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Minutes 05-14-12 MINUTES OF THE HISTORIC RESOURCES PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, MAY 14, 2012, AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Eric Jones, Chair Warren Adams, Historic Resource Dr. Ginger Pedersen, Vice Chair Preservation Planner Roger Cope Ed Breese, Principal Planner Michelle Dion Paul Gionfriddo Eric Salomonsson Linda Stabile Barbara Ready, Alternate ABSENT: Harvey Rosenblum, Alternate 1. Pledge of Allegiance Chair Jones called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. The members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Ms. Stabile commented on behalf of the Board and offered condolences to Vice Chair Pedersen on the passing of her mother. 2 Agenda Approval There were no additions or deletions to the agenda. Motion Mr. Cope moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Salomonsson seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 3. Approval of Minutes Motion Ms. Dion moved to approve the minutes. Mr. Salomonsson seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 1 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida May 14, 2012 4. Communications and Announcements Warren Adams, Historic Preservation Planner announced that Mr. Rosenblum notified him that he could not attend the meeting. Ms. Stabile expressed her gratitude to Mr. Adams for the publicity he had gotten for the Board with the articles in the newspaper. Mr. Adams advised there was also publicity on the cemetery on WPBF News 25. 5. Old Business: A. Update on the progress of the Historic Preservation Program Mr. Adams advised he was informed by the State that the Certified Local Government (CLG) application, should be in place by the end of May or beginning of June. There would be a CLG training session sometime over the summer. It would hopefully be scheduled for the same time as a Board meeting. Mr. Adams advised there was he received funding available for CLG training. There were four awards of $16,500 to be awarded to CLGs in Florida. The application period is May -June and the grant period would be October 2012 — June 2013. No match would be required. The problem was that the event would have to be promoted, sponsors for food and drink would have to be organized, accommodations secured for 50 -100 people, tours, speakers, and $3,000 would have to be set aside for attendance expenses. The biggest problem was that the organizers want the training to take place in a historic building with accommodation to be within easy access of the event. This would present a problem if the event was held at the Womcn's Center Woman's Club. Because of the organization and accommodation issues, it was decided not to apply for this particular grant. It would be better to concentrate on the small matching grant at this time, rather than the CLG Training Grant The small matching grant would allow applying it to any designated project desired by the City. The grant would be up to $25,000 for CLGs, and there would be no match required. Mr. Adams advised since there were no designated sites in the City presently, there would be nothing designated during the grant application process. However, he proposed an education program, whereby 20 -25 significant sites would be chosen and a heritage trail could be created. This year, the grants were being awarded for projects that tie in with Florida 500, which concentrates on heritage trails. At each site, there would be an information board on the trail, and also a small box that could be scanned with a Smartphone. He would also like an interactive section on the City's website so the development patterns could be followed. The proposal would involve a number of City departments, the Historical Society and the Library. He would ask the Women's Center Woman's Club to present their own information for the trail board and the online information. There would be no match for this grant. The training conference could be revisited in a couple of years when the certification had been in place for a while. He 2 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida May 14, 2012 advised he would be discussing this with the City Commission and then begin getting costs to put it together. The Design Guidelines were still in process. The Ad Valorem Tax Incentive Program could be pushed forward once the CLG certification was received. Mr. Adams advised the City Attorney that the CLG certification would be received within the next 4 weeks. With regard to the amendments to the Preservation Ordinance, the first reading at the April 17 Commission meeting was postponed until May 1 The second readings are scheduled for the May 15 Commission meeting. These amendments were made so the Ordinance ties in with the requirements of the CLG program. The application for the potential designation of 331 NW 1 Avenue would be submitted after the amendments were approved. It would simplify the application process. Mr. Adams commented the owner of the property informed him the insurance for the home would be increasing. This may or may not have something to do with the proposed designation. Although it could not be proved that the insurance would be increasing because of the proposed designation, Mr. Adams advised he provided the insurance agent with a letter. The letter stated if the building was ever destroyed, it would