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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPC Packet 02-16-2021HASTINGS HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION Agenda for the February 16, 2021 Regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. conducted solely by telephone or other electronic means as provided in Minnesota Statutes § 13D.021 and no in-person meeting will be conducted at City Hall. I. Call to Order and Quorum II. Minutes: A. January 19, 2021 III. Certificate of Approval Review A. 119 6th St E – New Siding B. 215 7th St W – New Windows IV. Business and Information A. Discussion of future Legacy Grant ideas for research and or education B. Outreach Newspaper Articles C. Virtual History Matters Advocacy Day V. Adjourn The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on March 16, 2021 HASTINGS HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION Minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 19, 2020 Held at 7:00 p.m. and conducted solely by telephone or other electronic means as provided in Minnesota Statutes § 13D.021 and no in-person meeting was conducted at City Hall. I. Quorum: Simacek, Toppin, Sovik-Siemens, Youngren, Ragan-Scully, and (Borchardt arrived 7:17) Absent: Smith Staff Present: Justin Fortney, City Planner Vice Chair Toppin called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. I. Swearing in of HPC Commissioners A. Cindy Toppin II. Elections A. Elect HPC Chair and Vice Chair Motion by Ragan-Scully to elect Toppin as Chair, seconded by Youngren - motion approved 5-0 by rollcall. Motion by Sovik Siemens to elect Smith as Vice Chair, seconded by Simacek - motion approved 5-0 by rollcall. Commissioner Borchardt arrived. II. Minutes: October 13, 2020 Motion by Youngren for approval, seconded by Ragan-Scully - motion approved 6-0 by rollcall. III. Business A. Discussion of future Legacy Grant ideas for research and or education The Commission discussed grant eligible projects for legacy grants in the area of education, historical display, and collections care and management. The Commission discussed a project in Wabisha where a historical photographers photos were on display. They discussed the potential for a similar display area in Hastings for revolving topics. The Commission discussed our current Pioneer Room records. They directed staff to determine if the Pioneer Room has all the necessary equipment for digitizing and cataloging their historic resources and if they believe it would be worthwhile to explore instituting a cloud-based inventory of resources accessible to the public. IV. Adjourn Motion by Sovik Siemens to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 pm, seconded by Ragan-Scully; motion approved 6-0 by rollcall. Respectfully Submitted - Justin Fortney CERTIFICATE APPLICATION 2-2021 119 6th Street E - John Kenworthy – Replace siding Ca. 1929, Old Hasting Historic District- Contributing Request: Remove the existing layers of siding materials including aluminum siding, foam, backer, and clapboard. The layers installed over the clapboard have likely deteriorated the clapboard by trapping moisture and made a great deal of penetrations with fasteners. The clapboards visible from underneath show extensive rotting. The applicant is proposing to install LP Smart Side with a smooth finish and the same exposed lap as the original clapboards. Design Guidelines (Page 18) 1: Wood Siding and Shingles 1. Repair Wood siding should be maintained with paint or stain. Deteriorated wooden siding should be replaced with new wood siding resembling the original in width, thickness and profile, and texture. New siding should be installed with the weather (exposed surface) identical to the original. Siding should be installed horizontally except in those instances where vertical or diagonal siding was used on the original exterior. Appropriate corner boards, frieze boards, drip caps, and other features should be included with new siding. If the historic siding is determined by the HPC to be unsalvageable, replacement with a product such as cement board may be approved. Selection and installation should follow guideline #1, above. Staff findings: The original siding left under additional siding was usually in poor shape to begin with and further compromised by pounding nails through the clapboards causing it to split. Additionally, the layers of siding trap moisture against the clapboards causing further damage. The replacement siding will really correct the historical appearance of the home. Multiple layers of siding Foundation Product link: https://lpcorp.com/products/exterior/siding-trim CERTIFICATE APPLICATION 215 7th Street West. Dayna Nosan – Replace windows Ca. 1869, Old Hastings Historic District Request: The applicant is proposing to replace the second-floor windows. The proposed windows are made by Renewal by Anderson. The applicant states that the existing windows are cracked, inefficient, and mostly inoperable. The proposed windows are one over one like the existing and are custom made to the existing opening. The existing trim will be retained. Ordinance, Guidelines Design Guidelines (Page 21) 4: Windows 1. Maintain and Conserve Wherever feasible, historic windows and sash should be repaired rather than replaced, especially on principal elevations. 