Historic Preservation Commission - Regular Meeting

He already told me I have 6:30. Yeah. And I've just lost my agenda. Yeah, always. Okay, if everyone could take their seats, please. Well, good evening everyone. This is the uh beginning of the May meeting for the Historic Preservation Commission and uh it's good to see people sitting out there uh looking this way instead of us looking out at empty chairs. So, it's always nice to see people out there. So, uh this evening um I think we'll start with roll call, please, Robin. Chair Stevens, before I start with roll call, do you mind if I make a couple introductions? All right. I would first like to introduce our new council member liaison, Bob Mabberry. He will be uh replacing Ed Marshall in that position and we're happy to have him. Thank you. And we're also very excited to have our alternate Elizabeth Broyals with us. Uh Elizabeth Broyals is not new to this commission. Uh she has been with us in the past as our planning and zoning commission liaison. Uh but presently she's our alternate and we'll see um in

the future. So uh those are the two introductions I wanted to make this evening before we call. Thank you. Welcome. All right. So Commissioner Henzik, Chair Stevens, present. Vice Chair Bocker, present. Commissioner Cordinet, present. Commissioner Berto is not with us. Alternate Broyals here. Alternate Larson present. Uh, council member Leaison May here. and council liaison Rambo, our HPC advisor Scott and our commissioner Raggy Ramen and Commissioner B here. All right, we do have a quorum. Thank you. Well, it's uh my last time to be sitting in this position. Uh I've had a marvelous time. Um, and I can't even come up with the exact date I started as an alternate, but it's been back more than six years ago. We know that for sure. So, uh, it's been great and I appreciate all the help that everyone has, uh, given uh, through the time and, uh, as I've said several times, I'm hooked on historic preservation. Used to say I was hooked on phonics when I was teaching the young ones, but uh, historic preservation has taken that place. So, uh, if we'll stand now for the pledge of allegiance. And, uh, Debbie, would you lead us tonight, please? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States. One

nation, indivisible, liberty, and justice for all. Thank you. Okay. Okay. The next item on our agenda is the approval of the Historic Preservation Commission minutes from the April 24th meeting. Uh is there anything to be added to them? Um taken out or do we need to address that, Robin? Uh, madame chair, members of the commission, I just wanted to note that we did amend the minutes since I've placed it in your packets. Um, under public comment, uh, Carl Essen stated he had been working hard to develop the family trees for the shot and Essen families. He noted, uh, Lewis shot, who died in 1858, was buried in the Essen family cemetery. We are removing what came after that in the sentence which is and may have married Kathleen Essen. Um this turned out to be uh an error and so we are just removing it from the minutes. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else have any corrections for the minutes tonight? Then they will be approved by general consent as corrected. Thank you. public comment. Uh madame chair, we do have Doris Keven Frankie here this evening uh to speak to us uh regarding her u network to freedom submission. Thank you. Good evening. I just thought I'd u give a little update and share uh the summary of what this project is all about and um what this submission will be telling the story of the house fairy crossing on the

Underground Railroad. At 3:00 a.m. on a cold Sunday morning in February 1863, 16 freedom seekers began a quest to secure their freedom and cross the Missouri River at Howell's Ferry. A wide abolitionist had left a boat for their um at the ferry crossing owned by Thomas Howell. As over the years, the route was often used by those needing a safe route to Alton, Illinois. and the city of St. Moss. The group of freedom seekers included 57year-old Archer Alexander, two men from Samuel Mccclure's place, aged 38 and 18, and three men in their 20s, from the plantation of Barton Bates. Scott, the sky was cloudy and the freezing Missouri River was running high and fast. Landing nearby, they found themselves surrounded by a slave patrol. If captured, the freedom seekers faced the reality of being returned to their enslavers and punished for absconding. All were captured, but Archer Alexander managed to escape. He continued to St. Louis, sleeping during the day and traveling at night for 2 weeks until he reached the edge of the city and sanctuary. House Fairy marks an incredible story of freedom seeking that represents the failure and success of so many who sought their own freedom and that will be the story that will be shared in that submission. Thank you very much Doris. Thank you Robin. Do we have any updates from the historical society? Uh, madame chair, I do not have any updates. Uh, but we do have Oh, it does look like uh Miss Von Grubin has raised her hand. So, I'm going to promote

her. Jill, are you ready to talk? Yeah, you are muted, Jill. Can you hear me now? Oh, there you are. Thank you. Good to hear from you tonight. Thank you. Uh our update is uh more of uh where the historical society is right now is we're just trying to reallocate our resources as far as manpower and to uh try and even out the distribution of uh the work within our organization given that uh Linda will not be returning to our organization due to her health. So, that is it. It's a status quo type of update, but that's where we're at. Um, as uh Miss Commissioner Scott knows from our meeting our presentation on Tuesday that we are actively acting asking for and inviting people to volunteer um just to help spread out the work. So, that is my update for this evening. Thank you for inviting me. Thank you, Joe. We appreciate that. Jan, if if I may. Yes. Yes. I attended the uh meeting, the presentation last Tuesday at the society on uh historic St. Louis maps. And and I have to admit that one of the maps was about the vote for the uh incorporation or com combination of St. Louis and St. Louis County historic map. I voted in that election. So but it was very

interesting. The food, the snacks were very good. It is and their programs are excellent. So I I recommend if you have a chance, you know, do attend those and uh they've got a great organization. Thank you very much. Okay, looks everybody ready for old business starting with the Essen Law Cabin update. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madame chair and members of the commission the Essen Laven reassembly as you may be aware every year roughly precisely eight members of city council come up for reelection and that is on a cycle. So every two years all 16 positions can change. I mentioned that in that yes and log cabin has been around for 10 years and there's been discussion about a reassembly over that course of 10 years. So one of the first steps the department undertook relative to the log cabin when the historic preservation commission gave it direction to implement the project at this stage was kind of reintroduce it to city council. Thereafter, when city council again endorsed proceeding forward, we had to figure out how we were going to pay for it. That required two increases in the capital improvements program and then after that the reallocation of certain funds from other capital improvement programs to the SN log cabin. With the money in place, the bidding process went forward. And as you know, you've been kept a breast of the progress in that and ultimately this commission recommended that the department engage the two middle biders,

not the low and high bid. And ultimately that was undertaken. The planning and parks committee of city council which is eight members of the overall 16 member group heard a presentation this past Tuesday from the department relative to the recommended contractor ultimately after a lengthy discussion contractor was selected bombshell construction bombshell construction is the entity that's working on phase one of village green so that particular contractor will be doing both projects probably not simultaneously but one will probably be close to finishing and the other starting. That is good news because with the selection of a contractor department will have at the June 9th city council meeting the report from the committee along with a bill authorizing the contract to proceed forward with the reassembly. And so finally after 10 years, we'll have a contractor that will be under contract to actually begin the work of the reassembly. Just as a sidebar, Miss Keefe, Mr. Scott, and I had the unfortunate task yesterday to go visit Mary Cliff residence for the last time as we prepare for its demolition. And we are going to be able I think to save some of the building materials, the stone foundation around the exterior of the building. Then Mr. Scout had an idea about using the cedar singles that form the covering of the exterior walls of the building for our roof on SM log cabin. Many of them look in excellent shape and if they're the right standard grade, then certainly it's an option

we'll consider. So, we're going to basically bring a little bit of Merry Cliff over to Village Green. So, tonight I just have good news for you. We're finally going to do it. And that's the good news tonight. There's any questions, please. Okay. It's exciting that we're finally moving along. Yes, ma'am. It's taking a while. The night I was here to uh have the commission interview me um before I was ever considered for the commission uh was the night it was discovered that the cabin was missing. And the buzz in the room that night and we were in the community room for the meeting. It was what? Stolen? Whoa. That's steel. So I've been following things for a long time now. 10 years. Well, we know where the logs are, so hopefully once we get them there, they'll stay there, right? Thank you so much. I know it's been a lot of grueling times uh for you along the way and uh once Robin came on board, then she was in the same boat with you and we really appreciate all the work that you've done on this for us. Thank you. Yes, Rob. Yeah, this wasn't easy. uh getting the final vote approval. It was uh was touch and go there, but we managed and now it's we're off to the races. But, uh, I wanted to say that, um, uh, Bombshell, uh, is I'm sure they're going to do a great job, but, I think it's sort of incumbent on us, maybe on Steve and who other, you know, others to, um, check on the progress occasionally and make sure we're not going too far wrong because they've they don't have much experience

in in specifically to, um, reconstructing a a a cabin, which doesn't go together like a regular house. They've got journeyman carpenters. I'm sure it's going to be fine. Um, everybody had to do their first one at some point or another, but we really need to make sure we ride her on them. And I don't know if it's appropriate to talk about it here because we're it we're kind of out of the loop now, but I just wanted to restate that to to to the department. Um, I I'm a little nervous about, you know, what we're going to get if we're not really careful. So, well, Miss Keef reminded us yesterday we're over at um the Marinus facility that I believe Pattern and I MissWigley will be involved in the process as well once construction starts and she's our project architect. I've already twisted Mr. Scott's on extra hot dogs. So, I think he's on board. Figured I figured as much it was worth saying again. Thank you. No, I I have volunteered for that and I will be hanging around and we have to have to work out just how communication is passed on in this whole business, but we'll be around. They'll get to know me. Good deal. Thank you. Have you had something? I guess. Thanks. And it's really just piling on with with the fact I was your mind gone. It is, but I have to talk into it too. Um, it was it was a a hard fight to get to bombshell, but I I believe everyone realizes it's the optimal decision and I heard too m Mr. Rambo's concerns and felt them. Uh however, and it's really a big however, uh director um exhibited u what I think is

uncharacteristic, not shyness in his report of critique, constructive, constructive critique on the persistent um and cyclic delays and an absence of crew and absence of schedule commit. ment and what I read, I didn't have to hear it by anybody, but what I read was um uh confirmed in meetings that the contractor attended where uh director Vunich was not bashful in critiquing the uh shortfalls and and oversightes that he had noticed firsthand because he lived in city hall. So, it gave me the confidence to vote the way I believe most everybody else did. And uh we're going to see a contractor who knows he's being ridden herd on and he's being bird dogged and he's being scrutinized at every turn. So, he's going to have every reason to want to try and impress us favorably instead of u earning more of planning and parks department's director's eye. Otherwise, Joe's a nice guy sometimes. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else? Well, to the commission members, thank you for your patience. It's been a long journey for all of us, but I think we're on the cusp of finally seeing progress. So, thank you. Thank you very much, Joe. Uh, historic preservation plan update.

