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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CITY OF OSHKOSH LANDMARKS COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 10, 2013 PRESENT: Vicky Redlin, Shirley Brabender Mattox, Steve Cummings, Dennis Arnold, Sharon Kipetz and Karen Heikel EXCUSED: Arlene Schmuhl and Connor McGee STAFF: David Buck 1. CALL TO ORDER Ms. Redlin called the meeting to order at 3:09 pm and a quorum was declared present. Ms. Redlin, with Commission agreement, moved Item 5a to the beginning of the agenda as there were interested parties here. 5a. FISHING SHANTY INVESTIGATION SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT– PROGRESS UPDATE Mr. Buck informed the Commission that since the last meeting when this item was discussed (March 13th) he e-mailed the draft report to those individuals in attendance who requested it. At that meeting it was determined that the report would be forwarded to the Winnebago County Historical and th Archeological Society (WCHAS) and it was brought to them at their March 13meeting. He further stated that WCHAS also had it on their agenda to discuss later this evening but that he believed the meeting had been canceled. Mr. Buck hopes that the WCHAS will have comments to City staff by May stth 1 so they could be brought back to Landmarks Commission at the May 8 meeting so the Commission can look it over. The Landmarks Commission will then generate a comment letter of their own and forward the report, WCHAS comments and the Landmarks Commission comments to the City Manager. Discussion took place on whether the report would be augmented before going to the City Manager and it was decided comments would be provided by the Landmarks Commission and any other interested parties as separate attachments. Mr. Arnold expressed his desire to move forward with the Commission’s th discussions whether or not the comments from WCHAS were available on May 8 and that they could go separately. He also confirmed that the Commission comments can refer back to the recommendations of the report but will be separated. The Commission agreed. Mr. Cummings stated that he will recuse himself from both the WCHAS and the Landmarks Commission discussion as he was a part of the subcommittee. Discussion took place on whether there was any action at a city level that this report was prepared for. Mr. Buck indicated that there was no action that he was aware of and that the request to investigate was brought up at a Landmarks Commission meeting by a Councilperson and a citizen but that there was no specific action other than looking at historic significance and that the report was an informational item or tool for anyone to use or utilize in the future. 2. APPROVAL OF MARCH 13MEETING MINUTES Mr. Arnold motioned to approve the meeting minutes as presented. Motioned seconded by Mr. Cummings. Minutes were approved 5-0. 3. BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW & DISCUSSION Mr. Buck presented the list of building permits that were issued in the month of March and described work done. There was no discussion. 4. ACANTHUS AWARD NOMINATIONS AND PROGRESS REPORT Ms. Heikel asked which two items had been put on hold from last years Acanthus Award discussion. Mr. Buck stated it was CR Meyer for the architectural contributions to Oshkosh over their 125 year history. Mr. Arnold said he had met with an architect from CR Meyer and has good information including around 40 public buildings in the area to showcase such as the Masonic Temple, the Elks Lodge, and a Jefferson 1 of 3 Street apartment building north of the library. He stated most of the structures are commercial but that there was also high-end residential. He will be contacting them again to get copies of some of the photos to showcase as well. Mr. Buck stated he could have photos e-mailed to him so if he wants to provide staff e-mail that would be fine. Ms. Brabender Mattox showed examples of Acanthus Award presentation material she had put together for previous years. Mr. Buck and Ms. Brabender Mattox discussed the th process of how the awards are presented at the Common Council, which is planned to be on May 28 at the beginning of the meeting. Mr. Buck said the other carry-over was Castle-Pierce for the oldest family run business, also with 125 year anniversary in 2013. He added that Crescent Moon was also added as a third award recipient at the last meeting. Mr. Buck asked for a title, two-three sentence description and who will be accepting the award to include as a “blurb” for the Council and Mayor. It was determined that the Commissioners will bring drafts of their particular items to the next meeting. Mr. Cummings stated he will be putting together the Castle-Pierce information. Mr. Buck stated that Ms. Kipetz had already put together a narrative for Julie and J. Karner at Crescent Moon for the recovery of architectural elements since 1991. Mr. Buck suggested that next year we run an advertisement in the paper to ask for nominations from the public. 5. