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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Historic Preservation Commission - 3/12/2007 MINUTES OF THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION MARCH 12, 2007 ORO VALLEY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 11000 NORTH LA CANADA DRIVE CALL TO ORDER: 6:00 PM PRESENT: CHAIR PAMELA SARPALIUS VICE CHAIR ROBERT BAUGHMAN COMMISSIONER PATRICIA SPOERL COMMISSIONER JIM KRIEGH COMMISSIONER SALETTE LATAS COMMISSIONER MARILYN COOK COMMISSIONER SYBIL NEEDHAM ALSO PRESENT: AL KUNISCH, COUNCIL LIAISON SARAH MORE, PLANNING DIRECTOR MARGOT HURST, PARKS AND RECREATION LIAISON JENNIFER JONES, RECORDING SECRETARY ABSENT: EMILY GRAVES, STUDENT LIAISON CALL TO AUDIENCE Opened and closed with no comment. I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 12, 2007 MEETING MOTION: Vice Chair Baughman MOVED to approve the minutes as submitted, Commissioner Kriegh SECONDED the motion. Motion carried (7-0). II. REPORT FROM STUDENT LIAISON No report. III. REPORT FROM THE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD No report. VI. REPORT FROM THE HONEY BEE VILLAGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRESERVE PLANNING GROUP LIAISON Vice Chair Baughman informed the Commission that this group no longer exists. Ms. More confirmed that was correct. Ms. More stated that recently the Town Council considered a Pima County request for $340,000 in additional funding, the Council declined to do that and in lieu of that the Town sent a letter to the Pima County Bond Committee via the County Administrator requesting that they find additional funding for the completion of the mitigation. Vice Chair Baughman inquired if this would have any impact on the Town receiving title of the property from the County. Ms. More replied that the County sent to the Town a list of conditions for the transfer, which pretty much ensured that the Town would not ever be able to get ownership. Ms. More stated that due to that there was a direct cause and effect. Vice Chair Baughman inquired if the Town plans on making any of this public. Ms. More stated that this is very public and was discussed at the Town Council meeting. Ms. More stated that she would get the Commission a copy of the Town Council communication. Vice Chair Baughman stated while he was a member of the Honey Bee Village Archaeological Preserve Planning Group, they had many discussions about Pima County dragging its feet and whether they ever had any intention of turning the park over to the Town. Mr. Baughman stated that it appears that their judgment was sound and feels that this should be made public. Mr. Baughman stated that he likes the word "duplicitous" and feels that it describes the behavior of Pima County and it is shameful. Ms. More stated that Pima County indicated to the Town that they would voluntarily move $340,000 funding from another bond project to the Honey Bee Village Preserve project if the Town would come up with $340,000. Ms. More stated that in effect what the Town is asking the Bond Committee to do is exactly what the County suggested be done and move bond money from another project. Vice Chair Baughman stated that this is not the only obstruction. Ms. More stated that the other issue revolves around wanting Town staff to manage the Village. Commissioner Kriegh asked what Steve Solomon's role would be and stated that Mr. Solomon told him that he has not given the County title. Ms. More replied that Mr. Solomon did indeed turn over title to the County after being sent forceful letters from the County Attorney's Office. V. STATUS REPORT ON THE STEAM PUMP RANCH ACQUISITION AND MASTER PLAN Bayer Vella, Principal Planner presented a presentation on the Steam Pump Ranch Master Plan. Mr. Vella stated that in terms of acquiring the property, the Town is currently in negotiations for the northern half and to have the owner sign a settlement agreement which will complete the transfer of title to the Town of Oro Valley. Mr. Vella stated that the lower half which is owned by another owner is still in litigation, but he is hoping that will be done in the next month and both halves will be in the Town's ownership. Vice Chair Baughman inquired if this would interfere with the time schedule. Mr. Vella stated that in terms of site stabilization the Town has permission from both properties to move forward with the building assessments. Mr. Vella stated that it does hold the Town back on the National Designation and grant money. Mr. Vella presented a flow chart of the Steam Pump Ranch Master Planning Process which explained the following: Historic Designation, Building & Infrastructure Assessment and Master Site Plan. Mr. Vella stated that the building and infrastructure assessment has already gone out for a request for qualifications. Mr. Vella stated that the first task that any consultant the Town selects is to go to each building and provide a very detailed report on each building. The building assessment is going to take 30 to 90 days, the consultant will be asked to report on what needs to be done right now. Mr. Vella stated that the Town is looking a multi-disciplinary team. Vice Chair Baughman inquired if Mr. Vella has identified one or more local companies that have this capability. Mr. Vella responded that there are 7 or 8 companies that have been sent requests and the first pre-submittal conference with the interested consultants will be held March 27, 2007 and will offer a site tour. Interviews will be conducted April 9th through April 11th Mr. Vella asked if the Commission would like to designate a representative for the interview panel. Chair Sarpalius indicated that Commissioner Spoerl is part of the committee for Steam Pump Ranch and should be part of the interview process. Commissioner Cook inquired as to where the money will come from to do the work. Mr. Vella stated that approximately $60,000 to $90,000 will come out of the Pima County Bond money. The Town has met with Pima County representatives and they have agreed . The most expensive will be the master site plan and the Town has allocated $50,000 in funding and that is inadequate, Mr. Vella stated that Pima County Cultural Resources conducted similar planning number for Canoa Ranch that incorporated all of the elements that he discussed in his presentation and the price tag for that was $500,000 