Madame chair, members of the commission, uh this will be a three-part update. Uh tonight um I I am giving you uh the survey results that we have received to date from our historic preservation plan survey. Uh our MIG consultants have released the draft existing conditions report which you will have some more time with uh before you need to submit your comments to me. And then finally we have a big question to ask you at the very end. So here we go. Here's our survey. We've received 191 responses to our survey thus far. So, with just nine more responses to break 200, I do uh dare you all to find three people who have not taken the survey in the city of Wildwood tomorrow. Tomorrow, because it closes tomorrow, and get them to take this survey so we can break 200. Um, I think probably the number one uh takeaway I've I've taken from the survey results is that uh we need to do a better job uh communicating our activities as a commission. Uh that seemed to be the number one response. It was surprising to me how many people were like, "Wow, I had no idea you were doing all of that until I took the survey and then they saw all of the activities and um and comment on them." Uh many did advocate that HPC have its own section uh in the e newswsletter or its own newsletter entirely or its own Facebook page. Um many were just interested in you know kind of having um just a streamlined way to access history information in Wildwood. Uh this was an interesting question and the responses that came back u were probably the most fascinating in the

survey. What potential historic resources have been lost, almost lost or not appreciated in Wildwood and how would you like them to be preserved? Uh the most frequent responses uh were about the Lasal Retreat Center, which of course is in the news right now, so that wasn't surprising. Um many people mentioned uh various cemeteries and Wildwood that needed to be preserved. Uh Route 66 was brought up quite a lot. Um as was African-American and indigenous history. Uh Wildwood Parks and Trails histories uh were touched upon uh quite a few times and also Bethl Church um both the old and the present church. Uh some of the more interesting responses, uh the Dar Al Zara Mosque, I'm hoping I'm saying that right. Uh and Education Center is apparently uh the first Muslim worship place in Wildwood. It was built 17 years ago, so it kind of falls squarely in that recent landmarks category that we've talked about. Um and it's the most progressive mosque in Missouri. So someone commented on that. Uh, someone mentioned that her husband was a cave professional, whatever that. Yes. Um, and so, uh, she mentioned Wildwood's cave history. I thought that was an interesting response to the survey. Uh, Wildwood's farming history, uh, Funk's house, Pond, maybe not so interesting, but I wanted to throw it in there. Uh, so we got some great responses. I think uh the top three priorities for our community uh for historic preservation is that we engage the community. So they definitely want us to keep up our engagement activities. Uh number two, provide better interpretation of historic resources through uh signage

markers and monuments which I think has certainly been a focus of this commission. Uh, number three, designate historic districts in Wildwood. And then I threw up number four because it was in close. It was almost tied for third place. Uh, provide grants to owners of historic properties. Um, because we have been talking about that Route 66 grant program. Uh, here's a word cloud. Do you feel historic preservation benefits the community? Why or why not? Well, you can see that there is quite a lot of yeses um in the word cloud. Uh but I thought it was a really nice representation of what uh history and heritage means to people. Um generations building community, character, a sense of place, um pride, pride, there's several prides, important roots, historic preservation. Um, so I thought we we got some good responses there, too. Uh, finally, I just wanted to touch on the age demographics of people who took the survey. Um, obviously, and as I think all of us would suspect, it did skew older. We did get uh quite a few responses from the under 18 crowd. Uh, thank you to our youth commissioners for making sure the word got out. Um uh but but that gives you a sense of who's who's looking at our survey and that brings me to that end. Uh so what I'm going to do next the survey does close tomorrow. Uh so once I have compiled all the results um in a format to give to MIG I'll share that with the commission as well and you can see the full results. I just gave you some highlights.

Uh, any questions regarding our survey? Interesting. Great. All right. Next, you have a very important task ahead of you and unfortunately it does mean it's going to require some reading outside of sitting up here on the on the day dis. So, uh, MIG has put together an existing conditions report. Uh it covers um it's basically a summary of our entire historic preservation program in Wildwood. Um in fact, they've categorized it into four different areas. Program administration, information and accessibility, tools, incentives, and supporting programs, and education, outreach, and partners. Uh I actually did have a chance to read through it this afternoon. Um it is definitely worth our while I think as a group to really sit down with it and think about it and you know spend some time with it. Uh but as you're reading through that document uh they've given us some prompts. Are there any details of the existing historic preservation program that you believe are missing from the draft? And I think I did catch a few things. So I think it'll be interesting to hear responses. And then in order to categorize so as I said they divide it into these four categories. Uh these categories will be utilized not only in the existing conditions report uh which is not the final format by the way. So don't get turned off if it looks like a book report. It's that's not what the plan is going to look like. Um but uh but anyway it will be in the future the program section based on the information in the existing conditions report. Do these categories feel appropriate to you? And if not, do you have any suggestions for categories that

are missing or would better organize the details of the program? So, everyone is tasked with responding to those two questions. I'm going to have a name uh sheet, a roster with me, and I'm going to be checking you off as you send in your responses. So, I will be monitoring uh to see who's doing their homework and um and I need all of those responses by Monday, June 2nd, uh 2025, so I can package them up and send them on to MIG. Um and that will certainly uh help them as we move forward because um you know, they're doing their best to look through the information I've given them, but we have information from being on the ground and working with these areas every day that they do not. So, they absolutely need our feedback on this. Are you sending us the email reminder? I will send you an email reminder. I will nag you. Um, I will encourage you to spend part of your Memorial Day weekend. It's It's kind of a sad time to be working on this, but uh but we do have a couple of weeks. So, I will be doing that those reminders and and looking for your responses. So, thank you for that. And finally, the fun part. We want to start the discussion. Uh we're going to be discussing this in depth in the July meetings when we have focus groups and an openhouse. Um but tonight, we'd like to, you know, start start the the wheels turning um in our minds. What is your vision for the historic preservation program in the next 10 to 15 years? What do you want it to look like? what do you want it to be achieving? And so that is our question tonight to just begin the discussion because I'm certain that over time we'll we'll be thinking of more things. But I will turn that over to you

and I'm looking for people to speak up. Well, I think as in the previous slide, what I think is important is to be reaching out to people and letting them know more about what it's about and and let you know the people in the community have some input about what they want to see target someone else. Yes, Bob. The more of these plaques I see a Westwood and Old Orville town and the other towns, it reminds me that a lot of people if they didn't see those plaques and hadn't lived here for three decades of as I have, they wouldn't have heard as nearly as much about what those things are and they would have just said, "That's an interesting old building." And driven on, never knowing what it ever was. But the more communication the city can provide for what's around every corner and what's hiding behind every tree, that was a village there once, now it's just five trees. um they're going to realize that there's so many things they don't know the city uh possesses as assets that if they're not careful, they're going to lose uh treasures without ever having known um what they were worth. So, it's communication. Um and I think people our age are too old to care anymore. They got more different priorities. So, it's communication and to the young. That combination, that's the formula. plaques don't cost nothing. Um, other communication, online communication, effective online communication that

people want to go after as though it's uh a social media platform. That's what kids love. I hate it. I don't have any of those things. Um but it's it's communication youth and uh engagement even even to the extent of what we can do to climb onto social media or and especially using I'm going to I'm going to just keep beating it in my own head if no one else is getting that on getting that website that city website cleared up straightened out streamlined brought into the 21st century. I I know there's valiant efforts being made on it right now by city administration and others. Um so that's my air time. Someone else. Yes, Steve. Yeah. I mean I think it's communicating. I mean people are when you talk to them they they're surprised. Oh, you did all this? Is this all here? and there really is a great interest and somehow they're just not we're not getting through to them. So I think they come up with whether it's the newsletter, whether it's the gazette or something that people see this and direct them someplace easy to get to like me. If it's not easy to get to on the web, I don't go there. so easy to get to and something fresh every time they look at it and see it and that that's an effort that to keep that up. But I do think that I mean just like our map I think our map is fantastic and when people see that they they love it. I don't know how many people know that that map exists. So that that I think is

the really the most important thing of getting our pre our program going and getting it recognized throughout the community. Anyone else? Yes, Steve. So, I was just thinking from the previous slide that the future planning, the ongoing preservation is an additional category that should be added to the historic preservation plan because I'm assuming it's this is not really a oneanddone type of thing. It's going to be ongoing. So, that in and of itself, I think should be a another category. How do we keep preserving? How do we keep planning into the future of the preservation? Absolutely. our youth commissioners, if I may, Chair Stevens, I apologize. I would just say like like more youth um involvement and like I like the youth commissioner thing. I would hope like this still exists in 10 to 15 years, maybe even a third one. But I just like how there's a lot of like opportunities for youth and hopefully in 10 to 15 years there'll be more people excited cuz honestly a lot of people I know my age don't even know that this commission exists. So hopefully in 10 to 15 years they'll know more about it and there'll be more opportunities for involvement I guess in the commission too. Alan, I just was going to say that I I sense a lot of interest when we deal with the personality attached to what we're doing. I'm thinking of the black slave, for example. And I think there's an immediate amount of interest with with the personality and developing his character and developing where he's from and who he touched and where he lived. And I think people can relate to that very well rather than looking at a map and seeing a picture or whatever. But

but I think the the whole idea of a personality is very helpful. I I'm not that we need to have that as a statement, but I think we ought to be sensitive to that in our planning that whenever we can do that and and identify a person uh in our history, I I think that's attractive to many people. Absolutely. I think that's why the the oral histories were such a success in the Wildwood History Book. Exactly. Shout out to Jill. Anyone else? Get the wheels turning. All right. Well, we can return to this question. Maybe we'll just keep it keep it going. Every time we bring up this item, we'll just keep thinking about it because this is this is the overarching question that we're considering as we develop this this citywide plan. Uh so thank you for your input tonight and uh I'll close this discussion and just request again that you do your homework for me. Thank you. Well, wonderful information that's in the packet too, Mr. Joe. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madame Chair and members of the commission, my particular presentation on this item will be very short. The group that has been working on the master plan for Bertner Park had brought it to a close. They believe they have a design that will respect the property, reflect a time past relative to how these properties used to be used and preserved, and more importantly, open it to the public so they can benefit from it as well. There is an

open house planned next week on Wednesday, May 28th, here at City Hall in the community room. The openhouse format allows you to come anytime between 5:00 p. p.m. and 7 p.m. see the master plan map, talk to the individuals that developed the concept and the ideas and then have any of your questions answered. The ad hoc group encouraged the department, which it completed, sending individual invitations, postcards to all W 6 residents. Since the property is in W six, the feeling was they benefit most from knowing about it, being able to comment about it, and tell us if our directions correct. So, in summary, you have nothing to do from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28th. We'll have snacks, coffee, water, tea, and some soda. And you're more than welcome. If there's any questions about the plan itself, um Miss Kee and I'd be glad to try to try to answer them at this time. Thank you. Oh, yeah. And thank you, Miss Keef reminded me our assistant director of planning and parks is a young lady named Melanie Ripto and she's a whiz with um our software package that does mapping and created a story book map for Bertner Park. We submitted it to all of our ad hoc group members and I think they gave it for reviews and it'll be playing on iPads during the open house as well as there'll be photographs from the report itself. There is information on the website now about the park and etc. So, like I say, if there's any

questions, probably just wants to kind of go through and show you what Miss Ripto has put together. The photograph on the far left is the bank building. We were hoping we could save that and turn that into a pavilion, restroom, facility, and storage. It's a great building. Um, we had a structural engineer look at it and he said he wouldn't necessarily recommend we go into it at any time in the near future or distant future. So, bank building will be before this historic preservation commission and the department will be asking for permission to remove it. We'll salvage the materials, I promise. Some information on the planning process, the major dates along the way. We had fun on January 4th when we went out to the site and did a visit. It was a Saturday. It was before the big snowstorm that snarled the city of St. Louis and others, but it was a beautiful day to be out in the park. And just some general information about where is the park, existing conditions, special conditions, things along those lines. The consultant that's assisting the ad hoc group created a series of maps to help us understand the characteristics of the property such as slope of woodland cover and was able to guide a lot of our decisions based upon what is about protecting the environment, the property um associated with it. We talked about access. Obviously, Hanken Road is a

rural road. There are those things we called sight distance considerations. And so, we ended up doing basically a a two-part entry exit. And we were able to meet the minimum sight distance for people exiting the park. So, it is safe. We had help putting the family history together. We think this is an important part and goes to vice chair Bard's statement about personalities, making it a little bit more human, making it a little bit more about who was there and how it how it kind of transitioned over the years through the families. I think does help. And then I think Dr. Rambo provided some photographs for us. And then there's the master plan and draft form. We continue to call it a draft form until there is a final request of the ad hoc group to approve it. We did not approve it at their last meeting because there may be comments that come from the attendees at the open house. Those comments will be reviewed, weighed, and potentially plan change. And then finally, there's the timeline we'll be following and we hope to be done in July with the final meeting of the ad hoc group and we'll take it through the process of planning and parks committee of city council to city council. And then in 2026, we'll begin rolling up our sleeves and trying to get the design, engineering, and bidding done so we can go to construction. So again, thanks for reminding. And there any questions about any of the items that scrolled through your the screen in front of you? I had a question. I was actually out there a couple months ago just to look and walk around expecting to see the residence that was there, but it had been removed and I was just kind of curious. I don't

