The
meeting was held at the home of
Ned Ames and Jane Sokolow.
The
meeting was called to order at
4:15 PM by Patricia Adams, President
of the Board.
1.
The minutes of the previous meeting
were read by Patricia Jones, who
also agreed to keep the minutes
of this meeting. It was noted
that the Board was referred to
as a "figurehead," which
was inaccurate and misleading.
It was suggested that this term
be stricken from the minutes.
With that suggestion incorporated
into the comments, the minutes
were approved unanimously.
2.
Patricia Adams stated that the
Board had met and added two additional
members to the current board,
which consists of Patricia Adams,
Les Mattis and Jane Sokolow. The
new members are John Kelly and
Debra Lynker. Jane added that
if anyone was interested in serving
on the Board they should let one
of the current board members know.
Patricia made clear that no decisions
were made by the board without
approval of the members. Officers
and board members only speak for
FOBC when an issue has been discussed
in a meeting and there is a consensus.
Otherwise, if called upon for
an opinion, each member generally
spoke as an individual.
3.
Patricia then gave the financial
report. The Friends have a balance
of $1950; of this, $1000 is from
dues and $950 from donations for
the church. Expenses have included
the planting costs for the church
memorial garden for George Fielder.
Hearty thanks were given to all
involved - Mermer Blackeslee and
Eric Hamerstrom, Lester Lott,
Jim Powell, Hazel Kelly, Ed Hamerstrom,
Lisa Lyons, Mitchiko and Stephen
Levine, Patricia Adams, Sue Jaeckel
and especially Don Jaeckel who
organized everyone to make it
happen.
4.
Stuart Root gave an update on
the church. There is $6036 in
the fund. This is probably enough
to repair the siding, but with
none left over. Early on some
members had agreed to continue
to support the church maintenance,
especially since maintenance of
the siding which is over 120 years
old - is continuous. He also noted
that a church choir had been formed
which performed every Sunday;
everyone was welcome to join.
There
was a suggestion that the Friends
needed a report on the condition
of the siding. It was agreed that
Eric Hamerstrom would present
a written report with a proposal
of future work at the next meeting.
Patricia added that the Friends
needed a committee to study historic
preservation issues in the valley
in general and determine what
could be done to preserve more
of the structures and what help
was available for landowners.
Hazel Kelly, Barbara Trelstad,
and Bill Sharpless volunteered
to serve.
5.
Bruce Janklow, Chairman of the
Bridge Committee, reported on
the two bridges.
Covered
Bridge: NY
State was doing a cost study
on the maintenance costs to
determine what would be needed
if they took over maintenance
of the bridge from the county.
Bruce had spoken to John Pick,
an engineer at DOT, and reported
that the state first needs to
be asked by Sullivan County.
Once they are asked, they will
seriously consider it; at this
point they are doing nothing.
John
Adams said that he had spoken
to the Governor's office. They
are on track to get the Covered
Bridge, so pressure needs to be
put on Sullivan County to request
that the State take it over. The
Friends may want to have a meeting
in Albany. Once the situation
is clear everyone will also be
encouraged to write as individuals.
Copies of the summary study are
available for review.
Iron
Bridge: The
County has hired Sears & Brown,
an engineering and design firm,
to make recommendations. Their
report is due in the next one
to one and ½ months; following
that there will be public hearings.
Any work is expected to be in
the FY05 construction budget.
6.
Friends of the Beaverkill Book:
Patricia noted that this meeting
was supposed to be a book party,
but the book was still at the
binders and would not be ready
for another week. The book was
printed by the high school
printing class in Livingston Manor,
under the supervision of Robert
Farrell. Mr. Farrell also contracted
the binder.
Debra
Lynker, the high school Principal,
made this possible. Publication
costs have run about $3,000 for
200 copies. The books are being
sold for $25 each. They will be
available on Patricia's back porch,
plus a few other possible places
such as the Lew Beach store.
Another
volume is already in the planning
stages, and anyone with suggestions
or, especially, with old pictures
of the Valley was urged to contact
Patricia. She added that she wanted
to develop an editorial board
to help with production. The people
involved with production of the
first volume included John Kelly,
Patricia Jones, Ross and Mac Francis,
Jane Sokolow, Deborah Lynker,
Tim Foote, and Colin Foote. The
following people volunteered to
help with the next volume: Bebe
Loizeaux, Jane Sokolow, John Kelly,
Tim Foote, Colin Foote, Pat Jones,
and Bill Sharpless.
Patricia
noted that the Friends also needed
an archivist to store the minutes
and pictures of meetings and events.
Barbara and Robert Trelstad volunteered.
7.
Website: Colin Foote has designed
the Friends of the Beaverkill
website, which has been operational
since January 2003. At this time
the only article on the site is
the Trout Valley Farm, but we
hope to have all of the book on
by the fall. The address is www.beaverkillfriends.org;
it is programmed in Macromedia
Flash; if it doesn't load, you
need to upgrade your plug-in by
going to the Macromedia website
and download the upgrade. Colin
will send out instructions.
8.
Other Business: Lisa Lyons announced
that Livingston Manor is making
a big effort to develop and clear
the part of the Willowemoc Creek
and Beaverkill that are in town
so that people can easily get
down to the rivers. As part of
this effort the Renaissance Project
is sponsoring free outdoor movies
every Saturday night for six weekends,
and she urged everyone to attend.
9.
Next Meeting: There was a brief
discussion about a possible meeting
over the Labor Day weekend; everyone
agreed that this would not be
a good time as many people would
not be here. It was agreed to
hold the next one sometime in
the early fall.
10.
There being no other business,
the meeting was adjourned.
Treasurer's
Report
As
of September 13, 2003, we have
41 paid members and dues amounting
to $1025. 81 books have been sold
for $2025. There was one contribution
specifically designated for the
Church in the amount of $25.
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