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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CITY OF OSHKOSH LANDMARKS COMMISSION MINUTES OCTOBER 12, 2011 PRESENT: Todd Clark, Robert Hughes, Vicky Redlin, Steve Cummings, Arlene Schmuhl and Shirley Mattox EXCUSED: Dennis Arnold STAFF: David Buck CALL TO ORDER Mr. Clark called the meeting to order at 3:13 pm and a quorum was declared present. APPROVAL OF SEPTEMBER MINUTES Mr. Cummings moved for approval of the September minutes. Ms. Redlin seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW SEPTEMBER, 2011 Mr. Buck presented the list of building permits that were issued in the month of September and described work done. The Commission discussed the community mural project at 103 High Avenue and expressed their collective approval at its appearance and appreciation of the historical content. Ms. Mattox stated she was happy to see the first of what she hopes will be many quality murals in the community. Ms. Mattox asked if the porch to be added on 1010 Bayshore Drive is historically sensitive. Mr. Buck stated that the porch is located on the rear of the building which is minimally visible from the right-of-way so he was unsure of the full design. Mr. Cummings said he did not believe it had been constructed yet. Ms. Mattox thought that the owners should be contacted to see if they could utilize tax credits. Mr. Buck stated that the contractors were Dutchman Construction and the owner is Pine Apartments III, LLC. HISTORIC SIGN/PLAQUE PROGRAM - UPDATE Mr. Buck went over the handout/tier 1 application related to the individual structure historic plaque program and informed the Commission that a draft of the tier II was almost ready for review. Ms. Redlin and Ms. Schmuhl provided comments to the written text and suggestions for changing the images of the brochure. Discussion took place regarding possibly pricing the plaques a slight amount of money higher than cost in an effort to create a fund that could be used for general landmarks items, plaque tour brochures and/or to provide a limited number of free plaques. Mr. Cummings suggested connecting with Peggy Steeno, Oshkosh Finance Director to see if this is problematic and how exactly it would be handled/managed. It was further suggested that Mara Monroe, with the Oshkosh Library could be a great resource for home research as well as the University of WI-Oshkosh. NORTH MAIN STREET HISTORIC BUNGALOW DISTRICT Ms. Mattox described that the neighborhood meeting to introduce and gauge whether the owners of the 23 properties were interested in being a National Register Historic District will be held on th October 27 at the Library and that Daina Penkiunas, with the State Historical Society will be in attendance to educate the owners about what advantages there are to being listed as well as to dispel typical misconceptions regarding being on the State or National Register. Mr. Buck reported that 1 of 3 two property owners have already contacted him in support of the designation. Mr. Cummings asked that Ms. Mattox contact Ms. Carol Bricco, who is a resident in the area. COMPILATION OF POTENTIAL INTERN WORK PROGRAM Mr. Buck recapped the previous meetings discussion regarding internship possibilities and that the Landmarks Commission was to come up with programs or duties that are clearly defined to “pitch” to the University and potential interns. The Landmarks Commission compiled a preliminary list of work items for a potential intern including website update assistance such as content and design; historic research on updating the surveys, assisting with individual local, state or national listing and researching interest areas; and historic tour development including identification, cemetery tour compilation, sculpture tour, existing districts, and walking and/or biking tours. CITY OWNED PROPERTY IN HISTORIC DISTRICT REVIEW Mr. Buck stated that this item is on the agenda because there had been previous discussions at the Commission about landmarking city controlled property including 633 Mount Vernon. Mr. Buck distributed a map and a list of city-owned properties located within recognized historic districts or that are individually listed. Ms. Redlin asked if the County, University or School District were also identified on the map. Mr. Buck stated it was only City and Redevelopment Authority owned properties. Ms. Redlin asked that a new map showing these entities be created for review. Ms. Schmuhl asked if the library was identified, which it was not as it is not in a district or individual listing. Ms. Mattox stated that there must be a bigger education campaign to get structures on the National Register or locally landmarked and that the preservation of historic and cultural elements of the city is an emotional issue with many residents. Mr. Cummings suggested that the library be reviewed for local landmarking. Ms. Schmuhl inquired if a structure is on the National Register, can we locally landmark as well. Mr. Buck stated that they could be but to automatically make National Listed be locally landmarked, a local code revision would be necessary. Mr. Clark took an informal poll to see if the Commissioners wanted to expand what has historically been landmarking of residential properties to include commercial and institutional buildings/sites, which were agreed upon. Mr. Clark stated that government owned properties could have benefit/protection if landmarked as they receive preventive maintenance. Mr. Buck stated he would expand the list to include the School District, the University and the County. Ms. Redlin asked to be sent the application information for landmarking so she could fill it out for Sunnyview Cemetery. Ms. Schmuhl left at 4:30pm HISTORIC BACK BARS – UPDATE Mr. Cummings provided an update on the status of the historic back bar project and stated that 5 or 6 of the back bars from the catalog have been located within the City to date. He added that he is continuing to work with Lee on back bars and general tavern history. Mr. Clark stated that this project could spin into a beer or tavern history tourism item and he referenced the brewer tour at Riverside Cemetery. Mr. Hughes inquired about the brewer tour and Mr. Buck stated it was put together by a private interest and he would get him a copy of the literature on it. NEWSLETTER – UPDATE The draft Life in the Past Lane for July was distributed and discussed. Mr. Buck said he will look at the former list to distribute and will talk to his superiors to determine how best to get it out. Mr. Cummings stated that he had a correction on the new use of the Brooklyn Firehouse. Mr. Buck asked that the Commission look it over and provide any corrections to Ms. Schmuhl. 2 of 3 “DOORS OPEN” MILWAUKEE PROGRAM Mr. Buck introduced the item, provided a newspaper article and explained that Mr. Cummings had heard of the Milwaukee Doors Open program and felt Oshkosh could also do such an event. Ms. Mattox explained that this activity was done all over Europe and stated that she spoke with someone who had attended one that had over 100 buildings open to the public. She further stated that the tours could be guided or individual. Mr. Cummings felt it was a great historic tourism piece and suggested the Landmarks Commission keep it open for a possible program in the future. Mr. Buck thought that liability might be an issue with letting individuals tour private buildings. Ms. Redlin stated that event insurance would be all that is necessary. The group agreed that it would be a great item to put on a yearly work plan in the future. Mr. Hughes left at 5:00 pm HISTORIC PRESERVATION CODE EXAMPLES Ms. Redlin handed out examples of Historic Preservation codes from Green Lake, Appleton and LaCrosse. She stated that she reviewed many communities within Wisconsin and found these to be the most compatible examples to use when updating/rewriting the Oshkosh Code. She added that the most notable items consistent with all the examples are the issuance of a certificate of appropriateness for all work issued prior to building permit issuance. She stated that all the code examples have an “out” in that the City Councils can overrule the determinations but that this provides a “cooling off” period that ends with an up or down Council vote. Mr. Buck inquired if these codes were enforced and what the processes were to enforce them. Nobody was sure. Mr. Cummings said the time is good for historic information as the neighborhood initiatives and the façade programs are well underway. Ms. Redlin pointed out the correlation of using historic structures and preserving history as a sustainability item. AGENDA ITEMS FOR FUTURE MEETING/COMMISSIONER STATEMENTS Mr. Buck stated that topics for the next meeting on the Planning Calendar are to begin discussion on the goals for 2012. The topics of the website redesign, North Main Street District meeting results and work program for potential intern(s) also were determined to be good topics. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 5:12 pm was made by Ms. Mattox and seconded by Mr. Cummings. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, David Buck Principal Planner 3 of 3