Everyone, welcome to the Patterson Historic Preservation Commission virtual special meeting of March 9th, 2026. I'm Chair Joyce Corbo, and I'm pleased to call this meeting to order. The time is now 6:28 p.m.
>> I'd like to make special note at this time in the absence of our secretary Vanessa Ramirez, our executive director John Franco Arimedi will be also taking on the role of secretary for this evening. So thank you director Archimedi
for handling dual roles tonight. Would you now please read the notice of compliance? >> Yes, thank you. The notice requirements provided for in the open public's meeting act have been satisfied. Notice of this special virtual meeting was properly given and
published in the North Jersey record and Herald News on March 4th, 2026 and filed with the clerk of the city of Patterson on February 27th, 2026 and posted in the Patterson City Hall immediately thereafter.
>> Thank you. May I now have a roll call, please? >> Commissioners, roll call. >> Commissioner Garcia Leon, >> present. >> Commissioner Philipelli, >> present.
>> Commissioner Moses, >> remember to go off mute. >> Sorry. Present. >> Commissioner Redmond. >> Present. >> Commissioner Simpson. >> Absent.
Commissioner Tate. >> Present. >> Commissioner Walter. >> Present. >> Vice Chair Ahmed absent. Chair Corbo.
>> Thank you, >> Madam Chair. We have a quorum. >> Thank you. So, for the record, it should be noted that in the absent of Vice Chair Muhammad Ahmed and uh Commissioner Kenneth Simpson, votes will be recorded by our alternates
Marabella Garcia Leon and Frankelli. So, let's proceed now with item three on the agenda, the approval of minutes. Minutes for November 17, 2025, December 15, 2025, and January 5th, 2025 have all
been distributed to the commissioners. Can I have a motion to approve the minutes of November 17, 2025? >> No made. Second >> by Commissioner Tate. Second by Commissioner Garcia Leon.
>> That was Redmond. >> Um I'm sorry. >> I'm sorry. >> I think I think Rich I think I had it first. >> Roll call, please. >> Roll call. Commissioners, Commissioner Garcia Leon,
>> remember the mute. Commissioner Garcia Leon. >> Uh, yes. >> Thank you. Commissioner Redmond. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Simpson absent. Commissioner Tate. >> Commissioner Tate.
>> Yes. >> Commissioner Walter. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair Ahmed absent. Chair Corbo. >> Yes. Commissioner Moses, >> yes. >> Commissioner Philip Pelli,
>> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion to approve the December 15th 25 minutes, please? >> I lost Joyce there. I don't know what she said. >> Uh, motion for December 15th. Sorry.
>> Motion for December 15, 2025. >> Okay, I'll make the motion again if nobody else does. >> Moved by Commissioner Walter. Second >> Tate. >> Tate. Second by Tate. >> Second by Commissioner Tate. Thank you. Roll call, please.
>> Commissioner Garcia Leon. Commissioner Redmond. Absolutely. >> Jeff Franco. >> Yes. Go ahead, Marbel. >> Commissioner Garcelon, what's your vote? >> Commissioner Tate.
>> Yes. Commissioner Walter. >> Yes. >> Chair Corbo. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Moses. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Philip Pell.
>> Yes. >> Commissioner Garcia Leon. >> Sorry, did we lose you? Commissioner, sorry we're not hearing you. >> You're still on mute. Uh, Commissioner,
>> what about now? Can you hear me? >> Yeah, you're good now. >> Okay. Um, this is the one for December 15. Am I correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. I've been trying to say that I need and page four and under all
business the roll call to be corrected because it says that I was absent but I was present. All the other says present except for that one. >> Okay. I'm making note of that. >> Okay. >> It's on page um >> four.
>> Page four. >> Yes. >> Page four. Roll call. Yes. >> Correct. To note that you are present. Okay. Okay, with that correction, do I have your vote? >> Yes. >> Thank you. Motion carries.
>> Thank you. Can I have a motion to approve the January 5th, 2026 minutes? >> Now, this was a special this was a special meeting, commissioners. Not not all of you were present. So u just recall if you are present this was the
uh special meeting where we heard the application for city hall plaza for the art installation. >> I make a motion >> moved by commissioner >> I can hear you choice.
>> Do I have a second? Is there a second? >> Do it. I'll do it. >> Rich Walter second. Roll call, please. >> Commissioner Garcia Leon, >> yes.
>> Commissioner Redmond, >> abstain. >> Commissioner Tate, >> abstain. >> Commissioner Walter, >> yes. >> Chair Corbo,
>> yes. Commissioner Moses. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Philip Pelli. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. We're going to move to item six on the agenda. Old business and
correspondence. Are you Is everyone hearing me? >> Yes. >> Off and on. >> Yes. >> I'm trying. 241243 Durham Avenue, block 8511,
lot 06. This is located in the East Side Park Historic District. This is a design review application for a new driveway installation where there is not one presently. This application was postponed from the December 15, 2025.
that and it will be presented by the owner. But first, executive. >> Okay. Um, Madam Chair, we're we're we're losing you. You're like in and out. Okay. But I did hear I did hear you say you wanted
to hear uh the the report. Is that correct? >> The staff report. Yes. Okay. All right. Very good. I will get started. Thank you. Be happy to provide the report. Uh, commissioners, this application was first presented at the December 15th,
2025 uh, meeting and some of you were not present, but those of you who were present provided input and feedback and felt that there was a need for additional information to be provided by the applicant and and asked the applicant to return uh, with the
additional information uh, so that it could be considered. It was scheduled for the January 26 regular meeting and that meeting was cancelled due to the first first of two snowstorms that we had. So since the snowstorm in the city
of Patterson closed on the 26th of January, the meeting was cancelled. The agenda and the item was then moved to the next regular meeting of uh February 23rd and it was like a repeat performance. the uh snow came down on
Sunday and the city was closed I believe for two days this time Monday and Tuesday and as the city is closed uh so the meeting is uh forfeit as well. So for both months the uh applicant uh has been you know waiting to make this
presentation tonight and I was able to work with the uh applicant prior to the first you know scheduled meeting to improve the application and provide the information that the commissioners were looking looking for. Uh so with that said, I'm going to uh ask ask to go off
this screen and I'll share with you um some photos and maps and the layout and showing you the location and layout of the application to get to get the uh uh application started.
So I'm going to to go off share and then reshare. Okay. I have a document on screen. Can everyone see it? >> I can. >> Thank you, Rich. All right. I'd like to start with showing the um location of
this property on Durham Avenue uh between Park Avenue and Broadway. So, I'm showing right now the tax map for the city of Patterson. Uh as you can see at the bottom of this page, I'll I'll I'll
kind of enlarge it a bit. The location is noted here on the map. It's lot one of block 8511. Uh the extent of Darham Avenue is here uh on this side. And
uh on the next page, I'll show you the rest of the block uh to show you where the intersection of Darhams begins and uh intersection of the corner of Daramman Park. So that's on screen now. So, going back to the first screen, you
see our subject property is pretty much across from the intersection of um 14th Avenue and Darham Avenue. Now, I'll tell you more about the building itself when we look at the photos, but
I'd like to move on to show you some historic context for these for the this location. So now we're looking at a Sanborn fire insurance map from 1915. And it's depicting the same area that we
just looked at with Park Avenue here to the left where my cursor is. And you see the subject property indicated with the red arrow pretty much across from 14th Avenue. At the intersection of 14th Avenue, you'll see
that uh these various dwellings exist up to the next corner of Darham and 15th Avenue. Moving to the next map, you'll see the rest of Darham Avenue. This is pretty much on the left side of this of the screen is the intersection at 14th
Street and just off to the edge of the subject property and the rest of Darren Avenue continues to intersect with um Broadway where it ends on the on the right side of the screen. This is again the 1915 Sanboard map. I'd like to point
out that you'll see there's no development on Darham Avenue at this end. Darham Avenue actually runs north to south. This would be the north end of Darham Avenue. And there's very little development on the um east side of the
street. Moving back up, going back up to the first um 1915 map, you'll see there's more development right around the intersection um on, you know, kind of in the middle of the block. Basically, I'm scrolling down to another Sanborn
fire insurance map from a later period. This period would be 1932. So about 15 years after the map that I just showed you. And this is the development that has occurred in the 15 years between the last map and the right side being
Broadway and the left side being 14th Avenue. You can see that there are more. Oh, excuse me. Um, that's that's incorrect. This is the intersection at the left side of uh
Park Avenue and the intersection of uh 14th. Sorry, excuse me. This is this is 14th at the left side and Broadway at the right side. So, this is what I had said uh in the first place. You can see that these pasteins show
that large dwellings have been filling in over those over those 15 years. And in our next fire insurance map, it shows the other side of Durham in the subject property. So at the left is the intersection of Darham and Park Avenue.
And these are the homes that we saw in the 1915 map to the um you know to the east of the subject property. And again, this this is uh pretty much showing the the uh
south side and the north side of Durham Avenue. Durham Avenue is just these these several blocks. So, I wanted to give you some context as to the development of Darham Avenue. Uh you can see by these maps that there was intensive development on Darham Avenue
in the years basically of the 1920s. Uh so many of these buildings were uh came into into being in the 1920s. the the building, the subject building is an an earlier building on on Darham Avenue and was built together with uh the
building next door to it. Now, I'd like to turn to showing you some uh contemporary photos of of Darham Avenue. In order to do this, I'm going to use a combination of Google Maps where we can actually um orient on the
streetscape and look at overheads so we can examine the various conditions of existing historic driveways. So, uh just keep in mind the development of the majority of Darham Avenue goes back to about the 1920s
um with the subject property already pre-existing from uh prior to 1915. I'm going to go off screen again and then reshare on on Google Maps. Okay. Getting a little
confused with all the windows. Here we go. All right. Um, can someone uh acknowledge that you can see the the Google map? >> I see it. >> Looks good. >> Okay, great. All right. So, this is a Google map overview, satellite overview
with the subject property kind of noted right in the middle of the screen. You'll note that the properties back up to East Side Park. So, the rear of the lots um along, you know, this side of Darham uh pretty much the east side of Darham uh are backed up against East
Side Park. And I'll go ahead and zoom in a little more here so we can see the u actual configurations of the buildings. And we'll start over at the intersection of Durham and Park Avenue. Uh Durham is definitely a premier uh uh block with
respect to the development of the East Side Park Historic District uh largely to due to its proximity to the park. Park Avenue of course is another premier um avenue as it also bounds the park. So here uh and on Darham uh please take
note of the various conditions of the uh existing sidewalks uh and and the and the driveways that you see as we kind of go through this. I want to point out the subject property. We're getting closer now which is on the right hand side of screen. Um,
so at right at the the end of 15th Avenue at the intersection of Darham, uh, we see 243, which is our subject property, and next door, a very similar home, um, with a a garage or carriage
house in the in the back. Uh you can see that at 247 uh there's a drive that enters and goes on the south side of the property then around to the back and then loops around to uh come back out at Darham. So
there's kind of a larger lot here and more space for this driveway to you know have been constructed and there's a kind of a larger detached building here. The adjacent property is much narrower. Uh there is a concrete walkway that we see
here along uh the north side of the property and a central entrance uh sort of a raised lot with steps uh going up to the center entrance which is typical of of these east side park um
uh development during this time. And this is the area where the shadow is uh of where there uh is no driveway presently. So, let's continue down to look at some other properties. This is a a much more modern modernized looking
driveway with a it's actually asphalt with what looks like some edging material. And again, the center entrance way and the walkway to the center of the building. Here we have a much narrower lot. Um, and the adjacent lot look like they
might be sharing this um this singular driveway that looks like it's double wide. Uh so it's possible that the lot line is sort of in in the middle of this driveway. Uh and it's paved over across both. Uh here we have um another driveway that
we'll see closer when we get down to the street view. Uh also looks like it's been uh modified in more more recent times. Uh this very large building with what looks like a pool in the back also has a a narrow driveway with little
space between um the adjacent buildings. Now at the intersection of 14th Avenue, this is one of the entrances to East Side Park. And moving on to, you know, these are some of the larger uh lots that we we saw in the sandborns that
were developed uh later in the uh 1920s period. Uh this driveway uh looks like it belongs to this uh home with the green uh terracotta tile. Uh this driveway looks looks like it's been modified in
modern times also. This driveway uh on this large lot also looks rather narrow and and more of a historic configuration. Uh there's two uh walking path entrance ways going up uh with several uh steps to this main
entrance which um again indicates a raised lot which again is typical of uh the east side park developments. Uh and here's the same condition. the driveway on, you know, associated with these buildings is sort of on the right side.
