Russellville Historic District Commission

RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES Council Chamber City Hall – Thursday March 25, 2021 6:00PM Commissioners Present: Betsy McGuire - Chair Suzanne Alford-Hodges Judy Galloway – Secretary Greg Barborek Steve Newby Polly Hardin Nathan George Leo Cantu Commissioners Absent: Beverly Hooten City Council Liaison Absent: Phyllis Carruth Staff Present: Victoria Marchant - Historic Preservation Officer and Planner 1 Advisors Present: Sara Jondahl - City Planner Liaisons Absent: Danielle Housenick - MSR Director, Trey Smith - City Attorney, T. Kirt Sloan - Fire Chief, Richard Setian - Deputy Building Official Call to Order, Roll Call & Welcome: Ms. McGuire called the March 25, 2021 meeting of the Russellville Historic District Commission to order at 6:00PM. The roll was called and a quorum was established. Approval of Minutes: Ms. McGuire asked if everyone had read the minutes of the February 25, 2021 meeting. She noted two corrections that needed to be made. Mr. Newby made the motion to approve the minutes as corrected and Mr. George made the second. The motion passed by a voice vote. Agenda: The only item on the agenda was review of a COA for 302 W. Main Street for minimal re-pointing of the mortar and painting of the building. Staff report by Ms. Marchant indicated that the project was in compliance with Section 10.3 Brick, Masonry & Sealers. Mr. McCoy representing the applicant said that Type-N or Type-O mortar would be used. Mr. Barborek made the motion to approve the COA and Mr. Newby made the second. Ms. Galloway asked that the COA be conditional on using Type-N mortar which is for exterior load bearing walls and not Type-O which is for interior use on non-load bearing walls. The motion was amended to include the condition and the COA was approved by a voice vote. Unfinished Business: Status with Terracon was reported by Ms. Jondahl. The commission was provided with a printed Progress Update for March 2021. The Field investigations are 100% complete, archival research and 10 survey report forms are 50% complete and are due April 2nd. Only two residents of the survey area asked that their houses not be photographed. The revised project area encompassed roughly the same number of resources as the original map provided in the RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting March 25, 2021 Page 2 Request for Qualifications. Catherine Barrier, the CLG Director, will need a complete projected schedule for the rest of the project, like the one currently in the grant agreement, so she can work up a grant amendment. Ms. McGuire gave an update on Latimore Tourist Home. The meetings are at noon on the second Tuesday of the month. The Board is creating a non-profit for Friends of the Latimore Tourist Home and the project is progressing well. Ms. Galloway said that after a discussion with Bob Hiegel about the siding on the house and what type should be used to renovate the structure, she contacted Ralph Wilcox, the National Register & Survey Coordinator for the AHPP, for his opinion. He said that since most of the current siding is from the 1950's and dates from the property's period of significance, he thought the current siding should be left in place. He said that if the house went back to the original siding, it would be all new material and would hurt the property historic integrity. He also recommended that the original siding be left on the front porch. Ms. Galloway asked for a discussion of how to correctly fill out a COA application since most applications have not been completely filled out. Other cities with historic districts and Historic District Commissions, have detailed instructions on requirements for completing the COA application. Ms. Jondahl said that she would like to update the ordinance to state that the application must be turned in fifteen days or three weeks prior to the meeting and must be complete before being added to the agenda. This would give the commission time to have a pre-meeting with the applicant and correct any deficiencies. This is the rule for the planning commission. The way the ordinance is currently written leaves gaps in information and results in a lot of back and forth with the applicant to get all of the needed information before the commission meets. Ms. Jondahl would like for all the ordinances to be combined into one complete ordinance so that it is much easier for people to understand. No vote was taken on this proposal. Letter to property owners about the advantages and requirements of being an owner or tenant in the Russellville Downtown Historic District was prepared and presented to the commission by Mr. George. Ms. McGuire suggested that all correspondence from the HDC contain the City letterhead. Mr. Cantu concurred and said he thought the application for a COA would also look more professional if the City logo were included on the first page. He also questioned why the commission doesn't receive any funding from the City for projects like this letter. The letter has not been finalized and no vote was taken by the commission. Ms. McGuire reminded commissions about the importance of "16 Things for HP Commissioners to Avoid" and asked everyone to be sure they are familiar with the points. Mr. Newby inquired about the Downtown Streetscape plans and when Ms. Jondahl thought that the commission would be reviewing them. The preliminary plans are available for viewing at the Public Works office during business hours. Ms. Jondahl said that the underground work for water, sewer, electric, fiber optic, etc. would probably take the next two years. Depending on money available at that time, there could be a revision to the present streetscape plan. The commission will most likely not see these plans for some time. New Business: Commissioner terms were again discussed. Ms. Jondahl has recommended to Mayor Harris that the three commissioners whose terms are expiring, Betsy McGuire, Judy Galloway and Beverly Hooten, be reappointed. The Mayor has not yet acted on the recommendation. Ms. Jondahl would like to change commissioner terms to correspond with the calendar year and have election of officers occur in January. This would then put the HDC in sync with other commissions. No vote was taken on this proposal. Ms. Jondahl informed the commission that the Mayor has said that commissioners who have been vaccinated will no longer be required to wear a mask when attending City meetings beginning April 1. Ms. Alford commented that not wearing a mask was contrary to CDC Guidelines. Ms. Jondahl said she was passing along the message. RUSSELLVILLE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION Meeting March 25, 2021 Page 3 Ms. McGuire thought that the commission should go ahead and elect officers and if there were those who were not reappointed, that could be dealt with at the time. Mr. Newby made the motion to keep officers in place and Mr. George made the second. On discussion, Ms. Alford said she would give up her position as Vice-Chair if someone else wanted the position. The motion was amended to vote Leo Cantu as Vice-Chair and Mr. George seconded. The motion passed with a voice vote. Adjournment: Mr. George made the motion to adjourn at 7:15PM and Ms. Galloway made the second. The motion was approved by a voice vote. Betsy McGuire - Chair Date