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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/06/2005 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee MINUTES Historic Preservation Committee June 6, 2005 CITY OF COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 5:30 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairperson Marsha Sanford, Committee Members Bill Lancaster, Neal Nutall, Colleen Risinger, David Chester, Carl Shafer and Tom Taylor MEMBERS ABSENT: Committee Member Hillary Jessup STAFF PRESENT: Director Joey Dunn; Staff Planner Katie Elrod, A&M Student Intern Arya Chavan, Project HOLD Volunteer Coordinator Anne Boykin VISITORS PRESENT: No visitors present. AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: Call to Order. Chairperson Marsha Sanford called the meeting to order at 5:36 PM. AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: Consideration, discussion and possible action to approve absence of members. Committee Member Tom Taylor made a motion to approve the absence of Committee Member Hillary Jessup. David Chester seconded the motion. The motion passed (7-0) AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: Visitors. No visitors were present. AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: No meeting minutes were available for the May meeting. AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: Committee and staff report of pertinent past and upcoming community events pertaining to historical interests. May 6: Heritage Month Kick-Off Open House at Benjamin Knox Gallery— Showcased Project HOLD and the new Gallery. Katie Elrod reported that the event was a huge success drawing in 200 people including one new volunteer for Project HOLD. Media was present as well as Bush Library Curator and Assistant Curator, and a few members of the City Council. The buffet presented by the Cerone family was spectacular. May 7: TAMU Historic Building Tour-- Katie reported that it was an informative and fun event even though the attendance of six was small. David Woodcock led the group incorporating history with the current master plan of the University. Library personnel added to the tour with their part of the event. May 11, 16: Project HOLD Neighborhood Scanning Sessions— Katie reported that the sessions were lightly attended but resulted in good interaction with neighbors and brought in one new volunteer for Project HOLD. The Jessups were wonderful hosts. May 18: Exploring History Lunch Lecture — Daniel Hernandez received a standing ovation for his inspirational and informative lecture about the Hispanic history of the Brazos Valley. Katie reported that Daniel was able to speak about "the hard stuff in a very favorable light." The series will continue with more features on the Corps and women at A&M as referenced in the "Foundations" magazine. May 21: Carnegie Center for Brazos Valley History— Katie reported that Nancy McGraw led the group in a tour of the facility including the trap door in the foundation. McGraw also focused on the fact that the Center was running out of space. After the tour, the group went to lunch along with the Bryan Historic Landmark group. June 1: WWII Commemoration Preliminary Planning Meeting —The Texas Historical Commission is undertaking a major initiative to commemorate Texas in WWII. The HPC has been asked to join in this endeavor. Tom Taylor stated that it would be his hope that "we all walk away with an appreciation for what the men of WWII did for all of us." Katie has scheduled a series of meetings in conjunction with the George Bush Library personnel to help in the planning and hosting of this event. The event will be Sept. 3, 2005. Present: June 8: WWII Commemoration First Planning Meeting — Katie invited the HPC to attend the meeting to be held at the George Bush Library at 1 pm. It was mentioned that Stan Crashman hosts a music from the 40s program on KAMU, Monday afternoons, Friday at 8:30pm, Saturday and Sunday at 6:30pm. June 15: WWII Commemoration Larger Group Meeting —George Bush Library, 1pm. June 22: Czech History Exploring History Lunch Lecture -- Lou Zaeske will present this month's program. The Planning Staff will be invited to attend the lecture series in lieu of their training requirements. Katie asked for members to volunteer for the various hosting positions: Bill and Carl (greeters), Colleen (sign in table), Marsha (welcome), Tom (introduction of speaker). Others will be asked to help serve the soup ahead of time to facilitate serving. The caterer is TexCzech. AGENDA ITEM NO. 6: Report, consideration, and possible action regarding the Historic Building Marker Application for Megan & Maureen Weyel for their home at 903 Woodland Parkway. Discussion of whether renovations significantly altered the structure ensued. Katie offered that they were typical of remodels of the period. Colleen felt that maybe 50 years was not long enough to designate a structure historical. The HPC guidelines specifically state 50 years. Katie reminded the committee that the purpose of the marker program is "preserving the recent past." 903 Woodland Parkway is in the East Historic Area. David Chester moved that 903 Woodland Parkway be approved for a marker, Tom Taylor seconded the motion. The motion passed. (7-0) AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: Report, consideration and possible action regarding committee time and commitment and work load. Tom Taylor asked for discussion from the HPC. A lengthy discussion ensued. Some members felt that the HPC has become more active and less advisory. The question was raised about whether or not the City Staff could take over some of the responsibilities for example taking pictures of North Gate. Colleen Risinger stated that she enjoyed the events even though she was not able to attend all of them. David Chester announced that due to pressing commitments he would be resigning from the HPC as of today. Katie mentioned that the HPC was asked to do some of the events and that the work load will be lightened with her new staff members, Arya Chavan (Graduate