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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Historic Preservation Commission - 2/11/2008 MINUTES ORO VALLEY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING February 11, 2008 ORO VALLEY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 11000 N. LA CANADA DRIVE I. Call to Order: at or after 5:00 p.m. II. Roll Call. PRESENT: Chair Bob Baughman Vice Chair Salette Latas Commissioner Daniel Zwiener Commissioner Pat Spoerl Commissioner Marilyn Cook Commissioner Lois Nagy Also Present: Paul Loomis, Mayor Al Kunisch, Town Council Vice Mayor & HPC Council Representative Pamela Pelletier, Planner Lexa Mack, Town Civil Attorney Diane Chapman, Senior Office Specialist III. Call to the Audience. Opened and closed at 5:03 p.m. with no speakers. IV. Approval of January 14, 2008, minutes: Vice Chair Latas pointed out that on page 3, paragraph 4, there are two places where it talks about funding, the $2 should be changed to $2 million. MOTION: Commissioner Cook MOVED to approve the January 14, 2008, HPC minutes with the correction of$2 to $2 million dollars on page 3, paragraph 4. Commissioner Zwiener seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0. V. Discussion and possible action regarding Steam Pump Ranch: the Master Planning process and the future of the property. a) Presentation by Corky Poster of Poster Frost Associates on the status of Steam Pump Ranch (SPR). The Task Force is close to consensus on the physical content of the Master Plan (MP). The major themes of the two key phases will be the Pusch and Procter-Lieber eras, with 02/11/08 Approved Historic Preservation Commission Minutes 2 interpretations on both eras. They are comfortable with which buildings are to be restored. First phase will have no new buildings. The entry will be at the north end of the site. The Farmer's Market may be moved to Phase 1. Build-out phase may have a future events center and equestrian stop station. Both the public and Task Force had issues with having horses because of flies. Parking is resolved. Outstanding issues: What other partners may come into the site. The operational approach to site and how it is to be managed. Economic consultants described 4 operational scenarios: 1. Non-profit Heritage Model in which the Historical Society does everything. 2. Public Heritage Model which says it is Oro Valley Town property and general management should come from Town resources and staff. 3. Heritage with Support of Commercial Uses Model would increase the role of private lessors or vendors to take more responsibility for management of the site. 4. Preservation Model, nobody runs exhibits within building; it may all be outside. The net operating cost of the 4 models range from a negative cost to the Town of $218,000 for Preservation Model to a high of$324,000 for the Public Heritage Model. The Commercial Model would have more income, but also more cost. These models may not be 4 separate choices, but stages in an evolving program. Mr. Frost hopes to get direction from HPC and Town Council and go back to the Task Force to pick a preferred final plan. Questions and comments from Commissioners: - What 2 or 3 issues have divided the Task Force the most? Response: Restaurant - cafe vending machine. Animals on site. Extent of economic sustainability. Role of outside agencies on the site, i.e. GOVAC and the Chamber of Commerce. -What elements in the MP are the strongest to attract people's repeat visits to the site? Response: Success will be based on programs such as a Farmer's Market, the park, events in the open space, ongoing activities and anciallery uses. - Are you satisfied with people doing rehabilitation of buildings so as to not severly impact the buildings? Response: There are 3 or 4 satisfactory companies in Town that can do the work. There are some solutions that will take maintenance. Raw adobe is difficult to maintain. Buildings from the 30's are not as much of a problem. - Is the intention that this part of the MP process will address each structure and what type of work is needed? Response: The Steam Pump is between restoration and reconstruction. Pusch house is restoration. Procter-Lieber house is a combination of restoration and reconstruction. All other buildings will be getting rehabilitation. - What does Poster Frost want from HPC this evening? Response: Feedback on the models as a evolving process instead of 4 separate models. Feedback on the accuracy of whether we have a strong consensus on the physical MP and characterized the disagreements accurately. -Would like more discussion on the non-physical aspect of the programs. 02/11/08 Approved Historic Preservation Commission Minutes 3 - Is there any indication as to when the park may open? Response: The Task Force wants to open when the site is ready. There are liability issues to be considered. - The plan should evolve to bring people back. There should be cultural and educational events geared to children. b) Development of Criteria for evaluating the Master Plan Criteria for evaluating the master plan was discussed and it was decided that a study session would be beneficial after HPC received the Task Force report. If the report is received in time to schedule an available conference room, the Study Session may be independent of the regular HPC meeting. The Study Session will be for more informality, creativity and brainstorming. The Commissioners felt the criteria listed in the material packet were thorough. Chair Baughman thought #5 should be excluded as it is one of the things HPC will be judging. MOTION: Commissioner Zwiener MOVED that HPC approve the criteria for evaluation of Steam Pump Ranch Master Plan based on the following: the IGA, Secretary of Interior Standards, the Oro Valley General Plan, and the Historic Preservation Ordinance. Commissioner Nagy seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0. Mrs. Pelletier will email pdf files of the documents listed in the motion to the Commissioners next week, and will mail the information to Commissioner Cook. Commissioner Spoerl said at the last HPC meeting there was an approved motion to start the process for historic designation for Steam Pump Ranch and wanted to know the status. Mrs. Mack said nothing has happened yet. She will get with Ms. More on this to see if an historic district zone could be developed