City of Carbondale Preservation Commission met April 17.
Here is the minutes as provided by the commission:
1. Roll Call: Mr. Sigler called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
Members Present: Wren, Clark, Doherty, Ittner, Sigler, Van Awken, Benedict, and
Zurlinden
Members Absent: Comparato
Staff Present: Lawrence
Guests: Bruce Ashby, Gabe Summers, Robbie Martin, Brian Simelton, Bob Martin, and
Monica Summers
2. Approval of Minutes: Ms. Ittner moved to, and was seconded by Mr. Clark, approve the
minutes of February 13, 2017.
The motion to approve the minutes passed with a unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Clark moved to, and was seconded by Ms. Ittner, approve the minutes of March 20,
2017.
The motion to approve the minutes passed with a unanimous voice vote.
3. Communication and Reports:
a) Educational and Technical Assistance Committee
Ms. Ittner spoke about the Oral History of Marion Mitchell and stated that she wanted to
continue to recognize the contributors to the Oral History project. Ms. Ittner also spoke
about a woman at Morris Library that is in line to handle transcriptions of the interviews.
The North Star interviews that were taking place at the City were then discussed and it
was asked and if there were any other people that should be contacted for the interviews.
b) Nomination and Hardship Committee
Nothing to report.
c) Work Plan Committee
Nothing to report.
d) Certificate of Appropriateness Committee
Nothing to report.
e) Founder’s Park Subcommittee
Mr. Sigler stated that the Founder’s Park might need to be put on hold temporarily due to
the changes to City Council and until a new chair is put into place for the subcommittee.
Mr. Van Awken raised the possibility of asking Lee Fronabarger to still serve on the
subcommittee and continue to move forward with the Founder’s Park process. Mr. Van
Awken also stated that he had spoken to Tom Grant about the possibility of helping with
the Advisory Committee or possibly chairing the committee but having Mr. Fronabarger
involved would be a great benefit. Mr. Sigler agreed that having Mr. Fronabarger
involved would be a great idea moving forward because of everything that he has done
for the Founder’s Park Subcommittee so far. Ms. Ittner brought up the idea of asking Mr.
Fronabarger to serve as an associate member of the Preservation Commission and the
process of asking him to do so was then discussed with the suggestion of drafting a letter
of invitation to Mr. Fronabarger.
Mr. Van Awken moved to, and was seconded by Mr. Clark, for the drafting of a letter of
invitation to Mr. Fronabarger.
The motion to draft a letter passed with a unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Sigler stated that a letter would be drafted for the Commission to approve at the next
meeting in May.
f) Founders’ Day Subcommittee
Nothing to report.
4. Old Business:
a) Ms. Lawrence stated that she supplied the Commission members with a list of
potential properties for historic designation to be looked over for possible addresses
to be removed that have been demolished. Ms. Lawrence had also received
information on her trip to Springfield last month about the historic register and the
possibility of applying for a grant. She had been asked to supply the Commission
with the previous cost of the inventory of properties, which she included in the
packets for the Commission with additional information that she had received in an
email from an architectural historian. Ms. Lawrence also supplied the Commission
with a grant application to look over and be familiar with for the next fiscal year. The
information that was given about the grants that they City might be able to apply for
in the future fiscal year and that it is a reimbursement grant was then discussed. Mr.
Zurlinden asked about the possibility of tying together the downtown master plan and
the grant, if that might possibly be an option to look into. Ms. Lawrence spoke about
the City Council meeting in which the new downtown guidelines were discussed and
that it is going to be taken back to the City Council in the future. Ms. Lawrence stated
that Mr. Zurlinden had a great idea of tying the things together and that the different
incentives would be something to look at. It was then discussed what locations the
guidelines applied to within the BPR district and what that means for the downtown
area.
Mr. Sigler then explained the difference between historic buildings and a preservation
district and what this might mean for different locations in the downtown area and
having a voice in protecting different locations in the future. Mr. Van Awken then
questioned what the inflation rate might be for a new survey of potentially historic
properties since it has been sometime since it has been done. Ms. Lawrence stated
that she was unsure of the inflation rate but it was discussed with her on the phone
about the possibility of a grant to help update the list of potentially historic buildings.