And again, they look about um I wouldn't say they were twice as wide, but they look just about the right size uh for a singular driveway. And finally, we're coming around to uh a long driveway that brings you back to a
carriage house in the rear. also looks like it's been paved in modern times with uh asphalt. And in this case, there there is a strip of of vegetation between the two. And now we've reached Broadway, the end
of um of Darham. So, here we have the mosque and we're going back down passing 13th Avenue. Uh this is a very elaborate home uh that that has its driveway along one side and
um does not have a return driveway on the other side coming back to Durham or a horseshoe type driveway. Um and again it looks like it's a standard uh uh width. >> That driveway uh goes out onto the side street. Goes on the left side and then
around to the side street. >> Okay. Like back here. This is a rather large lot. Yes. Across >> from the mosque on that street. >> Yeah. Right. Over here. Okay. So, we This is these are the properties. Um
>> these are backto-back properties on Wall. This is Wall Avenue, which is parallel to Durham. And um again, we're we're we're moving down Darham to the corner of 14th A
and coming back toward where our subject property is. Now, um this is another condition that looks like um driveways are being shared um or it looks rather like there's a detached garage here and
um a narrow condition uh with the driveway right on the property line. And I believe this is a fence that's installed on the property line. Uh the same condition applies here where my cursor is. There's a fence along the property line and the uh driveway is
right against it. So, all of the uh driveways that I've noted so far, some of them have these sort of like flares as they join what we call the apron or the driveway apron where it joins to the street. Uh that's that's also notable on
these um on these various conditions. And here's an example of a very narrow driveway uh that looks to be also on the property line or uh very very narrow and close to the house. Uh, I know there's a detached garage underneath this tree as
well. So, this is a condition that also exists um just about a block away from the subject property. We're almost back to the corner of um 15th Avenue and the subject property again is this one with the uh indicator at 243.
So, with that aerial um view, we'll zoom out again and take a look at some of expanded views at the street level. So, we're entering Darham from um Park Avenue now, heading north on Darham.
And uh this property has a horseshoe driveway. It's a very large property, one of the one of the largest ones on the street. And it's of it's of concrete. Um it's patterned concrete like square tile. There's a carriage house in the back. This is uh our one of
our former HPC commissioners, Mike Lemmy. We all remember him. Uh he owned and lived in this house while he was in Patterson. Um and here's the horseshoe driveway returning back. Um and now we're getting closer to the subject
property, which is the one right behind the flag where my hand is. And this horseshoe driveway on 247 Durham goes in and around the back of the house. It's a concrete slab as you
can see. Um, and here's the raised lot condition, which is again typical. Um, and here is the the return driveway that comes back from 247 onto Durham. So, our subject
property is is here and the area proposed for the new driveway would be where the bushes are. Um, we'll we'll we'll get into the survey in just a moment. This tree that is shown is also gone now. It's no longer there. Just to
make a note of that uh right now. So, you might recall um here's a a more modern driveway that's paved in asphalt with um u edging material. This house is getting its roof replaced in this photo.
And um the condition at um it looks like it's been kind of blocked out and but this is the condition of the narrow driveway that I had pointed out uh on the uh west side of the street. We can't really see it
well because it's been blocked out. Um, but here is the condition of, you know, the fence line and what looks like a a soldier course and and pavers for this driveway improvement. Um, and again with
a fence right on the property line in the existing condition of the driveway on the property line. So, we have um believe this is an example of a shared driveway trying to there was one maybe
right before this actually of the shared driveway condition. That's this one we saw on the overhead. And this one is a a concrete slab driveway. Again, uh you can note the retaining walls. This is all of brick. This is of concrete block covered with
stucco with um saw cut um cast stone uh copings. These are both typical conditions of historic u small retaining walls when you're laying a driveway and cutting into the elevated lot. So these conditions also exist. And again I'm I'm
supposing that the property line is somewhere in the middle of these two driveways and that they're sharing them. Uh this is another example of a a driver a driveway that's been redone with pavers uh and is rather narrow. Looks
just wide enough for um uh the cars to fit in them and uh most likely also on the property line. So I'll just cruise through these again. These are the larger homes that are um
on the east side of um of Darham on the other side of um 14th Avenue. This uh driveway uh goes all the way to the rear. This is the one that has the two walkway entrances that I pointed out. Uh this is one side. This is the other up to another set of stairs to a a grand
and uh colossal entrance way. Um, and looks like this driveway loops around as well around the back of the building. Uh, and is very um been it, you know, been paved over. I'm not, you know, sure how many years ago. It's a pretty plain uh modern driveway of
asphalt. Uh, this driveway has also been replaced with asphalt sometime in the more recent past. So we have a variety of conditions existing on Darham Avenue. Um and I think this context is really important
for this particular application because there are there are many uh different examples of conditions that are being proposed in this application uh that exist and um I am not sure that we found
a another property on Darham that that does not have a driveway. Um, and again I'll I'll kind of stop the the Google um view here and I'll start talking now more about the buildings and
show you some photos of the actual proposed area uh where the um uh the new driveway installation is proposed. So I'll stop my sharing. I'm not entirely sure um what happened here.
Okay, here we go. Okay, I'm sharing a photo. Can someone say you see the photo? >> Yep, there it is. Looks good. >> Okay. All right. So, here's um here's a view of the subject property. Uh this is
again the address is 241-243 uh Darham Avenue. And uh in the East Side Park Historic District uh National Register nomination form, it lists this building as being a contributing building to the district.
It's um a two-story 3 bay square plan woodframe prairie variant style residence with a rough coat of stucco siding. Uh it was constructed in 1910. Uh it's triparte with one over one sash windows flanking the front entrance with
oral windows at the second floor. An applied wood trim belt course runs the house perimeter and the gable roof is covered in composite uh shingles which is uh asphalt shingles that was at the time of the survey which goes back
to 200 uh4. Uh this is a photo from the um property record card. Uh this is the back of the building and this is the adjacent property 247. 247 Durham is also listed um in the
nomination form for the Eastside Park Historic District and in the inventory it lists this building as a key contributing building. So, it's it's been ascribed to have a higher status than the uh adjacent building 243.
Um two two 247 is a two-story 3 bay rect rectangular plan woodframe classical revival. Oh, I'm sorry. That's that's the wrong that's the wrong one. Um this uh this building was uh built circa
1910 to 1912. a two-story 3-bay square plan brick prairie style residential building. The features include a rectal linear pattern brick work and coining, one-story integrated front porch, wide overhang hanging eaves with rectalinear
brackets, and a decorative oral window on the north end. The fenistration consists of one over one sash and the hip roof is covered in slate tiles. though the adjacent building. I'll go back
to the photo of the front of the subject property and please note the similarity in the design and architectural style of these two. Now clearly uh this one does not have its front porch. We understand uh that the front porch was removed
sometime in the recent past, but it had a porch and uh the these uh oral windows that are kind of over top of each other, very similar to the next door property. The same windows, the same central dormer. Again,
typical of a 1910s, 1920s styling, uh but a much more ornamental building and a masonary building here. uh not a stucklecoated uh woodframe building. Uh the brick uh coining that was mentioned is notable here. The porch is um massive
and integrated with the home uh bay window on the side which is and and a carriage house in the rear. Uh got a grand monumental entrance uh and an elevated lot with a central hall and central stair configuration. Again,
these these two buildings are very similar in architectural style and were likely built at about the same time. This is a side view of 247. Again, 247 is a key contributing building and you can note the difference in the
architectural styling of the adjacent property. And here's a picture of the rear carriage house and garage. So now we have pictures of the actual area where the uh driveway is um uh proposed to be installed. Um at the end of the photos I'll show you a survey that uh
you'll keep the photos in mind with respect to um being able to visualize them on the survey as well. So the corner of the um house is here with this existing concrete curb in white. Um these this line of bushes is is on the
property. It's on the 243 property and the uh the uh concrete the patterned concrete driveway of 247 is visible uh right here on the left. Uh this is a closer picture of the existing concrete curb uh that is on
line with the corner of the front of the house. And this is looking from the front corner of the house toward uh Darham Avenue and pretty much down um uh 15th Avenue. looking back toward the uh main entrance
of the house. Um the curb cut that you see is from 247. It's the adjacent uh property. And this like pile right here is uh the trunk of the or the remainder of the tree that we saw in the previous photos when the tree was cut down. And this is what was left. And the proposed
uh new driveway would go right here. Um and these bushes would be removed as well. Also, this would be the area of the curb cut uh proposed with the new driveway. Here's the adjacent driveway at 247. Uh the difference here is
there's a patterned uh concrete laid here. And the other side, if you remember, was just poured slabs. It may have been replaced later on because you can see there's some uh there's some, you know, scarring and breakage here. So, maybe the other side needed to be
replaced, but uh it's consistently uh poured concrete. Another closeup of the existing condition um at 247 showing the amount of um space in the uh where the proposed new driveway
would go about here and looking toward the you know uh from from 247 toward uh 243 uh looking basically north. Um this is a vegetated area and there is this bump
out uh that is a full 2 ft uh away or you know toward the property line from the side of the building as well as the chimney that you can see also here in the in the uh uh photo. This really diminishes the amount of space that you
see represented by the green space and um makes it much more narrow at this part of the uh property with respect to installation of um a new driveway. Uh so again looking another view looking uh to the place where the new driveway would
be. Uh this bush line would be removed and the driveway would come somewhat to the other side of where the bushes are. There would still be some green space between the edge of the uh 247's existing drive and the edge of the new uh property line uh driveway that's
proposed. Again, another view showing this u these two bumpout conditions and how they minimize the space in the rear. This is showing the other uh side of the property line um where there's a a 3-ft wide walkway and the adjacent property
has installed a fence which is just on the inside of the property line. The property line uh in this case is just to the other side of the concrete uh walkway. So this um property line is somewhere in the u center of this um of this uh
vegetative strip here. Again, just another uh view showing the narrowness of the uh there's not a lot of space on this side of the property. So, the applicant uh was able to work with the contractor to put together a I
I guess this must be an a a AI kind of uh rendering of what the proposed driveway could look like. So although the applicant is not proposing asphalt, um this shows the subject property with a driveway installed that um uh with a
you know small retaining wall that is adjacent to and consistent with the corner of the uh of the building and here's the curb cut and so forth. So um she asked me to to demonstrate this uh this rendering um accordingly.
So just today actually mark uh markers for the the new survey that the applicant was asked to provide to us was provided uh uh for this meeting. They were out there I believe today actually staking out the location of the markers
that they're going to install along the property line. And I can demonstrate these in these next few photos. So, as you can see that we've seen this view before, but this stake uh represents the property line going, you know, kind of back toward uh the rear of the property.
And uh you'll see that it's on just on the other side of the vegetative strip. And there is a bit of vegetation. I believe it's uh 2 ft from the edge of the uh existing driveway to the property line. Uh and this shows the space uh on
the other side of the property between the concrete walkway and the property line. Uh this is a view of where the property line hits the fence uh at the rear of the property. And here
I think I'll try to make this a bit bigger. This is the new survey that was provided and um the location of the of the stakes or the monuments uh here in in uh in red. Uh I just showed you photos that
demonstrate some of these stakes. And I'll show you another another of the actual survey that we received. And this the date of this survey is uh January 21st. So, this is a very recent survey that was taken. Um, it was this was
asked uh for by the uh commissioners and you'll see that the property actually ends at the at the sidewalk basically. Um and um the corner marker is here. Uh the existing concrete driveway is shown
at 247 on the right and um it's showing the chimney and it's looking for the dimensions. The dimension from the corner of the building to the edge of the property line does not uh look to be shown here
but it was represented at the last meeting as being 10 ft. um our the existing concrete curbing. And the next photo, the next um photo, the mockup of the um of the survey will
probably be helpful for us to see as well. Okay, looks like that might be the last one, but I know there was another one. Okay, let me stop sharing on this. And then I'll reshare
again survey mark form. Here we go. Okay, ready to reshare. Okay. And this is my final figure. Um, do you see the survey on on um on screen? >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> Okay. So, I've I've gone ahead and and marked up the survey that we just saw um with some essential information uh for this proposal. So, we have the same survey we saw a minute ago. Um with the
dwelling marked out in pink and the existing concrete curbing that was painted white. Um you can see here in blue, there's one on each side of the main uh um porch. And the proposed driveway is um to go from you know from
the street and then end at the corner of the um of the house. So the proposal is not to continue the driveway all the way to the rear but to leave that vegetated and to end the uh driveway at the you know equal to the corner of the house.
And again I believe this dimension is 10 ft. Um I I don't see that it's indicated on this survey, but the last survey it was indicated as 10 ft and um
I'll go ahead and leave that on screen and follow up with some closing information. So at the last meeting we did discuss some other technical details that are important to this application regarding the Patterson zoning ordinance and any requirements uh from the
division of engineering and DPW when it comes to standards for creating new u sidewalks and and uh curb cuts and driveway aprons. Um, I was able to call the city engineer and the engineering
division to ask about the process for a uh applicants for building new driveways in Patterson. And indeed, they do have a standard for a sidewalk and curb cut. And they provided that that uh standard to me. It does not include
uh nor exclude the the idea of having a flare uh flared entrance which we saw in many of the other driveways uh that we looked at in context. That means where the um driveway meets the curb or what we call the curb cut where the driveway
apron would be. uh we saw a lot of uh flares at either end which makes it easier to enter uh your driveway when you're turning in or you're turning out of the driveway. Uh however, you may recall there were other conditions where the driveway was straight on as you see
in this figure on screen uh where there was no flare. There was a question about whether having a flare would encroach on the adjacent property line. um it doesn't seem to be the case because the property line ends uh before the street.
