Historic Preservation Commission

IDAHO FALLS HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Thursday, November 2, 2017 4:00 p.m., Annex Conference Room Minutes Attending: Kim Smith-Chair, Hereschell Mynarcik, Carrie Athay, Graham Whipple, Julie Williams Meeting called to order at 4:03 p.m. Minutes: Motion by Graham was made to approve minutes from July 25, 2017, August 3, 2017, September 7, 2017 and October 5, 2017 with corrections. Hereschell seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Letter will be discussed under #5. Updates on the agenda. Post Office staff report: Brent went over the staff report. A facade grant was requested through Lisa and she always likes to have a recommendation from this commission. The plan is to repaint the windows, flashing, outside railings and awning. Brent went over the color samples and explained that the outside railings are white, but the rust will be cleaned up and will be painted black and the railings do not fall under the regulations. The canvass awning will be navy. The windows will be repainted white and the flashing will be cream. Brent indicated that they are not really changing colors, just cleaning it up. Julie thanked Brent for the staff report and said it was put together well. She doesn’t see any drastic changes and feels it would be ok to recommend the Downtown Development board approve the application. The railings were added later. Graham asked about photos of the proposal. They were not part of the staff report, but Brent did have the photos and they were passed around. The reason Graham brought this up is because of another grant application that came in where there was just a description of a service door, how does the contractor know to match an existing height, Where there is no material change, it is just a change color and fabric he is ok with it. He wanted it on the record to be careful not to set a precedence. The commission agreed that they were ok with the material and colors proposed and that there were not any design element changes. The commission also agreed that this is a beautiful building and are happy that it is being used / repurposed. Julie made a motion to recommend approval of the proposed updates. Carrie seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Historic Preservation Plan outreach: Brent asked for volunteers to start moving forward with more detailed or final ideas. He listed the booth ideas that were discussed from the last meeting.  Educational booths describing properties.  Photo and Map surveys (what do people consider historic?)  Before and after photos (public can list likes and dislikes, what does the public think should be preserved?)  Story gathering (let the museum do this)  Benefits of preservation (have the public list pro’s and con’s) Brent asked the commission which ideas they feel should be pursued. Julie stated for the education booth, defining terms and asking “what does preservation mean to you?” Graham suggested that there be an education area and give the public a sheet of paper before they go in and ask what does preservation mean to you, educate on some of the terms and projects or whatever then ask them how their perception of historic preservation changed. Do you still define it the same way as you did walking into the room? Graham stated that this will help gage how effective the education methods are. He went on to explain that it may be beneficial to explain the difference between preservation, restoration, reuse, remodel etc. the commission discussed pictures of the different types of projects. Does their attitude towards historic preservation changed as they are educated? There was discussion regarding how to present information and ask for information without fostering an answer. The hard part to make people understand is that the commission does not chain themselves to a building and say you can’t tear this down. Carrie suggested that instead of asking the public how their perception has changed, just ask for comment. Maybe ask what areas do you see that have value? Then bridge into the maps. The commission discussed good examples of buildings that have been restored. Julie explained 3 different elements of preservation and felt it was important to let the public know the commission is not trying to halt growth, the vision is to maintain character. Carrie feels that an emotional connection is effective for outreach. Need an emotional investment. Julie stated that the commission needs a brand and that the vision statement should only contain one or two lines that explain the direction the commission would like to see the community go. Something to set the tone. Should establish it before the meeting. It gives people an idea of where we are headed. There was discussion that the education and outreach needs to be generic in order not to prompt opinions, but to actually get public input. One example of preservation is the Artitorium. The remodel is modern, but the character is still there. The commission discussed Renee’s experience with outreach. Instead of nominating her to take on a task, Julie volunteered to speak with Renee to see if she would be interested in taking the lead on the outreach. Brent volunteered to work on the photo and map survey. He would like to see a map that people could leave a pin and comment on a parcel or area. It could be similar to a google map. He also stated that the city has laptops that could be used at the outreach, but would like to give the public access before and after this event. Brent said he would speak with the IT department about setting up a webpage for the map. This would also be a way to leave information for the public. The map would have an aerial, similar to a google map. Would like a context based layer or option. He would like to have a hardcopy of a map so people could make comments on a sticky note and place them on the map. He also volunteered to work with Patti to do a storyboard map through ESRI to tie descriptions to an area. The commission asked Brent to invite Patti to the January meeting and are willing to adjust the time of the next meeting to accommodate Patti’s schedule. There was more discussion regarding definitions and defining terms like Historic, and tie the terms or definitions into the map. Additional discussion came up regarding how much information should be on the map without prompting the public. They do, however a frame need work to understand so they know where they stand. Brent explained how to do that using images and asking the public to choose one, by asking which one they like best. Graham said he would help with terms and definitions. He thinks it is important for people to understand terms and definitions. It was determined that it would be helpful to use images as examples to define terms. Julie volunteered again to talk to Renee. She is also still working on context, which is a bigger job then she thought it would be. Brent stated that public outreach may take place in March or April. This will give the public a break from the public outreach that will take place in January or February for the new zoning ordinance. Kim indicated that it would be a good idea to make people aware that this event is coming up maybe in a new letter or something to spark some public interest. Graham thought using facebook would be a good way to reach younger individuals. Maybe ask youth to post midcentury structures to see what they consider midcentury. Updates: Last month there was discussion regarding the remodel at the Civic Auditorium. Julie wrote an editorial to be published in the post register, but instead of starting there she thought it would be best to start with an invitation to partner with them (IFAC) and an offer from the Idaho Heritage Trust to supply Fred Walters who is a long time historic architect from the Weiser area. The Trust has already told Julie that they would pay for him to come, not only to look at the Civic, but any other buildings. Julie drafted a letter regarding Idaho Falls Civic Auditorium rehabilitation project for the Idaho Falls Arts Council, as discussed at last month’s meeting. There is a separate committee put together for this project and Julie feels they need a copy of this letter. She also feels that Carrie Gettiy-Schied, the director and Pam should be copied on this letter too. Julie asked for the commissions input regarding the letter. Kim stated he thought the letter was great, but suggested that last paragraph should state we look forward to meeting with you or we will contact you to set up a meeting, instead of leaving it up to them to get in touch with us and take a chance of not moving forward. Brent suggested that she emphasis that it may be a benefit to them to be on the registry. Julie would like Kim to sign it on behalf of the commission since he is the chairman. Julie will complete the edits and send it to Naysha for Kim’s signature. Brent mentioned to the commission that he would be out for most of November. He is going to Chicago for a week for a conference and then taking some time off for vacation. He also announced that Jerry Meyers will be on the December agenda to discuss the Bonneville Hotel project. This would be an opportunity to review the project. The commission should let Naysha know of any questions they may have and she will check with Brad to see what information can be distributed to the Commission. Hereschell would like a contact person for Compass Academy, so he can discuss the storyboard project for the tour. Would like to be ready by May. Commission thought it would be best if homeowners are at their homes during the tours instead of help you serve. They want to be involved. Julie asked for and action items to be sent to the members after the meeting. Hereschell would like input from the commission about the list of houses for the tour, before he starts calling homeowners. Brent and Hereschell will create a board with pictures and addresses (to present to the commission to help decide which homes to tour). Kim adjourned the meeting at 5:03 p.m. Respectfully, Naysha Foster, Recording Secretary