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Minutes 11-09-15 MINUTES OF THE HISTORIC RESOURCES PRESERVATION BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BLVD., BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015, AT 6:30 P. M. PRESENT: Barbara Ready, Chair Warren Adams, Historic Preservation Planner Eric Salomonsson, Vice Chair (Arrived 6:37 p.m.) Susan Oyer Jason Shaffer Cheryl Black, Alternate Hollis Tidwell, III, Alternate ABSENT: Roger Cope Michelle Dion Dr. Ginger Pedersen 1. Pledge of Allegiance Chair Ready called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. Ms. Oyer led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 2. Agenda Approval Motion Ms. Oyer moved to approve the agenda. Ms. Black seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 3. Approval of Minutes Ms. Oyer noted one change to the minutes. The date was October, not Octobber. Motion Ms. Oyer moved to approve the minutes with the amendment. Mr. Shaffer seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 4. Communications and Announcements Warren Adams, Historic Resource Preservation Planner, announced Ms. Dion would not be present at the meeting, Vice Chair Salomonsson would be late, and Dr. Pedersen would try to attend as she had a prior meeting. 5. Old Business: A. Barton Memorial Park Cemetery monument proposal Mr. Adams explained they were trying to erect a monument at Barton Memorial Cemetery to commemorate the people buried there. They held a neighborhood meeting on Thursday, October Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 9, 2015 22 " at the Sims Center. The attendance was poor, but they identified people with the most knowledge of who was buried at the Cemetery and who to contact first. Mr. Pinsky, the Public Policy Manager for Ackerman LLP, who was working with Mr. Adams on the project, notified him that he was working with Reverend Dames. Reverend Dames would contact four or five local residents to get the project moving and would organize another meeting once contact is made. It was anticipated progress would be slow. (Vice Chair Salomonsson arrived at 6:37p.m.) There was no funding identified and Mr. Adams did not think the City had funds for the monument. He commented as the project progressed, the residents may want to contribute funds and there might be some type of matching grant. Mr. Adams suggested they first learn who was buried at the Cemetery and determine the cost of the monument. As the project moved along and word about it spread, they could consider funding then. It was also noted at the meeting that many community members listen to certain radio station community announcements and they may be able to alert the community to their efforts via radio. A suggestion was also made to post a sign at the Cemetery indicating Mr. Adams was seeking information. Chair Ready suggested a local funeral parlor may be willing to underwrite the project. Ms. Oyer suggested contacting Straghn Funeral Home in Delray Beach since the grandfather ran the business. They may have handled burials at Barton Memorial Cemetery. Mr. Adams explained this information would be helpful with the Historic Resource Preservation website and he commented the meeting attendees also responded well to the Boynton Colored Town project. B. Florida Master Site File survey Mr. Adams advised these surveys were still ongoing. He was working on the buildings that were still in existence and he was addressing them as time allowed. C. Historic Site Markers At the last meeting, Chair Ready had a sketch of the crest from the Old High School which was proposed to be included on the marker. Mr. Adams requested two quotes based on the Board's suggested plaque designs and had approached the Erie Landmark Company. They were working on a quote and a proof which was not yet received. He also asked if they could create a logo from a photograph or sketch. He had a good photograph of the crest, but it was taken from the ground looking up. He noted Mr. Shaffer had previously indicated his students could create a sketch from a photograph. He sent an email with some options and will apprise the members when the information is received. Mr. Hollis had submitted information regarding clear Lexan etched and colored plaques which cost about $55 for an 8" x 8" plaque, 3 /8tns of an inch thick. Mr. Hollis had advised when he was in Venice there were two plaques often used. Ms. Oyer had noted the plaques used in England were not on protected sites. The plaques only advised of people associated with the home. Mr. Hollis explained he pursued the matter with Palm Beach Plastics in West Palm Beach and he was told they can etch anything and a crest could be easily created. Mr. Shaffer commented if the plaque was clear against a white building background, the clear plaque was fine, but if the building was painted, the Lexan would have to be unique and the font would have to be a different color. Vice Chair Salomonsson thought they would not be able to see the inscription. 2 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 9, 2015 Bronze ovals cost about $250 and were about 10" by 7 ". Mr. Adams thought this was an option for either the historic markers or for recognizing buildings where significant things occurred. Chair Ready asked if he obtained prices for ceramic plaques and thought it was an option that may be less expensive. When Mr. Adam's receives the information, the members could discuss their options further. Each plaque would have the date the house was built and there should be a consistent logo on all the plaques. D. Boynton Woman's Club grant- funded window and door repairs Mr. Adams had given the Woman's Club a list of architects they could approach and the Woman's Club members selected Roy Simon as the architect because he had worked on the building before. They needed special permission from the State to use Mr. Simon. They started holding meetings with contractors to discuss windows with them. They met with Kaufman Lynn and they indicated they would normally replace the windows with aluminum frames. Mr. Adams had advised they needed wood windows. This was a grant funded project and aluminum windows were not what the grant was for or what the State would approve. The second company was Curtis Meade who worked with the architect before and they understood what was wanted. The third company was Wiley Riley Construction, who repaired