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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinute CITY OF OSHKOSH LANDMARKS COMMISSION Minutes February 131h,2019 PRESENT: Shirley Brabender Mattox, Steve Cummings, Paul Arnold, Harold Buchholz,Jeremy Galica, Nikki Stoll Olthoff EXCUSED: Jake Krause, Elizabeth Hintz ABSENT: None STAFF AND OTHERS: Steven Wiley, Marlo Ambas,his two children 1. Call to Order Chair Brabender Mattox called the meeting to order at 3:07 p.m. and a quorum was declared present. 2. Approval of January 91h,2019 Meeting Minutes Ms. Brabender Mattox asked the Commission if there were any revisions for the January meeting minutes. For Item 3 of the December meeting minutes Ms. Brabender Mattox asked Mr. Wiley to add that the house at 647 Jackson Street was constructed for Frederick Burgess, the Sheriff, whose son Charles was professor of chemical engineering... For Item 3 of the January meeting minutes, Mr. Buchholz asked if the Commission was aware of the cost of maintenance for the signage proposed at the Grand Opera House. Mr. Wiley stated that staff was planning to have a meeting to discuss the proposed signage,funding options for it and cost of maintenance. Mr. Buchholz asked Mr. Wiley to reflect the cost of sign maintenance in the January minutes. For Item 8 of the minutes, Ms. Brabender Mattox asked Mr. Wiley to add that all materials and documents concerning the Historic Preservation Plan would go to Mr. Wiley. No Commissioners had any further revisions so the Commission voted 6- 0 to approve the minutes with changes (Arnold/Stoll Olthoff). 3. 434 Church Avenue-Rehabilitation Work-Discussion/Action Mr. Wiley provided an overview of the Inspections case on the property for peeling paint. He reminded the Commission of the work that Mr. Ambas initially proposed for the property to comply. Mr. Ambas was in attendance and had proposed to replace cedar shakes with composite shake siding. He also intended to wrap all wood fascia with a woodgrain style aluminum fascia. Mr. Ambas stated that contractors preferred not to work in his property's area due to its highly visible nature. He was weighing his options for conducting work on the property. He stated that he did not live at the property. Mr. Buchholz asked if interior work was the priority for Mr. Ambas at this property. Mr. Ambas replied affirmatively but that he wanted to make progress on exterior work as soon as the weather improved. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that much lumber on historic homes in Oshkosh was long-lasting. Mr. Arnold observed that the siding on the first and second floors appeared to be vinyl. Ms. Brabender Mattox asked Mr.Ambas if he had done a cost comparison between replacing the cedar siding with vinyl or scraping and painting. Mr. Ambas stated that he was waiting to hear back from contractors on the costs. Mr. Arnold stated that cedar shake look-alikes could be convincing and that since the home was no longer historic he was not opposed to cedar shake look-alikes. Mr. Arnold stated that he would not recommend using an aluminum woodgrain style fascia because the products looked like weathered wood. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that the third floor windows appeared to be boarded up. Mr. Cummings stated that getting a crane up to the house would likely be the largest expense. He did not believe the cost of scraping and painting would be a large expense. Mr.Galica asked about the impact of wrapping original elements in aluminum fascia. Mr. Arnold stated that the primary issue would be long-term moisture infiltration. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that Mr. Ambas could scrape to the base wood and use a primer before painting. Mr. Ambas stated that he was actively pursuing a solution and needed cost estimates from contractors. He did not want to put the project off. Mr. Galica asked if because the property was a business (rental)if it was not eligible for the same tax breaks. Ms. Brabender Mattox replied that the income-generating properties were subject to different conditions and that Mr. Ambas would have to invest at least $50,000 into the property. Mr. Arnold asked if the property was still a contributing property. The Wisconsin Historical Society site listed it as contributing. Mr.Buchholz explained that there were 2 elements to the case. One was orders from Inspections and the other was Landmarks' concerns regarding the architectural integrity of the property. Mr. Buchholz asked Mr. Wiley to keep in touch with Mr. Ambas and provide whatever assistance possible on behalf of Landmarks. Mr. Cummings stated that scraping lead-based paint would be an issue that would require addressing. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that Mr. Ambas was welcome to come back to Landmarks. Mr. Ambas asked if Landmarks had historic photographs for properties. Mr. Wiley stated that for some properties Landmarks did have access to this information and that he could follow up with Mr. Ambas. 4. Building Permit Review The Commission discussed the list of building permits for historic districts. For 621 W. Irving Avenue Ms. Stoll Olthoff and Mr. Buchholz asked if the City was aware of the peeling paint. Mr. Wiley stated that City staff would address property issues as they became aware of them. For 132, 136, 140 High Avenue Ms.Brabender Mattox asked if the new membrane roof could qualify for historic tax credits. Mr. Arnold explained that the Frontenac Building on the parcels was a William Waters design. Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that her goal was to reach out to property owners and hopefully give them incentives to maintain the integrity of their properties. Mr. Cummings mentioned that the property at 621 W. Irving Avenue had been in poor condition since he was young. He stated that the question was whether Landmarks would walk away long-term from old properties such as this one. He mentioned the potential of increasing incentives to reduce the number of units in a structure. He mentioned that Act 317 allowed owners to use materials similar in appearance to the originals. Mr. Galica stated that some property owners might not restore the property but could get it to a presentable state. Mr. Arnold stated that in many cases properties fell victim to poor residing practices such as when vinyl siding stopped short of the roof and could allow moisture in. Mr.Buchholz supported the Commission bringing owners in and persuading them to engage in best practices for preservation. Ms. Brabender Mattox mentioned the higher banisters on the property at 621 W. Irving Avenue and stated that she thought the banisters were a local regulation, not the state's regulation. Mr. Arnold stated that many contractors believed banisters had to be a certain height. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that she would follow up with Mark Buechel of the Wisconsin Historical Society. 5. 303 Washington Avenue-Discussion- Steve Cummings Mr. Cummings introduced the item to the Commission and explained that the property at 303 Washington Avenue was a Queen Anne style home designed by William Waters for Dr. Corbett. He stated that GO-HNI could potentially use this property for office space. He mentioned that Randy Schmiedel owned the property and bought the property adjacent to it. Ms. Brabender Mattox asked Mr. Cummings what he wanted from the Commission. Mr. Cummings explained that he wanted Landmarks to be aware of the property and wanted to see whether Landmarks was supportive of Mr. Cummings bringing up the property at an upcoming GO-HNI meeting. Mr. Arnold stated that it was not a bad idea for Mr. Cummings to bring the property up to the GO-HNI board to determine the board's interest in acquiring the property for GO-HNI. Ms. Brabender Mattox suggested that Mr. Cummings talk with Randy Schmiedel. 6. Historic Preservation Plan-Jeremy Galica and Steven Wiley-Update/Timeline/Process Mr. Buchholz stated that he had looked through the some of the materials Mr. Wiley had worked on and he stated that he was a bit confused. He explained that the Commission would have to decide whether the plan represented the City of Oshkosh in general or Landmarks. Mr. Galica stated that the preservation plan would have to represent the City. Mr. Buchholz was working on the Strategic Plan section of the preservation plan and stated that he had looked at the Comprehensive Plan, the Cedar Rapids plan and other documents. He stated that the preservation plan would be Landmarks' identity. He emphasized that the preservation plan needed to be in alignment with other City plans. He stated that the Commission needed to establish chapters and that Landmarks was still an island. Mr. Galica stated that a working group needed to meet outside of the regular Landmarks meetings. Mr. Buchholz mentioned the State of the City as an example of where he believed more emphasis on preservation could benefit the Commission. Mr. Cummings explained that Quality of Life and financial sense were two areas of emphasis for the plan. Mr. Galica explained that he would be doing a content analysis of existing City plans and that he would look at 5-10 cities similar to Oshkosh and what they had done. Ms. Brabender Mattox asked Mr. Wiley what he would like to see from the Commission. Mr. Wiley stated that a subcommittee to work on the plan before the next meeting would help move the plan forward. He stated that Commissioners could keep progressing on their individual sections and that he would like to meet with Mr. Galica before the next Landmarks meeting. 