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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/02/1996 - Regular Minutes - Historic Preservation Committee HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2,1996 -- 5:15 P.M. CENTRAL PARK 1000 I <RENEK TAP ROAD HISTORIC COMMITTEE Deborah Jasek, Co- Chair Dennis Maloney Bryan Howard MEMBERS PRESENT: Mary Jane Hirsch Elton Abbott Aaron Ffrench, Old Main Society Liaison MEMBERS ABSENT: Bill Lancaster, Sharon Menn Carol Wagner, Bill Fox, Council Liaison STAFF PRESENT: David Gating, Special Facilities Superintendent Pamela Einkauf, Senior Secretary Steve Beachy, Director of College Station Parks & Recreation Bridgette George, Staff Assistant VISITORS PRESENT: Alston Thorns, Ph.D., Texas A &M University Joey Dunn, Staff Planner, City of College Station Lisa Phillipi, College Station Community Appearance Committee Mike Luther Marianne Oprisko Randy Merrill I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:15 p.m. by Deborah Jasek, Co- chair, in Bill Lancaster's absence. 4. SWEAR IN NEW AND RE- APPOINTED MEMBERS: Bridgette George was present to swear in the new and re- appointed members, Elton Abbott, Carol Wagner, and Brett Estes. Elton and Brett were present and sworn in as members of the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC). 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes for 9/4/96 were approved as written. 4. HEAR VISITORS: Deborah introduced and welcomed all visitors present. 5. DISCUSSION ON LICK CREEK PARK by DR. ALSTON THOMS: Steve Beachy started off by saying that though he didn't get a chance to work with the HPC much, he was on the Brazos County Historical Commission, and so he was aware of what the HPC did. He stated that Lick Creek had been acquired by the City originally, as part of an industrial development tract. Over the period of several years there were some land trades which took place, and as a result of those trades, Pebble Creek Subdivision and the City's Industrial Park were created. The remainder of that -- 515 acres -- is Lick Creek Park. The intention of the Parks & Recreation Board and the Comprehensive Plan is that the park remain a natural park -- a nature preserve with hiking trails, interpretive areas, things of that nature, and not for use as soccer fields, softball fields, etc. He explained that there are endangered plant species in the park, specifically the Navasota Ladies Tresses, and this has been documented by botanists from Texas A &M. He said there are diverse plant and animal species in the park. He said that there are no improvements in the park currently, only a temporary gravel parking lot. There is no current master plan for the park at present, but improvements he'd like to see take Historic Preservation Committee Page Q place would be: more permanent trails with better markings, erosion prevention, some type of interpretive center with displays describing the flora and fauna, and a parking area. Steve explained that something else of interest, which Dr. Thoms would discuss, was the indication of prehistoric, as well as historic sites in the park. He told the HPC that requests had been submitted to have archeological studies done (copies in the members' packets), however the money to do the studies had not been approved through the City Council budget. Steve wanted to know if the HPC had any interest in pursuing it, and if so, the proposal could be re- submitted for a future budget cycle. Steve told the members, that as the city grew, Lick Creek would probably be one of the few remaining natural sites in the area and one of the most prominent parks in the College Station park system. He felt that doing the studies would be a good opportunity to see what was once here in the Brazos Valley. Steve turned the presentation over to Dr. Thoms. Dr. Thorns explained that he was the Director of the Center for Environmental Archeology at TAMU, and a teacher in the Department of Anthropology. He gave his slide presentation, discussing the post oak savanna. He also explained that through archeological work it was known without a doubt, that people had been living in Brazos County for 12,000 years. There were elephant hunters, giant bison hunters, and hunters and gatherers of wild plant foods here. In fact, there's abundant archeological evidence to support that in the last 12,000 years, the area has never been unoccupied. The main reasons for this were the white - tailed deer, still the main wild game today, and the different types of plant foods -- root foods particularly. Dr. Thorns said there are all types of interesting stories about the Spanish entradas which traveled along the Old Spanish Road (now highway 21) which was the main travel thoroughfare, and because so many Europeans traveled this route, there is an abundance of written history about what the Indian people were doing in the post oak savanna here. By the 1830's, because so many Europeans had settled in the southeast and eastern United States, all the Indians out of those areas were pushed into Texas, and there were a lot in this area. Dr. Thoms said that the overall point, was that there were a lot of people using these lands before the Europeans arrived. Evidence of these Indian camps exist, not right along the creeks but on the hill -slope or sandy landforms directly above the creeks. Beginning about 1840, the Europeans came, and the Bryan/College