City of Newberg

Historical Preservation Commission
February 27, 2024

Meeting called to order at 7:03 p.m.

Commissioners Present:

•  Charles Watson

•  Britta Mansfield

•  Bob Woodruff

•  Debbra Buerkle

•  Robyn Wheatley (Ex-Officio)

Commissioners Absent:

•  Joy Hughes

Staff Present:

•  Rachel Thomas, City Recorder

•  Clay Downing, Planning Manager

Guests

Kuri Gill, Oregon Parks and Recreation

Meeting Called to Order

New commissioners Britta Mansfield, Debbra Buerkle, and City of Newberg Planning Manager Clay Downing introduced themselves.

Council Appointments

Motion to elect Britta Mansfield as Vice-Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission by Bob Woodruff, seconded by Debbra Buerkle. Motion passed unanimously.

Motion to elect Bob Woodruff as Chair of the Historic Preservation Committee by Debbra Burkle, seconded by Charles Watson. Motion passed unanimously.

Presentations

Certified Local Government Program Overview and Training by Kuri Gill from Oregon Heritage

Presentation by Kuri Gill, the Grants and Outreach Coordinator and Historic Cemeteries Program Coordinator from Oregon Heritage and Oregon Parks and Recreation.

First, Gill defined the Certified Local Government (CLG) program for commissioners.

The Certified Local Government program is a federal program of the National Parks Service. All states have a national preservation office, as do tribes and many principalities. Part of the role of the state historic preservation office is to implement programs of the historic preservation act. Some of those include federal, cultural resource protections, and the one people know most is the national register of historic places.

“We really believe in the local preservation programs because you all know your communities, your historic resources, what your people care about and how to talk with them or how to build the relationship to encourage people to know the historic place and then also build the appreciation for then, certainly much more than we would do coming in as the state not having those relationships not having that community connection.”

Gill has been talking with city staff to implement some programs within the city.

They’re funded by the historic preservation fund, and a portion of that funding we’re required to pass through to our certified local governments.

In the past, Newberg has done a few projects around surveying and public education that were funded by Certified Local Government dollars. They’re required to give at least 10%, but give about 25% of the funds they get through this program to local governments. Newberg is one of 37 Certified Local Governments around the state.

The program is very place-based. The historical society is more about collecting stories. But through the preservation program, it’s more about the places and preserving them.

Mansfield asked Gill how active Newberg has been with this program in the past. Gill said Newberg has been pretty active until about a year and a half ago. There was a grant project that was canceled due to staff changes, but up until that point Newberg was applying every year they could to do some project.

As Newberg is a CLG, the Newberg Historical Preservation Commission is helping the city be able to be a CLG, having the commissioner board in place is a requirement of the program. There is a requirement of at least four meetings per year, and having a list of historic resources is a requirement. Having a local designation process is a requirement. And if you have a regulatory program associated with that designation, it meets standards, and the program follows state and federal laws.

CLG gets help from the CLG program office, getting training, advice, talking through planning, and then grant funding that can be used for hiring consultants, surveyors, researchers, to do nominations locally or on the national register, for public engagement activities, walking tour brochures, story maps, and more. CLK cannot fund signs or interpretive panels, a common request.

Woodward asked why, if the goal was to increase promotion and awareness about local historic sites, CLG funding cannot be used for signage. Gill said there are some historic rules in place from around 5o years ago, when they wanted to be sure the money was going to preserve old buildings, not making exhibits in old houses. It’s something that people have been complaining about ever since, she said.

Woodward also said he was excited about an award program for historically preserved houses and asked if there was funding for an awards program. Gill said this program can fund something like that.

Regarding the grant program, Newberg did not apply for the grant for this year and the applications happen around February every year. By this time next year, Newberg will be primed to apply next year with projects and priorities for the grant. The grant is noncompetitive, Gill said, meaning the city will know how much is there to award each community. As long as the project has a reasonable deadline and budget, it will be funded. That means the city could be awarded between $8,000 and $15,000 depending on availability.

Woodward asked about the funding and if there is a match requirement by the city. Gill said there is a match requirement, it is a 1:1 match, but it can be staff and volunteer time. So a city the size of Newberg, just the city staff doing the program can be the match for the funding they’re requesting.

Watson asked how they calculate volunteer hours. If you’re doing something related to your profession or former profession, you can calculate based on your former rate. If you’re not doing your former profession, then it’s Oregon minimum wage based on where you are in Oregon.

Buerkle asked if there is an annual report of the CLG programs that have happened every year, to which Gill replied no. However, users can search the grant award winners to see and learn. Gill then showed the website oregonheritage.org, and under “Designate” there is a link for “Certified Local Government,” where you can see the list of requirements and benefits, general information, Oregon land use, and more.

