Hooper Renwick Legacy Preservation Committee

HOOPER RENWICK LEGACY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE MINUTES Tuesday, December 15, 2020 Zoom Meeting 6:00 PM 70 S. Clayton St, GA 30046 Call to Order Chairman Bailey called the Zoom meeting to order at 6:02 pm after recognizing a quorum. 1. Prayer – Gwendolyn B. Taylor Committee Member Gwendolyn Brown Taylor led the Committee in a prayer. 2. Quorum/Roll Call – Joyce Moore Committee Member Joyce Moore took the Roll Call. PRESENT Committee Member Theresa Bailey Committee Member Constance Brown Committee Member Marlene Taylor Crawford Committee Member Ronald Dunnigan Committee Member Gary Glenn Committee Member John Maxey Committee Member Joyce Moore Committee Member Gwendolyn Brown Taylor Committee Member Vivian Summerour-Daniel Others Attending: Mayor David Still Chuck Warbington Glenn Martin Lee Thompson Paula Foil Kyle Parker  3. Norms - Vivian S. Daniel – this section was accidentally skipped. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes 4. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes - Chair Theresa Bailey Motion to approve the minutes for the Special Call Meeting on November 18, 2020 made by Committee Member Dunnigan, Seconded by Committee Member Glenn. Voting Yea: Committee Member Bailey, Committee Member Brown, Committee Member Taylor Crawford, Committee Member Dunnigan, Committee Member Glenn, Committee Member Maxey, Committee Member Moore, Committee Member Brown Taylor, Committee Member Summerour-Daniel New Business 5. Update on Intergovernmental Agreement with Gwinnett County-Mayor David Still Mayor David Still updated the Committee regarding the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Gwinnett County. Mayor Still shared a quote given by the Gwinnett County attorney at the Gwinnett County Commission meeting on December 15, 2020. "This agenda requests an Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Lawrenceville for a new library to be constructed by the County on the site of the former Hooper-Renwick School located on Neal Blvd. The Intergovernmental Agreement governs the design, construction, ownership, operation, and maintenance of the new library. The library will be designed as a themed library facility that preserves and honors the legacy of the former Hooper-Renwick School and will include architectural design elements of the former Hooper-Renwick School as well as exhibits about the history of the school. Under the agreement the City will convey the property on which the library will be constructed to the County at no cost to the County. The approximate 25,000 sq. ft. library will be constructed and owned by the County. (3,000 sq. ft. larger than typical libraries in the County). The library will include a 1,500 sq. ft. community space that will accommodate 100 people in assemblage, which the City will be permitted to use on a reasonable basis and free of charge. In addition to providing: 1) offsite stormwater detention facilities for the library; 2) streetscape improvements along Neal Blvd.; the City has also agreed remit to $1.6M to the County as the City's agreed upon share of the cost and expenses to be incurred by the County to construct the library. Pursuant to the agreement the County will be responsible for the management and operation of the exhibit program at the library and the County agrees to assign an employee of the County to serve as an interpretive resource project coordinator which will serve as a liaison between the City of Lawrenceville, the Hooper-Renwick Legacy Preservation Committee and the Gwinnett County Public Library System and to assist with the collection of the artifacts." Mayor Still said, we have been working diligently with Commissioner Fosque to follow the resolution, the presentation that was presented to you in the fall and to make sure all points are covered. Mayor Still, Chuck Warbington, and Lee Thompson met yesterday to discuss the possible agreement which was received late Friday and it was reviewed by them over the weekend. Much time was given to work out each of the various details. The IGA was passed unanimously this afternoon at 2 pm by the Gwinnett County Commission. The IGA does not scratch the surface to all of the details that will be coming in the future, but it lays the foundation of the money, who is giving what, what we can and cannot say, and who ultimately has the responsibility of the design. Immediately after the vote Chuck made sure you received a copy of the IGA. The County wanted to get this done and we have been working on this along with you for multiple years. So following the resolution and the presentation, combined with all of your thoughts the IGA has been accepted by Gwinnett County. We need to move on this not because waiting would cause a delay or possibility of not having this completed. Chairman Bailey - thank you Mayor David for that information. We haven't had enough time to review this so we can ask questions. Mayor Still requested to go over the highlights:  City is giving a library site and the maintenance of the area around the site. This will always be a joint effort.  We were very careful that they will follow the CAS Architecture designs that the Committee have reviewed and approved. The County first said they would generally follow, but we insisted they take out generally and to follow these designs. They agreed to these designs.  