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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-01-18 Historic District Board SummaryHISTORIC DISTRICT BOARD January 18, 1999 - 7:00 p.m. *** AGENDA*** Kenai City Hall Chair Dorothy Gray 1. ROLL CALL: 2. ELECTION OF CHAIR & VICE-CHAIR: 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: November 16, 1998 5. PERSONS PRESENT SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD: 6. HISTORIC BOARD REVIEW: o NEW BUSINESS: a. Annual Survey b. Adoption of Goals and Objectives for 1999 c. Walking Tour Pamphlet Corrections/Additions 8. OLD BUSINESS: 9. REPORTS: a. City Council b. Administration 10. PERSONS PRESENT NOT SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD: 11. BOARD QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS: 12. INFORMATION: a. Preservation Advocate News- January 1999 b. Letter from Rolfe Buzzell dated 11/10/98 c. Main Street near the Bluff utility information 13. ADJOURNMENT: HISTORIC DISTRICT BOARD January 18, 1999- 7:00 p.m. *** AMENDED AGENDA*** Kenai City Hall Chair Dorothy Gray 1. ROLL CALL: 2. ELECTION OF CHAIR & VICE-CHAIR: 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: November 16, 1998 5. PERSONS PRESENT SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD: 6. HISTORIC BOARD REVIEW: 7. NEW BUSINESS: a. Annual Survey b. Adoption of Goals and Objectives for 1999 c: Walking Tour Pamphlet Corrections/Additions d. Old Town Exhibit 8. OLD BUSINESS: a. Old Town Video 9. REPORTS: a. City Council b. Administration 10. PERSONS PRESENT NOT SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD: 11. BOARD QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS: 12. INFORMATION: a. Preservation Advocate News- January 1999 b. Letter from Rolfe Buzzell dated 11/10/98 c. Main Street near the Bluff utility information 13. ADJOURNMENT: HISTORIC DISTRICT BOARD JANUARY 18, 1999 - 7:00 TIME P.M. KENAI CITY HALL CHAIRMAN DOROTHY GRAY~ PRESIDING *** MINUTES *** 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chairperson Gray called the meeting to order at 7'05 p.m. Members Present: Dorothy Gray, Ethel Clausen, Cecelia Richard, Michael Huhndorf Members Absent: Bill Kluge Also Present: Councilman Joe Moore, Administrative Assistant Marilyn Kebschull, Contract Secretary Victoria Askin 2. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR Gray noted her term expires next year so now would be a good time for someone else to transition into the position of chair. CLAUSEN MOVED TO ELECT MICHAEL HUHNDORF AS CHAIRMAN OF THE HISTORIC BOARD. RICHARD SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED. HUHNDORF MOVED TO ELECT DOROTHY GRAY AS VICE CHAIR OF THE HISTORIC BOARD. RICHARD SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED. Huhndorf then assumed Chair of the Historic District Board. 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Richard stated Rick Gease was present to discuss changes to the exhibits at the Kenai Visitor Center and asked he be added to the Agenda under New Business. Gray stated she had a short report about the video and asked it be added under Old Business. AGENDA WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED AS AMENDED. Historic District Board January 18, 1999 Page 1 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTF~ ® 0 a® Regular Meeting of November 16, 1998 Huhndorf had several comments on the minutes. In the third paragraph, second page, Kluge made comments he thought the City Council was going to fund the brochures and Councilman Moore had reported the plan was more elaborate than they wanted to fund. Huhndorf's recollection was he had discussed meeting several times with the Council and the first time the plan was presented, it was rejected. The second time there was a feeling it was up for funding. Huhndorf asked for clarification of the word "elaborate" because the most he had ever asked for personally on behalf of the Board was $700 or a matching fund from the Visitors Center. Moore answered he thought what had happened was a sample brought to the Council was considered too detailed, with more information than was needed. He further stated the C°uncil felt it was going to be too big to put in a display to get attention. They wanted a more concise brochure. Huhndorf stated he understood, the brochure had 2000+ words and they wanted it pared down. He related since that time the brochure had been revised and pared down to meet that standard. The Battle of Kenai report was stated in the minutes as being Kluge's project but was later corrected as being Huhndorf's. GRAY MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUT~ OF NOVEMBER 16, 1998 AS AMENDED. CLAUSEN SECONDED. MINUTES APPROVED AS AMENDED. PERSONS SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD- None HISTORIC BOARD REVIEW: NEW BUSINESS a. Annual Survey Kebschull reported the Board was given the task to review the survey annually and if any changes have been made to any of the properties listed, they need to be reported to the Office of History & Archeology (OHA). She noted, she was not aware of changes needing to be reported. GRAY MOVED TO NOTE THERE ARE NO CHANGF~ TO THE SURVEY. RICHARD SECONDED. MOTION CARRIED. be Adoption of Goals and Objectives for 1999 Historic District Board January 18, 1999 Page 2 1. Visitor Center Exhibit - Old Town - Richard stated she went to the Visitor Center, spoke with Rick Gease and invited Rick to sPeak with us about the exhibits later in the meetin§. 2. Battle of Kenai Research - Huhndorf stated he had not proceeded on this but announced Alan Boraas will be §ivin§ a lecture on January 24 durin§ the Sunday Showcase at KPC at 3'00 p.m. on the Battle of Kenai. He added, Boraas presents an interestin§ question as to its importance in the role of Kenai's history. ® Explore land acquisition for exhibit opportunities in Old Town - Moore stated he brought this issue before the Board because there was a landowner in Old Town who had offered to sell her property. He suggested it be brought before the Board to inquire whether there is any historical significance to the property and whether it should be acquired for the City of Kenai. Klu§e was going to look into whether there was any historical significance to the property. Huhndorf asked if the property had historic value because it is in the historic district. Moore stated he believed it was not a given but if that was what the Board decided, he would take it back to the Council. Huhndorf expressed concern that he felt the Board should maintain relationships with property owners, hoping the new owner will see the value of history and keep in mind the district's historical properties. Moore answered he didn't think just because land was in the district it would cause the City to find it had historical value and not available for a public purpose. He felt something significant would have to had happened on the property to deem it of historic value. He added, Kluge had brought up the fact if the City of Kenai was going to start buying land within the historic district, then should be given the option to sell their property to the city. Kebschull also noted the Board was to review whether or not it would be in the best interest of the City to remove that property from the tax base because the City already owns property that could be used for historical exhibits. Huhndorf asked if the exhibit of historical items would come from that property. Kebschull answered, the City has some items stockpiled that could be moved to that property such as machinery. She added, this is raw land for sale that could be part of an exhibit area. Historic District Board January 18, 1999 Page 3 ® Research Heritage program and funding possibilities- Moore reported he is responsible for bringing this to the Board. He stated he sits on the Kenai River Special Management Advisory (KRSMA) Board for the City. He brought a copy of the proposal being pursued for Cooper Landing to determine its historical significance. It is a federally funded program and he brought the packet to the Board to review. It may be too big for just Old Town. There was a meeting last Thursday he wasn't able to attend but could get more information on the status of the project within KRSMA boundaries. He suggested it stay on the table but there is no new information yet. Moore clarified, if the area did qualify, it would allow for more funding to come into the area. ® Old Town Video - Gray reported she contacted Alan Boraas and asked if any of his students would be interested in working on a video of Old Town as a project in conjunction with one of his classes. He had replied he knew of no one at the moment but would ask around. Gray also noted she would speak with some of the schools. She noted Mountain View has earned some national awards and a student at Kenai Middle School had won a national award for creating a video. Mountain View has been doing a history of Kenai as a school- wide project and they might have someone there who might be interested in turning it into a video. She would like to see a student-generated project go on the City of Kenai webpage. Gease stated Paul Gray had expressed interest in doing videos on Kenai and the Old Kenai area. He added, he doesn't charge because he is looking for stories for his television show. The videos are high quality and well done. Gray stated she would speak with him about doing a video. Walking Tour Exterior Sign - Huhndorf reported no progress had been made so far. Kebschull stated