So the street must be in the right of way, the public right of way and the private property actually um goes from uh from beyond the street line or the curb line basically starts behind the curb line. You can see in this figure,
I'll blow it up a little bit. It's showing the adjacent concrete driveway has a flare. Uh so the condition of the new construction uh might interfere with that existing flare if it were to be flared. So it looks
like this driveway would be a straight cut uh to the curb and that would be compliant with what I um uh information I was provided by the uh engineering division. So there's not a a requirement for this flare to exist. the driveway
can just go uh straight uh straight onto the curb. Another question was was uh asked with respect to if there was any setback requirement in the zoning ordinance for uh the driveway. Can a driveway be built uh right on the
property line or does it need to be like uh set back from the property line by 12 in or two feet, three feet? Uh, every municipality is somewhat different based on, you know, lot sizes and and so forth, but the zoning officer has signed
a zoning permit for this application. And presumably that that issue was um already uh uh reviewed and I interviewed the zoning officer who told me that there's not a requirement to have the driveway set back from the property
line. And we did see various examples of of that condition along Durham Avenue in my in uh earlier in my presentation. Um in so far as uh our design guidelines for um the uh uh East Side Park Historic
District, there is a review requirement for uh landscaping and the setting. We call this the historic setting of a building. And the review tonight should be guided by uh the way that this driveway uh either inhibits, encroaches,
or creates an obtuse um intervention um into the uh existing historic setting um of Darham Avenue or of the building itself. Um there would be sort of a you know a right and a wrong way to uh
install a driveway um uh in in this context which means for example we had another option on the December meeting to have this driveway be wider and it came all the way to here uh right at the corner of the bay window and would go
you know all the way to the street. So we we could say in that case by evaluating it using uh context we would say the driveway is now encroaching into the front yard and the historic uh landscape setting of this building from
when it was first uh constructed. So that would be an example of how we would apply our guidelines to this. So we've seen I've taken a lot of time to show you the context for this application uh along Darham Avenue with respect to
what exists the various optical widths. Um if this in fact is 10 ft between the edge of the property line and the corner of the building, uh that would be an adequate distance to park a car and be able to open the door into the um the
yard side of the uh driveway. Um we we've seen along Darham Avenue that uh there are similar you know widths of driveways even uh driveways that are shared by two of uh adjacent properties
and there some are narrower some are are more uh wider but they're pretty much um a variety of of narrow to standard widths. Some some of them that have been redone in recent years look a bit wider uh than what we consider a standard width. So I understand that a standard
width of a of a of a car would be about 7 feet and um traditionally uh the space for a car to be parked in a garage and so that it could open its doors in the garage would be 9 to 10 ft. So you would
leave let's say a twocar garage would have like a 20 foot width in other words for two cars and space to open doors. So, those are some of the technical considerations that I wanted to follow up with you on. Uh, in terms of the homework, I did put this black line here
that you see on screen to indicate that a new retaining wall would be needed, a small retaining wall would be needed uh to uh hold back on the uh the raised u um lock condition or the the the yard condition that we have here. And I know
that the applicant is wanting to speak and say more about these materials. So, I've uh I've kind of left the materiality out of my presentation to give uh the applicant the opportunity to make her own presentation on uh what she conceives to be the materiality of the
proposal. Uh Madame Chair, that concludes my report. Thanks everyone for your patience. >> Thank you. Thank you, director, for that detailed report. I understand the applicant is here and would now like to make her own presentation. I believe
that's Mrs. Margaret Long. So, if we can get her to um go on video so she can be sworn in by our legal counsel, Ben David Seligman, >> say myself. All right, Miss
Miss Long. All right. You swear affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Yeah, but I I believe you, but I can't hear you. You're still muted. I do. >> Yeah, I I thought you did. That's fine.
Let's go ahead again. This is not exactly like a court, but it's a little bit like a court. >> All right. All right. Good evening, Mr. Our committee, members of the committee, and members of the public.
uh to give a very quick recap of uh the first part of my presentation last time. Uh we found in our family that the need for a driveway had changed since we
bought our home. We bought the home in 1985. At the time there was a synagogue at the end of the street that its population was dwindling and now the contrast is a
very active uh mosque and their community coming attending and looking for parking. Um in addition to that um members of households have many more
cars than they did back in even 1985. Uh people have work vehicles so that has doubled up the number of vehicles being parked on the street. We have a boarding
house and um uh also uh a Airbnb so we have more people coming staying parking. Um, I was aware we had three spots in
front of our house and for those 40 years they were sufficient. If if somehow someone else was parked there, we looked for another spot on the street. It was not a big deal. Um, I was
more aware recently my husband was in the hospital over one weekend. It happened to be the same weekend when Ramadan was being celebrated. And when I got out of the hospital on a Sunday
night, I was double parked on the street for an hour waiting for a place to park so I could go inside. Um, as was mentioned, 243 Durham is the only house
in the area on that street that does not have a driveway. We're not looking to create Lombard Street in San Francisco with a tourist attraction winding all
the way down to the bottom of a giant uh area. We're looking to install a simple driveway that will give us a spot to pull in when things are busy. Um, I did
measure uh to find out the width of our space and the widest area up from the front planter going over to the newly installed rebar in the widest spot is 10
ft. Uh going from the um chimney slashf fireplace which is back a little ways is 9 ft to the rebar going all the way to the back near the first gate that you
encounter going into the backyard is 8 8t 7 in. So, at its most narrow spot, it's 8'7. That of course is assuming we're
removing the holly bushes and other bushes that are in that space. Uh we have opted though not to plan on doing a driveway all the way to the yard fence
because of um cost and again with the um building butdding out a bit. It would make it kind of weaving. Um, also measuring from where the fence
starts, the the um slight lower fence that's more trim around the garden out to where our property begins near the sidewalk is 37 ft. So, if you think that
um Oh, I also did some research on an average car. How wide is it? A compact is roughly 5 and 1/2 to 6 feet. A midsize is 6 feet. I can kind of attest
to that. I have a little Chevy Trailblazer and it is exactly six feet wide and a fullsize car goes roughly 6 to 7 ft. This is according to extra
space storage. Now that seems to be a crazy place to find out the width of a car, but I was not aware of this. you can rent a storage unit and house your car for as long as you choose to pay
their bill. So, um, judging by that, if we're thinking that the space that we're planning to put a driveway would be 10 ft, they have a fullsize car roughly 6
to 7. Some more extraordinary cars might be wider, but then the people would be choosing not to park next to the house, but they would be parking in the open area uh leading from the beginning of
the property up to the corner of the house. So, it seems that no matter what size car you have, as long as you're not looking for a garage, we would be able to accommodate you on that driveway.
Um and since the uh last meeting I had ordered the rebars to be placed, they have put in place uh a wood marker complete with a nice pink ribbon I guess
for National Women's Month. And um next to that is a re rebar that is buried a little bit more. Also on the four corners of our property they have placed
a rebar with uh a pink ribbon. One of the um four corners is actually over a fence that we use in our backyard. Um on the far back part of the 247
property, one of our corner bars is placed there according to the deed of uh 40 50 40 years ago. and the current deed also in the front. Uh, as you saw, it's
a little bit to the side of the driveway. The bushes would be removed to do that driveway and the spacing would be fine. I had talked to uh the contractors that I was asking to do the
driveway back in October about um the apron and they have done uh by the way that contractor is Durantian son. He is especially well known in Bergen County
and he's a legend in Emwood Park where he resides. He's done many, many residential driveways and many commercial driveways. And he has never had a problem accommodating the uh apron
so that two driveways can live peacefully side by side. Um let me see. Uh, I am in need of spots
for my family to be able to um unload their family members. Uh, especially those dropping off my baby grandson whom I watch on a regular basis.
Right before um this uh right before the last blizzard, I noticed a group who were visiting 247 parked in front of our house for uh the
time that they were visiting. No problem because there are three spots. I was in one of them, they were in the second. Um, when they finished uh visiting there though, they walked across the street to
another neighbor and their car stayed in front of our house. What I found ironic there is the two homes where they were visiting each had one and in one case two driveways.
We had none. All we're asking is to have a space to put a driveway so we're never locked out of having a place to pull in like everyone else. Because you all know
babies do not travel lightly these days. By the time they bring the baby and everything it needs to just be in my house for a day, they're making two or three trips in and out of the house.
The storm, by the way, was also quite a challenge. I know it was a challenge for everybody. It was a challenge for me as well. I've hired a neighborhood lad to shovel me out. I have three sons. None
of them live there anymore. So, my automatic shovelers are gone. But, um, since we're told we can't use furniture, even recliners, I'm told, to save a
spot, spots are precious. And in the last storm, I actually went out to uh the neighbor's contractor and asked him when he shovels when he plows the
driveway that is closest to me, please do not park it in the one little spot that we've shoveled out for drop off. So, uh, the neighbor's house had
mountains of snow left from the first, uh, storm, and now the second storm was ending up in front of me. Um, the gentleman was somewhat grudging, but he
was cooperative. he moved what he had already put there and he continued to place it in front of their house. Um, previously I mentioned that I'm the only
member of my family still living at Durham. Over the course of the years we had uh nine people. We had my husband, myself, our four children, my mother, father, and hundredyear-old grandmother
who managed to hotfoot it up those stairs every night with no assistance. I'm very jealous at this day. I'm not a hundred yet, and she certainly would have been able to beat me. But as I'm
the only uh person in the home, um I want to be able to offer a new family the opportunity to enjoy 40 plus years in it. Uh with seven bedrooms, two full
baths, two half baths, it's not a home for one person. When I initially put our Daramav home for sale in October, I found that once people realized that
there was no dedicated parking, they were not interested. Although we had parked three or four cars all the time, this was no longer the case for today's home buyer. So in
that time frame, we also discovered that we had an abandoned oil tank in our right lawn. So we decided when we removed the oil tank, would take that time to take the house off the market
and install the driveway. We started the process by getting a a permit in in Patterson and hiring contractors to do the job. I had already found a new place
to live after this home would be sold. I was not buying. I was going to rent and I was renting four minutes away from my son and his wife. They have three little
boys uh under the age of eight. I get many calls to help out with them. I may as well be a little closer. So, I've been slowly moving items to that apartment while still living at Durham.
The problem is now I am paying for two homes on a retirement income. Oh, I don't think I mentioned that on one of the nights uh when I came home that my husband was in the hospital. It
was only 2 days later that he was discharged and it was 4 days later that he died. So this delay of having a home ready to be sold in October
almost three months later has been very much of a hardship for me. Uh the time between meetings at no one's fault has been a time where I've not put my home on the market because I have to
know where we stand with the driveway. Prices have softened in the real estate market. World conditions have changed with talk of tariffs and now war. the housing market is much more nervous and
tentative than when I was due to sell. And and I know someone mentioned last time that a driveway on my property would adversely affect their property, but
anyone who knows real estate knows that that is not the case. A driveway on my property would increase the value of my home. And when my home was sold, that would increase the comp
value of my neighbors homes. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. If my home has trouble being sold because there's not parking available for the buyers, the lower comp for my
home when it's finally sold will permanently be recorded as its sale price and will permanently determine the comp value to be averaged of the other
homes in the direct neighborhood. good going forward. That is a real estate fact. Again, recapping, we have decided to not extend the driveway all the way to the
backyard because the area narrows too much with the chimney butting out. Secondly, the cost of concrete is more than the original cost of asphalt. It would be too expensive for me to try to
go all the way back. It is sufficient to have the driveway go from the street to the corner of the house or just a few more feet as many other driveways on the street do.
Depending on the size of the buyer's vehicles, that should be able to fit two to three cars. In meeting with my contractor to prepare for this meet meeting which was going to
be back a few months, I learned the following prices. Belgium block um set in concrete alongside the property line where we're looking at
would be seven. Oh, I'm sorry. Belgian block would be an additional 1700 and if it is um that's being used as the side reinforcement
with asphalt the total would be 20,200. With concrete, we're up to 25,300. And with some of those beautiful pavers that I love, it would be 28,300.
And that's going from the street to the corner of the house. So we have 20,200 25,300 28,300. And then he also gave me the quote, "If we were going from the driveway all the
way to the back fence with asphalt, since it's a longer area and you would need more Belgium block, the total would be 253 with concrete longer area. Belgium block
342 and with pavers longer area Belgium block 391. The zoning officer had defined that we would start at the property line. We
will remove the bushes that are current there helping to separate the properties. We'd provide a small uh curbing of Belgian block. Historically, these blocks are about 8
in wide and 4 in high. And they're installed in that area, so no water goes on the neighbor's side as is the policy everywhere. We do all the building on
our side on our property. We will also be installing a retaining wall. The footing for that is normally 8 to 12 in deep. It can be made of traditional block, limestone, a
capstone, or common stone. They're all traditionally used in these types of driveway. Cambridge pavers could even be used. The prices that I have received are
higher for concrete than asphalt. However, I do concur that the concrete is a more pleasing look. I will agree that if you approve the concrete, I will use that rather than the asphalt if I
install the driveway. I have likewise determined that I'll be using the dimensions reinforced by our our recent survey to make the plans and we'll go from the
street to the corner of the house. Obviously, this permission extends to me or anybody in my family who might be handling the sale of our home. Would also extend to any future owner of 243
Darham. If we have a buyer between now and when they start, we want anyone who is living at 243 Darham to be able to enjoy their new
home fully. So, may I recommend approving this project? The drive this driveway is reasonable. This driveway has historic roots.
This driveway would be professionally installed. Lucky for us, I'm not getting my brother-in-law or one of my sons. This driveway would be an aesthetic addition to my home.
