Landmarks Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Today is March. This is the Landmarks Commission, and I am calling this meeting to order. We'll start with roll call. Linda Gordo. Carmen De La Paz.

By Christine. Matt Ratzak.

Perfect. And I will move on to open for any public comment.

Good evening. Lisa Saub, 434 Madison Street. I'm just taking a look, at item 26DashO3108, discuss alternative date for the landmarks meeting in April. And, as you know, this meeting was bumped, due to a city event, and, so that'd be the second month in a row that it would be bumped. And, the plan commission has a meeting on March 25.

So I'm just wondering what's so imperative that the second meeting in a row, would be, bumped in order to accommodate the plan commission. It says that it would need to be need to schedule it for the zoning code update. And I guess time will tell, but I hope that you guys can keep your first Wednesday because that's when people know to come to these meetings and it's hard to check every month when it keeps getting switched. So thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else for public comment? Great. We're gonna move on to approval of minutes. Item number 26Dash03130. That's the meeting minutes for January 7.

Mike Crissino will make a motion to approve the meeting minutes. I'll second that.

Ready?

I think you can

Yeah. Waiting for the signal. Oh, go ahead. You can vote. Okay. Okay. I I abstain. I wasn't here.

I. Aye.

Approved. Okay. And we're moving on to new business. Item 2603107, Landmarks Commission certificate of appropriateness for 915 North Hartwell Avenue. Review a request to replace 400 I'm gonna say it again. 400 Windows, and that's the Rest Haven Hotel.

Alright. Oh. It's yeah. So I guess we didn't have the paint repair grant funds, but I can move right on to this one. The 915 North Hartwell Avenue is on Hartwell Avenue, on the east side of Hartwell Avenue between Arcadian Avenue and Main Street.

And it is the former Rest Haven Hotel, which was one of the well, which is the last intact example of one of the Grand Springs era resort hotels in the city. It was built in 1905 and has classical revival style architecture. And it was operated as a hotel until 1919 then was used as a veterans hospital until 1958. And then soon after that, it became it was purchased by the New Tribes Bible Institute, which is now Ethnos360. They would like to replace it's individually designated as a local landmark within the city.

They would like to replace almost all of the windows on the building. The existing building windows are from the early 1990s, and they are vinyl windows. So they are at the end of their life span and need to be replaced. The only windows that won't be replaced are some large picture windows that don't have moving hardware. So what they're proposing to replace them with is the Pella fiberglass windows, which have a more consistent profile with which the original windows would have been than the wood style and can also be in a color that is more consistent and less doesn't stand out quite as much as the shiny white that the vinyl windows are.

The windows will be will match the existing openings for the most part with three panes for the majority of them. And then for some of the smaller and shorter windows, they'll have the two light openings. So they provided some renderings of what that will look like when they're finished or when they're replaced. So this is the near the front of the building and then another one of the the wings. And I believe the the applicant is here to provide more information. I am.

Yes. Hi.

If you could state your name, please

Yes.

And your position with the with the organization.

Sure. I'm Andrew Moser. I'm the regional director of development for Ethnos three sixty. So I oversee all the fundraising for the Bible Institute here. So we have additionally and I apologize that you didn't get this in advance. We have a statement from the architect we consulted. If that'd be helpful, I'll just pass you each a copy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And additionally, I have with me Kyle Voelz, who is managing the project for Catalyst Construction. They do they're overseeing all the installation project. This is part of a capital campaign of about $5,000,000. So they've already overseen about 1,600,000.0 in internal work, and then this is the first exterior project we're looking to do. And then I also have Sean from Pella Windows commercial sales. He was also involved in selecting the style.

Yes, let's ask. Go ahead.

When I was looking over these when I got the email, I mean, you have a lot of different colors from the fire escape And some of the three pane has I'm not really sure what why they're there. I guess Charlie could bring up the other photo. I don't know if it was the original window was another side. Yeah. That one there. If you look far right hand side, the ones in the middle, they have some kind of I don't know if that's wood or they couldn't find something or that hallway or whatever was in there was repurposed.

Mhmm.

I'm just wondering what are you guys gonna do about that?

That's a great question. Do you know offhand?

But you might not be do anything with that. I was

just Yeah.

It's brick. It's brick. It's not wood.

Yeah. Okay. That was basically one of my questions. If that was just a filler piece, you know, they repurposed it, was a studio room or a hospital room, and then it became something else or a bathroom. Okay. And I guess the staircase is do you guys have to do anything with the remove the staircase or you're doing this all in the inside? This the fire escape is not an issue?

Look. The professional says it's not an issue.

It's this these are just questions. Impressive. Yeah. Wouldn't necessarily change the outcome of what this board decides, commission decides. It was a suggestion.

Windows that have the AC. Yes.

Also, the one photo shows some particularly in the lower level that have air conditioners in them. Are you replacing those? Thank you. That was the other question I had.

