Minutes - 2007 - Historic Preservation Commission - 09/09/2007 - RegularSE.r �a dGC 2 Cr..r.+a r,L� or✓ - Y7jii74
THE EAGLE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES FROM THE MEETING OF: August 9, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 6:15 p.m. by Chairman Jason Pierce.
Roll Call: Commission members attending were: Betty Fisher, Kay Madary, Jason Pierce and Nancy
Suiter. Laurie Baker, Curator, was also in attendance.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Approval of Minutes: Kay made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 12, 2007 Commission
meeting and Betty seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved.
Curator's Report: There were no questions about the Curator's Report. As a result, the Curator used
this time to explain about the desire of Love Productions to film a portion of a "reality" documentary in
the Museum and about her having referred the matter -to the City Attorney's office. The Love Productions
representative claimed to have a "blanket OK" from the City to film on city property, but the Curator
explained she knew nothing of this and was in the process of having the City Attorney review her recently
composed and adopted Historic Photograph Collections Policy to see if it covered such occasions. The
filmmaker and the individuals with him (apparently the young people who were supposed to appear in the
film) left and did not do the filming they apparently intended to do that day.
Approval of Expenditures: There were a number of expenditures this month. Office supply expenses
were double what they usually are because the Curator rediscovered a "lost" receipt from March and so
was able to claim reimbursement for that expense this month. She also ordered the media upgrade to the
PastPerfect program so that artifact pictures can be inserted into their records and with shipping and
handling that came to $303. Kay moved that the bills be paid and Jason seconded the motion. Payment
was unanimously approved.
Update — Car Show: The Auto Fest seems to be on track. The Curator reported that she had delivered a
car load of goodies for the goody bags to the Vintage Gems Auto Club at their monthly meeting on
August 2, 2007. She explained that 99% of those goodies were collected through the good offices of the
Chamber, which had put out a plea for such necessities over their website just prior to her deadline and
the donations had come pouring in. The Auto Club was immensely pleased at our success, both in the
goodies arena and in regards to raffle and door prizes. Their one small concern was that we had only
managed to round up five paying sponsors and this limited the number of sponsor awards they would be
able to hand out.
Archives Management: The Curator pointed out that the majority of the archives cubicle was in place
and that all that remained was to retrieve two of the office panels from storage and clean them up so that
they might be placed around the file cabinets and partialy in front of the desk. After talking with Jason, it
was also decided that she will pursue the purchase of a new computer through regular city channels so
that we might be able to save some money. Jason agreed to act as a "consultant" should the need arise,
but he felt that the city's IT person, Leonard Wilson, should be able to find what we need at a
considerably reduced rate.
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2007/2008 Budget: The Curator handed out what is hopefully the last version of the budget for FY
2007/2008. If the City Council makes no more cuts, the budget stands at $80,666, essentially a 12%
reduction from the amount we originally requested front the general fund. Kay moved and Betty
seconded to accept the budget as it now stands. It was approved unanimously.
O.F. Short Home/New Construction: The Curator sent a lengthy e-mail to Mark Guho, the developer in
charge of the new office building next to the O.F. Short home site and located on the property that was
once the prune plant asking if he might not consider placing a plaque or small exhibit commemorating the
former history of the site in the lobby of the new building. Thus far, she has not received a reply.
NEW BUSINESS:
Commission Secretary Position: Kay's Commissionterm expires in October, 2007. To make the
transition smoother, she resigned as secretary with this (August 9, 2007) meeting. Kay nominated Nancy
Suiter to serve as secretary and Nancy accepted the nomination. Kay then moved that Nancy be elected
to the secretarial position and Betty seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Parlor Organ Donation: On June 15 and then again on June 21, 2007, the museum received a number
of valuable archival and photographic donations from Ann Rogers, a former Eagle Island resident who
now lives in Challis, Idaho. Ms. Rogers also spoke with the Curator on the phone re her desire to donate
a parlor organ to the museum. The organ was made by the Kimball Co. of Chicago, was a fixture in her
parents' Eagle Island home for fifty years and has been refurbished and is in good shape. The Curator
expressed her concerns re proper storage of the instrument and the cost of getting it from Challis to Eagle.
Two Commissioners, Betty Fisher and Nancy Suiter, both expressed a willingness to temporarily store the
organ in their respective homes and the Commission asked the Curator to pursue the question of moving
costs with Ms. Rogers.
Old Eagle School Bell: On June 20, 2007, Betty informed the Curator that an acquaintance of her
daughter's claimed to know the individual who is currently in possession of the old Eagle school bell and
that he was interested in getting this individual to donate it to the museum. It is large enough and heavy
enough that it would have to be put on display in front of the building and Betty's friend said that he
might be able to arrange for that installation as well. The Commission felt that acquiring this particular
artifact was worth the additional work that was required to see that it was adequately and safely installed
and instructed the Curator to continue to pursue the matter.
Entry Wall Redesign: The west entry wall of the museum is virtually unusable for wall display. Items
can be attached to the bulletin board -like unit in the middle, but the wall is composed of painted over
cinder block that will not accept nails and that is uneven enough that traditional museum mounts simply
pull away from it. The Curator suggested that a false wall might be constructed directly in front of that
wall and suggested that the Commission might look for someone with the expertise to do that and at least
be willing to donate their time with the museum supplying the materials. Jason said that he might be able
to find someone to build such a wall and the other Commissioners encouraged him to do so.
Beacon Light Monument: The Curator's beacon light: storyboard prompted quite a bit of excitement
recently when three sisters, stopping into the museum for the first time, noted that the cement pad on
which the light used to sit is on a corner of their family s property. It is no longer visible, having been
buried over the years by numerous layers of dirt and silt, both manmade and natural, but they were very
excited about the prospect of having a historical plaque or marker that would protect the site from
development placed there. The Curator explained that this would properly fall under the parameters of the
Commission's historic preservation responsibilities and that she would approach the Commission about
their concerns. The Commission expressed excitement at the possibility of pursuing this project and
instructed the Curator to start looking into the matter.
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Adjournment:
There being no other business, Kay moved and Betty seconded that the meeting be adjourned. Approved
unanimously, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kay Madary, Secretary
Approved on
Jason Pierce, Chairman Sharon Bergmann, City Clerk
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