This driveway would not negatively affect any neighbors property values. This driveway is a fair addition to 243 Durham Avenue.
Thank you for your time. Mrs. Long, uh we appreciate your presentation and all the research that you've done since we saw you back in December. So, since you've concluded your presentation, I'm going to now ask the commissioners if they have any
questions for you. Commissioners, does anyone have a question for Mrs. Long? Commissioners, I hope you can hear me. Does anyone have any questions? >> I I I have a question. This is Commissioner Moses. >> Thank you.
>> Hello, Commissioner. >> Hi. Hi. I love your presentation and I was deeply moved about about the history and your and and your family being in the space and uh you wanting it to preserve it for someone else in the
future. I I was um listening to what you said about the materials and I wanted to know what were your plans to put in between or differentiate your parking um space versus the next
door neighbors parking space being that you guys are so close. >> Well, right now there is an existing grass plot right in that space. So, it's already defined. Their driveway does not go up to the end
of their property. They have always had uh grass to the left as you approach their house. So, the two will not blend together. I believe that's the same thing that
they have on the other side with the other house except in that case the lots are bigger and there would be more space. >> Rich Walter. >> Yeah, I have a a question. Uh the
Belgian block uh is not very traditional. Uh a concrete curb would I think would be more traditional. Would that be more expenses or cheaper or I mean why Belgium block?
>> Belgium block is um a very traditional driveway material. That's why the contractor named that for me. But not not in the east side. Maybe in general it is, but in the east side I see most of
>> I think I've seen it as I'm walking into the park. I think I've seen it as a border for some of the homes right there on Durham. >> Okay. I disagree, but okay. >> Any other questions from any
commissioners? Again, thank you, Mrs. Long. I That'll conclude your presentation. And now I understand we have another presentation from a Mrs. Barbara OD. So, if you please
>> if you please put your camera on, Mrs. ODay, and be sworn in by our legal counsel. Are you there? >> I'm working on it. >> Hey. >> I'm trying to turn the camera on.
>> No, take your best shot. I mean, it does uh help people understand what you're saying. >> Yeah, for some reason it doesn't want to come on. It was on before. Um, >> uh, Barbara, you're clicking on in the lower leftand corner of your screen.
>> Yes, >> it says start video. >> That would be good. >> And they still have the red arrow. You'd be looking at a like a cartoon, a video camera. You would either click on
that itself or on the little little up upside down V next to it. >> Yeah, I did. But it's not uh >> Oh, start my video. Let's see if that works. >> I'll leave it to the discretion of the board. It's useful for the witness to be
seen. If it's absolutely impossible, I don't think it's a bar of testimony, but it's worth taking a shot. I think we should proceed if she can't do the video and just use the audio. >> All right, then. Miss OD, may I ask you whether you swear affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, or nothing but the truth?
>> I do. >> Then let's proceed anonymously. >> Yes. >> Okay. U Miss Miss OD, I'm I'm here ready to put photos on screen when you tell me to. Um and then I can go through them in any order that you like. So, just let me
know. >> Okay. I don't know why it's not coming up. It was coming up before. Um, >> if you try clicking on like different parts of the little picture, sometimes we don't get the arrow to be right on the right part. So, try clicking around
the, you know, around that area. >> That's what I've been doing. >> Also, right clicking on where your name is, right clicking on your name might do something. Do you see your own name?
>> Yes. Um, >> Barbara, see if I can find you here. Barbara, >> I don't know if anybody has any ideas why it's not doing it. It was doing it a minute ago.
>> Not an essential, just useful. >> Well, at least you can hear me. And I did make Now it says start my video. Let's try it. >> I haven't fixed my hair for this. >> The reckon your hair looks marvelous, but
>> Oh, thank you. I'm sorry. I I'm trying. >> I believe the the board is more eager for your It's good to be able to see the person, but I think this point the board would be more eager to They can speak for themselves, but I have a hunch that at this point they just want to hear you. They could speak for themselves.
>> I do, too. I was hoping to do this. Um, I'm awfully sorry. Um, I hope not to take as long as the first presentation. The first thing I have here, and I've
written this up earlier than the meeting, so you might have to bear with me. Um, just a tiny bit of history, not an hour's worth. Um, this was written up in the East Side neighborhood um
paper years ago and was written from a friend of ours who went down and got all the information from uh downtown. Um, the Barnes House, which is 247 Dearham Avenue, was built in 1911 by Phoebe
Barnes and her brother Larry Barnes, owners of the Barnes Chemical Works, one of the largest chemical companies in the city of Patterson. Also, the house at 243
Darham Avenue that you've been talking about was built by John Laffy, who was a member of the Barnes family and president of the Barnes Chemical Works. Both houses were built at the same time on a subdivision of the property.
Our house is a three-story threebear three bay rectangular plan brickbearing residential building characteristic of the earliest development of the prairie
farm. This ci symmetrical house features a low pitched roof with a widely overhead hanging eaves. A square porch supports emphasis on well now I can't talk
horizonality at floor levels and a conspicuous central interest. Our house is a textbook example of the early prairie farm. It is one of the architectural interests to the neighborhood and the
one of the most important elements of the eligible historic part historic district adding considerable variety and architectural interest to the neighborhood. The house was bought by
Richard and Ivonne OD in 1937. Richard ODay was a pioneer of the radio industry and found founded WODA, the first radio station in the Patterson
area. He and Arthur Bulliva, owner of the Bulliva Watch Company, then bought WNEW in the 1940s. He also owned WOV in the 40s and 50s.
and was the chairman of the board of the finance of the city of Patterson and served on the board of directors for the morning call in the first national bank. After the death of Richard and Ivano
Day, the house was left to their son Dick or Richard who still resides there with his wife Barbara. That's me. Uh we call him Dick but or Richard. Uh Dick Oay's career as an outboard motor
racer is legendary. He started racing outboard motors in 1948 at Greenwood Lake and was US national champion four times. He took second place in the world 500cc
champions in Stockholm, Sweden in 1964 and was the builder of the world's fastest outboard with a record speed of 157 over the water.
And that was in 1984. Bringing the record back to the United States after was held in England for 13 previous years. He was a twotime member of the Golf Marine Hall of Fame, a four-time member
of yaching magazines all American racing team and in 1977 was indul inducted to the American Powerboat Association honor squadron which is the highest award anyone can
receive in the United States for powerboat racing. During his racing career, he won over 400 trophies. In 1959, he started Dicko Day Racing, which was located on East 29th Street in
Patterson. The shop built racing engines for customers worldwide. And by the time the business was sold in 1987, it was the second largest Mercury outboard high-performance dealer in the world.
The house was destroyed by fire in 1991 and it was restored in every detail to the original state by Barbara and Deco Day. At that point, we could have walked away from this and just left it because we
had they we made enough money on the insurance to do this, but we chose to stay and restore the house to the original condition. along with many improvements.
Excuse me. As you know, Richard OD lived at 247 Durham Avenue for about 90 years and I for 54. Even after the major house fire in 1991,
we restored the house to the point we hired a professional decorator to help with the restoration down to the fact that we even used historical wallpapers in some of the rooms. With our effort to restore the house, we
received the certificate of recommendation of our outstanding contribution to preservation and restoration from the Victorian Society in America, Northern New Jersey chapter,
and the Heritage Citizenship Award from the Historic Preservation Commission, November of 1995. According to the survey from the New New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Office of New Jersey, our house was very important to the study of the historical interest to help in making this an historical area. Oh, there's our link. Um, as I quote, it is a textbook example
of the early early prairie form and one of the most important elements of the eligible East Side Park historic district, adding considerable variety and architectural interest to
the neighborhood. It is a four square design showing that there is a room with windows on one side, a door in the middle, and another room with windows on the other side.
Also the same on the second floor. Just imagine what it would look like when a car or several are now blocking half the house next door, ruining the look of a home in the historical area.
How could you let that happen? As historical commissioners, you are supposed to protect the historical area. As you can see on this picture, I've got I don't know if there's a bigger I think there was a bigger
picture, but if I pull my car up into the driveway and open my door. Thank you. I can barely get out of my car because of the rose bushes and all the thorns that they planted next to us on the property line. So, this gives you an
idea how much space there actually is, which is very little. Now, if another car is parked in their driveway that they propose, there's the thorns that we had to get out of all the time. The
two doors open up. We couldn't get out of our car and they couldn't get out of theirs because there really, it looks it sounds on paper that there's a lot of room, but there really isn't. Cars are bigger nowadays, some of them, than they
used to be. What is happening in our neighborhood is a little by little, there have been changes here and there that are changing our street from a special historical street to just another street in
Patterson. You must remember that you have the power to stop the bad changes in the historic area. This is special to be in historic area. There's rules and regulations.
It's not like other streets in town. And another note in an official letter to us it doesn't it does state been accordance with the J NJSA
13 colon 1B 15131 listing of an area site or structure of an object in the New Jersey register
of Historic Places prevents the state, country, municipality or any of their other agencies or instrumentalists from undertaking any project that will encroach upon, damage or destroy a
property listed without approval of the Commissioner of Department of Environmental Protection. It has come to our attention that our neighbor at 243 Darham Avenue wants to drop a new driveway right next to ours
in front of their house because they feel it will help in the sale of their house. She's already rented a condo and will probably move as soon as the house sells and leave us with an ugly driveway,
cutting off much of their front yard where the rose bush garden was planted. It will change the balanced look of the front of the house. It will also change the way the water flows down to the street and onto our
property. This driveway will make our property look awful and devalue our house. If you go to Google when they had their house listed for sale and look at the interior
of the house, it looks like the house has not been updated in many years. All this adds to the reasons why the house is not selling at the price that she would like. About five other owners of this house
have lived there for years without needing a driveway. They all knew when they bought the house at a much cheaper price that it did not have a driveway and we were fine and they were fine with it. We have always told them if they
need to park in our driveway for a short time, it's fine. just let us know in case we have to come in or out, which there was no reason for she to sit double parked in the street for an hour.
She knew she could have pulled on our driveway. We've never been stingy with the property that as far as the drive as far as the rooms to put in our driveway. There might be enough inches, but with the pictures
that I have taken with my car in the driveway and the door open comes right into the bushes that her husband planted on the property line. Why somebody would plant bushes with stickers that much really
just is unbelievable, but we've dealt with it. If someone on her property tries to open the door next to ours, people could not get out of their car. That alone makes it difficult
to get out of our car without being stuck with thorns. I have furnished a picture of the roses along with the thorns that they produce. We would appreciate if you do not allow the driveway to be placed next to ours,
even if it is in her yard, since it will look bad from the street and change the balance of the look of the house, especially since she's moving away and will not have to live with it.
If you do allow the driveway, we will be putting a new fence along our driveway to get rid of the look of her yard. And if it devalues our property, we will be looking into legal action. We would like to suggest that any money that Mrs. Long
spends to put in the new driveway and retaining wall would be to put improvements into her house so she could get the amount of money she is asking. Thank you very much. I appreciate you
attending this long meeting. >> Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mrs. OD. Um, first I want to apologize um for myself if everyone is not hearing me that well because of my audio issues, but um I'm trying to do
what I can. But Mrs. So day um we at the HPC appreciate your presentation and I know we all appreciate the history that you've given us of the house as well as the stewardship you and your husband have provided on this lovely home all
these years. So again thank you for your presentation. Now commissioners do we does anyone have any questions for Mrs. Oday? Anyone have any questions? >> Yeah. Hello. Hi, this is >> Commissioner Moses. I have a question.
Um, so when the lady move out and she moves away and a new person comes into her space, will you also extend that hand to that new person that want to purchase this uh her house in terms of
parking? If they're nice neighbors and we all get along and for a short period of time to unload groceries or take a baby inside or stuff. Sure. >> That that sounds a little temporary to
me. If it What happens if they have visitors and they want to stay overnight or or for a week? >> No, not for a week. Not even overnight. We go in and out of our driveway quite often. And by the
way, uh, Mrs. Long said that our we had people parked in front of our house during the snowstorm. We had no visitors in our house to our house during the snowstorm. >> Does anyone any other commissioners have
any questions? Oh, I'm sorry, Commissioner Moses. Yeah, just one more. Um, so in terms of devaluation of your house, um, have you do is there any any documentation that would support
this theory? >> Well, I wouldn't want to be parked to a house that's stuck a driveway just planted one next to mine like that. And it it ruins the whole look of of the house next to ours.
Ma, Madame Chair, this is Commissioner Redmond. Um, I think the questioning that that's going on is a little out of our preview and I would rather just stick to what's in within our preview as far as we don't know what the property value are and
that's not part of the historical preservation's preview. >> Noted. I I think there's not many more questions at this point. Um, Commissioners, any other questions?
>> Can you hear me? >> Commissioner Tate, go ahead. >> Yeah, I just uh uh just piggybacking off what Commissioner Redmond said about the um our purview and and the uh the guidelines.