2. New Sash: Size and Shape Existing window openings should be retained. Window openings should not be enlarged or reduced to fit new units. New window openings should not be introduced into principal elevations. New windows should be compatible with existing historic units. Whenever possible, choose new units of wood, rather than metal. If metal is selected, it must have a baked enamel or other appropriate factory finish. Staff Findings The windows have operation issues along with cracks. The proposed windows should appear the same from the street view. File Photo Similar Anderson Window, but color matched to existing windows and no grids as shown above. To: Heritage Preservation Commission From: Justin Fortney, City Planner Date: February 16, 2021 Item: Legacy Grants HPC Action Requested: Further discusion on grants from the MNHS (Minnesota Historical Society). Background Information: The Commission directed staff to investigate digitally archiving the Pioneer Room archives for the purposes of making them searchable and available to the public from the internet. I communicated with two Pioneer Room Volunteers (Cindy and Heidi). They were supportive of the general concept. The discussion kept focusing on the newspaper archives as the most beneficial and difficult to scan. They have a fairly large collection of bound newspaper books, but are tightly bound and difficult to scan. I contacted the last known owner of the Star Gazette and was informed that they have been resold and are moving once again. They are actually in the process of packing all their archives for delivery to their new office for storage in the basement. This is in addition to all their other past media holdings’ archives, which are mostly all defunct. They are willing to allow us to scan them, in fact they are willing to give them all to the City. Their future is fairly uncertain as the media companies are being constantly sold and moved around. I spoke to the MNHS (Minnesota Historical Society) who said this is a common issue all over and they don’t hold any hard copies of newspaper archives. They actually have all of the Hastings papers on microfilm, but with many missing issues. Conversion to microfilm is considered appropriate archiving of paper media. They said they can digitize the archives for $1.00 per page and they do it from the microfilm. At the time they scan them digitally, they would fill in all their gaps with our archives. Hastings Independent 1857-1866 Hastings Conserver 1863-1866 (already digitized and in the Newspaper Hub) Hastings Weekly Gazette 1866-1981 Hastings Daily Gazette 1885-1917 Hastings Herald 1930-1937 Mississippi Valley Star 1969-1976 Hastings Star 1977-1980 HPC Memorandum Hastings Star Gazette 1981-2016 There are some copywrite issues that would not allow the more modern issues >1925 from being placed on the internet, but they said project partners could receive copies of the digital archives for their inhouse usage. The digitized copies would be best hosted by the MNHS on their Newspaper Hub as it is an existing platform where researchers begin their search for the media. The resource is free for the public to use. Any copywrite materials are available to view at the Gale Family Library. We can also pay for legal research to determine if archives between 1926 and 1963 may be considered public domain for any reason, which would allow them to be placed on the internet. The City IT department has been working on some improvements for Pioneer Room scanning and photo processing. I have offered to look into grant opportunities if necessary. To: Heritage Preservation Commission From: Justin Fortney, City Planner Date: February 16, 2021 Item: Outreach Newspaper Articles HPC Action Requested: Commission Chair Toppin asked to place this item on the agenda for discussion. Background Information: In the fall, Commissioner Toppin brought up the idea of the HPC submitting articles to the Hastings Journal that relate to Historic Preservation. She showed some examples of another Commission’s articles that were published. The Commission was generally supportive of the initiative. Staff was directed to check with the Journal’s editor to see if this was a possibility. Fortney reported back to the Commission that the editor responded, “Yes.” The Commission had no further discussion on the topic. Chair Toppin recently made an inquiry on the topic and I responded that I would place it on the agenda for discussion. Attachments: Toppin/ Fortney correspondence HPC Memorandum From: Cynthia J Toppin Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2021 2:34 PM To: Justin Fortney Subject: followup question Hi Justin I meant to ask you if you had submitted an article to the new Hastings paper yet. My notes said you contacted them in October, I believe, and they were open to submissions from you. I continue to be concerned that we are not doing much of anything for public education, which was our goal for the year. Perhaps we could have a public education/communications item on next time’s agenda? Thanks. Cindy Toppin Sent: Tue 1/26/2021 3:34 PM Hello Cindy, The Commission had discussed the idea of submitting preservation related articles to the paper, similar to some examples by another HPC. The Commission specifically asked that I contact the new Journal to determine if they would be open to such articles. I reported back to the HPC that the editor of the paper responded, "yes". Since that time, the Commission has not discussed moving forward with a specific proposal for preservation related article(s) for submission. I will always support the HPC's efforts and initiatives as the support staff liaison to the HPC. If the Commission decides to organize an effort to produce any preservation articles, I would be more than happy to support that effort. I'll place this on our next agenda for discussion. Thank you, Justin Fortney To: Heritage Preservation Commission From: Justin Fortney, City Planner Date: February 16, 2021 Item: Virtual History Matters Advocacy Day HPC Action Requested: Commission Chair Toppin asked to place this item on the agenda for discussion. Background Information: The MNHS (Minnesota Historical Society) is hosting a Zoom gathering at 9:00 am on Feb 25 with MNHS CEO Kent Whitworth who will talk on the relevance of history, and MNHS Director of Public Policy, David Kelliher for an advocacy orientation. Please register by Thursday, February 18, for Virtual History Matters Advocacy Day. Full information: www.mnhs.org/historymatters HPC Memorandum