Cornell College will be installing an Amazon Drop Box outside Thomas Commons ahead of fall semester. Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission approved the change with no material effect to the historic district.

The Amazon Drop Box will eliminate one of the issues that has plagued the campus mail room at Thomas Commons in recent years, of Amazon delivery drivers dropping items off at the wrong locations and packages then getting lost or stolen.

“It will allow items to be dropped off 24/7 by drivers or picked up by students when it’s convenient for them as well,” said Susan Ridenour of Cornell College.

The drop box will be located near the loading dock at Cornell College’s Thomas Commons, in an area that is well lit and visible by campus security.

Donnie Moore noted it is a temporary structure, and can be replaced or removed in the future if needs be and would have no impact to the building, aside from the electricity routed to the box to allow people to gain access to the lockers their packages are stored in. Students would access their packages using an application that would give them the requisite security code to unlock the box that contains their package for pick-up, making sure they are one of the only who has access to that particular box.

“I think as a commission, we need to be adaptable to the needs of the future,” said commission member Mary Evans. “This is placed in a spot where it wouldn’t be seen except for those who need to use it, and not with a lot of signage.”

Commission member Mike Guerber concurred, noting that the box is located in the middle of campus where students frequent.

Commission member Guy Booth made an approval of no material effect, with Moore seconding.

Other applications reviewed by commission

The historic preservation commission also had discussions on three additional applications.

The first application was for a tuckpointing request for Vintage 1891.

The commission took no action on the application, noting it was for maintenance of a building, but discussion happened on if applicants should work more closely to make sure the mortar they use matches the colors of the previous mortar used.

Commission member Sherry Brayton said tuckpointing done to Right Frame of Mind using mortar that was historic was starting to crumble, roughly 15 to 16 years after that work was completed. She had come to HPC when they were doing work on the building after receiving a grant for work that was completed.

Evans said she was glad the request had come up to the commission before work had begun so she knew what was happening at least.

Commission members said they may revisit the topic on tuckpointing and approvals at a future meeting.

The commission tabled action on a generator to be installed at Memorial Park because no representation was there to answer questions.

Guerber said the primary issues are the placement of the generator, the visuals of the generator and the impact to the ambience of the park when the generator is running.

Commission member Duane Eash said generators have annual and monthly tests to make sure they are operating before a power outage hits.

The commission was unsure if the generator request had been approved by the City of Mount Vernon to begin with, as the city had approved work to new cell phone tower work on top of the water tower that this would likely benefit.

A representative from TMobile was supposed to be in attendance of the meeting via Zoom, but they were not present.

The commission moved to table any action until questions could be answered on the project from either the city or TMobile.

The commission approved a demolition application for a deck for the Gondeks, but noted in the approval that a representative from either the family or Linn County were missing to discuss the issue.

The deck attached to the property was built in the 1990s and is rotting. It was not properly flashed to the house, and as such is damaging the house by not being removed.

“This is one of the more straightforward applications we’ve seen,” Eash said. “There’s no historical significance to the deck, and it would be an improvement to the home to remove it, as it’s damaging the house.”

Commission member Randy Brown moved to approve the application with the mention a homeowner should have been present, as stated in the commission’s guidelines. Guerber seconded.

Historic details and cemetery update

A note has been included as to the fate of the missing city council minutes from 1861 to 1880.

The historic preservation commission has minutes from the city council meetings from 1881 through present, but not from 1861 to 1880. Commission member Mary Evans said those minutes had been destroyed by a fire in the old Mount Vernon Pharmacy building at that time. A presentation on the fires will be made as part of the adult speaker series at Lester Buresh Center this fall.

An assessment of the 100 gravestones in the cemetery that need repairs will be completed in July, with the workshop on how to do that being held Monday, July 14 at city hall and then hands on at the cemetery that afternoon.

An Eagle Scout project will also work on the fence line at the cemetery this fall as well.

Commission members also reviewed drafts of design guidelines from JMT and made notes of minor changes and improvements to pass on.