HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-12 - Minutes -CITY OF
FAYETTEVILLE
ARKANSAS
MEETING MINUTES
Meeting of the Historic District Commission
October 12, 2023 5:30 PM
RM 111 City Hall
NOTE: The October 12, 2023 Historic District Commission meeting was held in person
and online, with commissioners attending in person and online. Staff were present in
person.
Members: Christine Myres — Chair, Meredith Mahan — Vice Chair, Alex Lee, Mark Harper,
Joann Goodley, Tommie Flowers Davis, Julie Preddy
City Staff: Sherry Griffith — Long Range & Preservation Planner, Britin Bostick - Long Range
Planning & Special Projects Manager
Call to Order: The chair called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM.
In Attendance: Christine Myres, Meredith Mahan, Tommie Flowers Davis, Joann Goodley,
Alex Lee, Britin Bostick, and Sherry Griffith.
Approval of Minutes from the August 10, 2023 Meeting: Motion to approve by
Commissioner Mahan, second by Commissioner Harper. Motion passed 5-0-0.
Announcements: None.
Unfinished Business:
1. University Heights/Haskell Heights Historic Context Statement: Bostick
announced that staff and the consultants are actively collecting information from the
community regarding the University Heights and Haskell Heights area. Emails have
gone out and we will continue to go out to let the community know that we are doing
this project and seeking information. There is a project webpage, so people know
where to go to get more information and how to contact Bostick or the project manager
for Stantec, Sandy Shannon. The HDC will have a draft of the historic context
statement to review by late February and it will be discussed in the March meeting.
Stantec will be doing a lot of deep investigatory work for this project. They will visit the
University collections, the Shiloh Museum, and conduct more research when they
come here at the end of the month. Staff is working on setting up a meeting with the
neighborhood, and will hopefully have a date, time and location for that by the middle
of next week.
Staff will also be talking with the neighborhood about Phase II. HDC voted last year for
the University Heights/Haskell Heights project to be completed in two phases, and
Phase II is the second phase of the University Heights/Haskell Heights project. It will
be one of the City's asks for the 2024 Certified Local Government Grant (CLG) and is
like a preliminary registration to the National Register, called a Multiple Property
Documentation Form. In this way, multiple properties are submitted like the way they
Mailing Address:
113 W. Mountain Street www.fayetteville-ar.gov
Fayetteville, AR 72701
would be submitted for the National Register. Staff has identified around a dozen
properties that are not already on the National Register, but Stantec will help
determine if they meet the eligibility criteria. Then, staff will work with the owners to
see if they would be comfortable being nominated. It does require owner consent. Staff
have discussed applying for Phase II with the CLG office at AHPP.
Myres asked for information regarding how to access the project webpage and if this
information could also be emailed out to everyone. Bostick noted that she will put that
information in the email she sends out next week about the project meeting. Bostick
then went to the webpage at httl)s://www.favetteville-
ar.gov/Search?searchPhrase=Historic%20Preservation%2OPromects and explained to
everyone that the easiest way to get to it is to go to the City's website and type
"historic preservation projects" or "University Heights" into the search bar on the top
right of the screen. The title of the page is Historic Preservation Projects. At the top of
the page is the current project, which is the Historic Context Statement of University
Heights and Haskell Heights, with some pictures, the map of the project area, some
history of the area, details of what this project entails and some information about the
project schedule. Below the current project is the section for former projects. Currently
this section only has a link to the Heritage and Historic Preservation Plan, but
ultimately this page will be a home for links to all City preservation projects. This page
will be updated as this project and other projects go forward. And, when the draft
context statement is ready, it will be put on this page. There will also be a social media
blast about it, to let everyone know this is where they can find the draft.
2. Historic Marker Design Discussion: Bostick presented images she had received
from several marker manufactures illustrating what the respective companies can do
with the marker design HDC has proposed, as well as ballpark prices for some of the
renditions. The companies she presented work from were Centec Cast Metal Products
(no prices), Atlas Signs & Plaques ($1,600 - $2,000), Healy Plaques ($1,208.99 with
freight but without tax, and only presented option that can be mounted to a wall),
American Sign Letters ($1,417 - $2,272 without tax), Paul Zimmerman Foundries
($1,800 without tax), Eagle Sign (no prices, but unique mounting options).
The commissioners decided to eliminate American Sign & Plaques from consideration
because this company would not be able to recess the stream/road. The primary
takeaways were that the Commission would like:
• The stream/road to be recessed
• The stream to be a different color than the text, or a lighter shade than the text
• The letters to be raised without any gradient of color
• To see different texture options for the plaque as a whole and for just the
stream/road
• The marker to be capable of being mounted on a post
• There to be a discernable edge around the marker, that the words do not pass
over
0 To see a finished steel option and a bronze option
Some favorites were:
Both, the brown and green options from Centec (although they did not feel they
were as readable as they would like, and this was especially true of the green)
The black and white option from Paul Zimmerman Foundries
The aluminum finish from Atlas Signs and Plaques
3. Ground Scanning of Oaks Cemetery: Bostick shared that after speaking with Dr.
Lockhart from the University and with the State preservation office she no longer
believes applying for a grant to scan Oaks Cemetery is a viable option for the 2024
grant cycle, although it may be possible for a series of future grant cycles. After she
shared the details of how little of the cemetery can be scanned at a time, how long it
takes to scan each section, the need to hire a professional to do the work and to get
cost estimates for the grant. However, work should be done to consider this project for
next year's grant cycle and to phase the work for other grant cycles as well.
4. Webpage Updates: The previously discussed website updates have been submitted
to Communications and they should be ready to see by HDC's next meeting.
New Business:
2024 CLG Grant Application: Bostick asked if the Commission would like to make a
recommendation to City Council for the 2024 CLG grant application. She shared
Phase II of the University Heights Haskell Heights project would include asking the
Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) for about $20,000 and asking the City
to fund a match of $5,000. The second project that Bostick proposed, a historic context
statement for the Spout Spring neighborhood, would also require an ask of $20,000
from AHPP and $5,000 from the City Council. Davis reported that she and Emma
Willis are doing some community engagement to create a local historic district of the
area and Bostick explained that if enough signatures were acquired to create a local
historic district, HDC would then make a recommendation to City Council and hold a
public meeting, but that is separate from the context statement project.
Lee made a motion to recommend to City Council that the City apply for the 2024 CLG
from AHPP for the above -mentioned projects and the second came from Harper. A roll
call vote followed, and the motion passed 6-0-0.
Other Business: None.
Adjourned: The chair adjourned the meeting at 6:49 PM