Station area was well - settled by then. The Europeans, who had a tendency to build their cabins on the high points of the landscape, brought their slaves. For that reason, by the 1890's, there were densities of African- Americans living in Texas and in this area. The remains can often be found of both types of farmsteads, those occupied by the Anglo Americans which date back to the 1840's, and those occupied by African Americans. At Lick Creek, several farmsteads with the remains of fireplaces and piers -- big blocks of sandstone which the house would be set on to raise it up off the ground, are present. Artifacts found at these sites appear to be in the 1890 -1910 time period, and by looking at them Dr. Thorns suspects that there are both types of farmsteads present. This means a lot of ethnic diversity is represented at Lick Creek on the ground, and readily subject to interpretation. He stated that at Lick Creek right now there's absolute evidence of two prehistoric Indian sites, and about three historic sites. Dr. Thoms said a lot of excavation work would have to be done to find some of the sites at Lick Creek because the bare ground can't be seen anywhere. He explained that archeologists take post hole diggers, dig holes in the ground, and screen the sediment. When you screen the sediment, that's where you find the evidence of what people were doing in this part of the world. He said that Lick Creek is a wonderful preserve -- an encapsulation of the post oaks -- that has considerable evidence of how Indian people were living. Historic Preservation Committee Page 3 Dr. Thorns stated that in order to really learn what's out there would require a fair amount of work taking many weeks. What he proposed was involving University students to help out for class credit. There were 500+ acres out there, and he said most archeologists could survey an area like that at a rate of about 5 -6 acres per person, per day. The work requires very careful scrutiny and walking over the ground looking for bare patches, but mostly excavation and screening would have to be done to find the sites. He stated that there may be 1840's farmsteads at Lick Creek, since less than a mile from Lick Creek is the oldest standing structure in Brazos County. Steve said it was a log cabin that was located on private property, a dog -run type structure, and it's at the corner of Rock Prairie and Sulphur Springs Road. Steve felt that finding structures like that, moving them and reconstructing them on -site with visitor's facilities would be great. He added that if the evidence could be exposed at Lick Creek, then the trails could be directed so that they ran by these archeological sites. Low cost, low maintenance type interpretive centers or plaques could easily be put up throughout the park, and this information could be brought to the public. Dr. Thorns said he'd be happy to answer questions. Dennis asked if he was proposing the moving of structures to Lick Creek as well as interpretive centers for what was there. Dr. Thorns said yes, the potential was there. It also would attract tourists who came into town for other reasons. Dennis asked if someone had already expressed an interest in moving the cabin on Sulphur Springs Road. Steve said no, it was in the county and not really in the city. Marianne stated that there was a log corn crib located in the city, on Barron Road. Elton asked if moving the log cabin from its original site to Lick Creek was a good idea, since Lick Creek had merit in its own right. Dennis said it would be a replica of what housing was like in the past and he'd rather see a replica than just a foundation on the ground. Dr. Thorns added that since the cabin was located on private property, there was no insurance that it wouldn't be torn down. Dennis asked if the HPC could get support to relocate the cabin. He added that if the cabin, and possibly other things were relocated to Lick Creek Park, there would be the assurance that they'd stay there. Marianne said there was an area similar to what Dennis was talking about at Texas Tech. Brett said he would like to see the park remain in a pristine state, with interpretation at the known historical sites throughout the park. Deborah said the project was something she would be interested in pursuing, but having read the proposal, she recommended some work being done on it. Dr. Thoms agreed, adding that there were bug specialists, as well as bird, animal, and plant specialists working and bringing their classes out to the park all the time. Elton agreed that the HPC should support and endorse the project. Deborah said that because of the Navasota Ladies Tresses, the tourist flow would have to be controlled. Dennis said that if one acre out at Lick Creek was taken to create a village of some type, it shouldn't destroy the integrity of the park. Steve said ideally there would be an area where classroom sessions could be held along with a visitor's center. Dennis agreed and asked what the HPC could do to help the process. Steve said it was a fairly significant task, but if the HPC was interested in taking on the project then perhaps a subcommittee could be formed to figure out how to proceed. He said the first step would be to submit another request for funding for next year's cycle or perhaps trying to seek grants from somewhere. Then, ultimately a master plan would for the park, detailing what was wanted, would have to be prepared. Dr. Thoms said the city would need to have an archeological survey done before any ground disruption or improvements occurred, and they may as well take advantage of that and start out with broad coverage directed at gathering useful information. 