New Milltown panel will focus on the old

BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer

“There is no perfect action that any elected official can take in their whole career. I believe this is a good start.” — Gloria Bradford Mayor MILLTOWN — The long-awaited Historic Preservation Advisory Committee is expected to be formed in early January.

The Borough Council adopted an ordinance creating the panel at its Dec. 11 meeting after months of debate among residents and officials about what would serve the borough’s historic preservation needs best — a committee, which can make recommendations, or a commission, which would have more authority.

“There is no perfect action that any elected official can take in their whole career,” Mayor Gloria Bradford said. “I believe this is a good start. I think the elected officials have a responsibility to protect the past, but they also have a responsibility to the current [property] owners. It’s much more complex than people realize. There is a happy medium, and we find it.”

The committee will consist of five regular members and two alternates, according to Borough Clerk Michael Januszka. The mayor and council will appoint the members, and have asked interested residents to send résumés or letters of interest for their review. Although there is no criteria for membership, officials are seeking individuals with knowledge pertaining to historic preservation issues.

“At least it shows that the mayor and council have finally recognized the need and shown an interest in aiding the local residents in forming a group for historic preservation,” Michael Lewycky, vice chairman of Milltown’s Shade Tree Commission, said. “A committee or commission is only as good as its members, and I hope that they pick the best possible applicants to move this project along.”

Four of the committee members will serve three-year terms. One Borough Council member will serve a one-year term on the committee, and both the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment will be consulted to seek interested parties. If members of each of these boards volunteer to sit on the committee, it would have a majority of government officials, said Michael Shakarjian, chairman of the Lawrence Brook Watershed Partnership.

“The governing body has made a move forward, and the concerned residents are happy about that,” Shakarjian said. “We really need to see some action. That’s the bottom line.”

Once formed, the committee will be given 180 days to put together a list of historic properties in town. From there, it will make recommendations to be considered by the mayor and council.

One major concern for some residents has been the potential demolition of the Forney House and Clinic, as Valley National Bank has proposed a branch on the site. The building dates back to the mid to late 1800s. It was used as a medical facility between 1907 and the 1970s, with many of the town’s residents born within its walls.

In October, the building was deemed eligible for the state and national historic registers, but it remains unclear whether that will have any effect on the decision to be made by the Board of Adjustment. The next hearing on the application will be Jan. 3.

Lewycky said he is hopeful that the committee will be able to act in time to save the clinic, but that it looks unlikely, since its future members will not meet until some time in January at the earliest.

“There is really little hope that this will help, but it may help with [the] Ford Avenue [redevelopment project],” he said, referring to the factory buildings on Ford Avenue that date to the beginning of the 1900s.