know if it had any historic value, but I was wondering why they took the house away. Well, Miss Yoast had built the house around 2001, 2002, so it was approximately 20 years old. And when Miss Yos donated the property to the city, um there was a family member, a distant family member that contested the donation because obviously they would like to have the 27 acres in home. It took a while from a legal standpoint to work through the discussion of the donation, the content of the donation, the trust that basically transferred it and then ultimately us as the city accepting it. During that period of time, which was over a year, um there was a leak in the house, a water leak from the pump through the pressurizer that's in the basement. And so finally, when we did get access to the home, there was every type of mold you could imagine in the basement on all of the walls, the floors, the baseboards, the kitchen cabinets, the kitchen counter, everywhere. We just didn't make the assumption that it was a lost cause. We had two different firms do a mold assessment and both said that it's one of the worst they've seen. And so from that perspective, a decision had to be made about should we try to restore it, so to speak, or should we remove it? based upon what we were being told was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, you know, so we removed it to eliminate the public health threat and also it becoming a nuisance. Sounds like the right call. Well, sure Miss Yos will probably I get to meet her somewhere up there eventually. I have a question or two for

me about see what I can do. Thank you. Thank you, Joe. Robin Historic Route 66 revitalization. Just a moment, please. All right, Madame Chair, members of this commission, as you are aware, Route 66 revitalization has long time been a priority of the city and of this commission. Um, in particular, a couple years ago, um, efforts ramped up, uh, in response to a potential grant, uh, which unfortunately we didn't rece receive from Missouri Main Street, but we did get the whole community together in celebration of the Mother Road, which I think was a success, and it was a wonderful start and kickoff to our Route 66 roadside park project. Um and that was a very successful engagement involving youth uh with the Route 66 task force. Uh the Route 66 task force and I'm I'm kind of giving the summary in benefit of some of our newer newer members. So bear with me. Our Route 66 task force consisted of four middle schoolers and four high schoolers uh from five area schools um that helped us uh not only uh plan and design the park

project but also uh spearhead a student design competition for the feature uh photo op piece of it. Um plan two events for Route 66 month and we even created a selfie tour video. So it was a very successful effort and um and it's certainly given us a lot of energy around Route 66 ever since. Um however uh in present day focus is next year because next year is Route 66 100th anniversary and there's going to be a lot of activity uh taking place not only in our community but in communities all across Missouri and really all across the route. Um so we have some opportunities ahead of us to spur tourism, spur interest in the road and uh potentially um get some preservation projects done as well. Uh so to date uh the following activities are taking place in support of the 100th anniversary. Uh the city is working on developing a Route 66 grant program uh for businesses in Wildwood that are along our historic corridor. Uh we're still working on the the fine details of that. Um but it is in the works. Uh the city uh is piloting a wayfinding signage program starting with our Route 66 and we've come to you with those presentations. Um it's going to look really really neat. I think uh along with the wayfinding signage um banners along old um Manchester Road or Route 66 uh we're going to have a Route 66 element in our city historic preservation plan. Um so that will be a key key component of it. Uh Wildwood Historical Society uh calendar will have a Route 66 theme next year. Um so we're all coordinating activities. Uh we're working on a Route

66 historic marker, which we'll talk about in a minute. And we're planning uh at least five Route 66 events, including a drive-in movie, which I'll talk about in a minute. Uh Bunyan Derby run, concert, um possibly a Joe Sundererman uh presentation, maybe a trivia game, Route 66 cruise, and scavenger hunt. So, uh, we have a lot a lot that needs planned, but a lot in the works, and I think we will have a very successful year next year. Um, additionally, we're talking about interpretive signage, brochures, souvenirs, stencils along the stretch of the road, and joint community or joint activities with other communities. So, um, those things are being discussed. We'll see we'll see what we can make happen. Uh so very exciting to us and we touched upon this at our last meeting uh is recently leader publications approached the city with an idea uh that we do a 100th anniversary issue for Route 66 focusing on Wildwood, Eureka and Pacific um as an area. Uh so uh that was with Mark Grae and Peggy Scott are leading that effort and the department has since met with both of them as well as with representatives from Eureka and Pacific. Uh we've had a second meeting where we ironed out some additional details for you which I will share this evening. Um but essentially the idea of this magazine is for each of the cities to have a few dedicated pages uh within the publication um to have a wealth of Route 66 content and history um and then also having advertising space uh space for all of our local businesses as well. So, it's really intended to uh spur interest in our corridor and in our areas um around the Route

66. Uh they are asking from the city a few things. Uh they're asking for a commitment uh in the form of a resolution from city council. Uh they're asking us to reach out to the business community and endorse this project and get people excited about it. uh they're asking us to generate a leads list for them of businesses, organiza, organizations, and individuals who might be interested. They are asking us to sponsor at least one page of advertising in the magazine, which uh comes with a price tag of at least $1,380. Uh we are being asked to provide interesting content to journalists um to their journalists pertaining to Route 66 history and submit material. Um we'll be involved in some of the proofing uh so that we can make sure our content for our city is correct. And then uh we are we are also assisting in the distribution of the anniversary issue um if we decide to do the project. Some other key components. Uh last time we talked about distribution. Uh the leader is planning to print uh 3,000 copies. They formalize their proposal. It's 3,000 copies for distribution across Missouri Route 66 and up Interstate 55. So they are thinking about a pretty wide distribution network for our magazine. um it will be available in a digital format uh which will either be housed on their website and we can link to it or we can al also host it on our website. So it's it's up to the city how we want to do that. Uh there is interest in engaging the schools um though they kind of volunteered me um to be that liaison with the schools. Um, but essentially

we're thinking there might be another student competition um perhaps similar to the Old Pond School drawing contest which Commissioner Bore will be talking to you about um in a few items. Uh we're just thinking that if students contribute their content and if winning content is in the magazine, uh it's probably going to engage a lot of families um in the area around this as well. Uh the intent is to have a very nice magazine that people want to keep. like this isn't something that you know they they look through it and throw it in the recycling bin. The idea is that people will want to hold on to it. Um and I will say that as part of this meeting, we've already discussed potentially joining up with Eureka and Pacific about doing a drive-in movie um production of Cars One, Cars 2, and Cars 3 with each of the cities hosting one of the movies. And the bonus of that possibly um it still needs to get finalized so please don't uh please see this as a tenative uh but Eureka does have their own uh screen and audio equipment so they could potentially uh pitch in if we're we're doing a joint event and we can advertise to the region then to all three cities versus just our area. Um so so we're already starting to talk about some collaboration for next year which I think is a great um you know side bonus of this this initiative. So uh tonight after you have an opportunity to discuss it we are asking you one more time with with more information in front of you um if this commission would like to endorse this project to city council. Um, and if if we do receive your endorsement tonight, which again comes with a price tag, $1,380, um, then we'll take it to city council and see if we can get a resolution.

Thank you. Any comments on this? We need to discuss this. Steve, you look like you're ready to say something. Yes, I have. What's the status of Pacific and Eureka as to committing to this? I mean, I wouldn't want to go in alone and I wouldn't want to be the only one out, but I think it's got to be a joint thing of of the three of us, the cities together in in That's a good question. Uh at the meeting both of the representatives from Eureka and Pacific uh indicated that um while they they haven't gone into the city council action, you know, because there's a formal process there too. Um but they indicated that they are on board each of the cities. Well, it's always easy since we don't approve the money and we don't spend it. It goes to the council. It's easy to ask for it, but you know, if they're in it, I think we should be too. And uh hopefully the council has the money and we'll approve it. What do you need from us? Uh I need your endorsement uh this evening. Um, at the last meeting we you somewhat endorsed the project. You said go forward, collect more information. I'm bringing more information back to you tonight. So, at this time, I'm requesting a formal endorsement that we can take to city council that says yes, we want to move forward with this project understanding that we do have a financial stake in it and um and with some of these firmer details in the form of a proposal that I have in your packet. So money's tight and going to get tighter soon, but $1380 is relatively trivial. And you believe in

this, I believe in you. So I am ready to make a motion that we um that we uh send Robin forth with next steps. I was I'm skeptical about this. I'm still a little bit skeptical, but I I think it's worth rolling the bones. That's my thought. So, um, how do I phrase that as a motion that we can, um, do I just say I move that we ask Robin to move forward with this, uh, program? I think that would cover it all. Okay, that's my motion. We have a motion. Dr. Rambo, I would prefer if you said that the department would move forward to city council. [Music] Okay. Thank you. Chair, do you need a second? Bon. Yes, I'll be glad to second. Uh I don't know whether two council leaison representatives are supposed to be taking such action activity as opposed to just leazing the own activity, but I'll I'll get into the mold, but I'll be glad to make a second. And I would further like to either clarify or amend the motion of Mr. Council member leazison Dr. Rambo. Okay, we have a motion with a second. Is there any further discussion? The discussion would be Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Well, just to clarify, um I think the city of Wildwood um and I heard comments only enough to uh triage into a couple of different veins. This is an a lotable enough effort that Wildwood shall uh either participate in or shall solely lead its city's uh participation full speed ahead. So if we can find out before the

next city council meeting um by informal means whether and how much commitment and signing in blood Eureka and u the other city. Who are they? Pacific. Pacific. Thank you. I keep trying to throw that other town out west. That other one. Yeah. Um there'd be plan A and then plan B. There'd be the Wildwood only plan where we dive in and do it our way. There'd be the the B plant where either or both of the other two cities um show and convince you of sufficient endeavor that you would bring back to us um that news either by email. I don't know that we need to stand around and wait for months and months and months. But if I'm clear enough, there'd be an A and a B because this is worth Wildwood tackling even if it's the Wildwood only version of how we tackle it and not the three cities in a row on 20 miles manner of tackling it. Is that perfectly clear? Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I will be sure to reach out to my contacts from those cities. Uh, but I will say at the meeting they sounded pretty confident and we could have something that we can have an email to to voice a I don't know how this voice a quorum and vote on something that can be presented to the council next for June on June 9th. It's only a short while from now otherwise we lose it and we're coming back in July. Well, they just need a commitment from the city by July. So that's actually that's actually fine. um they just need something from us by July. Okay. Uh but but absolutely as soon as I have word of formal action on their on their part, I will I will make sure that information

gets passed forward. The goal would be to have something to present to us that we can take two and a half minutes to to decide on to the affirmative and that would be a sharp no-brainer for the next meeting. Anyone else? Well, we think I think we need to just remember that it was the original part of Route 66 that came through here because they couldn't get across the river down there without a bridge and so they stayed up here on the ridge. And so I think that's something we need to emphasize in our work with any one of the projects for the the celebration is we were the original section of 66. We were the mother of the mother wrote. Mother of the mother wrote. That's right. Maybe we're the grandmother. If I may, that actually brings up another point is uh this magazine's a great opportunity to market ourselves in conjunction with Eureka and Pacific which are on um you know the the actual Route 66 where the original climate this was actual 66 to my point is we're we're then connected uh which I think is likely to generate more um tourism to our area because at the same time they're exploring Pacific and the Red Seedar in Big Chief Roadhouse and making that making that trip to us as well. So I I think it can only benefit us to um to advertise our our region in concert. I have a question. Are we only going for the one page or is this an option of you know plan ABC type thing? Um when we go to city council, uh are we just going to say we want one page or are we going to

