HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 4/1/2003 - Landmark Commission The City of McHenry Landmark Commission Meeting Minutes
April 1, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 7:18 PM by Pat Schafer at the McHenry Municipal Center.
Members present: Marya Dixon, Karen James,Pat Schafer,Dawn Johnson,Gretchen Thomas
and Sue Hendrickson Greg Lofgren, Judy Franks. Members absent, Ilene Wiedemann, Lori
Wilhelm. Merle Janssen arrived at 8:40 pm.
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Guests Present:
March 4, 2003 Meeting Minutes: Gretchen Thomas moved to approve the minutes of the
March 4, 2003 meeting. Marya Dixon seconded no discussions and the motion carried.
Treasurer's Report: The following was noted: The commission's requested credit of$136.20
by the city to the general fund was applied. This was from excessive charges for copies made by
city staff. The new price of$0.05 was agreed upon for any copies city staff does for the
commission. It was also noted that a deposit of$100.00 was given to the commission from
McHenry Savings Bank for a donation towards the coloring books. Karen James moved to
approve the treasurer's report; Gretchen Thomas seconded the motion carried. _
Facade Grant Report: Gretchen Thomas moved to approve the Façade Grant Report,Marya
Dixon seconded,there was no discussion and the motion carried.
Business:
Petersen Barn and Silos: The auction for items belonging to Bob Petersen will be conducted
on April 5, 2003 at 9:30 am at the farm. Greg Lofgren obtained a copy of the auction list and
noted that he will be in attendance. He also stated that a number of residents have offered to
donate unused farm items to the Petersen Farm Museum when it is established. Dawn Johnson
reported that Pete Merkel is attempting to find a way to cover the exposed silos on the farm. He
will let the commission know how the Parks&Recreation department will proceed. Further
discussion followed regarding how the commission will continue with the creation of the
museum. Greg Lofgren will also follow up on the process of physical donations to the museum.
CLG: Dawn Johnson noted that a copy of the city ordinance was sent to Catherine O'Connor in
Springfield; however no further communications have taken place.
Historic District Survey: Pat Schafer,Judy Franks will follow up on the received surveys and
draft the newsletter that will be sent to citizen's within the proposed district.
Krumholz Farm: Pat Schafer reported that she, Greg Lofgren and as viewed
the Krumholz farm and that there were a number of items left in the barn that the commission
should preserve. Greg Lofgren will work with Pete Merkel on the transfer of items to the
Petersen Farm. The following motion was made:
Gretchen Thomas moved not to deny the demolition of the structure on the Krumholz property.
Dawn Johnson seconded no further discussion and the motion carried
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Resident Interview Forms: The following motion took place:
Judy Franks made a motion to accept the design of the Resident Interview Form;Sue
Hendrickson seconded no further discussion and the motion carried
Resident Bill Nye requested an interview; a copy of the interview form will be forwarded to him
so he can prepare for the interview. Dawn Johnson will have copies of the interview form made
by city staff and placed in the storage area of the Alderman's Conference room for easy access.
Sub Committee Reports:
Plaguing: Marya Dixon brought in the first application for official plaguing under the city's
ordinance for the"Count's House". Members will be invited to visit the house, follow the
procedures outlined in the ordinance to finalize the process before submitting the request to the
city council. Greg Lofgren will score the home and inform the commission's sub-committee.
Chamber of Commerce: Marya Dixon and Gretchen Thomas reported that the submission of
the tour flyers were revised and submitted to the Chamber of Commerce for the annual year in
review circular. A copy was presented to the commission, and all agreed that it was well done,
kudos to Marya and Gretchen!
Walking Tour Brochures: Marya Dixon and Gretchen Thomas will continue with the draft of
the brochure. It will then be passed along to Dawn Johnson for design completion.
Coloring Book: Donations from local businesses and citizens are being received and deposited
into the commission's general fund. Sue Hendrickson reported on the compilation of the book.
City staff is obtaining a waiver for Colin to release his drawings for the book. A distribution
instruction sheet for the teachers will be created by Gretchen Thomas. Coloring books will be
given to District 15 for distribution to the elementary schools. The submissions will be due back
by May 1, 2003 and the gallery will be put together on May 5, 2003 in the lobby at city hall.
May 10, 2003 at 10:00 am the students and parents will be invited to view the gallery along with
the Mayor and city council. PR was discussed and Gretchen Thomas will be handling the press
release. A certificate of appreciation will be created and distributed to all children that submit a
drawing; Dawn Johnson will create and obtain signatures from the Mayor and Aldermen.
