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| NORWALK HISTORICAL COMMISSION MINUTES |
CITY OF NORWALK
HISTORICAL COMMISSION
SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2007
ATTENDANCE: Committee Members: Peter Bondi, Chair; David Park; Deborah Mathies; Gail Wall; Marilyn Robinson
GUESTS: David Westmorland, Scott Kuykendall, Evan Robbins, Vivian Lee Stevens, Robert Koch, The Hour
I. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:07 p.m. by Mr. Bondi and moved forward without a quorum.
II. EVAN ROBBINS’ BOY SCOUT EAGLE PROJECT PRESENTATION – BROOKSIDE CEMETARY
Mr. Robbins said that the plan that he proposed was a basic cleanup and restoration of the Brookside Cemetery in Norwalk and would include placing a woodchip path toward the bottom of the burial sites to discourage walking over the sites and the installation of crushed stone or gravel parking area. He said that he’d originally proposed also putting in two benches but after having spoken to his Scout Master and David Park had decided that this might be a bad idea because they couldn’t be easily secured. He went on to say that with the help of the City, he would also be able to cut overlying limbs and that he wanted to put in a split rail fence about 10 to 15 feet from the street to keep visitors from driving up into the actual Cemetery. Mr. Robbins said that he’d planned to speak with Mr. Westmorland about the prospect of resetting fallen over gravestones if time permitted and that he planned to return the fallen stones from the stone wall to their proper places. Mr. Robbins concluded, saying that basic landscape cleanup and weeding would also be done and if it was found that his project was successful he would offer it as an annual service project to his troop.
Mr. Park said that the Brookside Cemetery was on Rowayton Avenue in a residential area and looked like nothing more than woods to passers by so fixing it up and making it more inviting for the public was a good idea. He said he’d spoken with Michael Mocciae of the Recreation and Parks department briefly who’d said that the Recreation and Parks Department would deliver the gravel for the parking area. Mr. Park said he’d also been working with Public Works to get some of the asphalt curbing that was there removed, but that they could go ahead and put parking spaces in even though the curb was still there. He said that there was no currently no parking at the Cemetery and that visitors currently had to park on a nearby side street and added that no more than two or three spaces would be put in.
Ms. Wall asked if there would be any new signage required at the Cemetery.
Mr. Westmorland said that that would probably be beyond the scope of this project.
Ms. Wall asked if there was any temporary signage that could be posted while the maintenance was being done so that the community was aware that Mr. Robbins had undertaken this project.
Mr. Robbins said that to his knowledge the only sign that was posted currently was the standard Norwalk parks sign but that he could probably get a sign posted that would tell the community what was being done at the Cemetery.
Ms. Wall said that she was nervous about the traffic on that road and wondered if traffic cones could be placed around the area to keep Mr. Robbins and the Scouts safe.
Mr. Park said that this could be done and that the posting of a sign stating that the Cemetery was closed from dusk until dawn was being discussed with the Recreation and Parks Department.
Mr. Park asked Mr. Westmorland if he wanted to do any of the resetting of the stones that fall.
Mr. Westmorland said he would be in favor of Mr. Robbins troop resetting the stones if they were willing.
Mr. Bondi asked Mr. Robbins when he was thinking of starting the project.
Mr. Robbins answered that upon approval from this Commission he would submit that approval to the Scout Council and could begin immediately upon their review and approval.
Mr. Bondi said that he would be calling a special meeting the following week to move this and other items but that no motion could be made on this item at this meeting.
III. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES – AUGUST 22, 2007
The minutes could not be accepted because there was no quorum.
IV. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Mr. Bondi reported that Commissioner Charles Lashley had resigned because he’d started a new business and his schedule would not permit his attendance at meetings. He also reported that he'd received several letters from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism which pertained to the Historic District Designation of Camp Street and Golden Hill. He said that Camp Street was now listed on the state registry of historic places and Golden Hill was not far behind and that he’d also received a copy of the letter from Mayor Moccia that was sent to the Historic Preservation Officer in Hartford, supporting the historical designation of Golden Hill. He continued, saying he had a meeting set for the beginning of October with Catherine Pileski, the grants coordinator and that they’d been discussing a grant for the infrastructure of Mill Hill upwards of $75,000 and so information would be submitted for that by October 31st.
Ms. Wall asked what grant it was.
Mr. Bondi said that he would have the whole thing explained to him in October.
Ms. Wall said that she wanted to be involved with the grant application process.