concurrently with the application. Chair Baughman asked Vice Mayor Kunisch to find out what is happening regarding the current vacancy on the Commission. VI. Discussion and possible action regarding HPC Work Plan a) CLG Application CLG application was distributed as part of the packet. Comments of Commissioners: - The packet is complete and has background information. - The checklist should be dated and have a checkmark by every item. 02/11/08 Approved Historic Preservation Commission Minutes 4 - Under Item 1, "A list of accompanying maps of areas", make a notation that the Town uses AZSITE database for their official survey information. - Under Item 3, "If a field is not represented", note that the Town has a good history of hiring consultants for specific expertise. - Under Item 3, last item, add a note regarding the Town Historian vacancy. MOTION: Commissioner Nagy MOVED that HPC accept the CLG packet as presented with corrections as noted and be sent on to the Major with a recommendation that it be signed and sent to the State Historic Preservation Office. Vice Chair Laths seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0. Mrs. Pelletier said regarding AZSITE application, the Town of Oro Valley has no archeologist and there are cost issues. She is working with Linda Mayro to get data for our use, investigate how to apply and the level of service needed. b) Cultural Resource Inventory Plan Commissioners Nagy and Spoerl have divided up responsibilities for the Cultural Resource Inventory Plan. Commissioner Nagy will do physical research and Commissioner Spoerl will be formatting data. There are 12 historical properties listed in the packet. They will report to HPC when they have information. The research will tell what is in Oro Valley and what will help the Oro Valley story. Commissioner Spoerl pointed out that Kelly Ranch is in Pima County, but is within the Oro Valley planning area in the General Plan. It was supported by Oro Valley for open space acquisition. Mrs. Pelletier suggested listing the properties as those within the Oro Valley Town limits, and those within the Oro Valley Planning limits. Commissioner Zwiener suggested that in the future historical and archeological sites should be in the survey. Vice Chair Latas said the National Preservation Act defines an historical resource or property as any prehistoric or historic district site building structure. It is in both the local ordinance and the national act. Mrs. Pelletier said we have not yet joined the National Alliance of Historic Commission. It is being included in the budget for the next year. Also, $30,000 to $50,000 for full survey is in the budget as a place holder. It may or may not be approved. She will look into whether the membership can be out of this year's budget and report back to HPC this next week. Mrs. Pelletier reported that budget is in the process for next FY which entails several months' process. There is a budget for training, but she didn't know the amount. She is working to coordinating with Debby Able to provide some training. 02/11/08 Approved Historic Preservation Commission Minutes 5 Chair Baughman would like to have a 6 hour training session, getting the costs, where, etc. Mrs. Pelletier and Commissioner Zwiener will meet to set this up. Mrs. Pelletier said the SPR Operation and Maintenance budget is under Parks and Rec and Public Works. Staff is asking Finance to allocate Planning and Zoning a $300,000 place holder for rehabilitation and restoration of the Steam Pump building. Commissioner Zwiener suggested a future discussion on what HPC training needs are in general. The prospective trainer may be able to suggest ideas. Commissioner Cook met with Scott Nelson on public outreach. The flyer on the history of Oro Valley might be expanded. There is a disadvantage in doing a lot of outreach at this time as SPR and Honey Bee Preserve archeological site are not yet open for pubic view. A topic for outreach may be HPC itself. Vice Chair Latas has not yet defined the role of the commission. She is working on the high level draft of the Work Plan. Chair Baughman has gathered sample application forms and stated that staff has volunteered to type them into the system. VII. Discussion and possible action regarding site tour to Honey Bee Archaeological Preserve. Staff is working with the Communications Coordinator for a site tour date. When confirmed we will make the announcement. Per Chair Baughman request, Mrs. Pelletier will ask if HPC could get a separate tour. Mrs. Pelletier will also check to see if we can get an electronic copy of the Desert Archeology report on Honey Bee Archaeological Preserve. VIII. Announcements. - May have HPC rules to Town Council in March. -Wednesday, 2/13/08, Town Council Study Session, Poster Frost will give an update at 5:30 on Steam Pump Ranch. -Wednesday, 2/13/08, is the deadline to respond to Diane Chapman or Pamela Pelletier for the 2/20 U of A event whether you want to carpool. - 2/20 SPR Task Force at 3 pm. - 2/28 in the afternoon there will be 3 hours board and commission training in the Council Chambers put on by the Arizona Department of Commerce. - There will be another SPR Task Force meeting on 3/6, Thursday, at 3:00 pm in the Kachina Room. - The next HPC meeting is 3/10/08 at 5 pm. 02/11/08 Approved Historic Preservation Commission Minutes 6 - Vice Chair Latas reported that she attended another Santa Cruz Heritage Alliance meeting a week ago. They go beyond historic resources into cultural resources. They will hold a local food festival later on this spring. A business directory of businesses for Santa Cruz Valley is being produced that will help promote historic tourism. - The bill regarding designation is in the Senate now with five other cultural areas. Our senators have not signed on as co-sponsor, so we are depending on senators from other states promoting it. IX. Items for future agendas. - Report on the role of the HPC. - All of the Work Plan items listed separately on the agenda so a report can be given and discussed if it comes up. - Application for historic designation for SPR/ historic district zone. X. Adjourn. MOTION: Vice Chair Latas MOVED to adjourn the Historic Preservation Commission meeting. Commissioner Zwiener seconded the motion. Motion carried 6:0. The meeting closed at 6:55 p.m. Prepared by: /4):%(//tit-JZ---Diane Chapman, Senioaor Specialist