The City can offer comments, consulting and suggestions in regard to the design of the library, the County will be the ultimate decision maker in the design of the library. Commissioner Fosque has worked diligently to keep to what you as a Committee has said and done in the past. Her presentation mirrored what you have said and done and that was by design to say that we are all on the same page. Lee Thompson, City Attorney - when we deed the property over to the County there will be a reversionary clause in the deed that states if this ever ceases to be used as a themed library the property will revert back to the City of Lawrenceville. In the document it discusses what a themed library is and it discusses about displaying the artifacts of Hooper-Renwick School and discusses having exhibits on display. There is an entire paragraph explaining how it is to do that. Including giving an educational program at least once a year and other minimum requirements. Provision that if the County does not carry out the functions as a themed library for six months the City can put them on notice that they failed to do that. Committee Member Moore - question regarding how the liaison will interact between the City, the Committee, and the County? Mayor Still mentioned that the IGA is a high level agreement. The specifics of the liaison has not been decided. This facility will honor the legacy of Hooper-Renwick School. This is the foundation stage. Chairman Bailey - asked if the Committee would have another time to discuss the IGA. Mayor Still answered by mentioning that the last City Council meeting of the year is tomorrow, Wednesday, December 16th. We need to either accept this agreement with the County or not. This is a basic foundation and not very deep. The City is saying they will give the property and a certain amount of money and the County is saying they will build the building, etc. Lee Thompson read sections on pages 12 and few following pages from the IGA. The details of the liaison will be worked on during the construction phase. If this is approved by the City tomorrow the property will be transferred to the County on April 1, 2021. The goal is to have the library completed by 2023. Lee Thompson also confirmed that this does need to be finalized by the end of this year for the April 1st closing date. That gives the County approximately 90 days to do their due diligence. If the City does not approve this in December or approves it with changes then it has to go back before the County Commission and this County Commission is not going to meet again between now and January 1st. Chairman Bailey requested a schedule for the project. Mayor Still mentioned that the County first mentioned closing being June 1st, but the City pushed back and it was moved to April 1st. Chuck Warbington updated what would happen during the design phase. First step would be for them to hire an architectural and design firm which will hopefully happen in the first or second quarter of next year. After they have a consultant on board it will take any where from 12 to 18 months depending on how many issues they have to deal with, but this is a small site, but it is also a complicated site because they are renovating an existing facility. This is looking at a possible 2023 time frame for our guess now. Mayor Still mentioned that in the resolution created by Tony Powell and was approved by Council and the Committee it is to be called the Hooper-Renwick Library. This is the name the County wishes to use. The name may include a sub-title which will be decided later on. Lee Thompson added that the initial wording of the IGA was very vague about the name of the library and the County would have the ultimate right to name it. City staff insisted the name was placed into the IGA. Chairman Bailey offered the 19th of December in the morning for a meeting for the Committee to discuss the IGA in detail. Committee members agree to meet via Zoom on December 19th and Secretary Brown will be sending out the details. Chairman Bailey mentioned she would contact the Mayor as soon as the meeting is over. We recognize you can move forward without this, but we want to move forward and be on board. We want the community to see a strong stance.  Chuck Warbington mentioned to the Committee that the IGA was sent as soon they could legally send it to them. The IGA was a County Executive Session item and the City was legally bound to not discuss it with anyone. Lee Thompson mentioned that since the City is transferring property in the IGA. This has been discussed in Executive Session and what is talked about in Executive Session cannot be shared or discussed by a Council or Staff member until public action has been taken. The County took public action this afternoon at 2 pm. Mayor Still reminded the Committee that during her presentation Commissioner Fosque said that they were trying to move to get this done by the end of the year. We knew, but we did not realize it would come exactly when it came. 6. Update on Gathering of Artifacts – Joyce Moore Committee Member Moore gave an update on artifacts. Currently, there are 47 items donated or loaned. Several dates are being finalized for Committee members to be trained on the artifact software. Chairman Bailey thanked everyone for their attendance. She noted that the Norms had been skipped and asked Committee Member Summerour-Daniel to accept her apologies. Final Adjournment Chairman Bailey led the Committee in a closing prayer. Minutes Signature ___________________ Theresa Bailey, Chairman ___________________ Constance Brown, Secretary