the sign was a supplement to the Gold Rush sign and asked if the Visitors Center had received anything further on the sign. Gease answered he didn't think they had, however the site was selected and building of the sign is to begin April or May. Kebschull stated the proposed Walking Tour sign would go next to the Gold Rush sign. This year the Board will be considering how the Walking Tour sign would complement the Gold Rush sign and research funding for it a year from now. Kebschull added, OHA had suggested the Walking Tour sign in conjunction with the Gold Rush sign {which they are funding). Gease stated when he was at the Interpretive Center in Anchorage this summer, they had signs created in Pagemaker Historic District Board January 18, 1999 Page 4 or Cork Express, much like the Park Service and Forest Service use. They are easily pulled out, revised, and replaced. They are designed to last about five years and are more manageable for a budget because it costs about $1,000 every five years. RICHARD MOVED TO ACCEPT THE GO~S/~ OBJECTIVES FOR 1999. CLAUSEN SECONDED. MOTION UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED. Walking Tour Pamphlet Corrections/Additions Gray asked Gease how much money is available for funding the pamphlet for the coming year. Gease believed they were talking with the City about going half-and-half for funding. Kebschull stated she spoke with Kathy Tarr, who has put funds in her budget. Kebschull added, if put in the Historic Board budget, Councilman Moore would need to support it to Council. Prices quoted to Kebschull was $900 for 5,000 copies, (approximately $. 18 each) or $1,570 for 10,000 copies, ($. 15 ¥~. each). Kebschull stated she intended to put $900 in her budget for the Historic District Board. Kebschull explained the budget process for the Board's information. She added, the Visitor Center's budget runs from January through December and the City budget is from July to June. Gease related he understood Kathy's recommendation was 10,000 brochures in the first printing. Kebschull agreed and added the money in her budget could provide a buffer if additional printing was needed. The Gold Rush signing project is advertised in The Milepost and will be on signs throughout the state telling where the next sign is, so potentially more brochures could be needed than last year. Gease added the Visitors Center gave away all of the first printing of brochures in three weeks. Kebschull added, Kathy Tarr was looking for minor changes and corrections to the brochure, not a major rewrite or re-layout. Gease agreed and noted, the brochure is on disk and major modifications would require $50 per hour for labor. Gease added, the brochure is very popular and citizens and businesses really appreciate the tour. A lot of feedback has been received from members of the Convention Bureau who saw a lot more people going through Old Kenai. They are advertising it also on the website as the "Oldest Russian settlement you can go to on the road system." A lengthy discussion ensued regarding typing corrections, historical references and grammatical modifications that should be made to the brochure with agreement reached to get suggested changes to Gease as soon as possible. Historic District Board January 18, 1999 Page 5 Exhibits at Visitors Center Gease stated he thought the Walking Tour went very well. The Gold Rush sign going up will get a lot of road traffic. In addition, the Gold Rush symbol signs that will be up throughout the state should give Old Town a lot of exposure. Richard reported the Old Town exhibit in the Visitors Center may work well in the entryway in the double doors with pictures on the left side as you enter with a table of the Walking Tour. It should catch attention when visitors enter. While there is concern it may be a bit congested, it is a start for this summer. Gease spoke regarding a Powerpoint presentation being put in the Visitors Center where photos of Old Town and paper articles could be scrolled through. Gease feels if any students are interested in taking on a project like this, it could be very viable. Gease went on to state there are two rooms in the Visitors Center; one is a natural history room and one is a cultural history room. They will be submitting a grant to the Kenai Sport River association for funding to redo the room in terms of habitat and fish and add more interactive forums. They have approached Paul Gray to do some of the video footage to improve the room. In the cultural history room, the focus is to give it more of a thematic approach, realistically in three or four more years. They will have to find a source of funding. Permanent exhibiting costs about $100 per square foot which entails only setting up a completed