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Home My WebLink About09102020 Historic Preservation Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 10, 2020 Volume 3,Page 234 CALL TO ORDER The September 10,2020 regular meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was called to order at 6:00 p.m.by Chair Cheryl Seese. OPENING CEREMONY Cheryl Seese led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Cheryl Seese presiding, and Sue-Ward Fred--Weelkers Wolfgang Kurtz (telephonically) Mary Ann Benoit(telephonically) Tanguy Libbrecht(telephonically) Sherry Furlong(telephonically) comprising a quorum of the Commission; and Jackie Wilde, Community Development Director Jessica Stallard, Deputy City Clerk Excused-Ward, Woelkers Absent-None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING-None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Libbrecht/Kurtz) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Per administration's request,the commission removed the Jesse Lee Home report from the agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following consent agenda items: Approval of the August 13,2020 Regular Meeting Minutes. Approval of the August 20, 2020 Special Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS,AND REPORTS City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 10, 2020 Volume 3, Page 235 Proclamations and Awards—None .rr City Administration Report.Community Development Director Jackie Wilde said she was excited to work with the commission and she looked forward to forming a great relationship with them. Chair Report. Seese was excited to work with the commissioners and the clerk. Jesse-Lee-Home, Fort Raymond Subdivision District—None Certified Local Government(CLG)Grant—Libbrecht said a resolution would be on the September 14, 2020 council agenda to approve the CLG grant. He asked each commissioner to provide citizen comments in support of the CLG grant at this council meeting. Seward Historic Inventory List—None Historic Overlay District—Benoit said she was making progress on the Historic Overlay. Rockwell Kent— None Historic Preservation Facebook Page. Benoit said posts had been created for Founder's Day,the Rockwell Kent Centennial,and Hoben Park.An audio recording of Doug Capra's Rockwell Kent talk had been posted on the commission's Facebook page. A Founder's Day post had been boosted for seven days for a total of$15 and it had increased participation on the Facebook page. Other Reports, Announcements and Presentations National Alliance of Preservation Commission(NAPC)Conference Report.Libbrecht said the virtual conference focused on networking and learning. It emphasized the importance of taking actionable steps to preserve history and reignited his passion for preserving local history. PUBLIC HEARINGS—None NEW BUSINESS Other New Business Nominate and elect a Chair. Cheryl Seese was nominated as Chair. No other nominations were received. Motion (Kurtz/Benoit) Re-elect Cheryl Seese as Chair. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 10, 2020 Volume 3, Page 236 Motion Passed Unanimous Nominate and elect a Vice Chair. Sue Ward was nominated as Vice Chair. No other nominations were received. Motion (Benoit/Kurtz) Re-elect Sue Ward as Vice Chair. Motion Passed Yes: Benoit, Kurtz, Libbrecht, Seese Abstain: Furlong Identify the ten most endangered properties in Seward. The commissioners discussed buildings that they wanted to be identified as the ten most endangered historic properties in Seward. Buildings suggested were the Liberty Theater,St. Peter's Episcopal Church,the Recreation building, Resurrection Art Coffee House, Ray building,Odfeller Hall, the Arctic Brotherhood Hall, Quonset Hut, Osbo building, Harriman Bank, Lechner House, Brownell House, Orlander building, Jesse Lee Home, and the Seward Railroad Depot. Discuss researching structures and sites for the nomination to Seward Historic Register. The clerk said the application for nominations to the Seward Historic Register was on the city website and historically,citizens made these nominations. Benoit offered to post information about nominating structures and sites to the Seward Historic Register on the commission's Facebook page. Discuss cleaning up the standing reports. The clerk said there was a difference between reports and discussion items. Reports should have written documentation provided to the clerk the Tuesday before the meeting, and the commissioner presenting the report should review the highlights of it rather than reading the report. Discussion items should be discussed as a group and might need to have action taken on them. The commission removed the "Jesse Lee Home", "Fort Raymond Subdivision District", "Seward Historic Inventory List", and "Rockwell Kent" standing reports from the agenda. Review progress on annual priorities. Libbrecht volunteered to work with Seese to update the annual priorities list. Discuss scheduling joint work sessions with City Council and the Planning & Zoning commission on zone changes that affect the historic district. Community Development Director Jackie Wilde said the Planning&Zoning Commission looked forward to working with the Historic Preservation Commission to preserve history. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 10, 2020 Volume 3,Page 237 Motion (Furlong/Benoit) Schedule quarterly joint work sessions with the Planning & Zoning Commission from 6:00-7:00 p.m. on November 3, 2020, February 2, 2021, May 4, 2021, August 3, 2021, and November 2,2021. Motion Passed Unanimous Discuss the historic walking tour. Benoit was concerned that property owners might not want a sign placed in their yard if their house was included in the historic walking tour. She suggested adding a Quick Response(QR)code to the historic walking tour map that would link to the commission website and provide more details on each property. Discuss Hoben Park. Benoit thanked Forester Mitch Michaud for coring the spruce trees at Hoben Park and determining their age and health.The smaller tree was 75 years old and the larger tree was about 50 years old. She said the Alaska Community Forestry Council provided grants for planting trees. She thanked Parks and Recreation,Seward Rotary Club,the commissioners,and volunteers for working on Hoben Park. Seese thanked Benoit for coordinating the work on Hoben Park. Discuss providing testimony during the public hearing on September 14,2020 for City Council Ordinance 2020-011. Seese said the commission passed a resolution supporting the preservation of Lots 3,4-5 and N%2 of Lot 6 Block 16 Original Townsite of Seward as multi-family residential(R3)at their August 13, 2020 meeting. In response to Benoit,Wilde said the commission needed to present their position as a whole for the public hearing but each commissioner could also speak individually on this topic. In response to Kurtz, Libbrecht said this rezone would allow for more than 70 land uses instead of 20 land uses. An ordinance to rezone these lots was being brought before council for a public hearing at the September 14,2020 council meeting.Wilde said the duty of Planning&Zoning was to see if the criteria for this rezone had been met and it had.Planning&Zoning had approved an ordinance rezoning these lots but the rezone still needed council's approval. In response to Furlong, Seese said there were only nine residential lots left between Adams Street and Jefferson Street and it was important to protect residential lots in Downtown Seward. Benoit had envisioned this neighborhood as part of the historic walking tour. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes September 10, 2020 Volume 3, Page 238 In response to Libbrecht,Wilde said the setback requirements for the multi-family residential district were 20 feet in the front and 10 feet on each side,but there were no setback requirements for a zero-lot-line commercial business district. She suggested changing city code to include development requirements for the historic district. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS Historic Preservation Commission Budget Report through September 4, 2020 Seese said she had received a scholarship for the NAPC conference. She wondered if the commission's unspent funds could be rolled over to next year's budget.The clerk said unspent funds could be rolled over to the following year. Wilde said this would need to be done through a budget amendment by council. CITIZEN COMMENTS —None COMMISSION AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Libbrecht was honored to serve on the commission. He thanked the clerk,commissioners, and Wilde. Kurtz thanked the clerk,commissioners,and Wilde for their hard work and support.He said Doug Capra was working on a short film called "The Unquiet Adventure". Benoit thanked the clerk, commissioners, and Wilde. Seese thanked the clerk, commissioners, and Wilde. She loved Libbrecht's passion for preserving history. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Jessica Stallard, CMC Cheryl See Deputy City Clerk Chair (City Seal) "•,,.., ,cpc, v. • . __.._ 0, SEAL - 1/4 F ti • DFAP