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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Landmark Commission - 10/22/2009 MINUTES LANDMARK COMMISSION MEETING CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS OCTOBER 22, 2009 MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. David Brown, Chairman Ms. Mary Lou Berven Ms. Kim Charba Ms.Anita Eisenhauer Ms. Susan Kesler Dr.James Klein Mr. Leo Rios Mr. Craig Thompson Ms. Bunny Tinker Mr.Art Zeitler MEMBERS ABSENT:Ms. Kris Cardona (Excused) Ms. Randy Evans (Excused) Ms. Marie Guajardo (Excused) Mr. Herb Morrison (Excused) Ms. Susan Rucker (Excused) STAFF PRESENT: Mr.Andrew Dimas, City Planner • Ms. Linda Williams, Recording Secretary The meeting was called to order at 4:37p.m. by Mr. David Brown, Chairman, The roll was called and a quorum was declared. Mr. Brown asked about the excused absence policy and Staff explained that Armando Chapa, City Secretary, established the policy because of the high turnover in board memberships, A board member can be removed if the unexcused absences exceed 25 percent of the total meetings held. It was explained that Ms. Evans'absences were excused because of a family medical emergency. Since that time, Staff has made several attempts to contact Ms. Evans, but received no response. Paperwork was submitted to City Secretary's office informing them of Ms. Evans'absentee record. As a result, Ms. Evans was formally notified that her membership was terminated,therefore, creating a vacancy. Ms. Evans filled the competency of a regular member. ACTION ITEMS: Approve August 27 and September 24, 2009 Minutes: The August 27, 2009 minutes were approved as distributed. The September 24, 2009 Minutes were approved with the following correction: Page 3: Fourth paragraph,second sentence,the sentence read: "Ms. Tinker asked Mr. Loeb what was the time line for the commission to find a group . . . property." The following wording was added to the statement: "and Mr. Loeb answered that they were working with a six-month time line." Approve Certificate of Appropriateness for Placement of Fifteen (151 Headstones in the Old BavView Cemetery: Andrew Dimas, Staff Liaison, addressed the commission. Mr. Dimas stated he had no additional information regarding the project. Mr. Dimas continued he spoke with Mr. Henson and was told the group was still in the process of filing all of the paperwork associated with the project. Mr. Dimas stated he informed Mr. Henson that he needed to submit a site plan showing the proposed placement and layout of the headstones. After a brief discussion,the following action was taken: SCANNED Landmark Commission Meeting October 22,2009 Page 2 IT WAS MOVED BY MR. ZEITLER AND SECONDED BY MR. THOMPSON TO TABLE ACTION ON THE PLACEMENT OF THE FIFTEEN (15) HEADSTONES UNTIL ALL OF THE REQUIRED PAPERWORK HAD BEEN SUBMITTED TO THE LANDMARK COMMISSION, INCLUDING THE SITE PLAN, SO THAT IT CAN BE STAMPED WITH THE CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATNESS"SEAL. MOTION PASSED. Master Review Committee's Recommendation on Review of the Construction Plans for the Heritage Park Bond Improvements; Mr. Brown stated Mr. Jerry Hunt provided the Master Review Committee a set of the construction plans for review. After committee review, the committee developed a list of recommendations that were forwarded to Mr. Pete Anaya, City Engineer, with a request to provide a response to each recommendation. • Mr. Brown continued that as of today's meeting, no response had been received to the letter or the recommendations. Ms. Tinker stated that work on the Heritage Park expansion was to begin on November 1; which will be after the Texas Jazz Festival activities and the Halloween activities scheduled at the Galvan House. Mr. Thompson stated he attended the first meeting in which the committee discussed replacing the windows at the Lichtenstein House. During the site visit, it was agreed that the siding would not be replaced and after review of the windows, two were found with some dry rot. Mr. Hunt was going to take the committee's recommendations back to David Bright to incorporate them in the plans. Mr. Thompson continued that the Master Review Committee was in favor of window replacement and the siding with the appropriate materials. Mr. Thompson continued that was not much left of the official glass used in the windows. It was discussed in detail regarding placement of shutters on the windows. They were going to replace the shutters on both the McCampbell and Lichtenstein Houses. A lengthy discussion ensued regarding the difference in cost for replacing the shutters versus repairing the louvers in the shutters. All of the hardware that closed the shutters was available and would be painted black. Mr. Brown stated Mr. Morrison worked with them in insulating the walls from the inside. Ms. Tinker stated that the committee could not count on the equal distance on the studs. Ms. Tinker continued it was her understanding that it was decided against replacing the studs. Ms. Tinker stated the Lichtenstein House had sash windows with a crossbar. The big windows located left of the big door had a big mutton crossbar that was not original to the house. Ms. Tinker continued she would like to talk with Jim Rome, who was the architect for the Lichtenstein House restoration,to see if he has the original plans to see what was originally included. Mr. Thompson asked how many windows needed to be replaced and Ms. Tinker responded there were two windows. After further discussion and all comments had concluded,the following action was taken: IT WAS MOVED BY MR. THOMPSON AND SECONDED BY MR. RIOS THAT THE MASTER REVIEW COMMITTEE FORWARD THE COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE ARCHITECT TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE FINAL CONSTRUCTION PLANS AND PROVIDE