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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-18 Minutes CLARINGTON HERITAGE COMMITTEE Minutes of Meeting March 18, 2014 MEMBERS PRESENT: David ReesorKim Vaneyk (ex-officio)Angela Tibbles Councillor HooperKarin MurphyVictor Suppan Bonnie Seto (8:10)Tracey AliJoseph Earle REGRETS: Ruth Goff (Ex-officio), Allan Kirby, Tenzin Gyaltsan STAFF: Faye Langmaid, Kristy Kilbourne Angela Tibbles welcomed all to the meeting and informed the committee members of nformed and NVDHS asked to submit a representative for ratification by Council. DECLARATION OF PECUNIARY INTEREST- None declared. ADOPTION OF AGENDA 14.09 Moved by Joseph Earle, seconded by Karin Murphy THAT the agenda be adopted. ADOPTION OF MINUTES 14.10 Moved by Councillor Hooper, seconded by David Reesor THAT the minutes of the Special Meeting on February 13, 2014 be accepted as amended. BUSINESS ARISING 210 King Avenue West a draft Schedule A for the heritage designation by-law amendment was circulated for discussion with the Committee as a whole, based on the suggestions of the sub-committee who visited 210 King Avenue West in February. The amendment provides the opportunity to correct some of the information from the original designating by-law based on more recent findings and to re-write Schedule A in accordance with the new format brought into effect after the update to the Ontario 1 | Page Heritage Act in 2006. Some minor revisions and additions were made to the draft based on comments by members. Faye will get in touch with the Thornes, provide them with the draft for review and comment, and invite them to attend the next meeting to discuss the amendment with the Committee. 407 Salvage Update all heritage property owner salvage has been completed by the MTO salvage contractor with the exception of the salvage work currently in progress th Concession and Jim Sculthorpe, properties which will be salvaged once the snow melts. Emily will also be retaining contractors to remove and salvage an entire barn structure, as well as 90% of the stone from one of the stone buildings that will be demolished soon. Winston will provide Faye will all of the completed CHERs and Documentation reports, including the Cultural Heritage Landscape Documentation Report for Phase 2, in PDF format to share with the Committee once they are finalized sometime in April or May. Staff is currently working on a summary of the 407 Salvage, highlighting all of the successes, to promote on the website and via a media release. Walbridge House The house is enclosed and protected from the elements and the siding has been ordered. It was suggested that an application be made for a provincial heritage plaque th for the Walbridge House. The deadline for this year is September 15. Faye will prepare a write-up on the house for submission. Camp 30 Marilyn Morawetz made a presentation to Council. Council approved $45,000 in the budget for an architectural study of the site. The Jury Lands Foundation will meet this weekend to continue to work on their by-laws for incorporation as a non-profit, charitable organization. These by-laws must comply with Canada Revenue Agency regulations. Demolition of 85 Waverley Road (Offer of salvage) A few members of the Committee were able to walk by and take a look at the building. Most of the brick (Bowmanville Red Brick) appeared to be in good condition. Staff will contact designated property owners to advise them of the opportunity for salvage. 2 | Page REPORTS from OTHER COMMITTEES (community improvement plans, etc.) Bowmanville CIP Next meeting is April 16, Councillor Hooper Newcastle CIP Next meeting is May 15, Tenzin Gyaltsan Orono CIP Next meeting is March 19, Karin Murphy ACO, Clarington Branch During Heritage Week, the ACO on the GO event took place. PowerPoint presentation with embedded podcast (put together by Bernice Norton), and Q&A on Camp 30. Plans are well underway for Doors Open which will be held the th second Saturday (the 14) of June this year and is focused on Bowmanville. They are looking for volunteers to assist with the event, contact Tracey if interested. Newcastle Village and District Historical Society (NVDHS) No update. Faye will contact NVDHS for a replacement representative. Clarington Museums and Archives The Museum had between 60-80 people attend their OPG Family Days: Family Trees event during Heritage Week on Family Day. There was also praise for their new exhibit, the CHC members who had visited felt was very well done. The exhibit will be up until September and also features a film of historical buildings in Clarington put together by Dr. Williams. Heritage Week Working Group The Working Group will hold their wrap-up meeting on March 20, Angela Tibbles will report at the next meeting. Heritage Conservation District There was damage (due to the ice storm) to the roof of a storage building located near the tennis courts. A temporary structure has been erected to hold the materials until it is decided what will be done with the roof. CORRESPONDENCE and COUNCIL REFERRAL th Ontario Heritage Trust Awards Awards were presented at the February 10 Council meeting. Frank Stapleton attended an event in Toronto to receive his award. Bonnie will see if she can get the photos from this event. Charles Taws has suggested Susan Laing be nominated for an OHT award this year. More information on the OHT awards will be available at the next meeting. HCNT Accepting Nominations for the Top Ten Endangered Places List Camp 30 was on this list last year. Walbridge House was also on this list a few years back. Tracey will speak with the ACO about submitting Camp 30 again for this year. CHO Workshop Notice was circulated for a workshop on Heritage Designations taking th place in Gravenhurst on April 24 for information. No one from the Committee indicated they were available to attend. 