Heritage Commission

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Heritage Commission Contact: Michelle Sadlier 360.753.8031 Wednesday, September 27, 2017 6:30 PM Room 207 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Kelly called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 1.A ROLL CALL Commissioners Miller, Newmann and Swalling arrived after the roll call was taken. Present: 11 - Chair Kat Kelly, Vice Chair Stephen Austin, Commissioner Holly Davies, Commissioner Dwayne Harkness, Commissioner Tamara Hayes, Commissioner Benjamin Helle, Commissioner Garner Miller, Commissioner Rachel Newmann, Commissioner Suzanna Pratt, Commissioner Sheila Swalling and Commissioner Nicholas Vann Excused: 1 - Commissioner Dwayne Harkness OTHERS PRESENT City Surveyor Ladd Cluff City of Olympia Historic Preservation Officer Michelle Sadlier Minutes Recorder Stacey Rodell 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 3.A 17-0983 Approval of August 23, 2017 Olympia Heritage Commission Meeting Minutes One correction was suggested to the minutes: Page 3. Business Item 7.G paragraph two, last sentence, change the word "our" to "or". The minutes were approved as amended. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT - None 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ms. Sadlier announced a number of upcoming events which may be of interest to City of Olympia Page 1 Heritage Commission Meeting Minutes September 27, 2017 Commissioners. 6. BUSINESS ITEMS 6.A 17-0988 Update on City of Olympia Capital Projects Mr. Cluff provided an overview on City of Olympia capital projects for 2017 and 2018. The information was received. 6.B 17-0692 OHC Outreach Planning: 2017 Preservation Awards & 2018 Preservation Month Preservation Month 2018 The Commission discussed two possible themes: · Heritage of Olympia’s Social Movements, focusing in particular on the 50th anniversary of the events of 1968 · Olympia’s Transportation Heritage The Commission chose Olympia’s Transportation Heritage as the theme for 2018. The Outreach Committee will have further discussion about more ideas for the theme. 2017 Olympia Preservation Award Nominations The Commission discussed the two potential nominees. Commissioner Hayes moved, seconded by Commissioner Helle, to nominate the owners of the 222 Market building and Maurice “Mo” Major for Preservation Awards for 2017. The motion passed unanimously. 7. REPORTS 7.A Downtown Committee Commissioner Vann presented an update on progress from the Technical Work Group (TWG) for the Downtown Design Guidelines. He also reported the Olympia Downtown Association (ODA) has secured funding to work on alcove gates in front of businesses downtown. 7.B Heritage Review Committee Ms. Sadlier announced the City has launched an online permit application process for a few types of permits using the "SmartGov" platform. This includes window replacements so she is watching closely to try to ensure that no permits are given for window replacements on historic buildings without going through heritage review first. 7.C Outreach Committee City of Olympia Page 2 Heritage Commission Meeting Minutes September 27, 2017 This agenda item was discussed during agenda item 6.B. 7.D Policy & Ordinance Committee Ms. Sadlier presented an update on the progress of the Downtown State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) exemption process. 7.E Preservation Award Committee This agenda item was discussed during agenda item 6.B. The Commission decided to remove this Committee as the Commission has been doing this work as a whole. 7.F Survey & Inventory Committee Ms. Sadlier reported she has an appointment to meet with Artifacts, the consultants working on the downtown inventory survey project, on September 28, 2017. They will provide a status report. 7.G Staff Ms. Sadlier: · Distributed copies of the latest edition of the Thurston County Historical Journal to the Commission. · Indicated she has been reaching out to local realtors who are selling historic properties to inform them about requirements and incentives for Register properties. 8. OTHER TOPICS Ms. Sadlier led a brief discussion on the recent newspaper article indicating the City of Olympia was suggesting to the Thurston County Commission that they consider the site of the Lee Creighton Justice Center and surrounding property as a possible location for a new Thurston County courthouse. Heritage Commissioners indicated they were concerned about the potential loss of the Robert Wohleb-designed City Hall building. Ms. Sadlier explained the discussions were preliminary and did not include any specific proposals. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m. City of Olympia Page 3