Russellville Historic District Commission

RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting – Thursday, September 27, 2018 City Hall – Council Chamber Commissioners Present: Greg Barborek – Chair Suzanne Alford-Hodges – Vice Chair Judy Galloway – Secretary Linda Carnahan Steve Newby Kathy Price Beverly Hooten Polly Hardin Commissioners Late: Greg Barborek – Chair City Council Liaison Absent: Phyllis Carruth Staff Present: Kurt Jones – Historic Preservation Officer Advisors Present: Jami Mullen, MSR Director, Mayor – Randall Horton Advisors Absent: Brian Holstein - Director City Development, Trey Smith – City Attorney Call to Order & Welcome @ 5:10PM: Ms. Alford -Hodges called the September 27, 2018 meeting of the Russellville Historic District Commission to order at 5:01PM and a quorum was established. Approval of Minutes: Ms Alford-Hodges asked if everyone had read the minutes of the July 26th, 2018 regular meeting. 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: None Agenda: The first item on the agenda was review of a COA for 400 W. Main Street by Ken Coker for Central Presbyterian Church for a sign at the northeast corner of N. Denver Avenue and West “B” Street. Mr. Coker had given the commission a rough sketch of the sign but no indication of how the sign fit with the scale of the building. He also was not sure that the sign would be the size depicted in the drawing because he did not have a price for the sign and did not know if the church could afford it as drawn. RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting September 27, 2018 Page 2 There was some discussion about the vinyl coated metal portion of the sign and Mr. Jones explained that to commissioners. It was suggested to Mr. Coker that he get a rough estimate of the cost of the sign as drawn and find out if the sign was to remain the same size. We asked him to get with Main Street Director Mullin and she can have Mason Tom, Preservation Service and Design Coordinator, and have him prepare an image of the sign in scale with the building. The Commission explained that this is a free service provided to building in the historic district. The church does not plan to erect the sign until after the first of the year and request was tabled until the next scheduled meeting when Mr. Coker will present a more complete COA. Item two on the agenda was discussion of a budget for the commission and some sort of compensation for the Historic Preservation Officer. All other city commissions have a budget. Ms. Carruth, the liaison from the city council, was absent. Ms. Alford-Hodges asked Mayor Horton about this item. He said that the city was currently working on the 2019 budget and the commission should submit something to them. Ms. Alford-Hodges suggested that the commission contact other commissions in cities our size to get some idea about what to request. The next item on the agenda was a short discussion about the upcoming CAMP meeting to be held in Russellville on Friday, November 9th. All Russellville commissioners were urged to attend by Ms. Galloway, several have been only once and a few have not been at all, which is a violation of the bylaws. This meeting will be funded by grant funds from Russellville, Morrilton and Oceola that are past due to be spent and will be hosted by Main Street Russellville at the Depot. Last agenda item was a presentation by Jeannie Stone regarding the “Our Front Porch” traveling Arkansas landscape art show. This program promotes tolerance and hospitality and is an outreach project of Traveling Arts Fiesta, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. It will be a part of the Downtown Fall Festival the last Saturday of October and will be set up on S. Commerce Avenue between Main Street and West 2nd Street. This show is accompanied by a complete front porch and rocking chairs for visiting. There will be video and audio installations to share stories, anecdotes and songs from local history. There will be a walk to Oakland Cemetery with a celebration of Dia de Muertos and presentations at the cemetery by Arkansas Tech students. The second walk will encompass a walk through Russellville’s black community and end in Reed Cemetery, the historic black cemetery. Ms. Stone thought that the commission might be interested in conducting a tour of the downtown historic district with stories of people and buildings. Ms. Price explained that the purpose of the HDC is to preserve and maintain the historic nature of the downtown. Mr. Newby suggested that Ms. Stone contact Van and Ginny Tyson of the Pope County Historical Association for their help in such a project. Ms. Stone was thanked for her presentation. Old Business: Ms. Price reported on the 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. The Board of Realtors has already arranged all of their programs for 2018 and the presentation to them by Rachel Patton would have to take place in 2019. She will keep us informed. Ms. Alford-Hodges reported on the update on Latimore Tourist Home. She was contacted by Rachel Patton of Preserve Arkansas. There was a meeting in August with Mr. Hatley of New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church that included Carla Coleman, chair of the Black History Commission of Arkansas, Cheryl Batts, Director of People RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting September 27, 2018 Page 3 Helping Others Excel By Example, person responsible for restoring the John Lee Webb House in Hot Springs and Rachel Patton, Director of Preserve Arkansas. This group though the meeting went well and they follow-up with a friendly email to the Rev. Tyus. Rachel asked that we keep our fingers crossed that something good will come out of the meeting. New Business: None Adjournment: Mr. Newby made the motion to adjourn at 5:43PM. Ms. Hooten made the second. Motion approved by a voice vote. Suzanne Alford-Hodges – Vice-Chair Date