HomeMy WebLinkAboutHPC minutes 102319 Orange County
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
Approved Meeting Summary
October 23rd, 2019
Old Orange County Courthouse
106 W. King Street, Hillsborough
MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Ballard, Todd Dickinson, Art Menius, Paul Noe, Steve Peck
MEMBERS ABSENT: Tom Loter (excused)
STAFF PRESENT: Peter Sandbeck GUESTS: None
ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER
Chair Dickinson called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm.
ITEM #2: CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: Menius asked to talk more about our effort to
reach out to help owners of old black schools.
ITEM #3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES for September 25t", 2019 (Attachment 1): Ballard noted that
Item 5b needs minor punctuation adjustments. Menius moved to approve the minutes as
corrected; seconded by Peck; motion approved.
ITEM #4: ITEMS FOR DECISION: None
ITEM #5: DISCUSSION ITEMS
a. Annual Report and Work Plan for 2019-20:
Staff handed out copies and provided an overview of the current HPC work plan, pointing
out sections that he has already updated in draft form. This report is our big chance to
communicate effectively with the County Commissioners. This will be due in early
December so this needs to be updated and edited at this meeting. Members discussed
the different sections and provided valuable input and suggestions. Staff will incorporate
these into a final draft, along with updates on the timelines for our various projects, like the
Courthouse research project and the National Register nominations for the Grange and
the Cedar Grove School. Work by the book committee should also be noted. Also we can
add things like our Farm to Table program to the annual events section, along with our
workshop for Preservation Month. We can also update our section about working with
other municipalities about designating landmarks in their ETJs, along with updating the
Blackwood farm park house restoration.
b. Scheduling of field trip to Ayr Mount and other sites: Members discussed options and
asked staff to proceed to schedule a special tour of Ayr Mount with Bill Crowther. Staff will
report back with some possible dates in November or early December.
ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS
a. Black school preservation efforts: Staff sent positive letters to the owners of the Carr
and Ridge Road schools. No response yet. Staff will follow up.
b. Piper-Cox House update: The contractor, Clark Poe Construction, has performed most
of the work that can be done until the brickwork can be completed. The brickwork
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restoration subcontractor, Wayne Thompson, is still waiting for sample reproduction bricks
to arrive from Tennessee.
c. Book project status/update: Editor/author Laura Phillips continues to make good
progress, now working away on the Town property entries. The Book Committee met on
October 17th. They worked on several drafts of a proposed fund-raising letter to kick off a
private fund raising campaign.
d. Open air time: Peck spoke about the importance of taking steps to preserve old slave
cemeteries; we also need to look into ways to identify traditional black neighborhoods and
communities; this concept could be added to our Work Plan.
ITEM #7: ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 8:33.
Meeting summary by Peter Sandbeck, DEAPR staff
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