Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout05162018 Historic Preservation Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 16, 2018 Volume 3,Page 143 CALL TO ORDER The May 16, 2018 regular meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair Linda Lasota. OPENING CEREMONY Cliff Krug led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: Linda Lasota presiding Wolfgang Kurtz Fred Woelkers Cliff Krug Iris Darling Cheryl Seese comprising a quorum of the Commission; and Ron Long, Assistant City Manager Valarie Kingsland, Library Museum Director Excused—None Absent—Libbrecht CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Tony Aileet said she wanted to learn more about the Historic Preservation commission. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Darling/Woelkers) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion to Amend (Darling/Woelkers) Add 9K "Elect the HP Chair and Vice Chair" to New Business. Motion to Amend Passed Unanimous Main Motion Passed Unanimous The following consent agenda items were approved: Approval of the April 18, 2018 regular meeting minutes. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 16, 2018 Volume 3,Page 144 SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS,AND REPORTS City Administration Report. Valarie Kingsland said she was waiting to hear back from Wadeen Hepworth on when she would be available to receive her HP Award proclamation. She said the city manager approved Wolfgang Kurtz's CLG travel grant, but she was still waiting to receive Fred Woelker's paper work for the travel grant. Chair Report.Linda Lasota said laydowns were provided by Summer Louthan on Section 106 training and trainings in May. She encouraged the commissioners to contact the Office of History & Archeology to get on their mailing list. She said Judy Bittner's response regarding the US naval radio station was provided as a laydown. Lasota thanked Woelkers for attending the CLG grant training and Kurtz for giving the historic preservation commission (HP) a shout-out on his radio station. Friends of the Jesse Lee Home Update.Iris Darling said Doreen Lorenz had been working very hard to save the Jesse Lee Home. She said she toured the Jesse Lee Home and was impressed by the stability of it. Darling said she was told by Judy Bittner that she was ready to have the Jesse Lee Home turned over to the state.Wolfgang Kurtz said Doreen Lorenz told him that the Friends of the Jesse Lee Home corporate board would consider opening up a seat on their committee for someone local. Resurrection Bay Historical Society Update. Linda Lasota said the Resurrection Bay Historical Society (RBHS) meeting was on May 24, 2018 with a presentation from Phyllis Shoemaker. Iditarod Trail Blazers Update. Linda Lasota said 2018 was the 40th anniversary of the national historic trail and the 50th anniversary of the national trail system. She asked everyone to download a copy of the Seward Trail Blazers and walk the first mile of the Iditarod Trail. She said the Trail Blazers would have a public gathering on June 3,2018 at the Branson Pavilion. Lasota said the U.S. Forest Service representatives would be talking about Stewardship Day on June 9, 2018. Alaska Nellie Materials Update.Fred Woelkers said the Alaska Nellie tapes had not been viewed at this point in time. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Discuss how the Commission should coordinate and facilitate its input to the City and other entities regarding Alaska Historic Preservation Act (AHPA) Section 106 compliance for projects within the Commission's geographic area of responsibility. Lasota said there would be Section 106 training in summer 2018. She wanted to send the training notice to the Planning & Zoning (P & Z) commission. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 16, 2018 Volume 3,Page 145 Discuss the Commission's role in the possible preservation of City properties,including Parks & Recreation warehouse building (KPB parcel #1452609 702 Aspen Lane); AK Dept. of Transportation (DOT) Building (KPB parcel #14732006 412 B Street); Army (KPB parcel #14502604 2209 & 2305 Dimond Blvd); and Airforce (KPB # 14502607 2109 Dimond Blvd). In response to Kurtz, Assistant City Manager Ron Long said if these buildings were identified in the Seward Historic Preservation Inventory, then council would ask HP for advice on how to proceed with these properties. He said if the buildings were not on HP's inventory list, then HP could comment on the projects but it would not be under the advisory of council. HP concluded that the Parks&Recreation warehouse building,Alaska DOT building, army building, and air force building were included in the Seward Historic Inventory List. In response to Woelkers, Long said the State of Alaska did not have the authority to direct commissions of the City Council and HP should not communicate directly with the state. Long offered to contact the state on HP's