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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03102022 Historic Preservation Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes March 10, 2022 Volume 3,Page 330 CALL TO ORDER The March 10,2022 regular meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was called to order at 7:30 p.m.by Chair Cheryl Seese. OPENING CEREMONY Char Seese led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Cheryl Seese presiding and Sue Ward elt Mary Ann Benoit Don Art LeMaster comprising a quorum of the Commission; and Elena Yanusz, Library Museum Coordinator Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Excused—Libbrecht, Walker Absent—None Vacant—One CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Seese read a letter that had been submitted to her from Bob Reisner. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Ward/Benoit) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Benoit removed the February 10, 2022 special meeting minutes from the consent agenda. Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approve the February 10,2022 Regular Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS,PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes March 10, 2022 Volume 3,Page 331 Proclamations & Awards-None City Administration Report.-None Chair Report. Chair Seese provided a laydown of her chair report, and stated, (verbatim) "At the February 10,2021 special meeting,there was no audio.It was explained to us at the time that IT would dub in the sound following the meeting.There were eight people watching the meeting via YouTube. Because they could not hear the meeting,they were not,if they wanted to,able to make any citizen comments. I went to the Seward Journal so that the public would have our side of the story since they were not able to hear the bulk of the meeting. In the future, if the audio is not working during the meeting,the meeting should end until or unless the audio can be corrected for that meeting.Otherwise,it should be rescheduled to another date.I believe Robert's Rules require an open forum before the public whenever a board or commission has a public meeting.Ah,bullet point two. During commissioner comments, I will be re-reading my statement into the public record regarding the unauthorized solicitation of funds since there was no audio at the special meeting on 2/10/22.Bullet three.The annual CLG report for 2021 has been submitted 3/3/22 to SHPO and there is a copy on file at the library or online. I also have a copy with me should anyone want to quickly review it.We also received an email reply from Maria Lewis from SHPO acknowledging its receipt and a suggestion that we attend a CLG training meeting on June 30th,2022 at 1:30 to three o'clock. Each of you received this email and my reply as a laydown. I would like to thank Commissioner Benoit for her invaluable help in writing the resolution we will be voting on tonight to keep the donors' monies for the purchase of historic walking tour maps. This resolution is the result of the 2/10/2022 special meeting regarding the solicitation of unauthorized funds.Bullet four.I received an email from Doreen Lorenz regarding the state's correction of Benny Benson's age when he won the Alaska flag contest. It was thought and reported that he was 13 when in fact he was 14 years old. A little piece of knowledge before we go about putting our history together for our signage for the,for the Jesse Lee memorial. I hope. Special meeting notice. On Monday,March 14,2022,this coming Monday.At 6:15 there is going to be a meeting of the committee of the whole Jesse Lee Home site.I plan on being there and I invite any of my other commissioners to join me if they're able.We know that Commissioner LeMaster will be in Italy,so he'll not be able.My guess is that where we're at is still dealing with the ground in removal of asbestos before we can do anything regarding any park or memorial. But that's a guess. I plan on being there so that I'm abreast or we're abreast of where we're at in the process.Uh,next bullet.I would like to save staff time and printing costs of providing our commission with printed packets for each meeting.If you do not wish to receive a paper copy of our packet, please let Kris Peck know so that there are, we are not wasting valuable resources. Examples of this include the Land Use table,standards and guidelines of the historic preservation if staff has made no edits between meetings,and the 2/17 Seward Historic Preservation Plan.Thanks. Final bullet. My term on this commission is up in May. At the Monday 2/28/22 council meeting, Planning&Zoning commissioners were named for the open spots.They voted out Tom Swann and Gary Seese who are two seasoned and experienced commissioners, and appointed two new commissioners,leaving one seat open. I don't even know how they could leave one seat open when they had two applications,regardless of why they voted Tom and Gary off the commission. In light of this, I am wondering if the same fate awaits me. If so, be thinking of who you want to be your chair. Vice Chair Ward has too much personal life happening to take on the role of chair. It is my City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes March 10, 2022 Volume 3,Page 332 hope that this does not happen,but depending on how the council votes on our three resolutions,I may conclude that I am a lightning rod for this commission, meaning that decisions made by the council regarding this commission may go against it because of me. I am sure that my article of our defense of the solicitation of unauthorized funds in the Seward Journal ruffled some feathers. As I don't understand the reasoning for removing Tom and Gary from the Planning & Zoning Commission, I am leery of what is in store for me. in all honesty, my position has become very draining due to the politics of serving the city and the public,combined with the amount of work that