Everett Historical Commission

Everett Historical Commission Minutes October 27, 2015 Members Present Members Absent Visitors City Staff Bobby Olsen Mark Soine Russ Hermes Jan Meston Bill Vincent Jim Staniford Sandra Alder Ross Johnson Jack O’Donnell Dave Ramstad Niels Tygesen Arnold Morrison Paul Popelka Neil Anderson Steve Fox Laura Cameron-Behee Allan White Dale Good Bobby Olsen: Welcome to the Historical Commission meeting. Our first item is approval of the minutes for the September meeting. Approval of Minutes Laura Cameron-Behee and Jack O’Donnell noted several corrections. Jack O’Donnell moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Neil Anderson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Citizen Comments Dave Ramstad: On behalf of Historic Everett, I’d like to invite you all to Everett History Night at the Anchor Pub on November 5. The essential element of the program is a commemoration of the Everett Massacre of November 5, 1916. We are warming up for a big to-do next year for the 100th anniversary. Commissioner Comments Neil Anderson: Last Saturday night I attended a concert at the historic Everett Theatre. The manager mentioned that the historic Everett Theatre was nominated for one of the King-5 TV Northwest Best Places. It was nice to see the building get the regional recognition. Bill Vincent: The presentation on the Powder Mill Gulch mill explosion was great. The speaker, Christopher Summit, a guide of the Boeing tour and president of the Mukilteo Historical Society, held us spellbound. It was first rate. Jack O’Donnell: The Everett Public Library is taking on a project to restore the mural in the Hoyt Avenue entrance. It’s on the west wall. The north and south wall murals are from the 1890s to 1930s. The mural above the balcony was compromised years ago by putting two doors in it. The restoration project is just getting underway. It will be done much the same as restoration of the painting in the Wall Street lobby. Mr. Malarky will be involved again. Wonderful news. Laura Cameron-Behee: I have noticed that a lot has appeared in the 1100 block of Rucker and I understand that a home is to be built there. Have you seen any drawings? Jan Meston: Yes, we have. A lot was created and a new single-family residence will be built. If there is not a demolition or any deviations requested and it is not a multi-family development, the design just goes through staff review. The design we reviewed meets the standards. Steve Fox: I just got back from a multi-week trip. I went through several cities that had wonderful historic districts. They all had signs in the sidewalk or on the buildings to tell a little bit of history. We have this wonderful historic district on Hewitt Avenue. What kind of funding sources might there be to put signs in the sidewalk or on the buildings? Jan Meston: That will take a little research. I’ll get back to you. Steve Fox: Also, there are numerous signs on I-5 for historic districts. We need to get a sign. Allan White: I gave my book on the Claremont Neighborhood to my sister and she just can’t put it down. She knows some of the people involved. Additions to the Agenda Jan Meston: I have some quick topics I’d like to cover at the end of the agenda. Application for Special Valuation of Watson’s Bakery Building Jan Meston: I have a PowerPoint presentation with photos of the restoration. Russ Hermes, one of the owners, is here tonight. Russ Hermes: In pursuing the Special Valuation we have worked with Jan Meston, providing her with records and documents. We submitted two sets of receipts, one totaling $1.83 million and another totaling $417,000. There are two sets of receipts because we were ready to go to war with our insurance company and were keeping meticulous records. When the insurance company issue was resolved, we kept the second set of records from that time to completion. I have provided both sets of documents which correlate to different time periods to the Commission. Not all the expenses fit nicely within the confines of your requirements. That is something that we will address is our presentation. I appreciate your consideration of this Special Valuation application. We have been blessed with approval by City Council of placing the building on the Everett Register. I would be honored, at my expense, to purchase some kind of plaque or wall decoration to place on the outside of our building. I want to coordinate with what type of plaque the Commission would approve, and once we know what is acceptable, we would like to purchase that. I’d be willing to answer any questions you may have. Bill Vincent: My compliments to your bookkeeper. Talk about detail. Jan Meston: (Reviewed before and after photos of the restoration.) You’ll note that there was originally a porch set in under the second story. The renovation of the building brought this porch out flush with the second floor. 