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Preservation commission elects 2025 leadership, hears annual report and archaeological update
Summary
The Historic New Smyrna Beach Preservation Commission elected officers for 2025, learned the city's certified local government report received a letter of good standing from the state, and reviewed an archaeological monitoring report for 305 Murray Street that found no major artifacts.
At its regular meeting the Historic New Smyrna Beach Preservation Commission accepted nominations for 2025 leadership and recorded the selections for chair and vice chair. Nominations were made and the commission members present congratulated the selected officers.
Staff reported that the city's annual certified local government report for 2023'24 was filed with the Florida Department of Historical Resources on Nov. 27, 2024, and that the department issued a letter of good standing, which preserves the city's eligibility to apply for certain grants. "The letter of good standing means that we are meeting all the minimum requirements to be a certified local government," a planning staff member said.
Planning staff also summarized an archaeological monitoring report for 305 Murray Street, required as a condition of approval after the commission approved demolition for a contributing structure (demolition case DM3-24 and certificate of appropriateness CPA-2-25). Staff said Rebecca Harris, a registered professional archaeologist and founder and executive director of the Smyrna Archaeological Research Institute (SARI), completed the monitoring and "didn't find any major" artifacts at the property.
Commissioners raised a question about apparent address typos in the report; staff acknowledged the likely typographical errors and said the archaeologist may return to present findings to the commission when her schedule allows. Staff also alerted the commission to scheduling conflicts later in the year and said the next quarterly meeting is scheduled for June, with a potential calendar conflict in September due to a city commission budget hearing.
Members discussed outreach to solicit more applicants for the Donna D. Miller preservation awards and suggested promoting the program at the city commission meeting and through the local museum's networks. Staff said the museum and its membership remain the commission's most effective outreach channel for preservation awards and that staff will bring applications and potential awardees for the June meeting.
The commission adjourned at 6:07 p.m.
