Historic Preservation & Architectural Review Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE COHOES HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD HELD MEETING VIRTUALLY VIA THE ZOOM APPLICATION ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2020 AT 6:30 PM MEMBERS PRESENT: Daniele Cherniak, Chairperson Tom Rifenberg Evan Lamb John Frainier MEMBERS ABSENT: Barbara Hildreth, Vice Chairperson ALSO PRESENT: Joseph Seman-Graves, City Planner Sharon Butler, Administrative Assistant Chairperson Cherniak called the meeting to order at 6:31 PM. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES FROM THE OCTOBER 20, 2020 MEETING Chairperson Cherniak: Ok, the minutes, has everyone had a chance to review the minutes? Ok do I have a motion to accept the minutes? With no questions or comments Tom Rifenberg made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. John Frainier seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. YES NO ABSTAIN Daniele Cherniak X Barbara Hildreth ABSENT Thomas Rifenberg X Evan Lamb X John Frainier X CONSIDERATION OF A NEW SHINGLED ROOF AT 107 CANVASS STREET Chairperson Cherniak: ok our next item on the agenda is consideration of a shingled roof at 107 Canvass Street. Joe Seman Graves; no one I s here so I’ll just go through it. Chairperson Cherniak; so are they picking a color that will….. Joe Seman Graves; see that middle one that’s circled (picture on screen) Colonial Slate Chairperson Cherniak; ok, it will have a slated appearance. Joe Seman Graves; yea and they tried to send picture of houses they’ve done with the actual one because they didn’t think that the product brochure does it any justice so I included these, these were just last minute snaps they took while they had a guy in the field, something similar they’ve done. I don’t know if that is the exact color but it fairly close. It is that type of shingle Chairperson Cherniak; ok, yeah that’s just so cost prohibitive to try to replace slate and sometime it’s difficult to get people who know how to do it, so it’s always a concern. So do any of the board members have concerns? I know the applicant is not here, but any thoughts or questions we might have? Member Frainier; I don’t have a problem with the replacement, I was wondering are they going to try to recycle some of the old slate for another project somewhere else? Joe Seman Graves; we were going to ask if we could keep some, so I was just waiting for this meeting to be over and I was going to approach them to see if we could, if there were salvageable pieces, if we could possibly keep a pile for repairs for the library. But that’s, otherwise I think they’ll just be tossing them. Chairperson Cherniak; ok any other questions? So, do we want to go forward with approving the application? Member Rifenberg; yea, I’ll make a motion to approve Chairperson Cherniak; do we have a 2nd? Member Lamb; I’ll 2nd that All in favor, motion carried YES NO ABSTAIN Daniele Cherniak X Barbara Hildreth ABSENT Thomas Rifenberg X Evan Lamb X John Frainier X CONSIDERATION OF A FAÇADE ENHANCEMENTS AND NEW SIGNAGE AT 300 ONTARIO STREET Chairperson Cherniak: so our next item,…so do we have any members of the public on? I’m sorry I didn’t ask that Joe Seman Graves; there’s no one here Chairperson Cherniak; ok I didn’t want to overlook anybody if someone wanted to make comments about this. Ok, so our next item is consideration of façade enhancement and signs at 300 Ontario Street. Joe Seman Graves; so I can explain a little bit because I talked to her. This is, so she is an artist, one and then she has a bunch of other little jobs that she does. She owns a bar in Troy, so she’s kind of a jack of all trades. Her goal is to open this up as just a breakfast spot, breakfast sandwiches, coffee. The signage itself is going to be handmade and then she’s going to paint the façade in the colors you see here (slide on screen). It’s a little bit elementary, the image she gave us, but it was a very last minute image that she gave the day the application was due. She just happened to be in the office and I told her this is your last chance, so she went back did this, brought it back to us and this is what we have. Unfortunately she’s not here to speak on it, but this is, it’s pretty much just lettering and some paint. Chairperson Cherniak; so she’s just putting the lettering, it’s not going to be like a sign like the Uncle John’s Diner, it’s just going to be lettering put over the painted area? Joe Seman Graves; individual letter, wooden letters Chairperson Cherniak; and otherwise it’s just painting and putting in a new awning, so it’s a similar kind of awning to the one that’s there? Other than different colors? Joe Seman Graves; yes, so she originally wanted to just paint the awning, but she, she’s either going to leave it as is for the time being or replace it. The thing with her is she’s going to be leasing this for the first 6 months to a year and then have the ability to buy after that point. So if she buys the building then she would be replacing the awning Chairperson Cherniak; ok but the problem is that if she leaves the same awning, the color scheme won’t look good at all. Especially with the yellow door. Joe Seman Graves; would you prefer that the awning is painted or replace? I know other people have painted awnings in the past Chairperson Cherniak; well I guess. I think it’s really up to the individual ad it would depend on how much money they have to spend, what kind of shape the awning is in, so I think either would be acceptable. Joe Seman Graves; would you want to see the awning removed if it’s not painted or replaced right now? Chairperson Cherniak; well I don’t think that’s necessary, I was just thinking that it would be, the colors wouldn’t compliment each other, but that’s sort of more of an aesthetic issue that if they’re ok with it then that’s their business, I guess. I don’t know what other members think about that with the issue with the awning. Member Frainier; I think you’re getting short in the time where you can paint things with the weather so. This might be a spring time project. Member Rifenberg; right and if we’re only looking at maybe a year out having it replaced, spring is 6 months away, we’re already half way there, might as well just leave it at that point right? Chairperson Cherniak; yea, I mean I don’t have any objections to them leaving it and waiting on painting it, I don’t see that as a problem. Ok any other thoughts or questions about this proposal? Member Frainier; I think it’s a simple enough plan and we should go along with it Chairperson Cherniak; ok so do I have a motion to approve the plan? Member Frainier; so moved Chairperson Cherniak; do I have a 2nd? Member Lamb; I’ll 2nd All in favor motion carried YES NO ABSTAIN Daniele Cherniak X Barbara Hildreth ABSENT Thomas Rifenberg X Evan Lamb X John Frainier X Chairperson Cherniak; ok so since we don’t have any members from the public, do we have any other topics for discussion among the board for this evening? Joe Seman Graves; just since the last meeting, I have failed to follow-up on certain things that I said I would because Ms. Sharon has been out, so I’m trying to play catch up at this point, but I will have updates by the next meeting Chairperson Cherniak; no problem. Ok if there’s no other topics for discussion do I have a motion to adjourn? Member Rifenberg, Member Frainier and Member Lamb all made motion to adjourn Chairperson Cherniak; we are adjourned at 6:41PM