2 The direction in the Everett Municipal Code is that the Historical Commission will approve the application if the property meets four criteria and is not altered in a way that adversely affects the historic elements of the building. The Historical Commission makes the final decision on Special Valuation; it does not go to City Council for review. This slide summarizes the types of expenditures that are considered “qualifying” for Special Valuation. They are based on the IRS code. It includes most expenditures. We received copies of receipts for work on Watson’s Bakery Building. Staff has reviewed their receipts to verify that they are qualified. Expenses that cannot be included are costs related to acquisition of property and any costs of expansion of the building. In this case expenses related to purchase of two feet of property required to build an eastern wall for the building are now allowed to be included. Also, costs of expanding the first floor to make the façade flush are not included. In your meeting packets you received a spreadsheet of expenses which I had received when the packets were mailed. In addition, you have received this even a supplemental list of expenses. I have reviewed the spreadsheet, compared the receipts with the items on the spreadsheet, and verified which costs are qualifying and which are not. Receipts may be submitted for a period of time 24 months before the date when the Special Valuation application is submitted to the assessor. This summary shows the total amount of expenses, the amount of expenses not allowed because they didn’t fall within the 24-month period, expenses not allowed for acquisition of property, and expenses not allowed for expansion of the building. The bottom line of expenses is $1,312,181. There are four criteria for allowing Special Valuation: 1. The building must be on the Everett Register. Listing of Watson’s Bakery was approved by City Council on October 21st. 2. The building must be rehabilitated at a cost of at least 25% of the assessed of the building at the beginning of rehabilitation. The starting valuation of this building was $127,100, so the cost of the qualified expenses greatly exceeds 25%. 3. The work must be completed within 24 months of the date of receipt of the application by the County Assessor. 4. The property must be protected by an agreement between the owner and the City of Everett as described in the RCW. The City has a standard Historic Preservation Agreement that we will have signed that meets these requirements. The Historical Commission will approve a given amount of expenses for Special Valuation. Since I have not yet verified the receipts received this evening, if you desire you could make a motion to approve the Special Valuation contingent on the expenses being verified. Dale Good: What does Special Valuation mean to the building owner? Jan Meston: It means that the approved amount of qualified expenses will be deducted from the assessed value of the building only, not the land, for up to 10 years. The point is to encourage historic preservation. Many people would have decided to demolish the building rather than to restore it. 3 Allan White: Is the 24-month period an RCW requirement? Jan Meston: Yes. Allan White: That seems like a challenge to fit all that work into that period. Jan Meston: It can be. Bobby Olsen: Do we have the total amount of expenses at this time? Jan Meston: I believe the number is $1,312,180, but that number could change slightly during the review of the receipts submitted this evening. Bobby Olsen: If the expenses greatly exceed the assessed valuation, do you receive any funds back from the assessor? Jan Meston: No, there is no credit. They may just not pay any taxes on the building. They would still pay taxes on the building. Dale Good moved to approve the application for Special Valuation for Watson’s Bakery Building at 1812 Hewitt Avenue in the amount of $1,312,180 contingent on the expenses being verified by staff. Steve Fox seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Jack O’Donnell: Thank you for this project. Additional Topics Jan Meston: Jack O’Donnell has mentioned before that he’d like to have Sandra Alder come talk to you about the windows in the Carnegie Building. You also inquired about the status of the Longfellow Building at the last meeting. I emailed Mike Gunn with the Everett School District about that. His response was that “there is not much to report; there is no change to the status of the Longfellow Building. We are currently scheduled to provide the School Board an update on this report on December 14th.” Dave Ramstad: Will Carol Thomas be coming to talk to us about the coming display in the lobby? Jan Meston: She is tentatively scheduled to come in January. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. 4