##VIDEO ID:kYqb70zfhCQ## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e ladies and gentlemen welcome to the historic preservation board meeting of January 2nd 2025 we are starting on time we will call to order with the invocation which will be led by our city clerk Miss Sunny Romera followed by the Pledge of Allegiance uh if uh Mr Romero could lead us in that that would be fantastic please rise thank you all if you would please um humble your hearts and your heads dear God as we come together today we ask for your guidance in our disc discussions and our decisions we pray that you grant us the wisdom to speak and act thoughtfully and the courage to listen with Open Hearts to each other and our citizens May everything we do here bring honor to you in Lord Jesus's name we pray amen amen pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with li Justice thank you C moving on Madam city clerk if we could the roll call um it's actually your planning clerk Mr Romero he has to hit the roll call button in Mr Romero one more please okay all right now taking roll call starting with uh Ranna Pierce present Christopher Hollister present Patty boy present Tim Jefferson present and Alan shefield absent Elizabeth V rbur present Mary Jane Rosa presid okay w corm Madam chair thank you very much moving on to agenda item one cish I suppose typically I doesn't come after C I miss that um we have before us the selection for our chairman and our vice chairman to serve for the year 2025 would someone like to make a recommendation for the uh chairman for the historical preservation board I'll nominate uh Elizabeth Ben rber and can I nominate for the other one too thece I don't see why not oh Brianna Pierce I second on both nominations excellent we have a motion and we have a second should we do a roll call or should we just all in favor say I what would you prefer on this just say all right all in agreement please say I I and opposed fantastic I'd be pleased to serve and welcome aboard all right meeting purpose disclosure the purpose of the historical preservation board is to steart the architecture of properties in our City's historic districts by applying the guidelines of the Secretary of the Interior standards for historic preservation we then move on to our appeals procedure any person wishing to appeal any this decision made by the historic preservation board with respect to any matter considered at such meeting will need a record of the proceedings and for such purpose may need to ensure that a Verbatim record of the proceedings is made at the applicant's expense which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based Florida statute 28615 ladies and gentlemen any ex parte communication to disclose okay if not we'll move on to agenda item two approval of the minutes of the December 5th meeting were there any corrections if not looking for a motion to approve motion to approve thank you Mr Hollister a second a second the motion thank you Mr Rosa all in favor please say I I and opposed great minutes are approved moving up to public comment um agenda item 3A uh as we know speakers are limited to 3 minutes minut and we do not take action on items I'm going to open the floor to public comment nope all right seeing no public comment we will close and move on to our agenda item four regular business item a HPB 24-27 the address is 603 EMT street is your request for a certificate of appropriateness for two historical markers uh Miss Brown would you like to start us off good afternoon everyone happy New Year as well thank you today I'm presenting the request for histor marker to be placed at the structure located at 603 en Street and another marker to be placed on the east side of river street at the corner of river and Dodge Street in the rway which this has been approved by the city of black public works department and the property that we are talking about is located in the South historic area according to the fora Master site file this house is the finest Queen an style home in Black a massive residence built in 1886 occupying a large corner lot a very rich asymmetrical composition of varing Dormers Gable roofs and polygonal turret with tent roof this classic structure was built for Sherman conet one of the early wealthy citizens of the conet residence is a three-story structure executed in the style which predominated among with wealthy prior to the turn of the century this is an abund abundantly large dwelling that lacks total symmetric sorry with this random window placement The Off Center doorways this is a significant structure architecturally with its random placement of Dormers chimneys and Bay combined with a very roof type makes it something of an architectural odity the structure also includes an underground tunnel that led to the St John's Riv when the applicant first purchased the house they were told about the tunnel but unable to locate it nine months later they contracted Pac gas Authority for the insulation of two gas fireplaces the crew members Jeremy and Donnie from PGA showed Mr Miller exactly where it is one of the previous owners had the Tunnel closed and sealed off from the house to the river Mr Miller has had approximately the first 10 feet excavated and restored to display its entrance the marker that they are requesting will be the Sherman con house Circa 1884 once described as perhaps the finest and most compus residence in all Florida German house is a stunning example of queen ant architecture by fed New England architect Rufus Sergeant situated at the corner of Dodge and emth streets the home incorporates many rare and unique features including a full basement with a tunnel to the river 2.5 in thick full L heart Pine Floors 12T ceilings a 35 High observation tower servant quarters and more this Sherman count house is now widely considered the flagship residents structure in the hammock area of black South historical district as a young lieutenant in the Civil War major pet was initially a guard in Washington DC he later led the first black infantry unit from Massachusetts he also served as the Florida State Attorney General and as Secretary of the Florida intial convention during the time he lived at the famous residence he headed up the bustling Florida orange citus industry and was the general manager of the Florida Southern Railway in 2017 the Sherman con of house began operating as Grand Gables in a bed and breakfast the two markers will be consistent with each other and he located in the historic district the is here for any further questions thank you m brown and indeed the applicants are with us today if you would come up and maybe tell us a little bit about your project and if you would just introduce yourself for the record and state your town of residence hello everyone my name is Tate Miller Jesse behind me here we live at 603 em Street in the south east and this um application was initiated because a lot of people that come to property um have no idea that in fact the whole neighborhood is on the national story register much less the house and the house is not on the register as a stand alone it's on the register as part of the South district and so it occurred to us that a lot of people going down kill or down river are driving past this one of neighborhood not knowing what is there and all these gems not just our house but a number of other really fantastic places that they should drive by take a look at so we came up with the idea to maybe Place some markers in appropriate locations um one specifically at the corner of Dodge and River where we think that's the most drive by traffic and uh as you'll notice on the uh application about which side of the street would be should it go on and and we're indifferent to that uh if the application is approved it's fine with us if it goes on the river side or if it goes on the anal side the reason we suggested