Washington Historic Preservation Commission approves sign at 206 Jefferson, outlines plaque, landmark and curb-appeal plans

The Washington Historic Preservation Commission approved a sign application for 206 Jefferson Street and spent the bulk of its meeting discussing curb-appeal awards, bronze plaques for historic buildings and a draft local landmark designation for an AME church.

Commissioners also reviewed training and conference options, discussed where historic-preservation applications fit in the city approval chain and talked through next steps for researching properties and preparing applications and budget requests.

Why it matters: local landmark designation and plaques formalize the historical record for downtown properties and add a review step for demolition; the commission’s choices affect which properties receive recognition and how limited city funds are allocated to plaques, conference travel and signage.

Most immediately, the commission voted to allow a sign and issue the certificate for 206 Jefferson Street, then moved into an extended discussion about how the commission will identify, research and nominate properties for local landmark designation, and how many curb-appeal awards and plaques to produce in the coming fiscal years. Commissioners and staff agreed to develop lists of candidate properties, prepare application instructions, and gather quotes and budget details for plaques and signage.

City planner Sarah Skeen told the commission the formal review path for a local landmark nomination: “it does go from the Historic Preservation Commission to Planning and Zoning and then to Council.” The commission discussed whether to bundle nominations to streamline that multi-board process and asked staff to prepare instructions and a schedule for submitting multiple nominations.

On plaques and curb-appeal signs, members debated style and distribution. The commission settled on ordering a small initial run of yard signs for curb-appeal awards (commissioners discussed ordering signs that recipients keep) and planning to purchase a modest number of bronze plaques for the next fiscal year. Commission members reported a current discretionary balance of about $2,000 in the preservation budget, with roughly $1,400 available through Sept. 30; members agreed to estimate conference and mileage costs before finalizing how many plaques to order this year versus next.

Staff and commissioners described practical next steps: create a shared storage location for research files, finalize a list of the top candidate buildings downtown, confirm parcel and lot-size data via the city GIS and tax records, and obtain price quotes for plaques (staff named River City Signs as a vendor contact for curb-appeal signs). A commissioner offered to continue visiting the historical society on weekends to compile research and to produce fillable application forms for the commission’s website.

The commission also discussed training: the Missouri Main Street Conference (late July in St. Charles) was identified as eligible for attendees’ annual training credit and commissioners indicated they would consider sending members; staff said training travel could be covered from the commission’s budget and that mileage could be submitted for reimbursement.

Outlook: commissioners agreed to produce an instructions packet and candidate lists within 30 days, provide a budget proposal by the end of summer, and coordinate with Planning & Zoning and council staff on the nomination path. Several commissioners volunteered to continue research at the historical society and to compile a prioritized list of buildings for plaques and landmark nominations.

Votes at a glance: the meeting recorded three formal motions: approval of the April 14 and May 12 minutes (motion made, seconded; voice vote in favor); approval of signage at 206 Jefferson Street and issuance of the certificate (motion made, seconded; voice vote in favor); and a motion to adjourn (motion made, seconded; voice vote in favor). The transcript records voice votes (“Aye”) but does not specify numerical tallies.