Russellville Historic District Commission

RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting – Thursday, July 26, 2018 City Hall – Council Chamber Commissioners Present: Suzanne Alford-Hodges – Vice Chair Judy Galloway – Secretary Linda Carnahan Steve Newby Beverly Hooten Kathy Price Commissioners Absent: Greg Barborek – Chair Polly Hardin City Council Liaison Absent: Phyllis Carruth Staff Present: Kurt Jones – Historic Preservation Officer Advisors Present: Jami Mullen, MSR Director Advisors Absent: Brian Holstein - Director City Development, Trey Smith – City Attorney Call to Order & Welcome @ 5:10PM: Ms. Alford -Hodges called the July 26, 2018 meeting of the Russellville Historic District Commission to order at 5:10PM and a quorum was established. Approval of Minutes: Ms Alford-Hodges asked if everyone had read the minutes of the May 25th, 2018 regular meeting. She asked that a couple of sentences included were conjecture on her part and she did not want them to be included. The sentences were removed. Motion was made by Mr. Newby to accept the minutes as written. Ms. Hooten made the second and the minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote. Staff Report: Mr. Jones passed out a resume form for each commissioner to complete and return to him ASAP. These forms must be returned with the 2017 CLG Assessment form to Catherine Barrier by Aug. 6th. Agenda: The first item on the agenda was review of a COA for 213-314 West “B” Street for replacement of missing windows on the East side of the building. Mr. Jimmy Streett had initially asked for arch topped one over one windows of synthetic wood and fiberglass with disproportionate sash. The street facing windows are double sash, one over one, with wood infill in the upper portion of the arch. In speaking with Amber Jones who assisting RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting July 26, 2018 Page 2 him with tax credit incentives, Mr. Streett has decided to replace the missing windows with wood windows that match the street facing windows. Since the arch topped glass windows cannot be documented by historic photos, that plan was discarded. He asked that the COA be approved with the previous conditions. Ms. Price made the motion to approve with the conditions that the window sash and frame are wood and of the same design, materials and proportions as the street facing windows in accordance with design guidelines 10.34 in the RHDC Guidelines. Mr. Newby made the second. The COA was approved by a voice vote. Item two on the agenda was discussion of the 2013 CLG Grant and required reporting requirements. Ms. Galloway explained to commissioners that the grant requires quarterly reporting indicating how the monies are spent. In addition there is a yearly CLG Assessment Form to be completed and returned to our CLG Director. The City received a letter from Scott Kaufman, Division Director, Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, requesting the listed reports. Ms. Galloway was contacted by Jerrold McKaughan, Director of Finance for the City of Russellville, asking her to help with the report. She told him she would complete the report and send it to Catherine Barrier. Mr. Jones is helping with the report completion. Ms. Galloway asked Mr. McKaughan to keep the commission in the loop about correspondences he receives from the AHPP. The next item on the agenda was lack of participation by the Mayor and City Advisors in the HDC meetings. There are occasions when we have questions that they could answer for us. Mr. Jones said that the Director of Development, Brian Holstein, was planning on coming but that his wife was bitten by a rattlesnake and he was unable to come. Mr. Jones will talk to the Mayor and the City Attorney. Liaison from the City Council, Phyllis Carruth, usually comes but her son is gravely ill. Last agenda item was discussion of a budget from the City for expenses as is provided to all other city commissions and for compensation for the Historic Preservation Officer. After some discussion, the commission decided the correct way to approach the situation would be to go through our liaison to the council, Ms. Carruth. The commission will discuss this with her when she is able to attend. Old Business: Ms. Galloway reported that the CLG Grant must be spent by September 28, 2018. No decisions were made. Ms. Galloway brought up the mural guidelines that she developed and that were not voted on at the last meeting since some commissioners thought any change had to be approved by the City Council. She reported to the commission that Ordinance 2023 creating the Historic district and the HDC listed the powers granted to the HDC. First on the list is the provision (Section 2: Commission Powers, (a)) to adopt design review guidelines to be used when considering Certificate of Appropriateness applications. These guidelines will be based upon The Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Rehabilitation and adapted specifically to Russellville’s historic districts;. Ms. Galloway asked for a vote to approve the guidelines for murals discussed at the last HDC meeting and made the motion to accept the amendment. Ms. Carnahan made the second. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Mr. Jones asked Ms. Galloway to send him a copy of the guidelines for murals including guidelines sent by Sandra Taylor, Smith developer of current guidelines, on June 28, 2012 regarding our window guidelines. He is going to try to edit the guidelines PDF and bring it up to date. RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting July 26, 2018 Page 3 Ms. Galloway brought up the fact that the HDC information on the city website was not current. The last two ordinance revisions are not on the site. Mr. Jones volunteered to combine all ordinances and amendments into one document to make it easier for the public to navigate. Ms. Price said she thought that the HDC needed to make a presentation to the Board of Realtors about the HDC and the advantages of owning an historic property or a property in the Downtown Historic District. Ms. Galloway said that we could probably get Rachel Patton from Preserve Arkansas to speak to the Realty Board since she is a great speaker, can answer questions well and would be much more knowledgeable. The HDC could come to the meeting to show support. Ms. Price will arrange the presentation. New Business Discussed: None Adjournment: Mr. Newby made the motion to adjourn at 5:58PM. Ms. Alford-Hodges made the second. Motion approved by a voice vote. Suzanne Alford-Hodges – Vice-Chair Date