Carbondale Reporter

City of Carbondale Preservation Commission met March 20.

Here is the minutes as provided by the commission:

1. Roll Call: Mr. Clark called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

Members Present: Clark, Van Awken, Benedict, and Zurlinden

Members Absent: Wren, Comparato, Doherty, Ittner and Sigler

Staff Present: Lawrence

Guests: Bruce Ashby

2. Approval of Minutes: Ms. Benedict stated a change needed to be made in section 3A.

Ms. Lawrence noted the change and stated the February 13, 2017 minutes would be

included in the packets for the next meeting.

3. Communication and Reports:

a) Educational and Technical Assistance Committee

Nothing to report.

b) Nomination and Hardship Committee

Nothing to report.

c) Work Plan Committee

Nothing to report.

d) Certificate of Appropriateness Committee

Ms. Lawrence stated that they had not received any more applications at this time but she

had sent a copy of the Varsity’s Certificate of Appropriateness to all of the

Commissioners by email for their review for any possible future request for changes to

the marquee.

e) Founder’s Park Subcommittee

Ms. Lawrence stated that the City Council had placed a publication in the Carbondale

Times for anyone who wanted to be included in the Founder’s Park Committee and there

was then discussion about the publication. Ms. Lawrence read the publication aloud for

the Commissioners and shared the individuals that were interested in serving on the

committee. Ms. Lawrence also discussed waiting until after the April 4th elections to

speak more about the forming the committee. Mr. Van Awken expressed that he felt that

it would be nice to have a few more people involved and to invite more people from the

community into the committee to get more input and points of view, including SIU and

the Carbondale Park District. It was then discussed between Ms. Lawrence and Mr. Van

Awken about the role of the advisory committee. Mr. Clark expressed interest in moving

forward with just the advisory committee and then in the future reaching out to the other

organizations and individuals for input on Founder’s Park.

f) Founders’ Day Subcommittee

Mr. Clark asked if anyone had touched base with Lee Fronabarger about the

subcommittee and Ms. Lawrence stated that Mr. Sigler was supposed to speak with him

but he had not reported back about speaking to Mr. Fronabarger. It was also suggested

that Mr. Fronabarger be invited to a Preservation meeting to touch base and get his

thoughts on the subcommittee.

4. Old Business:

a) Ms. Lawrence stated that she supplied the Commission members with a list of

potential properties for historic designation and she had also received information on

her trip to Springfield last month about the historical register and the possibility of

applying for a grant. Mr. Clark asked how much the survey of potentially properties

for designation cost the last time it was looked at. It was then discussed between Mr.

Van Awken and Ms. Lawrence about the standards for the national designation and

the local designation and some examples of those types of designations and

regulations. Mr. Van Awken felt that the Commission should look into different

avenues of national designation for Founder’s Park and how to go about applying for

grant funding. There was also a discussed about what happened to the cabin that once

sat where the new police station is located.

b) The potential placard for the new development east of the Carbondale Public Library

was then discussed. Mr. Sigler was provided the information from Ms. Lawrence in

order to reach out to the doctor’s office going in at that location but she was unaware

of any action taking place at this time.

c) Ms. Lawrence stated that at the last meeting she was asked to provide the

Commissioners with the letter of introduction form for member bios and inquire

about whether or not it was a standard form, Ms. Lawrence stated that it was not a

state or city standardized form so it would be up the Commission to decide what is

including in the bios. Mr. Clark questioned if Mr. Wren and Mr. Zurlinden were

going to work on the Commission bios and it was discussed how much information

will be included in them. Mr. Zurlinden asked about the possibility of including the

introductory letter in with the new water bills. Ms. Lawrence stated that would be

something that would have to be looked at but it might be a hard process. Mr.

Zurlinden asked if there were currently copies of Commission bios to use but Ms.

Lawrence stated that currently they did not have everyone. It was also suggested that

a sample bio be provided at the next meeting and letting everyone know what is

needed from there.

d) Ms. Lawrence state that she currently had no new information on this project from

Mr. Wren. It was then discussed what the process is and what all needs to happen to

complete this project.

e) Ms. Lawrence stated that there were no nominations for the Annual Historic Award

this year. It was stated that next year the Commission will try to take more action to

make sure there are nominations received.

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. Mr. Zurlinden asked what exactly the historic preservation

organization was in reference to and the members that would be included on the

Commission. Mr. Clark asked for an updated list of the current standing committee

members.

6. Comments by the Public, Commission Members or Staff:

Mr. Ashby spoke about growing up in Carbondale and the lack of parks in Carbondale

years ago and that the growing number of parks in the community is a great thing. Mr.

Ashby felt that Founder’s Park is an important opportunity for Carbondale and should not

be over looked.

Mr. Zurlinden suggested having the Hardship Committee become more versed in the

Curb Appeal grant and sharing that information with the community. It was then

suggested that some of this information be included with the bios when sent out.

7. Adjournment:

Mr. Clark adjourned the meeting at 8:07 p.m.

http://explorecarbondale.com/sites/default/files/Board%20and%20Commissions%20Minutes.pdf