Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Orange County <br /> HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION <br /> Approved Meeting Summary <br /> January 2gth, 2025 <br /> Bonnie Davis Center, 1020 US 70 West, Hillsborough <br /> MEMBERS PRESENT: Eric Deetz, Todd Dickinson, Rob Golan, Carol Ann Lewald, Art Menius; Cecelia <br /> Moore; Anne Whisnant <br /> MEMBERS ABSENT: None <br /> STAFF PRESENT: Peter Sandbeck, Cultural Resources Coordinator <br /> GUESTS: J. P. McKelvey <br /> ITEM #1: CALL TO ORDER: Chair Menius called the meeting to order at 6:31 pm. Mr. McKelvey <br /> introduced himself and shared his interest in the study and documentation of Indian sites. <br /> ITEM #2: CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: Staff wished to add two items: a brief review <br /> of members with terms up for renewal, and an informal update on the America 250 effort <br /> ITEM #3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES for December 11th, 2024, meeting: <br /> Dickinson moved to approve, seconded by Deetz; motion carried. <br /> ITEM #4: ITEMS FOR DECISION: None <br /> ITEM #5: DISCUSSION ITEMS <br /> a. Landmark evaluation form: Staff handed out a new draft of a revised form for members <br /> to review and consider. This effort has arisen out of our past experience with using the old <br /> form, which tended to have strong biases in favor of properties and sites that were very <br /> old and listed on the National Register. Staff assessed the significance criteria used by <br /> other HPCs and gathered up the most relevant that were compatible with our traditional <br /> approach. Some commissions, like those for Charlotte/Mecklenburg and for <br /> Forsyth/Winston-Salem, are joint commissions that govern those municipalities as well as <br /> the rural parts of those counties. Discussion followed. A goal is to designate landmarks <br /> within the ETJ areas of the municipalities, starting with Hillsborough. Members agreed to <br /> look over the new draft and bring their thoughts back to our next meeting. <br /> b. HPC website content enhancement: Staff provided an overview of a proposed project <br /> to create a new HPC website that can be hosted within the Orange County website. For a <br /> variety of reasons, our old content is no longer visible, so this provides us with a good <br /> incentive to update our website and add worthwhile content. Staff asked for a motion <br /> directing staff to request assistance from the county webmaster team to get this started.. <br /> Moore made a motion, seconded by Whisnant; motion carried. Staff can generate new <br /> content, perhaps with some assistance that can be hired with some of our county funds. <br /> c. Future projects to identify, map and protect historic Black cemeteries and Indian <br /> stone mounds: Members discussed the general challenges associated with locating and <br /> mapping these resources. LIDAR offers a lot of promise as a new tool and has been used <br /> with great success to locate the stone mounds up in Virginia and elsewhere. Staff has <br /> been getting an increasing number of requests from property owners to make site visits to <br /> view these and make sure they're mapped. Staff presented a PowerPoint program on <br /> these resources, highlighting a recent visit to a cemetery on one of the Hester plantations <br /> 1 <br />