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 Minutes of CPR MeetingsMinutes are posted for the current year, with newest at the top of this page. Please send corrections to Dick Gibson, Secretary (rigibson@earthlink.com). The following links to archived materials are html pages, document files, or PDFs.
February 9, 2010 • Jacobs House
The first item of business was Fire Marshal John Lasky's presentation on the Uptown arson problem. Because of a recent arrest in at least one case, and ongoing investigations, Mr. Lasky could not talk about specifics of any recent fires. He outlined Butte's unfortunate history of fires; he's been on the force since 1976 and was involved in fighting and investigating the many fires of the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the approximately 12 arsons in 1992-93 attributed to Monte Boston. Another 9-month period of fires in the 1990s focused on South Main Street, with one conviction. Mr. Lasky said, "You rarely see a fire in a clean house," meaning that one important means of prevention includes clean up (both inside and outside, the latter to remove combustible items of opportunity) of trash, weeds, junk, and general disrepair. He encouraged neighbors to watch neighborhoods. Other deterrents, for both fire and vandalism, include motion detectors, lights, security cameras (est. cost, $125). Motives for arson include revenge (common), vanity (someone wants new stuff, or a new house), insurance fraud (these days, often car fires), curiosity (kids), and kicks. Mr. Lasky indicated that one of the biggest problems, fires in properties owned by BSB, has declined significantly in the past 4-5 years with the aggressive use of developers packets to get county-owned properties into private ownership. The BSB free smoke detector program is no longer available, but the Fire Department placed about 14,000 free smoke detectors thanks to a grant from the Centers for Disease Control. Minutes: Minutes were not read. Treasurer's Report: Jean Abrams was introduced as our new Treasurer. Few transactions have meant little change since January. Jean will work with past treasurer Mitzi to get the IRS 990 form completed. Education: no report Dust to Dazzle Tour: The committee meets Feb. 11, 6:00 pm, at Kelly Rose's house, 1135 W. Mercury. HIP Grants: Dick said that the word was that the VAF overage check, earmarked for HIP, was expected to be mailed to us tomorrow. Salvage: Mike Hogan reported three contacts seeking materials. Question of how many doors may be in the secondary storage place. Grants: Mitzi said that Nicole is applying for another US Bank Foundation grant.
OLD BUSINESSFall Film Festival: Carrie has contacted Pat Munday about helping with this.P.R. Plan: no report. Greek Cafe: Nicole made a presentation at the URA board meeting. Mitzi indicated that there were still some formalities to get straightened out, but that once the URA's pledge is in our hands in writing, we will contract with Tom Beaudette (BCE, Inc.) to do the architectural planning. Revolving Fund: The subcommittee (Mitzi, Mike, Mark, Dick, and Irene) met and brainstormed ideas. An outline of the revolving fund concept was given for newer members unfamiliar with the plan. Annual Report: Expected to be distributed in a week or so. Big Hole Pump Station: Nothing new. Other: none
NEW BUSINESSEmma Park: Mitzi indicated that rumors suggest the possibility of new construction within Emma Park, and suggested our vigilance. There is a meeting with the Human Resource Council folks and their contractors, at the Blue Luna Feb. 11, to have public discussions. The HRC is building a new building at the corner of Colorado and Silver. Janet Cornish has something to do with them - Mitzi will contact her about a possible presentation/discussion at the next CPR meeting.Travona neighborhood: Carrie mentioned new houses near the Travona, and wondered if there had been demolition there. Mike said he thought they were Habitat or NAHN houses and that there had been no demolition there. 500 Block W. Park Street: A house there is falling apart, according to Mitzi, who suggested it could be a good candidate for Demolition by Neglect proceedings with the Historic Preservation Commission. PayPal: Jean gave Dick the papers needed for us to rejuvenate our PayPal account (we hope).
OTHER REPORTSHistoric Preservation Commission: Mitzi said the HPC is still working on guidelines, that maybe in 2 months or so CPR and the general public might have a draft to review.Community Enrichment: no report. Butte Restoration Alliance: The alliance is seeking members. URA: no report Council of Commissioners issues: no report Main Street Uptown Butte: no report. Other: none.
OTHER DISCUSSIONNoneNext Meeting: Tuesday March 9 January 12, 2010 • Jacobs House
There were no minutes from the November meeting; apparently only three people attended. Treasurer's Report: no report Education: no report Dust to Dazzle Tour: Kelly reported that a date was set because Travel Montana needed it for publications. She'll get the date to Dick for the newsletter and web site. HIP Grants: Nicole reported that the Butte Board of Realtors had asked for a request letter regarding a HIP grant donation, and we received a $500 HIP contribution from the Butte Community Foundation. Dick said it sounds like the VAF overage donation, which will be earmarked for the HIP program, is in the pipeline. Request made to form a HIP grant committee to review and approve grants when they come it, since we've lost two committee members. Larry, Kelly, and Mark volunteered to serve on this committee. Others are welcome - contact Larry. Salvage: Mike Hogan and Jim Jarvis volunteered to work as the salvage coordinators. In addition to a possible salvage sale next summer, this entails dealing with folks who want to donate or buy things from our salvage stash. Grants: Nicole reported that the first payment for the second (FY 2010-11) C & A operations support grant should be coming in this month. The CCSP grant for $30,000 for the Greek Cafe is in.