6. REVIEW OF HISTORIC HOME APPLICATIONS: David said there were two applications for review. The first one submitted by Norma Miller, for her home at 504 Guernsey. Dennis said the home was kept up and well looked after. Mary Jane made a motion to accept the application, and Dennis seconded. The HPC voted and the house was approved and became historic home #34. Historic Preservation Committee Page 4 The second application was for the Doak House at 300 Pershing, submitted by Thomas and Barbara McKittrick. Dennis said the McKittrick's have preserved the integrity of the home. Elton said Mr. McKittrick was an architect on the faculty at the A &M College of Architecture. Dennis said the attic had been turned into a gorgeous library with parquet flooring and archways. Deborah asked for a motion. Dennis made the motion and Elton seconded. The HPC voted and the house became historic home #35. David said he would contact the owners of both homes and set a date for them to receive their plaques at an upcoming City Council meeting. Dennis stated that he felt the HPC should send a letter to The Eagle stating that the intentions of the HPC were to recognize the historical importance of the homes, and the people who built and lived in them, NOT to tell them what they could do with their homes once the historical designation had been received. Deborah said the HPC was not imposing any improvement guidelines on homes that received the College Station historic home designation. 7. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS: Mary Jane said she didn't have anything on Historical Tourism, but she had gone to the County Historical Commission meeting, and they were doing a lot of work on historical markers. She added that there was a woman archeologist there who invited everyone to go out to the Booneville area -- they were going to look for coins and buttons, etc. According to the archeologist there was a lot there. Since Bill Lancaster was out, Bryan reported on Research and Archeology. He said Dr. Thorns had tied into a lot of what he'd touched on at the last meeting about recognizing the native American presence in the area. He said he'd gone looking for evidence of archeological work done in the city limits that would give the HPC the information it would need for state markers, but he couldn't find any because there hasn't been any work done within the city limits. He said the Lick Creek project could give the HPC the information it wants. He would have liked to have seen a state marker at Wolf Pen, because he knew an archeological survey had been done there, however he pulled the survey and no cultural evidence was found there. He's been pulling all the reports he could on surveys which have been done here, but there was no evidence on specific sites. He explained that this didn't mean the evidence wasn't there, it just wasn't at those specific sites surveyed. He said the only thing he found evidence on was Wixon Creek, and he didn't know where that was. Deborah said it was off Highway 41. Brett brought a picture of the cabin which had been discussed earlier, and he said he felt the HPC should check into it and do everything possible to preserve it in place. Moving it wouldn't do a lot for the overall historical integrity of it, and, according to the State's Historic guidelines, before the structure could be moved the HPC would have to prove that it was in imminent danger of destruction. Deborah said that Sharon wasn't present, but after reading the minutes and the discussion on digital cameras, she wanted to let the HPC know that she had a digital camera at work. She brought some pictures taken by the camera. She said it could shoot either standard or high resolution, and runs on AA batteries. Shooting at high resolution you could take about 16 pictures before having to download. It could be downloaded onto a lap top computer. She said it's much easier than buying film, having it developed, and then scanning the pictures into the computer. The camera set -up cost about $475. Elton stated that all the under -$1000 -range cameras were very low resolution compared to conventional photography. He said there was a high resolution Minolta camera, but even it wasn't as high resolution as a standard 35 mm camera. He said he liked the digital cameras, but it was hard to beat the resolution of a standard 35 mm camera, plus you could take a slide and have it put on a photo CD for $1 per picture. Deborah said that at a $1 per picture, a lot of the budget would Historic Preservation Committee Page 5 be used. David asked which would be better quality -wise, from a preservation standpoint. Elton said that a photo CD would be best, because the life expectancy is 100 years. Marianne disagreed, saying she thought it had gone down to ten years, but added that it was still very good quality. David said he would get with the City's MIS Department to find out what they suggested. Elton said he was more worried about the clarity of the image, and he wasn't convinced that the inexpensive versions of the digital camera did a good enough job for documentation purposes. Mike Luther agreed with