The windows? Yes. Yeah. The windows would be replaced.

And are you gonna put window units in there? Or

I don't think that's part of the project. That would be a separate consideration.

Okay. Possible.

It'd be nice if you could

I agree.

Have those. But

We we've been piecemealing out in the building central units for various wings, but it's not all climate controlled, unsurprisingly. But as as we can do it, we're doing it.

Thank you. I just hate to have you get the windows and then find out, oh, yeah. We didn't think of that. But that's on your end

Good call.

End of the scope of work, not ours. Thank you.

Thank you.

Does anybody else have any questions? Any other questions? Thoughts?

Just thoughts. I'm just looking at some historic photos of what it was over the decades. And I mean, it appears consistent with windows that have always building. Looks like there's been some bad iterations too along the way that have that have gone away. So that's

Including Greece, we would say.

Let me just fill the

doors to nowhere.

Yeah. So I yeah. I mean, architecturally, I think it blends with the building grade. I think color wise, it's great to get away from the white. Mhmm. You know, adds adds some richness to the to the exterior, to the facades. So looks great to me. Good. Mhmm. You know,

in historic policy here, you know, because it's a landmark, originally, everybody would be like, it's gotta be wood. The window's gotta be wood. And and and and you guys have already set the precedent that you're going from vinyl to fiberglass. And I also am conscious of the fact that 400 wood windows would not necessarily be the most prudent economic decision to make. So I just wanna put it out there that, you know, this is a kind of a side step of which I'm totally okay with because it looks good. And it it's in keeping with the building and you guys have done a wonderful job with the building. Thank you. So any other comments, statements?

No. If there was already wood ones in there, that may sway my decision on that, but they've already been changed many times since the wood was So in I have no issue with the selection of fiberglass for energy and particularly longevity. It'll help even preserve the brick if they're installed properly.

Yeah. I I agree 100%. Okay. So do I have a motion for this? Somebody?

I'll make a motion to approve the replacement of 400 plus windows. I'm so glad it's you, not me. And making them the fiberglass that you've chosen. They look wonderful.

Thank you.

Great. I'll second.

Aye. Aye.

Aye. Thank

you. You're all set. I can't

wait to We see those can either. Thank you.

Take care. Okay. We're moving on to twenty six dash three one zero eight, discuss alternative dates for April's landmark commission meeting. Let's discuss it.

Alright. So I promise this is not gonna be happening on a regular basis. It just so happened that zoning code is it's a really big project, and we've been having special meetings for most of the discussions that have happened. Basically, the plan commission has full agendas and it really doesn't work to have the zoning code in just kind of shoehorned into those agendas. They are hoping to have a vote on recommending approval to the council at the April meeting.

So at that April 1 date. So we've been asked to move the Landmarks Commission meeting to another date. Unfortunately, of course, it's right after it was moved for the event last week that I understand several of you attended. And yeah. So hopefully, this will not be happening in the future.

The Landmark Commission will be continuing to be on the first Wednesday of the month, but for April, we we have to find a different date. So there are two dates that that where there are not any other city meetings. One is April 2, and the other one is Wednesday, April 8. That's the following Wednesday. There are not any other meetings in this room.

I don't know if there are other meetings that are happening at the same time. But basically, I'm just wondering if you if there's a consensus between all of you, which one works better. Tony Lanza, when he emailed about that he couldn't make it today, he did mention he said the eighth would work better for him. He believes that the second was part of spring break, so it would be not as as good of a time to make it. So

I prefer the eighth because I can make that.

Same here. I'm out of town the previous week for spring break.

I'm I'm confused. Tony was going to be here with us on this is he's planning to be here with us on the second? Is that the deal? Or

He said the he said the eighth would work better for him because spring break, I think the second would be harder to make it.

But he's planning to be with us for the eighth? Is that what he wants to come and be on the agenda for some I'm just trying

Tony to Lanza. Tony

Oh, okay. Alright. I was thinking of

Yeah. Not not Tony

I'm like, why is Tony Or Tony Brown. Right. Okay. Gotcha.

Okay. Eighth is fine. Everybody else is good for the eighth. You're good.

We're good. Good for the eighth. Yep.

Thank you for being so accommodating.

Couldn't we have our meeting the same day in another room or something? I'm just wondering. Oh, because you're part of planning. Yeah. I got it. We

we could also

So are you.

Different time. But, you know, then if we did it at, say, 5PM, then, you know, if the Landmark Commission meeting goes long, then, you know, that that could be an issue. We will actually anticipate having a meeting in April because we have the I have one of my communications is Landmarks Awards, assuming that there are any nominations will be discussed then. And I've already talked to a couple of people about hopefully getting out of that agenda.

I was just I'm sorry, I was a little confused.

Yes. I suppose if you wanted to have it on the first, we could move it to a different time too. But I guess that's I I thought that would be not the best idea. So

Yeah. No. That's fine. That's cool. I'm just trying to wrap my head around it all.