the three windows last year and they were familiar with the building and the type of work that would be done. When the windows for the Schoolhouse Children's Museum were installed, the contractor sent the architect's drawing to a milling company. He advised the Woman's Club to do the same to see if they had a contractor's license which would remove the middle man. They will meet with a company next week. The company does not have a contractor's license, but they have a contractor to work with. They would repair the windows where possible and replace them only when necessary. A PowerPoint of the windows was viewed. Replacement would only be required if a certain percentage of the original window was repaired and parts were pieced in. He commented it was not really cost effective and there would not be much of the original window left. It may also be unsound to piece too much into a window. The contractor needed to be flexible. When the window openings are removed, some of the wood behind it would be rotten and they will start with the worst windows. They hoped to have 41 windows addressed, but they may not be able to address all of them. Mr. Adams noted there used to be a stair tower on the building and there were no windows in that area at that time. When the tower was removed, they added two windows. There were also French doors leading onto a balcony and they converted the two French doors to windows. Mr. Adams suggested making those windows non - operational to save money if the State would allow,it and they be exact replicas. There was $210,000 in grants and donations, which was not a lot for the windows, especially if the Mahogany would rot in eight years. Mr. Adams advised this would come before the Board for review and the Board could offer their advice. The last thing they wanted was for the project to be delayed. The windows would be labor intensive. The prior windows were sent to CCS Windows in Orlando. Mr. Adams expressed concern that because this was grant funding time, there was a good chance anyone who received funding would send the work to Orlando. If CCS Windows only repaired 20 windows, they would only get paid for those windows and the Woman's Club would lose the rest of the funding. The work must be completed within the grant period which was a concern if the windows were being sent back and forth to Orlando. 3 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 9, 2015 6. New Business: A. Overview of Certificate of Appropriateness Applications and Procedures Mr. Adams explained the Board will review Certificate of Appropriateness applications and new historic designations. Since only one application for the Old High School was reviewed many years ago, he wanted to explain what it was so when they receive applications, the members would know the practice and procedures to use. Mr. Adams noted the Historic Preservation Ordinance mandates the Board or staff shall review all actions affecting the exterior of properties and all resources, including non - contributing properties within Historic Districts. Individuals can build home additions, change windows, and make repairs or alterations, but the review is to ensure they are done appropriately and they maintain the home's historic character. They would use Section IX of the Land Development Regulations. Mr. Adams explained the Secretary of Interior has 10 standards produced by the National Park Service advising what to do to care for historic sites and properties which are used throughout the country. They use the design guidelines and best practice manuals. The Certificate of Approval matrix detailed what projects had to be reviewed by the Board and what projects had to be reviewed by Mr. Adams. When Mr. Adams reviews an application, he will generate a report and recommendation which the Board could accept, accept with conditions, or deny. If the project was denied, the applicant could make an appeal to the City Commission, but if the Board detailed why it was denied, the applicant could make changes and later on return to the Board. They wanted to avoid any denials. As long as applicants work with Mr. Adams, the intention would be to bring a project before the Board with a recommendation for approval. There are State, Federal, and International Guidelines, Charters, Bulletins and Guidance Notes available on the Division of Historical Resources, National Park and Conservation /Preservation websites. The State wants historic buildings to be used and inhabited. The Board would manage change, not encapsulate buildings and prevent anything from happening to them. Mr. Adams noted the best use of a building is usually its original use. They should try to respect the interior of the building and must consider whether it is an economically viable and a sustainable use. These were all factors the Board must consider. Repairs and alterations were reviewed. Mr. Adams advised conservation is used in Europe and preservation is used in the United States, but there could be subtle differences. Conservation is managing the change of the building to ensure changes are appropriate and preservation could be construed as not allowing any changes. The Woman's Club was preserved with the original use intact, apart from the tower being removed. Rehabilitation is the process of repairing or altering historic buildings for efficient or contemporary uses involving remodeling. Rehabilitation can also be to use the building for another use. Restoration is physically taking the building back to its original condition. If the building evolved over the years, a decision regarding what point in its history to restore it to would have to be made. Mr. Adams cautioned one needs very good evidence of what was there to accomplish the task. Reconstruction is reproduction by new construction in the exact form or detail of a vanished building or part of a building. A replica is not the same. If reconstructed, it should be with the same materials. Mr. Adams noted Japan dismantles its temples, replaces the damaged parts and reconstructs them about every 100 years. In the U.S., if someone designates a site and has a 4 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board B oynton Beach, Florida November 9, 2015 problem with the insurance company, they provide a letter to the insurance company indicating say if the building is completely destroyed; it was no longer a historic building. He noted