—Bob Anderberg was invited to this HPC meeting to talk about his work on rail trails in this region. Bob said that his focus has been on rail trails around Ulster County, noting that the O & W Railroad carries a lot of history and often followed the pathway of the D & H Canal. I will try to summarize his talk.
Bob introduced himself and said that he is the Regional Counselor of Open Space Institute, (OSI), which is a charity. Eleven years ago, Bob, through OSI, got involved with the work on trails. He noted that Ulster County has great recreational trails and these trails are associated with the Empire State Trails system.
Bob said that Ulster County has huge amounts of parkland and that the public has a “thirst” for accessible trails. Existing trails have had huge numbers of visits from the public. He noted that with use, can also come overuse. A goal would be to create 10 ft. wide trails, which could be helpful in times of COVID, with surfaces that would make them safe for walking. Ten years ago, OSI acquired the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, including the trestle in Rosendale, and made many improvements.
Now, they are focusing on the O & W, from Kingston to Ellenville. Orange and Sullivan Counties have been leaders in acquiring trails and have spent $125,000/mile to build trails. Near of the Canal path and O & W trail near Port Ben in Wawarsing, there is still water in the canal, which could possibly open up opportunities for kayaking and fishing at that site.
Elaine noted the importance of cooperation between Rochester and Wawarsing, where there are many artifacts along the rail and canal path, which can provide “droplets of history”. She said that up until now, there has been a focus on structures. Now would be a time to also focus on the
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infrastructure, and make a connection between our current lives and history. She spoke about the Heritage Alliance 20 years ago—with the O &W Railroad, the D & H Canal and the Rondout
Creek and saw their relationship as a resource. Wilton noted that this work could provide a great opportunity for cooperation among towns.
Agenda—was unanimously approved.
Minutes—Alice moved, Frank seconded. The minutes for the September, 2020 meeting were approved. Alice added a note: Henry Rich bought Maria Reitelbach’s house.
New Town Historian—There was a discussion about who might want to be the new Town Historian. Wilton suggested Alice Cross and Jack Schoonmacher as possibilities. Alice said that she and Jack can be consultants, but that she wants someone younger for the Historian. Wilton suggested Bill DeGraw, who has previously been involved in the work of the Town, is a history enthusiast and can bring a focus on Native American history in this region. The suggestion of Bill DeGraw was met with enthusiasm and Wilton agreed to call him before the next meeting.
Excel Spread Sheet—Maren Lindstrom, who chairs the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee for the Town, contacted Wilton, who is also on that committee, to tell him about the historic house on Cherrytown Road near the spring, which was demolished. She spoke about the usefulness of having a user friendly Excel spread sheet of historic buildings in the Town of Rochester, so that HPC members could quickly determine where a specific house is. As it turns out, Maren made some changes that did make the existing spread sheet much more user friendly. Elaine asked whether the spread sheet could go onto the HPC website. She noted that the Constable, Rich Mueller, puts things onto the websites of the Town. The question was also asked about whether there is a consultant, who could put Town information onto a safer place.
Old Business—Hamlet Signs—Summary-Mike Baden, Town Supervisor, has another supplier of signs. Alice will contact Mike to see which people the Town uses. The Town will likely split the cost 50-50 and it would be an advantage to use the same people the Town is now using. The new Town of Accord sign was done by that company and looks lovely. That company could replace the signs that are broken.
New Business—Printed Booklets for Historic Districts—Alice spoke about the possibility of having printed booklets for the historic districts of Accord and Alligerville as a resource for future reference. The content of the booklets would be the information that Neil Larsen had assembled for Accord and Alligerville, for the purpose of applying to become Historic Districts. Elaine added that it should also include supporting documentation.
Alice had checked about a cost of 10 booklets, 25 pages each in order to obtain a ballpark cost to work from. PDQ Printers in New Paltz could print that amount for approx. $68. Most of the pages could be in black and white, but some could be in color to enhance interest, especially for the cover. There needed to be a decision, so that Alice could submit a request and use the
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remaining funds in the HPC budget for 2020. Alice made a motion, Elaine seconded it. There
was unanimous approval. After that, there was some discussion about possible cover photos. The old school house/firehouse was suggested for Alligerville. The Anderson Feed Mill and scenes from Main Street were suggested for Accord. Wilton and Joan offered to take pictures.
Other Business—Francesca said that she would like to know how she as a realtor could be of help to the HPC. She suggested that HPC members check out Ulster County Parcel Viewer, which she has found very helpful.
The Meeting was Adjourned—Joan moved, Alice seconded.