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CITY OF OSHKOSH LANDMARKS COMMISSION MINUTES June 14, 2006 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Paul Arnold, Harold Buchholz, Todd Clark, Carol Esslinger, Shirley Mattox, Dick Rueckl, Arlene Schmuhl.
AD HOC MEMBERS PRESENT: None EXCUSED: Bev Harrington STAFF: Susan Kepplinger CALL TO ORDER Chair Harold Buchholz called the meeting to order and a quorum declared present. APROVAL OF
MINUTES Arlene Schmuhl moved approval of the May 10 minutes as submitted. Dick Rueckl seconded the motion which passed unanimously. MEMBERSHIP UPDATE Chair Harold Buchholz introduced
new Commission member Paul Arnold. AGENDA CHANGE Due to other commitments of several Commission members, Chair Harold Buchholz and Commission members agreed to move to discussion of
two of the remaining agenda items, the Landmarking Process and the Certified Local Government Program and hold the balance of the items over for the June meeting. LANDMARKING PROCESS
AND POLICIES The first issue was prioritization of the various types of properties that could be Landmarked. Following extensive discussion, Commissioners present agreed on the following
priorities; 1. Privately owned individual properties (not within an identified potential district) that have been determined by the State Historical Society as eligible for listing on
the National Register of Historic Places but have not been listed. 2. Privately owned individual properties (not within an identified potential district) that have not been determined
by the State Historical Society as eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places but that are locally important examples of a certain form of architecture or are significantly
associated with the life of a person important in the history of the City or an important event in the history of the City as determined by the Landmarks Commission. 3. Privately owned
individual properties (not within a district) that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It was agreed that these priorities will be used to guide initiation of future Landmarking activities on the part of the Commission. These priorities will not preclude the Commission
from responding to Landmarking requests initiated by owners of individual properties outside of established or identified districts nor of requests initiated by a majority of property
owners within a listed or identified but unlisted district. It was also agreed that a subcommittee would be established to initiate Landmarking activities according to these established
priorities. Discussion then turned to the staff and administrative expenses related to the Landmarking process and establishment of a cost for processing a Landmarking recommendation
through the Plan Commission and Common Council in light of existing charges for other matters that have to be acted on by the Plan Commission and Common Council. Staff reported that
the Division would process a set number of Landmarking recommendations initiated by the Commission during the course of a given calendar year. The number, which is expected to be between
four and six, would be established after an internal audit of the costs associated with processing the first Landmarking recommendation and could be changed based on additional experience.
The cost for processing additional recommendations initiated by the Commission or recommendations on properties where the process is initiated by a private owner or owners would also
be based on the internal audit of staff and administrative costs. Commissioners agreed to review these matters and confirm them at the July meeting. CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAM
Chair Harold Buchholz reported that he had discussed this program with Joe DeRose of the State Historical Society at the presentation on the Historic Survey Update and since that time,
staff had additional discussions with the State regarding the requirements of the program. Staff explained that the Certified Local Government Program (CLG) was a State program that
provides certain benefits to communities that meet certain historic preservation related criteria. Benefits include eligibility for Wisconsin Historic Preservation Fund subgrants for
eligible historic preservation activities and ability to authorize the use of the Wisconsin Historic Building Code for locally designated historic buildings. Eligibility criteria has
been relaxed recently and it appears that the City would qualify for CLG status with a minor change in the existing Ordinance. There was a brief discussion regarding the ramifications
of the necessary Ordinance change on properties designated Landmarks prior to the Ordinance change. This matter will be further discussed at the July Landmarks Commission meeting. ADJOURNMENT
Dick Rueckl moved the meeting be adjourned, Todd Clark seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Susan Kepplinger Principal Planner