February 26, 2014 minutes

Whitesbog Preservation Trust

February 26, 2014 Board Meeting

J.J. White Inc. Office

Roll Call

Present: S. Schrader Pres.  J. Darlington, R. Prickett, Treasurer, T. Gordon, J. Felt,

            J. Macechak, L. German, P. Connelly, S. Phillips Exe Dir

Absent: J. Joyce, P. Detrick, M. Ehlenfeldt, C. Lipsack,

Secretary's Report January 2014 Minutes

Motion to approve January 2014 Minutes made by Joe Darlington, Seconded by Perdita Connelly and approved unanimously with corrections.

2014 Operational Budget reviewed by S. Phillips

Motion to approve sending the 2014 Operational Budget to the general membership at the April 2014 meeting for approval by Rick Prickett, Seconded by Joe Darlington and Unanimously agreed to do so by board members present.

Building and Grounds Report

Discussion on tenant lease renewal, suggested rent increases and the need for the Trust to have a policy regarding rent increases. R. Prickett said that he would send the Tenant Landlord Law/Rights information to members the following day for their review. The Board resolved to develop Trust policy regarding home rentals.

Motion to approve renewing Tenant Leases (Supervisor's House and Darlington House)at current rents and terms by Ted Gordon, Seconded by Rick Prickett and Unanimously approved by Board Members present.

Ad Hoc Committee was formed to develop policy regarding building rentals at Whitesbog. Rick Prickett, John Joyce, Stephanie Schrader, Joe Darlington and Scott Carrasquillo were inducted by the Board to volunteer.

Treasurer's Report presented by S. Phillips

Motion by Rick Prickett to approve the March 2014 Treasurer's Report, Seconded by Perdita Connelly and Unanimously approved by Board Members present.

Accession Policy

Discussion continued from the last meeting.

R. Prickett passed around a catalog of refrigerators similar to the one in the General Store and the ones stored in the back of the Barrel Factory. J. Darlington thought that the discussion on the placement of one or more refrigeration unit should come after the Accession policy was settled. Future amendments were discussed to improve the policy as a possibility in the future.

Motion by Joe Darlington to approve the Accession Policy as submitted to the Board, Seconded by Ted Gordon and Unanimously approved by the Board Members present.

Rick Pricket suggested that we need a plan (not a formal plan) on what we are going to do with the buildings in the Village so that we can evaluate where the historic objects offered to the Trust would be used.

A discussion about flooding under the Worker's Cottages then took place. J. Darlington mentioned that when the new water line was installed the drainage tiles where broken which caused the backup of the water.

Rick Prickett said "If I could just address a few things about the Accession Policy.  Ted asked which refrigeration units we should keep. We have to identify those building we want to have artifacts in. Ted has talked about that with the Agriculture Museum, what artifacts do we need in Suningive, in the Workers Cottage and are there other building that we need artifacts? So if we identify those structures we want to put artifacts in, then we can start accepting things with some degree of reliability that we are going to keep them and not have to get rid of them. You do not need a master plan or a formal plan to do that, we have to decide I think want we want to interpret." "Janet Felt asked if the artifacts would include those refrigerators in the back of the barrel factory?" R. Prickett replied that they are artifacts, they are something that represent that period of time we are looking to represent. Ted Gordon asked R. Prickett about whether the objects came from Whitesbog R. Prickett said that they were probably installed in the General Store at the end of the twenties and maybe into the thirties when they sold a lot of meat here. They are not appropriate in the General Store now, there is not enough room there and the configuration of the Store has changed some. Pricket said that the Trust should consider keeping them in the back of the barrel factory at least some of them, and use them for display or restore them as refrigeration units. If the Barrel Factory is going to be used as a place that serves food it would be nice to have refrigeration available.

    President Schrader asked Rick Prickett if he would  be interested in taking charge of it? He replied that he would but needed clarification on what that was. To organize it and see what can be done. Rick Pricket said that he would be willing to do that.

Joe Darlington then said the floor would not support them, it is going to be very expensive to get them functional, that space needs to be used for other things besides units that probably don't go back that far in time. So I was going to propose to move them out of there, if you don't want to throw them away we can try to keep them in a storage trailer or some where else until there is an appropriate place to put them, they never would have been in the barrel factory, so I am not sure why we would keep them there now.

Rick Prickett replied said that in some historic site they have artifacts that can not go where they originally were, they set up another place to look at them.

Jeff Mace said like a gallery.

R. Prickett agreed and said the gallery would portray the General store as it would have been during the late twenties.

Jeff said it could be in any building even a modern building.

