Portland group remains active

t had been almost a year since the Portland Historic Preservation Commission had a meeting. It was believed by some that the group dissolved, but it was made clear at its meeting that it is still active.
The historic preservation commission discussed Thursday afternoon some of the issues that arose prior to the group’s last meeting. Jay County community development director Ami Huffman mentioned there hadn’t been any business for the commission to handle because of the summer floods, but had no understanding why citizens thought the group dissolved.
She plans to send a letter to local business owners to remind them that the commission is still active.
Other commission members — Larry Hiatt, Jim Sanders, Pat Daniels, Linda Kennedy and president Brad Glentzer — mentioned an incident that occurred with a local family business, Loy Real Estate, 212 W. Main St., that stirred up an April 2015 meeting after the business owners performed work on the building without getting commission approval.
“After last year and what transpired here, it’s rather difficult to think we’d go through that again,” said Hiatt.
Glentzer said it was a difficult situation because of the floods, which destroyed businesses.
“You tell someone, ‘You’ve got to abide by all these rules but’ it might flood again,” said Glentzer.
Huffman said there are guidelines businesses within the historic preservation district have to follow if they want to change something on their property. She told commission members she cannot recall a time when owners came in to her office to ask to change something outside the ordinance guidelines and she was unable to offer them price-comparable alternatives.
The problem arises when residents don’t want to follow the guidelines, she said.
The commission also appointed Daniels as vice president and Hiatt as president after the current leader, Glentzer, resigned from the board during the meeting. Hiatt said he would only do it with help from Huffman and Pati McLaughlin, assistant director of Jay/Portland Building and Planning.
In other business, the commission:
•Approved a certificate of appropriateness (COA) application for an 18-inch by 41-inch sign for Cat Tales Midwest Pet Refuge, 115 N. Meridian St., Portland.
•Welcomed Michael Flowers, a community preservation specialist from Indiana Landmarks.
•Discussed finding new members for the group. McLaughlin noted the potential candidate must live inside the city limits. Huffman added that appointing Portland Redevelopment Commission members would help both groups move forward. Currently the commission only has four members after Glentzer’s resignation.
•Heard from Mayor Randy Geesaman that he will present the estimates and other information to the next commission meeting for exterior renovations to city hall, 321 N. Meridian St.