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New Business:
`— Demolition Requests: A request from Doug Martin regarding the following properties was
received. 4103 W. Elm and 4502 W. Elm. After reviewing the pictures sent by Doug the
commission made the following motions:
Gretchen Thomas made a motion not to deny the demolition request for 4103 W. Elm St. Judy
Franks seconded no further discussion and the motion carried
Gretchen Thomas made a motion not to deny the demolition request for 4502 W. Elm St. Sue
Hendrickson seconded no further discussion and the motion carried
County Preservation Meeting: Gretchen Thomas reported that the meeting was good. Her
home along with the"Count's House"and Landmark School won awards. An application for
nominating scenic roads in McHenry County was obtained and discussed. This issue will be
tabled until the coloring books are off the"to-do" list.
Other: Gretchen Thomas submitted a proposal to realign the Main Street Historic District to its
original boundaries. It was noted that Mayor Althoff removed a number of properties including
Landmark School from the District because of a conflict with the proposed TIF District. Now
that the TIF District is in place,the original boundaries should be reinstated. Some discussion
followed and this issue will continue during the month.
Greg Lofgren reported his continued investigation for guidelines from cities in Illinois that have
L. successfully obtained Historical Districts. Some discussion regarding this followed.
Greg Lofgren also compiled a listing of organizations that the commission belongs to. This was
distributed to members of the commission for review.
McHenry County Preservation meeting: Pat Schafer reported that Nancy Fike offered to have
the commission host the September 24, 2003 meeting at the McHenry Masonic Temple. Some
discussion followed, this will be discussed further in future meetings.
A new events calendar was requested by Gretchen Thomas. This will be completed and
distributed at the May 2003 meeting.
It was noted that membership on the commission is down by one. Discussion followed regarding
who might be interested in joining the commission.
Guests:
Kathy Miller and Mary Kay Welter attended the commission meeting. Ms. Miller requested
assistance with choosing colors for the façade of her home. The house is located on the corner of
Main and 4th, a Victorian circa 1901. Gretchen Thomas made some color suggestions and
volunteered to assist the homeowner with colors.
Pat Schafer motioned for adjournment at 9:25 pm, seconded by Karen James, no further
discussion and the motion carried.
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Since there was not a quorum at the May 13, 2003 meeting, the following commissioners;
Merle Janssen, Marya Dixon, Judy Franks, Sue Hendrickson, Pat Schafer, and
Guests; Greg Lofgren and Garhart Rosenburg remained to have an informal discussion.
Ge hRvoe Al Abe1J
1. Petersen Farm- on May 5 at the City Council Meeting,three representatives of the
Bob Petersen Estate presented the Bill of Sale and key to the Petersen Home, to the City
and Landmark Commission.
Greg Lofgren summarized the future of the farm.
• A joint responsibility for the Parks and Recreation Dept. and the Landmark
Commission.
• An inventory of the items remaining on the farm is needed, the digital camera
would be best.
• Planning the uses of the buildings, ex. storage, office, etc.
• Security of the entrance to the buildings and who is authorized to that
responsibility.
• Scheduling an open house, tours, etc.
• All of the above scheduled as a mid summer project.
2. Historic Survey- Marya and Gretchen reviewed the surveys and re-outlined a smaller
area to achieve positive results.
3. CLG—an April 30, 2003 meeting was scheduled at the city municipal bldg. by Dawn
and the guest was Catherine O'Connor from the Illinois Preservation, Springfield. Joe
Napalitano and Doug Martin, as well as the LMC's Dawn Johnson, Pat Schafer, Marya
Dixon and Gretchen Thomas attended this presentation. Catherine O'Connor outlined the
corrections in the ordinance that had to be changed to qualify for acceptance. These were
noted and will be reviewed by the LMC.
These corrections have to be proposed for acceptance by city council. She also shared a
variety of information that would be useful. Doug Martin copied this info for each LMC
member to have.
4. Plaguing Requests - The Just 4 Fun Roller Rink is a leased property. Pat stopped by
the building to acknowledge their request and to insure future communication. Marya
will be helping with this committee.
5. Walking Tours - Dawn is working on revising the leaflet.
6. LMC membership - Greg Lofgren handed in his reapplication to the commission. Our
guest Garhart Rosenburg is attending the meeting to understand the goals of the
commission express his interest in joining.
7. Fiesta Days - it was discussed as a good idea to have a booth at the Art in the Park, on
July 19. Application must be handed in ASAP. It was suggested to participate in the
parade.
8. Cemetery Walk- Sept. 13, five gravesites are to be selected and background history
researched. One suggestion was the Button House. Pat will obtain a cemetery director
for help.
9. Slides to Video Tape- Dawn has a lead on a professional who can supply the facts and
expense on this project. We received a request from the McHenry County Community
College to give a visual tape tour of McHenry History.
10. Greg Fisk- called about the way to search the background on his home, located at
1502 Richmond Rd. On the N.E. corner of Broad St. and Richmond Rd. He is restoring
it.
11. Coloring Book- Good job to all on LMC, especially Sue and Gretchen. May 10, was
the gallery show this was a Saturday, with a very low turn out. Basically we achieved a
lot, involving the community.
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