15 May 2007 | Approved: 19 June 2007
HPC members present: Bob Booher, Chair, Mimi Styles, Margot Bohan, David Neuman, and David Stopak (attending) as Liaison to the Town Council. Ed Mroczka was unable to attend. The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 7:40 p.m. The agenda proposed by the Chairman was posted on the outside of the door to the Town Hall Meeting Room and was adopted after a few adjustments by members. Margot Bohan agreed to take minutes for the meeting. Bob Booher moved that the minutes of the regular meeting of April 24, 2007, submitted by Margot Bohan, be approved subject to changes requested by members. The motion was adopted unanimously. The minutes from the February 2007 meeting were not presented for adoption. They are expected at the June 2007 meeting.
Maryland’s Annual Preservation & Revitalization Conference, Chestertown, MD
An HPC volunteer was sought to participate in this conference scheduled May 31-June 1 on behalf of Washington Grove and the HPC. No volunteers were identified at the time of this writing. Margot volunteered to do a search for conference summaries/results that may have future application in Washington Grove (both from prior conferences and upon conclusion of this one).
Town Council Report
David Stopak briefly reported on recent Council actions of relevance to the HPC. He explained there would be few actions to note this month because one of the scheduled council meetings was subsumed by the town meeting, and the following council meeting scheduled May 21st is to be a hearing re: the Cator-Harrison property ordinance and annexation. David encouraged all who have opinions they’d like to voice to come to the hearing.
Rules of Procedure
David Neuman recommended that a subcommittee be formed to finalize these rules. David and Bob Booher agreed to meet next week to pull a final draft together for HPC review.
Annual Historic Preservation Commission Awards
Mimi is to order the Award Plaque for Birgit and Don; the budget for this was determined per discussion with the Town Treasurer about the previous years’ outlay.
Commemorative Plaques
Given Ed’s absence, we weren’t able to get an update on vendor pricing for plaques and bases. Margot agreed to talk with Ed before our next meeting to determine the status of his pricing search and to remind him to bring his results to the next meeting.
A few minutes were spent talking about fundraising techniques HPC or the Town may wish to adopt to pay for these plaques and installation. One possible technique was to have community members place ‘bets’ on adult triathlon finishers in the WG Labor Day Triathlon competition, with 30% of the winnings ultimately going to the winning place-bettors and 70% of the winnings going to the “plaque fund.” Other fund raising options include accruing fees from WG-coordinated 10K/bikeathon/danceathon registration fees. After additional discussion about fundraising and the subject of erecting commemorative plaques to denote the history of existing and even long-gone aspects of the town, e.g., the location of the Hotel, the Auditorium, etc., HPC members agreed that we should first go forward with Dr. Horan’s plan to erect a town plaque at the main entrance into town (the entrance at the intersection of Grove Road and Railroad Street). Dave Stopak agreed to add this topic to the Town Council’s July 2nd Meeting Agenda. A designee of the HPC will introduce to the Council the concept of this town plaque, including (a) the design and narrative proposed for the plaque; (b) price estimates for the plaque and stone; (c) the potential sources of funding to pay for the plaque; (d) the possibility of placing more plaques in the future, and let town move forward with it.
House Histories
The database displayed on the Town Web site showing the histories of a large number of the buildings/structures within the Town now includes a newly embedded link, “Anecdotes and Updates.”
Bill Saar reported to Mimi that, since its posting, no one has sent anything in for the “Anecdotes and Updates” section of the House Histories web piece. HPC members, particularly those with homes of a younger era than the original homes in the neighborhood, agreed to start adding anecdotes and updates for their houses with an eye toward motivating other town members to contribute relevant materials to this section of the site. HPC members also agreed to talk up this new website feature with their neighbors to encourage submissions.
Town Master Plan
Bob Booher presented HPC members with the Planning Commission’s specific comments on the Town Master Plan. Members discussed and began to rework the Planning Commission’s suggested modifications to Section 8.4. Scale and Character of Homes. Before finalizing the HPC input, Bob Booher agreed to call Peggy Ebner for insights into the Planning Commission’s suggested Section 8.4 deletions. Bob also agreed, following that discussion, to finesse the narrative to retain what’s critical to HPC while respecting the Planning Commission’s intent. David Neuman agreed to craft a paragraph about recommendations in view of future development, i.e., he will define threats/challenges.
Once HPC’s suggested narrative is ready for primetime, David Stopak is to pass it onto Darryl, and Bob will pass it onto John McClelland to invite additional dialogue/negotiation.
Reviews
No HPC applications were reviewed. Betsy Klinger dropped by for an early consultation re: a possible porch off the east side of her house.
Adjournment
The next meeting will be held Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 p.m.