Historic Commission

Minutes of the City of Wheaton Historic Commission October 18, 2016 Meeting Held at City Hall, Wheaton, Illinois Attendance- Present: Barbara Dutton (Vice Chair), Nancy Flannery (Chair), Maureen Fogerty, Tom Kay, Steph McGrath (Secretary) , Frank Principe. Absent: Emelie Engling There was no public comment. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm. Minutes of the Sept 20, 2016 meeting were approved as corrected, following a motion by Barbara, seconded by Tom, and passed unanimously. Old Business -25th Anniversary of Historic Commission: Nancy reviewed the event; about 55 attended. She shared a news article which informed the Commission that the venue, the Mary Lubko Center, has a history of American Legion affiliation and was named for WW1 soldier La Verne Perrottet. -McKee Preservation Group Barbara gave an update on the letter writing campaign and community heritage. The historic commission is not prohibited from taking an advocacy position so a draft letter in support of the McKee House preservation was reviewed and edited. Frank moved to send the letter as amended and approved; Maureen seconded and it passed unanimously. Nancy will have the letter put on City letterhead and mailed. -Warren Wheaton House Update Nancy recapped events regarding our town founder’s 1847/48 home including the Planning & Zoning staff asserting that the structure was not historic. Cornersite LLC, the developer claimed the marker was unclear about whether it was a historic site or historic structure but Steph pointed out that the historic site marker reads “Though no longer visible, the original home has been incorporated within this much larger structure.” The Commission discussed the need to publicize the threat to the founder’s home, and possible strategies. An ad hoc committee against razing the Warren Wheaton home will meet at 3pm Oct 24th at the Wheaton Public Library study room. Nancy will make the reservation. -New commissioner A promising candidate applied to join the Commission but discovered he was not eligible due to residence in unincorporated Wheaton. New Business -Financial report Pending Commissioner Comments -Frank thought the power point presentation of landmark properties should not use the Milton Tax Assessor’s photographs. He agreed to help Nancy re-photograph approximately 145 properties to replace the ones from the MTA’s website which Nancy used (with permission). -Tom commented on his living in Wheaton his whole life -Steph noted with an election coming up we might pose questions to candidates regarding their views on historic preservation issues -Maureen would like to see dates of houses added to the power point presentation -Barb complimented Nancy on the 25th anniversary event Adjournment Steph moved, Tom seconded, the motion passed unanimously, and the meeting concluded at 9 pm. Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 7:00 pm, City Hall