Historic Preservation Commission Meeting - September 4, 2025
Historic Preservation Commission Meeting - September 4, 2025
The Riverton Historic Preservation Commission met on September 4, 2025, to approve minutes from June, review progress on the Oral History and Historic Homes projects, discuss a historic sign for the Withers Dairy Farm, and strategize recruitment of new members and volunteers.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval: The commission unanimously approved the minutes from the June 5, 2025 meeting. (Motion, second, all in favor)
Discussion Items
- Oral History Project: A member reported continuing to gather and label photographs for the city website. The communications department requested a complete, organized submission rather than piecemeal files. Brainstorming for the oral history project website has begun but is not yet finished.
- Historic Homes Project: Alex reported that new 3D coins had been received (previously rejected for being flat). The commission plans to present the first historic home recognition to the Sieverts family (four homes) in October, pending the health of Kim, who has been instrumental in contacting families and wants to be present. The website organization for historic homes was discussed: members favored a simple, visual online brochure with a Google Doc form for interested residents, and an option to list recognized homes with photos and addresses (with homeowner consent).
- Historic Sign for Withers Dairy Farm: A member proposed placing a historic sign near the silo on city land (or leased land) to honor the dairy farm's history, similar to signs at Tithing Hill and other locations. Sherry was asked to research and draft information; Brooke would handle sign design.
- Recruitment and Volunteer Outreach: The commission discussed low membership numbers and the need for additional help. Members clarified that volunteers do not need to be on the commission to assist with projects (e.g., oral histories, historic home mapping, history book research). A member suggested posting on neighborhood Facebook pages (e.g., Riverton Ranch) and possibly using the city's monthly newsletter. Past social media posts had generated negative responses due to wording about “preserving historic buildings” when many have been removed. The commission agreed to draft a new post focusing on “preserving the history of Riverton” and upcoming projects, and to share it across personal pages.
Key Outcomes
- The commission approved the June 5, 2025 minutes.
- The Historic Homes presentation to the Sieverts family is scheduled for October, pending Kim’s health.
- The commission will work with city staff (Nate) to update the website with a simple, visual historic homes brochure and a project tab.
- Sherry will draft information for a historic sign at the Withers Dairy Farm silo.
- A member will draft a new recruitment post for social media, emphasizing project involvement rather than building preservation, and commission members will share it on their own networks.
Meeting Transcript
Mine's on. Oh. Mine's still flashing. Mine flash for a little bit. Oh, there's a new. Oh, mine's on. There we go. Okay. Okay. So we'll just talk into these, but I'm glad you watched the other one. I had a hard time hearing exclaim. Are they talking? Okay. Let's uh call the meeting to order. Um we need to approve the minutes from June. Do we have uh I'll motion to approve the minutes from June 5th, 2025. Second? I'll second it. All in favor? I so um I know a lot hasn't happened in the last little bit, and I do apologize for that. Um I have worked a little bit more on gathering up pictures and uh labeling them to eventually uh send them to our communications department to put them on our website. I've been trying to organize it and uh label on my end before I send it to them. I initially tried to send a few and asked for various categories that we had uh decided upon previously to be put on the website and they asked that uh it not be done um at all at once. They didn't want to put categories up there uh and not have anything to within it, and they didn't want to have it piecemealed sent to them. So just been working on uh getting that all together so I can just send it and it can be this finished uh robust thing that they can put on there. So um and then I have worked a little bit on brainstorming on the oral history project uh putting on the website, but I have not finished it. Um Alex, is there any developments on historic homes? Yeah, I think uh Kim was able to go to his neighbors and talk about it, but we were waiting for the new coins, right? Yes, so we got these new coins. Look how awesome these look. They're like they're 3D. That's why Brooke sent them back. They looked flat before, but these look pretty amazing, I think. That is awesome. Um and so I think when I've talked to Kim, he's had a ton of health problems. Yeah. And so he and he really wants to be here when we present. So I said, let's push it off till October because we're not like in a rush, and he's gone to a lot of work to get those families. So Kim's been awesome. And I other than that, it's I've just been waiting for these. And um now that we have the actual so do we have 50 of these then? Yeah. So now's the time to just get to work and going out. And I have a couple people in mind as well. Um, but yeah, I I definitely want Kim to be a part of it. Yeah, so I guess the Sieverts family, C vers family, they have four different homes that he wants to present to four. And he talked to them and they were good with October. So we'll kind of shoot for that and see if he's feeling better by then. So wonderful. And then Alex, have you had an opportunity to think about how you want the historic homes on the website to be organized?
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