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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CITY OF OSHKOSH LANDMARKS COMMISSION Minutes April 101h,2019 PRESENT: Shirley Brabender Mattox, Steve Cummings, Paul Arnold, Nikki Stoll Olthoff EXCUSED: Harold Buchholz,Jeremy Galica ABSENT: Jake Krause, Elizabeth Hintz STAFF AND OTHERS: Steven Wiley 1. Call to Order Chair Brabender Mattox called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. and a quorum was declared present. 2. Approval of March 131h,2019 Meeting Minutes Ms. Brabender Mattox asked the Commission if there were any revisions for the March meeting minutes. No commissioners had any revisions so the Commission voted 4-0 to approve the minutes as written(Arnold/Stoll Olthoff). 3. 217 High Avenue-Update Mr. Wiley provided a brief update and explained that the property manager was still working with contractors. She did not have anything additional to present at the Landmarks meeting but was still working on the initial questionnaire to determine potential eligibility for the National and State Registers. Mr. Wiley explained that the Inspections Services Division wanted to see compliance with local ordinances primarily by addressing the peeling paint. He explained that the challenge was that the timeframe for listing on the National/State Registers could take over a year and that compliance orders existed on the property. Mr. Wiley explained that for an income-generating property such as this one, his understanding was that the property needed to be formally listed on the National/State Registers to qualify. He explained that the property manager had most of the required materials for submission to the state compiled, but was working on obtaining exterior photographs of the property. He explained that he would continue working with the property manager throughout the process. 4. Building Permit Review The Commission discussed the list of building permits for properties located in historic districts. Mr. Arnold asked about the property at 831 Washington Avenue where work was done without approval and the stair did not meet headroom requirements. Mr. Arnold asked if the property owner would have to undo the illegal work or alter the stair. Mr. Wiley stated that he could follow up with Inspections but that he believed the owner would have to bring the work into compliance in order to use the 3rd floor as a bedroom and bathroom. Ms.Brabender Mattox asked if the property at 514 Union Avenue was historic or not. Mr. Wiley stated that the house was considered a contributing structure in the Irving-Church District when the district was established. Ms. Stoll Olthoff asked for some of the background on 537 N. Main Street for the continuation of a permit to close window openings and install a new sign on the front facade. Mr. Arnold explained that Landmarks had reviewed the item and it went to the Plan Commission. The owner was granted a Design Standards Variance permitting him to do the proposed work and was reluctant to attach a new sign to the terra cotta portions of the facade. For 436 North Main Street, the Commission was supportive of the proposed signage. 5. Historic Preservation Plan-Jeremy Galica and Steven Wiley-Update/Timeline/Process Mr. Wiley provided an update on the preservation plan. He explained that he continued to work on the plan when able and that he wanted to hold additional workshops to work on the plan. Commissioners explained that they would not be able to attend a workshop at the proposed April 111h time but that they could attend a rescheduled workshop in the coming weeks. Mr. Wiley stated that his main goal was to keep progressing on the preservation plan. He reminded the Commission that they would have to work out the public participation part of the planning process. 6. 2019 Acanthus Awards -Discussion/Action Mr. Arnold provided an update on 115 Washington Avenue (Goetteman Printing) and stated that staff should update the Assessors page because the owner listed was incorrect. He stated that the Johnson sisters owned the building,not Paul Redemann as was listed on the Assessor page. He suggested that the Commission refrain from presenting an award for the property for this year. For the Howard Ms. Stoll Olthoff asked to obtain some previous examples of awards. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that she could help in writing the nomination for the Riverside Chapel. She asked if the Commission wished to consider Richard Nebel for an Acanthus Award for 2019. She showed the Commission some of Mr. Nebel's blogs on William Waters buildings in Oshkosh and other locations. Mr. Nebel had posted over 200 blogs since 2010. Mr. Arnold supported the idea but suggested waiting until the following year due to the constraints of time and Commissioner availability. 7. Social Media-Discussion/Action Mr. Wiley stated that he had met with City Manager Rohloff and Emily Springstroh from Oshkosh Media since the March meeting. He explained that the City Manager allowed him to use his discretion when posting Commissioner-originated material. The Commission would not have to wait until the next regular Landmarks meeting to vote on items and post them. Commissioners could send material for posting and staff could post going forward. Mr. Wiley stated that for the Sustainability Advisory Board, a board member worked on postings for each month and sent them to him to post. He suggested that Landmarks could also do this. 8. 530 North Main Street-Cellular Antenna-Discussion/Action Mr. Wiley asked the Commission to provide input and direction on how to respond to the proposal to replace existing cell antennae and add new antennae on the Raulf Hotel at 530 N. Main Street. He showed the Commission the materials that the consultant submitted and explained the proposal by U.S. Cellular and AT&T for new antennae structures. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that she completely objected to the placement of any new structures on the building. She explained that the Commission did a large amount of work to try and reduce the number of antennae structures on the roof and facades of the building. Mr. Cummings agreed and was supportive of keeping the building clean. Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that the Raulf building was Oshkosh's skyscraper downtown. She mentioned that the draft letter stated that the proposed installation of cell antennae was outside of an historic district. She asked Mr. Wiley to correct this since the building is a contributing structure in the North Main Historic District. Mr. Wiley explained that he had also found the earlier Common Council resolutions from 2011 and 2013 and that the Commission had weighed in during earlier antennae modernizations. Mr. Wiley stated that Landmarks had used a consistent four-category template letter for responding to antenna proposals. In the earlier Landmarks responses, the Commission completely objected to the installation of any new cell structures and proposed that obsolete structures not be replaced. Ms. Brabender Mattox suggested taking this same stance for the current proposals. Mr. Arnold proposed updating the earlier 2010 letter and using similar wording to express Landmarks disapproval of the proposed antennae modernizations. The Commission voted 4-0 to have staff update the 2010 letter and submit it to the consultant on Landmarks'behalf(Arnold/Cummings). 9. Wisconsin Association of Historic Preservation Commissions -Preservation Awards-Oshkosh Nominations-Update Ms. Brabender Mattox explain that she had nominated the Fraternal Reserve but it was rejected due to lack of images. Mr. Cummings explained that he had a copy of the book of images showing the restoration. Mr. Wiley stated that he had a couple copies of this book in his office. The Wisconsin Historical Society obtained a grant for the training of Commissioners which allowed for the CAMP to occur. Ms. Brabender Mattox asked if Mr. Arnold was registered. Mr. Wiley had explained that he had sent Mr. Arnold the information and later registered him. Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that WAHPC and the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation had award presentations scheduled for 4:30 PM in the Library dome after the CAMP. She stated that that she was expecting about 100 people to attend and that she would be helping with the setup. Ms. Stoll Olthoff explained that she could help with the award reception. 10. WHS-CAMP/Awards Reception-Oshkosh Public Library-April 12,2019 at 4:30 PM This event was to occur in tandem with the WAHPC event in April and discussed with Item 9. 11. Lakeshore Historic Site Signage-Discussion Mr. Wiley explained that Mr. Davis had asked him to place this item on the Landmarks agenda for discussion. Mr. Davis had potential CIP funding from the Riverwalk project that could be used for 2 markers similar to the signage installed in the Center City area. Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that perhaps the most important aspect was that the UWM team working on the site believed that a portion of it was eligible for the National/State Registers. She asked if Mr. Wiley had connected with the Wisconsin Historical Society on the eligibility. Mr. Wiley had not yet done so. Mr. Cummings explained that he had some conversations with Oshkosh Corp about installing markers that focused on the lumber industry. He stated that this was a bigger project than a sign. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that 8,000 years of history was not something that a sign or two could address. She suggested that the Oshkosh Public Museum get involved. Mr. Cummings stated that Augusta, Georgia along their river was an example. Ms. Stoll Olthoff asked if UW-Oshkosh's anthropology department could assist. Ms. Brabender Mattox stated that the University could assist. The county Historical Society was another potential partner. Mr. Arnold stated that the project was larger than what the Landmarks Commission alone could handle. Mr. Cummings suggested that the UW-Oshkosh History department could assist in doing research and writing the drafts. Ms. Stoll Olthoff asked what the process was to get the state involved. Ms. Brabender Mattox suggested reaching out to the state historical society. The Convention and Visitors Bureau and UW-Oshkosh were mentioned as potential partners in the project. Mr. Wiley agreed to inform Mr. Davis of Landmarks' discussions regarding the Lakeshore site. 12. 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 but that she was not sure if he was in town. b. Tax Credit Workshop Update-Steven Wiley Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that Mr. Wiley had attended a day-long seminar by the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison and that she had asked him to update the Commission on this when he had a chance. c. Feedback on Landmarks Website Stats Mr. Buchholz did not make the meeting so Mr. Wiley did not have any new information on this item. d. Feedback on Landmarks Facebook Page-Steven Wiley Mr. Wiley explained that this was covered before. Ms. Brabender Mattox suggested showing projects on the Facebook page and showing before and after images if owners are working on rehabbing their historic properties. She suggested expanding the page and showing work by Henry Auler and E.E. Stevens and J.T. Raycraft. For any commissioners with materials to post, they could submit this to Mr. Wiley. e. 303 Washington Avenue (Corbett House)-Discussion-Steve Cummings Mr. Cummings explained that he did not have any further updates since speaking with owner Randy Schmiedel who indicated that he did not have plans to demolish the property. f. 434 Church Avenue-Update Mr. Wiley did not have much new information on this property. Mr. Ambas was working on obtaining quotes from contractors but was struggling with getting the quotes. Mr. Wiley stated that the owner was considering just renting a lift and scraping and painting. g. Chief Oshkosh-Progress Report-Steve Cummings Mr. Cummings stated that he had a meeting a few weeks prior to the Landmarks meeting and had discussed four markers (North, South, East and West). He wanted to meet with the tribal leader. h. Historic Walking Tour-Oshkosh Public Library-Shirley Brabender Mattox Ms. Brabender Mattox explained that the Library was working on a new interactive historic walking tour and that the tour would run from Jefferson Street to Court Street. She encouraged the Commission to explore the Vamond app. 13. Agenda Items for Next Meeting (May 8,2019: 3 PM in City Hall Room 203) Ongoing items such as the Historic Preservation Plan, Acanthus Awards,properties at 217 High Avenue and 434 Church Avenue, the website and Facebook stats. Any ongoing items that might come up before the next meeting also would be included on the agenda. 14. Adjournment Mr. Cummings made a motion to adjourn and Mr. Arnold seconded. Meeting adjourned at 5:32 pm (4- 0). Recorded by: Steven Wiley,Assistant Planner