Elton stating that colored magazine photos took somewhere in the vicinity of 65 -100 megabytes per page -- very high resolution. Deborah understood and agreed, but stated that the HPC had to realistically consider the budget. Dennis asked how many pictures they were talking about. Mary Jane said she'd taken about forty pictures. Deborah clarified that the picture taking would be done from here -on -out and on a regular basis. The idea was to take photos before and after changes occur so that 60 -70 years from now there will be documentation of what went on. Joey Dunn asked if the photo documentation was being done city -wide or just in a particular area. Deborah said city -wide. Joey told the HPC that the historic resource survey which had been done for Northgate in 1995, would be extended to Southside. He said he would be putting together the staff this fall and winter to do the survey, and the photos would be done with a regular 35 mm camera, on black and white contact sheets, with color slides taken as well. He explained that it was a standard process, well recognized by the Texas Historical Commission and the Secretary of the Interior. Joey said the process involved two people with cameras doing a windshield survey -- taking pictures of the primary facades, and then going back later and taking detailed photos. Joey recommended that all the work the HPC did, whether for documentation purposes or for state markers, be done in that same format. He added that there was some crossover with the resource survey he would be doing, and what the HPC was doing. David told the members that Joey would be added to the agenda for the next meeting, for a presentation and discussion. Deborah asked Dennis to update the HPC on the Appearance Subcommittee. Dennis said that people really like the Special Event Parking /Historic District signs, and, in fact has gotten calls from some people wanting to know why they didn't have signs on their street. He said he'd been telling them that single -faced "Historic District" signs would be going up above the existing "No Parking" signs. He said that was what he and Ed Hard had discussed, but wanted David to verify that this was still correct. David said it was. 8. HOLIDAY ON THE BRAZOS UPDATE: David explained that both cities, Brazos County, and A &M had gotten together to promote the area as a place to come during the holidays. Instead of creating a lot of new events, they were taking the current activities and marketing them in one package. The Conference Center Board wanted to add something new, and so it added an "Historic Homes Tour" of four different houses. This will take place on Sunday, December 7, 1996, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., price is $6 per person, and tickets will be purchased ahead of time, and you can go any time that afternoon. There will be docents at each house, similar to what the Brazos Heritage Society does with their homes tour. The Board is in the process of getting students together (through a class project) to do interviews with the homeowners to get the histories of the homes. They are also looking into the possibility of decorating for those homeowners who might not be able to do so. David said if any members want to help, to contact Gracie Calbert. 9. OTHER COMMITTEE CONCERNS: Joey Dunn said he was there about the Community Appearance Committee's participation in the Southside Gateway treatment or light poles. Joey introduced Lisa Phillippi, the Chair of the Gateways Subcommittee. They both wanted to clarify what the Gateway program was. A handout was given out. Dennis said the HPC was trying to Historic Preservation Committee Page 6 get period lighting at the front and back of the Southside Historic District, and that the area would have three homeowner's associations. He saki he was confident that one of the associations - the upper east section - would fit the criteria of getting 60% approval from the homeowners, and therefore, get the matching funds for the gateway grant. He wanted to know if the matching funds would allow the placement of period lighting at each of the entryways into the district -- at the beginning and end of the block. Joey said if the criteria of 60% approval was met then there shouldn't be a problem. Lisa said she felt that some things were overlapping, because there was a city -wide community gateway issue that the Community Appearance Committee was interested in as well, which would put gateways at Easterwood Airport and other major entyways into the city. She said the HPC's gateways may have some crossover there too. If so, the guidelines to get that funding would have nothing to do with the guidelines for the Southside gateways. She didn't want there to be confusion about what the HPC and the Gateways Subcommittee were doing. David agreed, and clarified that the HPC had $10,000 to spend on lighting which had nothing to do with the $7,500 matching funds for the gateway grant. The money for the gateway grant would have to come from the neighborhood associations, and in that area, none have been formed yet. Marianne said that every neighborhood group that formed could get a gateway if they came up with the $7,500. Lisa asked Dennis if the HPC wanted the period lighting to be the gateway. Dennis said yes, that the Southside Historical District had signage up now, and the next step was to put in period lighting. He said he would