Uh were there any uh like studies of how this would impact the the flow of the existing neighborhood? You know, like I I understand like you know the executive director did a very uh thorough examination of of the properties from
aerial view also the street view. We heard both applicants and you know we heard very anecdotal stories. My question is from a from a a purely empirical level, is there an understanding of how this would impact a
street? Because I do uh realize that in Patterson there there are situations where the um the parking is becoming an issue across the board, but then there's situations where there's successful driveways. So, it's really a matter of
of I want to say science, but you know, is has there been any any study or or anything further to kind of uh justify yay or nay for this this situation? >> Commissioner Tate, I think this would be more suited for our discussion time. Um,
I'm going to take a guess that um Mrs. ODay does not have that information and right now we're only in questions. So let's let's proceed with any questions
pertinent to the applicant or Mrs. OD at this time and if not then move forward. >> Uh chairperson may I say one thing? It's Peggy Long.
>> Yes, Mrs. Long. Um, first of all, I'd just like to note that at the time that the bushes were planted, it was because >> Mrs. Long, I'm sorry. I'm going to cut you off. The the bushes and stories such
as that are really not pertinent to what we have to decide at this time. I appreciate it. I appreciate the importance to both to both of you up being neighbors, but that's not something that we need to discuss at this time. So, I'm going to I'm going to
assume then that we have no more questions. So, thank you both for your presentations. Now, director, do we have anybody on the line, members of the public, who would like to speak at this time?
Uh, Madame Chair, I I put on screen our legal advertisement to um announce to the public who's watching if there are uh people who would like to make comments about this application, this is the time to do so by a call-in uh line.
You'll note that on the screen uh the call-in number is it's on screen. Let me get it on screen for for everyone. The call-in number is 973 3211579
and uh you'll be asked to input a code and the code is 8326 as you can see again on screen. So uh if anyone would like to make a comment you can call in push push in the code and
the um system will cue you up for um uh being able to make your comments. uh we're asking comments to be limited to uh 3 minutes or less and our IT department is going to assist us with uh telling us um you know when callers are
calling in and uh uh they'll patch them into this feed. So again, we're going to wait a few minutes for callers to call in at 973211579. U the input code is 8326. Uh so it will let us know when there's
someone who wishes to speak and I think they might be able to tell us also how many people are cued madam chair. So I'll be um communicating with them uh while you know while this process is going on. So at this point we'll wait for callers.
We'll wait a few minutes for callers. 25 people watch this. >> 25 people watch this. >> Mrs. OD, can you go on mute, please? Madam Chair, I'm noting the time. It's 8:16 p.m. We can wait another 2 minutes.
3 minutes. >> Yes, we can wait another two minutes. Okay, we have one caller >> caller ready. >> Yes. Okay, so we have a caller. Um, put them through, please. Good evening.
>> Is the caller there? >> Yes, I'm here. >> Good evening. Would you please state your name and address so you can be sworn in by our legal? >> Sure. My name is Karen Lazarus and I
reside at 230 Durham Avenue. >> Thank you. >> All right. It's uh >> You're welcome. >> Yes. I I guess to be it couldn't hurt to swear in. I guess it's a coin toss whether to be reason whether to reasonably swear people making public comment but it doesn't take much effort
to do that. Some is Lazareth to swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth or nothing but the truth. >> I sure do. >> That's a good choice. >> Thank you. I liked it. >> Thank you. Please proceed. You have you
have three minutes. >> Good evening everybody. My name is Karen Lazarus and I live across the street diagonally from the houses we're speaking of. I was also um part of the committee to make us a historic district.
I lived on Darham Avenue for 20 years. There has never one time been a parking situation where anyone had to wait an hour for a parking spot. During the blizzard, there was parking up and down bar.
So that is not an issue. This came up once the house um homeowner decided to sell their house and was feels that the house needs a driveway to sell. It ruins the look of Darham
Avenue. We do everything we can to keep the co park beautiful, to keep Darham Avenue beautiful, to keep Park Avenue beautiful. Willy-nilly throwing a driveway in front of a house where there is not room for one
just changes the look of the avenue. It's the premier street in Patterson. It's time to start keeping that in mind and keeping the look as it is. Once we have one driveway thrown in
front of a house, you're going to see a bunch of houses do it, but they may not go for permission. they will just pop up on the weekend or overnight. So this in in my opinion sets a very danger dangerous precedence. That's all.
>> Do we have another caller? Seeing no other callers, I guess we can move. >> I make a motion to close public comment. >> Well, we didn't open it. So, >> there's no there's no need for that
though. We uh having comments for the application on its own. So, the regular public portion. This is just the This is the public This is the public comment. I'm sorry. >> I just wanted to make sure that I'm clarified. This is the public comment dealing with this uh particular um
>> item. Okay. That's Thank you. >> That's okay, Commissioner. Thank you. So, Director Arimedia, uh is there a resolution prepare this application? >> Yes, we have a we have a resolution. >> Would you please read the statement of
purpose? >> Yes. Resolution 25-16 is the conditional approval of a design review application for the property located at 243 Darham Avenue, block 8511, lot 6 within the East Side Park
Historic District. >> Thank you. Do I have a motion on this resolution? >> Remember, you're on mute. Commissioners, >> Commissioner, >> I'm just sorry. I Okay, I can barely hear you. You came. Can you repeat the last thing you said, Madam Chair?
>> Yes. Do I have a motion to move this resolution? >> I make a motion to move the resolution. >> Discussion. >> Moved by Commissioner >> by Commissioner Tate. Second by Commissioner Tate. Thank you.
Commissioners, we're now in discussion. Who would like to make the first comment? >> Well, usually it's me, so I'm going to start. >> Okay, Commissioner Walter. >> Uh, I was under the impression that this
was going to be a driveway going from the street back to the far back corner of the house. Uh, I think if we're going to have a driveway, it should look like a driveway and that would make it look
like a driveway. So, I I'm very upset that then only going to the front corner of the house and not the back corner of the house. >> Okay. Does anyone want to weigh in on that? Commissioners, >> uh, this is Commissioner Redmond. I
definitely agree with you with Commissioner Walter. Um it it sets the precedence of what we're seeing now and and and it doesn't look the aesthetics that we're looking for. If we were deciding to do this, I think this is not a great look for this particular
property. >> I'll I'll I'll jump in there too real quick. I have to agree with the other two commissioners here. From what I've seen so far from the east side neighborhood, uh it seems as though not only the driveways go to the back of the house, but they always seem to go to a
location where the car is put away. Some form of garage, the back of the house, something to hide the car, and that seems to be the prevailing aesthetic of the neighborhood, especially for that time period. >> Thank you, Commissioner Philip Py.
Anyone else? We have to consider a lot of things here. One of which was the length of the driveway. But in in the reports that we've seen and when we have asked in the past for
this applicant to give us information, it seems like she has complied with what we've asked for back in December. And having a driveway in this area does not change
ape of what we've seen throughout the other parts of the district. Um, we saw that in the reports that our director has given us that most of the homes here do have driveways.
It's it's my thought that this is really not taking away from the streetscape all that much. Although I do agree that the length of the driveway could be an issue that most of the driveways are longer.
But that's that's my thoughts on it. >> Uh this is Rich again. I just wonder are we uh proposing to approve a driveway or a parking space in the front of the house? Front lawn of the house. I thought we were propo they were
proposing a driveway. >> Okay. This is uh this is the director. Uh I think that there's if if uh the board wants to discuss the various parts of the application in in so far as materiality for example the concrete
versus asphalt the Belgium block uh u on the property line versus a a cast concrete curb. um those aspects. Um it would be it would be a a good start toward uh a
modified um resolution. Meaning um if the applicant is proposing to go to the corner of the house, I think you can uh ultimately if you all wish to approve the driveway to the to the rear fence, provide that option. Uh well, not an
option but make that a mandate basically. Uh so it would be like saying um you could vote on the application as it is to the corner of the house and uh not vote to approve it um and then move
an and move another motion to approve uh conditionally approve the driveway idea that would go to the rear fence. So then there would be uh you know the opportunity for the applicant to build a full-size driveway or nothing. So, that would be one way of handling it, uh your
your comments. So, um if the applicant chooses not to fund a full length driveway to the back of the uh going to the back corner of the house, then uh it's a no-go. Then the the conditions that you put onto the resolution can't
be supported. Uh and and uh she wouldn't be able to build it. So it has to comply whatever she builds has to comply with your um conditions as as is usual. >> Uh so if you discuss if you discuss the materiality of the uh application and
see if you are if you do have a consensus that that this is the right direction to go. Um that would be one way of arriving at at that alternate. Sounds like Ben David wants to uh say something >> here. John Fle, may I mention I guess something that in theory could be a
legal issue that I'm hoping you'll be able to tell me why it wouldn't be. I do know that it all through the city there are various limits on how much impervious surface you can have. Do you have any idea whether building a longer driveway would drive it over the imper impervious surface maximum?
>> That's a good question. And the way that works uh is the zoning officer would be in charge of re-evaluating the zoning permit that was issued to uh see if the amount of increased impervious surface would then foreclose on um you know on
the issuance of the zoning permit. So what that means in simpler terms is if if the zoning officer has provided a permit for the shorter version already, uh I think we can fairly assume he's made that calculation. That's part of
his due diligence. Um if we provide a conditional resolution uh to build a longer driveway, the zoning officer would need to re-evaluate and see if it still would meet the zoning code to do so because we can't answer that tonight. And I just
>> it would be it would be conditioned upon it would be conditioned upon the zoning officer's reassessment I believe. >> And John Fle you'd probably alter just based on experience. This is not this is more a practical thing. Is there such a thing as a driveway with that's mainly PE but has uh
look this is a double negative non-imperous portions meaning small you know small portions of grass going across at certain points just to try to reduce the total impervious area. I don't know whether that exists or not. >> I mean, historically there there were
driveways that were two tracks, meaning like uh literally a a poured concrete where the tires of a car would go. That's very um uh inappropriate for this street because it's it's just not even a condition that exists on this street. >> All right.
>> Uh but we've seen that in other uh other districts, but not in this district. In any case, um there's there's such there is a a material that um for example, an asphalt material that would let some water go through to reduce the uh
imperous uh capacity or percentage of that total surface, but I don't think that the zoning officer is looking into that kind of material uh or would or would it really apply here um based on the uh materiality that we're headed
for. So, that's that's thoughtful. However, for different reasons, it wouldn't probably meet the the preservation guidelines. Um, and the way he does his calculation, I'm I'm assuming um uh wouldn't wouldn't
take that into account. A different uh kind of material. >> Understood. Oh, commissioners, I guess I need everyone to weigh in on first of all their thoughts on
whether a driveway. Let's not talk about the length now, whether a driveway is appropriate or not. And what >> Madam Shar We We Madam Chair, we barely can hear you. >> I'm sorry.
>> Yes. Can you Is this better? >> Yes. >> Can you repeat what you said? >> Yes. What I what I was attempting to say and hoping you could hear is that I think we need to weigh in on whether we
at first feel a driveway would even be appropriate regardless of the length. And if so, let's talk about the material. At the December meeting, I know we requested
more information about the material and concrete was one of the things that we said if we were going to approve a driveway at all, it would most likely have to be concrete. So, I need to hear everyone's opinion. I already understand
that three commissioners have weighed in that they don't like the shortness of the driveway being proposed. So, can we start the discussion from there? >> Okay, Joyce, can I elaborate on what my
opinion is? My opinion is that it has to go to the back corner of the house. It's got to be concrete. It's got to have some kind of curbing on the right side. I don't care if it's Belgium block or if it's a concrete curb, but I would prefer
a concrete curb, but either one is fine. Uh, we got to discuss more about the wall on the lefth hand side, what that material is going to be. >> Thank you, Commissioner Walter. Can somebody else please weigh in on what
Commissioner Walter has said? >> I agree with Commissioner Walter. We have to extend the um the driveway if we're really going to consider uh approving this. And the material I believe that the material appropriate material should be the concrete and I
would like to see what the other material will be for the uh wall. >> Thank you, Commissioner Redmond. >> And actually to uh piggyback off the other commissioners there, I would also just kind of throw out there that uh I agree with everything they've said so
far, but personally I'm not even convinced that the driveway makes any sense at all. So I'll just kind of throw that out there. I'm just not personally convinced from the photos that I've seen and from the testimonies from the people in the neighborhood that this driveway would not be um impeding on the
neighbor's property and and that that it could even fit. So, I'm I'm not convinced of that, but if we were to move forward, I think it needs to at least line up with what uh Walter and Redmond just said. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Someone else weigh in, please.
Commissioner Tate, >> I think everyone covered the spectrum of my perspective on this. So, I'm going to move I'm going to pass. >> Commissioner Moses. Um
um the driveway going to the back makes makes sense, but I'm not sure of the of the look on how it's going to end up because there's a bunch of points where
the driveway is narrow and that eight I I guess it was 8 feet. I'm not sure the dimension. I don't know how that's going to look. Uh but I I agree with the with the uh with the
necessity for the driveway because the neighborhood is growing. Everything is growing and and parking is becoming an essential space for the neighborhood. Um, so if we're going to do parking, if we're
going to provide this driveway, we should at least like uh like I would agree with the other commissioners, make it a long driveway cuz the parking in the back behind the building, but all of this is contingent
on the uh zoning and you know the you know uh building surfaces. So, um I guess we'll I guess we would have to figure that portion out. Once we find out that information from zoning, then we could
proceed from there. >> Thank you, Commissioner Moses. I think there may be a small portion that has to be checked out, but I think based on director's report
that the long driveway would still be okay and would be within within zoning and would already be approved. Commissioner Garcia Leon, what are your thoughts?