Mr. Bondi agreed and told Ms. Wall that he would contact her about the schedule of the meeting. He went on to say that he'd had the opportunity in the previous week to visit Newport, Rhode Island and to tour a couple of the mansions there. He recommended the trip to anyone who'd never been and said that this was historic preservation at its best.
V. REPORTS – BOARDS
A. Friends of the Norwalk Museums-Ralph Bloom (15 min)
Mr. Bloom distributed and reviewed his report before the Commission.
1. Accept Friends of Norwalk Museums report
No motion could be made due to lack of quorum.
B. Norwalk Historical Society- Scott Kuykendall (15 min)
Mr. Kuykendall reported that the Historical Society had hired their first Executive Director, Ms. Vivian Lee Stevens. He said that Ms. Stevens’ experience would be a huge asset to the Historical Society for its future mission and growth and also as a steward of Mill Hill Historic Park properties. He said he’d noted from the Norwalk Museum curator’s report that several repairs and other problems had been taken care of and he asked that thanks on behalf of the Historic District be passed on to the volunteers who’d removed the graffiti from the Smith Street Barn. He said that he understood that the ceiling repairs on the first floor of the jail had been made but that there’d been no mention of repairs to the alarm system.
Mr. Bondi said that that had been done.
Mr. Kuykendall continued, saying that the City has notified the Historical Society that due to revised requirements for the bidding on the repairs for the Fitch Law Office revised quotes were requested from contractors on a line item basis.
Mr. Bondi said that this was also done and that the Commission was going to vote on the item tonight had there been a quorum.
Mr. Kuykendall went on, saying that Mr. Westmorland had been speaking with a potential donor for a new flagpole at Mill Hill. Mr. Westmorland’s presentation was provided to the Commission.
Mr. Westmorland added that the donor had asked that the Historical Society and Historical Commission present to them jointly which was why the presentation was submitted first to this Commission and any feedback on it was welcome.
Mr. Kuykendall concluded his report by saying that they’d received shelving from the Fairfield Historical Society and so needed to remove the storage bins from the kitchen of the Townhouse so that the vertical storage space could be used.
Ms. Stevens introduced herself to the Commission saying that she hoped this was the first of many Commission meetings she would attend. She said she was extremely pleased to be a part of the Norwalk Historical Society and their efforts and that if anyone had seen the wonderful article that the Advocate ran, they’d know that public accessibility to the Norwalk Historical Society’s collections was of key importance not only to her but to her Board and that it was something that they would be working very assiduously toward in the following couple of years to increase public programming and outreach and to give the Society a chance to identify gaps in the collections so that those gaps could be filled.
1. Accept Norwalk Historical Society report
No motion could be made due to lack of quorum.
C. Lockwood Mathews Mansion – Chris Cooke (15 min)
Mr. Cooke was not present.
1. Accept LMMM report
No report was given.
VI. REPORTS – SUB-COMMITTEES
A. Finance- Kathryn Martino
Ms. Martino was not present.
B. Building Committee- John Kurtzman
1. Fitch Law Office Repairs
Mr. Bondi reported that the quotes had come in for the Fitch Law Office repairs. He said that there were three quotes, one from Fairfield County restoration for $21,855, one from Merritt Contractors for $28,500 and one from All Phases for $28,900. He said that a bit of the cost could be eliminated because the fence posts didn’t have to be repaired as the fence was going to be removed and the building had already been treated for insect infestation so they could get the low bidder down to approximately $18,435 and once this was authorized by the Commission the work could start immediately and did not have to be further approved by Common Council.
Mr. Park asked if the contractors would be able to finish this work before winter.
Mr. Bondi said that they should be able to. He went on to say that they'd also had a bid on the chimney repair for $675 and unfortunately the guidelines of purchasing were such that the bid needed to be below $599 or there needed to be two bids so he would see about getting the contractor down to $599 or look for another bidder. He continued saying that the repairs to the steps would be $1620, and the two stoops alongside the doors would be $1240 and so they would get one more bid for that and then would vote on that and get it done.
C. Cemetery reports – Dave Park
Mr. Park reported that a tree had fallen at the Pine Alan Cemetery on Crescent Street. He said that the Recreation and Parks Department had cleaned it up and that only one headstone was damaged. He said that he’d visited the Comstock Cemetery on Nursery Street and that he believed there were only about seven or eight headstones there and Mr. Westmorland had called a headstone conservator about it. He said that they were thinking of getting a price to go ahead and fix it this fall which would cost approximately $2-$4000 and he believed there was about $15,000 in the cemetery capital account that could still be spent before July 1st.
