A special meeting of the East Amwell Township Committee came to order at 7:15 P.M. Present at this meeting were Mayor Larry Tatsch, Deputy Mayor Kathleen Machnik, and Committee members Richard Spiegel, Linda Lenox, and Patricia Cregar. Historic Preservation Committee Chairperson Kathy Cannelongo was also present.

In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, a copy of notice of this meeting was filed in the Clerk’s Office, posted on the bulletin board, and sent to the Hunterdon County Democrat, Times of Trenton, and Star Ledger on October 1, 2007. The purpose of this meeting is to interview candidates for the Historic Preservation Committee. The public is invited to attend and comment. Action may or may not be taken in open session.

Frances Gavigan stated she was eligible to be a member of the DAR, (Daughters of the American Revolution), and her family had been keeping track of history since 1628. She has been involved in various professional capacities, in terms of keeping track of things, from the Federal Government and Health and Human Services, to other various areas of employ. Ms. Gavigan’s current title is Document Specialist. Ms. Gavigan spoke about her experience in scanning, preserving, and placing permanent records in PDF’s. She has also done practical research. She has worked with people from the EPA and FDA, and still has contacts. She also stated she had been a technical writer. She also spoke about unrelated matters about her knowledge of East Amwell concerns.

Mayor Tatsch asked Ms. Gavigan if she would like to be considered for any of the Historic Preservation openings: regular or alternate. Ms. Gavigan stated she would prefer a regular opening. Mayor Tatsch stated some of the tasks the position would entail would be lining up grants, assisting with various issues regarding the renovation of the Clawson house, moving the collection into the house when complete, and inventory. Ms. Cannelongostated that in addition, there were two projects from the county: inventory of pre 1900 homesteads, and the stone house project. Mrs. Cregar asked Ms. Gavigan if there was an ad hoc committee, regarding Clawson Park, would she be willing to work on that too. Ms. Gavigan responded, “Yes.” Mayor Tatsch thanked Ms. Gavigan for appearing and stated she would absolutely be considered for the position.

Discussion was held regarding appointments, and people who express interest in various committees. Ms. Gavigan spoke about the presumption that some residents who were interviewed previously would still be considered for service if an opening came up on a board which was filled. Mr. Spiegel also suggested that if a candidate was interviewed for 2007, the candidates who did not receive appointments should still be considered if an opening occurred.

Jim Davidson was the second person interviewed. Mayor Tatsch thanked him for coming in and stated there were five open positions on the committee. Three were regular positions and two were alternate positions. Mr. Davidson stated he had served previously on the committee for 10 years (1988 to 1999-2000). He has lived in the township for 25 years. Mr. Davidson was a History teacher, has a Masters degree in History, and has taught local history. He is East Amwell representative at Hunterdon Central High School. He is also on the Hunterdon County Cultural and Heritage Commission. He was involved in the past with the East Amwell Educational Foundation. Mr. Davidson expressed his belief that the Historic Preservation Committee should reach out to the public, and help educate them with respect to local history. He stated his experience with applying for grants. Mayor Tarsch asked if Mr. Davidson would be willing to help with the grant process. Mr. Davidson said he would be willing to get involved, however, State grants would probably require a grant writer. Mr. Davidson expressed his belief in the importance of the Clawson house and stated he had done archeological digs there. He also looked at all the cemeteries in East Amwell. Most are on private property. He stated he would also like to set up a walking tour or bus tour of the township. Mayor Tatsch thanked Mr. Davidson for coming.

Peg Sullivan was the next person to be interviewed. She expressed her strong interest in history. She has lived in the community for 30 years. She stated she is a very hard worker, and she was one of the original “Friends of Clawson Park.” Mayor Tatsch informed Ms. Sullivan that one of the tasks of the Historic Preservation Committee would be identifying and ascertaining grants. Ms. Sullivan stated she had no experience with grant writing, however at TCNJ there are students who write grants. Ms. Cannelongo stated she had been in contact with the head of the history department at TCNJ about getting a student intern to help with archiving. Ms. Sullivan works 3P.M. to 11 P.M. and would probably only be able to commit to one evening a month, however, her schedule affords her availability during some daytime hours. Ms. Sullivan stated she had read the by-laws of the Historic Preservation Committee, and had come as an interested member of the public the prior week. She is very dedicated, and would like to help in some way, even if she wasn’t chosen for the Committee. Mayor Tatsch thanked Ms. Sullivan for appearing.

With regard to the earlier discussion of people who express interest in a particular Committee and are not chosen for that Committee: Mayor Tatsch said perhaps it would be appropriate to include a sentence in the letter if a candidate is not accepted stating, “If you are interested in the future, kindly apply during the next cycle.” Committee members were more inclined to consider applicants who applied in a given year rather than consider a larger pool of interviewees (i.e., those who applied several years in the past). Mrs. Stahl will get the names of interviewees who were not appointed in 2007 and provide them to the Township Committee at their next regular meeting.

Clerk Stahl stated Mary Van Horn, who could not make the 8:00P.M.appointment, was sent an e-mail stating if she was still interested, to please let Clerk Stahl know. Maybe something could be set up for 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, October 11, 2007.

Motion was made to go into recess at 8:10 P.M. by Ms. Lenox, seconded by Ms. Machnik. All in Favor.

Meeting reconvened at 8:29 P.M.

Jennifer Floyd was the last candidate interviewed. Ms. Floyd stated she had grown up in Hopewell. She recently moved back to East Amwell from California, where she had been going to school. Mayor Tatsch informed Ms. Floyd of the position openings, and asked if it would matter to her if she were considered for a regular member position or an alternate position. Ms. Floyd indicated that it would not matter to her. Ms. Floyd stated she was a grad student in an English department, but she works on the history of architecture and poetry in England in the 15^th century. She has considerable research experience dealing with archives. She is interested in local history as well. She has done image quality control, and is currently working remotely on a manuscript digitization project, that Stanford is doing with Corpus Christi College Cambridge. Ms. Floyd also worked in college, during the summers, at Firestone Library in rare books conservation. This gave her a bit of paper and book conservation experience, and general library work experience. She has a Masters in Art History. Ms. Floyd stated she had a lot of experience writing, but has not done any grant writing. However, she has done Fellowship applications, which is on the same vein of writing. Ms. Floyd stated she would be willing to help with grant writing. Ms. Cannelongo informed Ms. Floyd the regular meeting of the Historic Preservation Committee is on the fourth Tuesday of the month. The Committee is also looking to have work sessions as well. Ms. Floyd remarked of her flexible schedule. She does have to go to Stamford on trips occasionally. Mayor Tatsch explained what the Historic Preservation Committee would be working on.

The Clawson house is an historic building, which needs to be rehabilitated. The Township would like to defray the cost as much as possible with grants. The cataloging of the Quick collection is also a priority. The Quick Collection will then go into the rehabilitated Clawson house. There are also plans to put a resource center in the house, with reference materials. There will be space for a couple of meeting rooms for groups within the Township. There are more long range ideas for doing educational work with Historic Preservation and working with the school.

Ms. Cannelongo said there would be committees formed within Historic Preservation, and she was going to rely on the members to tell her what their expertise is.

Mayor Tatsch told Ms. Floyd that Clerk Stahl would let Ms. Floyd know of their decision within the next few weeks and thanked her for coming in.

Discussion held regarding the interviewed candidates. The decision was made to postpone any appointments until the remaining three candidates have been interviewed.

Motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Lenox, seconded by Mr. Spiegel. All in Favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:51P.M.

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Carolyn Fritsch, Deputy Clerk

Taken from Tape