J. Darlington said like a museum and then said space is tight, we are going to be doing tours during cranberry harvest, PINES is trying to do tours, we need that space, the floor has holes in it, the ADA ramp comes into that room and the floor is not safe for anybody using even a cane.

S Philips said there is a big hole there now, Joe then said it is getting worst. R.Prickett asked how J. Darlington was proposing to get the units out of the building. J. Darlington said that the dividing wall would have to be partially disassembled, so you can get through the double door in the front, if you are going to keep them intact which makes sense to do.

L. Germann said from her point of view keeping the structure of the building sound is a priority, if it is causing structural damage to the floor and could possibly fall through the floor that is pretty major.

R. Prickett said that the floor could be reinforced, the units have been there for over twenty years and they have not fallen through the floor yet.  

Joe Darlington said J.J. White would if it can be done during the winter months would try to get them moved. He suggested storing them in the trailer in the village but S. Phillips said the trailer was leaving. He then said he does not know where they would go, but if someone else would figure out where they can be stored so they are not gone but not in the way then that floor could be fixed and the barrel factory could be used for interpretive events and so forth. There is more than the freezer units in the back there that needs to be decided on, where it is going to get stored, that is not a storage closet.

We are going to have to disassemble part of that wall in order to get them out and it will take a lot of people. S. Phillips said where are they going to go or is there a plan where they could stay there and the floor could be reinforced and the rest of the stuff could go. 

J. Darlington said they are the primary space users.

Stephanie asked how many units are there? It was established there were four units.

R. Prickett said he thought the fancy C.V. Hill would look nice cleaned up in the barrel factory. It is the biggest of the units and it would be the hardest to move. It could be used as a showcase to display artifacts and could be incorporated into the room. There is more other stuff in the room than there is refrigeration units.

T. Gordon asked what would happen to the other three units?

R. Prickett suggested that the open Art Deco unit be placed on the porch of the General Store behind the one that is already there for people to see and to be used with ice during the Blueberry Festival. S. Phillips asked if the unit had doors. Prickett responded that it is an open unit.

Prickett, What should the back room be used for? J. Darlington so the front room can be used for presentations and you need to be able to move things back and forth, all the chairs the tables in and out. The floor has to be functional for the handicap access route.

Prickett said we used  the back room to serve food during the Legislative luncheon, which was very nice he thought.

Phillips we also store seventy chairs back there and tables, it is a storage area.

Gordon, we are talking about taking out three units permanently but perhaps there is a better place to put that as a display case.

S Schrader are we in agreement with the proposals made by Rick and Joe.

Gordon, if we are going to keep the unit there can the floor be replaced with the unit kept there? Phillips if it is moved. Darlington, back and forth as you fix the pieces, yes that can probably be done. If we take the partition a part to remove the other units I do not want to take the partition a part later. Prickett why don't we wait and see what it looks like when the three units are out along with the rest of the stuff  before we decide to move the forth. We can sit here and talk about this but have we gone down to see the items or done any research on their history?

Phillips, from the operational standpoint, my concern is assembly space is limited especially if PINEs has two classes of kids. Our space is limited with all the groups that are coming. I have no problem with a refrigerator back there or two, but they need to be in secure space to avoid kids getting stuck in them. When you have a refrigerator that is not used as a refrigerator you are supposed to take the door off. I am looking at it from a safety standpoint, we are not always going to have someone there to interpret that and we have kids all over the place. Prickett- we have to look at the unit to see if it can be locked. Phillips, or a screw in there to keep them shut. I just want it to be safe for handicap access. The room is full of junk and we can not get to the electrical panel.

Schrader, can we bring this up at next month's meeting after you have look into it Rick?  Prickett, yes. Darlington, if we keep putting this off I am not going to be able to do it winter time is when I have time. Come April 15 forget it, offer removed from the table. We need to have functional space, we are getting more and more people coming to Whitesbog which is the ultimate goal. We need to have that space, PINEs needs more space, the Trust needs more space. I would like to see those units kept, a little bird told me this afternoon that there might be hope on the far horizon that we could have a replacement packing house that might have a museum in it where that unit could go.

Prickett, if you are going to move units or whatever we need to have the CFCs taken out. By Federal law, if CFCs leak out and we intentionally, Darlington I guarantee there is nothing left . Prickett, you can guarantee but, Darlington, it would not be hard to get someone to certify it. Prickett, I did the research, it is relatively cheap. To cover ourselves we need to have someone come in and make sure.

S Schrader asked R. Prickett

Investment of $250,000 Nora Hayes donation discussion

S. Schrader initiated the discussion: 1. Keep it where it is 2. Break them down in $50,000 increments and invest them quarterly with Wells Fargo. 3. Go to Vanguard

Gordon, preferred to invest with Vanguard on a quarterly basis would be his recommendation.

