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Minutes 08-08-11 MINUTES OF THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 2011 AT 5:00 P.M. AT FIRE STATION #2, 2615 W. WOOLBRIGHT AVENUE, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Warren Adams, Chair Ed Breese, Principal Planner Barbara Ready, Vice Chair Gaylord Allan Hendricks . Linda Stabile ABSENT: Janet DeVries John McGovern Eric Jones 1. Call to order Chair Adams called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. A quorum was present. 2. Approval of minutes Vice Chair Ready advised she had a change to the minutes. On page 4, second paragraph, she expressed her thanks to Mr. Hendricks and Mr. McGovern. The minutes stated she thanked Chair Adams. Mr. Breese advised he had numerous changes. On Page 6, fourth paragraph, third line, $2,600 should read approximately $1,600. In the same paragraph, $2,000 should read approximately $1,000 and $2,600 should read $1,600. At the end of the same paragraph, August 25, 2011 should read August 20, 2011. Lastly, on the last page under Staff Comments, City Commission should read Human Resources Department. Motion Vice Chair Ready moved to approve the minutes as amended. The motion was seconded by Mr. Hendricks and unanimously passed. 3. Introduction of Historic Preservation Planner Mr. Breese announced Warren Adams as the new Historic Preservation Planner for the City of Boynton Beach. Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL August 8, 2011 4. Review of Follow-up Brochures/Close-out of Grant Award Chair Adams advised that all changes for the brochure suggested at the last meeting were completed. A suggestion was made that the headings be capitalized. Space was extremely tight, so the headings are bolded but not capitalized. A comment was made by Vice Chair Ready to change where it reads “a Historic Preservation Ordinance and “a Historic Resources Preservation Board” to read “an”. She also pointed out that at the bottom of the front page, “historic preservation program” should be capitalized for consistency. In addition, on the inside center of the brochure under Historic Preservation Planner, she wanted to add “in the City of Boynton Beach” after “Maintaining maps and a database of all historic districts and properties”. Vice Chair Ready also suggested that on the back cover to insert Warren Adams’ name as the Historic Preservation Planner. Mr. Hendricks suggested forwarding him the picture of the Wenger House on the back of the brochure and he could photo shop the branches out from the tree to make the look more visually pleasing. Chair Adams advised the deadline was approaching for spending the grant money. It was agreed at the last meeting to print a second brochure, highlighting the architectural styles that are in Boynton Beach. The plan was to do a much better quality piece, perhaps a card style with the four most prevalent architectural styles, along with a brief explanation of the most common features. He will have a draft completed next week and asked everyone for comments as soon as possible so it could be sent to the printer. Mr. Hendricks suggested instead of doing a separate mailing, possibly insert it in the same envelope as the brochure. The balance would be distributed to City facilities. Mr. Breese mentioned that the mailing would consist of 1,200 brochures and the balance would be at the Library, City Hall and various other City facilities. Adding another piece in the envelope would not incur any additional postage costs. Mr. Breese reminded everyone that the deadline was approaching quickly and the dollars had to be spent. It was agreed to have Chair Adams carry out the task. 5. Discussion on Transition to Historic Resources Preservation Board and Proposed Work Program Mr. Breese suggested Chair Adams explain how the transition would be handled since this would be the last Ad Hoc Committee meeting before the new Board meets. Board meeting dates were discussed and it was agreed the meetings should be held in the Chambers, as most Board meetings of the City. The second Monday of the month was available in the Chambers. It was decided the meetings would begin at 6:30 p.m. 2 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL August 8, 2011 Chair Adams suggested the meetings take place once a month so that everyone could be updated in the process and get feedback as to what was done in the previous month. It would be a good educational process in learning the application process, deadlines and clarifying what was not understood. The first meeting should be an educational discussion to go through the guidelines and bring everyone up to speed regarding what the Ad Hoc Committee had accomplished over the last three years and how it will be taken forward. Chair Adams advised he would be meeting with Janet DeVries at the Archives to review all the information that might be useful for the Board. He also advised he contacted the Florida Master Site and they will be sending him the updated list of what properties in Boynton Beach are listed on the Master Site File. The Florida Master Site was approved by the State. Anyone can submit entries to the Florida Master Site File as it was for buildings which were interesting, but not necessarily historic. There were no criteria for buildings to meet in order to be in the Master Site File. The guidelines, which were previously agreed on in the Plant City model were approximately 50% done but obviously would have to be amended because the guidelines are specific for the City of Boynton Beach, not Plant City. Much of the information would be transferred over. Everyone would be involved in the final document. Still needed were photos of Boynton Beach, its history, and the different architectural styles of Boynton Beach. Chair Adams also advised he was looking at design guidelines for other cities so we could take some elements from them. Chair Adams indicated he had a discussion with Mr. Breese, and it was agreed to have a separate section for commercial