Okay.

Yeah. No problem. We'll we'll just go with the eighth, same time.

Alright. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. We're gonna move on to Landmark Submission Paint and Repair grant funds.

What was that? Oh. So that is normally at the beginning of the agenda, but we didn't have any paint and repair grants, on this agenda anyway. So I guess it's okay to have it here. As a reminder, paint and repair grants are approved at an increasing scale, typically 15% of the project to a maximum of $3,000 but Landmark's Commission may use discretion to change the award amounts based on project scope, overall impact, fund availability and any other circumstances.

For 2026, we do have $25,000 that was approved. It sounds like we might be getting it earlier this year. I don't want to guarantee anything. Certainly, would any approvals would be contingent on receiving the funds from the federal government, but sounds like it might not have to wait until September this time. Don't quote me on that until it actually happens.

We have we had some discussion at the January meeting. We have to have a little bit of a different standard. We won't have to exclude the Caples Park Historic District or other areas that are outside of the low moderate income census tract. But it will have to be a it's what's called a spot slum blight designation that will be for each property that's getting a paint and repair grant. That will have to be something that you all decide on.

Based on the what I've received from the county and the what we've looked through of the guidelines, it seems like that's more it has more to do with the what the project is, that it's something that could potentially, if it's not fixed, that it could potentially result in blights in the future. So certain types of work maybe wouldn't qualify, but all of the Landmark properties will now. And I'll have a little bit more hopefully, I have a little bit more detail on that before we actually get to reviewing any of those. So again, there's $25,000 available for this year. We have $6,432 leftover from projects that were approved in 2025 and haven't been completed yet.

Both of those did anticipate completing the work in the spring. And I'll try and for April, I'll try and have an update on where what their timeline is. There have not been any grants that have been approved yet this year.

Great. Thank you. The alderman's report, please.

Thank you. I had this email up and ready to go, but if you guys receive or anyone out in listening land receive city updates and city newsletters, I can't believe that springtime and spring cleaning is here, but I do believe Park and Rec is looking for their yearly team of people to go out and pick a favorite park near you. See April on the city of Waukesha Park and Rec. They have a volunteer sign up list, and I was just going over the dates and might even be this Saturday. But, anyways, if you are wishing to spend some time outside, either spend some time with Charlie cleaning up some springs or something with the park and rec.

April, she manages the spring cleanup in the parks. I have a couple parks in my district, so I'll be there. I don't know why they don't have the date for that, but if the time allows, please check that out on the city website. Thank you.

Moving on to the springs report. Alright.

All I have is, I guess, the Hobo Spring has been flooded again basically all winter. It was flooded in early November and we had snow that prevented them from getting out to get it removed. And since somebody has to actually get into it, it's not really something that we can ask somebody, an employee to from the Parks Department or from Public Works to get into the water when it's freezing to suck it out. So that hasn't been, as far as I know, not been done yet. I haven't been out there in about a week, but hopefully that'll be done very soon.

And we are going to request that the Parks Department will help with the cleanup there just because it's the mud in the spring is that's not really something that we can ask volunteers to do. We have and it hasn't we've had mixed success, and it's really a lot to ask somebody to help with that. So we're going to try and get some help from the Parks Department. We're just kind of working on how to do that. We will anticipate having a Springs cleanup this year, too, most likely in

May. Okay. Go for it.

It was in the email. He just didn't scan down far enough. Century of Parks, People and Play, Citywide Earth Day cleanup. It appears to be April 25 through Park Rec, Forestry, Century of Parks, People, Play. Anyways, the city's website has that and any questions, call Park and Rec. So they're also gonna plant a 100 years in honor of a 100 of Waukesha Park, Rec, and Forestry. Thank you.

Thank you. K. Moving on to communications and publications.

Alright. So I have two things. First, the Landmarks Commission Awards will be I'll be sending out the nomination forms probably tomorrow. I had been waiting to know when the April meeting would be, but so we'll get those out as soon as possible. They are they'll go out on the city website. We do get nominations from members of the public, but most often the most of the nominations that we receive come from Landmark's Mission members. So if you can think of any projects that have been completed in the last year that have work that's been done that you think is worthy of

the

awards, make sure to put in turn in a nomination for it. And we will discuss that at the April meeting. And then the other item that I have is the WAPAC Conference, that's the Wisconsin Association of Historic Preservation Commissions. That's happening in April 2324 in Sturgeon Bay. There's the larger Wisconsin Association of Wisconsin Historical Society Conference that happens in the fall and involves both landmarks or historic preservation commissions and museums.

This one is a smaller one that's really just historic preservation focused. So again, that's April '24 in Sturgeon Bay. They don't have the agenda out yet, but those are they do have the dates. If you would like to attend that, the city can help with the registration I guess.

Perfect. Anybody else have any comments? Anything else?

Absolutely.

That's it. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you.