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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CITY OF OSHKOSH LANDMARKS COMMISSION MINUTES NOVEMBER 11, 2012 PRESENT: Vicky Redlin, Shirley Brabender Mattox, Steve Cummings, Karen Heikel, Dennis Arnold and Sharon Kipetz EXCUSED: Arlene Schmuhl STAFF: David Buck and Brad Larson CALL TO ORDER Mr. Arnold called the meeting to order at 3:05 pm and a quorum was declared present. Mr. Larson requested that the Museum Master Plan presentation be taken as the first item as other events happening simultaneously at the museum required his attention. A motion to adjust the agenda to move Item 4 to the beginning was made by Ms. Brabender Mattox and seconded by Ms. Heikel. Motion carried unanimously. OSHKOSH PUBLIC MUSEUM MASTER PLAN Mr. Buck introduced Mr. Larson, Director of the Oshkosh Public Museum and mentioned that the museum had exciting plans to improve their grounds and that Mr. Larson was gracious enough to hold this meeting at the museum and share their master plan with the Commission. Mr. Larson stated that they had four big goals including: 1) improving the Congress Ave. and High Ave. gateway corner of the museum and the community by removing the 1974 fire barn building and improve that gateway area; 2) general outdoor improvements to make the museum ground more appealing to the public/visitors while complimenting the area and area residents; 3) safety improvements through parking lot redesign to reduce cut-through movements and pedestrian hazard reduction/removal; and 4) correct drainage issues causing basement leaks currently existing on-site. The proposed master plan, which he distributed, addresses these goals on a phased approach. One portion includes reconfiguring the parking lot, adding a new entrance and directional signage, adding speed bumps and traffic circle/rotary to slow automobile movements. Other portions include relocating the Hikers Monument to the site; adding a military theme area; adding walking paths and focal points such as old automobile, link to Paine center to establish a “cultural corner”, urn feature, pavilion, Lincoln statue, walled garden and sturgeon sculpture/water paint feature. Ms. Heikel mentioned that since the former Lincoln School is being redeveloped by the University, it was her impression that the Lincoln statue would remain on-site. Mr. Larson said he will coordinate with Art from the University to clarify. He also added that many portions of the grounds were left “blank” for future pieces such as an idea to create some sculptures of Helen Farnsworth Mears, whose plans are in the possession of the museum. Mr. Larson continued by stating that the discussed improvements must still be financed and some are short-term projects and others are more long-term with desire to have the east lawn done first and the gateway arch and Hikers Monument moved in 2013. Cost is estimated at approximately $1.2 million with the parking lot redevelopment making up about half that cost. Ms. Redlin suggested reaching out to the Southwest Rotary as a funding source. Mr. Cummings asked if the Landmarks Commission needed to take action on this item as the Plan Commission did and Mr. Buck replied that they did not and that this was an information item only. The Commission stated that they were happy to see the Museum’s Master Plan and felt it was very appropriate and will be a great improvement to the museum grounds as well as the cultural and historic heritage tourism efforts of the city and region. 1 of 4 APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 11 MEETING MINUTES There was no discussion on this item. Ms. Redlin motioned to approve the meeting minutes as presented. Motioned seconded by Mr. Cummings. Minutes were approved unanimously. BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW & DISCUSSION Mr. Buck presented the list of building permits that were issued in the month of October and described work done. Mr. Arnold asked about demolition of the apartment building on the 400 Block of Washington Street even though it is not in the permit review material. Mr. Buck responded that he would have to check on it but it is not located in a historic district or identified as historic itself. Ms. Kipetz added that much of the interior material/features of the structure were salvaged and are in Crescent Moon Architectural store for sale and reuse. Ms. Brabender Mattox inquired about window replacement on 625 Franklin and Mr. Buck replied that it was a kitchen window replacement near an exhaust with no structural changes. Ms. Brabender Mattox discussed savings of repair versus replacement with windows. HISTORIC MARKER DISCUSSION/UPDATE ON RIVERSIDE PARK MARKER Mr. Cummings stated that the Riverside Park historic marker has been installed and is significant as it is the first of what we hope to be many along the riverwalk. He added that Mr. Buck and he have spoken with the Northwestern Newspaper but that a story has not yet been published. Mr. Buck stated he would let the Commission know if and when an article is done. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS A. Fishing Shanty Investigation - Mr. Buck provided an update on the meetings of the subcommittee. Mr. Cummings stated that Mr. Scott Engle and himself had met with Scott Kohler with the DNR to discuss the shanties and got information on riparian rights and that the general thought was that the shanties are/were part of life on the river but part of the “fishing” chapter. He added that the recommendation of signage and also probably a memorial type of redevelopment would make sense as part of the recommendation. Mr. Buck stated that a draft memorandum to the City Manager would be completed in December and brought back for approval of the Commission hopefully in January. B. Website Update – Mr. Buck stated that the test website is done and that the new feature of having the maps interactive and connecting to the Wisconsin Historical Society inventory so the info would be accessible from our website as well. He provided the website so they could check