20 November 2007 | Approved: 18 December 2007
HPC members present: Bob Booher, Chair, Mimi Styles, Margot Bohan, Ed Mroczka. David Neumann and David Stopak were unable to attend. The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 7:40p.m. The agenda proposed by the Chair was posted on the outside of the door to the Town Hall Meeting Room and was adopted after several adjustments by members. Margot Bohan agreed to take minutes for this meeting. David Neumann recorded the minutes for the October meeting; given his absence at this meeting, those minutes will be presented for adoption at the Commission’s meeting in December.
Review of Projects
No HPC applications were received or reviewed at this meeting. Ed mentioned that he had several reviews (already completed/submitted to the Planning Commission) that he intends to submit to the Bill Saar within the next several weeks.
Commemorative Plaques
Bob reported that the Town of Washington Grove’s Commemorative Plaque Project has been accepted for funding by the FY2008 Montgomery County Historic Preservation Grant Fund. The award is conditional upon the Town’s acceptance of the County’s terms and conditions which include the Town’s provision of matching funds. At the next HPC meeting, we will talk with David Stopak about bringing this topic to the Town Council as well as providing the Council with the specific inscription to be used on the plaque. In the meantime, Ed offered to go back to the boulder company with specific questions about boulder sizes, prices and delivery; he will report out at next month’s meeting.
House Histories
HPC members were reminded of their commitment to start adding anedotes and updates for their houses to the newly embedded line on the House Histories section of the Town’s website. This request of HPC members was made with an eye toward motivating other town members to contribute relevant materials to this section of the site; however, no additions to the House Histories section have been made.
Oral Histories
Margot reported that she’s begun the paperwork necessary to submit an “Intention to Apply” form in response to Maryland’s Historic Trust (MHT) FY2009 Non-Capital Historic Preservation Grant Solicitation. HPC is submitting this paperwork seeking funding to have the Town’s audiotaped oral histories of long-standing and senior members of the community transcribed into the written word. The “Intent to Apply” forms are due December 7, 2007; complete applications must be submitted by March 31, 2008. Margot is to contact MHT and Judy Mroczka (lead for the WG Oral Histories Project) with specific funding questions and submit the Intent to Apply form by the deadline (with ccs’ to the HPC members).
Casey properties update
Bob provided a status report on the November 1st Montgomery County National Parks and Planning Committee (MCNPPC) meeting re Piedmont Crossing.
ICC
Bob reported out on the latest progress with regard to the ICC.
Luxford Property
HPC members had a brief discussion about the status of the Luxford Property since a large tree fell on the property in early-to-mid October. Ed volunteered to speak with Carol Luxford regarding the status of plans to repair the tree damage to the house and to determine the timetable for either reconstruction or deconstruction. With the possibility that deconstruction will ensue, Ed agreed to inquire about taking pictures of the house for the Town’s archives. In the meantime, Bob plans to ask, hypothetically, if the Town would be interested in making a town area available for a cottage like this (to serve as a museum or library/archive) if it could be salvaged from demolition. Bob also offered to ask Chris Kirtz if he’d (hypothetically) be interested in buying/moving such a property. Margot will look into the possibility that grant solicitations exist or funds are available for salvage from demolition followed on by conversion into community/common buildings.
Heritage Night
Noone attending this month’s HPC meeting knew the significance of this agenda item. It was agreed that we’d ask David Stopak about this item at the next HPC meeting.
Christiansen House HGTV
Bob reported that he’s not aggressively followed up with anyone since learning about the possibility of an HGTV episode focusing on a Gaithersburg home (the Christiansen House?) with a Washington Grove connection in history. The story goes that somehow the beams/timbers from a Gaithersburg house ended up in McCathran Hall. Mary Challstrom was queried for her historical knowledge about the McCathran Hall beams and hadn’t heard/read about these beams. We discussed whether or not we wanted to be involved. Working with our neighbors to develop an HGTV piece could facilitate a connection with another historic commission locally. Bob Booher will dig up original email about this…and he’ll ask Alan Winter about it and put the emailed info in the WG bulletin as an fyi.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.