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Home My WebLink AboutHPC meeting summary 01252023 Orange County HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION Approved Meeting Summary January 25t", 2023 Bonnie Davis Center, 1020 US 70 West, Hillsborough MEMBERS PRESENT: Tom Loter, Cecelia Moore Paul Noe, Steve Peck, MEMBERS ABSENT: Art Menius STAFF PRESENT: Peter Sandbeck GUESTS: Todd Dickinson ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:33 pm. ITEM #2: CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA None. ITEM #3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES for November 2, 2022: Peck moved to approve the minutes; seconded by Loter, motion approved. ITEM #4: ITEMS FOR DECISION: a. Approval of meeting calendar for 2023: Staff reviewed a draft proposed 2023 calendar (Attachment 2), which followed our standard schedule as in previous years, skipping the November meeting and moving December to an earlier date to avoid the holidays. Peck moved to approve the draft calendar as proposed, seconded by Noe; motion approved. b. Annual Report and Work Plan: Staff discussed the draft work plan sent to members with the agenda and minutes, noting that this was the initial effort to capture our accomplishments of the past year and our goals for the future. Members have time to look this over in the next week, then need to return any comments, edits or suggestions to staff by the end of the week so that it can be submitted to the County Clerk. Draft and process approved by acclamation. ITEM #5: DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Setting a date for our proposed joint public hearing with the BOCC for pending new landmarks applications: Staff provided an overview of the spring calendar options for scheduling, and reviewed the landmark process whereby the HPC holds a joint public hearing with the BOCC to present the HPC recommendations for landmarks and to take any public comment. Possible dates are March 7 or 21 It, or April 4. These meetings start at 7 pm. Discussion followed. Staff will consult with the BOCC staff then provide a date back to get some consensus. b. Field trip: set date to tour slave cemeteries and stone mounds with possible association with regional Indians: Staff gave a brief review of the information presented at the November meeting regarding his tour with Judge Beverly Scarlett to view two important sites: a slave cemetery associated with Hardscrabble and a series of unusual rock piles or mounds located on her farm off of Terry Road. Judge Scarlett offered to give members a tour if we can work out some dates that coincide with her availability. Staff will pursue setting up a viable date, with the understanding that weather will be a factor. Members noted that there will be a public presentation on the general topic on Feb. 25t" 1 by Beverly Scarlett and Vera Ceceski of Stagville to talk about researching African American genealogy. c. Benjamin Duke's gentleman's farm in Orange County: new discoveries: Staff. Made a PowerPoint presentation about the very interesting history of the 1890s house that still stands on Old NC 10 near University Station, covering most of the land now occupied by the Brumley Nature Preserve operated by Triangle Land Conservancy. After doing research with book author Laura Phillips, they determined that this house must have had an unusual story as it is not like anything else in the county. Staff followed some leads that led to the Duke family archives at Duke University, there he found a large collection of photos and papers that documented the history of a large 720 acre Duke farm and the construction of the house—that Duke carried out in partnership with local resident John Hogan. Members viewed the photos and survey plats that documented this fascinating story. The papers include letters between Duke and John Hogan relating to land purchases, crops, livestock, construction of barns and even a hand-drawn floor plan of the Hogan house, drawn by Duke. Photos depict the immense complex of barns built by Duke along with a wonderful range of views of the pastoral rural landscape, old roads including the historic Raleigh Road, and various buildings. Members enjoyed viewing the photos and plats, as many have been to the Brumley preserve and seen the somewhat puzzling remains of the old Duke farm complex. d. Proposed Soil Gathering Ceremony on the Little River: A local group led by James Williams, representing the Orange Co Community Remembrance Coalition, wishes to hold a small ceremony at the County-owned Little River Park, to gather some soil (a few shovels of soil) as a symbolic remembrance of the lynching of a man named Wright Woods that occurred near somewhere in the general vicinity of this park back in 1869— the first of a series of at least five documented lynchings that took place in Orange Co. This group has been endorsed by Rep. Renee Price and I believe all the other county commissioners for their work to bring light to the stories of the lynchings and their victims. You can read more about their work at their web site: https://occrcoalition.org . This effort is a part of a nationwide project by the Equal Justice Initiative to commemorate the thousands of documented lynchings that took place across the south. Their informative web site includes a section on this project: https://eii.org/projects/community- remem brance-protect/ e. Membership/election of officers: Staff is still working hard to identify eligible candidates who might be willing to serve. It would be great to work on locating younger members if possible. Discussion followed. Staff will ask the county PR folks to post a new notice that the HPC is seeking applicants. Moore offered to reach out to a few potential candidates that she knows. ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS a. Blackwood Farmhouse Restoration Project: Work continues to progress on the exterior restoration. Contractor Jeff Bergman has completed the window restoration, and continues to do great work on restoring the weatherboards and other wood elements. He should be finished by April. There is still a great deal of work going on to complete the other major park improvements, including a new entrance driveway, a new large picnic shelter, a vault toilet, and an amphitheater. The goal is to have a soft opening for the general public sometime in early spring and a grand opening in April. b. Ridge Road School National Register Nomination progress report: Our consultant for the project, Heather Fearnbach, completed the Study List application on schedule and submitted it to the SHPO at the end of December. We should receive word of its approval after the upcoming meeting of the SHPO's National Register Advisory Committee in early February. She has already started work on the first draft of the actual National Register 2 nomination, which she wants to complete by March. With luck, the nomination might be reviewed by SHPO by the end of the year or early 2024. c. Troy and Roberta Andrews House National Register Nomination Project: This continues to be moving, with a goal of getting the National Register project underway sometime this year. Staff is working on scheduling a site visit by the SHPO National Register staffers to let them view the house and site, and to help provide guidance as to whether to nominate this house alone, or also include the surrounding historic farmstead started by the Lloyd family in the mid 18t" century and enlarged by the related Andrews family. Staff will be going back to the house soon to meet with some of the descendants of Alf and Willis Barbee, the talented Black stone masons from Carrboro who built the house. d. Book Project: Our author, Laura Phillips, has finished all the property entries and essay chapters and so has completed her major work items. Staff is in process of reviewing all of this text and dealing with issues relating to sections that are too long, and apologized for taking so long to get these chapters ready to share with the book committee. We are hoping that there is some additional funding available left over from our prior funding appropriation for completing the book. e. Update on the Oaks Rural Historic District project: Staff reported that community members are re-energized now that an adjoining farmer has listed a 100 acre farm for sale, right in the middle of the potential historic district. The Triangle Land Conservancy and the Conservation Fund are now interested in trying to purchase this farm to keep it in open space and to provide extra watershed protection for the Cane Creek Reservoir. They are currently working on getting the property appraised. Staff is also working on getting the staff of the State Historic Preservation Office to visit the community to tour the various historic resources. f. Open air time: Noe reported that the Moorefields Foundation has selected an archaeological contractor to undertake the Moorefields archaeological research project being funded by the State Historic Preservation Office through an emergency hurricane relief grant award. The goal is to develop an archaeological mitigation plan in the event of future storm damage. There will be a public archeology day, so he will share that with HPC members once that date is confirmed. ITEM #7: ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 8:11 pm. Meeting summary by Peter Sandbeck, DEAPR staff 3