behalf. The commissioners directed Long to contact Judith Bittner with the State of Alaska. In response to Krug, Long said the HP plan could be amended to include these properties by HP holding a public hearing on the amendment and then submitting it to council. Discuss update of local historic plants and trees inventory. Lasota said her and Carol Griswold would be updating the local historic plants and trees list and would report back to HP at the September, 2018 meeting. Review, discuss, and plan annual report to Council. Motion (Woelkers/Kurtz) Accept the notes from the April 18, 2018 and April 21, 2018 work sessions as HP's 2017 annual report to Council once the final product is compiled. Motion Passed Unanimous Plan for Hoben Park beautification. Lasota said she would plant three to four marguerite flowers for each flower bed and provide the soil. Long said he would the commission know if the city could water these plants for them. Review, revise, and update online Seward Historic Preservation information. Lasota said Kingsland updated the Seward Historic Preservation information on the city website. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 16, 2018 Volume 3,Page 146 NEW BUSINESS Other New Business Discuss the professional determinations of safety and conditions for restoration of the Jesse Lee Home. Seese said Kurtz,Darling, and Seese attended a tour of the Jesse Lee Home. She said Friends of the Jesse Lee Home(FJLH)leader, Doreen Lorenz told her that the City Council did not approve any upgrades or work to the Jesse Lee Home, which hindered FJLH's progress on the home. In response to Woelkers, Seese said the Jesse Lee Home site was inspected by an architect and FJLH had put in a lot of work on this project. Kurtz believed hazardous materials needed to be removed from this property. Darling said FJLH had some problems managing the grant funds they had received for the Jesse Lee Home. She had been told by Judith Bittner that the Department of Natural Resources was willing to take on this project and grant money was still available for it. Long said the City of Seward acquired the Jesse Lee Home in a tax foreclosure but they sold it to FJLH in 2014 with the criteria that all hazardous material needed to be addressed within five years of the sale and the property would be reverted to the city if it was used for anything other than education. After four years, the criteria had not been met and the grant from the state was pulled because FJLH was not fulfilling their obligations. Long said FJLH had until the end of July, 2019 to fulfill their obligations and the city would not do anything with the property until after July, 2019. In response to Darling, Long said the Jesse Lee Home was a significant liability to the city. In response to Kurtz, Long said the deadline for FJLH could be extended if they partnered with the state and brought the City of Seward evidence that good progress was made on this project. Woelkers declared a conflict of interest and excused himself from this discussion.He said that he had a personal interest in the Jesse Lee Home and the land the home was on. Chair Lasota ruled that Woelkers did have a conflict of interest. Darling said the laydown that Long provided related to the Jesse Lee Home was a re-print of an Anchorage newspaper article and she believed some of the information in the article was inaccurate.In response to Darling,Long said the information in the article was accurate to the best of his knowledge. Motion (Krug/Darling) Request City Council to make every reasonable effort to preserve the Jesse Lee Home property and its historic significance. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 16, 2018 Volume 3,Page 147 Motion Approved Yes: Seese, Darling, Kurtz, Krug No: Lasota Woelkers returned to the dais. Discuss the upcoming Rockwell Kent centennial and proposed City Symposium on this topic. The commissioners postponed this item to the September, 2018 HP meeting. Discuss and appoint three commission members to form Historical Sites Inventory List Committee. Motion (Darling/Seese) Appoint Iris Darling, Cheryl Seese, and Wolfgang Kurtz to a committee to work on the Seward Historical Sites Inventory List. Motion Passed Unanimous Discuss "Community Involvement— Know Your Neighbor". By unanimous consent, the commission postponed this discussion to the September, 2018 meeting. Discuss Seward Historic Preservation original website designer invitation. By unanimous consent, the commission postponed this discussion to the September, 2018 meeting and asked Lasota to work with Kingsland over the summer to identify the origin of the photos on the original website. In response to Seese, Kingsland said the current city website would have the same text and photos as the original HP website but not the same design. Discuss and approve request to Council for change of ordinance format to allow commissioners to attend Seward Historic Preservation