Historic Preservation Commission

IDAHO FALLS HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Thursday, May 3, 2018 12:00 p.m., Annex Conference Room Minutes Attending: Hereschell Mynarcik, Graham Whipple, Julie Williams, Kim Smith, Rachel McMurtrey Meeting called to order at 12:04 p.m. Minutes: Julie made a motion to approve the March 1st and March 29th meeting minutes with corrections. Rachel seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. June Walking Tour: Hersh has confirmed 5 homes with 2 or 3 more potential homes. The old Curly house is not participating. He is waiting to hear back from the old Hospital. Hersh suggested that there be one person at each house and an easel with information at each location. The tour is Saturday, June 23rd. Kim will not be here, he will be attending a conference. Hersh explained that Ms. Stoddard is in the hospital and the Stoddard house would not be in the tour. He also informed the commission that he should hear back from the rest of the people he has reached out to and hopes to finish up this weekend, then he and Carrie will get history on all the homes. Graham indicated that the former Mayor’s house (the Tea House) at 491 N. Water was foreclosed on and he know the new owners. He said the house is not contributing, but is in the district. He stated that the home is amazing inside. The kitchen was updated in the 40’s and is no longer contributing due to the exterior being changed. He has a meeting with the owners and will ask if the home could be part of the tour. The front 2 rooms could be the only rooms on display. Brent showed the Commission the design of the new banners advertising the walking tour. He indicated that Shirley gave some direction. She was in advertising and suggested that we emphasize “TOUR” and not “IDAHO FALLS.” There are 8of the old banners that were used last year and there is some grant money left to purchase new banners. There was some discussion regarding the font and the void space with the design of the new banners. Brent stated he would make the suggested changes. He also, said that the information would be put on the City Community Events Calendar and maybe do something on the front page of the cities website with Naysha’s number for more information. There was also discussion about doing a pre-tour for staff, Commissioners and volunteers. The Commission discussed meeting locations and the route of the tour. The tour will start at 10:00 am and end promptly at 2:00 pm. If an individual enters a house at 1:45, they need to be made aware that the doors will be closed at 2:00 sharp. Registration will be between 10:00-11:30. Brent will put all of this information on a flyer. Further discussion included volunteers, how to recruit volunteers and putting the information on facebook. Graham explained that the facebook page is not a city page. He said that he, Renee and Stephanie have admin permissions. He suggested no phone numbers should be posted, but he could post the flyer and give other direction. A comment regarding volunteers and Doucette’s are needed. Brent will send Graham a digital version of the banner to put on the facebook page. Historic Preservation Plan - Public Outreach Brent explained that there are 3 public outreach meetings.  One is in the lobby of the Library, on June 2nd from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.  The other two are Saturday, June 9th and 16th at the Farmers Market from 9:00 am -1:00 pm. There will be advertising of both the walking tour as well as public outreach for the preservation plan. Brent explained that he needs 3 people at each event and we can do shifts for the Farmers Market. Julie volunteered for the Farmers Market on the 9th. Graham volunteered for the Library on the 2nd. Hersh indicated he could do all 3 events. Kim can cover the Farmers Market on the 16th and Rachel can volunteer on the 16th as well. Brent will reach out to the other Commission members that are not in attendance today to see if/when they can volunteer. Brent handed out the public outreach sheet that Renee created. He went over it with the Commission. He explained that there will be a questionnaire that is very general because we would like the public to communicate to us instead of prompting them. There will be a display at the Library and footprints leading people to the library from outside. One question, “Where was Eagle Rock? “ and a poster with an explanation and old photos of that area. Will do the same at Memorial Drive, “Why is it called Memorial Drive?” and refer the public to the Memorial Monument. Brent will check into name tags for those that do not have one. Brent will do a storyboard with old photos. He asked if anyone had any photos that are not well known. He also indicated that Brad had some. Brent said there will be some simple questionnaires and will go through them afterwards. He will put them through a counting program to see what people think are most important. Updates Brent indicated that SHPO recommended denial on the Jacob Grant building. They did not say why, but Lisa has a conference call with them next week and Brent will sit in. Brent did not have an opportunity to attend the last Civic Auditorium meeting so he could not update the Commission. Graham stated someone from his firm went and he explained the Carol Johnson turned in some sketches of some of the design elements for handrails, speakers and metal screen. They are trying to match the exterior grill with the metal screen. Julie asked about the chairs. Brent stated that they were being surplused and it was an ebay type of thing. If anyone is interested in purchasing them they should get in touch with Pam. Brent let the Commission know that he received an e-mail from Pete with the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office, explaining that they are doing a slide show for the conference in Des Moines, Iowa that includes pictures of Commission members standing in front of their favorite historic building/landmark. This would be an individual thing for Commission members to do on their own. The deadline is May 25th. Brent will forward the e-mail. Roundtable Graham indicated that May 19th is the 3rd Ward Open House. 3rd Ward and Leather Works have won awards from Orchids and Onions. The award ceremony is the same day as the open house. He said it was nice to take a step back and see how far the 3rd Ward building has come from two years ago. Julie stated that May is Historic Preservation month and the Pocatello Historic Preservation Commission cleaned headstones. She thinks it would be a good idea to consider doing that or something similar next year. She said they give lessons on cleaning headstones and go over cleaners and supplies that are safe to use. Brent agrees that it is a good idea and the Commission should be more involved in the community and strengthen partnerships. He suggested maybe partnering with another organization to expand an existing community service event. The next regular meeting will be June 7th at 12:00. Hersh adjourned the meeting at 1:03. Respectfully,  ACTION ITEMS : Hersh Finish organizing homes to tour. Graham Speak to new owners of the “Tea House” located at 491 N Water, regarding the tour. Put tour information regarding tour on Facebook. Brent Finish banners for tour, work on poster board and flyers. E-mail flyer / banners to Graham to put on Facebook. Naysha Put tour information on Community Events and Calendar on City’s website.