it out and he further added that he would update the Commission as it goes live. Mr. Buck suggested that once it goes live that the Commission looks at it, maybe as a subcommittee action, to update and improve the content of multiple parts of it. C. Tourism Brochure – There was no update to report. Mr. Buck mentioned a possible historic bar tour and that the North Main Street brochure was hung in several businesses downtown, were distributed and was also discussed in a “Surviving Oshkosh” Blog promoting the tour so it is being seen and discussed in the community. Mr. Buck added that there are many older examples of tourism items but the difficult part is to find funding, which would be a great thing for the subcommittee to focus on in 2013. D. North Main Street Bungalow District – Ms. Brabender Mattox reported that a second informational meeting will be held tonight at the Library and that the Wisconsin Historical Society representative will be there presenting as well as Ms. Jennifer Lehrke, with Legacy Architecture. We will bring city programs information to distribute. The meeting is designed to keep the property 2 of 4 owners up-to-date on progress. E. Riverside Cemetery - There was no update to report. F. Historic Bar Elements – Mr. Buck provided a photo of a Robert Brand bar that he found online but that did not have a location associated with it. Ms. Brabender Mattox discussed a PBS program related to Wisconsin bars that was and will be on again tonight and also talked about a program at the State Convention. G. Property Landmarking – Mr. Buck updated the Commission that he still had not heard from NeighborWorks about landmarking the “Honeymoon House” on Mount Vernon. Mr. Arnold stated that he thought the windows had been replaced as part of the rehabilitation but that casings had been retained. It was discussed that photos should be taken of the home so the Committee could determine if the changes to the exterior would make it not desirable for a local landmark. Mr. Buck went over material prepared by Mr. Arnold regarding the home at 324 Fulton Avenue (formerly 105), which will be the next property to be taken action on. Mr. Arnold also stated that copies of the William Waters drawings are also available and it appears that some of the windows are not original to the plan but appear that they look original to the construction but the committee as a group need to discuss if it was still locally significant. Ms. Brabender Mattox suggested including the garage which was carefully restored as it matches the historic character of the property. H. Ordinance Rewrite Subcommittee – Mr. Buck described a project that the Planning Services Division is working on that relates to a Residential Design Management Program that preliminarily pulls in the Historic Preservation Ordinance design standards as a regulatory or an advisory item. He stated that a workshop with the Common Council, the Plan Commission and Landmarks th Commission will take place at 5 pm on December 4 following the regular Plan Commission meeting. Mr. Buck also supplied copies of a PowerPoint and design standards that were presented to a small group of stakeholders to get comment back. COMMISSION MAKE-UP/MEMBERSHIP Mr. Buck stated that Mr. Clark has moved out of the City and many of the subcommittees he was on will need new members to complete his workload. Ms. Heikel and Ms. Kipetz stated that they would gladly get on the subcommittes. Mr. Buck suggested that we take up that item when the 2013 goals are set so that the Commission knows where to focus their efforts. Mr. Buck also stated that since Mr. Clark was the Chair of the Commission that a new chair will have to be appointed/elected, which we could also do in January. Ms. Brabender Mattox asked if staff could check with the State to determine if our CLG status requires a registered architect to be on the Commission. Mr. Buck stated he would contact Joe DeRose to find out. Ms. Redlin asked if there is any material out there to educate Commissions as our Commission has many new members. Mr. Buck said he would look into it as well. Mr. Buck was asked to put together an attendance spreadsheet of the individual commission members over the past three years and he went over it. Discussion took place on general attendance and the value of having membership that were not available a significant number of meetings, especially as the Commission is generally a working Commission who need to get tasks done. It was determined that members who do not have the time available should probably be asked to resign so the Commission can attempt to get members that can provide active participation. 2013 COMMISSION GOALS/ACTION ITEMS Mr. Buck went over the performance of the Commission in 2012 and that six of the nine items were completed and others are in progress. He also said that he included the 2012 goals list as well as 3 of 4 historic goals lists from previous years in your packets and asked that the members look those over and choose a few (suggested 4-5) that they would like to include for 2013. He added that he will include the lists again in the next packet but don’t feel that you have to follow them as it is your choice to determine your work programs. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING/COMMISSIONER STATEMENTS Mr. Buck mentioned that there were several Section 106 antenna requests and that he used the uniform determination previously made by the Commission. Mr. Buck asked if the Commission would be okay with having the next meeting at the Grand Opera House to facilitate a presentation of improvements to the annex building that they are considering such as changing signage and awnings. The Commission unanimously agreed that the location was acceptable. Items to include on the December agenda include: -Grand Opera House Improvement Presentation -Subcommittee Updates -2013 Goals Discussion ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 5:17 pm was made by Ms. Redlin and seconded by Ms. Kipetz. Motion carried 6-0. Respectfully Submitted, David Buck Principal Planner 4 of 4