meeting remotely, including authority for voting. In response to Kurtz,Woelkers said he was opposed to allowing commissioners to attend HP meetings remotely unless the commissioner attending remotely would make a quorum,was physically handicapped, or could not make it to a meeting due to extreme weather or road closures. He was concerned that allowing remote attendance to meetings,including the authority to vote,would cause a lack of participation from commissioners. In response to Kurtz, Long said participation in voting was not allowed for commissioners attending the meeting remotely because it was perceived as diminishing the public process. He said commissioners attending remotely were not counted in votes or towards a quorum. Motion (Woelkers/Seese) Lay on the table City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 16, 2018 Volume 3,Page 148 Motion Withdrawn Motion (Seese/Darling) Make a request to Council for change of ordinance that allows HP commissioners to attend an HP meeting remotely with the authority to vote, based on emergencyorto make up a quorum. Motion Withdrawn Motion (Kurtz/Woelkers) Add this discussion to the September,2018 HP agenda as "New Business" Motion Passed Unanimous Discuss and approve request to Council for change of ordinance for Seward Historic Preservation meetings from 2 to 8 per year. Long said the current ordinance required HP to meet at least twice a year because this was the requirement for the CLG grant. They could meet more than twice a year, depending on what resources and staff was available for these meetings. He said asking council for an ordinance changing their meetings from two to eight per year would not mandate them having staff for additional meetings but they could ask council for additional resources. In response to Long, Lasota said HP was approved to conduct their regular meetings. In response to Seese,Long said HP was allowed to find a volunteer to conduct their meetings if the volunteer was approved by council. In response to Lasota,Kingsland said she had very limited availability and resources. She had scheduled six HP meetings for this year with the commission. Motion (Darling/Seese) End discussion on this item. Motion Passed Yes:Seese,Woelkers,Darling,Kurtz,Lasota No: Krug Review and revise Founder's Day proclamation. The commission directed Kingsland to have the Founder's Day proclamation presented at the August 13, 2018 council meeting by Mayor David Squires. Schedule meetings and work sessions. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 16, 2018 Volume 3,Page 149 Kingsland said a September, 2018 HP meeting would be dependent on whether or not a library museum curator was hired to staff HP's meetings. In response to Kingsland, Kurtz said the commissioners could staff a September, 2018 HP meeting. Elect the HP Chair and Vice Chair. Motion (Lasota/Darling) Nominate Wolfgang Kurtz as Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. Motion Passed Unanimous Motion (Woelkers/Darling) Nominate Cheryl Seese as Vice Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. Motion Passed Unanimous Valarie Kingsland passed out a paper ballot and asked the HP commissioners to write down their votes for Chair and Vice Chair. The results of the vote for HP Chair were: 5 Wolfgang Kurtz 1 Abstain The results of the vote for HP Vice Chair were: 4 Cheryl Seese 1 Fred Woelkers 1 Abstain ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS Long thanked the commissioners who attended the Open Meetings Act and Parliamentary training. He congratulated the new Chair and Vice Chair and thanked the previous Chair and Vice Chair for their service. COMMISSIONERS' COMMENTS Woelkers said he attended the Open Meetings Act and Parliamentary training and he would be bringing forwards recommendations for policy changes for HP at the September, 2018 meeting. Seese thanked Lasota for her service. City of Seward,Alaska Historic Preservation Commission Minutes May 16, 2018 Volume 3,Page 150 Darling thanked Lasota, Long, and Kingsland for their hard work. Kurtz thanked Lasota for her hard work and said he would continue to draw upon her exertise. He thanked Long for attending tonight's meeting. Krug congratulated Kurtz and Seese. He thanked Lasota for her service, Long for his guidance, and Kingsland for the hard work she put into the commission. Lasota thanked the commissioners for attending the HP meetings and work sessions. She said her experience on HP had been interesting, educational, and stressful and she had until May 31,2018 to complete her obligations to HP. She thanked Long and Kingsland for their hard work. CITIZENS COMMENTS—None COMMISSION AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZENS' —None ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:22 p.m. Jessica Stallard Linda Lasota Deputy City Clerk Chair (City Seal) The city clerk was not present for this meeting; the minutes were drafted from the audio recording.