HISTORIC PRESERVATION ADVISORY BOARD (HPAB)

March 27, 2008

MINUTES

Attendees: Nancy Arcieri, Kinney Clark, Martha Garcia, Loretta Smith, Maureen Strazdon, Carolyn Youngs

Next meeting April 24, 2008 at 7:30 at the Community Center

The minutes of the February 28, 2008 meeting were approved.

It was noted that many of the Board members have not attended any of the three meetings held thus far this year, nor have they expressed any interest in the projects. A suggestion was made that a member be removed if he or she misses three consecutive meetings. Maureen said she would look into it and report back to the Board.

Members of each subcommittee reported as follows:

A - Education sub-committee - Rosanne Barone, Vic Bary, Ray Schwartz

• Media – Maureen Strazdon reported that Vic Bary had sent short articles and notices about this meeting to the Chronicle, Eagle, and Suburban, but none of the publications printed them. He will try again next month.

• Cranford.com – Maureen will ask Bill King to check about the HPAB site since it hasn‘t been updated since early Feb. If there is a problem using the township webmaster we will see if it is acceptable to maintain the site ourselves and Kinney Clark volunteered to be the webmaster. We need to advertise on the site for a grant writer, a cameraman for the Cranford Architecture video, and people for other projects.

• Cranford Architecture Video – Maureen Strazdon reported that the original Architecture tape has been transcribed and Nancy Arcieri has edited it. Nancy will check to see if the structures are still standing. Board members should nominate any structures (including bridges and street vistas) that were not originally included that we might want to add.

• Cranford House Video – Loretta Smith suggested that the Architecture video be revised to downplay the architectural descriptions and concentrate more on houses. The Board discussed the idea, including how much work it would take to write a new script and plan the video. Maureen Strazdon suggested that we revise the Architectural video first then go on to a new video. It will be put to a Board vote at the next meeting. [Note – there is a video entitled Cranford on the Riverside available at the Library which might serve as a basis for this script.]

• Channel 35 – Maureen Strazdon had nothing to report.

• Library display - Nancy Arcieri reported that she has reserved the display cabinets for October. The members agreed that the theme would be “Then and Now” and include pictures of the same site as it appeared in the past vs. what it looks like currently. The older photos will be obtained from books and Kevin Papa will be asked to take the current views. One of the photos should be the flag pole to coincide with the proposed rededication of the site in November.

B - Documentation sub-committee – Nancy Arcieri, Judy Bell, Kinney Clark, Julie Didzbalis, Bill King, Kevin Papa, Loretta Smith, Carolyn Youngs

• Survey forms - Carolyn Youngs reported that people are working on getting the forms completed.

• GIS – Kinney Clark distributed a map of Cranford with the houses color-coded by age. The group noted that there was a concentration of houses around Forest that have not been assigned to anyone. Kinney will review the distribution of older structures against the current districts recognized by the state so that we can determine if other districts are needed or should be created.

• Survey priority – Carolyn will check the map against her records of forms on file to see what streets should be priority.

• Computer file/database – Carolyn Youngs will give the forms she has to Maureen Strazdon so that they can be added to the computer file/database.

• Designation documentation and criteria – Carolyn Youngs and Kinney Clark will work on drafting the criteria that will be used to designate a structure as significant. Kinney explained that a complete inventory should be done first. Then all examples of a style should be reviewed and the best examples should be designated as significant individual structures, plus a district could be created based on a group of structures. The criteria will be widely distributed in town and added to the Cranford Code.

• Designation letter – The group agreed that we need to create the criteria and do more education before any letters are sent to residents. Kinney Clark pointed out that if an area or district is designated as significant, inclusion of all structures is not optional, so education as to what it means is particularly important.

• Survey form in new format – The Board approved the survey form as an Excel spreadsheet and will submit all forms in that format going forward.

C - Advisory sub-committee – Maureen Strazdon, Rosanne Barone

• Guidelines – Maureen Strazdon had nothing new to report on guidelines for Zoning and Planning Boards based on codes from other areas in NJ.

• Master Plan – Kinney Clark pointed out how important it is to include general Goals and Objectives for Historic Preservation in Cranford’s Master Plan. It will give the Board more credibility and keep a space open for more detail as HPAB progresses in its mission. Kinney and Maureen will draft a statement to be approved by HPAB and presented to Bob Haffler and Bob Puhak for inclusion.

• Permits – The Board suggested that the demolition permits be sent to Maureen Strazdon rather than Julie Didzbalis, and that Maureen review and note approval on them and send them back to the Building Dept. Kinney Clark noted that this will show that we are serious about permits.

• Other guidelines – No report.

• Grants – Carolyn Youngs reported that the Hanson Park Conservancy had gotten a grant and she will distribute the grant proposal to the Board so we can see if we can use some of the wording to request funds for HPAB projects. Several possible grants (including Preserve America) were mentioned and should be looked into.

Veteran's Flagpole Committee – Martha Garcia spoke about the committee and its connection to HPAB. She will approach a member of HPAB who wasn’t at the meeting to ask that they represent HPAB on the committee.

The dates for future meetings were announced:

• 4^th Thursday of each month

• Next meeting April 24, 2008 at 7:30 at the Community Center