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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes1 of 5 CITY OF OSHKOSH LANDMARKS COMMISSION MINUTES JANUARY 14, 2015 PRESENT: Vicky Redlin, Dennis Arnold, Karen Heikel, Steve Cummings, Angela Merrill, Sharon Kipetz, and Shirley Brabender Mattox EXCUSED: None 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 3:02 pm and a quorum was declared present. 2. APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 12 & DECEMBER 10, 2014 MEETING MINUTES Mr. Arnold stated a correction was needed to page one of the minutes of December 10th changing the name “Hasse” to Haase”. Ms. Heikel motioned to approve both sets of minutes as corrected. Motion was seconded by Mr. Cummings. Motion carried unanimously. 3. BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW The Commission went over the building permits issued in December of 2014 and there was discussion on the permit for two marquees at Mainview Apartments/Raulf Hotel Building at 522 North Main Street. The Commission stated their surprise that the marquees were created using a shiny aluminum or stainless steel framing that does not match or compliment the other trim and window casings of the structure, which are bronze in color and feel that the marquees, though in character with historic marquees on the structure, stand out and are not cohesive with the building. Mr. Buck said that the design of the marquees was approved by the State Historical Society who reviewed them as part of the overall tax credit project. Mr. Arnold asked if the historic preservation code had any regulation on fencing as the property at 1107 Algoma Boulevard has a permit for chain link fencing on a portion of their lot. Mr. Buck responded that the historic preservation ordinance does not have any regulation on fencing and believed this is because it is easily removable and does not have affect on the structure itself. Ms. Brabender Mattox said that it is not a permanent feature but she still wanted to express concern that she did not like the appearance of chain link fencing in the front of historic properties. 4. WISDOT NORTH MAIN STREET RECONSTRUCTION IMPACTS - RESPONSE LETTER Mr. Buck went over the Commission’s response letter to Heritage Research for plans that are underway by the Department of Transportation for the reconstruction of North Main Street between New York and Murdock Avenues. Discussion took place regarding the potential lighting as the Department of Public Works informed staff that the lighting example in the letter from Heritage Research will most likely not be the lighting used as it was not designed as street level lighting but that the street lighting selected (at least in the Historic District) will be sympathetic and “historic” in nature. Ms. Brabender Mattox asked that the Commission be 2 of 5 provided the opportunity to comment on the type of lighting selected. Mr. Buck said he would ask and report back. Ms. Brabender Mattox also suggested that the replacement trees to be planted be run past the City Forester so that they are not soft wood and are appropriate to the area. Mr. Cummings also suggested that larger caliper trees be used rather than the minimums available. Ms. Redlin said that the DNR also will have a list of appropriate or acceptable trees because we are in an EAB area. 5. FINALIZE WORK PLAN/COMMISSION GOALS FOR 2015 This item was moved to after Item 10 of the agenda. 6. MILLER’S BAY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION - HISTORICAL RESEARCH REQUEST Mr. Buck informed the Commission that the Millers Bay Neighborhood Association is making a neighborhood plan, which contains a history component. They have requested that the Commission or Commissioner assist with this item. Mr. Buck stated that the Neighborhood Association has quite a bit of historic information on their website already and he went over what was contained in it. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that there are 2 homes identified in the 2006 survey as eligible for the registry in that neighborhood at 1906 and 1416 Menominee Drive and she would review it to see if there were others. Mr. Cummings stated that the majority of the homes were built in the 1950s and that most are in excellent shape for being 60+ years old. Some of the information that would be important to supply them includes the land development of homes, parks, the hospital as well as the “movers and shakers” from the area and that it had been converted from a swamp to a developable area. Ms. Merrill volunteered to help with the research at the least and Mr. Buck said he would provide her contact information to the Neighborhood Planner who is assisting the Neighborhood Association. 