Saturday, July 22, 2006

The President reported that very little seemed to be happening at City Hall regarding the proposed Historic Tree Ordinance. At the April membership meeting, the members had asked that the Board of Directors to formulate a recommendation on this subject and present it to the membership at the next meeting. The President reported that the Board recommended that the Society take no position on this matter. This recommendation was accepted by the membership.

The President presented a “Certificate of Historical Achievement” to long-time member Verne Odlin. Verne has been the newsletter editor, a member of the Board of Directors, and the Treasurer of the Society for many years. In addition, he has also been in charge of the Society's photo collection. Verne is now moving out of the area and will no longer be able to keep up his involvement in the Society. The President acknowledged Verne's enormous contributions over the years and thanked Verne for his many years of service.

The President described some of the research that he and M. Selph had been doing regarding historic preservation and the oldest houses in El Cerrito . He presented for review by the membership a portfolio of old houses put together by Mrs. Selph and additionally some materials that he had put together. The President also reported that he had met with Betty Marvin, a planner at the City of Oakland and advisor to the Oakland Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board; had spoken with Helaine Kaplan Prentice from the School of Architecture at UC Berkeley and former secretary of the Oakland Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board; and had met with Wendy Markel, the President of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. The purpose of these conversations was to learn more about their activities and processes in historic preservation

The final item discussed was the book about street names in El Cerrito that the Society hopes to publish in 2007. The president noted that the derivation of about two-thirds of the street names has been determined and he appealed to the membership for any information they might have regarding the balance of the names. Several members asked for and received a list of the unresolved names. The membership also suggested that the Society try to appeal for help through The El Cerrito Journal and local service clubs.