go for more? Well, that is certainly up to this commission to discuss. Uh the department would like to move forward with this project. So we're, you know, we would say minimum or above um is what we're requesting or recommending. Madame Chair, I would say a minimum of one page and let the city council decide. As Mr. Scott said, they're the ones that have to make the decision where to spend money and not, right? Because I know money is tight and it's it's tough to get the right votes, but u maybe to be able to leave it open that possibly there could be more. Can I have a question? Yes, Rob. Can we run this past the um the economic development committee as well? Cuz I mean the money's again it's relatively trivial in in in you know the great scheme of things and if it costs us three grand to do three pages I think it's probably worth considering. So the more support we can get better. So is does that make any sense to to do that or um should we just try to do it our ourselves? Certainly the department of planning and parks is in the position to proceed forward with at least one page if not three as has been recommended. Uh but I think Paula Bazison, our economic development manager and the economic development committee of city council could certainly um assist in this and actually do a great job of promoting it as well. Yeah, I think it'd be great to do it ahead of time. by the time council discusses it, all 16 members have heard about it because of the the committees they participate in and it might make it a sort of a slam dunk. So anyway, that's it. Yes, Steve. Yes. Um, okay. They pay who

is responsible for the editorial content of this and the graphics of this? Would that be an additional cost to the city to have a graphic designer? And I guess you can write it, but uh there's a there's going to be more cost to it than that that would have to also be approved. That will be on uh later publications. They'll do the graphic design. We're providing the content to them. Let's see. Do we approve that? The graphic design, how it looks? Yeah. Yes. That's part of our asks is to do the proofing. Thank you. Anyone else? Are um Eureka and Pacific also have their pages in this too or is it all for one, one for all? I I get the feeling that Eric and Pacific are each going to do one page. Okay. Okay. Any other discussion before we take our vote? Okay. The um motion has been seconded. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Thank you. Anyone opposed? Anyone abstaining? It has passed. Thank you. All right. Second, under the same heading, uh, as mentioned, we do have a historic marker uh that is presently uh in development. Uh, city council has approved our official verbiage for it. Good. Uh, so I think everybody has probably seen this by now. Um, but at our last meeting, uh, we studied five potential locations for historic marker and narrowed it down to just two, uh, the Big Chief Roadhouse and the

Route 66 roadside park. The department was tasked with going back, taking more photos, conducting a little bit more traffic analysis, and then coming back to this commission with some additional recommendations um and information uh which was done. Uh so the department did visit uh the Big Chief Roadhouse site again um and we did reach out to the owner of Big Chief Roadhouse. Uh we have not yet received a response or set a meeting. Um but we've started that conversation to see if the restaurant would be potentially interested in hosting it. Uh but there are a couple areas in the public rideway in the general vicinity of the restaurant as well. Um and I have photos of that in front of you. Uh there's the property just west of U Big Chief Roadhouse. Um as you can see it has some nice decoration to it. There's a sidewalk. It's adjacent to the big Chief Roadhouse parking lot. Um so potentially we could find a location in that area. Um another potential location uh could be at the Wildwood Middle School. Uh there is a crosswalk that connects directly from the restaurant to um the middle school. Uh so there is, you know, at least a safer route to the marker from the Big Chief Roadhouse parking lot. Um, however, uh, I would say one detractor of this is there were a lot of trees in this location and with the angle, I'm not sure that the marker would stand out to a drive by tourist. So, I think that was my primary concern. Pickup and drop off. Um, the restaurant is closed in the mornings when the drop off would occur. Uh, when the pick off when the pickup is happening of students, um, the restaurant's not at its peak hours. So, I'm not sure that that's necessarily the deal breakaker. I think it just comes down to where is the

marker going to be the most visible? Where is it going to be funded for people to take photos next to the marker and then have Big Chief as a backdrop? That kind of thing. Um, so uh overall we we felt this was a very very solid uh location to explore the Route 66 roadside park site. uh when we did a little bit of more analysis um just continues to look really tough to do prior to having infrastructure at the site. Um there there are a couple off uh uh off- streetet parking spaces like on the street. Um unfortunately each of those locations actually I'm going to just move over to the aerial. So, there's actually two areas of parking um along the street. Uh one as you go past uh the like let's say you're going west on Old Manchester Road, there's two spaces here. It is there's a crosswalk um north or sorry um there's a crosswalk west of the site here. It is about it's over 200 ft. Um if you were to park your car and then take the crossrock and then go here, um you know, you're going you're going a pretty decent distance on foot and you're crossing the street. Given that we're talking about a marker where people just want to get out and get back in their car and go and they're not staying for a length of time at the location. Like I would be a little less concerned if there was actually a park here because people would want to park if they were going to stay there for a while. But if they're just going to read a marker and then get back in the car, they're probably going to take the shortcut. And again, my concern is that they're going to use Grover Crossing Drive Grover Crossing Drive, just put on their panic lights or, you know, move over to the side and

then get out and get in and go. Um, I made an error in my analysis in the in the memorandum I gave you. There actually is some parking um just uh east of the site as well. Uh but again, it's about 200 feet if not more depending on where the markers located and the site. Um I think it's probably more likely that someone might pull over here and then walk back. But um but again I I still think that the primary um I think the primary decision of every driver given no other information is going to be used using Grover Crossing. Additionally, we talked about the lack of association around the site um just modern homes behind it. Um, and then further, uh, with the street lamps, with the electric poles and some of the, you know, the infrastructure, um, at the front of the site, uh, it just adds some visual clutter where a historic marker by itself with nothing else around it, um, could potentially, uh, be missed. So, so those were my concerns regarding the Route 66 roadside park site. However, the good news is, and we mentioned this last meeting, these markers are pretty easy to move if we need to. Um, so it doesn't mean we can't move the marker back to the site once there's a park there. It just means maybe right now might not be the best time for it. Um, so obviously I'm leading to the department's recommendation, which is Big Chief Roadhouse, uh, for the time being at least. Um, but at this time, I'll turn it back over to the commission. So you can select a final location and endorse such so the department can move forward and in and continuing to have those conversations with the appropriate parties. Thank you. Thank you. Any uh discussion on this? Yes, Bob. Well, thank you. Can you go back to

photographs and catch the uh the street with its poles? Yeah, that's that's the the best basis to form a motion on which of the two to choose, but I don't want to make a motion cuz I want to carpet the floor with my motions. I'm sorry I couldn't hear him. Oh, he he is deferring to commission members because he doesn't want to be the one to make the the motion. Rob, heck, I No, Joe might have to correct my language again. I'm not sure what I did wrong last time, but um uh evidently something. Um I think Big Chief is clearly the right choice um from a photogenics perspective. And um and uh it it just this place would be kind of dismal. Okay, here's a here's a a marker in a field and people have to block other residential traffic to walk out and see it and then we look like chumps because there's nothing around it and it doesn't there's nothing to tie it really to Route 66. So, I'm my motion would be uh talk to the big chief um owners and get their I'm assuming probably enthusiastic support for that location and um and uh if they if they don't want to host it on their site for some reason, talk to the folks next door. That's it. And you can condense that down to probably six words, but So, I would I would second that motion just with the caveat of if the roadside park does come to fruition and turns out to be an amazing location and it all plans out like we hope that there's the

potential to possibly move the market. Of course. Of course. Yeah, that went without saying. I'm sorry. Any other discussion? I agree with Rob, too. I mean, like said the last time, that's the most significant structure we have is the big chief of Route 66. I think it belongs there. And you know, if there's people at the restaurant, it's like, "Oh, let's go out and see what this says about Route 66." Like, so they're already there. So, I will go for Big Chief. Okay. Any Yes, Steve. Yeah. I I had originally promoted having it at the park site, but uh since that's a gateway to our Route 66, but no, I I do think uh it'd be more accessible at uh at the Big Chief. I think I would say put it in the front yard of that building to the west of Is that Do they own that too? Yeah, that's what I was going to ask. Do they own that or is that that service company that owns it? I think they they rent it out to somebody. I know long time ago I got had some duck work that was made that was but if we could be like in their front yard so you would see it coming into the big chief and you could park right there and walk over and see what it is and learn something. But you get too close to the big chief and then it's sort of lost. But the big chief would be in the background. Well, if you put it between I don't know exactly where you want to put in the space between the sidewalk and the road. That's public right away. There's you don't really have to get anybody's permission. Correct. I guess who maintains that road? Is that St. Louis County or Wildwood that maintains Manchester? Wildwood. Well, we got an end there.

Rob, one caveat. Um, that place next door has the very first robot mower that I ever saw. And if if people are if people are walking over to um to look at a historic marker, we don't want them to get run over by a robot mower. Um, we need to be just consider that. When I run out that way, I think always going. Is there any other discussion? Yes. D. Um, so I was also in favor of the park last time and and for me, I think it was it's just more centrally located within Wildwood. Um, I do think it's a a higher pedestrian area, but I guess my question is if there's concerns about how people will get there on foot. Um, aren't those those same concerns for the park once it's built? I mean, it only looked like there was going to be two or three parking spaces in the park itself if those are still in the plan, but yeah, I didn't see Okay, maybe. How many How many were there planned? Five or six, as I remember. Not a lot, but still. Yeah. Well, true. And I think that's true. No matter where it's going to be, we're gonna have flocks of people going there. But I just kind of heard some concerns about how people would get there. And it seems those same concerns would be with the park once it's completed. I think it would be alleviated somewhat just by if there was a completed park there, people would be spending more time there. So, they might be more inclined to park the car and make the walk to spend more time at the park. I think with the historic marker alone, they would probably just be choosing the easiest way to get out and get in and see it. That I mean, just based on what I know of of my own psychology, you know, going past a space and for the same purpose. Um, so that was that was my

only consideration. But yes, the park will have parking spaces within it and that would alleviate a lot of these concerns. So, I I don't I wouldn't rule out the parks site at all for the future. It's just right now without any infrastructure there. Um I I do think there are some detractors. Yeah. And like you said, it's easy enough to move. So, right. If you did choose to. Yeah. I say on my part, I've always wanted to stop and read the one at Church Road, but I never have cuz like I don't know where to park there. Trying to park on Church Road. That's where I park. That's where I park. Okay, I'll do that. Okay, we're ready for the vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Thank you. Uh, anyone opposed? Anyone abstaining? It has passed. Thank you. Threshold. Oh, I should say that there are some next steps if if you would like to hear them. Yes. Uh next steps for the marker. Uh I am going to request drawings and a cost estimate from our two um from the two companies that we generally go to for these sort of projects. Uh once we have those items, we can engage the community at the next few events uh regarding them. Uh we we will have an opportunity at the June history tent and the upcoming openhouse events. Um then those plans will be forwarded to city council. We're looking to order the marker hopefully by September in order to have it ready for next year um in January. Thank you. All right. Discussion regarding the age threshold used to determine uh

qualification as historic. I am going to revisit uh some information from our last discussion uh given that we have some new members with us this evening. Uh, as you're aware, since its initial adoption in 1999, the chapter 40 uh 440 historic preservation restoration ordinance has identified 75 years as the eligibility threshold for defining a building structure or element with the city within the city boundaries as historic. This threshold determines whether a building element or structure is eligible for listing on the Wildwood Historic Register. Uh it also determines whether it will be included in our Wildwood Historic building inventory. Um which means we survey it and have a summary of its condition and some of the site history. And finally, uh whether the building structure or element is subject to additional review by this commission when there is an alteration to it, new construction on the property, demolition of it, or uh removal of other historic uh accessory structures on the property. Uh so 75 years is very important to our program currently. We talked last time about it comparing to other programs and that other programs have different requirements. Um, again, the the Wildwood Historic Register does follow our 75-year requirement. The St. Louis County Landmarks pro program does not have an age requirement at all. Uh, they just assign um significance based on other criteria. the National Register of Historic Places, uh, which we do have some overlap with given our federal, state, local partnership that we're in as a CLG, uh, it does have a 50-year