7. WEDC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT GRANT - CENTRAL CITY INVESTMENT STRATEGY LETTER OF SUPPORT REQUEST Mr. Buck stated that the City will be applying for a Community Development Investment Grant through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation for a Central City Investment Strategy and would like to know if the Landmarks Commission would be willing to write a letter of support for the application. Mr. Buck described the details of what the grant would be used for and what areas it would cover including the central city on the north and south sides of the river. He also went over what a draft letter could contain. The Commission discussed what the context of the strategy would include and would be concerned if it did not take the historic context into account. The Commission stated that if the grant is received and the study done that they would like to be actively involved and consulted so that the historic elements of our central city are not overlooked or given appropriate weight in proposed policies. After more discussion, the Commission agreed to support the application but wanted the letter to focus on historic preservation and cultural tourism. Ms. Brabender Mattox motioned to have staff draft a letter of support with an emphasis on the historic preservation and tourism goals and objectives, which was seconded by Mr. Cummings. Motion carries unanimously. 8. BUILDING PLAQUE APPLICATIONS Mr. Buck stated that after Mr. Cummings and he went to the Business Improvement District 3 of 5 meeting last month that the Commission has received two historic plaque applications. One was for the Wagner Opera House building at 500 North Main Street and the other was for the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) building/Oddfellows Hall at 103-107 Algoma Boulevard. He stated that both are part of the North Main Street Historic District and went over some general historic information about both properties but stated that before he continues research that he wanted the endorsement of the Commission that a plaque would be warranted or appropriate for them. Ms. Brabender Mattox mentioned that Terry Laib had done quite a bit of research on the Wagner Opera House and Mr. Buck asked that she see if she could get it from him. Ms. Brabender Mattox motioned to approve the endorsement of plaques on these two structures. Motion was seconded by Mr. Cummings and the motion was approved unanimously. 9. HISTORIC TOUR/INFORMATIONAL BROCHURE Mr. Cummings stated that there was a meeting with himself, Mr. Buck, Brad Larsen from the Museum, Cassie Daniels from the Business Improvement District and Wendy Hielsberg from the CVB to discuss cultural tourism. At that meeting it was determined that we needed someone, possibly an intern, to begin compiling existing literature and data that currently exists such as an inventory of historic assets and information on buildings, monuments and “stories” and get the information down in a spreadsheet that can be sorted by larger or more general topics. This information would be the foundation of a cultural tourism program that would ideally include brochures and tours. So the first order of business is to get the criteria for getting an intern. Ms. Kipetz discussed what was necessary for an intern such as a very structured work program and guidance for the “where, what, when and how”. Ms. Kipetz stated that information such as hours, job description and who supervises the intern is needed and she would compile what information will be needed to be provided to get an intern. Mr. Buck asked that the Commission look at the draft brochure on tax credits that was put together to provide comments and suggest changes that could make it better and more user friendly. Ms. Merrill stated that she has gotten a volunteer, who is a graphic artist that is willing to put it together and possibly make the multiple brochures and literature produced over the last several years more cohesive. The Commission felt that pictures of properties that utilized tax credits should be used and that they could be modest, such as single-family homes. Mr. Arnold stated that a house at 1112 Merritt would be good to use as it is a smaller very well kept home that will be a nice contrast to larger ones. Mr. Cummings suggested the Michaels home on North Main Street. Mr. Buck stated he would look for other photographs and suggested that we use the Percy Fur and Gun building as they have utilized tax credits. Ms. Brabender Mattox suggested the Raulf Hotel/Mainview Apartments as a cover photo. Ms. Merrill asked Mr. Buck to get a digital copy of the tax credit brochure that she can send to her volunteer. 10. HISTORIC DISTRICT PROPERTY OWNER INFORMATIONAL MAILING Ms. Merrill mentioned that the Commission should be getting ready to send out a mailing with various brochures including the ownership brochure, districts brochure, tax credit information and plaque program brochure to the property owners of all historic districts so they receive it as they are considering building improvement projects. Ms. Heikel suggested that the letter include an example of how tax credits could be utilized such as “if cost to paint is $X, then you could get $X back in tax credits”. Ms. Kipetz suggested we include a self addressed envelope with the plaque brochure so people could just fill it out and mail it in or alternatively get it on the website as a digital form. Discussion took