D. Norwalk Museum – Eric Chandler
Mr. Bondi said that Mr. Chandler had prepared a report that he would read through. He said that it basically had to do with the code of ethics and collection management that had been discussed at the previous meeting. He said that a meeting was held on September 14th at which a proposed document was drawn from a variety of sources and was considered by the curator to be the best features drawn from each source. The Sub Committee suggested changes, amendments, additions and deletions to the curator who was currently in the process of incorporating those changes into a revised vision of the original proposal. He said that upon completion of the redrafted proposal the Sub Committee would again meet with the curator for a final review and to make any necessary changes. The proposal would then be forwarded to the Law Department for review and any further suggested or required changes and it would then be brought before the Historical Commission for final approval.
Ms. Wall asked if the document could be reviewed by this Commission before it went to Corporation Counsel.
Mr. Bondi said that it could.
E. Rogers-Ritch-Merritt House
There was no discussion on this item.
VII. MUSEUM CURATOR’S AND ASSISTANT TO THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION REPORT
This report was submitted to the Commissioners.
Ms. Wall asked if there had been any further problems with the vault being left open.
Mr. Bondi answered that there had not because the combination had been changed.
Ms. Wall asked if the Conference Room would be painted.
Mr. Bondi said that it would and displayed a sample of the color the Sub-Committee had chosen for it. He said that the project had been estimated at $1,500.
Ms. Wall suggested that a Norwalk Museum Committee meeting be held to find a way to make the Museum’s archives more readily available to the public, perhaps leaving copies outside the vault and originals inside.
VIII. OLD BUSINESS
There was no Old Business.
IX. NEW BUSINESS
A. 2008 Budget requests
There was no discussion on this item.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. by the Chair.
Respectfully submitted,
Jessica Schroder
Telesco Secretarial Services
• The extermination treatment for Mill Hill and the Old Jail took place on September 1. Carpenter ant and rodent treatments will be performed quarterly for the Fitch, Schoolhouse and Old Jail.
• TDS Homeline has completed the ceiling repairs in the Old Jail.
• The Gate Lodge chimney repair work has been rescheduled to October 17 upon agreement with Coastal Connecticut Tourism and their schedule.
• The Building Sub-committee is reviewing the gutter repair/replacement options and quotes for the Old Jail building.
• Recreation and Parks have cut the brush and the graffiti on the Smith St. Barn have been removed.
• The squirrels who had nested in the hole in the soffit were removed from Mill Hill and Norwalk.
• The soffit repair on the Town House was quoted, processed and the work completed this month.
• Quotes from John Giunta masons on repairing the steps at Mill Hill; repairing and re-pointing the south east chimney on the Town House and moving the stones from the parking lot has come in for consideration. While quoting to move the stones, the mason recommends that the stones in the parking lot be saved as we will never be able to get the same quality of stones for any of our future historic property projects.
• A quote to re-point the Town House will be forth coming for consideration
as a Capital Budget request.
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• The Merchants’ Court electrical switch was replaced, as was the ground floor
fire alarm in the Old Jail.
• Plaza Management & Realty has replaced the damaged ceiling tiles in the “kitchen” area on the second floor.
• A second doorbell has been installed at the side door of the museum. This system is working, though the bells tend to go off on their own.
• The Museum sprinkler system was cleaned and a faulty design problem was remeadied.
• The Friends have not been able to find volunteers to work on Saturdays. The museum has been closed on Saturdays.
• The Curator is working with the Norwalk Museum sub-committee on a draft of the Museum and Collections Policy.
• Work continues on the master (protected) database. The master database entries have been proofed and are now being cross-referenced. This process has turned up, as expected, questions and small problems to be solved. It has also taken place as time permits. Several objects that had received FIC (Found in Collection) numbers have now been discovered to have accession numbers that were not previously recorded. The database carries both numbers.
• The Curator has been able to work on the Museum Collections and Archive records this past month and the cataloguing of the new acquisitions.
• This past week a small group visited us from Vinsen of Connecticut, a home for disabled adults in the Hartford area. A specialized tour was given to them and they seemed excited about what they had learned.
• I continue to receive, and answer when possible, email research inquiries with the assistance of our intern and museum volunteers.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Gunn Bromley
Curator
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