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MINUTES
CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI MAR 0 4 2011
LANDMARK COMMISSION MEETING
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
JANUARY 27, 2011 CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE
MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Craig Thompson, Chairman
Ms. Mary L. Berven
Ms. Anita Eisenhauer
Mr. Anthony Gavlik
Ms. Marie Guajardo
Ms. Karen Howden
Dr. James Klein
Mr. John Olson
Mr. Leo Rios
Dr. Mark Robbins
Ms. Susan Rucker
MEMBERS ABSENT: Ms. Kris Cardona (Excused)
Ms. Kim Charba (Excused)
Ms. Laura Commons (Excused)
Mr. Herb Morrison (Excused)
STAFF PRESENT: Mr. Andrew Dimas, City Planner
Ms. Linda Williams, Recording Secretary
The meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by Mr. Craig Thompson, Chairman. The roll
was called and a quorum was not present. Upon arrival of Ms. Guajardo, a quorum was
declared.
Mr.Thompson welcomed new commissioners to the Landmark Commission and asked
them to introduce themselves. Mr. Anthony Gavlik stated he is a native of Corpus Christi and is a
civil engineer with Naismith Engineering. Mr. Gavlik continued he was excited to be on the
commission and expressed appreciation to Mr. Thompson for recommending him to serve on
the commission. Ms. Karen Howden stated she was a retired eighth grade history teacher with
the Flour Bluff Independent School District and she has been working with the Nueces County
Commission for about six years and is currently working on the Old Bayview Cemetery project.
Ms. Howden continued she also was excited to be on the commission. Mr. John Olson stated he
was a native Corpus Christian and was a retired architect. Mr. Olson continued he loved history
and was looking forward to being on the commission.
ACTION ITEM:
Approve October 28, 2010 Minutes: The October 28, 2010 minutes were approved as
distributed. Motion to approve the minutes was made by Dr. Klein and seconded by Dr.
Robbins.
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Landmark Commission Meeting
January 27,2011
Page 2
! DISCUSSION ITEMS:
Overview of the Heritage Park Plan Presentation at the December 8, 2010 Planning
Commission: Mr. Thompson expressed appreciation to commissioners who attended the
December 8, 2010 Planning Commission meeting to lend support to the Friends of Heritage
Park Committee as the Heritage Park Plan was presented. Mr.Thompson asked Ms. Berven to
give a brief overview of what happened at the meeting. Before Ms. Berven began the
• overview, she informed commissioners that the Friends of Heritage Park had received its 501C
• status as a non-profit organization and they were excited about it. Ms. Berven continued that
there were several objectives in gaining 501 C status, several of which included being able to
receive donations and seek ways to increase revenue for the park.
Ms. Berven began her overview by stating that in addition to David Brown and her, Mr,
Art Zeitler also attended the meeting as part of the Friends of Heritage Park organization. Ms.
Berven went on to say that Mr. Brown presented the Heritage Park Plan and it was well
received by the Planning Commission and the group was very pleased with the commission's
response. Ms. Berven continued the next step was presenting the plan to City Council and
the plan was presented before City Council on January 25,2011. Mr, Michael Morris, Director
• of Park and Recreation, introduced us before the presentation began. Ms. Berven continued
that Mr. Zeitler explained to City Council members what the role was of the Friends of Heritage
Park, which was to provide support for Heritage Park in helping it to be economically
sustainable, work closely with Park and Recreation staff in developing a detailed master plan
and pursue "HC" zoning for the City-owned properties on Mesquite Street. Ms. Berven stated
that City Council was very positive about the plan and what the Friends of Heritage Park was
trying to accomplish. Ms. Berven continued that the next step would be trying to rezone the
block containing city owned properties located north of Heritage Park. Included in that block
are two properties that are privately owned. Ms. Berven stated that Ms. Rucker would be
talking with one of the property owners. After Ms. Berven's overview was completed, no
action was taken.