it is important good records are kept. If part of a building is destroyed, they put identifying features in the records so they could tell it was a reconstruction. Remodeling is an approach in which repairs or alterations are made with no regard to the original features and overall design of the building, but Mr. Adams cautioned it was not necessarily true across the board. Stabilization is ensuring a building is wind and water tight, structurally secure and it is usually the first step in preserving a building. The Board would be concerned with preservation, conservation, rehabilitation, perhaps restoration and some remodeling and stabilization. When the Board receives an application, they will identify, retain and preserve the form and details of the architectural materials and features. This is a basic treatment of the building. In the case of the Woman's Club, the best way to repair the windows was to take out the broken parts and replace them. It is labor intensive and expensive, but there will come a point when the Board would have to decide whether it made financial or good construction sense to repair so much of a window or to just replace it. The architect and contractor will appear before the Board to explain what they are doing and why. The amount of work performed would be based on money, time and unexpected finds and the Board could require the contractor to come back to the Board or get Mr. Adams' approval in these instances. The Board's goal is to retain as much of the historic fabric as possible and avoid delays because the contractor would have to wait to the next meeting to address minor issues. Items such as a door replacement or stucco issues could all be directed to Mr. Adams. The first application will be the Woman's Club and the repairs have to be finished by June 2017. Mr. Adams advised the contractor and architect should be present when the application is reviewed by the Board to answer questions. Chair Ready inquired if the Ordinance provides any recourse for entities that do not take care of historic buildings and learned there was a section that indicates what owners of historic buildings have to do, but there were no sanctions the Board could impose if the Ordinance was not followed. Chair Ready inquired how the windows would be repaired and learned some could be removed and repaired and others could be repaired in -situ. The Woman's Club cannot close down while the repairs are being made. If something major was uncovered, State approval would be needed to make the repairs. If they did not spend all the funds, they could approach the State to determine what those funds could be used for. No one was confident everything would be done. The Woman's Club could also approach the contractor and ask if they could do some of the work on a donation basis. They were hoping the contractor awarded the work would adjust the price. B. Grant - funded Heritage Education Program recommendation to National Park Service Mr. Adams explained the National Park Service contacted the State for a referral to really good examples of grant funded projects and the State referred them to Boynton Beach. Mr. Adams explained the Boynton Beach historic grants came from federal funds allocated through the states. If the National Park Service likes what is done in Boynton Beach, it could provide the City with 5 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 9, 2015 national exposure. Mr. Adams was hopeful something would happen with the Old High School next year and advised they could also potentially apply for funding to repair some of the headstones at Barton Memorial Park. Discussion followed Sara Sims Cemetery was not designated. Mr. Adams explained they could designate Sara Sims Cemetery, but the State prefers the Cemetery be closed for burials. He pointed out if the Board wanted to pursue designation, they could only designate the old original section. 7. Other Mr. Adams was going to Vero Beach on Thursday to make a presentation to help Vero Beach start some type of historic program. They were very interested in everything Boynton Beach did to develop its program, including the Ad Hoc Committee to get grants, provide education, get the website up and encourage designation. The Preservation Board and representatives from various historical societies will be present after the City Commission meeting. Mr. Adams noted Broward County may apply for Certified Local Government status and they asked him for assistance. He noted there are people with long- established programs that fell by the wayside they could assist. Mr. Adams also commented he was making a presentation to St. Cloud because they have a Main Street program and they want to encourage preservation as well. 8. Comments by members Chair Ready reminded the members the Historical Society was having a program on November 16th at 6:30 p.m. in the Library Program Room about genealogy, DNA and tracing roots. It was a free event and all were invited to attend. The Pirate Fest was a success. Mr. Adams started working on next year's Conrad Pickel event and he reviewed Conrad Pickel's history for the benefit of Mr. Hollis. They have a bus tour, followed by lectures by the Historical Society and Mr. Pickel's son, demonstrations and exhibits. It has been very successfulThe program expands each year, but the problem was funding. Mr. Adams suggested they get companies to have booths and have an arts and architecture show. He was unaware of anyone else holding this type of event. He thought having an artist of this magnitude who lived and worked in the City was impressive. Ms. Oyer commented she was learning glass blowing at Benzaiten Center for the Creative Arts and they hold school tours. She also bought three Christmas - themed paintings and offered the artwork to be used as a logo for free. The event occurs in May of each year for Preservation Month. They tour some of the local churches and the Mausoleum. The only place they had not accessed was the building next to the Woman's Club 9. Public comments None. 10. Announce date of next meeting — December 14, 2015 6 Meeting Minutes Historic Resources Preservation Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 9, 2015 11. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Chair Ready properly adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m. &w1)uL&Ik.Lf Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 111295 7