and that was adding all consultant work. Mr. Vella stated that the focus here is staff will going to do a line share the work, however staff feels that additional money will be needed for consultant work. Staff is requesting an additional $150,000 in addition to the existing $50,000. Mr. Vella stated staff is going to have to cut back in other areas in terms of projects in order to focus on this project to make it happen. Mr. Vella stated that $4.5 million is going toward the purchase of the property and there is roughly $465,000 left from the Pima County bond funds, the challenge is to put together the best building assessment and master site plan ever created for the best historic site created. The goal is to limit the amount of funds going to consultants and using the rest to put new roofs and recovering structures and doing some of the basic things that need to be done to stabilize the site. Vice Chair Baughman pointed out another challenge is National Historic Designation and stated that the Town just adopted an ordinance providing for local designation. Without going through the process of local designation, this Commission has no formal role to play in making determinations about appropriateness of various activities. The process is by getting a certificate of appropriateness from this Commission to do whatever is being suggested and pointed out that until this Commission applies for local designation criteria and goes through the hearing process, this Commission has nothing but an advisory role at best. Mr. Vella stated that the Town has all of the necessary ingredients to submit for National Historic Designation it is just a matter of paper work and we need to move forward on that aggressively. Commissioner Spoerl inquired if there is anything that members of the Commission can do to help with the application. Ms. Spoerl stated that she would be happy to help staff. Vice Chair Baughman stated that at some point the Commission also needs some formal designated staff. Mr. Vella informed the Commission that he and Pamela Pelletier will be attending every meeting for the next year. Commissioner Spoerl asked if the Commission can get a start on the Certified Local Government designation even before the ownership is finalized. Ms. Spoerl stated that this is not the typical case where a land owner is going to bring in a proposal to the Commission, this will be coming into Town ownership and there is not an established process on how that gets to this Commission for review. Mr. Vella replied that most of the work has already been done; the Town just needs the property owner to sign on the dotted line for National Designation. Mr. Vella stated that next month there will be an agenda item on this topic. Pamela Pelletier, Planner, stated that the Site Security Team is comprised of Planning, Public Works, Parks and Recreation and Police. Ms. Pelletier stated that site visits have occurred to determine the immediate site security needs and the needs are as follows: • Fencing the perimeter of the site to limit access from the Steam Pump Village and the Big Wash pedestrian pathway. • Signs for"No trespassing" in both English and Spanish. • A gated front main entrance that can be manually opened. • Police patrol. • Inventory of all historical items, such as doorknobs. Ms. Pelletier stated that the goal is to have a final version of the Site Security Plan by the next technical advisory committee meeting which is March 30, 2007. Ms. Pelletier informed the Commission that a budget has not yet been determined for the cost of implementing the Site Security Plan, because they still need to get the fencing and sign bids, once that information is obtained they will be able to develop a comprehensive budget for the immediate site security needs. Ms. Pelletier stated that when established as a Certified Local Government, the Town can apply for matching funds, which is really important because the Town does not have a lot of funding for this project. Ms. Pelletier stated that once the Town has received the Certified Local Government status we can apply for Historic Designation status and then the Town will be eligible to receive grants and technical assistance. Ms. Pelletier showed the Commission the Steam Pump Master Planning Process website and described the highlights as follows: • Master RFQ • Preliminary Data from previous work onsite • Building Inventory and Documentation • Flowchart • Tentative Schedule Chair Sarpalius thanked staff for the oversight of the project and stated that the Chair appreciates the staffs work. VI. DISCUSSION ON TRAINING FOR THE COMMISSION Vice Chair Baughman stated that there are road blocks in getting people to come and train with the Commission. Mr. Baughman explained that the best trainer is located in Prescott and is not interested in traveling down to Oro Valley to do training. Mr. Baughman pointed out that the trainer did send the Commission a packet of information that is given out to the Commissioners in Prescott and hopes that this Commission finds it useful. Mr. Baughman stated that another road block is that the Town is not a Certified Local Government and the funding for training is not available to the Commission. Vice Chair Baughman requested that the Commission read the Ordinance and suggested doing a work shop to go through the Ordinance, so that everyone has a good understanding of it. Chair Sarpalius suggested going over the ordinance at the next meeting and using the review of the ordinance as the main point of the agenda. Ms. Sarpalius suggested that either Commissioner Spoerl or Vice Chair Baughman provide a brief summary by sections. Commissioner Spoerl stated that under responsibility of the Commission there are 24 items and that might be a place to focus. Chair Sarpalius asked Vice Chair Baughman to summarize the points of the ordinance that are important and asked that if anyone has questions about a section of the ordinance to write those questions down and bring them to the next meeting. VII. ANNOUNCEMENTS No Items to be discussed VIII. ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDAS Add review of Ordinance on next month's agenda. X. ADJOURN MOTION: Commissioner Kriegh MOVED to adjourn the Historic Preservation Commission at 7:10 p.m. Vice Chair Baughman SECONDED the motion. Motion carried 7-0. Prepared by: Jennifer Jones Recording Secretary