buildings. Some things would remain the same as in the residential section, but there would be major differences such as security, fire escapes, and storefront windows, among other differences specific to commercial properties. Chair Adams advised he received information from the State about the certifications. What that meant was there was a partnership between the Federal government, State government and the City of Boynton Beach government that explained the promotion of historic preservation. The two main things to get certification on are 1) the Historic Preservation Board; and 2) a Historic Preservation Ordinance, both of which were in place. The certification process could take six to twelve months. Up-to-date details would be given at future Board meetings. Vice Chair Ready confirmed the regular Board meetings would begin in September and advised that the new Board members should be aware of the attendance requirements. Chair Adams suggested the initial applications should be done on individual properties. Local designation gives much more protection than the National Register designation. The Historic Preservation Board can recommend properties they would like to see have a designation application submitted. The property owner would then submit an application for Board and City Commission approval. 3 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL August 8, 2011 Mr. Hendricks inquired if someone wanted to improve on their home and that property had the potential for historic designation, how far into the design guidelines can they go before it can begin being processed. There was further discussion and suggestions on the procedure of how to approach the property owner if a property should be considered historic, the undertaking of property improvements and tax incentive benefits. It was important to obtain as much information from the property owner as possible in order to begin the process and properly complete it. Chair Adams reiterated that it was imperative to complete the guidelines as soon as possible and work towards the certification. Paul Gianfriddo, a new Historic Resources Preservation Board member, suggested a “tour” for the new members around the City to be given ideas of what might constitute a good applicant. Vice Chair Ready suggested utilizing Ms. DeVries at the Archives as she had documented many things and may have information regarding bus tours of historic areas in the City. Chair Adams reminded everyone that simply because a building was on the National Registry, did not give the property protection. In order to protect the integrity of a building, it would have to be put on a local register. Ms. Stabile discussed the importance of educating people on the designation process and ways it could increase property values in these hard economic times. There was continued discussion on the importance of concentrating on five or six individual properties before going out and finding whole districts. It would be acceptable to begin thinking about districts but for now, people should be looking at what they have individually. Mr. Hendricks suggested Chair Adams speak to the Forest Park Neighborhood Association to educate them and others on their properties. There could be an application available for an individual structure designation at the meeting. Chair Adams explained that once you obtain Certified Local Government (CLG) status, it would open up the possibility of applying for grants. The application process could take between six and twelve months, but as long as the application was submitted and the process had begun, the Board could be considered for grants. Most of the grants available were matching grants which meant the money had to be found for the match. Vice Chair Ready asked for information on what types of grants could be applied for and what amounts were available. Chair Adams advised the State had two types of grants. One was a small matching grant, up to $50,000 which would be used for property repair and restoration, and a second Special Category grant for up to $350,000. You could use retrospective funds to apply for that so that Action Grant funds would have to be spent along with the grant money at the same time. Special Category grants could be used retrospectively, so the obvious place to use the grant would be on a building such as the Old High School. Chair Adams was unsure how far back you could go with retrospective funds. The problem with that was because of the economy, they had not 4 Meeting Minutes Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee Boynton Beach, FL August 8, 2011 been giving out Special Category Grant funding. The board could still apply, but it was unsure whether it would be awarded. Mr. Breese advised the City Attorney would attend the first meeting of the Historic Resources Preservation Board and would attend on an as-needed basis for future meetings. Chair Adams advised the Board they would all have to attend Ethics training at some point and would be notified by the City Clerk's office. Eric Salomonsson a new Board member not present at the last meeting introduced himself. He has been a resident of Boynton Beach for six years moving from Massachusetts. He currently teaches History and Geography in Coconut Creek. He was involved on Committees in Worcester, MA and wanted to get involved in the community here. 6. Prepare mail-out envelopes Mr. Breese commented that anyone who wished to stay to help prepare the envelopes after the meeting were welcome. 7. Staff Comments Mr. Breese thanked the members of the Ad Hoc Committee for all their work and assistance in getting the new Board off the ground. Chair Adams mirrored the comments and also thanked the Planning Department for their assistance. He advised he received an email that expressed support and admiration for the work the Ad Hoc Committee accomplished. 8. Public Comments None. 9. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 6:28 p.m. f)l~'l~/l{~~r Ellie Caruso Recording Secretary 5