eligibility requirement, um, which does and allows for more recent buildings to be added if they are especially significant to the nation's history. We talked about the case for reconsideration last time that Wildwood, given it was incorporated just 30 years ago, um has more recent landmarks um that are worthy of consideration in terms of their significance. We have the Wildwood Hotel. Uh we have the Wildwood City Hall. um just some of these more recent buildings, the town center as a whole um could potentially, you know, be considered historic just in terms of its significance to the city's development. Uh we know that in what 45 years time, if given that same threshold, it would be considered worthy of nomination to a historic register if it was still still here. We also talked about some of our historic landmarks and Wildwood not meeting this eligibility threshold for other reasons such as the original building being destroyed by fire. United Baptist Church was mentioned as an example of that. Um, however, that church still maintains that same history and significance today. Uh, we gave you a few options to consider of how we might go ahead and um alter our criteria. Um, I'm not going to go over those options in detail right this second um because I want to go into some new areas with you. Last time uh we had a discussion uh regarding the word historic and what it actually means. Uh, so I went ahead and back and did some research for us because I figured it made sense for us to have the same language when talking about um when

talking about historic significance, historical etc. So according to the Miriam Webster uh dictionary, historic means famous or important in history, having great or lasting importance, known or established in the past, and dating from or preserved from a past time or culture. Um it also gave us a distinction between historical and historic. Historic and historical have been used interchangeably over the years, but they have separate roles in most cases. His historical is the general term for describing history such as the historical record, while historic is usually reserved for important and famous moments in history such as a historic battle. So the word historic in itself actually means important and significant. Uh according to AI overview, historically significant uh re or historical significance refers to the importance of a past event, person or object and its lasting impact on subse subsequent history and society. It highlights why something is worth remembering and learning from connecting past events to present day understanding. So, I just figured it was worth contemplating those definitions as we have this discussion because again, historic doesn't necessarily just mean old. It it actually just means it has a place in history. You know, there's a reason um that it's important and worth noting. Uh we also talked about developing criteria uh to determine um a uh building structure or elements uh historical significance. And the good news is we don't really have to do that

uh because we already have criteria that we use as a commission. And uh we actually have 13 criteria that does come from the um uh Department of the Interior. Um and and so we so it does cor correspond with the national standards as well. Uh usually uh as part of the Wildwood Historic Register program uh a building element or structure only needs to meet one of these criteria in order to u be considered worthy of nomination. Uh so so we do have um a set of criteria that's pretty well well recognized well well used um in terms of determining uh a more subjective value of of of a structure or landmark. Uh we also talked about um what it would mean to potentially add more um or have a have a 50-year age criterion. what does that mean in terms of how many buildings would we need to survey? What does it mean in terms of cost? Um, so I collected that information as well. Uh, presently we have 379 uh buildings on our register meeting that 75 year threshold. Uh, the number of properties from 50 to 74 years old is 458. Um so um even more than what we currently have uh would need to be surveyed. Additionally, we noted last time that the Evergreen and West Glenn's farm subdivisions are approaching the age marker that would bring approximately 900 properties into consideration. So that needs to be considered as well um as we think about potentially changing that that age threshold.

Uh the estimated cost for a survey of 458 properties is 58,000 to 62,000. Um and that was taking uh Michael Allen's fee uh from our last update and adding u some change to it for rising costs. So last time we did present those four options to you. Uh we talked about maintaining the 75-year threshold uh for the city in terms of survey and review um but removing the eligibility criterion for nominations to the Wildwood historic register. That would allow more recent landmarks to be considered historically important in Wildwood but would not a add to the burden um of tasks that we normally do in terms of surveying properties and reviewing them. Uh option B, uh we could maintain our 75-year threshold for survey work and review requirements, but add exceptions for properties meeting special criteria, such as having known significance and entrance interest to the community. Um so that gives us a little bit more discretion to consider properties outside of our 75-year threshold. um it would remove the age eligibility criterion for being submitted to or nominated to the Wildwood Historic Register. Option C, we could survey all properties reaching a 50-year threshold. And the reason we talked about that was to be in line with the federal requirements because we did talk about having potential problems occasionally in terms of grants and funding and section 106 um requirements. So, we could potentially survey all properties reaching that 50-year threshold consistent with federal level criteria,

but only review properties, and when I say review, I mean those site visits where we go look at alterations, demolitions, etc., but only review properties that meet additional defined criteria. Properties meeting the 50-year-old age criterion could be nominated to the Wildwood Historic Register. And then finally, option D is like option C, except we remove the age eligibility criterion for being nominated to the Wildwood Historic Register. Again, to open the door for some of our more recent landmarks um because that would allow us to really be able to recognize our town center as something actually worthy of of looking at as historic as well. So the department um after conducting this analysis and considering the burdens and and all of those things uh we landed on option D which was uh that we could potentially look at a 50year-old uh a 50-year threshold consistent with federal level criteria but only review or conduct site visits for alterations, demolitions, etc. properties that meet additional defined criteria um which we believe is laid out quite nicely in those um 13 criteria that we discussed earlier. Um it could remove the age eligibility criterion for being nominated to the register. As a subrecommendation, the department would like to look at developing a new survey approach for some of our newer large subdivision projects. uh one that documents the history of the subdivision and a few example houses um but does not consider each individual house unless there is a known additional significance like someone important lived there. Um, and the reason we're thinking of this is, you know, considering the 900 properties of just

those two subdivisions. Um, you know, it would be much less of a burden on this commission, especially considering the architectural sim similarities across a subdivision if we simply looked at the subdivision as a whole and surveyed it as one entity. And then just again some example homes um for the architectural purposes. um and that would that would potentially make it make it less difficult to do. Uh we do recommend that we continue to utilize the significance criteria that we presently apply to nominations to the historic register uh given it is consistent with the criteria at the federal level. So there's really um probably a stronger legal basis for it as well. And then finally, we did support the suggestion uh that was proposed last time uh that the commission might form a subcommittee with a lesser quorum requirement uh for reviewing historic properties. And we further recommended that that subcommittee have at least one architect upon it. Um and it would require amendment of the commission's bylaws in order to achieve that. Um, but that's that's where we landed um after considering um all of these factors. But at this time, I'd love to turn it back over to you uh for some discussion. Um and then I would respectfully request direction from this commission. Our next step would be to take whatever that direction may be um to the city attorney and to MIG, our historic preservation plan consultants, and um have them review this uh review the discussion to date and give us feedback on it as well. Uh so any motion that you made this evening would not be final by any means. it would simply be giving us a direction to take to the city attorney and to MIG um and for us to consider further. Thank

you. Any comments or questions on this? Um I just have a different vibe for what the history of Wildwood is. I mean, when we have historic spaces that go back to the 1800s, to think about a subdivision of, you know, six or 900 homes that you're going to call historic just seems kind of weird to me. I mean, what's historic about that? I mean, know I know, okay, it's been there a while, but when I'm thinking about historic spots of Wildwood, I'm thinking about subdivisions or hotels or whatever. you know, yeah, they've been there a number of years, but when we have things that are from the 1800s here, that's what I'm seeing as historic. So, I understand what what you're coming to for your options, but that's just my my personal opinion about what historic Wildwood is, you know. And Chair Stevens, if I may comment on that, I wouldn't call every building that is included in our Wildwood, we call it historic building survey or inventory, but I I believe that most of the time when we go out and conduct a site visit, one of the one of uh the factors we're considering is is there actually any significance to this building other than its age? Um you know, is there something architecturally relevant? it was there a famous person who lived here or a founder of you know the area. Um, so I I think the purpose of of the survey work frankly is to document in in some instances it's to document the development of the the city as a whole. like it's not necessarily not everything is necessarily meant to be applied as okay well we need to it just means that looking back we can use this survey information to make um you know to conduct analysis about how this area

grew over time and it will help someone in the future in in kind of having that historical perspective thank you Steve Well, I think to have say at least a 75 year old age to consider putting a building on just the fact that it has survived that many years and I I even think it could be higher than 75 that gives it some significance. Other than that, I think you could a young a newer building that had something historically happened there could be uh should be considered. So, I wouldn't uh change the age of a building or reduce the age to consider putting it on the list, but uh we have that inventory. We should use it. Um, but I you have to be careful in declaring something historic because I think it takes a few years to uh come to the realization to finalize an opinion of something. I mean, I'm just thinking that I'm I may be one of the few people here who remember when Harry Truman was president, but the attitude, the historical opinion of him has changed over the years. So, I I think we have to be careful about making historical decisions on recent events, but I don't think it's it's improper to do that. We just have to be very careful when we do that. So I I keep it at 75 and make it other other considerations for declaring it an historic uh site.

Anyone else have any comments or questions? Rob? Yeah, I'm talking a lot. I'm sorry, folks. Um I we always like to listen to your comments. I uh I one of the few times I sort of disagree with Steve. I mean 50 years is pretty darn long time for I mean um I was prepared to make a motion to just adopt the department's recommendations, but if we're I guess we can we can tweak the 50 to 75 if that's appropriate as long as we have other decision criteria. And I just don't want anything to fall through the cracks because we've decided, oh, it doesn't quite meet the 75 year threshold, but it has some significance. And um even if people like Harry better than they used to or vice versa, he's still a historical figure, right? So So it if if something historic happened there, it's probably makes the building worth consideration. So, so um uh how can we how can we resolve the 50 versus 75 I guess? Okay. Okay. 75. Okay. Uh if I may respond question, uh I think the value in going to that 50year one, we're we're then more lined up with the federal Yes. programs which I think will help us in terms of grant funding and conversations in terms of survey work with them in the future. Um because I've run into that um in my more behind thescenes work when I'm working towards grants and survey proposals um that that discrepancy between our standard and theirs is has sometimes thrown some hoops. Um secondly, the value in uh

surveying properties up to 50 years is then we know what's out there. Um because otherwise we can apply additional significance criteria, but we don't really know anything about the property that we're applying that criteria to. Now some properties, you know, might be a little bit more well known to us. Um, but the value of that survey is that's what gives us the information to go to go on. Like when we uh when we go visit a historic property, that survey tells me almost immediately, was there anything significant that happened here? What is the condition of this residence? How much integrity does it have? You know, if it doesn't have a whole lot of integrity, then why are we trying to stop a demolition? you know um so it's the survey that gives us the information I think to make informed choices and that would be my only caution about keeping the 75 years is then um we don't really have that extra information to potentially assess other properties asked Steve if he agrees with or dis still disagrees with that. I just think uh the the job of surveying 50 year old houses I mean everything that's 50 years old I mean what that is going to add the cost that uh if something happened significantly in a 25 year old building then it could be it could be dis you know declared historic But, uh, I just think, uh, if you're only going to honor a structure because of its age, then I think it it probably should be at least 75 years old. If nothing else, nothing happened at my house,

historically significant, but it managed to survive all these years. So I think that that's that's what got me in. But uh so I I think uh I would keep that that at that that age and survey and don't survey any houses that are less than that unless there's a somebody comes up and say oh this is what happened here and we look at and see whether it's worthwhile to do that. But so cost is your is your concern then? Well, that's be a big cost to have to increase that survey to 50 years old and it's only going to get worse. Sure. Sure. Sure. Yeah. Because there's more and more homes that were built. Yeah. Uh Robin, what what do you think of that cost argument? Uh I mean it's certainly worth this commission considering that. I I mean there is a cost to it. We laid out the number to you. Um, and that's just to get us up to date, you know, to that 50 50-year mark. So, would I I I'm sorry, I'm trying to make this move this along a little bit. Um, would um would there be sufficient additional criteria in your recommendation to cover significant buildings that don't meet the 75-year threshold and then we just live with the consequences of not being in sync with the federal government? Is that a workable solution in your mind? I I think anything I think anything that we've proposed is workable. Okay. Um the department is recommending the 50 again because I think it is going to help us long term with having those conversations with the federal government. we are in a a local, state, federal partnership and their program requirements like when we're looking at large grants often times we don't meet those requirements because we aren't

