Historic Preservation Commission (HPC)
Boston, Georgia
Meeting Minutes January 7, 2013
Approved 2/4/2013
The meeting was convened at and called to order at 7:12 by Chairman Sandi Shaw. Present: Sandi Shaw,
Nancy Hoffman, and Ann Faulkner; a quorum was established. Brandon Godwin was absent. No one from the
community was present.
Order of Business:
A motion was made by Nancy Hoffman to approve the minutes of the December meeting; seconded by Ann
Faulkner. The motion was approved.
A Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) application, submitted by Katherine and Laverne Smith, owners of
property on Pear Street was reviewed. The Smiths are the owners of two warehouses side-by side on Pear St,
the one to the west, is the one for which they are asking for the COA. This building shares a common wall and
lot line with a building owned by Chris Rheberg. At the time of this review the Smiths have finished the
exterior work except for painting the front white which they plan to do soon.
The chair explained that a few weeks ago she noted that work had begun on this building. She contacted the
Smiths and talked with them in person to discuss the requirements for a COA and at the same time to thank
them for the upgrades that they were making. They told her that they were not aware that the historic district
had been established and that they were happy to comply with the ordinances. Ms. Shaw has spoken to Mr.
Godwin before the meeting and he has no objections to the exterior work. Ann Faulkner moved and Nancy
Hoffman seconded a motion to approve the COA; Motion passed.
The commissioners discussed how to encourage owners to submit COA request before they began work as
required in the city ordinances. Both Mr. Godwin and Ms. Shaw have already contacted the Mayor, Danny
Groover requesting help from the council and city employees in explaining the HPC codes. The chair
confirmed that a “welcome packet” for owners has been created and that these packets are available at the City
Hall desk. Nancy Hoffman suggested that the commission prepare material for an article to be submitted to the
local newspapers showcasing the improvements in the Boston the historic district, putting the spotlight on the
owners who have made these investments so that the requirements would be more widely recognized. Sandi
Shaw will draft the press release for the commissioner’s review at the next meeting.
There were no other communications or petitions from the community.
Reports
2013 Homes Tour. Sandi reported that the merchants in town had raised $235 in the sale of holiday cards to
start a Boston Historic Preservation Efforts fund at Thomasville Landmarks. As agreed in previous meetings,
the first HPC project will be the preservation of the Old City Hall. The income from the April 13 Boston
Homes Tour will also go into this fund.
Boston Historical materials: Ms. Shaw said she had spoken to Ann Harrison about accepting the historic
records from the Primitive Baptist Church and the museum will be happy to do so.
Survey of historic homes: no report.
Planning and Zoning report- No meetings have been held for the last few months.
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Old Business
Sale of liquor in Boston restaurants. John Pittman plans to move into an apartment he is finishing in the back of
his building at the corner of Main and Jefferson which he says has been zoned for both residential and
commercial use. He is awaiting the liquor ordinance details to decide if he will open a restaurant/pub. The
adoption of the “pouring” ordinance will come before the city council again this month.
Preservation of the Old Town Hall. Ms. Shaw reported that she had delivered a grant request to Kay Reynolds,
administrator for the Flowers Family Foundation on December 20. The request included support letters from
Charles Olsen, architect, and Brent Runyon, Director of Thomasville Landmarks with color photos of the
building pointing out the need for urgent repairs. The amount requested was $50,000 to be used for phase one
to preserve the crumbling exterior. Ms. Faulkner and the chair will inform the police chief about the grant
status so he can answer questions that may come up. The commission will ask to present material about the
project in a power point to the council at the February meeting. Ms. Shaw said she toured Ben McCollum, past
president of Thomasville Landmarks through the old town hall and he was very interested in helping. She will
contact him later this month.
Discussion of new members. The Chair reported that the HPC ordinances allow for two non-residents to be
appointed as ex-officio members. Ann Faulkner offered to contact Richard Maxwell again since Brandon has
not heard from him. The names of Ben McCollum and Cheryl and Ed Richardson were suggested along with
Charles Olsen and a member of the Flowers family for one or more of the ex-officio positions.
New Business
Historic Building at 111 Main Street c. 1900. Danny Groover, owner, has painted the outside of the building
and completed extensive interior upgrades but has decided to wait on installing awnings.
Historic Building on the corner of Main and Jefferson Street c. 1900. Craig Bloch told the Chair that he plans
to restore the exterior front of his building this summer after returning from Japan in July. He has an approved
COA on file but the commission will need to confirm with him that he intends to conform the details of that
plan.
New Meeting time: At the Chair’s request, the commission agreed to change the monthly meeting time to 7:30
to accommodate Mr. Godwin and Ms. Shaw’s schedules. Motion to adopt by Nancy Hoffman, seconded by
Ann Faulkner; motion passed.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.
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