Title
CONSIDERATION OF SUBMISSION OF THE CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (CLG) PROGRAM 2017-2018 APPLICATION FOR FUNDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $11,250 TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE OKLAHOMA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE.
Body
BACKGROUND: On April 14, 1998, Council approved Contract K-9798-108 with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) making Norman a member city in the Certified Local Governments (CLG) Program. The CLG Program is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s national program for development and support of local historic preservation programs. Since its initial participation in 1999, the City of Norman has received an approximate annual average allocation of $11,000 in CLG grant funds. Over the 15 years that the city has participated in the CLG program, the City has received nearly $194,000 in funding. In February SHPO notified the City of Norman’s Historic Preservation Officer that the City was eligible to apply for up to $11,250 in CLG funding for the 2017-2018 program year. This amount is reduced from the $15,000 that the City had been receiving in recent years. This reduction is a result of Enid becoming a CLG city with a population over 50,000, allowing them to draw a larger amount of funds from the large city portion. This means the available funds will be divided amongst five cities instead of four, reducing the amount of funds slightly for all the cities in the category. However, SHPO anticipates that some CLG cities may not apply for all of their allocation, thereby creating additional funds which will be made available to the other CLG cities. If this were to occur, the City of Norman could apply for those additional funds at that time.
Designation as a CLG city recognizes Norman’s historic preservation efforts and entitles the City to apply for a portion of the education/outreach funding set aside by the SHPO out of each year’s budget. Funding is intended to be used for historic research, public education and outreach programs. Over the past 15 years, Norman’s CLG funding has been used to create public information, educational materials about historic preservation, to conduct historic and architectural surveys, and to host free, workshops and hands-on training programs in historic home repair and design.
DISCUSSION: On March 6, 2017, the Historic District Commission voted unanimously to apply for funding to undertake the projects described below for the FY17-18 CLG Program, which will be July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. The program requires a 60/40 in-kind match. In order to receive $11,250 in CLG grant funds, the City must document a minimum of $7,500 in matching funds or in-kind contributions of staff time. Matching funds are primarily derived by in-kind contributions of staff time and by the annual $2,160 (account 010-4080-419.40-03) contribution from the City of Norman General Fund.
The proposed 2017-2018 CLG project and budget are as follows:
PROJECT 1: Attendance at Oklahoma State Preservation Conference June 2018 - $700
Attendance at the annual state historic preservation conference is strongly encouraged by SHPO for staff and commissioners of all CLG participant cities. It is anticipated that one staff person will be attending the conference which is to be held over the course of three days in Tulsa in June 2018. Total budget of $700 includes registration fees, travel expenses, and lodging.
PROJECT 2: Memberships Dues for National Alliance of Preservation Commissions - $150
Pay for the membership dues for staff and Commissioners to the National Alliance for Preservation Commissions. Total budget of $150 would provide membership for staff and all commissioners.
PROJECT 3: Education Workshop on Historic Window Repair - $1,400
Speaker will be a local expert in the field of window repair. This subject will appeal to homeowners, property owners and contractors. The workshop will be a lecture and demonstration format with handout materials. This will be a 2-4 hour workshop held on a Saturday morning. Topic will be how to maintain your historic windows while increasing your energy efficiency. Total budget of $1,400 includes speaker’s fees, materials, copies, postage and supplies for the workshop.
PROJECT 4: Intensive Level Historic Survey Of The Lydick’s First Addition, In The 1200-1400 Block Of Avondale, Lee, Lindale, and Oakwood Streets - $9,000
Nationally, 1950’s neighborhoods are now old enough to be considered historic and many are seeing rapid changes. This survey will be the third survey commissioned to document Norman’s 1950’s neighborhoods. This Intensive Level Historic Survey will provide a baseline of information regarding architectural history and the historical integrity of the structures in this addition. With this baseline documentation home owners could pursue nominations to the National Registry of Historic Places. However, the main purpose of the architectural/historic survey is to document a unique time period of residential development in Norman before any more changes occur to the properties. It is not anticipated that this survey will be a prelude to establishing a historic district. Approximately 90 properties are to be surveyed. Total budget of $9,000 includes consultant fee estimate for an Intensive Level Historic Survey of this size.
TOTAL BUDGET OF CLG FUNDS OF $11,250
RECOMMENDATION: The Historic District Commission has reviewed and approved the projects proposed for CLG 2017-18 Application for Funding. Staff has reviewed the proposed CLG 2017-2018 Application for Funding and recommends authorizing the submission of the Certified Local Government Program application to the State Historic Preservation Office in the amount of $11,250. Upon notification of funding award, staff will forward any associated contract document to the City Council for approval, including a request to appropriate the approved contract amount. CLG funds are anticipated to be available July 1, 2017.