3 | Page PROJECT REPORTS Barn ProjectA background and methodology on the Barn Book Project was circulated (Attachment). This can be used to assist in an application for grant funding. Since neither the Municipality, nor the Museum are able to apply for Trillium Grant funding, Tracey will approach the ACO about working with the Museum and the Municipality on an application. Kim and Faye can then meet with the ACO to discuss. home on Beech Street) in the carriage house. Other CHC informational materials can be made available at the table and members are welcome to come out to man the display. The Museum has offered space as part of their booth at the Orono Fair for the CHC/Barn Book Project. This will be a good opportunity to engage with property owners, promote designation, fundraise for the barn book, and answer questions. Linda Brown has been taking some winter photographs of the barns for inclusion in a desk calendar fundraiser which has been discussed at previous meetings. Kim will gather information for the next meeting on how much seed money will be required from the Committee to produce 250 calendars. NEW BUSINESS Heritage Incentive Grant Notice went out to all designated property owners about the Heritage Incentive Grant in the Heritage Week letter in early February. Designated property owners that participated in the 407 Salvage were also sent an e-mail advising them of the opportunity to take advantage of the grant to do their proposed works. All of the property owners that enquired in 2013 have also been sent reminders of the April th 15 deadline. A grant recipient from last year has also offered to be interviewed for an article on the program. Ice Storm--There has been quite a lot of damage throughout Clarington and surrounds due to the ice storm. David and Karin offered to photograph some of the worst hit areas. There have also been many enquiries from property owners looking for contractors to assist in clean up and repair of damage to their properties. Advisors for Designated Homeowners From recent communications with designated property owners, there appears to be a lot of confusion and misconceptions around heritage designation. Enquiries about contractors was also identified as a need. Greater access to a network of designated heritage property owners and the advice of Committee Members would help with outreach. Although there has been 4 | Page communication with property owners through the 407 Salvage, Heritage Incentive Grant and letters to thank designated owners for the stewardship of their properties, accessing owner e-mails would make it easier to contact property owners about programs and opportunities that might be of interest to them. It was suggested that each of the Heritage Committee Members could volunteer to touch base periodically with a handful of designated property owners to provide them with information on available grants and programs for designated heritage property owners, answer any questions, and serve as a point of contact. There was general agreement that this was a good idea. Staff will update the heritage designation brochure, prepare an information sheet that can be distributed, and bring a complete listing of designated heritage properties to the next meeting. PPS Changes The new 2014 Provincial Policy Statement will come into effect on April th 30 of this year. The last Statement was released in 2005. Since the draft was released in 2012, changes that were proposed to the PPS have been incorporated into David Reesor moved the meeting be adjourned. Next meeting: April 15, 2014, 7:00 p.m., at Clarington Municipal Offices, th Presentation on 19 Century Architectural Elements and Design, Victor Suppan Attachments Attachment 1 barn project methodology 5 | Page Barns in Clarington Project Purpose - a great deal of which is related to its agricultural roots. The Clarington Heritage Committee has . embarked on their fourth publication Barns in ClaringtonThis publication will include photographs of various types of barns, descriptions of building materials used, brief histories of selected farms, and information on the original, current and future use of these iconic structures. This unique book will be beneficial to historical and architectural organizations, museums, schools, libraries and members of the community. Background The impetus for this project