Well, just like Commissioner uh Richard uh and Kima, I do agree that it should go all the way to the back because making it short, it will look just like a piece of uh like concrete just thrown
there. I also agreed that the area does need the driveway because I had driven by uh especially on a Friday and then uh people even go inside the park to park so there is no space there. Uh so I
think it's needed but uh I do agree to make it all the way to the back along driveway and to be used uh in also concrete. Thank you, Commissioner Garcia Leon. So, I've already stated that I believe that
there is a need for this driveway. I don't think it deters from the streetscape of the area. I was initially inclined to allow the shortened version of driveway,
but I can see I'm alone at that time. So I think >> voice your your voice is disappearing again. >> I said I think I'm alone in that thought. So I agree with everyone else about the material needing to be concrete
but I do think a driveway is necessary and I don't think it would deter from the streetscape or the value of the homes in the east side park district. So I think we if we approve this we need to
have certain conditions that have to be met once we do this. Um concrete would have to be one of the conditions and we talked about um the standards of the department of the
public works that that all has to apply. The driveway need to be designed, pitched, and constructed so that there's no storm water running off into the adjacent property and nothing is being
um encroached on the adjacent property. So, can we agree on those conditions and >> chair? >> Yes. I've been taking notes on the con conditions. I can read them off again. >> Thank you. Please do.
>> Okay. So, based on the discussion, it sounds like um many of the commissioners are willing to agree with the uh with the applicant's proposal to install a new driveway where there isn't one uh uh previously. Uh it would be in
the space uh along the property line and between the um uh the south uh side of the house. And it would go from the uh it would go from the uh uh curb cut and the and driveway
apron. Uh the the standards of the city of Patterson would need to be followed for the new uh sidewalk replacement. And then going from the property to the rear corner of the house uh would be a concrete driveway
and um the proposal as it is would be rejected for the driveway to stop at the front corner of the house. Uh instead it would need to go to the rear uh fence or the rear corner of the house in the way that I just described. the
the edge of the pro of the driveway uh along the property line with the adjacent owner of 247 would need to be defined by either a Belgium block or concrete curb uh in order to manage water um from moving over to the
adjacent property which is again um not only traditional but I believe part of the zoning officer's review. Uh then there is the matter of the small retaining wall uh on the on the inside of the driveway toward the yard. And um
the materiality of that could be um either left up to uh me to help the applicant uh decide by looking at samples or you can decide specifically what you would like. The proposal was for a traditional uh concrete uh either
either a traditional concrete block uh with a parch coating and uh ca cast stone or limestone uh coping on top of it. Uh that's one option. And another option would be to use a specific brand um a kind of a high quality brand of uh
low retaining walls and landscaping that are used today uh that's made by Cambridge Pavers. There's a variety of colors that could be chosen, gray or browns or or reds for example. Uh so those are the two choices that I might
recommend that you consider um for this for this approval. Uh finally, the other condition would be that the zoning officer would need to reaffirm uh the review of the imperous surface or
total lot coverage uh with respect to having a longer driveway. We have to check in with uh the zoning officer to make sure that it's still compliant with um their requirements uh and also for you know for runoff and so forth. We know we have the engine, we
have engineering specifications for the street side and the sidewalk and those would be the conditions that would go along with this uh conditional uh approval. >> So then the only thing that would be in question with with all those
conditions would be the materiality of the retaining wall. Can we agree to leave it up to the executive director to choose that as one of our conditions? Commissioners, >> uh, this is Rich. Uh, I think, uh, I the
retaining wall itself could be either one of those, but I do like the idea of the cap being the limestone cap that uh, was proposed on the block wall. But even if they use the other material for the wall, I like the idea of the limestone
cap. >> Okay, thank you. >> Understood. >> So then we can make that one of the conditions if no one else has any thoughts. >> Fine. So then can we have a roll call on the approval with these conditions of
this resolution? >> Yes, madam chair. Ready for roll call? Commissioners uh with the conditions as uh stated >> with the conditions. Yes. >> Direct stated just stated. Yes. One
condition that Commissioner Walter just added. >> Okay. Understood. So the additional condition would be to use limestone coping over whatever the block for the retaining wall is on the inside. Understood. And as far as Belgian block or concrete, it would be up to the
applicant. >> It would be up to you if you went work with the applicant. >> Okay, understood. So the uh out the the retaining wall on the inside of the driveway on the property side um would be uh either a standard concrete block
with pging or a Cambridge PA type uh product. Uh uh but either one would be capped with a limestone uh coping. Um and on the property side on the property line side it would be either Belgian block set in concrete bed or a standard
concrete curb. Uh and the materiality of the driveway of course is poured concrete. Okay. Commissioners roll call. Commissioner Garcia Leon. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Redmond. >> Yes.
Commissioner Tate >> abstain. >> Commissioner Walter. >> Although as a resident, I would be against this. As a commissioner, I see
no reason not to vote yes on this. >> Chair Corbo. >> Yes. Commissioner Moses, >> yes. >> Commissioner Philip Pelli.
>> I'm probably going to have to say no. >> Okay. The vote is >> five in favor, one against, one abstension, and two absent. Motion carries. >> Thank you.
Thank you all. Thank you members of the public. Thank you for the two presentations. Mrs. OD, Mrs. Long, we appreciate you being here. >> Let's move on. We have new business.
There's a presentation. I understand. >> Right. >> I'm sorry. Can you hear me? There's a presentation. New business number seven, the Lavine Res Reservoir Water Containment Project, block 48
02, lot 27. This is in the Great Falls Historic District. There's a presentation of a project design with details and historic preservation aspects. It's going to be presented by Pa Valley Water Commission and
consultants, but we will be taking no formal action at this time. It is just a presentation. Director, I believe um there is more than one person that's going to make the presentation. Am I correct?
>> Yes, that's right. >> Okay. Um, do they want to please put their video on and then be sworn in by our legal counsel, Ben David Zeligman? >> Yeah. Hi, good good evening everybody.
This is Eddie Gage from M McDonald. Um, I work at M McDonald and working on behalf of uh PBWC. >> Eddie, if if your video is not broken, try putting it on. >> Um, let me ask you this. Um, since this is a informational type presentation
with no business in front of this body, is it necessary to be sworn in? >> Yeah, not absolutely necessary, but we use fullfully see the video. >> Sure. Then that's all I was going to ask. >> Yeah. >> The video of sharing my screen or >> you you
>> Okay. Yeah. Hold on one second. Hey everybody. I have multiple screens open, so I'm sorry I'm looking all over the place. All right. Can you uh everybody hear me and see my screen? >> Yes, we can. >> All right. So, again, my name is Eddie
Gageek. I work at M McDonald. We're one of the design engineers working on behalf of Pacic Valley Water Commission. And um you know what what we'll do here with this presentation just give a you know a broad overview of the project um
uh the little bit of the history of it and construction as well. All right. So again some background information uh the site location and you know the the big things the necessity of the project and project elements. Um,
excuse me, Eddie. >> Yes, >> I can only see you. I can't see the presentation. >> Okay, let me try this again. Sorry about that. Okay. How's How's that >> now? You're good. Thank you.
>> Okay. Sorry about that. All right. So, just just to continue. Um the site itself is at 1351 153 Grand Street in Patterson. Um it is within the Great Falls National Historic District
and it was constructed in 1885 uh for drinking water supply originally to the city of Patterson. Uh right now it accepts water from PBWC's Little Falls Water Treatment Plant. And essentially what that does is it stores the water
and then distributes it before the uh you know before it hits the uh the distribution system. All right, just um again just kind of like a highle view where it is. Um this is the reservoir right over here. Uh
Grand Street is on the south side of it. This is Reservoir Avenue. And if you're familiar with the area, I'm sure you all are. This is the city of Patterson's uh pool on the east side of the the project as well. And you know, this is just some some
pictures, some overview of what the reservoir currently looks like. Um we do have some historic aspects of the project itself. Uh the obelis fence posts are considered historic and they will be maintained um
when the project's completed. Uh in the front you have the um the uh what we call the grand street retaining wall and this will also be maintained as well. We'll talk more about this later. And you know pictures on the the left is
what the reservoir did look like. And over here um you know just some visuals as far as why why this project is needed. So the the main thing and the the bottom line is it's it's water quality. It's
it's safety for the public and you know making sure that they get safe drinking water. Um and big big picture the uh the US EPA does require that stored treated water finished water that's in uncovered open
water reservoirs which is the Levine reservoir that was finished water um and that covered it needs to be um treated um or or covered in some respect to address pathogens before it hits the uh
the distribution system. Um, and then also there's certain within the area of their PBWC's water distribution system, there are certain areas of the distribution system that are at higher risk of elevated lead levels. Um,
specifically Patterson and and Prospect Park. And so as many on on this call are aware, this project does have a rather long history uh going back around at least 20 years or so. Um so again, broad
overview. In in April of 2009, uh the US EPA enacted um regulations that required all open water finished water reservoirs to either be replaced or or covered or received additional treatment. Um, in 2009, PBWC received
their acco, their administrative consent order that basically required that the Levine Reservoir um, you know, have have improvements to be done. And you know what that was? PBWC submitted a feasibility study uh,
basically recommending replacement of the Stanley Stanley M Levine reservoir. Um, and then in 2010, November 2010, the New Jersey Historic Preservation or Office requested a resolution of adverse effects, and we'll get more to that
later. And then in 2020, in July, um, the approval of the mitigation measures were app ultimately approved and and it's it's important to note too that this project itself wasn't wasn't done in a vacuum. There were multiple
stakeholders involved over the uh over the multi-year period including the US EPA National Park Service uh the D uh shipo department um m multiple agencies had had input with uh with various items on this
project. All right. So, as far as a summary of the uh the HO mitigation measures, uh PVWC did agree to provide a $2 million mitigation fund for capital improvement projects. Um basically upon receipt of
all all permits, all project permits. Uh the the Levine Reservoir was also recorded in the historic American engineering record, which basically documents the the record and the history of the Levine Reservoir.
Um, other things that PBWC is doing to minimize visual impacts is to site the tanks on the north side of the property. Um, further away from Grand Street. Uh, there's going to be some landscaping to help block the tanks and then ultimately
the decision was that the tanks would be colored gray uh to kind of try to blend into the uh to the area. Um, like I mentioned before, the concrete obelisk fence posts are considered historic and they will be um on site after the
project is done as well. And if there are fence posts that are that are in need of rehabilitation, they will be rehabilitated as well. Um, the retaining wall, again, we'll talk about this a little bit more later. The retaining wall will stay in place and will be
rehabilitated as well. Uh part of the mitigation measures also was performing a feasibility study to determine if water can be shared with the upper raceway. Um the study that PBWC did do determined that at this time
it was not feasible. Um and again with with this type of project it's very visual. Um you know it's very open to the public. A lot of people drive by, walk by, and you know, PBWC wants to make sure that the public
is being updated on the project and throughout the project as well. Uh so what they've done is they've created a a website basically to help um inform the public uh where the project stands, how to get more information.
um if you have complaints or questions, uh PBWC did create um their own their own website to help help get the word out and also help people if there's questions throughout construction. Uh so communication is uh is very important on
this project. Another item that PBWC is doing is putting interpretive signage uh within the project area. um you know basically discussing the history of of the water supply in the area uh pumping stations,
reservoirs, things like that. Um because given the the location within the National Historic District, um it's important to uh to add these signs and it's something that PBWC will be doing. All right. So, additional measures,
there was historic rehabilitation of PBWC buildings that were completed in the Mary Ellen Kramer Park. Um, basically what that was done was there were two PBWC facilities that were restored. the pump house which is
approximately 1895 and their gate house uh built in approximately 1906 that were they were in need of repair and that was recently completed. Um and again PBWC did do this work in coordination with
the the D historic preservation office to um maintain the historical integrity of of these buildings. All right. So again, you know, storage project elements with the project itself, and I'll show some pictures as well. Um, ultimately, the Levine
Reservoir will be removed and replaced with two 2.5 million gallon storage tanks again on the north side of the property. Uh, there will be a small chemical feed building uh to basically hit the water with chlorine before it goes into the distribution system, and
that will be on the northwest side of the property. Um, some additional improvements will include grading and a new access road that's basically going to be a gate on the northwest side of the property. And in addition to the two
tanks, there'll be two detention basins, one on the south side of the property and one on the north side of the property. The detention basin on the south side of the property will be a little bit bigger than the one on the north side. And that's basically going to help address uh runoff within the
property and and things like that. Uh we've talked about rehabilitating the fence posts and the retaining wall and in addition some landscaping uh that will help uh uh hide the tanks from from Grand Street
and homeowners as well. So this was a rendering that that M McDonald and PVWC uh recently completed. And again, this is on the north side of the property. And you could see the two the two storage tanks. Uh this is the chemical
feed building that's proposed. And between the two storage tanks, there's an access driveway. And again, on the front side, you have a detention basin with uh with some landscaping as well as the north side as well. And the
landscaping was was approved by uh again several stakeholders including the D Um, so this is another rendering. This is actually if you're standing on the south side of the property on the Grand Street side looking north, uh, this
would be the access driveway that will be installed. And you could see again the the chemical feed building with two storage tanks. And what this is, this rendering is again if you were standing on the north side looking south. And as we know, this
this area is is relatively rocky, so there'll still be some rock outcroppings and and all that within the property as well. Um and you can see with the uh with the gray tanks. All right. So again, um the improvements restoring oblas fence posts. Uh there
will be a fence there. Um so that that will also be maintained as well. the uh the mesh fence um the retaining wall in front. What that's going to be done is the uh the weak poles are going going to be cleaned and the motor joints that are within the
wall, those will be repointed and cleaned up as well. And again, the site landscaping will be uh will be installed as well. Um again, just some pictures of the landscaping, some of the trees and
bushes that are proposed on the project. And you know the again PBWC they they have their dedicated websites uh they could always be contacted um via telephone via their websites. Um again it's a very visual project and uh
you know communication is always open to residents uh schools um things like that. So that's that's basically the project and very high level. Um again it's it's currently in construction right now. Um
PBWC did award the project to a contractor and and things are you know still in the early phases but things are moving along. So that's that's kind of where we are right now. I don't know if anybody has any questions or or you know has anything to say but
>> yeah thank you Mr. Gage. >> Yeah, no problem. >> So, are you the Mr. Gageek? Are you is this conclude the presentation or is there any other speakers on this? >> No, that that is it. That is it. And I know um Julie and I don't know if Jim is
on the phone, but I know Julie from PBWC is on the call. Uh but as far as the presentation, it would be just me. >> Thank you so much. Commissioners, does anyone have any questions regarding this project or directed to Mr. Gayjette? Please ask now.
