HomeMy WebLinkAbout10 BCHC Minutes_10_13_08
MINUTES BRAZOS COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION Bryan Public Library 201 East 28th Street October 13, 2008 7:00 p.m. 1. Call to order Co-chair, Henry Mayo called the meeting to order at
7:04 p.m. Members present included Barbara Althaus, Colleen Batchelor, John Blair, Ray George, Susan Irza, Henry Mayo, Bill Page, Nancy Schwart, and Diane Smith. 2. Introduction of guests
Dan Castillo was introduced as a guest and a possible future member of the commission. 3. Approval of the minutes for the Sept. 8, 2008 meeting Since the minutes had previously been
distributed, Henry Mayo asked if anyone had any comments and with none forthcoming, Colleen Batchelor moved that the minutes be approved as submitted. Susan Irza seconded the motion
and vote carried unanimously. 4. Unfinished Business Henry Mayo passed out the programs for the upcoming Reliance Cemetery Historical Marker dedication ceremony to be held on October
19, 2008 at noon. Mayo was also going to check on the status of the press release previously prepared by Anne Boykin. The Steep Hollow Historical Marker application was discussed. Colleen
Batchelor moved that the narrative be approved with minor corrections; Ray George seconded and the vote passed unanimously. Colleen Batchelor will forward the last corrections to Bill
Page who will then correct the narrative, submit the final form to Austin and contact the author in regards to its status. There were coordination issues with the funding approved on
Sept. 8, 2008 for the Boonville Days event. Although the money was not available prior to the event, receipts were submitted to the county for payment by the Director of the Brazos Valley
Museum and the funds were forwarded. Henry Mayo explained that the county needs more time at the end of the fiscal year and that there is often confusion regarding events occurring in
the next fiscal year that are to be funded with monies from the previous year. However, the money approved for Heritage Highlights was not made available. Henry Mayo presented the tentative
breakdown of the budget that Charles Schultz had submitted to the county. Discussion was held in regards to what the commission should do about their commitment to the Brazos Heritage
Society in
this matter with the difficulty being that the commission was unsure of how much money it could commit at the beginning of the year. Bill Page moved that the commission forward up to
$500 to the society for Heritage Highlights. Susan Irza seconded. Further discussion was held with concerns for continued funding for such events and others suggested the commission
review its budget and funding requests. Following the discussion the motion carried unanimously to provide the funding with Colleen Batchelor abstaining. The current condition of the
E.A. Kemp house was brought up by Colleen Batchelor who stated that a concerned citizen had raised the issue of the safety of the existing carport. The home is on the National Register
and is in stable, but deteriorating condition. Batchelor stated that since the windows were covered with plywood no one knew the state of the inside. John Blair stated that a historic
structure report was conducted by historic preservation students last year and that he would attempt to obtain a copy of that report. Blair also stated that the owner, who lives in Houston
and the niece of Kemp’s second wife, wanted to transform the building into a pre-school or early education center in keeping with Kemp’s commitment to education. 5. New Business and
Reports Susan Irza recommended that the commission purchase an additional 10,000 bookmarks for local distribution costing $468.39. She moved that the commission allow spending up to
$500.00; Barbara Althaus seconded the motion. Colleen Batchelor asked from what category in the present budget would this money come from and Henry Mayo responded that the categories
are rather flexible at this time. The motion passed unanimously. Susan Irza produced a basic listing of the existing historical markers in the county. She broke the list down to 11 groups
and asked if each commission member could “adopt” a group. The following commission members adopted the following groups: John Blair (6 with Isom Palmer), Bill Page (2), Ray George (1
and 7), Barbara Althaus (4), Nancy Schwart (5), and Henry Mayo (10 and 11). Henry Mayo stated that to start the members should at least annually check their listing. The remaining groups
to be adopted later and Bill Page volunteered to take a look at the geographical locations of the existing markers so that in the future the groups might be arranged accordingly. BCHC
group membership was advocated by Susan Irza and Barbara Althaus in both the El Camino Real de los Tejas and the Millican Heritage Society. Susan moved that $40 be spent on the El Camino
association and Barbara seconded. Henry Mayo stated that he was going to join the association and that he would be happy to represent the commission. Instead of spending more money,
several commission members suggested that they donate money for the membership. In regards to the Millican Heritage Society, Susan Irza wanted to contribute money to the rebuilding of
the Millican Community Center since this matches the
commission’s goals of historic preservation. Bill Page suggested that if the society wanted funding that perhaps they could bring forward a request. Anne Boykin was not present at the
meeting to discuss the BCHC logo, cards, or nametags. Henry Mayo passed around a current listing of all BCHC members and asked that members write either yes or no in regards to whether
they wanted to be reappointed to the commission. Two new members will be Armando Alonso and Wayne Sadberry. Tom Lynch was not present to provide an Archaeology Committee report. Julie
Schultz was not present to provide an Education Committee report. Bill Page stated that there might be a possible historical marker for Bryan’s Freedman’s Town after Dr. Dale Baum publishes
his journal article of the same subject. Other marker business was discussed earlier. Barbara Althaus provided a report on the activities of her “Committee of Five” that handed out BCHC
brochures at several local events to promoted Heritage Tourism. She asked Henry Mayo to sign a letter asking the city of Bryan to request the designation of a “Preserve America City,”
which he did. Barbara informed the commission that she had several requests—one from someone who wished to help the commission as a volunteer on occasion and one who wished to donate
some historical items. The idea of a local heritage museum was introduced, but the library was about to close and no time was available to discuss any further. 6. The meeting adjourned
at 8:52 p.m. Future meeting dates include November 10 and January 12, 2009