Historic Landmarks Commission

MORGANTOWN HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION May 17, 2017 The meeting was called to order by President, Shannon Tinnell in the Public Safety Building at 7 pm. Attendance: Shannon Tinnell, Jeanne Grimm, Bill Kawecki, Kathy Hanko and guest Michael Mills. Rodney Pyles was absent. It was moved and seconded to accept the minutes. Motion carried. The meeting began with an update on the Suncrest Survey by the Mills Group. Michael Mills said he is personally redoing it using comments from SHPO now that the previous historian is no longer available. He will redo the HPI’s for consistency sake. Jeanne provided him with material from the Core book, an article by Kevin Swisher and others to help with rewriting the history portion. Nikki Bowman is helping with that part also. The survey does not include all of the land designated as Suncrest aka North Morgantown and Flatts. It will be labeled as an urban residential setting. The deadline is June 30 for submission and he will have it to the MHLC by June 1st. Plans are being formulated for the Realtor Workshop funded with a SHPO grant of $2,000 with a 40% match. A tentative date is August 24. A location is being explored. After e mail review and discussion, a no contest comment will be sent tomorrow regarding the 29 Beechhurst Ave Section 106 filing. The legislation to raise the tax credit for Historic Preservation was included in the proposed budget submitted by the Governor to the legislature for consideration by the extended session. Bill updated the Deckers Creek Pedestrian Bridge Porject. He said that is has a DOH Project Manager who is working with Alpha Associates. He will check with them to see if it can be done during this construction season. Bill also gave an update on the Warner Theater. He said it should be part of a development of lower High Street but the plans are not in final form. The development grant and the City Hall Building are in process. The RFP for the Phase II part of the New Deal/CCC Wall Grant will go to the consultants on May 18. Michael Burdette is now our liaison with SHPO. There was discussion as to where the old historic marker that is in the Courthouse should be located. Since the Courthouse Square renovation project has begun and the marker celebrates Morgantown and its 3 famous forefathers, it was decided that a place on city property would be most appropriate. The front lawn of the Aull House, the plaza at the Safety Building and other sites will be investigated for possibilities. Bill let us know about a presentation given today regarding historic preservation of Brownfields. With no other business before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 7:40 pm. Submitted by, Kathy Hanko Secretary