OLD BUSINESSFall Film Festival: (moved by Secretary from New Business to Old Business) Mitzi talked to Pat Munday who will be happy to coordinate this but obviously it will be a Winter-Spring Film Festival. This would be a series of 4 or 5 films with some relation to historic preservation. Thanks to Pat, they would be shown at the Montana Tech auditorium. Pat has requested a small committee to help with promotion. Carrie and Mark volunteered. Others are welcome - contact Pat Munday.Greek Cafe: Nicole plans to rejuvenate the Greek Cafe Subcommittee via the soup kitchen brainstorming get-togethers, planning one probably for the fourth weekend of January. If you are not on the list for this project, contact Nicole. In connection with this, Karen Byrnes has asked for CPR input, and Nicole will contact her and plans to attend the next URA meeting. Other: none
NEW BUSINESSElection of Board Members: Dick nominated Robert Edwards, Larry Smith, Carrie Kiely, Mitzi Rossillon, Mark Reavis, Mike Hogan, and Wendy Ward to be board members. Nicole seconded the nomination, and the members present elected them unanimously. There was some discussion of the logistics of including a remote member (Wendy) in meetings - talk of Skype, of Robert's handy-dandy speaker phone that he has sometimes used for Mai Wah board meetings (the Mai Wah has a board member in Illinois). It will be worked out; Larry is in charge.Election of Officers: The Board elects officers. Elected were: President, Larry Smith. Vice President, Carrie Kiely. Secretary, Dick Gibson. There was discussion of the Treasurer's position being vacated by Mitzi. Dick had offered at the August meeting to serve as an interim Treasurer (1 year maximum) if no one else could be found. Nicole is interested but cannot do it for free and would like to include it in her duties as our quarter-time office person. Nicole is planning to send a letter to the Board with a proposal regarding her position. The Board decided to meet Tuesday January 19, 5:00 p.m., at Jacobs House, to discuss the Treasurer question. Annual Report: Nicole is working on a draft and will have it to the Board for review this week. She needs the 2009 financial report from Mitzi, and that is waiting on one last item to be complete. Membership Drive: Nicole is about to get this going. Revolving fund: Discussion of needs for guidelines, structure, etc., anticipating the possibility of getting it going on a small, initial scale, even before applying for money (from the Arco Redevelopment Trust fund, once it becomes available). Dick is to send the draft outline he wrote in 2007 to the new board. A committee is formed to study and work on this. Mitzi, Mark, Irene, and Dick volunteered. Others are welcome - contact Mitzi. Brainstorming other projects: Mark Reavis brought up the idea of engaging organizations and individuals - especially those that might not be typical members of CPR - in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Butte National Historic Landmark in 2011. Such people would be encouraged to sponsor events of some sort that would spotlight their properties or businesses, and would become both promotion as well as some income for CPR as there would be membership in CPR involved. Dick mentioned that the Montana Historical Society's County History Initiative provides funding, up to $2,000, that might include something like this. He is to get the information about that grant program to Mark. Richard Nelson is an art collector who was attracted by possibilities involving the Greek Cafe, but his broader vision is for a space to house important private art collections from his colleagues across the country. He has looked at various things and has talked with Glenn Bodish and others. He wanted advice from CPR folks in two areas - should he make his own non-profit organization, and what does that entail? and can we give suggestions regarding specific buildings. Lively discussion, and Richard will continue to follow up with CPR. Big Hole Pump Station - we had a message from Dave Shultz about possible concerns regarding abandoning the historic pump house at Divide. Larry encouraged people to read Dave's blog - http://butteblogs.blogspot.com . Jim Jarvis indicated that he didn't know of any real threat in the near future at the pump station. Steve Foreman has engineered a presentation at the February meeting by Fire Marshal John Laskey on the topic of arson in the Uptown district. Steve will not be able to attend so he requested someone to promote the meeting and remind Mr. Laskey. Nicole said she would get an announcement in the paper and would remind Mr. Laskey. Members are encouraged to come, with questions. Dick indicated that Robert, Denny, and Dick are spearheading a "Light 'em up Butte!" concept to put evening lights in the upper floors of vacant buildings. The request was to ask CPR members to be aware of the needs - curtains & drapes for windows, cash for timers, bulbs, extension cords, etc.
OTHER REPORTSHistoric Preservation Commission: Jim Jarvis indicated that a "final" draft of the ordinance guidelines is going to the HPC at its February meeting, and hopes it can go to Council for approval soon. Work continues on mineyards, including the Original, with hopes to have the inside of the Engine Room available for visitors during the Folk Festival.Community Enrichment: no report. Butte Restoration Alliance: no report URA: no report Council of Commissioners issues: no report Main Street Uptown Butte: Discussion as to whether or not CPR should renew its membership in the organization. No objections, but it was not clear if a decision was actually reached. Other: Nicole has had requests for the protect-a-gate service. Mitzi indicated that in one case she'd get a chain and lock to the place. Nicole also had a request from someone to list a property on our web site. Referred to the policy on the For Sale page - we accept listings from CPR members for property that they own.
OTHER DISCUSSIONNoneNext Meeting: Tuesday February 9 BUTTE CPR • P.O. Box 164 • Butte, Montana 59703 • E-mail | ||||||||
Nicole - proposal to Board about Treasurer; visit with URA; Greek Cafe soup kitchen