Town Of Rochester Historic Preservation Commission Meeting
Monday, March 15th, 2021; 2:30 PM – 4:30PM; Held on Zoom
Attending: Wilton Duckworth (Chair), Joan Ewing, Alice Cross, Elaine LaFlamme, Deborah Medenbach, Gloria Mirsky, Joanne Mariner, Suzanne Miedema, Natalie Schults
Guests: Mike Baden, Town Supervisor
Absent: Jens Verhaugh, Franz (Frank) Dannecker, Ryan Fitzgerald, Shirley Avery
Proposed Agenda:
1. Bring the Meeting to Order
2. Approve the Minutes of the February 8th, 2021 Meeting
3. Approve Agenda
4. Old Business:
a. Hamlet Signs – Who would volunteer to check on them?
b. Reconnaissance Survey – Report from Deb; What is needed to progress?
5. Canal/Rail Walks and Other Events
a. Report on Event Meeting held Monday, March 8th
b. Art Walk Report from Deb
c. Historic Canal Walk, Rail Walk, Events at Possible Fire Pit behind Community Center
d. October Heritage Day Events – Possible Coordination with all of the above
6. Museum of Historic Rochester
a. Tours by Alice Cross
b. Volunteers to Help
7. Possible Interview with new Town Historian, Kathleen Gundberg
8. Franz (Frank) Dannaker Retiring from HPC
9. Microphone – For in-person meetings, with social distancing, so older people can hear, for speakers on trail walks, for presenters at a fire pit
10. Additional Suggested Agenda Items
11. Meeting Adjourned
The meeting was called to order with a motion by Alice Cross at 2:30 PM and seconded by Deborah Medenbach. Motion Carried.
Minutes:
1. Reconnaissance Survey Updates – discussion of putting all the updates on the database; Mike will share it with all the boards. Thirty Copies are needed.
2. Art Walk & Rail Trail – Wilton met with the rail trail team and marked trees for sculptures to happen. Jeff knows what trees are marked to take down. Deb came up with a name, “Ash Tree Arts Festival,” taking place on the first Saturday of June, & is keeping the artistic end of things moving.
a. Reaching out to artists to see who would like a tree needs to happen next, alongside the creation of a map so artists can claim what tree they want to do.
b. Expectations for how many people are coming are discussed. Deb has suggested a call for artists to occur 3-4 months before the event, newspaper articles a month prior, and a week before the event for radio stations and TV crews. Suggested platforms included Radio Kingston, Bill Merchant’s Show, the Bluestone Press, and the Shawangunk Journal.
3. Fall Events on the Rail Trail and the Canal
a. Mike suggests possible building of the fire pit by the community center; Outdoor events are covid safe. Columbus Day is in October – opening to bring Native American history into these events. Wilton & Joan mentioned bringing in speakers on the precolonial history of this area. Deb suggested looking into land dedication & honoring ceremonies.
b. Heritage Day event; During the first or second week of October.
c. Elaine suggests getting people involved in their surroundings by looking around them to identify and locate the bungalow colonies, certain aspects of the rail trail and canal walks, etc.
4. Museum of Historic Rochester – Alice to give tours to transfer information.
a. Monday, March 29th at 2:30pm, meet for a guided tour of the museum by Alice.
b. Indexing needs work, alongside the development of a self-directed tour. There’s a lack of personnel and funding. The museum is funded partially by the town because it is an asset but it needs funding on its own. The membership comes with a subscription to The Accordion; Elaine suggests putting up a digital copy with a paywall.
5. Frank Dannecker Retiring from HPC
a. Mike says there’s openings so there’s no need to resign, he can just be a non-involved member.
6. Additional Agenda Items – Education in Historic Preservation, Resources for Homeowners
a. Joanne brought up the idea of people getting more training in historic preservation. Discussions, classes, and looking into what the Parks & Rec Department has for information would be beneficial. Wilton had the fun idea to look at the exterior of each other’s houses from a historic point of view at our leisure, i.e. looking at architectural details and how to restore them.
b. Elaine says she has put together an orientation package for HPC and will be resending it out through email. This will benefit not only HPC but homeowners who need to know what they can and cannot do with an historic home and what to expect from HPC. Resource-rich webpage with homeowner information is suggested, as a letter might not be viewed favorably and we want to get in contact with the homeowner as soon as they have purchased the house.
c. Suzanne suggested a list of resources for/of people who would be willing to work on houses of a certain age.
7. Kate Gunberg Interview – New Town Historian
a. Interview perhaps not until after May; Maybe have her join the start of the April meeting.
8. Microphone – Events, social distancing, etc.
a. Preferably portable with batteries, maybe with the option to charge it overnight.
Motion to adjourn was made by Wilton Duckworth and seconded by Elaine LaFlamme. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 4:26PM.