Committee Minutes

Grand Forks Historic Preservation Commission
1405 First Avenue North
Grand Forks, ND 58203
701-772-8756


Meeting Minutes
January 24, 2006
7:00 p.m.
City Hall

Present: Marsha Gunderson, Chair, Chuck Flemmer, Gordon Iseminger, Melinda Leach, Rolf Ottum,
Ken Polovitz, Dale Sickels, Sandy Slater
Others: Kevin Severson (Red River Valley Community Action), Peg O’Leary

Motion: to approve the minutes of the January 10, 2006 meeting as presented. (Polovitz, Slater)
Motion carries.

2016 University Avenue – Red River Valley Community Action
Severson said RRVCA plans to paint the exterior of the house, replace the roof shingles, repair five basement windows, replace the front and rear exterior doors, replace the garage vehicle door, provide three wood combination storm windows, and do some interior work. In response to questions from commissioners, Severson said the garage door would be wood and the house would be painted a light yellow. Gunderson asked if the doors are original to the house, as they appear to be; Severson said he thought so and that they are in pretty fair shape but they are not energy efficient and the owner has asked for steel doors.
Motion: to concur that no adverse effect will result from this work if the original doors are retained and weatherized; new energy-efficient storm doors are provided that allow the window detailing of the historic front door to be seen; the replacement garage door is wood; and the combination storms are wood. (Polovitz, Slater)
Motion carries.

Chair Report – Marsha Gunderson
  Downtown Design and Review Board – DDRB met Wednesday, 1/11/06, to review the final plans for the Elite Brownstones. Gunderson said the facades will be primarily brick with insets of aluminum lap siding, the roof will have a very shallow pitch (2/12) that won’t be seen from the street and the building is about 2 ½ stories tall. The boat sculpture currently in the park will be relocated to the courtyard of the Brownstones. DDRB recommended that the corner memorial with flagpoles be relocated intact to another location downtown where it could maintain its significance and be more readily accessible to visitors. The historic building plaques will be mounted on the brick columns of the property fence. Polovitz said there was a good bit of concern at Beautification Committee that the memorial won’t continue to exist in the same configuration.

Coordinator Report – Peg O’Leary
  Liability Insurance – The Commission has been added to the City’s liability insurance.
  Riverside Nomination RFP – One proposal has been received in the office and two companies have confirmed that they will not be bidding this project. The deadline for proposals is Tuesday, January 31, 2006.
  Granitoid Street Repair – O’Leary distributed a letter from Ronald French, Grand Forks Engineering Department, which identifies sections of Granitoid streets the city would consider including in a resurfacing project if they are able to do so under the Programmatic Agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). It was noted that there have been discussions with the SHPO about delisting parts of the existing Granitoid and retaining a limited area on the Register. The focus of the current discussion was on the deterioration of Granitoid throughout the city and the concern that a smaller area might not be any better protected than the sections are now. Flemmer questioned how Duluth handles its Granitoid; O’Leary will check into it.
Motion: to request that O’Leary convey the Commission discussion and concerns to the SHPO. (Iseminger, Slater)
Motion carries.
  Grant Planning Questionnaire – Commissioners discussed priorities for expending Historic Preservation Funds, based on a questionnaire sent out by Amy Munson, SHSND grants coordinator. Results of the discussion are attached.
  CLG Budget – Members discussed the costs attached to various projects and decided to hold a special meeting on February 7 to finalize the CLG budget proposal for FY06.
  February 14, 2006 Meeting – At least two members will not be able to attend the 2/14 meeting.
  Old Science Mitigation – O’Leary has been unable to find a final, signed copy of an MOA dealing with the demolition of Science Hall at UND. There is a letter from the State Historical Board to the President of UND outlining some negotiating points for mitigation but no actual mitigation document seems to have been developed.

Other Business
  Adelphi Society – Iseminger said the student group fully intends to restore the fountain and they have contacted John Rogers about the statues. It was suggested that the students also contact LeRoy Sondrol to see if he remembers any details about the statues and the previous locations of the fountain.
  Renovation Brochure – Rather than putting together a brochure that would help people focus on the appropriate ways to renovate old buildings, we should see if something already exists. O’Leary will look into it.
  County Fairgrounds Stone Gates – Polovitz said the Beautification Committee was very much in favor of the project. At Beautification, it was suggested that a column of trees leading from Gateway toward the gates would draw attention to them. Sickels will look into the ownership of the land between the gates and Gateway.

Motion: to adjourn. (Polovitz, Sickels)
Motion carries. Meeting adjourned. 8:30 p.m.
The next meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006, in room A101, City Hall.

Respectfully submitted,



Peg O’Leary
Coordinator