I do behind the scenes. That completes the chair report." Other Reports and Announcements Report on Historic Preservation Facebook Page. Benoit reviewed the page activity. Update on Certified Local Government(CLG)Grant 20005.Benoit reported there were still three signs that needed to be installed. Update on USS Alaska project.LeMaster said the organizers of the project were working with R&M Consulting, and Waino Salo would be in Seward in late June. Ward wondered if they could be invited to the June meeting. LeMaster said he would invite them. Presentations—None NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2022-003,A Resolution Of The Seward Historic Preservation Commission Of The City Of Seward,Alaska,Requesting City Council Authorization To Retain And Appropriate Private Donations To CLG Grant #20005 "Seward Historical Tour: Public Education Signage" For The Purpose Of Purchasing Additional Walking Tour Maps. Motion (Benoit/LeMaster) Approve Resolution 2022-003 Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Items Approve the February 10,2022 Special Meeting Minutes. Motion (Benoit/LeMaster) Approve the February 10, 2022 Special Meeting Minutes. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes March 10, 2022 Volume 3, Page 333 Benoit did not agree with the clerk's recording of her comments,and requested to have them recorded verbatim.The city clerk agreed to edit the minutes and bring them back at the next meeting for approval. By unanimous consent, the commission postponed the February 10, 2022 special meeting minutes to April 14, 2022. Discuss annual Certified Local Government(CLG) report to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Seese said she addressed this in her chair report. Ward stated the commission had been very successful with their grant project. Discuss the Historic Preservation Commission's web page. Seese asked that her phone number on the page be updated because she no longer had a land line. Seese stated the website currently read:"The Historic Preservation Commission is required to meet at least twice each year.Currently,the Commission meets on the second Thursday all year with additional meetings and work sessions scheduled as needed." She asked if it could be updated to read: "The Historic Preservation Commission is required to meet at least twice each year. The current meeting schedule is,on the second Thursday of each month,except for July when they are on hiatus,the commission meets at 6:00 p.m.with a work session followed by a regular meeting."Seese said she wanted to make sure that people understood how much time they were committing to if they joined the commission. Discuss updating the Historic Inventory list and consider creating a committee. Seese stated she was the sole person responsible for this and it was too much work for one person. She said the commission needed to create an inventory list from 1942 forward because the current one only ran through 1941. City Clerk Brenda Ballou said, before the commission moved forward with creating a committee,she wanted to inform them that at the city council retreat last Saturday,they learned that any committee created by council or a board or commission would be required to follow the Open Meetings Act and would have to publicly notice all of their meetings. Ballou stated this was a learning moment for her, because she had previously understood that committees could meet privately if they were comprised of less than a quorum of the body. Benoit said she had a spreadsheet and could start working on updating it with information she already had on hand;some places didn't even exist anymore. Seese said those locations still needed to stay on the list; the list had to be submitted annually to the Office of Archeology. Seese recalled there were between 165 and 185 properties listed on the current inventory,and she thought if the list City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes March 10,2022 Volume 3,Page 334 was updated with the information that Benoit said she had on hand,that would suffice for this year's report. Benoit said she would look at the information she had on hand. Discuss creating a committee for the Standards and Guidelines. This item was not discussed by the commission. Remind the commission of the joint work session with city council on Tuesday,March 29,2022 at 5:00 p.m. Seese said all commissioners needed to attend this work session. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS 2022 Historic Preservation Priorities 2022 Historic Preservation Meeting& Work Session Schedule CITIZEN COMMENTS—None COMMISSION AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Benoit thanked Bob Reisner for informing the commission about Japanese/Japp Creek. Seese re-read her statement from the February 10th special meeting.(verbatim)"Chair Seese's comments regarding the Seward Historic Preservation Commission CLG Grant 20005 Walking Tour Project,unauthorized solicitation of public funds.To begin with,it boggles my mind that only now is the city attorney and the city condemning any part of our work and progress on this grant.He or they could have directed us at any point throughout the process.In fact,both had a responsibility to do so. Therefore,this special meeting blindsided our commission unfairly and inaccurately.As volunteers,I do not believe it is our responsibility to know city code, with the exception of the code that states what our mission is as the city's Historic Preservation Commission. In addition, how to maintain Robert's Rules in our meetings and outside of our meetings.We began our committee in August of 2020;the deputy city clerk advised us at that time that no more than three commissioners could be on a committee.However,each committee could have as many volunteers as we wanted or needed.On the in kind commission, committee, Commissioner Libbrecht and Commissioner Seese were the commissioners on that committee. At the December 