For benefit of the new commissioners, Mr. Thompson briefly explained that the Landmark
Commission, Friends of Heritage Park organization and the Park and Recreation staff had
been working together on developing the Heritage Park plan proposal. Mr. Thompson
continued that since the City has no funds to really expand Heritage Park, the Friends of
Heritage Park was established as a non-profit organization to be able to apply for grant
funding, hold fund raising efforts and come up with possible activities that would generate
more activity and people in the area. The commission and the organization have been
working on the plan for some time and all of the hard work has finally resulted into something
good and the commission was excited about it.
Ms. Rucker added that the commission has been in discussion regarding expanding Park
and how that expansion could be accomplished by adding the two city blocks located west
of the park complex. Ms. Rucker continued that the Friends of Heritage Park,which came out
of the Landmark Commission, came up with the plan concept to enlarge the park and
possibly create more people traffic through various venues of activities that would draw
people to the park. Ms. Rucker continued there were several homes located on city property
across the street from Heritage Park that are in need of restoration. Ms. Rucker stated the
commission was trying to lock the land in before it gets absorbed by future expansion of the
Whataburger ball park.
Ms. Howden asked if copies were available of the Heritage Park expansion plan and Mr.
Thompson stated he would provide copies of the plan at the next meeting.
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Landmark Commission Meeting
January 27,2011
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Mr. Thompson stated that he would like to pursue some of the goals and projects that
were discussed at the July workshop. Mr. Thompson continued that he and Dr. Klein would
get together and come up with a list of projects for commissioners to review and possibly
select one they would like to pursue. Mr. Thompson stated there are no real agenda items
coming from the city, but there are projects that the commission can pursue. Mr. Thompson
encouraged the new commissioners to also be thinking of projects they would like to present
for consideration.
Mr. Andrew Dimas, Staff Liaison, gave a brief update on the UDC. Mr. Dimas stated the
UDC was being reviewed again by the various focus groups to ensure that everything was
included since the individual sections have been merged into one final document. Mr. Dimas
•
• continued that Articles 2, 3 and 6, which affects the Landmark Commission, would be
reviewed and discussed again by the Base Zoning Focus group and those articles could
possibly be presented at the next Planning Commission meeting. Mr. Dimas explained that
Article 2 - "Organizations and Officers" includes organization and duties of the commission,
Article 3 - "Development Review Procedures" includes "Historic Overlay District or Landmark
Designation and Certificates of Appropriateness" and Article 6-includes "H-Historic Overlay."
• Mr. Dimas continued it was hoped that by the month's end, the Planning Commission could
possibly vote on the entire section covering those three articles.
Ms. Howden stated the Nueces County Historical Commission held an activity in the Old
Bay View Cemetery in November in celebration of Veterans Day. Ms. Howden stated there
were approximately one hundred {100) people in attendance and the next cemetery walk
for Old Bay View Cemetery was scheduled for April 9, 2011. Ms. Howden went on to say there
would be story tellers from the Sons and Daughters of Confederate Veferans. The story tellers
would select an individual that is buried in the cemetery and present their story. Ms. Howden
continued that when this activity was first started, it was initiated to place the cemetery on
• the radar and create activity and awareness. The Nueces County Historical Commission
• obtained a small grant from the Humanities of Texas to get the cemetery walk activity going.
Ms. Howden continued that may be the same thing could be done for Heritage Park whereby
the Landmark Commission could get story tellers to tell the story for each home in the park.
Ms. Eisenhauer agreed that something similar to the cemetery walk could be done in Heritage
Park with adequate planning. Ms. Howden commented she felt the Old Bay View Cemetery
should be listed on the National Register and it would just be a matter of doing the
paperwork. Ms. Howden continued that several attempts have been made to initiate the
process -- 1999, 2004 and 2005. Ms. Howden added that many people knew about the
cemetery, but the information was never really documented.
Ms. Eisenhauer extended an invitation to commissioners to attend the 1751h Anniversary
celebration of "Texas Independence Day" with a Toast to Texas at the Centennial House on
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. Ms. Eisenhauer stated the event was sponsored by
the Nueces County Historical Commission and Mr. Joe Franks created the idea of the "Toast
to Texas."
• After all comments and discussion concluded and there being no further business, the
meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.
3273--- •
Lin•it Williams Andrew Dimas, City Planner
Recording Secretary Staff Liaison to Landmark
Commission
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