HPC Minutes 032316 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 b. “Book Committee” inaugural meeting and possible dates/times: The Town HDC has not yet selected members to serve on a joint book committee with the HPC. One member has volunteered but they would like to have two members. This should be decided at the next Town HDC meeting in early April. Staff will report back with the new names and work with HPC committee members to select a convenient date. Members discussed upcoming travel plans and scheduling issues. c. “Training requirements for maintaining the HPC’s status as a “Certified Local Government” and upcoming training programs for 2016: Staff presented a handout from the Certified Local Government (CLG) manual distributed by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), to review educational requirements. Our status as a CLG allows us to apply for the grant funds through the SHPO. We are required to document that two members attend an approved training program each year. The most convenient training option will be the workshop to be held in Chapel Hill on May 13th. The program will consist of technical/legal presentations in the morning, followed by afternoon tours. Members felt that the May 13th date would work well. There will be other training programs held later, probably in Burlington and Greensboro. Staff will share registration information as soon as it is available. d. Orange County HPC to serve as co-sponsor for Chapel Hill CLG workshop: Staff was contacted by Preservation Chapel Hill to see if the HPC is willing to help sponsor the Chapel Hill program by providing funding for morning snacks and coffee. The Town of Chapel Hill is also a sponsor. Members felt this was appropriate. ITEM #6: UPDATES AND INFORMATION ITEMS a. Update on historic resources inventory project: Staff reported that Phase 2 of the project is now well underway, to conduct the inventory of the historic resources in the ETJ area outside of the Town of Hillsborough boundaries. This will include the moved mill houses out along Dimmocks Mill Road, along with the area around Orange High School and properties up Route 86 and Route 57 north. Our consultants have done about half of the fieldwork. The largest concentration is along the section of St. Mary’s Road between Cameron Park School and Highway 70. There are a few modernist houses and Colonial Revival properties of note in the ETJ. The main piece of this phase will be the draft historical/architectural essay, to be prepared by July. b. Old Courthouse Preservation Project: Staff reported on positive budget progress for planning for the master plan for the Old Courthouse Square. The first year will involve a Phase I archaeological survey of the square to make an official record of all the below-ground resources now present. We will use this information to develop a “Cultural Landscape” study of the square. The next phase will involve planning for a program of preservation/restoration for the courthouse itself. One of the end products of this process will be a community input process to develop a master plan for the landscape and grounds of the Old Courthouse Square. c. Bridge replacement project at Hall’s Mill Road in Cheeks Township: Staff provided a PowerPoint presentation about the proposed NCDOT project to replace the c. 1958 bridge where Hall’s Mill Road crosses the Eno, northwest of Hillsborough. The present bridge has concrete piers carrying heavy steel I-beams, topped by wood timbers with asphalt applied directly to the wood timbers. DOT has determined that it is due for replacement. Staff contacted DOT archaeologists and architectural historians and will meet with them later this spring. Issues will include the possible project impact on the National Register-listed David Faucette House, the Ellis House (Little Ayr Mount) and the site of the former Hall’s Mill structure, with its millrace and dam. There has been a mill operating in this general location since the late 18th century. The presentation included