was a revelation by the Clarington Heritage Committee noticed that barns were a piece of local agricultural history that were being lost at an alarming rate due to the 407 East Expansion project, urban sprawl, and the changing nature of farm practices. Barns and other farm out-buildings are some of the oldest standing structures in the Municipality, often pre-dating designated heritage homes on properties and built by the first settlers to the area. In Clarington, many homes in the countryside are designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act; however barns are not included in any of the designating by-laws and are therefore not protected. Further, property owners wishing to demolish a barn or other farm out-building are not required to get a demolition permit to do so. Consequently, the Municipality is not aware of demolitions of farm buildings until after the fact. This project will offer the opportunity to partner with various community groups and organizations such as the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington. The Heritage Committee has produced books in the past but have not done any since 2000. The books are sold by the Planning Services Department, Clarington Museums and Archives Shop, and Furby Books (Port Hope). At their October 2012 meeting, the Clarington Heritage Committee passed a resolution: Clarington barns and will participate in the endeavour by assisting with seed funding, The goal of this project is not to designate barns but to generate awareness around their historic and intrinsic value, to document the different types of barns that exist in the area, and to build on the existing documented local history collection. Methodology Planning Services Staff and the Clarington Heritage Committee worked with the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation to generate a list of properties which had barns or other farm structures built prior to 1940 based on MPAC coding. A list of 6 | Page approximately 1300 properties was generated. This list was refined by eliminating duplicate owner entries. Letters (attachment) were sent to 685 Clarington property owners with barns built before 1940. Site visits to capture photos and complete information surveys (attachment) were conducted. Once this information is collected, other research is undertaken on the history of the farm using old maps, history books and articles. However, the greatest collection of information has come from the participants themselves who generously share their old photos and family history with us on our visits. During this project we have found the need to search farther into certain topics such as animal husbandry, crop production and storage, farm equipment and barn construction methods. Volunteer Hours/Staff Time To date, approximately 247 hours of volunteer time has gone into the Barns in Clarington Project from X of volunteers. Volunteers have conducted site visits which included interviewing property owners to complete surveys, as well as take photographs. Planning Services Staff have also spent an additional 80 hours on the project finalizing the mailing list, preparing and mailing letters to property owners, and fielding phone calls and inquiries on the project from letter recipients wishing to participate or looking for more information. Staff has also provided administrative support in printing promotional materials and surveys, maintaining a database of photographs from site visits, and working on the related Heritage Week Art Display. 7 | Page Financial CHC budget - Department budget - Mileage? CHC Book Reserve Fund actively selling older publications for the last two years. After the publication costs are covered, all funds from these publications have gone into a Reserve Account bank account. Remainder of OPG Heritage Week Grant Findings to date A great response has been received from owners wanting to participate in this project. To date, approximately 100 barn owners in Clarington have participated and we are hoping that many more will play a part in this exciting project. Promotion/Related projects Promotion of the project was done via a mail out letter to all property owners, advertisement on the Clarington Heritage Website, and notice in the Planning Services -Update. Clarington Heritage Week 2014 Each year, the Clarington Heritage Committee participates in the provincial celebration of Heritage Week, the third week of February. This year, in light of the Barns in Cla eek. The Heritage Committee decided to do an art installation in the Bowmanville Library Branch for the months of January and February to display a small sampling of photos of barns within the municipality. They also invited a local artist and farmer, Eric Bowman, to display his agriculturally themed work in the Municipal Administrative Centre. Information on the project was also disseminated at four film events during the week. a booth at the Orono Fair in late summer 2014, and a fundraiser where mini-desk calendars featuring photos of participating barns will be sold for a small profit with proceeds going to the project. 8 | Page