Historic Preservation Commission

MINUTES HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION TOWN OF BUENA VISTA, COLORADO August 5, 2021 3:00 PM Virtual Meeting Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/95118280381 Meeting ID: 951 1828 0381 Passcode: 20212021 Listen via phone at: 1‐720‐707‐2699 Meeting ID: 951 1828 0381 Passcode: 20212021 I. CALL TO ORDER John O’Brien called the meeting to order at 3:03 pm and noted that it is the HPC’s 5‐year anniversary. II. ROLL CALL Commissioners Suzy Kelly, John O’Brien, Jo Reese, Katy Welter, Mary Therese Antsley, Vic Kuklin, and Nancy Locke attended in person. Commissioner Melanie Roth attended remotely. AGENDA ADOPTION Mary Therese made a motion to adopt the Agenda and Suzy seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – July 1, 2021 Melanie identified a couple of typos. Suzy moved to approve the minutes as amended; Mary Therese seconded. The motion was carried unanimously. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT None. V. BUSINESS ITEMS A. Residential Survey public presentation comments Suzy was approached by property owners on Sterling St; the owners of the Crymble house (410 Piñon St) B. Records Grant update Lindsay Bertram of Bertram Media has made a proposal to BV Heritage to continue the scanning work beginning in September. Additionally, Andrew Wood, a digital archives expert in Leadville, will collaborate with BV Heritage on the project. This Agenda may be Amended Posted at Buena Vista Town Hall and www.buenavistaco.gov C. Upcoming local landmark plaque ceremony 412 E Main (the “Jailhouse”) and the Courthouse are due for a local landmark ceremony. John proposed inviting Governor Polis to attend, and Jo offered to help. D. HPC 2021 progress to date and opportunities for improvement John lead by stating that the HPC’s greatest assets are ourselves and proceeded to state each of the Commissioners’ strengths. Accomplishments: Surveyed over 50 properties. Awarded over $50k in grants. Completed architectural design review on several properties and made a difference on every one of them. Digitizing over 1,000 photos. Collectively obtaining extensive training and education (probably 1,000 hours). Recently we’ve attracted a very high quality board member in Mary Therese. But at times we can feel discouraged. And he invited ideas about what we can do better. Jo Reese — Suggest consolidating and updating outreach goals. Suzy —Suggest sending individual surveys to the property owners along with a one‐page “what next” kind of handout. Mary Therese — Shared a handout with several suggestions: improve relationship with town trustees and other community members; improve website to include a photo gallery of listed properties; pursue downtown commercial local historic district; find a case study of someone who successfully applied for tax credits; recognize historic preservation month (May); and “History Lives Here” interpretive campaign. Nancy Locke — Local landmarking was really valuable. Vic Kuklin — Suggested BOT adoption of Architectural Design Guidelines as mandate and would like to see the height limit to be lower. Katy Welter — Suggested partnering with other like‐minded organizations, especially with respect to housing. Melanie Roth — Suggested looking into a revolving loan fund. Also would like to focus on Phase 3 of the survey (west main). Unnamed staff member — Would like to work on following defined process. Keep the PR coming. Push local designation. Mark Doering — Make sure we are positive in our message, especially when things don’t “go our way.” Sharing stories about existing properties. Partnering with the business and commercial property owner community about what that means for them and eliciting people who are excited about it. This Agenda may be Amended Posted at Buena Vista Town Hall and www.buenavistaco.gov  John summarized all of the suggestions: 1. Get the survey into the property owners’ and public’s hands. a. Mailings. b. Improvement to website. c. Preservation library. d. One‐pager on “what do I do with this”? (Katy will draft; Mary Therese will review.) 2. Partnering with other groups. a. Beautification b. Chamber (after hours?) 3. Focus on housing. a. Talk to related organizations (Chaffee Housing Trust, Chaffee Community Foundation, Habitat for Humanity). (Katy) b. Work with existing historic homeowners to improve their homes. (Melanie may have ideas/experience) 4. Pursue historic district. a. Possibly a “little h” historic district rather than formal historic district. b. Tie in to May 2022 “history month.” 5. Local landmarking a. Town Hall b. The Chapel c. Parks d. Pursue other property owners who might be interested 6. Budget season a. Agenda item for next meeting b. Phase 3 of survey 7. Supporting existing historic homeowners a. Create trades list b. Help with senior tax reduction E. Next meeting date and location: September 2, 2021 3:00 pm VII. STAFF UPDATES Joseph Teipel will be the new Town of BV Planning Director, and he will attend the September 2 meeting. VIII. ADJOURNMENT at 5:00 Respectfully submitted John O’Brien Chair This Agenda may be Amended Posted at Buena Vista Town Hall and www.buenavistaco.gov