Mount Utsayantha - Mt Utsayantha Project Meetings

Mount Utsayantha Project Meetings

April 21, 2004

Thanks to all of you who were able to come to the meeting on Monday night regarding the Utsayantha project. We had a productive meeting, and mostly discussed gearing up for the volunteer work weekend in June. Helen opened the meeting by saying that the $10,000 in Bonacic funds could be used to purchase materials, rent equipment, or other expenses associated with the work day. Waylen also reported that he did get an official letter from the O’Connor Foundation confirming approval of the $5,000 request, which needs to be matched dollar for dollar with local funds. Waylen reported that the donation cans are posted around town, and that presentations had been given to the Stamford and Hobart Rotary. A presentation to the Stamford Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for next week. Waylen and Helen offered to do a presentation in a few weeks to the students at the Stamford school, and Diana Loucks offered to contact Sean Lynch – a teacher at the school – to arrange an assembly of 5th through 12th graders.

Waylen asked about the fundraising brochures, and Helen indicated that she needs to make one change suggested by Jack Harmon, then she will get the file to the Walton Reporter for printing. Jack received some quotes from them, and the group decided to get 5,000 printed up for a cost of $240. Waylen indicated that there is sufficient funds in the Village account for the project to cover the printing costs. Helen will place the order and have the brochures sent to the Village offices, and have the Village billed directly for the cost. Discussion then turned to what to do with the brochures once they are printed in terms of distribution. It was decided that the Village would insert the brochures with a note from Mayor Bray into the June water bills (after the work day), and Waylen would also check on the Stamford Alumni mailing list. The Chamber of Commerce mailing list was also discussed as a possibility.

The discussion then turned to logistics for the work weekend. Each component of the work weekend – the observation building, the fire tower, and the park – were discussed separately. Focusing on the observation building first, Jim Kopp indicated that the first priority as far as immediate repairs go is to jack up and replace the foundation, as well as the sills and any rotten wood underneath. Since this is not work that is suitable for the average volunteer laborer, it was decided that Jim and a few helpers would tackle the foundation on a separate site visit a week or two before the work weekend to do the foundation work with the materials and labor paid out of the Bonacic grant. Volunteers at the work weekend could then focus on stabilizing other parts of the building, including replacing the plywood on the doors and windows, removing and patching worn siding, clearing out the debris inside the building, etc. Jim also mentioned that someone should follow up with Don Dales re: the condition and quantity of Kortright shingles he has in case some roof patching could be done that day as well. Jim has some scaffolding that could be brought to the site if we need it. Jim will come up with a materials list for the work weekend, order the materials, and store them for us until we need them.

With regard to the fire tower, Helen will follow up with Marty Podkotch and/or Kevin Prior about lining up a crew to work on the tower and getting us a materials list. Also, Helen will follow up with Paul Trotta again regarding the status of the request to surplus the tower. The last time we checked, it had left the DEC and was floating around the Office of General Services somewhere. If need be, we can ask Senator Bonacic for help in finding out where it is and what -- if anything -- is holding it up.

Moving on to the park, Waylen agreed to follow up with Dave DeForest of the Delhi Americorps program, as well as the Youth Leadership Academy for extra help. He will also follow up with Joe Hornbeck regarding the availability of a dump truck and/or a chipper. Dave Turan will track down Doug Murphy to see if we can borrow a chipper/mower/brush hog to clear the overgrown trails. Dave Turan also offered to salvage the stone fire places for his property.

Finally, the group discussed progress on the outreach/interpretation side of things. Dick Hinman mentioned that he and Don Dales would do a site visit soon to map out the possible locations of interpretive signs. Helen also mentioned an e-mail she received from Don with suggestions for narrative for the two lookouts. Helen also reported that she has been in touch with Linda Norris of Treadwell. Her firm – Riverhill – includes a team of professionals that works with museums and historical societies on exhibit design and interpretation. Linda was excited about the possibility of working on this project, and will work with Helen in the weeks to come on preparing an application to the NYS Council on the Humanities for a small grant to cover her consultant fee. If approved, that grant would allow Linda to work with our group to prepare an “exhibit design plan” for the park, making it easier for us to secure additional funding down the road for the construction of the exhibits/interpretive panels, kiosks, etc.

Turning the discussion to signage that could be installed this year, it was decided that the work weekend should include the construction of a small kiosk that could contain a poster with a copy of Birgitta’s plan for the site, as well as some text explaining the project and urging the community’s support. Helen will do a draft poster and bring it to the next meeting, and Jim Kopp said that he would take care of ordering and pre-cutting the materials so that could be accomplished. Dick Hinman also mentioned that a historical marker should be installed at the corner of Main Street and Tower Mountain Road. Waylen will follow up on prices and ordering information with the foundry in Bloomville. Dick also suggested that we look into putting up a sign at the intersection of Tower Mt. Road and the access road to the park, but some questions arose with regard to ownership and permission.

Our next meeting date will be in approximately one month on Monday, May 17th at 7PM at the Village Hall. Everyone should try to be there, as this is our last meeting before the big work weekend, and there are still lots of details to be ironed out. Also, Helen asked everyone to think about what security measures we might want to install this year, as the summer season is coming up and that is the time the site has been most prone to vandalism.

See you next month!
Helen

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Any who are interested in helping should contact the mayor by calling his home at 607.652.7978 or Village Hall 607.652.6671.

Mail can be addressed to:
Village of Stamford
Mountaintop
PO Box 68
Stamford, NY 12167