place on how many pages can go into a standard envelope and if they would need to be oversized to fit an envelope in. Ms. Kipetz said that she could find 4 of 5 individuals to stuff the envelopes if it would help as long as the labels, envelopes and copies of material were provided to her a few weekdays in advance. Ms. Brabender Mattox felt that a secondary group to receive information on tax credits would be the properties deemed “eligible” in the 2006 survey. Ms. Redlin suggested that could be the next mailing project but that we need to focus on getting the first ones out to the property owners already in districts and budgets may be tight. Mr. Buck suggested that we include that type of mailing in a budget request as a second round as the postage and printing costs are a factor and we have only received approval for the first mailing at this time. The Commission asked that Mr. Buck put this item on next month’s agenda so that we can get the mailing in the mail at the end of February or very early March. Ms. Brabender Mattox said she would draft a letter, Mr. Buck would have copies of the ownership brochure, districts brochure, and the plaque brochure. Ms. Merrill said she will get the tax credit info mocked up into a new brochure. 5. FINALIZE WORK PLAN/COMMISSION GOALS FOR 2015 Mr. Buck stated that we talked about the goals for 2015 at the last meeting and it was preliminarily determined that the ongoing items such as website development, tourism and brochure creation, neoclassical district creation and education and outreach programs such as the mailing need to be included on the goals list as well as the Acanthus Awards and annual reporting. It was felt that the potential for a community access program on historic rehab techniques need be retained as a goal. Additional items that could be considered to be added would include inventorying our existing historic districts to determine what has been done to the structures over the past 10-30 years since they were listed, adding the Bayshore District Nomination, research on the probability of a South Side district (possibly Doty Street area), and coordination/cooperation with other preservation groups like the County Historical Society. The Commission discussed the “This Old House Oshkosh” project. Mr. Redlin commented that many are ongoing. The Commission decided to include the ones listed in the December minutes and if they are not attained then we can reevaluate the following year. 11. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING/COMMISSIONER STATEMENTS Mr. Buck went over some notes to refresh the Commission on items they had discussed including getting a meeting together with the City’s IT Department for web update, getting the information about what is needed to get an intern, continue meeting with the CVB and talking with the administrators of the Hicks Fund to maybe get a William Waters bust at the plaza on Washington Street across from the library. Mr. Buck updated the Commission on the City’s efforts to hire a designer to help with the redesign of the plaza. Mr. Arnold agreed to be the Landmarks representative on that initiative. Mr. Buck also discussed meeting with the Paine regarding the status of the Schriber House. Mr. Buck said that we need to coordinate with the inspection division to organize a way to get tax credit information to permit applicants as part of their daily interaction with customers, continue with the development of the historic markers, finishing the fishing topic and starting work on the Lake and River System Marker. It was mentioned that markers, whether bronze National Register plaques or other types of markers will need to be developed for the Irving Church District/Middle Village Neighborhood and the North Main Street Historic District/BID area. Mr. Buck brought up the thought that we may want to send out “good job/thank you” letters to 5 of 5 those who do sensitive work on historic projects like painting their siding rather than replacing with vinyl siding. Mr. Buck said he received an inquiry from the State Historical Society requesting a CLG update as well as a request for a new photo inventory for the North Main Street District. Mr. Cummings mentioned that the State of the City Address will be Monday, March 23, 2015 and he has hopes that the Commission will have a booth there. He also mentioned that the two homes next to the Salvation Army have been purchased and they have plans to demolish them. However they are offering them to the city for $1 if they are willing to move them. The Commission decided that the next agenda should include updates on existing projects, a distribution of the goals for 2015, discuss letter and mailing to the property owners in Historic Districts with attachments and any other items that present themselves over the next month. 12. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Cummings motioned to adjourn. Motion was seconded by Mr. Arnold. Motion approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 5:28 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, David Buck, Principal Planner