not have to be replaced identically with the same materials and design. If the building was totally destroyed and it was recreated exactly the same as it was, it would no longer be a historic building. The National Trust Preservation Fund was the grant applied for in the past to get the brochures done. Mr. Adams advised Delray Beach contacted him to ask if there was interest in hosting a joint realtor training course using the funds to run the training course. The grant application would have to be submitted by October 1 and the course would be held in May 2013 during Preservation Month and would be hosted between Boynton Beach and Delray Beach. Matching funds would be required. Mr. Adams would present this to the CRA in the hopes they would be willing to provide some matching funds. Mr. Adams advised that Greg Mount gave a presentation of the Barton Memorial Cemetery to the City Commission and it was well received. He accepted the proclamation for National Preservation Month The survey and Cemetery were featured in the Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel and WPBF News 25. All the feedback received on the publicity was supportive. Mr. Adams advised he met with Mr. James Pitts who suggested there might be another Afro - American cemetery in the City. Mr. Pitts indicated that his mother may be the oldest living Boynton Beach resident that was born and raised here. She would be 99 years old in December and her name was Mrs. Pitts and her mother was Mrs. Gutman Girtman who had a painted stone at the Barton Memorial Cemetery. There was discussion on recognizing her while she was still alive. 3 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida May 14, 2012 B. 918 SE 4 Street — potential demolition Mr. Adams advised he met with the representatives of the Women's Circle and explained the benefits of historic preservation and the reuse of historic structures. The representatives listened. However, they decided to still move ahead with the demolition of the building as the rehabilitation and alteration costs would be more than the cost of demolition and new construction. Mr. Adams noted the property would need a significant amount of major repairs. They would not demolish the building until December so there would still be time to try to renegotiate with the Women's Center or find someone who might be interested in moving the building. C. Designation of historic sites Mr. Adams pointed out at the last meeting the Board requested he begin the designation process for three City -owned sites: the Children's Museum, the Boynton Hills streetlights and the Barton Memorial Park Cemetery. He advised that at the next City Commission meeting, he had an agenda item that asked permission to start the designation process. With regard to the streetlights, he met with the Public Works Department to discuss the possibility of getting the lights working again. The current plan would be to install solar powered light fittings in them because they have no cables and it would be too expensive to wire and hook up to the existing system. Options for funding include grants, donations of any materials, or sponsors. He spoke with a potential sponsor for one of the streetlights. Just for the Board's information, another potentially historic streetlight was located at the Old High School. 6. New Business A. Old High School development proposal Mr. Adams reported that two potential development proposals were presented to the City Commission at the April 17 meeting. The Commission chose the Lansing - Melbourne proposal. This would be a proposal for the High School only that will rehabilitate the building . Its proposed use would be for a multi -use facility, including event space, green market, and restaurants. The developer would have 120 days to carry out further investigations into the proposal. B. 413 NW 7th Street demolition Mr. Adams reminded the Board that he was responsible for reviewing any demolitions for properties over 50 years old. The application at 413 NW 7 Street was reviewed and immediately after viewing the property, it was evident that the property should be demolished. The application for demolition was approved. 4 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida May 14, 2012 C. Conrad Pickel stained glass Mr. Adams shared some information on a painter, sculpturer and designer named Conrad Pickel. He was a world- renowned stained glass artist. He had a studio in Milwaukee in 1947 and in 1956 he opened a branch in Vero Beach. He transferred the complete operation to Florida in 1977. He also lived in Boynton Beach. His claim to fame was being listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the largest stain glass window at the Resurrection Mausoleum in Justice, Illinois. Mr. Adams shared pictures of his stained glass work found around the Boynton Beach area. 7. Other None. 8. Comments by members Chair Jones announced that due to unforeseen circumstances, he would be moving to a different city for the benefit of his family. This would be his last meeting and he would be stepping down and, as a result, submitted his resignation as Chair of the Historic Resources Preservation Board. 9. Public comments 10. Announce date of next meeting — June 11, 2012 11. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Chair Jones properly adjourned the meeting at 7:20 p.m. R / d Ellie Caruso Recording Secretary 5