Black Heritage Preservation Committee

Meeting of the Black Heritage Preservation Commission August 21, 2025 6:30 PM City Hall Room 101 & Zoom NOTE: The August 21, 2025 Black Heritage Preservation Commission meeting was held in person and online via Zoom. Members: Minister Monique Jones, Chair Lois Bryant, Veronica Huff, Vice Chair Wendell Huggins, Shawn Walker, Janet Allured, and Braziel Hatch City Staff: Kylee Cole – Long Range & Preservation Planner, Britin Bostick - Long Range Planning & Special Projects Manager Call to Order: 6:31 pm by Vice Chair Huggins In Attendance: Lois Bryant, Wendell Huggins, Shawn Walker, Janet Allured, Kylee Cole, and Britin Bostick. Approval of Minutes from the June 26 Meeting: Motion to accept by Bryant, second by Walker. Approved by voice vote. Unfinished Business Theressa Hoover Historical Marker Update – Commissioner Allured: Allured said the board approved an etched plaque like the design of the West Ave. marker in the Upper Ramble. The wording is approved and Allured will proceed with ordering the marker. She requested assistance from staff in organizing an unveiling with a preferred date of February 28, 2026 (Saturday), and alternate dates on March 7 or 14. Staff will check on these dates and report back to Allured directly. New Business Local Historic District Petition – Staff provided an overview of the legislative framework that guides how local historic districts are created and administered. Specifically, the roles and limitations of the HDC and BHPC were noted. Discussion followed on the preferred role moving forward of the commission since two neighborhoods are actively working on petitions to create local historic districts. Vice Chair Huggins stated that representatives of the BHPC or the Black community should have a seat on the HDC since they are the legal decision maker for local historic district applications for certificates of appropriateness (for exterior changes on properties within historic districts). There was general interest in pursuing adding 2 additional positions to the HDC, though Chair Bryant cautioned that additional commissioners could lead to a more inefficient process. Staff will explore options for moving forward and discuss this with the HDC. CLG 2026 Project Ideas – Staff reviewed the CLG grant program and discussed ideas for phase II of the historic property survey and guidelines for one of the neighborhoods working on a local historic district petition. Commissioners were generally supportive of the two projects, but did not provide any formal recommendations. Announcements – Cole introduced the new long range staff member, Kaci Black. Bostick updated the commission on the downtown master plan project and noted that public outreach will begin in September. 2  Meeting of the Black Heritage Preservation Commission September 18, 2025 6:30 PM City Hall Annex Rock Street Meeting Room & Zoom NOTE: The September 18, 2025 Black Heritage Preservation Commission meeting was held in person and online via Zoom. Members: Minister Monique Jones, Chair Lois Bryant, Veronica Huff, Vice Chair Wendell Huggins, Shawn Walker, Janet Allured, and Braziel Hatch City Staff: Kylee Cole – Long Range & Preservation Planner, Britin Bostick - Long Range Planning & Special Projects Manager Call to Order: 6:30 pm by Chair Bryant In Attendance: Minister Monique Jones, Lois Bryant, Shawn Walker, and Britin Bostick. As there was no quorum the commission did not conduct business but did hear a few updates from staff. Approval of Minutes from the August 21, 2025 Meeting: The minutes were not considered as there was no quorum. The August 21, 2025 minutes will be placed on the October 16 meeting agenda. Unfinished Business Theressa Hoover Historical Marker Update – Commissioner Allured: Commissioner Allured was not present and this update will be placed on the October 16 meeting agenda. New Business Fall Meeting Schedule – Bostick asked the Commissioners to consider whether they would like to hold their December meeting or cancel this year as past years’ December meetings have typically been cancelled due to being close to the holidays. Bostick also asked if the Commissioners have any projects they would like to begin or revisit this fall. Chair Bryant asked for an update on the Henderson School marker. Bostick apologized for not having a presentation ready, but intends to bring a detailed presentation to the next meeting to discuss marker location, style, and materials, and can provide photos of the etched photo marker on West Ave. to show how it has held up well over the summer. Additionally, the Parks Department is working on signage using UV printing that may be an interesting example for the Commission to consider as a manufacturing type. Chair Bryant asked Commissioners to be thinking about additional signs or markers and bring those ideas to the October meeting. Kylee Cole was also requested to provide an update on the historic resource survey with Post Oak in October. Announcements – Bostick gave a brief presentation on the update to the Downtown Plan, which is starting with community input before the project scope is finalized for consultant support. A new web page for the Downtown Plan is now available and provides a link to the engagement platform by which community members can respond to a set of questions with open-ended comments. Bostick is hoping to take advantage of several months to notify the community of the plan and be underway with plan work in 2026. Adjournment – Chair Bryant adjourned discussion at 7:00pm. 2  Meeting of the Black Heritage Preservation Commission October 16, 2025 6:30 PM City Hall Room 101 & Zoom NOTE: The October 16, 2025 Black Heritage Preservation Commission meeting was held in person and online via Zoom. Members: Minister Monique Jones, Chair Lois Bryant, Veronica Huff, Vice Chair Wendell Huggins, Shawn Walker, Janet Allured, and Braziel Hatch City Staff: Kylee Cole – Long Range & Preservation Planner, Britin Bostick - Long Range Planning & Special Projects Manager Call to Order: 6:32 pm by Chair Bryant In Attendance: Lois Bryant, Wendell Huggins, Shawn Walker, Braziel Hatch, and Kylee Cole. Approval of Minutes from the August 21, 2025 and September 18, 2025 Meetings: At the time of the vote, the Commission did not have quorum and would place these items on the November agenda. Unfinished Business Theressa Hoover Historical Marker Update – Commissioner Allured: Commissioner Allured was not present so staff provided the update on her behalf. The marker has been ordered and an unveiling scheduled for February 28, 2026 at 2:00 pm at the Sequoyah Methodist Church. Henderson School Historic Marker: It was decided to wait until more commissioners were present to discuss this item. This item will be placed on the November agenda. Fall Meeting Schedule: It was decided to wait until more commissioners were present to discuss this item. This item will be placed on the November agenda, and Commissioners can determine if they wish to have a December meeting. New Business Historic Resource Survey Ph. 1 Progress Report: Cole notified the Commission that the consultants on the project, Post Oak Preservation, would be in town next week to start the first part of the survey. They will finish up in November. Announcements – Cole announced that the petition for the Oak Grove Local Historic District had been introduced to the Historic District Commission and would be going to the Planning Commission on November 10th. Commissioner Hatch announced that Council Member D. Jones was interested in pursuing a historic marker honoring Silas Hunt. He expressed interest in discussing options for placement near the Joiner House, Chair Bryant noted that he would have to discuss this with Ms. Jessie Bryant and could help schedule a meeting. Adjournment – Chair Bryant adjourned discussion at 6:45 pm. 2