In Attendance:Lillian G. Burry, Chairperson/Township Committee Liaison

Ellen Terry, Secretary

Nancy L. Boylan

Thomas Clarke

Jane Davis

Lori Furey

Harold Kilbride

Chris McGarry

Diana Piotrowski

Ed Piotrowski

Nancy Plumfield

Cathi Trost

Louise Whitney

Absent:Robert Cooke

Peggy Joline (excused)

Julie McGowan

Visitors:Diane Annettee

1. Mayor Burry called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM.

2. On a motion by Mr. Clarke and seconded by Mrs. McGarry the minutes of November 1, 1999 were accepted as submitted.
3. Mrs. Burry announced her intention to reappoint all members whose terms expire on December 31, 1999. Mr. Clarke, Mrs. Davis, Mr. Piotrowski and Mrs. Plumfield agreed to continue on the Committee.
4. The original, hand-written, leather-bound articles of incorporation of Atlantic Township were found by the Roads Department. A vitrine stand will be obtained for display this in the new library.
5. Betty Thompson will present to the Township Committee on Wednesday evening an eagle hand carved by her brother, to be held by the Committee until the library opens, and several sketches by Jean Fazewski, for use in the historic celebration in 2000 or for the archives.
6. A thank you note was received from William and Barbara Laing on East Larchmont, for the historic property plaque they received.
7. The presentation of historic property plaques at the Township Committee was well attended. Mrs. Burry extended special thanks to Mr. Kilbride for use of his home for the reception, and to Mrs. Boylan and Mrs. Furey for all they did to make the occasion very special.

Recipients of the plaques are:

Carmine & Marie Abbatiello (Taylor property on Route 34 North)

Alfred Antonelli (I. Vanderveer property on Creamery Road)

Patricia Bailey (W. Polhemus property on Orchard Lane)

Carroll Barclay (W. Smock property on Route 537 East)

Shawn Barnett for Stone Hill Farm (J. Bennett property on Laird Road)

Mrs. Ilden Blackburn for Sugar Loaf Farm (Garret & Polhemus property on Phalanx Road)

Donald & Lillian Burry for Colts Neck Realty (I. Kelsey property on Route 537 in original village)

Pam Carroll for Swan Pond Farm (Applegate & Freylinghuysen property on Laird Road)

David & Leslie Clark for Gassert (A. Pope property on Muhlenbrink Road)

Margaret Combs (Vikoff property on Route 537 East)

Bill & Jiggs Conover for Holly Bush Farm (Conover & von Covenhoven property)

Robert A. Cooke, Jr. (Cooke property on Route 537 East)

George & Florence Dittmar for Duck Hollow (Probasco property on Bucks Mill Road)

Richard & Carolyn Flock (Vanderveer property on Route 34 North)

John Giunco (Van Mater property on Hillsdale)

George & Millie Illmensee (E. Sickles’ property on Forest Way)

Paul Jessop for Crystal Brook Farm (Van Mater property on Laird Road)

Harold Kilbride (Route 537 East, moved from original site on Swimming River Road)

Ed & Linda King for Danis Farm (Sickles’ property on Driftwood Lane)

Albert & Lucy Knipfing (J. Maines’ property on Heyers Mill Road)

William & Barbara Laing (Bray property on East Larchmont)

John Laird for Scobey House (Route 537 East)

Mavrookas Family for Colts Neck Inn (Route 537 West)

Richard & Caroline McCoy (Statesir property on Route 537)

Vito & Rita Merola (Polhemus & Bennett property on Hockhockson Road)

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Mosher (Gray property on Hockhockson Road)

Richard & Jan Napoliello for Chestnut Rise (T. Conover property on Heyers Mill Road)

Dieter & Kathy Poppe (S. Fields’ property on Prothero Road)

John & Monica Ryan for Long Lane Farm (Van Kirk property on Route 537 East)

Salvatore & Linda Sgroi for Wide Horizon (Daniel Polhemus property) (1709 grant from King George II)

Brian & Laura Sheehy for a part of Daniel Covenhoven’s Holly Bush Farm (Conover & Crine property on Conover Road)

Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Stavola (W. Haight property on Yearling Path)

8. Michal Sparks has indicated that she is unable to design a Township flag. The expense will be carried to next year’s budget. A graphic artist is needed. Several names were mentioned, including Ariadne Vig, Muriel Rogers and Lil Kaprinski. The design should include graphic representations within a circle, on a plain background.
9. Mrs. Joline responded to Mr. Pifer’s letter in the Colts Neck Calendar about the welcome signs. Mrs. Burry will try to put one or two more signs in the 2000 budget. Possible locations could be Phalanx Road, Boundary Road at Route 520, and Dutch Lane.

 

10. Mr. Kilbride reported that if plaques are granted to nineteenth century homes built up to 1875, there could be as many as 60 plaques. That could mean a $3000 expense. Using the cutoff of the Civil War would eliminate about 15 properties. Mrs. Piotrowski suggested that the presentation of plaques be staggered over more than one year.
11. The $1,500 budgeted for the map in 1999 was not used. The exact cost will depend on how many are printed. Then they will be sold, and the revenue put into general funds. Mr. Kilbride has had a new mylar done of the base map. The names will go on a numbered key and Mrs. McGowan will illustrate points of interest in the margins.
12. Mrs. Piotrowski reported that the expense for the anniversary celebration in 2000 would depend on the number of volunteers the sub-committee will be able to muster. Mrs. Burry suggested working with Recreation Department to get volunteers. Mr. Clarke stated that the celebration could be funded in the regular Township budget, and incoming revenue would go into general funds; or that a foundation can be structured to handle the money. The foundation could later be dissolved. It was noted that the bookkeeping for foundations can be very involved.

The celebration will be "Colts Neck Celebrates Its History." There will be a house tour on Friday, May 19. Buses or trolleys will be used to transport tour guests, as many places have either very limited or less than optimally safe parking for large numbers of cars. The respective hostesses will present the history of each property. St. Mary’s Church would like to have a joint ecumenical service with Colts Neck Reformed Church. An ad book was discussed, but that would be an extremely large job in itself.

Mrs. Furey raised the idea of a 28 mile long parade of perhaps 100 to 200 antique horse-drawn carriages. If held, it would be on Sunday, May 21. This would have to be coordinated by a separate group, such as the Polo group. The route would be publicized ahead of time, so people could come out and watch.

13. Mr. Piotrowski reported that he had finished clean-up and weeding of the Conover cemetery located in the Township greenway behind Holly Bush Farm. He presented a list of 30 existing stones. The list is made a part of these minutes. Mrs. Burry suggested putting up a small plaque in order to honor the site without to drawing attention to potential vandals.
14. Mrs. Burry has obtained a book on procedural guidelines for changing a committee to a commission, which has more authority, and a booklet on how to research the history of a house. We will try to get copies of the latter for the recipients of historic properties plaques.
15. Meeting adjourned at 6:58 PM. The next meetings will be held on THURSDAY, January 6, 2000, and Tuesday, February 1, 2000.

Respectfully submitted,

Ellen Terry

Secretary

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