>> Okay. Not a question, just a statement. I've been on this commission for 25 years. I remember when this first was proposed. Uh what this project seems to have turned into is a lot different than what it was first proposed. The first
proposal, they they were not going to destroy the reservoir. They were going to just uh place tanks in the reservoir to uh separate the water from the uh Lavine reservoirs water and the portable
water that's going to go out. This thing has changed tremendously. I know we have no say in it. I'm disappointed. >> Um do you want me to to clarify the uh the separation or because I could I could I could clarify
that if you want. >> Um I personally don't need a clarification. I know we have no input in this and whatever we input is not going to help at this point. Your plans are made. >> Okay. >> Thank you.
>> This is uh Commissioner Tate. I've been on the commission for over a decade and I I kind of uh second what what Commissioner Walter just said. You know, we obviously have no say in this thing. It's it's massive. It's uh you know, it's a little it's it's a buzzkill. It's
a disappointment. And uh you know I guess all the pretty pictures and and you know persuasion and all this stuff. I mean it's at the end of the day you know I I think it's um it just it's an eyesore.
>> Thank you Commissioner Tate. >> Um this is Chair Corbo. I'm I'm going to agree with the sentiments of Commissioner Tate and Commissioner Walter. I too am very disappointed with this project and I don't think anything
more needs to be said from me. Thank you. >> All right. Well, if there's no more questions, I appreciate your time, everybody. >> I got a quick question. I'm just uh yeah, I I know it doesn't alleviate any of the the clear um issues that everybody's having here, but I'm
I'm just kind of curious because I'm kind of new to some of this project and I remember hearing when it was first announced, but I don't know. I'm learning more of the details of it right now. I'm just sort of curious, is it possible to uh embellish the the the structures in any way or like how how
does that work? Is that like could you put murals on it? Could you add things to it to >> No, the the what it is is what it is right now. As far as additional painting and murals and things like that, um, not at this time. No. >> Is that something that you guys would
consider in the future? >> I don't think so, but I could talk to PBW. >> Okay. And the other thing too that that I would note is this will be a fenced off property and the tanks themselves are will not be seen from Grand Street
either. Um but it's something we could talk about. >> The thing is to this, you know, this was approved again with multiple stakeholders and and Shipo. So I I highly doubt that they would um allow
murals on it. Okay. Commissioner, >> um I I have I have a question that might clarify something. Uh Mr. Gage, um you mentioned in your presentation that
part of the uh existing reservoir basin would be uh uh turned into or or re reconformed as a detention basin. Um and and I think um the tanks uh are
to be located uh farther like in the direction that's farther away from Grand Street. And then there's that part that's closer to Grand Street. Is you didn't really illustrate that uh portion of it. Is that going to be a detention basin? And maybe you could explain what
that is or is it going to be filled in and be a flat area? >> No, it it will be a detention basin. um in in the front of the property to um runoff um things like that. So it will not be a flat area. No.
>> So will it will it hold water uh at some point? >> Very little. Um but I I don't have that exact answer. I could see how much. But it's not going to hold water. That's a retainage basin. This is detention and
then ultimately it goes away. Okay. Thank you. >> All right. And if there's no other questions or comments from commissioners, um I want to thank you, Mr. Dejack, for your presentation. >> All right. >> And um have a good night.
>> Thank you everybody. Thank you. >> Okay, commissioners. It's been a long night so far, but um let's move on to number four, administrative matters. And I believe our director will update us now on what's happening with the Van Hen
House. >> Okay. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Hear you? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, just to remind everyone, uh, in early January at the council meeting, we were successful
in in getting a lot of support from the council members, um, in passing a resolution to uh, or urge the administration to continue to work with the uh, county of Payic toward
the um, preservation of this important building that's uh, in Westside Park. The uh the building is duly considered the oldest building in Patterson. Unfortunately, it it's been on it's been in as Patterson property. Like it's been
property of the city of Patterson for um hundreds of years. The the lands were first purchased in about 1880s uh by the city. So since then, the city has been the steward of the of the property. And unfortunately, there was a
a fire that that that burned part part of the uh the building. However, the building is salvageable and uh it's it's our campaign to to salvage it. Uh the Westside Park is currently under construction uh and a total renovation
so that the entire park is being redone. Um it involves a lot of public funds uh including state and some federal funding as well as city bonded funding. Uh many different uh parties have actually applied for the funding
including uh nonprofit stakeholders and um you know the construction project is well underway. Uh we we were able to review uh the second phase of the project for for rehabilitation of the historic
elements of Westside Park which in include the the pavilion and the entrance uh pillars and some other aspects that um we're very grateful for uh that will be part of the finished uh uh project. Uh but
the Venhhatton House still has not been addressed. So, we uh are now uh looking to meet with county commissioners um with respect to um looking toward their support and urging uh this again
this um uh continued relationship to be developed between the county and the city um on the next steps for um what hopefully will be a transfer of the property to the county uh so the county can rehabilitate the building and then
program the building for um as a public uh uh heritage center. uh moving forward uh so that the completed Westside Park will then have um a rehabilitated house where the important history of uh of the
of the park of of the city of the African-American community in particular um and the Dutch uh uh early Dutch settlers of our area can also be um appreciated and um and and on display uh
for the county and for residents to take advantage of um over over the next generations. So that's I wanted to give that sort of summation of what our intentions are and um it's been
it's been time now to move into uh the phase of discussion with the uh New Jersey Historic Trust um uh with respect to a fundraising for a grant that could uh possibly pay for half of the
rehabilitation costs. uh that would need to be matched by uh local funds that that could be county funds, it could be uh city funds, could be a combination of both. And that's kind of where the discussion uh is going. We have a uh scheduled meeting coming up um in the
next week with the New Jersey Historic Trust uh where we will start that discussion in earnest and then be able to bring um the support and results of that uh to our elected officials for a
second round of um of information for them. Uh, also Senator Nelly Po's office has expressed um a lot of interest and concern for uh this project and we're also reaching out to speak with them.
So the um there's also uh an effort to create more of a public awareness of this um project um especially relying on on Richard W Commissioner Walter. Richard Walters um uh longestablished and well-known uh
Patterson history website and um I've been slow on the uptake on that, but that's something that I also like to get uh going as soon as possible to continue to populate that website and have it distributed uh so there's more public awareness about this u about this
situation. Thank you, director. Um, more local things we can do here as commissioners in terms of getting the word out to the county commissioners to
um advocate on our behalf a little bit more, such as attending meetings at the county level. >> Yes, I think that's important to do. Um I believe that's uh uh something we have discussed that in the next month meaning
the month of um like toward the end of this month or early April we should um look to um the schedule for the county commissioners and we should plan to uh urge our uh community members to attend
and make statements about um this effort and and ask them to continue to u move this discussion forward um and you know also bring to them the idea that the you know the funding uh could be supported
by uh a a grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust. So once um uh director Rafel and myself are going to have a joint meeting with the uh executive director when we get those results which we believe will be positive we'll be
able to um you know write uh write to you formally about it and then that can be used to help um uh stir some support for uh u public meetings basically. So that's our you know that's our next step.
Thank you, director. So, just keep us informed on how we as commission could maybe attend these meetings and help out where we can in getting the word out. >> Uh, so under B for administrative matters, do you have any updates on the Barber
Estate in the East Side Park Historic District with the fire that had happened? >> Yes. So, everyone is probably aware that there was a fire at the Barber Estate uh in the East Side Park Historic District. And just in case, um I don't believe
that we've been able to meet since the fire. So, I wanted to take uh a moment to inform you about uh the fire and what happened, you know, after it. So, there there was a fire in the evening. Um I I don't remember the date. I don't have it
in front of me. Uh, but I was alerted right away while the fire was starting. Uh, and the fire department responded. This is very typical when there's a historic building um that's on fire. They usually call and inform me and ask me if I'd like to participate and give
input to um what you know what's happening. Um, so the the construction official for the city and of course the fire captain in charge of the fire uh were on scene and those are the two uh legally responsible parties for uh
fighting the fire, putting the fire out and then determining the public safety aspects of the um uh of the building uh or the property that's left. Uh the the owner of of course is always called and the owner was called and they
are you know requested to provide their own uh structural engineer to review the um uh you know the damages and the results of the fire and provide a written um uh report to the to the owner
and to the city about the viability of the building whether it can stay or should be demolished or what have you. So we have we give the owner a chance to get his own uh engineer to um you know to to present that to uh to us and
that's uh that's if the if the uh other officials I mentioned earlier uh agree that that the building can stay standing uh for that you know to be a for that to be able to happen. So that's sort of the the format of how it uh process works
when there's a fire. And in this case, the fire was was put out during the same evening. And then people were able to go in and inspect the um the results. And the owner did uh retain a um um
an engineer, an engineer that a company that we actually have worked with on other uh projects in Patterson that are familiar with historic buildings from um the firm PSNS. And um they gave the building a very
healthy report. uh the fire was segregated to a very small upper floor of let's call it a wing to the main building. So um the fire did not have the opportunity to spread into the main building. Uh the way the barber estate was designed is it's sort of a long
rectangular building and then a offset and like non-symmetrical uh square shaped wing uh with its own roof is sort of attached to the um to the north side of it. And that's where
the fire happened. And the fire was likely caused by uh uh people who were um trying to stay warm in the upper floor of the building and probably set a fire and it got out of hand. So the roof of that addition burned and and the
tiles and stuff uh and timbers sort of collapsed inward but the floor of the of the upper floor was not uh like collapsed to the floor below. So the fire was very much localized to the upper floor. Uh clearly there was a lot of water that was poured onto the
building to um fight the fire and keep it from spreading. Uh the fire department did a great job of fighting that fire and and and keeping it from going any further. So uh the engineer gave a very positive report. As you all know, the building is um a masonary
building uh built at the turn of the century when fireproof construction was a very important and a well understood um design criteria. Uh so it was given uh structural soundness without the need for uh demolition. However, in the
report and also by um um my advice, the area where the fire was needs to be un um the debris needs to be removed. The burned um uh trust works that are still there need to be taken down and removed.
and a temporary uh flat roofing system needs to be put over it so that water doesn't continue to infiltrate into that part of the building. So that flu flat roof system is a temporary roof. Uh it's has no particular need for preservation
compliance. It's there to protect the building getting it ready for the next uh stage of rehabilitation. Furthermore, I was able to walk all through the main building and I made note that up on the upper floor of the main building, um the
there is some water infiltration that's starting to come in. It's really at its beginnings with respect to the the main roof. The main roof really needs a lot of um uh care. It needs some sort of emergency repair uh in order to keep
that water from continuing to get in. So, and you know, as soon as this fire was um happening and in the followup, there was there was a lot of public um um concern uh sent uh to the mayor's
office to the director of the department of economic development. Um and all all of uh the executives started to convene all of us meaning the people who are you know looking at permits and looking at
um u all different parts of of enforcement in in land use. Uh and I was included in all those meetings and we started having uh these large group meetings to include the owner and everyone sounded off about what needed to happen. So, the owner was able to um
uh comply with a lot of the initial um uh uh requirements which included boarding up the building to keep people from getting back in uh as soon as uh as soon as the fire was over and um to remove a lot of the the uh illegal
dumping and debris that had been accumulating on the property that was removed pretty quickly as well after the fire. Um and their matter of installation of a sitewide fence was discussed and uh putting the flat roof on the the burned addition and also u
repairs uh to the main roof to uh address the water infiltration. >> This is stuff that is uh was waiting now for the warm weather to um arrive which you know as of especially as of today which was a a really warm and sunny day.
Uh it looks for the most part that we will be relieved of more snow. So the owner now will be reminded that he's expected to begin uh mobilizing uh contractors to execute this roof work especially and to continue to assure us
that um the the building is uh continue uh constantly secure. Now, we've talked about also securing the upper floors uh and using a more robust uh system that uh you would actually rent this system to fill in all of the windows and doors.
