McHenry Times

City of Crystal Lake Historic Preservation Commission met Oct. 6.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

1) Call to Order

L. Solak called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

2) Roll Call/Attendance

The following Commission members were present, Nancy Haskins, Bob Kosin, Brittany Niequist, Lisa Solak, and Bob Wyman. Judi Halter, Diana Kenney, and Natalie Tyron were absent. City Planner, Elizabeth Maxwell, was present for staff.

3) Public Comment

None.

4) Approval of Minutes of the September 1, 2022 Regular Meeting

B. Kosin made a motion to approve the minutes. B. Wyman seconded the motion. On voice vote, all members voted aye. Motion passed.

5) Plaque Ordering for 215 Illinois Street

Staff presented a recent example of a plaque and cost associated with that. There was discussion on the text that should be on the plaque. The home is a Sears Home and the official title of the line is Sears Modern Homes. The Commission did not like modern they also discussed Sears Kit Home and did not all agree they should be referred to as kits. The original builders were the Grantham family so they decided on Grantham Home. In the smaller second line they wanted Sears Home. Staff will get an accurate example of the art work from the foundry company and send it around for final review.

B. Wyman made a motion to order the plaque with the text described at a cost not to exceed $400. N. Haskins seconded the motion. On voice vote all members voted aye. Motion passed. Staff understood that if the final invoice were to come back over $400 the item would be brought back to the Commission for a new vote.

6) Cemetery Cleaning and Veteran’s Book

N. Haskins provided information on the current progress of the book. She said it is about 72 to 74 pages in length. It still needs to be proofread and organized. She had a few sample pages for review and explained that there is an introduction for each war prior to the pages for the soldiers that fought in that war. They need to finish all the proofreading in the next two weeks.

The Commission asked about costs. They still need to get the estimates from some publishers. The cheapest so far is in Montana and everything is done online. There is a company in Woodstock that may also work, but she was unfamiliar with their quality. The discussed selling prices to be sure they covered their costs and made some profit to add to the cemetery preservation account.

7) Landmark Meeting Follow Up

No detailed research has been done. The Commission discussed some additional houses that could be added to the list. B. Niequist asked if she should make her presentation into a webinar so they can send out the link to interested parties. The member agreed that this could be helpful, then each member would not need to answer the same questions. B. Niequist said she would work on that and send it to staff so it could be sent to the members for review.

8) Trolley Tour

Staff noted there were copies of old trolley tour books on the table and to take some if you did not have any. The Commission stated that people have been asking about the tour and they want to do one for next year. L. Solak said everyone’s homework is to research the books and find a good tour that they could put together without much new research needed. A tour of Sears Homes would be good, since we just added a new one on the landmark list.

9) Member Inquiries and Reports

B. Kosin was talking about a movie about what life was like in Crystal Lake in the 1940s. He remembers articles written in the Northwest Herald. He would like to find that movie again.

B. Wyman said he saw the Downtown Poll in the newsletter and urged everyone to go online and take the poll about gathering amenities they wanted to see Downtown.

B. Kosin noted there was no flag at the Crystal Lake Cemetery. L. Solak said he would need to speak with the Township Supervisor Randy Funk.

10) Adjournment

There being no further business, B. Niequist made a motion to adjourn the meeting. B. Wyman seconded the motion. All members voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.

https://www.crystallake.org/home/showpublisheddocument/21632/638035114324430000