Getting Started
President Todd called the meeting to order at 12:21 pm. The salute to the flag was followed by a moment of prayer offered by Alden Welch. Our voices were raised, singing “America” under the guidance and encouragement of Kathy Shankman.
It was noted that we had 22 of our club members present, with John Cuozzo’s guest – Paul LiTrenta, plus our two guest speakers. Denise Current thanked those present for being here for the luncheon and presentation by our guest speakers Griffin Caldwell and Chelsea Horuzy (the granddaughter of Paul Horuzy of Ogdensburg).
Happy Dollars were contributed by:
John Cuozzo – gave $2 – for Paul LiTrenta being with him at lunch today.
Alice Vigiletti – gave a dollar for having attended the Rotary Leadership Training program that was held recently.
Nancy Morrisey – gave $1 – was surprised that when Carolyn Ottenbreit came in, she ended up sitting at a table by herself – that Mike Hannifan left his table and joined her so that she was not sitting alone. “He acted like a true Rotarian”, Morrisey was quoted as saying to those sitting at her table.
Carolyn Ottenbreit – gave a buck – to being at the luncheon today.
Announcements
President Todd asked if there was anyone in the club who could use a get-well card or some similar expression of concern and well wishes. It was suggested that we send a card to Bob Shankman. A card was circulated and signed by everyone present and the card went home to Bob via Kathy.
President Todd spoke again about the Military Vehicle event at the Fair Grounds taking place on April 28, 29 and 30. We will be opening our food booth and will be the ONLY group selling food there from a booth. I guess you could say that we are going to hopefully corner the market on this event. Todd again circulated the sign-up sheet for that event today. Hours for our work shifts will be are:
Friday, the 28th – One shift – 4:30 to 7:00 PM - (initial booth setup)
Saturday, the 29th - Two shifts – 8:30 to 12:30 and 12:30 to 5:30 PM
Sunday, the 30th – Two shifts - 8:30 to 12:30 and 12:30 to 3:30
Friday will not just be a set-up time – but also we will be serving dinner to the vast majority of those assembled there the night before the Saturday/Sunday program events.
We still need a few more of our members to sign up for this project. It will be work! It will be fun! It will raise a goodly amount of money for our club. Fortunately, there are only a few open slots left on the sign-up sheet. PLEASE consider signing up and making each shift complete.
Todd thanked Wayne McCabe for agreeing to handle the writing of the weekly newsletter for the balance of his term as president. Then, on the other hand, Incoming President Carl sat up at the head table and waved his hand somewhat dismissively saying that Wayne should just continue with that throughout his year as President. I guess we will see what happens.
Marge McCabe reported to the members on the status of chocolate bar sales. By having the bars on sale at high volume personal service firms (barbers and beauty parlors, and other commercial establishments) sales have maintained a steady fast pace. It seems that by the end of April, we will start to cut back on the sales – by which point we will have a rough net profit of $2,000. That means we would have sold roughly 2,000 candy bars. Marge said that we would pick back up again in the early fall of this year. Suggestion – buy stock in dental supply manufacturing companies.
It was also stressed that the blue jars on the tables was for loose change or folding money to go to help fight polio. While we thought we rid the world of this plague, it crept back out in different spots around the globe in countries that do not encourage or outright forbid the inoculation of children. So, we as Rotarians have to rise to the clarion call and once again raise money to help fight polio.
Speakers for next week includes:
Wednesday, April 26 – a presentation about Scouting in our community. Our very own Jim Taylor will be leading the discussion. Our brother Rotarian, Mike Hanifan, is scheduled to receive an award for his past activities in scouting.
Presentation by Chelsea Horuzy and Griffin Caldwell - the Water Street Lofts project
Today, we received a presentation from two members of the team promoting the new housing being built on Route 206 (Water Street) in town. The owners, Dykstra Engineering and another land development company as their partner, acquired the former G & H Equipment property that is located at the intersection of Water Street (U.S. Route 206) and South Park Drive.
After getting all of the necessary site plan permits from the Town of Newton, County of Sussex, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and the NJ Department of Transportation, the developers built out the three commercial retail stores with site improvements first. Starbucks was the first to open in November 2022. Panera Bread and Chipotle opened within a few months after that.
The next phase of the work was the erection of the three four-story residential structures, with all of the necessary site improvements.
Chelsea Horuzy took over the presentation at this point. She noted that the entire housing project is known as the Water Street Lofts, and has a total of 100 rental apartments. There is a total of 47 two-bedroom apartments and 53 one-bedroom apartments. The one-bedroom apartments have an area of between 850 and 900 square feet each, while the two-bedroom apartments have between 1100 and 1200 square feet each. All of the apartments will be at “market value”, with none being required by the town to be set aside for low- or moderate-income families.
Chelsea also noted that the amenities would include an outdoor and indoor patio on the top floor of the rear building with the open area facing out toward 206. Here, residents of the housing complex can relax, and also have guests with them in that facility. She also noted that there will be 8 charging stations for electric vehicles when the facility opens. They have the entire facility already wired underground so that there can be up to 32 charging stations.
Chelsea further noted that the Developers have already received over 400 expressions of interest in the facility. The majority of those expressing an interest are seniors and especially young couples. She did say that there were a lot of people who work for Thor Labs who have been making enquiries.
Chelsea, who will be responsible for heading up the team that will coordinate all the rentals, showed samples of the different materials and renderings of what the inside and exterior of the building will look like. She discussed the different types of neutral paint colors that will be used in the apartments when they are ready for occupancy, as well as the type of flooring, cabinetry and countertops that that will be assault.
One of the things that Chelsea and Griffin focused on was the walkability of the site. They said that there was a design concept of the use to try to center all the walking in one way or another so that people could easily get around on the site, or over to either the two major food store is located on either side of the development. There was additional comment made regarding the fact that they have a “Luxer Smart Packaging System”. This system allows for a single point in each building for packages and other large items being delivered to be stored so that they can be easily picked up by the tenants without any lack of security.
Following the presentation, there was a lively, and sometimes pointed, question and answer session. Laura, with a little prompting, asked one of the most important questions of the afternoon – ‘which apartment has the best view of Georgia Salvage”? Griffin deflected the issue by pointing out that the views from the top floors, looking to the north, provides a great view of the mountain ranges running in the northerly direction. Just remember through – George’s Salvage has been there for over 50 years and most likely is not going anywhere in the foreseeable future.
Editor’s Note
As a land use planner, I should note that this project is the largest new capital construction project in town, with the sole exception of Thor Labs, which is constantly involved in major capital construction somewhere in Newton.
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