HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPC Minutes 072716 Attachment 1
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Orange County
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
Approved Meeting Summary
July 27th, 2016
Old Orange County Courthouse
106 East King Street, Hillsborough
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MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Ballard (Chair), Bob Ireland (Vice-Chair), Jaime Grant, Allie Mead, Art
Menius, Tom Loter and Grace White
MEMBERS ABSENT: Grace White
STAFF PRESENT: Peter Sandbeck
GUESTS: None
ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER
Vice Chair Ireland called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm.
ITEM #2: CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: Staff had planned to take members on a brief
tour of the Norwood-Jones Law Office next to the courthouse. But in light of weather
conditions, this will be postponed to a later meeting.
ITEM #3: AP PROVAL OF MINUTES (April 27th): Grant noted two typo on page 2; Menius moved
to accept the minutes corrected as noted; seconded by Loter; motion passed.
ITEM #4: ITEMS FOR DECISION: None
ITEM #5: DISCUSSION ITEMS
a. Report back from Book Committee Meeting:
Staff provided brief overview of some of the points discussed by the committee at their
meeting on July 21. Discussion followed about how to structure the essay and how to
combine the Town and County together into the essay. Book committee members
provided clarification and corrections. The goal is to have the two combined in the essay,
then they will be separated out in the catalog section, where Hillsborough will have its own
discrete section in the catalog. In the essay, it will be possible to help explain how the
architectural evolution of the county was so vernacular, mostly log, versus the more stylish
architecture seen in Town. Staff will prepare a powerpoint or mockup of a section to show
potential funding sources. One model is the Greene County book which does a good job
of presenting a good history and catalog section. All agreed in general terms, that our
essay will combine the Town and County, then the catalog will treat each township
separately and the Town will have its own catalog section. W e should have an
introductory overview for each township and for the Town, and maps showing each area
being discussed in that catalog section.
b. Draft list of properties/examples proposed for inclusion:
Staff explained that he attempted to work on a list of properties with photos, but without
photoshop to reduce the file sizes, the file got too large, so this will take the form of a
PowerPoint instead. Staff gave a presentation showing about 90 structures based on
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evaluation by staff and our consultants. The presentation was broken down by property
type, and chronologically: planter class houses;
ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS
a. Update on historic resources inventory project:
Our consultants completed the survey update within the Town’s ETJ, with no particularly
remarkable discoveries. One thing of interest was the discovery of the Robert Jones
House, built c. 1850, located on a small cul-de-sac off of Orange High School Road. We
learned that it was moved there from Johnston County in the late 1990s. Ireland noted
that the intent was to bring in historic houses from all over the region. The Town submitted
its application for a CLG grant to survey the area of the town outside of the National
Register Historic District, to include the mill village, the African American neighborhoods,
and even to make sure some of the Daniel Boone Village is documented in some way.
Discussion followed about the movement of the former mill houses, and where they are all
located. There are at least 50 relocated mill houses all over the town. At the library there
is a copy of a paper someone did in the 1980s about the movement of these houses.
b. Historic Preservation Month Proclamation (Attachment 2):
Tom Loter did a fine job reading our proclamation. Staff thanked him and also Jaimie
Grant for attending the BOCC meeting to show support. Staff then discussed the process
for generating more activity for Preservation Month, in addition to a proclamation. Laurie
Paolicelli did a great job of creating a video to show to the BOCC. If we want to pursue a
social media approach, staff must start months in advance to get the groundwork done.
c. Dickson House repairs and landscape work:
Staff gave an overview of the history of the property and its move and restoration in the
1980s to serve as the Town’s visitor center, followed by PowerPoint presentation showing
the various architectural features and historic photographs. This is owned by the County
and leased to the Alliance. The County will be carrying out some repair and restoration
work on the exterior later this year. Staff mentioned the recent removal of the two Crape
Myrtles that stood right in front of the porch; these had grown into the front of the house
within 20 years of being planted and had to be removed this spring.
d. Bellevue Mill Update (added to agenda):
Staff showed a PowerPoint about Bellevue Mill and the recent fire that destroyed it the
second oldest section. The original fire containment system of firewalls and fire doors did
a good job of preventing the fire from spreading beyond one single building. An
investigation is underway to determine the cause. Arson is a possibility.
e. Occaneechi Village update:
Staff presented an informational update and PowerPoint about the plans for a project to
rebuild the recreated Occaneechi Village down at River Park in 2016-17. It will be located
behind the Link Center and the Farmer’s Market, on the site of the first recreated village.
As background, this was first built in the late 1990s, then portions were removed to use to
rebuild a village at the tribal property in rural Alamance County. The original circular
concrete footing is still in the ground. The Tribe has made a decision to support rebuilding
the Village again back at the first location. The layout of the Village will be based on
research and advice from Dr. Steve Davis of UNC who supervised the earlier digs at the
original Village site (the Wall Site) at the bend in the Eno. The current project will seek to
recreate the village shown in the artist’s conceptual drawing done for the first project in the
1990s. Tribal member John Jeffries will help supervise the effort based on his experience
in leading the first village project. The County is in the process of procuring 400 cedar
poles right now to build the palisade. We hope to get this started this fall. Our challenge is
to find materials for the huts that will look authentic but will have some durability. There is
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debate as to whether the huts were covered with bark, or were wattle and mud, or reeds.
This was not an issue back in the 1600s, as the Occaneechi knew that these were not
permanent structures; they required constant repair and rebuilding to keep them in
reasonable condition. Security will be another concern. The archaeologists have recently
learned that there may have been trade between the Occaneechi and the coastal tribes.
f. Open Air Time for members to share information
Staff handed out copies of the proposed sign texts for another set of six informational
signage that the Town is planning, all developed by the Town’s sign committee. Bob
helped with a lot of historic information about the “historic corner” sign. Stephanie is not
looking for editorial input but rather, for us to flag any really serious errors or
misstatements that must be corrected. Please let staff know if you see anything.
ITEM #7: ADJOURNMENT: White moved to adjourn, seconded by Loter; meeting adjourned at 9:02
pm
Meeting summary by Peter Sandbeck, DEAPR staff