Mansfield asked who actually performs the grand writing, to which City Recorder Rachel Thomas replied that the city could write the grant or the Historic Preservation Committee could work on it.

Gill said this program is a great way for the city to support the other work happening in the community via supporting the Main Street organizations, for example.

Discussion of Goals for the Commission

Woodward said at the last meeting, they reviewed the five year work plan. The first order of business is to come up with some action steps and a vision of where the commission should go.

Buerke asked if the commission can do work sessions outside of the standard meetings. City Recorder Rachel Thomas said that a meeting is required to be a public meeting and needs at least 48 hours notice before going on the docket. However, smaller meetings between a couple of members have a lot more wiggle room.

Thomas also said there is a vacant seat for a student commissioner after the prior student commissioner left for college. A student commissioner can be a high school or college student.

Watson asked for clarification on rumors about the Historic Preservation Commission disbanding, to which Thomas said those rumors floated when the grant project to create a downtown historic district ended. City Manager Will Worthey said there were talks of disbanding the commission because he felt there wasn’t enough community participation in the project and wanted more community outreach.

Downing said if the downtown historical designation project and project description had more language around the public outreach, the city would have been more comfortable with funding the project. As it was written, it seemed like it was a foregone conclusion there would be participation. Thomas said that there is a deep love of history within the city, and if anything they want to see more from this commission.

Downing added that at the time, his department was down to two staff out of five, which made considerable strain on the department.

Woodward asked Wheatley if there are any directives from City Council for this commission, to which Wheatley said they are interested in preserving but nothing directly.

Thomas referenced the five year work plan, established in 2021. One part of that was the George Fox History Mapping project, which was completed and is available through the George Fox website. Buerke brought up the idea that the commission should provide information and education to property owners about their historical buildings and the obligations or opportunities there are.

Woodward added that there are opportunities for funded or partially funded improvements like the Chapters building, which received Main Street funds to preserve the front of the building.

Downing said that a high priority for the commission is working with the Newberg Downtown Coalition work with the Main Street Program to improve facades downtown.

Another project on the list was the historic downtown district project, which was paused during staff turnover last year. All of the application materials are still there and can be revived.

Mansfield said the Historic Inventory, another item on the five year plan, can be improved. It hasn’t been updated for a long time, she said.

Coordination with Taste Newberg to coordinate on tourism opportunities is another item on the list. Mansfield noted that she is on the Taste Newberg board for the record and that she will declare that during board votes to avoid conflicts of interest.

Woodward said if there are any votes of boards that are responsible for awarding money from one organization to another, then the board member would abstain from those votes. Downing said to make sure to account for ex parte communication, or knowing information that would impact decisions and disclosing that knowledge before or during deliberations and votes.

Signage and interpretive signage is another goal, which has been difficult because they’re not eligible for CLG grants.

Buerkle said she’d like to see more of the historical information converted to digital versus print, and consolidating the overlap of goals internally and overlapping with other organizations and commissions that are duplicating efforts.

Woodward asked if it would make sense for the commission members to come back together for one meeting in a month or a month and a half after reevaluating the commission goals.

The commission discussed meeting cadence and schedule as they’re establishing, as well as designating responsibilities. Downing said there are decision making boards, and working boards — meaning some commissions create work for Newberg City Staff to complete, and other commissions take on the responsibility of the work to complete it themselves.

Woodward suggested meeting again for a strategic planning session in a month, which landed on March 21, 2024 at 7 p.m. Thomas scheduled the meeting. Buerkle said before the meeting, she wants to know where the assets for the commission are and where the information is so she can review prior to the next meeting.

Thomas asked commissioners if they wanted to invite any external stakeholders, with the examples Newberg Downtown Coalition, Taste Newberg, and the Newberg Area Historical Society. The commissioners said they wanted to understand the current goals and efforts before knowing who to invite in.

Update on Staff Coverage for The Commission

When Doug Rux retired, his commissions were spread amongst other staff members. City Recorder Rachel Thomas said she has extensive experience with history, as she has a masters degree in Early American History and was the George Fox University archivist as well as taught history at George Fox University and served on historical society committees in the past. Thomas and Clay Downing are working together on the commission, and City Manager Will Worthey will join meetings occasionally as he also studied history and is fond of historical preservation.

Thomas acknowledges that a City Recorder being a representative for the city in a historical preservation commission is not standard, but her experience and qualifications presented a unique opportunity to support the commission.

“There’s a lot of different ways to care about history,” Downing said. “Historic preservation commissions often focus just on historic sites and landmarks. But that’s not the only thing that people care about.”

Thomas also said that commissioners would receive notifications regarding their SEI filing, or Statement of Economic Interest.

Meeting ended at 8:03 p.m.

###