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS b. Website Update – There was no report. c. Tourism/Brochures – Mr. Buck stated he gathered about a half a dozen examples of past brochures and made copies for the subcommittee and Ms. Kipetz and he then went over the individual brochures. Ms. Heikel said that utilization of this information on the website is extremely important and may be much more relevant than hard copies. Ms. Kipetz also suggested the development of a mobile application and made the statement that students at the University know how to develop these. Discussion took place on who to coordinate with as far as getting information, determining cost and sharing workload. d. North Main Street Bungalow District – Mr. Buck stated the nomination documents will be reviewed thst by the state on May 24 and another neighborhood meeting was originally set up for May 1but has been switched to May 14th. Mr. Buck asked that the Commission vote on having one of the Commissioner’s draft a support letter to send on to the state and also request the Mayor draft one as well. Ms. Redlin nominated Ms. Brabender Mattox to draft the support letter and Ms. Kipetz seconded. Ms. Brabender Mattox agreed. Mr. Buck asked if Mr. Cummings would contact the Mayor to try to get a letter of support. Mr. Cummings suggested staff contact the Mayor. e. Historic Signage/Plaque Program – There was no report. Mr. Buck mentioned that Todd Cummings from Oblio’s has expressed interest in ordering an individual plaque so that may be coming forward. Ms. Kipetz said she may be ready to submit hers and she thinks a neighbor was working on one. Discussion took place about the potential of a marker placement at the University and its location. Ms. Heikel shared the thought of bringing the idea to the University Foundation. Discussion about placement took place and it was felt that the new Welcome Center would be the logical spot. Mr. Buck stated that the pilot program was only for the riverfront but there was no reason it couldn’t be outside the pilot program area. An issue he was unsure about was who covers cost of installation or maintenance as the City won’t install or maintain on private/non-public property. Ms. Kipetz felt that the Welcome Center was the best place for the first but a second could be near Dempsey Hall so you can point to the 4-5 historic buildings nearby. f. Grant Research – Discussion took place regarding looking for funding outside of strict historic preservation funds but at resources like the Community Foundation. Ms. Redlin said she would contact Carlene at the Foundation or Jeff at the Convention and Visitors Bureau to see what’s available through them. Mr. Buck discussed the news article that was included in the packet about the legislation announced by Representative Jacque and Weininger to increase Wisconsin’s share of tax credit from 5% to 20% raising the total credit to 40%. Ms. Kipetz said she is concerned with the fact that the information regarding tax credits is not disseminated to homeowners or property owners and that this item should be a 2 of 3 focus of grant or budget requests. Discussion on how to get the information out including contacting the paper or doing mailings or “literature drop” put in doorways. The Commission asked that Mr. Buck get the number of units and addresses of all properties in the historic districts, costs for printing and postage and the timing when a request must be made so they could request a budget to do a mailing. The suggestion to include workshops as an item to budget for was also a good idea. It was suggested that the request roll into either the neighborhood programs or the design standards program and it was felt that if done that way it would be lost in and amongst the other items so it should be asked for separately. Mr. Buck said he would e-mail that information out to the Commission so a line item budget request can be made. Ms. Redlin expressed concern with putting the item on the May agenda as it is already large but thought maybe the June agenda would be better, assuming timing is not an issue. g. Riverside Cemetery - There was no report. Ms. Heikel asked if there was any actions that needed to be taken by this subcommittee and it was discussed that Ms. Heikel would benefit from a tour of the cemetery and then the only other item was to create a “blurb” for the website. Mr. Buck mentioned that the rehab and potential uses of the Chapel was an item that was last discussed by the subcommittee but that discussion has been on hold. h. Historic Bar Elements – There was no report. 6. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING/COMMISSIONER STATEMENTS Mr. Buck mentioned that the Fishing Shanties Investigation Report will be on the agenda and that the th Acanthus Award nominee must be finalized for a May 28 Common Council presentation. Mr. Buck added that discussion on creating a budget request for projects the Commission would like to do will need to be discussed as well but that the next meeting may be too large of an agenda to accommodate it. 7. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn at 5:10 pm was made by Mr. Arnold and seconded Ms. Kipetz. Motion carried 5-0. Respectfully Submitted, David Buck Principal Planner 3 of 3