McHenry Times

City of McHenry Landmark Commission met Dec. 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

Call to Order 

Meeting was called to order. 

Roll Call 

The following were present: Jeff Varda, Robin Schmidt, Beth Staley, Zalinda Paluch, Thomas Hillier  and Monty Johnson. The following were not in attendance: Pat Schaefer, Mary Kay Welter,  Celeste Heidemann.  

Public Comments  

None. 

Approve Previous Meeting Minutes 

Motion to approve minutes made by Robin, seconded by Zalinda. 

Old Business 

1. Green Street Progress 

Progress was discussed including Jeff and Zalinda who just returned from the county  courthouse. The county property records look like the best place to start. A motion to  cancel the January 2022 meeting was made by Jeff and seconded by Robin. The  meeting was cancelled due to the holidays and so that Commission members could  have more time to research their assigned properties. A motion was made to work on  Green Street properties until Feb 1 meeting by Jeff and seconded by Beth. 

The following are working on the Green Street Properties (Modern Day Addresses): • Jeff & Zalinda: The Hidden Pearl (1250 Green St.) 

• Beth & Thomas: Chamber of Commerce (1257 Green St.) 

• Robin & Mary Kay (?): Former Bolger’s (1255 Green St.) 

• Celeste & Pat:  

2. Senior Citizen Facilities 

Zalinda, Beth & Robin reported on the facilities they were working with. Facility  assignments are listed in the November minutes.  

3. Monthly Feature 

New Business 

1. Colby-Petersen Farm Volunteer Group 

- Horse Barn: Jeff reported the situation with the bats in the horse barn. They have  an estimated colony of 150-300. The bat expert has been contacted and it is hoped  that the colony will be out by February. A summer storm caused some damage to  the horse barn, which may cost around $231,000 to repair. The Commission  discussed ways to justify to the city the importance to preserving the horse barn  for McHenry. 

- Volunteer Ideas: Different ideas were discussed for using volunteers such as a  Christmas walkthrough at the Colby-Peterson farmhouse, as well as decorating  the house for the holidays. 

- Michelle Zimmerman took her high school art class to the CP Farm in September  and received some nice coverage from the Northwest Herald. 

- Starting in February, the Commission will have a permanent social science intern  

2. Remember Christmas 

On Saturday, December 11, the Landmark Commission and the McHenry Historical  Society will host a program, Remember Christmas in McHenry. The hope of the  program is to get the Landmark Commission back out into the public view and  encourage more oral histories. Jeff reported that he was able to get the Commission  its own Youtube Channel. Beth will contact the alderman to hopefully get them to  attend.  

3. 2022 Meeting Schedule 

The Commission chose to move the meetings to the first Wednesdays in July (6th) and  September (7th) to avoid a conflict with the regular board meeting.  

Adjournment 

The meeting was called to adjurn at 8:54 by Zalinda and seconded by Robin.