Council declines to submit revised historic-structure application for city library; directs no new MOU

The City of Chowchilla will not submit the Chowchilla Historical Society’s revised application for state historic designation of the city’s former library, the council directed after deliberation about costs and long-term maintenance responsibilities.

Rod Rogers, city staff, summarized the timeline and documents from prior actions, noting an MOU executed in 2023 had lapsed and that the historical society submitted a revised application the society said meets the State Office of Historic Preservation’s requested revisions. Chris Thomas, identified at the meeting as curator for the Chowchilla District Historical Society, told the council the society had addressed the state’s formatting and content concerns and was ready to resubmit. “We, per the state guidelines, we submitted our revised application over 90 days ago,” Thomas said.

Council members debated whether obtaining designation without committed funding would worsen the city’s situation. Staff and the society cited possible grant opportunities but emphasized those funds are competitive and often limited; previous estimates discussed at the meeting included a $500,000 repair estimate and an earlier figure of about $635,000 tied to a CDBG application the city had not received. Council members expressed concern that state review could take six to 12 months and that a designation without secured rehabilitation funds could leave the city with a harder-to-remove structure and higher demolition costs.

On a voice-direction from the chair, council concluded not to forward the application and indicated there would be no new memorandum of understanding with the historical society at this time. Staff noted council retained the option to reconsider a future MOU if circumstances change. The council did not take a formal roll-call vote; it recorded the direction to halt submission and not to re-enter an MOU.