Everett Historical Commission

APPROVED Everett Historical Commission Minutes February 23, 2016 Members Present Members Absent Visitors City Staff Allan White Neil Anderson Dave Ramstad Allan Giffen Arnold Morrison (Excused) Isabella Valencia David Stahlheim Bill Vincent Judy Touhy Niels Tygesen Bobby Olsen Paul Popelka Dale Good Ross Johnson Glenn Hunter Jack O’Donnell Laura Cameron- Behee Mark Soine Steve Fox CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Everett Historical Commission was scheduled for Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 6:30 p.m., in the Hearing Room in Everett City Hall at 2930 Wetmore Avenue, Everett, WA 98201. Chair O’Donnell called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair O’Donnell requested action on the February 23 meeting minutes. Commissioner Cameron-Behee moved to approve the February 23, 2016 minutes as corrected. Motion seconded by Commissioner Olson. Motion passed unanimously. CITIZEN COMMENTS Isabella Valencia 1618 Hewitt Ave, Everett WA Ms. Valencia announced the grand opening of her fine arts gallery/coffee and wine bar. She plans to restore the building façade, and is also working to revive an art walk every third Thursday of the month from 500-900pm. Dave Ramstad 1301 Pinkerton Ave, Everett WA Mr. Ramstad shared news about the Everett Library Northwest Room and the Everett Massacre. The library is searching for funding to digitize Everett Herald archives to as the original newspapers are deteriorating. Page 1 of 4 Everett’s two historic nonprofit groups, Historic Everett and Everett Museum of History, are joining with the City and Library to commemorate the centennial of the Everett Massacre the first weekend of November. A historical marker is being provided by the Port Gardner Neighborhood, and a graphic novel is being written by Deb Fox, a retired Hollywood artist. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Fox noted the 100th anniversary of the 1916 snowstorm that shut down the city. Chair O’Donnell shared an Everett Herald article recognizing Commissioner Vincent’s service to the community. He also noted an obituary for Harry Ramwell (Commissioner Vincent’s father was his chauffeur), and discussed arranging a gathering to view the Ramwell collection at the Elks Club. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA Chair O’Donnell added three items to the agenda – naming of the Riverfront Park Parcel, election of a commission vice-chair, and discussion of optional meeting space for the commission. NAMING OF RIVERFRONT PARK PARCEL Director Allan Giffen distributed a memorandum from Paul Kaftanski to the Mayor regarding the naming process for this new park along with a City Council resolution on the naming policy. The Parks Board will consider this at their April 12, 2016 meeting, and it will be brought to the Historical Commission for possible action at the April 26, 2016 meeting. ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR Chair O’Donnell called for nominations for the 2016 Commission Vice-Chair. Commissioner Fox moved to nominate Laura Cameron-Behee as Vice-Chair. Motion seconded by Commissioner White. Motion passed unanimously. BRIEFING ON METROPOLITAN CENTER SUBAREA PLAN Manager Stahlheim gave an overview of the subarea plan including the following points: • Everett is one of five metropolitan centers (plus Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and Bremerton) designated by the Puget Sound Regional Council where most future growth would occur. • Related past plans include the Everett Station Plan (2005), Downtown Plan (2006), and Broadway Mixed Use and Core Residential Standards (2008). • Goals of the project include reaffirming the vision, defining capital improvement projects, acting on Community Streets Initiatives recommendations, identifying catalyst brownfield sites, and implementing the vision. • Identifying stakeholders; the Planning Commission will be the overall Citizen Committee. • Public Participation Plan for public involvement. • Next steps include collecting data, market analysis and engaging the public. Page 2 of 4 Planner Popelka discussed ways to involve the Historical Commission in the planning process and engaging the public. Public engagement that is specific to historic preservation may include walking tours, workshops, focus groups, and other methods. He noted that, in relation to historic preservation, the purpose of this planning process is to raise public awareness and strengthen programs and regulations. Discussion with the Commission included the following: • Accommodate growth with new buildings versus preserving existing historic buildings in the downtown area. • Important to preserve the character of historic areas. • Relation of low density residential in historic overlay areas to planned areas of higher density development. • Growth also has potential to help revitalize downtown area. • Possible public workshop devoted to historic preservation. CLAREMONT HEIGHTS INVENTORY Planner Popelka gave an overview of the inventory project for the Claremont Heights subdivision. The work is for a detailed inventory of 90 historic homes in the subdivision. The inventory will be conducted by BOLA Architecture + Planning, who also prepared the Claremont Neighborhood Context Statement and Neighborhood Survey in 2014. BOLA will present their work to the Historical Commission in June or July. 2016 WORK PROGRAM Planner Popelka continued discussion from last month’s meeting on possible projects for 2016. The Commission reviewed, in no order of priority, the following: Claremont Heights Inventory CLG Training Various brochures Metro Center Naming policy / projects (bridge) Hewitt District - freeway signs - district signs - endangered / possible contributing building inventory Sidewalk standards Interpretive projects Mill Town Trail signs Other register nominations Other historic inventories/updates Discussion with the Commission included the following: • Claremont Inventory will be completed in about 3 months. • Ballard has historic building sign program that Everett should consider. • Hewitt District has ‘interpretive trail’ with phone app tours; consider walking tours. • Projects are subject to funding; City dedicates staff time, but no other funding. Page 3 of 4  • Define projects and programs and then pursue grants and other funding sources. • Checking funding in other cities (Ballard, Bellingham, Pueblo, Monterey, etc). • Coordinate with Historic Everett. • Expand issue of sidewalk standards to include pedestrian friendly crossings. • Prioritize list of work items at next meeting. MEETING VENUE Planner Popelka reviewed other potential meeting sites for the Commission, including the Council Chambers, Everett Station and the Everett Library. More information will be brought to the next meeting. ADDITIONAL TOPICS Chair O’Donnell noted that the Swalwell Cottage at 2712 Pine is coming up at auction with a starting bid of $40,000. He expressed concerns about the building’s future and its potential loss. Planner Popelka noted that the City is proposing to replace windows at the Everett Library. This project will be brought to the Commission at a future meeting. Gene Fosheim, author of Mill Town Boy, will be invited to a future meeting to discuss his book. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:53 p.m. Page 4 of 4