Mr. Sigler asked if the Commission would need a motion for moving forward in 2018
fiscal year, and if the Commission should do the research themselves or pay someone
else to do the inventory. Mr. Van Awken stated that he would like to see more statues
and other landmarks go into the historic and preservation areas. Mr. Sigler stated that
might be something different than the inventory list and that the Commission needs to
figure out what to do with the historic properties. Ms. Lawrence restated what the
grant could actually be used for and what options are out there for the grant funding.
Mr. Clark questioned if the Preservation Commission were to do the research would
that hurt anything on the state or national level of the historic properties and he felt it
would be more beneficial for the Preservation Commission’s understanding of the
process. Ms. Lawrence stated that she is unaware of the process and how time
consuming it might be. Ms. Ittner was concerned about the time and man power it
would take for the Preservation Commission to do the research themselves. It was
then discussed the other possible grant options might be out there and how to go
about researching them. Ms. Sigler stated that this might be something that the
Commission puts on the work plan for 2018 fiscal year.
b) The potential placard for the new development east of the Carbondale Public Library
was then discussed. Mr. Sigler stated that he has tried to contact the doctor at that
location and did not have any luck contacting them possibly due to the fact that they
have not broken ground at that location or submitted plans to the City.
c) Mr. Zurlinden stated that there is very little information that is available on the
Commissioner applications and that at this point there is no form that they would
need to fill out for the bios. Mr. Zurlinden stated that it would be great to show that
the Preservation Commission exists and be it might be difficult providing a letter so it
might be better to look at a different form of communication. Ms. Ittner stated the
possibility of putting it in the Carbondale Communique. Mr. Sigler mentioned the
possibility of correlating the bios with the survey of the historical properties if the
Commission does decide to take it on themselves.
d) Mr. Wren stated that he has currently selected four pictures for the Historic Property
Poster Project for the solar eclipse and was wondering about the possibility of using
then and now pictures of the properties for the posters. Mr. Wren also stated that
including pictures of the locations that the eclipse activities are taking place would be
nice for the tourists to see where things are happening. Mr. Sigler asked if the
Preservation Commission had a budget for printing the posters and how to go about
finding out how much was in the budget.
e) Ms. Lawrence stated that there were no nominations for the Annual Historic Award
this year and next year the Commission will try to be more proactive to make sure
there are nominations received. It was also discussed about putting the applications in
the Communique in the fall so it is out in the community longer.
5. New Business:
a) Ms. Lawrence stated that she was asked to supply a copy of the Carbondale Revised
Code for the Commission, so the Commissioner could see how it relates to the
Preservation Commission.
b) Ms. Lawrence stated that the state requires an annual report for any government
related group also she was suppling the Commission with a previous report from
2016 fiscal year and a draft of the 2017 fiscal year report that can be edited/revised as
needed before it is submitted to the state. Mr. Sigler asked for edits and revisions to
be sent to Ms. Lawrence by April 28th for a final draft to be ready for the May
meeting.
c) Mr. Sigler asked for volunteers for a nomination committee for election of officers at
the next meeting in May. It was then discussed about moving the May meeting from
the 15th to the 22nd of May.
Mr. Wren moved to, and was seconded by Ms. Ittner, change the May Preservation
Commission meeting from May 15th to May 22nd.
The motion to change the meeting date passed with a unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Wren, Mr. Van Awken and Mr. Zurlinden were placed on the nomination
committee for the election of officers for the new fiscal year.
Ms. Lawrence stated that she had included a copy of the annual work plan for the
previous year and a copy of the master work plan that was made in 2002. Ms.
Lawrence stated that the Work Plan Committee needed to get together to review the
annual work plan and Mr. Wren and Mr. Van Awken volunteered to help the
Committee review the plans.
Mr. Clark questioned if Kirchner and Associates is still operating and what the cost
for their services might be to work on the report. Mr. Sigler stated that he would look
into that process.
6. Comments by the Public, Commission Members or Staff:
Ms. Lawrence stated that May is National Preservation Month and discussed the
possibility of having the Mayor make a proclamation at the May City Council meeting.
Ms. Lawrence stated that she had a previous copy but was looking for suggestions for
reworking the proclamation. Ms. Ittner mentioned finding out what the theme for the
Preservation month was this year and working that into the proclamation. Ms. Lawrence
also mentioned adding something into the proclamation about the Commission’s work on
the Founder’s Park.
7. Adjournment:
Mr. Sigler adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m.
http://explorecarbondale.com/sites/default/files/Board%20and%20Commissions%20Minutes.pdf
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