reaching their standard. So that that is that is part of the impetus of this entire conversation. That said, you know, this might be worth additional conversation. Um, again, tonight's the idea for tonight is just to give us a direction to have more conversations with our city attorney with MIG. I don't think we need to make this right now. There's a lot of changes going on at the federal level. Things could look very different a few months from now or a year from now. We don't know. So, we're not necessarily rushing to an action here. We're not going to take this your endorsement and go to city council and try to make something happen. Okay? The idea tonight is simply to give us some direction of where you're all landing on this issue and then we will investigate it further and come back to you with some additional solutions. Um so that's that's my recommendation. So about second I'm not going to present this to the city attorney. Exactly. That's what we'll do. That's what that that makes sense to me or that's that's what I'd like to see us do. I'm sorry, Joe. I cut you off, but this No, I was interrupting the conversation. There's a lot of moving parts tonight. I would respectfully request a postponement so that we can step back, take into account Mr. Scott and everyone else's comments and bring something back to you that is fresh, so to speak, for further discussion. and we will loop in the city attorney and MIG so that we have their input to help as well. Okay, thank you. Yes, A. Sorry, really sorry about this, but I have we have our last day finals tomorrow, so I would have to leave a little bit early. Sorry. Thank you.

Thanks for being here. Best of luck. You're excused. Good. Good luck. So I will make that motion because we did the Alan and collaborated on the last one, but it look looking at it um there's 379 properties that are 75 years or older and then there's 458 that are 50 to 74 to Steve's point. So, it is it is worth consideration. So, I I I move that we postpone this until you can talk to the attorney and others. I'll second that. It is motion uh to u postpone postpone and have further discussion. It's been seconded. Any more discussion? All those in favor raise your hand. Thank you. Uh anyone opposed? Anyone abstaining? You can keep working. Thank you. Okay. Looks like the next item is jud planning. Madame chair, members of this commission, uh this is just a reminder that we do have a history tent engagement coming up in June. Um I am asking for volunteers. Uh the date uh the specific

date in question is Friday, June 20th. Um, and I would be asking you to volunteer from about 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Um, generally we start packing up uh around the intermission uh of the concert. Concert starts at 6:45. Uh, but we generally engage quite a bit with people uh leading up to the start of the music because people like to, you know, get their spots. Uh this will be an important engagement uh for promoting our historic preservation plan effort and the upcoming openhouse and focus group events. MIG is putting together a plan. Um as we speak, we should have some more information in the next few weeks about what those events are going to look like. So by the time we get to the June 20th um engagement, we'll have some materials um with all of that finalized. Um, it'll also be an opportunity to sell our history books, our Route 66 t-shirts, uh, provide outreach activities on the Essenlock Cabin, and distribute our points of interest maps. Um, however, it will be more of a modified tent as we did, uh, similar to last year um, versus our full-fledged Celebrate Lwood tent. Um, so I would like, uh, you know, at least two, if not three volunteers, um, for that. Uh if you are interested, please let me know. Send me an email. Let me know tonight. Um I I would appreciate appreciate the help. Thanks. Thank you, Debbie. I can too. Thank you. June 20th, you said? Yes. I have to check, but I it's time for me to volunteer. I don't I'm Well, thank you. I'm not the most I'm not the most social guy, uh honestly, but um I'll uh give it a whirl.

bar planner key and it's was quite coincidental or not quite coincidental or not that the young lady has volunteered I was thinking are there things that volunteers on this not school night Friday night and they get to watch listen to music are there things specifically tailored to and catered to uh young adults that you'd be uh selling this to them as much or more than adults. Yes, that has been um very much an integral uh part of this program I'd say since at least since I started. We've made youth a primary component. Um so we we're always looking to engage the young people as part of our our history 10 efforts. Thank you. Okay. the work project. Madame Chair, members of this commission, uh I believe we have a lot on the agenda tonight. Uh so I'm not sure I have too much to update you with. Um however, uh I do want to touch on the master plan update effort. uh the citizen oversight group for that did meet on uh Tuesday May 13th of this past month and we and they focused on the environmental element of the master plan. Uh they'll meet again uh on Tuesday June 10th uh 2025. Uh so that effort is underway and making progress. Okay, good. Thank you. Uh other than that again I think most things we have touched on this evening. If you have any questions for the department uh regarding anything on the work uh program um we'd be happy to answer them at this time.

Yeah. If I just keep reading in depth and what we have in our hands. Do make sure you uh RSVP if you plan to come to Mr. Scott's open house on June 7th uh which is a Saturday. Um it will be a very nice occasion um and an unveiling of his historic plaque on his historic home which by the way did not get on our Wildwood register just because of its age. It had to go through that same 13 criteria and I think we chose several of them. Um so it does have some significance to wildland. Thank you. Okay. Uh so that finishes up on my discussion under old business. So we'll move on to new business. Um Commissioner Borick Old Pond School Drawing Contest. This really sounds neat. thought I'd update you on my youth project. So, to kind of get things started, I created sort of an art competition, which I share this flyer with a few local schools. And the art competition is for kind of a very young audience, grades 1 to 5, and it's about old pond schools. So, they have like a prompt that they have to follow. And the rules aren't that strict. They're very kind of, I guess, vague, and gives them a lot of freedom. And the idea for this first one is to hopefully like get an idea of what works and what doesn't for this competition. So students kind of can research about school in their own way. I hope it's not too overwhelming for them. I tried to keep the instructions very simple. And then they can create a drawing and submit it using the QR code. And then the ones that I feel are best will be featured in our video about old pun. And um the idea is to hopefully

feature most of the drawings unless we get like so many that like we can't. But hopefully we'll get kids really excited about Old Pond School and like the local history. And yeah, that's just an update on that. Everything is due May 31st for that. So hopefully by June I can start getting started on the video and like editing everything together and hopefully it all come together very nicely. Yeah. Any questions or comments? What kind of feedback have you been getting? So far, um, so far I haven't gotten much. I reached out to, um, Green Pines and Pond and both of their like principal said that the students were very interested. So hopefully that's Yeah, that's that's about what I've gotten. If I may, uh, I do know at least one uh, co-worker here in city hall whose daughter has been working very hard on her submission and is very excited about it. Yeah. So, what will happen to the art? And the reason I asked that is because I have two children's artworks framed and in my house and they're very evocative. They're gorgeous. And um my my little I don't know what relation she is to me. She's my cousin's granddaughter, but she just won a an art competition. She's in third grade. And um it's a beautiful beautiful picture. And so I'm you said that that you are um offering them a lot of latitude. So I'm sure some of the more creative kids are going to draw a bird behind you know. Yeah. I mean it's just going to be more than just a hundred pictures of the school. And so my question is is there any interest in um like actually um putting a price tag on some of these and having them at the plane air or anything like that or because we have art we have an art show. It's called plain air. And um and um or or it could be just be out here in the

lobby or in the community room or something like that. But I think some people um some kids might be disappointed because their their pictures aren't that great and they think they are. You know how kids are. But um but a couple of them could sell a picture and it might start them on their way to a um a career as an artist. So I like that idea. I got that little bit in mind. This one's sort of like the tester. So, we all see like how many people actually submit drawings and like what people like and don't like and maybe for the next one I can add some stuff. Yeah, you do like Yeah. Yeah, sure. Okay. So, thank you. Thank you very much. We're looking forward to it. Thank you. And I skipped over the memorial tribute program nominations. I'm sorry about that. That's okay, Madam Chair. I was even going to ask you if I could have a a chance to have some water before I spoke again. So, this was a welcome break. Hey Madame Chair, members of this commission, uh you may remember at our last meeting uh that we received the very sad news uh that Miss Linda Hart Campamp is stepping down from her position as president with the Wildwood Historical Society um due to some health uh health issues. Uh however uh as you may recall um we appreciated her so much that we delivered two cards. Uh one telling her just how much we appreciated her and one of course expressing our sympathies.

Well, now we would like to uh more formally uh recognize Miss Hart Camp uh for all of her hard work um preserving Wildwood's history. Uh, Miss Hart Camp since taking leadership roles at Wildwood Historical Society. Um, in first she was vice president and now she is um and then she was president for three years. She has been a tireless local history champion for both the com commission and society. She sat on the dis with the commission for at least two years and rarely missed a meeting. Under her leadership, the Hanken houses have been powerwashed and repainted. Wildwood Historical Society acquisitions have been organized, coded, entered into a database, and the commission and society have joined forces at planned events. The speaker lineup at the society has been phenomenal, and in general, the relationship between our two entities has grown in mutual respect and collaboration. Uh the department is recommending to you this evening uh that Miss Hart Camp uh be recognized as a champion of conservancy for the city of Wildwood uh given her leadership with the Wildwood Historical Society, her very significant achievements and her you know being that bridge um between the commission and the society's work. Uh we think she is very worthy of that recognition and fulfills all of the criteria that private participants um hold. And actually I'll skip over my second point just to look at that criteria with you. Um she holds a leadership position with the Wildwood Historical Society. Um she helps manage uh the Wildwood Historical Society asset of the Hanken House which is on the Wildwood Historic

Register and she's a regular attendee and participant at the city's historic preservation commission meetings. Uh further her volunteer work with the society has led to some significant contributions to the area's history. Um the work that she has done um to enter all of that information into the database. While it sounds, you know, it's a behind-the-scenes task, it is very important in preserving our local history. Um, if if this commission chooses to endorse this nomination, um, or make this nomination, I should say, uh, the manner of recognition by the city would be a memorial brick at Old Pond School, uh, small size, a proclamation at city council, and acknowledgement on the city's website. Uh the department would respectfully request uh a motion or discussion from this commission regarding this nomination. I so moved. Been moved and seconded. Is there any further discussion? No. Then I guess we're ready for a vote. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Thank you. Anyone abstaining? Anyone against? We recommend this. Thank you. Secondly, the department in considering this this nomination for Miss Hart Camp felt like it would be a very missed opportunity if the commission did not also take this time to recognize its enthusiastic, dedicated, and accomplished collaborator Jill Vong Grubin, archavist for the Wildwood Historical Society and author of the city's history book Celebrate the History of Wildwood, Missouri. Ms. Von Grubin is another strong bridge builder between the society and commission often often having served as its liaison under

prior presidents. Miss von Grubin on behalf of the society partnered with the commission and department over eight years to complete the history book and conducted much of the behindthe-scenes planning for it. The book went on to be a success, receiving rave reviews from Wildwood residents and professional historians across the state, receiving a nomination for Missouri History Book of the Year, and being included in the booknotes section of the July 2024 Missouri Historical Review, and now having a national platform by being housed in the research library for the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Ms. Von Grubin has collaborated regularly with the commission on many of its projects beyond the history book, including the Wildwood Route 66 selfie tour video, the Wildwood historic communities map, and a national register eligibility assessment of the Hanken House. In addition to signing books at the book tent at Celebrate Wildwood, Miss Von Gerbin has also written another book uh preserving Wildwood's history uh before it was Wildwood, the early churches of Marramck Township and I believe that was actually nominated for Missouri history book of the year as well. Uh so um Ms. Von Grubin is very much a strong contributor um to this area's history. uh she also meets the criterion in the department's eyes of champions of conservancy. Uh we believe that her role as archavist with uh the society um and the leadership she has shown in uh in her uh work with the city um certainly merits this level of recognition. Uh she is equally involved in taking care of the Hanken house as under the society's umbrella. She has been a regular attendee and participant in the commission's activities and in

