Landmark Commission

Ellwood House Museum Visitor’s Center 509 N. First Street DeKalb Landmark Commission Minutes October 29, 2015 Meeting was called to Order at 7:07PM by interim chair Donna Gable Commission members present: Sally DeFauw, Pam Collins, Donna Gable, Don Whitmore. Jamie Smirz, city staff liaison. Agenda: Approved with the following changes: under Old Business, replace “Reschedule November/December meetings” with “Amanda Durik”. Under Reports, add “Haish hitching posts”. Under Announcements, add “CAMP workshop”. Minutes: Minutes of May 28, 2015 and September 24, 2015 were approved as presented. New Business Updating by-laws: Commissioners remember updating bylaws regarding size of the Commission several years ago but don’t know if the changes were ever presented to City Council. Whitmore mentioned bylaws should be included in the old Commission handbook. Smirz offered to check LC files and email the most recent bylaws she could find. Old Business Letter seeking Commissioners: Gable shared an unfinished draft of a letter (copy enclosed) to be sent to various local organizations interested in history and historic preservation seeking people who might be interested in joining the Landmark Commission. Finished letter will be presented to Commissioners for input at November meeting. If approved, the letter will be sent to the City for approval and permission to send it out. Review status of Walking Tour revisions: Tour #4 - last four entries need to be edited; Tour #1 – nothing has been done, Pam Collins offered to key in and send to everyone; Tour #5 – half has been keyed in; Tour #6 has been edited; Tour #3 – the text has been typed but not edited; Tour #2 has been edited and keyed in. Gable will put photos on drive and bring to November meeting. Mission statements: Commissioners decided to table working on a mission statement until after the Walking Tours updating is finished. Amanda Durik: Gable asked Smirz what Amanda Durik would need to do next for consideration by the City Council as a new Landmark Commissioner. Smirz said Durik would need to submit a short biography and her nomination would be added to the City Council agenda. Gable will contact Durik to see if she is still interested in serving on the Commission and if so ask her to compose a bio. Reports Pam Collins reported that the Gurler Heritage Association recently donated two carved stone hitching posts from the demolished Haish mansion to the Ellwood House Association (EHA) pending the approval of the EHA Collections Committee. Gable confirmed that the posts had been accepted into the EHA collection. They are presently being stored in the Watertower but at least one of them will be added to the current exhibit of items from the Haish mansion in the Museum Visitor Center. Announcements CAMP workshop: Gable passed out information about the Preservation Commissioner Training workshop on November 14 at the Geneva City Hall. Collins and Gable will plan to attend. Next meeting will be November 19, 2015 at the Ellwood House Museum Visitor Center. Meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM.