City of Aurora Historic Preservation Commission met Sept. 5.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
Special Meeting
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Miller called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.
ROLL CALL
The following Preservation Commission members were present: Fernando Castrejon, Amber Foster, Seth Hoffman, Kristin Ludwig, Dan Miller and Mike Walker. Justyn Arnold and Al Signorelli called in and excused themselves from the meeting. Jen Del Debbio, Mike Lord and Simon Munoz were absent.
OTHERS PRESENT
The following staff members were present: Jill Morgan and Sue Jackson.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
19-0745 Approval of the Minutes for the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on August 15, 2019.
A motion was made by Mr. Castrejon, seconded by Mr. Walker, that the minutes be approved and filed. The motion carried by voice vote.
COA REPORT
19-0777 August Historic Certificate of Appropriateness Report
Mr. Hoffman said is the rooftop solar at 440 Plum? That’s the first one that I’ve seen solar come up. Have there been others?
Mrs. Morgan said that is the first one, I think, I’ve approved. I’ve had a couple of people call and I’ve talked to them about it, but I think that was the first one to actually submit and be approved.
Mr. Hoffman said the window repair on 720 Oak, that’s not one of them that had asked for clarification? I think I was thinking of the like 1950’s window.
Mrs. Morgan said it is not that one. They actually had very similar work. This one is also repairing of some of the pieces that were deteriorated, just kind of taking a piece out and putting a piece in.
Mr. Hoffman and similar at 714 Oak?
Mrs. Morgan said that is the one, the 1950’s one. This is for the repair, at this point, of just the front. He put in for a grant for some of the work for some of the rest of them, but it is similar where they are taking a piece of the sill out and putting a new piece in.
There were no other questions on the COA report.
This COA Report was discussed and filed.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
AGENDA
19-0776 2019 Historic Preservation Grant Applications
Mrs. Morgan said I passed out to everybody what the recommendations were from the Grant Committee. They kind of ranked a high and then a maybe high, then a medium and then a low and then ones they wouldn’t recommend for this year. I thought what we did for the Grant Committee, and I think it worked out rather well, is just kind of go through each project application using the summary sheet and then we can just briefly discuss them. We were granted $100,000 last year and that was what the City Council approved using for a grant instead of a loan. After going through our funds from previous years and all the ones that we’ve closed out, plus Alderman Saville last year gave use some money as well to use on a grant, but it came at kind of the end of the year and not really enough to do a whole new grant program, so with everything combined, we are looking at around $180,000. With the Alderman’s and some close outs from previous grants we have about an additional $80,000. I debated not using it all this year in case we don’t get any funding, but since we’ve rolled some of that money over several years now waiting for a large chunk to actually be worth going out for another grant round, I think we should probably just use it all.
Chairman Miller said I could agree with that. Were you thinking about going through all 45 of these with the full Commission?
Mrs. Morgan said yes, if that’s okay, or if you would rather just discuss the Grant Committee recommendations. We could just start with their top and work down until we get a round. Money-wise I looked at probably around 15, depending on how much some of them fall. Does anybody have a preference? Does someone feel like we really should go through each one or are you okay with just going down the Committee’s list?
Ms. Ludwig said I think going down by the Committee’s recommendation. I think they are all interesting to hear why one was picked or not picked or that kind of thing, but I don’t personally have any objection going from what you guys rated them.
Mrs. Morgan said we can do that. The high, maybe high and medium are correct. They are not ranked within that, so the first one under high is not the one they felt was the most deserving. The Committee did also try to have representations from all the different districts as well.
The Preservation Commission then went through the Grant Committee’s recommendations for high, maybe high and medium and went over the ratings sheets. After some lengthy discussions, the following were selected to receive a grant for 2019:
77 S. View Street – Westside Historic District
Work includes siding restoration, chimney repair; tuckpointing, porch restoration, and painting. Repair and replacement of gutters and round downspouts, including Yankee gutters. Replacement specifications must be approved by staff. Work also includes repair and replacement of wood on siding, trim, floors and ceilings on porches, window and door trim, and any exposed wood along with painting of shingle siding, fascia, eaves, doors, windows, porch, gutters and railings. Paint should be high quality and paint color must be approved by staff and should include several colors based upon what is appropriate for the style as determined by staff. Total cost estimate exceeds grant amount so prioritization of scope should be approved by staff.
102 N. View Street – Tanner Historic District
Work includes restoration of 34 windows. Restoration includes repairing ropes, weights, binding, reglazing, weather-stripping, strip and prepping opening, resolving leakage issues, and custom making sashes if determined necessary. Any window replacement must be approved by staff.
112 S. 4th Street – Near Eastside Historic District
Work includes repair/replacement of soffits, fascia, eaves, trim, and gutters. Soffits, fascia and trim should be repaired and where needed new pieces of wood added that match the existing in size and type. Gutters must be white, half-round, metal gutters that match what was originally on the home.
203 N. View Street – Tanner Historic District
Work includes scraping, caulking, priming, and painting eaves, soffits, trim and windows. Work also includes window restoration of 15 windows. Restoration includes repairing/replacing wood, repairing weights and sash cords, repairing sashes, making windows operable, replacing glass, and reglazing. Windows shall be repaired and if replacement is needed, it must be approved by staff and the Tanner District Committee.
204 S. Lincoln Avenue – Near Eastside Historic District
Work includes rebuilding chimney with new bricks matching as closely as possible to the historic bricks along with a new concrete crown. Brick sample must be approved by staff.
325 Sunset Avenue – Riddle Highlands Historic District
Work includes restoring the original open porch area by removing the side paneled walls, windows, and current front door and repairing the brick arch, installing a new period entry door, and installing new shingles on interior walls to match house. New door will require a new frame and door should be wood and appropriate to the style of the home. New shingles should match the house in style and color.
351 Lawndale Avenue – Riddle Highlands Historic District
Work is for window restoration of approximately 9 windows including frame, sills, exterior trim, drip cap, watershed, and making the windows operable. Fascia board and some boards on the half-timbering will be repaired. Exterior wood and stucco will be painted.
415 Oak Avenue – Tanner Historic District
Work includes rebuilding chimney with new brick to match the existing including corbeling at top along with a new concrete chimney cap. The Preservation Commission did not approve funding for the storm door and windows that was included in the application. Brick sample must be approved by staff.
424 W. New York Street – Tanner Historic District
Work includes exterior plaster repair, replacement of front steps, replacing gutters with 6" 1/2 round steel gutters and round downspouts along with painting entire house including trim, porch, windows, and replacing porch stairs. Work can be prioritized based upon cost with approval from staff but must include plaster repair. Painting should include plaster, wood trim, soffits, windows, and stairs. Paint should be high quality and paint color must be approved by staff and should include several colors based upon what is appropriate for the style as determined by staff. Stairs should adhere the following:
1.) Be wood and appropriate for the style.
2.) Treads will consist of a single piece of wood and will have rounded or bull noses that extend one inch beyond the risers.
3.) Have a beveled top railing and a bottom rail with balusters between. Have a newel post appropriate to the style.
435 W. New York Street – Tanner Historic District
Work includes repairing/replacing gutters, soffits, fascia, skirt, porch ceiling, crown molding along with scraping, and glazing windows and priming and painting house. Priority of the work should be as follows:
1.) Repair the damaged built-in gutters and downspouts and if replacement is needed, the replacement should be in-kind to match the existing gutters.
2.) Restore and replace rotten wood on the exterior of the home. Replacement wood should match the existing wood in type, reveal, texture, etc.
3.) Repaint the exterior of the home. Paint should be high quality and paint color must be approved by staff and should include several colors based upon what is appropriate for the style as determined by staff.
437 E. Downer Place – Near Eastside Historic District
Work includes removal of aluminum siding and original wood siding restoration. Work should include, but not be limited to, the following:
1. Removal of all aluminum siding.
2. Removal of nails and caulk and fill any holes or cracks.
3. Restoration of cracked wood clapboard.
4. Restoration of wood soffits, eaves, fascia and trim.
5. Restoration of wood molding, ornamentation, detailing, and trim.
6. Replication of deteriorated or missing wood clapboard, soffits, eaves, fascia, trim, molding, detailing, etc. with new wood that matches the existing in dimension, detailing, and design. Replication should be based on remaining shadows or what would have been appropriate for the style based on staff’s determination. There was probably decorative drip edge and hoods above windows.
7. Scrape, prime and paint wood. Paint should be high quality and paint color must be approved by staff and should include several colors based upon what is appropriate for the style as determined by staff.
453 Iowa Avenue – Tanner Historic District
Work includes scraping, sanding, priming, and painting siding, soffit, eaves, fascia, windows and door. Work should also include minor carpentry repair for cracked and split clapboard. Paint should be high quality and paint color must be approved by staff and should include several colors based upon what is appropriate for the style as determined by staff. Work can be completed by owner with receipts for all materials or by a contractor with proper approved invoices.
518 Oak Avenue – Tanner Historic District
Work includes rebuilding chimney with a mixture of old and new brick, matching the original brick as closely as possible, along with a new concrete crown. New brick sample must be approved by staff. Mortar should be softer mortar for the historic bricks (Type N is usually appropriate) and should match the tooling of the remainder of the house.
702 Palace Street – Palace Street Historic District
Work includes removing aluminum siding, replacing damaged siding, scrapping, prepping and painting. Work should include, but not be limited to, the following:
1. Removal of all aluminum siding.
2. Removal of nails and caulk and fill any holes or cracks.
3. Restoration of cracked wood clapboard.
4. Restoration of wood soffits, eaves, fascia and trim.
5. Restoration of wood molding, ornamentation, detailing, and trim.
6. Replication of deteriorated or missing wood clapboard, soffits, eaves, fascia, trim, molding, detailing, etc. with new wood that matches the existing in dimension, detailing, and design. Replication should be based on remaining shadows or what would have been appropriate for the style based on staff’s determination.
7. Scrape, prime and paint wood. Paint should be high quality and paint color must be approved by staff and should include several colors based upon what is appropriate for the style as determined by staff.
If wood is no longer existing or if more than 50% deteriorated as determined by staff, new siding could be installed in the form of new wood siding or potentially cement board siding. New siding would have to match the reveal, texture, and detailing of the original wood as determined by staff.
Chairman Miller said thank you everyone for hanging in there and thank you also Jill and all the staff for finding additional funds. I came in here thinking we only had $100,000 and would be turning down all sorts of really good projects, so we are accepting more than I ever hoped that we could. There are still quite a few on here that probably should get done that we’re just not funding right now and hopefully the City Council and the Mayor provide for an additional round of funding. Some of our disappointed applicants will be back and perhaps with more complete applications. Some of them I know scored a little lower as we simply didn’t even know what they wanted. It wasn’t clear.
Mrs. Morgan said I’m hoping to get these on BZE next week. There’s more than I thought and I have to do everything by tomorrow. So there’s a possibility we might be pushed back. I was hoping to get everything done by mid-October, so we might be looking at November.
Chairman Miller said the Commission and everyone, thank you for hanging in there with us all night. I really appreciate your work. It is for a good cause. We are going to help some people out here and help out the City of Aurora.
This COA was discussed and filed
PENDING
COMMITTEE REPORTS
A) Grants - Dan Miller, Chariman
No Report.
B) Near Eastside Historic District - Jennifer Baird-del Debbio, Chairperson
No Report.
C) Riddle Highlands Historic District - Fernando Castrejon, Chairperson
No Report.
D) Public Awareness - Mike Walker, Chariman
No Report.
E) Landmarks - Al Signorelli, Chariman
No Report.
F) FoxWalk Design Review - Fernando Castrejon, Chairperson
No Report.
G) Tanner/Palace Historic District Committee - Justyn Arnold, Chairperson
No Report.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Mr. Castrejon, seconded by Mr. Walker, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried by voice vote. Chairman Miller adjourned the meeting at 9:20 p.m.
https://www.aurora-il.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_09052019-1962
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