Student Intern) and Anne Boykin (Volunteer Coordinator for Project HOLD). Joey Dunn stated that the City was looking for policy and guidelines to bring to the HPC and added "We value your opinions on Neighborhood Services. Let us help you!" Volunteers will be doing a great deal more of the work: gathering information, oral histories, mini- biographies. Carl Shafer expressed concern that neighborhoods were disappearing in some historical areas. Marsha mentioned that she had spoken with an HPC member who expressed concern over the time constraint issue. She also stated that the HPC should be voting on the ideas considering time versus manpower. Her specific concern is that of retaining HPC membership. Bill Lancaster felt that doing double duty for the HPC was a choice he had made re: scanning for Project HOLD. It was decided that Anne Boykin would write thank you notes to past speakers, Open House hosts, and the volunteers for Project HOLD. AGENDA ITEM NO. 8: Schedule sub-committee meeting days and July meeting date. A brief discussion was held and it was decided by Tom Taylor that he does not need a monthly meeting to plan the Exploring History Lunch Lectures. Most have been arranged through September. Marsha Sanford will call the media to alert them of upcoming events. The next HPC meeting will be held on July 11, the second Monday of the month to avoid conflict with Fourth of July celebrations. AGENDA ITEM NO. 9: Review and consideration regarding World War II on the 60th anniversary of the end of the war on September 2, 2005, as encouraged by the Texas Historical Society. Katie mentioned that the event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 3rd in order to capture a larger crowd. The plan is for the event to include many of the veterans groups, the George Bush Library, the City and TAMU. Neal Nutall made a motion that we participate in such an event. Ton Taylor seconded. The motion passed. (7-0) Bill Lancaster excused himself and departed at 7pm. AGENDA ITEM NO. 10: Review and consideration of regarding HPC chairman referral to City Council. Discussion was held about a possible six applicants. It was mentioned that Hillary Jessup has a friend who is a possibility. The friend has a background in historic preservation. Audrey Steen is another one of the candidates. The interview and selection process is being revamped. AGENDA ITEM NO. 11: Report, consideration and possible action regarding Heritage Folks Lunch Bunch. The Brazos Valley Heritage Society, HPC, Research Ramblers and other pertinent groups are considering a sack lunch monthly meeting at Texas A&M Press in order to keep abreast of each others activities. Katie will keep the HPC informed of the progress of meeting schedule. AGENDA ITEM NO. 12: Report, consideration, and possible action regarding the review of the Northgate Historic Resource Survey. Marsha Sanford spoke with Joey Dunn regarding the old survey and the building ratings. The consensus is that the old survey is obsolete and skewed. Currently, any of the buildings could be torn down without any regard for the social or historical significance. More information needs to be gathered and the survey needs to be redone. There is concern about economic development in the area. Joey accepted the concerns and will put the area to further study in the near future however, it is "not on the front burner." Tom Taylor suggested that prior to the next HPC meeting, he will call Joey and ask for an update. Katie suggested that this would be a good project for David Woodcock's students at A&M. Woodcock is looking for another project that is somewhat different form his last project for the HPC. Tom Taylor made a motion that Katie Elrod ask David Woodcock about redoing the Northgate survey as a class project. The motion was seconded by David Chester and approved (7-0). Colleen Rising excused herself and departed at 7:30pm. AGENDA ITEM NO. 13: Report, consideration, and possible action regarding Project HOLD. Discussion was deemed not necessary in the interest of the length of the meeting. AGENDA ITEM NO. 14: Report, consideration, and possible action regarding the Exploring History Lunch Lecture Series. Tom reported that Joe Townsend will kick off the new summer series on Agriculture in the Brazos Valley with his lecture July 20th. Tom is working on another speaker for the August Agriculture lecture. September and October will focus on World War II: Homefront and Abroad. November will begin a series on transportation to coincide with the Bush Library Locomotive series. Peter Hugill? AGENDA ITEM NO. 15: Report, consideration, and possible action regarding the Historic Marker program. Mrs. Holleman is interested ? Saint Thomas Episcopal Church has expressed opposition to a marker. It was stated that some people believe that the marker program would limit future renovations or expansions of buildings. AGENDA ITEM NO. 16: Report, consideration, and possible action regarding marketing HPC initiatives. Marsha mentioned that the Sharon Colson interview was excellent. Patty Jett secured the Noon Show by Brenda Sims as well as the press releases for the Benjamin Knox Open House. Yolanda ? will be including us in the Panoorama newspaper. And if we are early enough, we can be included in the City's Community Calendar. Patty or Becky should be contacted for press releases concerning the City Council presentations for markers. Scott DeLucia hosted WTAW interviews in May along with spots over 6-7 radio stations. KEOS is also a possible venue for press releases. AGENDA ITEM NO. 17: Discussion and possible action on future agenda items. Anne will be taking minutes at this and all future HPC meetings. A typed copy will be sent to each member in a timely manner. If possible, she will try to type up past minutes for the record. Kudos for David Chester's work on the HPC were suggested by Tom Taylor. All present agreed. AGENDA ITEM NO. 18: Adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm. APPROVED: ,{4,e(040/14 5)*/),.. Mars Sanford, Chai rson ATTEST: k Anne Boykin, Volunteer lirdinator Project HOLD