City to move forward with establishing local historic preservation commission

The City of California Board of Aldermen plans to move forward with an ordinance establishing a local historic preservation commission, with the goal of restoring areas of the city such as buildings on the downtown square.

John Kay was on hand at Monday night's monthly Board of Aldermen meeting to make the case for such a move, which would allow for greater access to grant funding that could help to restore and revitalize buildings such as the one that partially collapsed last April. In the wake of the collapse, Kay has taken the lead in attempting to rectify the issue, and hopefully, preventing anything like it from happening again, or the affected building falling down entirely. Engineering work revealed the particular building's structural integrity must be restored or it will fall down entirely, he said.

"I'm concerned that if one building goes, they're going to be like dominoes and we're going to lose the entire courthouse square," Kay said Monday. "Our courthouse square has been on the National Register of Historic Places since the 1960s, and I hear people say, 'Well, I wonder what they are going to do about that? Why haven't they done something?' Well, folks, there are no 'theys' -- we are the theys. We are the ones who are going to do something, if anything is to happen."

Thus, Kay proposed starting with the downtown area and establishing a "Boons Borough" historic district -- the original name of California.

Kay also noted that taking the steps to start a local historic preservation commission would allow for the city to avoid future incidents like the building collapse, instead providing an opportunity to refresh older buildings before they fall into such a state of disrepair that something like that happens.

The board approved directing City Attorney Ann Perry to begin drafting an ordinance establishing such a commission, which will likely be up for approval when the board meets in January.

The board also heard a proposal from local veteran Buck Moody, who was on hand to offer to maintain the newly-laid sod at Latham Memorial Family Park with fertilization for two years, after which the city would take over. Board members noted that California Progress, Inc. still owns the property -- though CPI will eventually transfer that ownership to the city -- and asked Moody to check with CPI about his proposal as well.

Other topics discussed during the board's new business included quotes for the city's health insurance renewal, issues regarding annexation and approval of a review of the city's audit. Two board members were absent Monday, so some of these topics -- along with discussion about a booster pump to improve water pressure at Windmill Ridge subdivision, raising starting salaries for city employees, and a slightly amended pricing for the city's electric rates -- were tabled until the full board is present, perhaps at a special meeting sometime during the coming weeks.

The board also approved a few ordinances, including one adding a stop sign along Versailles Street. The board had discussed community members' concerns about speeding along Versailles at its October and November meetings, eventually deciding to make the intersection of Versailles and Williams streets a four-way stop to discourage speeding. The stop sign change is set to be reflected on Versailles Street soon following board approval Monday.

Street Supervisor Victor Maurer made another street-related signage request during Monday's meeting, asking the board to add signs limiting parking on the south side of Cedar Street, from Owen to Marshall, to help free up more road space for plowing snow. The board approved adding some signs limiting parking.

The Board of Aldermen's next regular monthly meeting is set for 7 p.m. Jan. 3.