the Riverside was twofold number one we thought there might be people the residents along River Street who might object to having a historic marker sign in the front yard on the sidewalk side so we wanted to eliminate that possibility the other reason was I thought people who are walking down the sidewalk are probably people who already know there's a stor district there they don't have to see a sign to be told but the people who are driving down be Street probably many of them have no idea what is there so I thought if you're driving down river and you're from out of town are you looking towards side at those houses not probably towards the river and most people then probably see the sign on the Riverside but again we're completely in that's the Ence of thank you Mr Miller do we have any questions for the applicant at this time okay if not I'm going to go ahead and open public comment anyone here for public comment on this specific issue seeing none we will close public comment um I'll go ahead and get the ball rolling I I think the idea of uh historical sign at Grand Gables itself is a fantastic fantastic idea um however I I I'd love to know um another I'd love to be given another example of a remotely placed historical marker um because I could not come up with one and you know the if if the marker at the river talked about the South historic district that kind of made sense to me but if the marker at the river just had an arrow like go to Grand Gables it's right up here that didn't coupled with the lack of sidewalk I thought that might actually be a little bit dangerous so that's kind of where I am um so ladies and gentlemen what are your feelings and thoughts those were my um same thoughts is if the sign is on the river side you will have more pedestrians trying to cross the street trying to read the sign um opposed to having it on the sidewalk side and I do understand having a big sign such as the Bronson mahand house sign in somebody's front yard yeah that might be a little irritating to the residents um and then to like Miss um Elizabeth said people will be reading that but it really has nothing to do with what they're looking at in that General vicinity now at the residents I think that's a great idea but out on the Main Street I I have a couple concerns safety definitely for one Mr Hollister um I go around the north of stor district and there's signs all over the place describing different houses and the dates they were built and everything so you know I don't see a problem really miss vote I I don't see a problem either I think it's a good thing I think uh the more historic markers the more attention paid to the historic districts is a wonderful thing I'm all for it thank you Mr Jefferson I'm wondering how what size this sign's going to be I believe the the same size as the sign at the Bron of molland house yes and the church and the church okay Mr Rosa uh I've been trying to talk to people in Palaca for a long time about the fact that if you come here and you go over the bridge and continue you have no idea where the districts are that we actually if we could get signs that were visible from the main roads because the districts are incredible that they're still here and that we maintain them that we're concerned um and if you're a visitor to Florida the fact that this is Old Florida and very rare is something that I believe for tourism would be an important thing to in the future consider thank you I would agree with that um Mr ago is that something we could possibly put on our agenda as a a discussion moving forward yes absolutely thank you Mr ooso Madam city clerk did you have something to share um than hello um so thank you so much for the opportunity to speak um I heard during board discussion that you couldn't think of a sign that is placed off site um immediately coming to my mind would be the sign regarding Fort Shannon what the the leftover Barracks from that remain from Fort Shannon are located beside the Bronson malland house however the historical marker for Fort Shannon is on the school district property here on Reed Street so that's just one example that came to my mind real quick thank you thank you for the clarification uh do we have other questions for the applicant if not I do oh sorry Mr AGA I was just wonder see there are two markers with the same wording I wonder where the one place to be placed along River Street should say more reference you know to the historic district itself right to the house I wonder if you consider that and if we can have a different wording for it absolutely absolutely come up Mr Miller if you would and and understanding that these signs are very expensive and Mr Miller is footing the bill signs cost around $3,000 are expensive regardless whether it's aluminum oral but they're expensive and uh I really agree with your point that there should be signs coming off of the bridge pointing to South and North St districts and I would be much more in favor of those than actually a sign that we're proposing but without those uh this sign gives the district some attention at least and uh we are willing to uh pay for that sign in the verbiage that goes on the sign we also think that it's fine if the verbiage is changed to include or emphasize the South his we have no problem with that the only thing I request is that if we are in fact paying for it that sign be labeled this Sherman con house in the South historic wh as a compromise do we like that I do I think that's more than compromising I like it very much would we like to take the sign separately just for expedience sake I would definitely do it separately okay well if someone would like to make a motion on the sign at the property itself I make a motion to accept the sign as read in our agenda packet for the property excellent thank you do we have a second I'll second thank you Miss vot we have a first and a second for the first sign at the physical address all in favor I I and opposed all right and the second sign at the river or thereabouts Mr vot I'll make a motion uh the sign at the river um that will approve that with the Sherman House being in it and also a mention for the it's the South historic district the verbage on it and I like that idea too that was a good idea all right we have a motion do we have a second I'll second thank you Miss Pierce we have a motion and a second to approve the second sign with just a couple of little asks all in favor please say I I I and oppose excellent thank you sir uh moving on to board member comments no seeing none hearing none uh how about staff comments I I see a new face in the room actually think i' see possibly two new faces in the room may I come up absolutely good news are bad news first Madam chair oh uh oh what we didn't record anything and we have to start over and we thought we were getting a short meeting not that bad um news is I am leaving the city my last day will be January 7th it's been an honor to work with each of you and I and I hope to continue to work with you all as I Branch into the new chapter of my career that being said if I may ask her to rise Karen Hayes has been selected by the city manager to be my replacement she will be coming on board as your city clerk um the city commission will ratif will have an agenda item to ratify her appointment at the January 23d commission it is very nice to meet you welcome we're the fun board just so you know I'd also like to introduce to the board um Kristen odm she has started today and will be your CRA project coordinator W welcome welcome today is both miss odm and miss Hay's first day so I want to welcome the most to the city of Paka thank you very much and sunny you will be so amazingly missed but all the very best thank you all all right um on that sad yet very happy note I'm looking for a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn thank you Mr Hollister we are a j