Russellville Historic District Commission

RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting – Thursday, January 23, 2020 CITY HALL – 2nd Floor Meeting Room 5:00PM Commissioners Present: Greg Barborek - Chair Suzanne Alford-Hodges – Vice-Chair Judy Galloway – Secretary Linda Carnahan Steve Newby Kathy Price Polly Hardin Beverly Hooten Betsy McGuire City Council Liaison Present: Chris Olson Staff Present: Sara Jondahl, City Planner, Temporary Historic Preservation Officer Advisors Absent: Danielle Housenick - MSR Director, Trey Smith - City Attorney, Brian Holstein - Director or Development Call to Order & Welcome: Ms. Galloway called the January 23, 2020 meeting of the Russellville Historic District Commission to order at 5:03PM and Ms. McGuire was appointed as chair pro tem by unanimous consent. The roll was called and a quorum was established. Chris Olson was welcomed as the new city council liaison, commissioners were introduced and Mr. Olson explained his interest in the downtown and its further development. Mr. Barborek arrived and took over as chair. Approval of Minutes: Mr. Barborek asked if everyone had read the minutes of the December 19, 2019 meeting. A motion was made by Mr. Newby to accept the minutes as written. Ms. McGuire made the second and the minutes were approved with corrections by voice vote. Staff Report: Ms. Jondahl said that she had advertised in the newspaper for individuals who would be interested in serving on the Historic District Commission, had received one resume and had heard from three others who expressed interest but who had not yet applied. Ms. Jondahl was unaware of the application the commission uses and was approved by Mayor Harris in about July of 2019. We have eight commission members who have not recently been reappointed by the Mayor or approved by the City Council. Ms. Galloway said that those commissioners who have stayed on after their terms expired have automatically been given an extended three year term. Ms. Jondahl thinks that each member whose term expires needs to be reappointed by the Mayor and approved by the Council. Agenda: RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting January 23, 2020 Page 2 The only agenda item was discussion of officers for 2020. Terms run from February until January of the following year. Mr. Newby made the motion to elect Ms. McGuire as Chair, Ms. Alford-Hodges as Vice-Chair and Ms. Galloway as Secretary. Mr. Barborek, the current Chair, indicated that it was hard for him to make the meetings on time and would prefer not to Chair the commission. Ms. Hardin seconded the motion. The motion passed by a voice vote. New Business: Ms. Jondahl and Mr. Olson needed to leave early to attend a Planning Commission meeting and new business was moved ahead of old business so that they could be present for discussion and vote on applying for a grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program to fund a survey of the Old Town Historic District. The commission received an e-mail from Catherine Barrier at the state preservation office letting us know that they had received a substantial increase in the amount of their National Park Service grant for this year. The CLG grant program will be reopened until January 29th for applications for historic resources survey work. The commission has a map of the proposed Old Town Historic District "windshield" survey completed by Mason Toms and Ralph Wilcox of the AHPP. The next step for the commission will be to get a professional survey done of the area. Usually this can be done for a cost of $130 per structure. There are eighty-nine (89) structures that are contributing and the cost would run about $12,000 with no match required. The funds would pass through the city and the commission will need the Council and Mayor's approval. Ms. McGuire has volunteered to complete the application. Ms. Alford-Hodges made the motion for the commission to apply for this grant and Ms. Price made the second. The motion passed by a voice vote. With the Mayor's permission, the commission will pursue the grant. Old Business: The first item of old business was a report by Ms. McGuire on Latimore Tourist Home. She received an e-mail from Mayor Harris letting her know that the Rev. Tyus has called him and they met on 12/31/2019 with the Chair of the Board of Trustees of New Prospect, Andy Hatley, to discuss the Latimore house and the moving of the house will be discussed at the next meeting. The Rev. Tyus mentioned that moving was the best option that had been presented to the church. There was concern as to whether the house was sound enough to be moved, where is James Park it would be located and how would church members with ties to the building be able to be involved? The Mayor told the parties present that he would support a meeting to answer questions and discuss potential plans. The second item of business was an update on the Old Town Historic District by Ms. Alford-Hodges and was covered in the new business discussion. June participation in the sesquicentennial celebration was discussed. Ms. Alford=Hodges said that her intent was to engage the Old Town Neighborhood Association in a walking tour of the neighborhood. Ms. Hardin will assist with the planning. Murals were discussed. Ms. Galloway talked about the mural of the sesquicentennial logo to be hung at 203 N. Commerce. The artist is from New York, associated with Arkansas Tech and has a studio on El Paso Avenue. This mural will have to be reviewed by the commission and any questions commissioners have can be answered by the applicant. Ms. Galloway asked that all commissioners be familiar with the guidelines about murals. Plans for this mural have not been finalized. The design, landscape, lighting, benches, etc. for the updated downtown master plan have not been brought before the historic district commission. The necessity of review by this commission was brought up by Ms. RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting January 23, 2020 Page 3 Galloway. We will need to discuss this with Mr. Olson, our council liaison. Ms. McGuire provided each commissioner with a copy of the master plan, the updated master plan and the El Paso Corridor plan. Should a member leave the commission, this book needs to be passed on to the new commissioner. Ms. Galloway provided the commission with a copy of suggested updates for the Historic District Commission's page on the Russellville City website. Ms. McGuire suggested that a link be added that shows all of the powers given to the commission by Section 2 of Ordinance 2023. Ms. Galloway will add and see about getting the page updated. Adjournment: Ms. Hardin made the motion to adjourn at 6:30PM and Ms. Price made the second. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Greg Barborek - Chair Date