like for there to be an option for individuals to purchase a light if they so desired, to dedicate to someone, and have the light installed and maintained by the city. Marianne said she didn't think the HPC would have a problem getting 60% approval of the homeowners in the Southside area if they would send out a flyer. Lisa said she thought it would be easy to sell the idea to the property owners because it adds to the value of the property and its appearance. Marianne wanted the HPC to be aware that the Community Appearance Gateways require that the neighborhood has to set up some type of maintenance for the gateway, and who would be taking care of what aspect of the maintenance, as well. Lisa said their committee has tried to prioritize the older neighborhoods in the funding as opposed to the newer ones. She added that her subcommittee was aware that it might take more time for some of the older neighborhoods to get mobilized, but she wanted everyone to understand that the gateways program was a three -year program with funding for each year -- $30,000 the first and second years, and $40,000 for the third. Joey said the applications would be considered on a quarterly basis and in December they would consider all applications submitted up to that point, so that they could prioritize how the funding would be allocated. Dennis said he didn't believe that anything would be ready by December. Marianne added that the proposal, when submitted, didn't have to be beautiful. Joey agreed, adding that there was someone on the subcommittee that could help them get the plan together. Randy Merrill suggested that when the plan went out to the neighborhood, someone like herself (from the same neighborhood), should be the one to go around and get the signatures. Dennis agreed. Lisa said that as applications come in, a subcommittee person would be assigned as a liaison to help with the process. Mary Jane asked if College Hills had submitted an application. Joey said no, most of those coming in were from the newer subdivisions. Lisa said there would be publicity, which she would write, about the gateways project in the paper on October 22. David said the "African American Education in College Station" state historic marker would be dedicated on February 8, 1997, at the Lincoln Center at 3:00 p.m., and invitations would go out closer to the dedication date. Dennis said a concern had arisen regarding the Davis home at 202 Montclair, and having it rezoned from low density, single- family housing to high density. He informed the HPC that a corporation Historic Preservation Committee Page 7 had purchased a piece of property on Montclair to put in an apartment complex. He feels that since Southside has been defined as an historical area, it needs to remain either low or medium density, and not rezoned to high density, as projected by HOK. He encouraged the HPC members to attend the HOK presentation on Monday, October 7, at the Conference Center at 7 p.m., to make their desires known. David said that in the past, Southside had been described as an historic area, and he asked the HPC if they should look at turning it into an historic district, with zoning rules and regulations. Dennis said that's what people were worried about already, being regulated as to what they could and couldn't do. Randy Merrill said the residents just needed to be educated, stating that in the historic district in Bryan for example, even though the landmark commission said you had to have permission to do something, it was pretty wide open, and you could do just about anything. She said the only time she knows they've rejected a change was when the lady next door to her wanted to paint her house fuschia. She said there were just enough rules to make it work, to keep the element of the neighborhood from changing, but you could more or less do what you wanted. She said it is what helps keep the price of property up. Dennis said a district was fine with him if the committee thought it would work, but he said he would want the area bordering that to be considered, as well -- apartments on the perimeter wouldn't work, because those areas would eventually be absorbed into the district. Deborah said the planning and zoning committee does listen when there are concerns on changing zoning. Mike Luther said to make sure and actually get the wording down in the minutes of the October 7th meeting and state specifically what the HPC would or would not accept. Joey said that he'd talked to the HOK consultants and they claim that the high density, single- family zoning is the existing zoning there now. Dennis asked what they were basing that on. Joey said probably the fact that there was a lot of multifamily already in that area. Joey said that what HOK proposes are only guidelines and not definite. Joey suggested, that considering what the HPC wanted for Southside, it should really be made into a district. Elton added that being designated a historical district was more protective than just a zoning ordinance. Brett said he was getting his master's in urban planning specializing in historic preservation and that he's currently rewriting the city of Fredericksburg's Historic Preservation Ordinance. He had a lot of information he could provide. Randy suggested looking at how Bryan's ordinances read. Dennis asked Randy to do that. 10. ADJOURN: The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.