RESOLUTIONS FOR THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS. MOTION PASSED. After further discussion on the Committee's recommendations,the following action was taken: IT WAS MOVED BY MR. ZEITLER AND SECONDED BY DR. KLEIN THAT THE LANDMARK COMMISSION ACCEPT THE MASTER REVIEW COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE PLANS FOR THE HERITAGE PARK BOND PROGRAM. After the motion was on the floor, discussion ensued regarding whether, at this time, the Landmark Commission should take action on the Master Review Committee's recommendations since no response had been received from Mr. Anaya. Several commissioners felt that action on the Master Review Committee's recommendations be tabled to the next scheduled meeting to allow additional time for Mr. Anaya to respond to the Master Review Committee's letter and also for the recommendations to be incorporated into the construction plans. Once the recommendations are incorporated into the plans, the Landmark Commission will take appropriate action to stamp the plans. DISCUSSION ITEMS: Landmark Commission Meeting October 22,2009 Page 3 Continued Discussion on Initiating "HC" Designations for the Kinney Street Bridge and Pump Stations: Mr, David Brown, Chairman, addressed the commission. Mr. Brown stated he sent a letter to Mr. Peter Anaya informing him that the Landmark Commission wanted to pursue"HC" designations for the Kinney Street Bridge and the pump stations. Mr. Brown continued that in addition to the letter, he placed a phone call to Mr. Anaya to schedule a meeting with him to discuss the designations, but as of today's meeting, he had not received a response to the letter or a returned phone call. Mr. Dimas stated he spoke with Faryce Goode-Macon regarding initiating the process for"HC"designations for the city properties and she authorized us to begin the process. Mr. Dimas continued that he would complete the zoning applications for commission review. The cases will not be scheduled for the Planning Commission until after the holidays. Ms. Tinker commented that she felt the commission was working in the reverse on these projects since it had been five (5) years since the Landmark Commission discussed designating the pump stations and the Kinney Street Bridge. Ms. Tinker continued that approvals had been obtained from both Mr. 'Angel Escobar, who was the City Engineer at the time, and Ms.Valerie Gray, Storm Water Director, Mr. Thompson asked what would be the basis for the "HC" designations and Ms. Tinker answered the designations would be based under the category of "engineering." Mr. Brown stated he would work with Mr. Dimas in getting the applications drafted to begin the process. Ms. Tinker volunteered to help with the process. Status of Scanning Project for Historical Site Survey Notebooks: Mr. Rios stated he spoke with Mr. Dimas regarding what had to be done to initiate the scanning process and Mr. Dimas told him that about one-third(1/3)of the original structures contained in the notebooks have been demolished. Mr. Dimas re-emphasized that before the books were sent out for scanning, they would have to be re-organized and reviewed for completeness. Over the years, information has been removed and staff wanted to ensure that everything was correct and complete before the notebooks were sent out. Mr. Brown stated he felt strongly that this project should be done as soon as possible. Mr. Thompson stated it would be great to have the information in a GIS format, Ms. Eisenhauer commented that the commission needed a budget for this type of project and continued that the commission should be able to get funding through a grant from THC. Mr. Dimas added that Ms. Goode-Macon was the City's official CLG representative and she would be the person to initiate the process. Mr. Dimas continued he would speak with Ms. Goode-Macon to find out what steps were needed to initiate the process and the deadline for submittal of the application. Mr. Brown stated the first step in getting this project off the ground was to organize the notebooks and then review them to see which structures have been demolished. After further discussion, Ms. Berven, Ms. Eisenhauer and Ms. Tinker volunteered to serve on an Ad Hoc Committee with Mr. Rios to re-organize the books for review and ensure their completeness before scanning takes place. The committee will submit its findings at the next meeting. Staff was requested to speak with Ms. Goode-Macon regarding scheduling a meeting with the Ad Hoc Committee to begin review of the notebooks. No action was taken. Update on the Ward Building Proposal: Ms. Tinker stated she received a call regarding the boarded up Ward Building. Ms. Tinker continued that according to the information she received, all of the windows were removed from the building and the owner received a scathing letter from the Texas Historical Commission regarding the removal. After receipt of the letter, the windows were placed back. Mr. Hoover, one of the owners of the building, transferred the lease of his portion of the building back to the City; which the City would in turn lease the building. Ms. Tinker continued that the owner received funding to renovate and repair the building. The building was toured to find out exactly what needed to be done and after touring the facility, it was found that the first thing needed was stabilizing the building. According to the owner, approximately $500,000 remained from the initial amount received, The funding was to stabilize the building, replace the roof and repair the parking lot and berm area around the perimeter of the building. After the windows were placed back in place, they have now been boarded, the building has not been stabilized and no repairs were made to the roof. Ms. Tinker continued that supposedly, the money was given to the architect for the project