these meetings and she's provided several um written histories uh for for the city um that will have a a lasting uh impact to our community. So, uh we are asking you to give her that same recognition. It's not meant to detract in any way that we're recognizing both of these worthy women at the same time. Uh, but we felt like we would be a miss if we did not bring up Miss Von Grooven as well. Thank you. Again, I moved. Okay, it's been moved that we do this for uh Jovon Gubin. Is there a second? I'll second that as well. Is there any further discussion or question on this? All those in favor, please raise your right hand. Thank you. Anyone opposed or abstaining? they go forward with this as well. Thank you. Oh, and we are looking to uh take this to the June city council meeting for reasons um of a needed expediency. So, uh and we will be doing uh proclamations at that time as well, assuming that both are available that evening. Thank you. Thank you. Uh the next thing is the uh Missouri Historic Preservation Symposium debriefing which Robin and I attended in Jeff City. All right, Madame Chair, members of this commission, I don't want to spend too much time. We still have a lot on the agenda and a special ceremony to do at the end. Uh but Chair Stevens and I did have a very nice trip to Jefferson City. We experienced um some some very good presentations and

information. Um I think more relevant than ever. Uh Jefferson City um city's experience rebuilding its historic downtown uh probably has even more interest to us now given our recent situation in St. Louis. Uh but in 2019, a tornado damaged a large portion of their downtown area. Um and you know, and that was their their historic uh downtown area. Uh so we had a wonderful presentation um at that time regarding uh what it took um to come back from that and preserve some of the history that was still present. Uh I don't know if I don't think I did. I can email to the commission the presentation that was given um because they are available for download now. I don't want to go too far into it because again I'm trying to get through the agenda. Uh we heard from Riley Price of Missouri Preservation reminding us of why historic preservation is important. Uh we received a great handout that I highly encourage everyone take a look at the standards for rehabilitation. Um these are the secretary of the interior standards for rehabilitation which are used in making appropriate choices for planning, repairs, alterations and additions that may become a part of a rehabilitation project. By following these standards um that is the shest way of potentially getting grant funds um for for property for historic properties. So, uh, whenever we can as a commission, if if an owner is, um, making those restorations, we really want to be advocating that they follow these standards because that's that's ultimately going to help them in the end in terms of getting potentially financial support. And then finally, we learned a lot about the historic tax

credit. I had no idea that Missouri apparently was one of the top states in the nation for using this historic tax credit to restore his historic buildings. Uh but we are and St. Louis is actually number one and Kansas City is not far behind it. Um we learned a lot about some proposed changes at the federal level that would make this historic tax credit easier to use with smaller projects and in rural areas. uh which you know I'm thinking JP Connell House. Um so hopefully uh hopefully some of those changes do take root uh because it could potentially help us with some of our projects down the line. Uh but I have those handouts uh with this item uh in your packet. So feel free to look at them. I will share that Jefferson City presentation because it was a very good one. And uh that's what I have on the symposium. Chair Stevens, did you have any followup? It was really a very interesting day and they served wonderful food for lunch. You always have to think about the food. No, but it was very good. And as Robin and I drove up, we were less than impressed with the look of the building. Uh we had not been to that particular one before. And I was thinking thoughts that I was going to keep to myself, but Robin came up. She goes, "It almost looks like a prison." And I laughed because that's what I was thinking as well. Well, it does not. We got inside and it was gorgeous. The whole backside of the building was glass looking into a wooded area and it was just gorgeous. They had sculptures in there. So, uh, the idea that it looked like a prison went right out of our minds because it didn't. But on the outside, that's the first thing that came. But you can't book by its cover.

Thank you, Robin. Absolutely. Okay. And there was an announcement at uh that symposium about the Missouri Preservation Conference in October. Would you like to address that? Absolutely. Uh so we found out that the Missouri Preservation uh conference is going to be held in St. Louis this year, October 1st through 3rd, which is a Wednesday through Friday. Uh so there uh given it will be much easier for this commission to attend logistically uh we are strongly advocating uh the department and the chair uh that we that we think about attending uh this conference and furthermore the department is proposing that uh it conduct a session at this conference as well. Can I interrupt a moment? Where in St. Louis, have they said? They haven't said. Okay, I can pick up that information once I have it, but I haven't seen anything specific. Uh, this year the theme of the conference is centered around the field of historic preservation as at a tipping point. As the world changes, what can we do to ensure preservation is more relevant, just, and accessible, and a just, and accessible resource? I felt that a lot of what this commission is doing fell right into that theme. And so I proposed that the commission and its partners and its youth uh participate in an all-star panel on why youth are the key, an interg generational approach to historic preservation in Wildwood, Missouri. Uh so I submitted a session. It will be about an hour and 15 minutes. Um, I am waiting to hear back a response. A committee reviews it and lets me know. Though I will say that u, Miss Price was certainly enthusiastic and I'm happy to say that

commissioners Boore and Raggy Ramen have agreed to participate. Uh, Chair Stevens uh, our alternate royals. Um, Bonnie Roy and Scott Rundy uh, with SWT Design who worked with us on the Route 66 roadside park are also going to participate. And I'm going to persuade our Rockwood partners to at least submit a video if they can't show up in person because I would like um I would like a school district participant as well. Uh so if you are interested in participating on our panel, uh I would certainly welcome you. Um I would just need a short uh biography from you as soon as possible um to pass forward to Miss Price. Uh but we are hopeful and uh if you're interested in learning more about what we're proposing, I've included the session proposal form in your packets this evening. On my 2025 election of officers due to I'm at the end of the term limit uh we have to have new officers. So, uh, do you want me to do proposal or do you want to do that? Well, I I would just Oh, okay. Uh, Director Vunich is suggesting that um, Vice Chair Bocker should this item as chairman of the nomination committee. It's almost embarrassing. um you have before you this statement and I'm going to ask you simply to read that if you have not previously read those four paragraphs or three paragraphs uh on the page uh because it explains our dilemma at at

this particular juncture and uh I I will serve for those few months as as the chair to allow us to get back into the schedule as such. You should know that I served two years as secretary and a year and a half now as vice chair uh in in doing this and I go off in October at the end of October. So, so I won't be here any longer, but I am willing to take on the chair so that we can gain some additional members on our commission and hopefully have a wider pool to draw from uh by that juncture. Uh or to train some of the folks that are already here better to serve because none of them have served as officers. And so it I think it would be very helpful to at least have some folks that have have some experience um with the board even though it's the most wonderful board in the world to serve on because we have two of the most wonderful people doing all of the work. Um and it's uh it's always an honor to work with them because they do such a terrific job. So the the question goes before you. Are you willing to accept uh the nominating committee's suggestion that the officers for the next year be the persons named and uh at which time the vice chair in October would take over as the chair appropriately as our constitution indicates. May I ask a question please? Yeah. Why is it so difficult to amend the commission's bylaws? Because we have great people who do a great job and they're terming out and um that just

doesn't seem right right to me. Can can Joe, you probably are the right person to answer that question. Well, Dr. Ramber, you are correct. It just takes a simple majority of the commission members to amend our bylaws. But amending bylaws, it just makes it a little more difficult in terms of consistency. And so from the perspective of Mr. Bocker when we had this discussion with the nominating committee. The thought was is bring stability and consistency over the course of the next few months allow the vice chair then to watch learn and then from that perspective when we get to the first of the year we'll be back into sequence and then we'll make the we'll make the we make the nominations and take the vote that'll carry us through 2026. if we're struggling to find additional members, etc. It just seems like we've the bylaws may constrict that pool a little too much. Well, um, fortunately, we'll be able to fill the officer slates as recommended from the nominating committee in the short term. Miss Keefe, um, and I had a conversation with Mayor Garitano. I think we're on a good path to fill those vacancies very quickly. Okay. So, you guys feel good about this? Yes. Okay. All right. At least I do. I can't speak for Miss Ke. Okay. So, I move that we approve uh approve the recommendations. U the uh motion has been made to approve the recommendation that Alan Buckett be the chair, Debbie Quernneck the vice chair, and Kurt Hensik the secretary. Uh since this comes as a recommendation from the nominating committee, it does not need the second. So I is there any

discussion? Uh it's also open for uh nominations from the floor if anyone has nomination they would like to make for one of these positions. Well, hearing none, take a vote on it. So all those in favor of this slate of officers, please raise your hand. Sure. We need you on here for a quorum, you know. Thank you very much. Anyone against abstaining? Uh, very good. We have a new slate of officers. Thank you. I think It would require a a proposal be placed on an election and the charter amended. And so that's a discussion for our city council and our mayor. Very much so. That's why the RB has been changed to a maximum of three members. And if we can't fill with three residents, we can actually go out and engage. an outside party that's an architect to participate. So that term limits the volunteers is I think probably one of the least appropriate things we've done with our charter. Any other questions? Let's go back to the next thing that we're moving on to. Covered up my agenda. I can't do that. um the review of proposed zoning and all those good things.

Joe, from the department's perspective, as you know, Mary Cliff residence is being removed for the direction of the property owner. Mr. Scott, Miss Keefe, and I spent part of yesterday morning out there meeting with the demolition contractor and representatives of the Marinus Institute. We do appear to be able to salvage some of the building materials that we can actually use in our park system and the potential of using the cedar shakes that form the exterior covering of the walls of the building or our shingles for the roof on log cabin. The demolition permit has to be released no later than June 14. So we tried um did our best I think as a group but certainly there was just not a solution that was readily available. Is there any questions the department be glad to answer them? Yes. Joe, what do you need from us? I'm sorry. What do you need from us? Nothing. Just this is an update so you know it's about to happen. Okay, thank you. Yes, Robin. Uh, the next agenda item. Uh, madame chair, members of this commission, uh, as you are probably aware by now, uh, by the flurry of emails uh, regarding uh, advocacy efforts and updates, uh, there is a lot happening, uh, at the federal level of our government impacting historic preservation. And some of these impacts um, are potentially going to impact uh, the city and some of our activities as well.

Uh the White House has released its fiscal year 26 budget. This budget requests 158 million uh reduction in spending from the historic preservation fund. If enacted, this budget would eliminate annual funding for shipos, uh, which our state historic preservation office is, uh, including HPF grants or historic preservation fund grants to CLGs, which we are one. Um, and we presently have a grant, um, as a CLG in our historic preservation plan effort. Uh Missouri Shipo is still waiting on the National Park Service to issue the notice of funding opportunity for it to apply for the funding for the fiscal year 2025 grants. This usually occurs between January and March. So it is abnormally late. Um, as you may remember, uh, the city did submit a grant application for some officer training, um, uh, particularly for their attendance to the 2026 National Alliance of Preservation Commission's conference. Uh, so, um, at this time that may be impacted. Our currently awarded funds for the historic preservation plan are not. Uh, additionally, the White House budget is uh requesting 1 billion reduction in funding to the National Park Service. This funding reduction could impact the city's National Park Service grants and staffing of the network to freedom program. Uh, so we just wanted you to be aware of what is going on. Uh, clearly all of our partners are um sending out information right now. I've sent that to you. I've forwarded it to you. They have various um information associated with their efforts. Um, so I I just encourage you to stay a breast of what is going on um because it does impact us here locally. Um, and then finally, I've already talked about the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act of 2025. Um, so I won't go into it again. However,

um, there are um, hopefully positive changes to the historic tax credit being proposed and uh, that could potentially help us with projects like JP Connell House. Thank you. Okay, I think we have skipped over the uh Conno House. Uh oh, I did. I apologize. Uh so the reason I skipped over the Connell House is because I didn't supply you with a memorandum. And the reason I didn't supply you with a memorandum is because I don't really have that much of an update for you. But I do have a good update because I'm not sure we've talked about it in a few meetings. Um the good update is that the Department of Planning has been meeting with the Wildwood Property Sanctuary um every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. to discuss status on their efforts to save uh historic properties in Wildwood and their primary focus right now is on the JP Connell House. uh they did engage the owner of that property and uh submitted a a potential offer to buy the property which was um I wouldn't say accepted but they are working on contracts right now. So they it is moving forward um and that's all positive news because it means we we don't have an immediate demolition on our hands and it looks like it's going to get bought. So that's my news at this time. nothing is cemented yet. You know, the the tees aren't crossed and the dies not do audited or the eyes not dotted, but you know what I mean. Um but but things are moving forward in a positive direction. It's always good to hear something positive, Bob. Yes. Thank you, Miss Keith. I have Please use the microphone. Sorry. I need one of those on my neck. My my mouth like a singer. Can you look at that?

