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Home My WebLink About2007-03-28 MinutesMINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION A special meeting of the Fayetteville Historic District Commission was held on March 28, 2007 at 5:15 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building, 113 W. Mountain, Fayetteville, Arkansas. ACTION TAKEN Consideration of a submission of a formal letter to the Approved Public Service Commission regarding the hearing on the Southwestern Electric Power Company's proposed enlargement of its 69kv transmission line to a 161 kv transmission line in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Docket No. 06-172-u. Historic District Commission March 28, 2007 Page 2 MEMBERS PRESENT Vince Chadick Tim Cooper Ethel Goodstein-Murphee Cindy Kalke STAFF PRESENT Leif Olson, Long Range Planning David Whitaker, Assistant City Attorney MEMBERS ABSENT Leslie Belden Rob Merry -Ship Rob Sharp STAFF ABSENT 2 Historic District Commission March 28, 2007 Page 3 CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by Chair Goodstein-Murphree at 5:15 p.m. I. Consideration of a submission of a formal letter to the Public Service Commission regarding the hearing on the Southwestern Electric Power Company's proposed enlargement of its 69kv transmission line to a 161kv transmission line in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Docket No. 06-172-u. A. David Whitaker provided background on the SWEPCO petition. On March 19, the City was granted petition to intervene. The attorney's office has conducted some depositions Tommy DeWeese from SWEPCO, Mayor Dan Coody. The City Council passed a resolution on March 20, which limits what the Council would like the City to pursue. The Council does not prefer any of the proposed routes SWEPCO submitted to their consultants as alternatives. The Council does not want the portions of option K that go over Markham Hill. They prefer a route that comes from the south and runs along I-540. The City attorney's office is not incredibly optimistic about the hearing. HDC's input in the form of public comment would be helpful. The political/media effort may be one of the best ways to effect change. For the record, the City attorney's office will not be involved in crafting the HDC's public comment. Commissioner Chadick clarified that the City is in opposition to Route K but that the HDC could reference the preferred route in its public comment. Whitaker confirmed that this was the case. Chair Goodstein-Murphree referenced the public comment submitted by Ken Grunewald, the Director of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. He cited the Historic Preservation Act, mentioning that if the SWEPCO project used federal funds, it would be subject to historic preservation review. Chair Goodstein-Murphree wondered if this would be worthwhile to echo these concerns in the HDC's letter. Whitaker confirmed that the argument should probably track along these lines, reminding the HDC that they offer a unique perspective in regard to historic preservation. B. MOTION to submit a formal public letter to the Public Service Commission regarding docket No. 06-172-u, aligning ourselves with the City's recommendations and the Arkansas Department of Historic Preservation.: Cindy Katke SECOND: Vince Chadick VOTE: The vote was unanimous to submit a formal public letter to the Public Service Commission, 4-0-0. Historic District Commission March 28, 2007 Page 4 IL Public Comment (Public comment was taken after the vote because Commissioner Kalke had to leave the meeting early, which meant that the Commission would loose its quorum.) A. Tom Brown (owns property along the proposed SWEPCO route): Brown thanked the Commission for its willingness to get involved and shared a document that offers some direction for the letter to PSC. Items 1-4 are technical findings and the third paragraph is what the HDC would be requesting the PSC to do. The route that SWEPCO is proposing would impact over 400 structures. Buildings within 300 feet are exposed to electromagnetic fields, and in this proposal SWEPCO used 50 feet. The City's proposed route would impact only 38 structures by the 300 -foot measure. Irene Pritchard (owns property along the proposed SWEPCO route): On a historical note, SWEPCO hired a consultant to look at the viewshed of Old Main and just kept the camera straight, so they did not capture the full view. Once they build these lines, we will loose all chances for burying the lines. Brown: The routing study that they conducted states that the impact on historic structures is greater with the SWEPCO route, but they say it's acceptable because it's not worse than it already is. That's technically not correct, because the poles are going to be larger and exceed the tree line. They're trying to downplay the value of the viewshed of Old Main. We think it's critical that you as a technical authority make a statement about this issue. Commissioner Chadick: In what you've been told, has anyone mentioned that the larger poles would be more aesthetically pleasing or improve historic value? Brown: Yes. In terms of wire management and a more modern look. But the problem is the height. They've said that the vegetation has a negative impact on the viewshed of Old Main. The City has a Downtown Master Plan that recognizes the value of the viewshed of Old Main. Chadick: What I would like to get to is this balancing act. There are two questions: whether the utility could be served in another location and whether this location is particularly adverse. Pritchard: Right now they have the existing easement. Brown: When this started in 2000, the initial project was more than 12 miles, which means that you would have to do an environmental and historical assessment, but they chose to submit their dockets section by 11 Historic District Commission March 28, 2007 Page 5 section, so that they would not have to do those assessments. They've saved the most controversial piece for the last. MEETING ADJOURNED: 5:50 P.M. Informal discussion among the remaining Commissioners and members of the public took place.