Russellville Historic District Commission

RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting – Thursday, April 7, 2016 City Hall – Conference Room 6:00PM Commissioners Present Greg Barborek – Chair Suzanne Alford-Hodges – Vice Chair Judy Galloway – Secretary Linda Carnahan Gerald Hook Kathy Keenan-Price Steve Newby Staff Present Kurt Jones - City Engineer / HPO Advisors Present Trey Smith – City Attorney Advisors Absent Robert Wiley – City Council Liaison, Brian Holstein – Director of Development, Betsy McGuire – Executive Director of Main Street Russellville Call to Order & Welcome @ 6:00PM: Acting Chair, Greg Barborek, called the April 7, 2016 meeting of the Russellville Historic District Commission to order at 6:00PM and a quorum was established. Approval of Minutes: Mr. Barborek asked if everyone had read the minutes of the February 4, February 24 and February 25, 2016 meetings and suggested that we approve them separately.  February 4, 2016: Ms. Alford-Hodges made the motion to accept the February 4th minutes as written. Ms. Price seconded the motion and the minutes were approved unanimously by a voice vote.  February 24, 2016: Ms. Alford-Hodges made the motion to accept the February 24th minutes as written. Mr. Hook seconded the motion and the minutes were approved unanimously by a voice vote.  February 29, 2016: Mr. Hook made the motion to accept the February 29th minutes as written. Ms. Price seconded the motion and the minutes were approved unanimously by a voice vote. Staff Report: Status of the CLG Grant was discussed. Mr. Jones reported that he had asked for grant money for signage for the Downtown Historic District and did not know when the grants would be awarded. Ms. Galloway had spoken with Catherine Barrier, the CLG Director, and she had said that she would be calling Mr. Jones to see if she could add $2000.00 to the application for CLG Training for Commissioners. At meeting time he had not yet heard from Ms. Barrier. RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting of April 7, 2016 Page 2 Mr. Jones reported that he had been contacted by Christy Graham, A&P Director, regarding “way finding” signs for the City. He said that he would meet later in the month with a representative of a way finding sign company, Ms. Graham and Mayor Horton. The planning is in the very preliminary stages. The sign on the property at 305 W. Main Street was approved by the Director of Development, Brian Holstein, after a discussion with Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones determined that since the tenants were only changing the lenses in the existing sign, a COA would not be necessary. According to the guidelines, this particular sign is out of compliance. Director Barrier suggested that we check with the sign ordinance for the City to see if long standing signs were “grandfathered”. The ordinance does not address “grandfathering”. There was lengthy and somewhat heated discussion about the approval. The general consensus in the end was to let the sign stand “as is”. In the case that the tenant were to change the sign out completely, a COA would be required. A sign applied to the window or door would require a COA, since no sign now exists. Agenda: The first item on the agenda was a change in meeting date for the Commission. The present date is too close to the first of the month to allow for proper review of submitted COA’s and does not give the applicant time to revise or correct unacceptable exterior design or material before the RHDC meeting. In order to avoid conflicts, the Commissioners reviewed meeting times for other commissions who use the Council Chambers and for the City Council and decided to move RHDC meetings to the 4th Thursday of the month at 5PM. Technical review of submitted COA’s will be the 2nd Thursday of the month at 5PM, if needed. Mr. Hook made the motion to approve the new meeting times. There was a second by Ms. Galloway. The motion passed by a voice vote of all commission members. The Bylaws were reviewed and revised as the second agenda item. Ms. Galloway noted the changes, will write the draft and bring the document to the next meeting for further revision and/or approval. The packet of information for property owners and tenants was the last agenda item. The packet will include and introductory letter, trifold brochure explaining the significance of the Downtown Historic District and the duty and functions of the Historic District Commission, map of the district, brochures from the Department of Arkansas Heritage on State and Federal Tax Credits and a chart showing a comparison of Main Street Russellville and the Russellville Historic District Commission. Packets will be sent to property owners by registered mail with return receipt requested. Tenants will have their packets hand delivered. Other Business: Mr. Newby showed us a proposed logo from a local graphic artist and asked for opinions and suggestions. The logo was too modern in appearance for a historic district. I suggested that the artist look on the internet for examples from other historic districts for ideas. Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 7:30PM. Greg Barborek, RHDC Chair Date