Seriously getting me one of these things that I wear? We could talk later. Yeah, I I'll chat with our city administrator on this. See, um it's been going on for a year. Um, I have been tracking this very much because it seems um like it's taking a wayward and the owner seemed to have wanted to just tear it down. That was all. Um, I'd be enthused to know whether there's going to be a repurposing for this structure. If now that it sounds like the city's going to buy it, they've got to have something in mind for it. The the city is not going to buy it. These are private. It's a private entity. The Wildwood Property Sanctuary is under the Fabricators Foundation um which is um headed by a gentleman John Phillips who's been collaborating with Carl Essen on these matters. Um so consider them the nonprofit historic preservation armed. Um they their mission is is to save Wildwood's historic buildings. Um and they're collaborating with the city. So we're a partner in it just in that we want to encourage the preservation of JP Connell House but they are purchasing the property not the city. The zoning is it support anything other than what its current use is or has it got a variety of different potential uses? What is the zoning on that right now? Is it NU? So, so the zoning on it right now is NU and um and what could potentially be applied to this property uh if this if the choice was to preserve the home and make it a historic landmark in Wildwood, we could potentially apply um the historic land use category that is in our master plan to offer some flexibility in terms of uh zoning incentives to make that

preservation project happen. Um, so, so there is room for creativity on the property, but the city would be in control of what that looks like. Uh, an aid question perhaps. Is there anything more than a 0% probability that it'll be dismantled and and rebuilt in in Village Green or just transported over level grade to Village Green? or will it always be nothing more than a repurposing of its existing structure on the site? The goal is to preserve the structure on on the property it's on. Um, in fact, uh, I believe that the intention is to potentially there's a lot of ideas being offered about the property. So, I don't want to speak out of turn. Um, but they originally approached the city about having an opportunity um to potentially use the house as a gallery uh for historic artifacts and things having to do with historic preservation um while they worked on other efforts to historic to restore historic structures and wildwood. So they they seem to have that that focus that mission in mind. Thank you very much Institute. Have a drink. I've been there, done that. We all have.

All right, Madame Chair, uh members of this commission, uh as you may be aware, uh it is certainly the hot topic right now in Wildwood. Uh the Lasowl Institute, uh recently came up for sale. The Lasal Retreat Center, which was formerly the Lasal Institute, is a local landmark and one of Wildwood's greatest historic treasures. It was opened in 1872 by the Christian Brothers and Catholics of St. Louis as the Orphan Protectorate, a charitable institution for the care of orphan boys. Now it is a peaceful and serene setting for retreats and gatherings, offering small and large meeting rooms, a chapel featuring floor to ceiling windows with an inspiring view, two dining rooms, and over 180 acres of grounds. Um the the Lasowl Institute is a point of interest on the Wildwoods point of interest map. Um it feature it's a prominent feature um just to the south of Lasal Middle School. Um, as noted, it recently came for sale. In fact, Chair Stevens and I were at the uh symposium when we discovered uh when we discovered this. Uh, the department has received a few inquiry since the sale. Um, but we don't anticipate it's going to be a quick process. It doesn't seem sound like there's an immediate um immediate solution or immediate desire to jump on the property. Um, tonight we put the item uh on the commission's agenda for discussion uh just to give you an opportunity to offer your thoughts and feedback um as in response to uh this recent development. I've uh included some background material in your packets this evening as well. Thank you. So my only question in reading your information there is the cemetery that's on the property. Do you know like what

would if they sold that to developers or whatever happened to it? Would there be would they you know just perimeter that off or what's the what would you think they do with the cemetery? There's two cemeteries there. The actual offering of the property protects the cemetery. So any buyer is has to acknowledge from day one that the cemetery is protected. Obviously, we've had some conversations with the broker and we advise them that the grotto and some of the other improvements on the site are as equally important to the city. So we're positioning ourselves to not necessarily be an impediment, but we want them to understand it's just not business as usual. And I believe there are two cemeteries there. There's one behind the retreat center where many brothers are buried and then there's the one down closer to the road which I believe is connected to a church. So it's true of talk about plan. Yeah. Was there any talk by what their plans would be after the sale of it? the broker was um not necessarily forthcoming on a lot of information other than that they they do understand that there is the historic land use

category and our master plan and it's a partnership if utilized meaning the city would expect certain steps to be taken to protect the integrity of the asset while allowing some development to occur more so than let's say one unit for every 3 acres of H to see a hillside full of houses there. You say under the current zoning the the primary use would be residential single family detached on three acre lots or greater. Yeah, that's three acres minimum there. I'm sorry. It's three acres minimum there. Correct. Yes. Six. Yes, it's the non-urban resident district. All right, let the farewell party begin. Well, that little piece of information just took the wind out of sail. All right. Good evening, Madame Chair, members of this commission. Chair Stevens came into her current role with the commission just a month or so after I started as a planner with the city of Wildwood. I couldn't have asked for a better leader, co-conspirator, or friend. We were aligned in many ways, both having a background in education and a passion for engaging younger generations in history and heritage and local government. What I especially loved about Jan was

that she was always willing to jump in the deep end with me for every crazy idea, such as forming a task force of students who met monthly separately from the commission and then every crazy idea that resulted from that engagement just from bringing all those people, young minds, enthusias enthusiasm together. uh such as filming a 30 minute selfie tour video, planning and executing two Route 66 events, creating a Hot Wheels track of our Route 66 and a zombie boomag toss, and hosting four times the amount of history tents in one year. She showed up and championed every one of these activities, bringing her support and energy and unwavering dedication and decorum and many of her own creative ideas as well. But there is something else that I admire in Jan, and that is her aptitude for instilling both a sense of ceremony and seriousness to this commission's proceedings while keeping the group fun and engaging. Her remarks are always astute, timely, and on point, and her outfits are memorable. But more than that, she has been the heart and soul of this commission. And while I know there are individuals, worthy individuals, who will step up and fill that space, it will certainly be a tall order. Under Jan's leadership, this commission has received several prestigious awards for its efforts and has offered recognition and support to the efforts of others as well, including the Route 66 student task force via city proclamation. Paul Watowski, Judy Som, Larry Thompson, and now Linda Hart Camp and Chill Von Gubin under the commission's memorial tribute program. Nolan Meyers in the form of a letter of recommendation from this commission and

the local men who served in the United States colored troops um via historic marker and others. Jan knows that it is this celebration that keeps the momentum alive, the energy up and reminds everyone that this work is just so important. And so now it's time to celebrate you, Chair Stevens, in the form of this special video presentation. Thank you for being a dear friend. Hi there. I'm Jan Stevens and I've lived in Wildwood since before the incorporation in 1995. I'm also chairman of Wildwood's Historic Preservation Commission. Preserving history is really important to me, especially local history. My fourth greatgrandfather, Ninian Bell Hamilton, was one of the first Eural Americans into the area of Wildwood. Thank you for being a friend. Travel down a road and back again. Your heart is true. You're a pal and a confidant. I'm not ashamed to say. I hope it always will stay this way. My hat is off. Won't you stand up and take a [Music] bow? And if you threw a [Music] party, invited everyone you

knew, well, you would see the biggest gift would be from me. And the card attached would say, "Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for being a friend. Thank you for being a [Music] friend. If it's a car you lack, I surely buy you a Cadillac. Whatever you need, any time of the day or night. I'm not ashamed to say I hope it always will stay this way. My hat is off. Won't you stand up and take a bow? And when we both get older with walking canes and hair of gray, have no fear. Even though it's hard to hear, I will stand real close and say, "Thank you for being a friend. I want to thank you. Thank you for being a friend. I want to thank you. Thank you for being a friend. I want to thank you. Thank you for being a friend. I want to thank you. Let me tell you about a friend. I want to thank you. Thank you for being a friend. I want to thank you. Thank you for being a I want to thank you. Thank you for being a friend. And when we

die and go away into the night, the Milky [Music] Way, I want to thank you. Thank you for being a friend. I want to thank you. Thank you for being a friend. I want to thank you. Thank you for being a friend. Oh my friend you thank you. Thank you for being a friend. [Music] [Applause] Thank you. Well, I have one last remark. Thank you for allowing me, a tree, to be with you this evening. So many of my ancestors, cousins, and siblings live here in Wildwood. They speak of you often. I'm so glad to have been able to meet everyone. Marcus Garvey has stated, "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without its roots." Thank you for being a friend. Okay. Thank you everyone. Boy, my mouth is always open, isn't it? And speaking my mouth open, I have a presentation. Mr. Bucket, would you rise, please?

You have the power now. So, you always got Robert. Absolutely. We'll have a new parliamentarian. You have a presentation to me right now. Okay. But I won't then adjourn it. I'd like to take a moment at the closing of this term to comment on a subject that to you may not be clear. The question is more complex than at first it may appear. Just why is it that group leaders are also called the chair? The one who thought that title up must surely be aware it does not boast one's ego to be likened to a chair. It's true. One may be well upholstered, oversted or bare. She'll catch up with me in a minute. There we go. Okay. Just between us, I don't think I

look like a chair. The problem really puzzled me. then finally grew clear. A conscientious leader must function like a chair. Some chairs are only beautiful, though delicate and rare. But the kind I refer to is the ordinary chair. It's coming. Can anyone imagine an object anywhere that is more downright useful than the ordinary chair? A chair should never squeak or sag or in any way complain, but just go on functioning no matter what the strain. A chair must be efficient and equal to the task of sometimes being sat upon by some well-meaning lass or lad. A chair should be dependable and always well aware. It's awfully hard to sit upon a chair that isn't there. A chair should not seek privileges that it does not deserve, but should remember at all times it's only there to serve. The proper chair will not collapse when burdened with a care, but stand upon its sturdy feet and calmly bear its share. At last there comes a moment when of worn and weary face the chair must tactfully take off and find a corner place. It needn't seek retirement in corners dark with gloom. Just clear a place for fresher chairs that come to grace the

room. I hope I've served you well and never let you down. For surely I'm the luckiest of all the chairs in town. You've sat upon me most gently through the terms of use, and I honestly can testify I've never known abuse. I'll cherish every spot on me that you have given where. And so to close these thoughts to you, I give you much love, appreciation, and admiration. Thank you. Bye. Jan, thank you very much. Oh, I'm sorry. I stand adjourned, but you may speak. Old day, I've thoroughly enjoyed working with you these past years, and again, as I say to all my first responders, thank you for your service. We all agree. I think our new chair needs your free to Oh, hey, that's need to journ. Yes, we want to report on it next month. Thanks so much. I won't sleep.