design. He will be looking to the Historic District Board and the Historical Society for ideas on designing that area. It will be a large project and will take a lot of time. Currently, the natural history room is the priority because a money source has been identified. Gease encouraged people to go the Visitors Center website (www.visitkenai.com). Changes can be made to the website and would be a good place if the Historic District Board wants to put any written or photographic information there. Richard distributed examples of the site. Gease stated they were also looking at approaching the Kenai Peninsula Photography Guild with the idea of comparing and contrasting older photographs with current ones. Consideration is being given to the year 2000 for documenting Kenai and archiving information, either combining it with the past or making it a "time capsule-type" presentation. Historic District Board January 18, 1999 Page ~ ® Gray expressed she felt the cultural room should include more of the Dena'ina history, the Eskimo and Aleut collection is wonderful but gives visitors the wrong impression. Gray also commented a sport fishing group has been approached to help fund the natural history room and was wondering if other fishing groups had been approached to avoid the impression that only one group was willing to fund the project. Gease stated he would approach the other groups. He added, one of the reasons they are redoing the natural history room is to avoid the "advocacy" or "political" slant this area could easily be used to .represent. They are trying to focus on a science orientation. The Kenai Watershed Forum is doing brochures of plants and wildlife along the Kenai River Watershed. Richard stated there was also discussion about a diorama or model of Old Kenai for the Visitors Center. Lastly, Gease announced the Visitors Center is hosting some summer programs in the afternoons that may be built upon in the future. Mondays will be Science Orientation days with different land agencies such as State Parks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, AK Department of Fish and Game to give presentations about different types of research currently happening in the Central Kenai Peninsula. Wednesdays are going to be Artists Days where community artists will come in and do presentations of their types of art. Fridays, the Kenaitze Indian Tribe will be doing presentations on the Dena'ina culture and specifically covering the archaeology project in Cooper Landing they are doing with their youth groups. Gease asked the Board to think about perhaps finding volunteers or funding for a position on Tuesdays and Thursdays to do an organized walking tour of Old Town and working with Parks and Recreation to tour Dena'ina sites in Kenai Municipal Park. Also, perhaps some way to connect Old Town with the Municipal Park. This could potentially encourage people to spend a whole afternoon or more in Kenai rather than a couple of hours. OLD BUSINESS REPORTS City Council Councilman Moore announced the City Council is accepting applications for voting student representatives on each of the Historic District Board January 18, 1999 Page 7 Commissions except Planning and Zoning. If anyone knows of an interested Kenai high school student, encourage them to apply. b. Administration Kebschull advised the Kenai Municipal Code is now on the city's web page. 10. PERSONS PRF~ENT NOT SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD: 11. BOARD COMMENTS / (~UESTIONS Commissioner Richard mentioned she had seen an increased request for the book "Once Upon a Kenai" and asked if there was a possibility it could be reprinted. Gease related he spoke with Roger Meeks. Meeks had stated it took two years to put the book together and the original files are probably gone so the book may not see a reprint. Gease noted, he thought the publisher went out of business. His impression was if funding came available, and the book could be reprinted or scanned, they would be willing to discuss it. 12. INFORMATION Preservation Advocate News - January 1999. Letter from Rolfe Buzzell dated 11/10/98- Kebschull stated they have heard nothing more. Main Street near the Bluff utility information - Kebschull stated she did not color code the maps but has one available. The water and sewer lines in danger are in the vicinity of the walking tour, so the Board needs to be aware of the potential impacts in the area. 13. ADJOURNMENT GRAY MOVED TO ADJOURN. MOTION SECONDED BY RICHARD. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:27 P.M. The next Historic Board meeting is scheduled for April 19 at 7:00 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Victoria Askin Contract Secretary Historic District Board January 18, 1999 Page 8