and the money has been spent. Ms. Tinker stated she wanted to know what should the Landmark Commission's response be in finding out what happened to the money and if there is any money left. Mr. Zeitler clarified that the lessee had the authorization to tear the building down and Ms. Tinker responded that Mr. Hoover did not want building torn down and he was horrified that the items proposed were not done. After Landmark Commission Meeting October 22,2009 Page 4 a brief discussion, Mr. Brown stated he would look into the situation and report back to the Landmark Commission. No action was taken. La Bahia Restaurant Owner's Proposal to Establish a "Mercado" in the Adjacent Parking Lot: Ms. Tinker stated she saw a news item on Channel 3 that the owners of La Bahia Mexican Restaurant was proposing to use their adjacent parking lot for an outdoor mercado on Saturdays and Sundays. The proposed mercado was an effort to create more pedestrian traffic in the area, especially for the tourists. Also, as part of the proposal, they would sponsor concerts across the street in Spohn Park. For the concerts, they were proposing to construct a music stage. Ms. Tinker continued that according to the news, the project was moving ahead very quickly. Mr. Dimas stated that the Development Services Department had not received any information regarding the proposal. Before any permits could be issued, the owners would have to submit plans. Ms. Tinker stated she would like for this item to be on the agenda for the next meeting and Mr. Dimas stated he would follow up to see if any information had been submitted. Ms. Eisenhauer stated that the Spohn Memorial Park was on the National Registry and if any type of stages/band stands were erected in the park, such structures could jeopardize the designation. Mr. Brown stated he would like to have the Downtown Management District play a role in this situation. Ms. Tinker stated by waiting, she would hate to lose the momentum in finding out more about their proposal. After further discussion, Mr. Rios stated he would talk with the owners to find out what their plans were regarding the proposal. Mr. Thompson stated he has requested a meeting with Irma Caballero, Director of Economic Development,to discuss tax incentives to be included in the UDC. Mr. Thompson continued he has not received a returned phone call. Mr. Zeitler stated that may be this situation needed to be made known to the Mayor and City Council. It seems that City staff is not willing to cooperate, or at the very least, be courteous enough to return phone calls. Mr. Brown stated he would first try to contact the City Manager and if he received no response, he would,on behalf of the Commission,go to the next level; which would be the Mayor and City Council. Mr. Zeitler informed the commission that the next meeting for the 501 C Committee was scheduled for Thursday,October 29, 2009, 4 p.m. in Greg Perk's office; which is located in the Wilson Building,Suite 606. Mr.Zeitler stated attendees should use the west entrance on Carancahua/Leopard Streets. Mr. Zeitler continued the group's goal was to get more of a diverse group onto the board from other areas besides the historical groups to be included on the board. Mr. Zeitler continued that the City does have various things going on and, if more people became stakeholders in those activities, they would be more interested in working on the various committees and boards. Mr. Brown stated that since the November meeting date fell on the Thanksgiving Holiday, the meeting will be cancelled, but an alternate date should be selected for the commission to take action on the Master Review Committee's recommendations for the Heritage Park construction plans. After a brief discussion, it was decided that the Landmark Commission would meet on Thursday, December 3, 2009 with the location to be determined by Staff if the council chambers were not available. Ms. Eisenhauer stated that the Nueces County Historical Commission was putting together a committee to plan an activity for Halloween entitled "Halloween in a Cemetery." The project was in preliminary planning stages and anyone interested should attend the next meeting. Ms. Eisenhauer continued that specific monuments would be used to do some enactments and any commissioners interested in working on the planning committee should get with her after the meeting. Ms. Eisenhauer stated that this activity has been done in Denver, Colorado and Amarillo,Texas and various groups, individuals,as well as families, have"adopted a headstone." There being no further business,the meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m. 1(\f.,; (i Lind Williams `ndrew Dimas, City Planner Recording Secretary ` Staff Liaison to Landmark Commission (H:PLN-DIR\LINDA\WORD\LANDMARK\MINUWESOCT2209.MINS( SUMMARY SHEET DEC• 20Q LANDMARK COMMISSION MEETING OCTOBER 22, 2009 CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE 1. The Landmark Commission approved tabling action on the placement of fifteen (15) headstones in the Old Bayview Cemetery until all of the required paperwork has been submitted to the Commission. 2. The Landmark Commission approved forwarding the Master Review Committee's recommendations to the architect to be incorporated into the final construction plans and provide resolutions for those recommendations. 3. The Landmark Commission tabled action on the Master Review Committee's recommendations regarding the plans for the Heritage Park expansion until the next scheduled meeting to allow additional time for Mr. Pete Anaya,City Engineer,to respond to the Committee's recommendations. 4. Ms.Anita Eisenhauer and Ms. Bunny linker volunteered to serve on an Ad Hoc Committee with Mr. Leo Rios to re-organize the historical notebooks for review to ensure their completeness before having the notebooks scanned. • SCANNED