Uh there it's made out of like iron or metal. It's um very much um imper and you just really can't get through it. Um this is a again this is a system that like a scaffolding you actually call the company they come and they install it and then you actually rent it for a
period of time and then when you're done they come and they take it off again. Uh so we're we're talking to the owner about installing that kind of a system now that the again now that the weather is broken we'll restart those conversations. Now, we also did convene other meetings about the um the owners
um and uh other parties plans for the future of the building for adaptive reuse and there were some um ideas discussed. Uh I I can't get into all of them right now in great detail. Uh because they're, you know, being discussed among parties and it wouldn't
be fair to like start to say things out in public until uh there's more assurityity about where that's going. But there is a kind of a private public uh relationship and component being discussed uh that would help to preserve the grounds um as well as the building
uh in in you know possibly a quasi public use or in uh on the other hand a possible adaptive reuse um as a commercial like you know like apartments for example like a some some sort of a um a housing reuse. So, there's several
ideas and we've been in discussion with that. Again, I think that's going to accelerate now that the uh weather has changed and the owner can actually confidently mobilize and and button up the buildings. So, that's kind of a complete update because we didn't have a chance to do
this um uh since the fire. >> Thank you, director, for that. I recall the fire may have taken place on it was during one of our meetings. Whether it was the December 5th, 2025 meeting or the January 5th special meeting, I don't
recall, but I know it was one of those meetings because you got the phone call right at the end of our meeting. I do recall that. So, I thank you for the update. Um I'm being positive that the estate remains secure now until some
sort of plan is made for its um adaptive reuse or just saving in the future. So thank you again for that update. Number five, let's move along to committee reports. I'm not sure are there any reports? I don't believe so.
So, let's move on to again old business and correspondence. And we should have some information from our director regarding the Great Falls National Historic Park. There's a lot of exciting news that's been happening there. I know we all know some of it, but maybe the
public is not all aware. So, I'm sure our director would like to talk about that. >> Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. So, um, the first item under B1 is the Great Falls Pedestrian foot bridge. Um, I I'd like to share some photos. So, I'm going to
go off share with this and um share my photo uh screen. Okay. Can you can you all see that? >> Yes. >> Okay. So, uh, the city organized a a
ribbon cutting, uh, you know, informal opening for the Great Falls foot bridge. I'm not sure how to really do this, but I'm doing my best. Um, this is just a, you know, some a variety of photos from that event. Um, it happened on February
19th, as you can see here on screen. Um, this is this is me talking. Um uh this is one of the Kramer family. Um Kip Kramer, one of the descendants of Marielle and Kramer and um you know some
of the some of the people who spoke and and uh made a presentation um you know for this uh this uh very historic event. Um the foot bridge is the seventh, I believe, sixth or seventh
foot bridge that has been installed over the um Great Falls uh since the first one was installed way back in um uh the 1830s, early 1830s. Uh so this is actually part of a long legacy
of um of Patterson's um Great Falls uh history with respect to continuing to have this bridge installed for uh you know the purpose of of not only crossing over but to enjoy our uh wonderful
resource. So the the bridge I said I'm coming down to actual pictures of the bridge. Here's a good photo of the bridge. You can see it really well now. Um the it's it's got the the same design as the older bridge and it's in the same location. Uh you can see the existing
concrete um abupment here and this photo is taken from the approach uh when you're walking toward the falls from uh Overlook Park. Uh the charcoal color uh was taken from the color the
last color that uh the adjacent uh historic bridge was painted uh so that they would actually match and kind of blend in and disappear together into um the the background as you enjoy the uh the falls um from this spectacular view.
So we're all familiar with this view. The the deck of the bridge is is new. You can see that it's different from the last uh uh foot bridge in that it's concrete now and the bridge is actually 2 ft wider which I think will make uh go
a long way to make people feel comfortable and safe um you know walking both both directions of this bridge. Sometimes, of course, people are, you know, parked themselves for photos and for um taking selfies and people can
comfortably go around them with strollers and so forth. Now, and the concrete deck of the bridge will allow for um the uh National Park Service to clean the snow off if that is necessary in uh in the colder months. This is
Senator Poe um uh posing next to the um the you know the classic view of our falls. And here's the mayor. And here's a group picture. Okay. So, I'll go off uh screen on that.
Uh the this project um was completed using um uh federal funds and and uh county funds um and a special appropriation that was arranged by the late um um Congressman Pascarell's office. So, uh this is an
important uh bridge that we hope in the near future we'll get a congressional um vote on on the resolution to dedicate this bridge in the national park to uh our our you know our late uh congressman.
Um I'll go off share here. Here we go. >> Thank you, director. I know so many people have who have walked across it already multiple times. I've yet to do it, but I'm looking forward to maybe this week getting to see it. I'm so
excited about it. So, thank you for that. And we, you'll recall here from the HPC, we spent a lot of time talking about the particulars and the structure of how this should be done. So, we we all I'm sure are very thrilled to see this in completion.
So, our next report is about the Patterson Vista Park construction. It's um the the park was um uh ready for um the public to use before, you know, the winter really hit. So, that means
the grasses and plantings were put in, but has have not really taken shape at all. Um they they kind of rooted, but they haven't had a chance to really sprout and grow. So, uh, now that we've just about on the edge of spring, we really look forward to this beautiful
park, um, kind of popping out of the ground, uh, literally in terms of, um, the the grass and the plantings that, uh, were included in the final landscape design. Um the one last a couple of uh aspects that still are uh remaining that
that I'm working on is to have the uh water line to the um to the toilet building uh hooked up in the street by the Pic Valley Water Commission. Uh we're almost there with getting our permit um and our work order to do that.
Um and the other aspect is to create uh several uh historic wayfinding we call them wayfinding like plaques where it gives some information about some of the significant um history of of the park. So I'm working with uh our uh designer
on that as well. And in, you know, in the next few months, probably probably, you know, before the the summer arrives, um, people will already be enjoying the park and these items will be in place. So, we're just about we're just about there. I know that we've already are
receiving requests for permits to use the park. Um, um, and I'm also, you know, addressing how the permitting will, you know, will will work. uh because it is state land and there's uh you know agreements and so forth that are in place. So we're we're getting
ready to already start working on uh releasing the next um the first permits and putting the protocols in place for how um the public can request special use permits for uh for the space. So the Rogers locomotive works uh
Patterson Museum project update. Uh, as you know, we've been working for uh most of last year on a design project that will turn into a construction project that will address the immediate um needs of the building for uh mechanical
systems for heating and cooling. Uh this is especially important as the uh summer months come uh closer and uh we you know we are meeting on this regularly in terms of providing updates to the mayor's office. He's very um uh
interested in having the museum uh open and comfortable for occupancy uh during the summer uh since it has been closed uh at least last year and possibly uh the year before or at least for part of the year. So, uh, I'm working
collaboratively with our DPW, um, department who is doing sort of the HVAC half of the project and, um, I'm working on the, uh, the exterior um, uh, um, architectural uh, rehabilitation
of the alisside roofs, the um, clear story window replacements, the north edition roof um, uh, replacement so that new air conditioning chillers can be placed on there. Um, so we're we're doing this in a cooperative way.
I'm now at the point where I'm sending our plans to historic preservation review and once we get input from the National Park Service and the Shipo, uh you'll be seeing this application uh in detail at our upcoming meeting in April. Uh so
this will be coming for design review in April uh to the HPC. So we're we're moving on to construction documents after the HPC reviews the you know preservation reviews come through on you know from all the parties and we're looking to have construction documents
and bidding uh during the summer and you know an award of contract um uh at the end of summer for the architecturals. Meanwhile, they're ex they're hoping um and and moving along on a different track to have um the first floor units
um installed um which is more like a um a replacement kind of um operation. Uh so that the air conditioning will be working in time for the summer months. So that means like June, July. Um, and I know that DPW is
working hard on that aspect which is under their uh control. Uh, also I'm pleased to tell you that I uh we have received a $1 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation for the rehabilitation of
the spruce spruce street facade of this building. Uh that includes replacement of all the windows and doors uh on the spruce street facade. Um further uh the um the city is also applying for
discretionary funding through Senator Po's office um for uh the balance of funding needed to complete the rehab of the rest of the building meaning uh the main roof, the
elevators, the um various sides of the building. uh you know not including of course the facade since we have funding for that. Uh but that request is going up it's due it's due now so it's going up the chain and let's hope that we do get approved for that because if we do
the whole the whole building the hope the project can just move forward all at once and be completed. Uh so there's a lot of interest uh uh especially from the mayor's office toward um the you know the the future total rehabilitation of the Rogers locomotive uh building.
So um I already gave an update about Westside Park improvements under item C uh and the Van Hton House. So I'll just um I'll just rest here and and thank you for um um for hearing these reports. >> Thank you. Director Commissioner, can
>> I make a question? That's what I was going to ask. Does anyone have a comment or question? >> John Franco, have you heard anything about the locomotive shed and how that's progressing? >> Yes. Um, I have um grant funding to
uh solicit engineering and archaeological services for the the pillars or where the you know the the support uh structures will be uh placed. Um, we already have uh we have a cost estimate for both of those and I have
funding uh in place to fund them. So, a request for proposals needs to go out to these engineering companies to do that part. We already have the uh architectural drawings completed um for the past several years and this other component will be needed so they can all
come together and turn into what are called construction documents. and we don't have the full funding for the construction project, but I am talking with um uh the mayor's office about how we could seek um that funding
um you know which resources might be the best. Maybe county open space funding or um or you know other avenues. But you got to remember this is not a historic building. Um it's a it's a new structure to protect the locomotives. So that
makes the, you know, the argument about um, you know, to to our preservation funding sources a little different than, you know, applying for work directly on a historic building. So it's sort of a new building that protects the fact. So we're also kind of struggling with that
to see if eligibility might be an issue with respect to our um, where we think we could get the funding. >> Thank you. >> Right. Thank you. Are there any other comments or questions for the director?
>> All right, then. Since um we're virtual, I'm going to ask for a >> Oh, I'm sorry. Um may I interrupt uh Madam Chair? I just I just remembered um may may uh may I we request the commissioners to discuss about the
upcoming meeting, the regular meeting for March. Uh we have a regular meeting scheduled for um uh Monday, March 23rd, which is uh two weeks from now. And since we've had this special meeting due to our snowstorms,
um should we should we seek to cancel the meeting of the 23rd, I can report to you that I don't have pending business for the 23rd at this point. And if we were to cancel, it could be done by uh of course motion practice. would have to be a motion, a second, a vote,
>> and then our that means our next um >> our next meeting would be April um uh April 20th. >> If you don't have any Yes. If you don't have anything on the books right now, I think that we should make a motion for
that. So, there's a motion on the floor from Commissioner Redmond to >> Commissioner Walter second. >> Redmond. Oh, sorry. Oh, just give me a moment. First by Redmond, second by Walter.
Okay, I'm ready. Thank you. >> Roll call. >> Can I do the roll call? Roll call, please. Commissioners on the um motion to cancel the public meeting uh scheduled for March 23rd.
Uh Commissioner Garcia Leon. >> Commissioner Redmond. >> Yes. Commissioner Tate, >> yes. >> Commissioner Walter, >> yes. >> Chair Corvo,
>> yes. >> Commissioner Garcia Leon. Um, I'm seeing you're still on. You're still >> on mute. >> You can hear me. hear you now. >> Okay. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Moses.
>> Yes. >> Commissioner Philip Pelli. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Okay. So, our next meeting uh regular regularly scheduled meeting will be April 20th. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And I'll be home by then.
>> I can hear Commissioner Walter. So since this is virtual, I need a motion to open up the public portion and give a few minutes to see if there's anyone in the listening audience audience who may want to call in. >> I make a motion to open up to public comment.
>> Moved by Commissioner Redmond. Do I have a second? >> Second for the public portion to open. >> Okay, I'll do it again. >> Second by Commissioner Walter. Thank you.
members, could you um direct please read out the number again in case there is a someone that may be listening in? >> Yes. So, can you all see my screen by the way? >> Yes. >> Check. >> Okay. Check. Okay. Very good. So, ladies
and gentlemen, for the public who are uh watching, uh if you'd like to uh make comments during this public portion uh is now open. you'll have to do so by uh using our call-in line. The number is on the screen. It's 973
3211579. The meeting code that you'll need to enter is 8326. So, I'm leaving this on screen. So, anyone who would like to make comments during this uh time, uh please call 9733211579.
Uh the meeting code is 8326. our IT department will announce if we have um callers uh ready to go. And I'll note the time now is um uh looks like 9:43.
The time is uh 9:45. It's been 2 minutes. Do you want to wait longer? >> No, I think that's fine. Thank you. May I have a motion to close the public portion seeing that there's no one that is calling in and also to
journ the meeting? Motion >> making a motion to close public portion and close the meeting. >> Second by >> All in favor? >> I >> I
>> I >> All right. I want to thank everyone for >> I want to thank everyone at the HPC of March 96. The meeting is now adjourned and the
time is 9:45. Good. >> Yeah. Thanks to our IT people who have supported our meeting. Thanks guys. >> Have a good evening everybody. >> Thank you. >> Have a good night. >> Night at all.