The Historic District Commission held its final meeting of 2021 last week, and commissioners spent most of a short meeting considering what 2022 will bring.
City Historic Preservation Officer Kylee Hevrdejs had given commissioners copies of a memo from the Lakota Group, the company hired to help review guidelines. She referred to the memo as “a summary of their observations,” which will provide an outline for further study. Commissioners agreed to review the memo before the next meeting.
Hevrdejs was authorized to pursue several grants for the coming year. She said that as a certified local government agency, the city will be eligible for some grants through the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, possibly to pay for further training.
Hevrdejs also spoke in depth about a city-wide Geographic Information System. “You’d have a map, and you could click a point and the information would come up,” she said. “It would be a big help for future preservation planning.” The software could eventually be expanded to include utilities and other information. Hevrdejs said all that information is currently available, but digitizing would make it much more easily accessible.
Many maps at city hall are deteriorating, and digitizing would create a handier archive. That project would require hiring someone with appropriate tech skills.
Hevrdejs also identified Lake Leatherwood as a likely topic to pursue for a grant. She suggested a survey and the creation of a long-range preservation plan for the park, which she said, “has seen some resource loss due to deferred maintenance and development.”
Hevrdejs reminded commissioners that she could not predict which of those grants might come through.
In other business:
- Jared Swearingen represented owner Jean Upchurch-Ford, who applied to replace some windows at 245 Spring St. The property dates to 1950, but has undergone extensive exterior alterations, including moving doors and windows. The application called for replacing eight aluminum windows, added in 1997, with composite wood inserts. The openings will remain the same size.
- The consent agenda was approved, with one application for changes in exterior lights at 34 N. Main St.
- The HDC will next meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 5. The agenda will include electing officers and discussing the Lakota Group memo. Level III applications are due Dec. 23, and other levels must be in by Dec. 29.