28,2020 meeting,Commissioner Ward came onto this committee,too.This was updated,okay,so,updated 12/23/2020 by clerk Corrigan the CLG grant 200005 public education signage timeline was included in this work session packet,page two. While no fundraising was mentioned, page three and four was Resolution 2020-079, the city accepting the grant funds. Again, direction from the clerk's office,our administrator,or the city or the city attorney could have been given to our commission regarding fundraising from the public for this project.Also in this packet,State of Alaska grant agreement historic preservation fund program —CFDA No.15.904.our commission operated within the confines of SHPO's grant requirements and City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes March 10,2022 Volume 3,Page 335 directions. On of sixthis page th s packet was included Seward Historic Preservation Commission agenda statement, including a breakdown of all budget items signed by the Seward finance department on page eight. Again, the administration's directions for fundraising could have been offered to the commission at this time.Throughout the entire process of the commission's work on the grant, each committee reported and brought before the entire commission what and how the committees were progressing on their work toward achieving the grant's intent,especially including the in kind committee's efforts and results. Throughout the years of meetings, each step of the grant's progress was open before the commission and the public. As we received direction from Valarie Kingsland, director at the time, and the clerks, we operated compliantly from their input. This commission was never given direction on the proper process of fundraising.In February,in the February 11, 2021 regular meeting packet, each committee, page 28, and their members were finalized.Again,no direction was given on the correct process of collecting in kind donations which our commission believed included monetary donations.A correction to this understanding was never forthcoming at any meeting until after the fact.At the May 17,2021 work session,on page three,was an update on the budget. On page six, under committees, was time to start working on some fundraising.Again,no direction on the correct process for this was given.Prior to the direction from deputy clerk Stallard,Commissioner Ward and Iris Darling,as commissioner and volunteer on the in kind fundraising committee,solicited donations from the public in keeping with the grant's original foreshadowing of the need to raise monetary donations.These efforts were in keeping with the rules of the committees. At the August 12,2021 special meeting, in our packets were the June 21,2021 minutes; page 27, discuss fundraising efforts. We discussed the grant's progress to include the commission's fundraising results,as well as a complete breakdown of where we were at to include an overall review of the goals of the grant. Commissioner Libbrecht filled everyone in on the production of the signs,posts,and their placements,as well as costs.He explained,using actual costs written into the grant's budget on the original application,the expenses expended,in kind donations, to include over 3,000 commissioner volunteer hours and the target amount of fundraising needed to be somewhere between$3,000 and$5,000.He happily reported that we received$7,200 in monetary donations. He also took the opportunity to thank the donors for their generous contributions to the Seward historical sign project. He stated that each check was made out to the City of Seward, as advised by Naneth Ambrosiani, forgive me for mispronouncing your name. Thank you letters and acknowledgements of the monetary contributions were then sent out to the donors.At this point,our commun-commission moved on believing that we had accomplished what the city wanted regarding fundraised donations. This, too, would have and should have been the time that the city attorney weighed in to advise the commission of any missteps. Following Commissioner Libbrecht's reporting,deputy clerk Stallard advised that any future fundraising be publicly noticed beforehand.A motion was then made at this meeting by Ward/Pemberton to clarify and rename Grants and In Kind Committee to Grants, In Kind, and Fundraising Committee. We were never advised fundraising should have been added to the name of this committee. This motion passed unanimously. Another motion was made by Seese/Ward was made following the one above.Approve the fundraising letter that went out on June 4,2021. Discussion, led by Seese, followed that any future letters would be signed by a commissioner.The rest of the fundraising committee had requested funds for the historic walking tour. Ward then commented that she would clarify the intention of the donations received. This motion also passed unanimously. We completed our CLG grant progress on time and under budget. SHPO was so happy with our work and our professional process that, upon completion, immediately encouraged us to apply for our next grant.We declined because we had put off the need City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes March 10, 2022 Volume 3,Page 336 111 to work on the historic overlay project. Now, five months later, to be called for a special meeting stating that we collected unauthorized solicitation of public funds is disappointing and untrue. Whether or not we accept the city's recommendations beyond this is still to be determined at Friday's February 10, 2022 special meeting. Respectfully, Cheryl Seese." Seese added that in her research, she found in HP's meeting packet dated June 21, clerk Stallard did include the proper process of fundraising,but June 21 was well after the fact. Fundraising happened mid-May to early June. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. ets71)die.s—e renda Ballou Cheryl See City Clerk Chair (City Seal) ��,.%�.t OF SF��,,% . . SEAL •. . v $OFA�PSs*,88,11 • U 0