McHenry Times

City of Woodstock Historic Preservation Commission Met Feb. 22.

Here is the minutes provided by the commission:

The Regular Meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission of the City of Woodstock was called to order by Chairman Donovan Day at 7:00 PM virtually, via Zoom webinar due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Pritzker’s Emergency order.

CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL:

COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT VIRTUALLY: Marti Dejon, Jennifer Wegmann Gabb, Erica Wilson and Chair Donovan Day.

COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: none

STAFF PRESENT VIRTUALLY: City Planner Darrell Moore and City Manager Assistant Betsy Cosgray.

OTHERS PRESENT VIRTUALLY: none.

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES:

A Roll call to accept the Minutes from the November 23, 2020 Commission meeting. Ayes: M. Dejon, J. Wegmann-Gabb, E. Wilson and Chair D. Day. Nays: none. Abstentions: none. Absentees: none. Minutes were accepted as presented.

PUBLIC COMMENT: none.

ITEMS OF BUSINESS:

a. Woodstock Historic District Trash Enclosures – Certificate of Appropriateness - D. Moore shared the City’s proposal for garbage containers at Johnson Street and Dean Street. They will be made of wood framed by black iron and featuring the City of Woodstock symbol. They also will have keypad security and a roof to prevent people tampering with the garbage containers. This proposal seeks to find an attractive way to conceal the garbage containers and bags, now seen on the sidewalk. D. Moore shared before and after sketches of those areas. D. Day likes the proposed solution for the garbage challenge. D. Moore shared other future locations for trash enclosures in the downtown as well as photos of what they may look like. Responding to M. Dejon, D. Moore stated that they are anchored with Sonotube piers. M. Dejon was concerned with people playing on the enclosure and getting injured. E. Wilson suggested using a composite as an alternate material to bring down future maintenance costs. J. Wegmann-Gabb agreed. D. Moore stated he doesn’t believe they are looking at alternative materials, but would pass along that idea. He also commented that if any major changes in design come about, they will be brought back to HPC for an additional Certificate of Appropriateness.

Motion to approve the Certificate of Appropriateness by E. Wilson, seconded by J. Wegmann-Gabb. Ayes: M. Dejon, J. Wegmann-Gabb, E. Wilson and Chair D. Day. Nays: none. Abstentions: none. Absentees: none. A Certificate of Appropriateness was granted as requested.

b. Train Station Alterations – The remodeling is complete on the Woodstock train station. The Building is on United Pacific land and owned by Metra. The City maintains the property. Metra approached the City with their proposed upgrades to the building. The impact to the exterior is that the roof sign has changed colors, there is a limestone belt on the base of the building and they have added ADA curbs from the parking lot to the sidewalk. D. Moore stated he wasn’t aware of these changes until after the project was completed. Discussion ensued on how to make sure information is shared with the Commission when changes are being made within the Historic District. There was concern with if the material used for tuckpointing was correct for a historic building and the Commission expressed general disappointment in the limestone belt used on the building as well. It was discovered by E. Wilson the plans were taken to the City Council in December 2019. D. Moore will bring this matter back at the next meeting with some better information on the scope of work that was done as well as a Certificate of Appropriateness for the project.

c. Historical Preservation Commission Goals - D. Moore presented ideas for discussion regarding Historical Preservation Commission goals.

1. Compatibility D. Moore led a discussion on what constitutes compatibility in the context of a historic district. He shared examples of buildings and opened up the discussion of compatibility. J. Wegmann-Gabb stated that guidelines are important when approving construction in the historic district. D. Day agreed. M. Dejon commented on how the Commission needs to be somewhat flexible with the standards. E Wilson said it’s hard to control all the variables. J. Wegmann-Gabb said they need one set of rules. E. Wilson commented that the last revision of Woodstock’s historic guidelines came from a collaboration between the Commission and the City Council about twenty years ago. J. Wegmann-Gabb asked how can the Commission protect what matters to the historic nature of the town, while keeping a balance with the desire to increase density. D. Day suggested changing the COA to a point system instead of a yes or no answer. Discussion ensued on revision procedures. The Commission discussed several examples of compatibility of buildings in and out of Woodstock.

2. Materials D. Moore presented the current Woodstock Design Guidelines: (attached) General Requirements, and Alternative Materials. E. Wilson shared information regarding Alternative materials (attached). D. Moore reviewed materials for windows and door requests, and new commercial or residential construction.

3. Historic District Boundaries D. Moore presented informational maps (attached) on the boundaries of the historic district and if they were going to redraw the historic boundaries, suggested three ways of how they could do it: gateways, site lines, and cocoon. Gateways are based on what is seen as one enters the historic district; site lines use what they see from the Square; and cocoon are the areas closest to the historic district.

REPORTS AND UPDATES: None

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS:

D. Moore stated representatives from PanCor Construction and Development, LLC would like to share their proposal for the Die Cast site with the HPC. They weren’t able to make this meeting. In order to meet prior to the Plan Commission, HPC would need to have a special meeting. D. Moore will report back to the commission on when PanCor can meet.

ADJOURNMENT:

Motion made by E. Wilson, second by J. Wegmann-Gabb, to adjourn this Regular Meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission. Ayes: M. Dejon, J. Wegmann-Gabb, E. Wilson and Chair D. Day. Nays: none. Abstentions: none. Absentees: none Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:12 PM.

https://www.woodstockil.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/historic_preservation_commission/meeting/43071/f_-_hpc_2-22-21_mtg_-_part_1_of_2_-_minutes.pdf