Historic Preservation Commission

IDAHO FALLS HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Regular Meeting Thursday, April 4, 2019 12:00 p.m., Annex Conference Room Minutes Attending: Renee Magee, Kim Smith, Rachel McMurtrey, Christopher White, Graham Whipple, and Julie Williams Meeting Called to Order: 12:00 P.M. Training: None Minutes: Julie made a motion to approve the minutes from March 7, 2019 with corrections. Chris seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 2019 Downtown Walking Tour: Graham reported that he, Renee, and Hereschell met and discussed tour. He explained there will be 4 stations at the corners of A Street and Park, A Street and Shoup, B Street and Park, and B Street and Shoup. There will be a booth at the Annex Building parking lot for people to register. He explained that they hope to get into some of the buildings. The buildings will be open between specific times. Group will be limited to a certain number. The tour should not last more than two hours. Graham went over the buildings they hope to include in the tour while looking at historical pictures of each building. Julie suggested pictures of the Wells Fargo and Century Link Building be added. Graham indicated that the tour is not led, but there will be a commission member at each intersection with information. Brent suggested that people receive tickets with times to tour the inside of the buildings at registration to limit the number of people for each tour. Graham explained which buildings would provide shelter if there is bad weather. The Commission discussed getting Lisa involved in creating boards with information regarding the Façade Grant as well as a map that highlights the buildings that have used Façade Grant money. There was also discussion regarding the creation of a QR code tied to a link to the HPC webpage that would have information about the buildings at each intersection. Historic Preservation Plan: Brent sent a link to the Commission for Google Docs. He asked them to look at the introduction and purpose statement. He asked that they make comments on the Google Doc. He recommended they cover one section each month until it is done. Updates: Brent is starting a South Downtown Plan. Chris will be on the steering committee. Along with others from various commissions, boards, city council, city staff and property owners. The steering committee will look at the Idaho Smart Growth report from last year and create a form based code. The residents in that area will be notified and some outreach will be done. The Commission discussed the various facades on the Farrell’s building. The panels were pulled off and the original decorative façade has chipped away and worn off. The new owners are considering applying for a façade grant. They would like to put the windows back in the upper floor, but do not have an intent for use yet. Roundtable Discussion: Renee indicated June 8th is the Orchids and Onions ceremony in Moscow and Idaho Smart Growth and Preservation Idaho are going to do a joint program. Renee stated that she was advocating that happen because preservation is smart growth, however someone from Sandpoint explained a problem that is happening in Sandpoint. Smart Growth pushes high density. If you look at our communities the densest areas are the old areas. The lots are small and individuals generally bought two or three lots. In Sandpoint they are going in and in filling those extra lots individuals bought, creating more density and destroying the character of those neighborhoods. Julie wanted the Commission to know that Joanne Stoddard passed away and there was a Community outreach soup dinner from 4:30 to 7:30 this evening where they do the soup kitchen. Asking for a $20.00 donation. Adjourned: 1:13 p.m. Respectfully, Naysha Foster, Recording Secretary  ACTION ITEMS : Commission Review introduction and purpose statement of Historic Preservation Plan on Google Doc. Leave comments to be discussed at next meeting.