7. 2019 Acanthus Awards -Discussion Ms. Stoll Olthoff mentioned the Howard as a potential adaptive reuse nominee. Mr. Arnold believed the Howard could also fall under the Retention of a Residential or Commercial Building. Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that the William Doe House could be a nominee with its 150ffi Anniversary in 2019. Mr. Arnold stated that July would be the 1501h anniversary of the house. Commissioners asked what the award would be for and determined that it would probably be for interior work the owner had done. Mr. Arnold proposed the idea of locally landmarking the William Doe House so the owner could use the Historic Building Code. He proposed potentially awarding the Acanthus Award under Preservation Activities. Mr. Galica asked how far back work could be done for a property to still receive an award. Mr. Arnold replied that in the past Acanthus Awards were given for work done up to two years back. Mr. Galica asked if the Commission could nominate churches for Acanthus Awards. Mr. Cummings replied affirmatively. Mr. Buchholz mentioned the Riverside Chapel. Mr. Arnold stated that the Commission could potentially nominate the Riverside Chapel under Special Achievement or Preservation Activities. Mr. Buchholz suggested considering Adaptive Reuse since the chapel's use was readapted. Ms. Brabender Mattox asked what category the Howard would fall into. Mr. Cummings stated that the building was not really an adaptive reuse example because it was being used in a similar manner to how it was used historically. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that normally the Commission presented the awards in May. She asked Mr. Arnold to look at 115 Washington Avenue as another potential nominee. 8. Commissioner Statements a. 404 W. New York Avenue: Local Landmarking-Shirley Brabender Mattox/Rich Green Ms. Brabender Mattox mentioned that Mr. Green was working on this for his property. b. 2019 WAHPC Conference-Shirley Brabender Mattox Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that the State Historical Society was planning to host a CAMP on April 121h in conjunction with the WAHPC Conference. She stated that she might nominate a project for the WAHPC awards. c. Mark Buechel: Seminar on State Tax Credits-Steve Cummings Mr. Cummings did not have any new material on this item. d. Feedback on Landmarks Website Stats-Harold Buchholz Mr. Buchholz stated that there was low output for the colder months and Ms. Stoll Othoff explained that when visitors searched for "Landmarks Commission" on Google,the link to the Landmarks site was broken. e. Feedback on Landmarks Facebook Page-Steven Wiley Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that due to incidents involving other City social media sites, the Common Council had discussed City social media moving forward and the City Manager had decided that City staff would be responsible for administering social media pages going forward. Mr. Cummings left at this point. f. 217 High Avenue-Steven Wiley Mr. Wiley explained that he had communicated with the property manager of 217 High Avenue and that she and the owner were working on getting cost estimates and talking to contractors. Mr. Wiley stated that the owner and property manager did not have more material for February but that they were aiming for March. g. 2018 Annual Report-Steven Wiley Mr. Wiley stated that he had touched up the image of the Historic Firehouse,incorporated other Commission input and submitted the report to the Wisconsin Historical Society. He stated that he had printed copies of the report for all the Commissioners. h. Grand Opera House Signage-Joe Ferlo and Rob Chartier-Update/Discussion Mr. Wiley explained that City staff had been in contact with Mr. Ferlo and Mr. Chartier and that staff was planning to meet and discuss the funding,maintenance and code compliance of the proposed signage before bringing the signage back to the Commission. Ms. Stoll Olthoff stated that she was concerned with the font proposed for the signage. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that she had brought up font concerns with Mr. Ferlo. 9. Agenda Items for Next Meeting Ongoing items such as the Historic Preservation Plan, Acanthus Awards,properties at 217 High Avenue and 434 Church Avenue, the website and Facebook stats and revised west wall Grand Opera House signage. Any ongoing items that might come up before the next meeting also would be included on the agenda. 10. Adjournment Mr. Arnold made a motion to adjourn and Mr. Buchholz seconded. Meeting adjourned at 5:30 pm(5-0). Recorded by: Steven Wiley,Assistant Planner