Morris County Honors Historic Preservation Board Members As Their Terms Expire
Published on November 19, 2020
One Member Has Served Since the Inception of Morris County's Historic Preservation Board
The Morris County Board of Freeholders have issued special resolutions of honor to four members of the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust Fund Review Board whose terms expired this week, including one member who has been on the board since its inception.
Lawrence Fast of Long Hill Township, who also is a member of the Morris County Heritage Commission, was first appointed to the Historic Preservation Board on Feb. 23, 2003 and served over the span of 16 years, except for the two-year period of 2012 and 2013. The other members, Eileen Stokes of Washington Township, Monica Scozzafava of Boonton and Chairwoman Nita Galate of Mt. Arlington Borough, have each served since 2015.
(JPG, 93KB) This 1972 photo shows the waterwheel at Historic Speedwell in Morristown being removed to allow repairs to the wheelhouse. Funds have been recommended this year by the Historic Preservation Trust Fund Review Board to restore the waterwheel.
These volunteers dedicated a great deal of time from their homes and families over the years to help Morris County preserve and better understand our past. They studied and visited many buildings, structures and significant locations before carefully recommending which were deserving of restoration, rehabilitation, and preservation. Their effort and the work of the rest of the board is just one more reason why Morris County remains a wonderful place to live, said Freeholder Deputy Director Stephen Shaw, who announced the honors during the four members' final public meeting last night.
(GIF, 31KB) Historic Preservation Trust Fund Review Board
During his tenure, Fast evaluated more than $53.2 million in grant requests and recommended more than $36.1 million in grant funding for various historic preservation projects and served as Chairman of the board from 2008 to 2011. Stokes, Scozzafava and Galate, who has chaired the board since 2019, evaluated more than $23.6 million in grant requests during their tenure and recommended more than $18.6 million in grant funding for various historic preservation projects.
I want to thank the four Historic Preservation Review Board members who were so dedicated to advising the Freeholders on the funding recommendations of historic preservation projects for many years. Every year we have a great time riding on a bus to visit and learn about historic sites throughout the county. They are incredibly knowledgeable, and it was my pleasure to have served alongside them, said Ray Chang, the Historic Preservation Program Coordinator for the Morris County Office of Planning & Preservation.
The Morris County Freeholders created the county's 11-member Historic Preservation Trust Fund in 2003 to help support the preservation of the county's abundance of exceptional historic resources. That decision was made following a 2002 referendum in which county voters approved a referendum authorizing the use of county Open Space Trust Fund dollars for historic preservation.
Awards are made for projects that offer significant contributions to the advancement of historic preservation, restorations, rehabilitations, and adaptive use plans of historic buildings and cultural landscapes.