Schrader, prefers to go with Wells Fargo, she does not know who would take over the funds at Vanguard, but has invested with Wells Fargo for ten years and they have done well by her. I get information almost monthly advising me, so that would be my vote.

Prickett, I reviewed the Wells Fargo Portfolio for Whitesbog and I did not see choices just a snapshoot of Whitesbog. Didn't he give us some choices where we could go risky, less risky and moderate?

Schrader, yes and you don't want to go risky. Prickett, agreed.

Darlington said that he thought the Wells Fargo man was asking that we have a committee to give him guidance and then he would make recommendations.

 

J. Felt, thought that Wells Fargo was a managed investment and that Vanguard requiredmore attention.

T. Gordon said Vanguard was a managed fund, one of the best in the business.

Darlington suggested that we have a committee to make recommendations to the board.

Macechak said he felt more comfortable with Well Fargo.

Prickett said he would like to compare proposals from both companies.

 

Revised Mission Statement discussion

Whitesbog Preservation Trust Mission is to protect and enhance its historic village, to interpret the White Family legacy and to inspire audiences of all ages to experience the past innovations, present circumstances and future possibilities of cranberry and blueberry culture.

Schrader, is this the Mission Statement you would like to present to our membership in April?

Motion to present the Mission Statement to the General Membership at the April Meeting made by Joe Darlington, Seconded by Jeff Macechak and Unanimously approved by Board Members in attendance.

Board Questions?

Phillips said we have the Agriculture Grant and the consultant called yesterday and said  he would like to meet with the committee people that are intimately involved in the museum and then have a meeting with the whole board and come back in the morning and access our resources before they start. He provided three dates. They are from Cherry Valley Group, N.Y.., check out their website. She said she has the Grant available for people who are interested in it. I would like everyone to take one of these. S. Phillips expressed interest in the whole board being involved. The Board agreed that the Consultants should come out on March 31st to meet with the committee, April 1st to meet with the Board and then evaluate the Agriculture Museum's resources on the morning of April 2nd.

S. Schrader announces that the Burlington County Advisory Committee on women and Board of Chosen Freeholders invited the Trust to attend outstanding women of Burlington County Awards Dinner. March 27th, Rachael Patterson will receive the Elizabeth Coleman White Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Award STEM.

S. Schrader inquired about the WPT entrance road sign. L. Germann said that she hadrequested 10 signs that are similar in the format to the Batsto signs.

L. Germann reported on her State Park Superintendent Meeting where capital budget and capital improvement projects were discussed. She said that her basic list of small capital projects include roads that need help including the Whitesbog Road which she considersa priority and should be paved not tar and chipped. Capital Fiscal Year for 2015, 2016,2017 this is where they take the money they believe they will have and put where theybelieve it is needed and where projects have been brought up in the past. Super Storm Sandy wiped the fund out. But for Whitesbog 2015 I believe it was $400,000 and 1.4 million consecutively for 2016 and 2017. It could evaporate but She thought it was from C. Bethmann's original plan to rebuild the parking house for Whitesbog and PINEs so they are not just working out of the General Store. 3.2 million dollars over three years.

S. Schrader announced a Policy and Implementation Meeting

J. Darlington proposed J.J. White building a wooden stage to replace the trailer that is in place now. He said in the past Whitesbog had "Outposts" in the cranberry bogs where the pickers brought their cranberries in.

S. Phillips said that she had applied for a Blueberry Festival Grant with money in it to make improvements to the trailer and "woodenfy" it. She said she would have to give the money back. She said she got the grant but did not know how much money she would receive.

J. Darlington asked if the "Outpost" would be permanent of movable?

L. Germann asked S. Phillips if the Grant donors would find acceptable using the money for materials to build a stage that is historically accurate?

J. Darlington asked how big should the stage be?

S. Phillips was going to review the grant she wrote last year and J. Darlington said they would talk about it after the meeting.

J. Darlington reported on the Parking Committee meeting on expanding parking at the old runway. He inquired about available money to fund the work.

J. Darlington announce that they are planning a Cranberry Harvest Kickoff Day on September 27th at Whitesbog. Inviting all the cranberry growers we know to an education program on agriculture in the Pines. We would want the Trust to have a table for membership and have the store open.

R.Prickett said he would send out information from the EPA regarding CFCs in refrigeration. It is a matter of intent, if you know there is a possibility you are required to address it.

Meeting Adjournment

Motion made by Rick Prickett to Adjourn the meeting Seconded by Joe Darlington and Unanimously approved by Board Members present.