TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Anthea Gianniotes, Development Services Director
THROUGH: Neal de Jesus, Interim City Manager
DATE: November 5, 2019
Title
APPROVAL OF TWO (2) HISTORIC PRESERVATION GRANT AWARDS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA - DIVISION OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES
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Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Motion to approve two (2) grant awards from the State of Florida Division of Historical Resources. Each award is in the amount not to exceed $50,000 for the Education and Public Awareness of Historic Preservation and the Resurvey of Five Designated Historic Districts with a total of the two grants not to exceed $100,000.
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Background:
The Historic Preservation Division of the Development Services Department is reqeusting approval and acceptance of funding from the Florida Department of State - Division of Historical Resources for two projects through the Small Matching Grant (SMG) program. The grant funds are appropriated by the state Legislature and federal funds apportioned to the state by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, for the preservation and protection of the state's historic and archaeological sites and properties. Specifically, the two grants are as follows:
Resurvey of five designated historic districts - $50,000 grant award
• The City’s Comprehensive Plan states that historic sites surveys should be completed every 5 years; however, industry standards are to complete historic sites surveys every 10 years.
• The districts have not been surveyed since 2008.
• Resurvey West Settlers, Del-Ida Park, Old School Square, Nassau Park, and Marina Historic Districts.
• Historic sites surveys identify the status of existing historic resources and determine if any other resources are eligible to be contributing historic structures.
Education and Public Awareness via the creation of a digital database of the city’s historic assets and resources - $50,000 grant award
• As a Certified Local Government (CLG), the City is required by the State of Florida to maintain Florida Master Site File (FMSF) forms for all sites that are designated historic.
• As a public entity the City is required to make available of public records.
• Create a digital database of the City’s FMSF form records.
• There more than 600 FMSF for sites located within existing, city historic districts.
• These documents are in paper form and date back to the late 1980’s.
• To ensure the records do not decline or get misplaced, it is important to preserve them and to meet the requirements for a CLG.
• Digitizing these records will ensure ease of access to Florida Master Site File Records for residents, stakeholders, staff and other Certified Local Government partners.
City Attorney Review:
Approved as to form and legal sufficiency.
Funding Source/Financial Impact:
The reimbursable expenses for FY 19/20 will be funded in account 001-26-220-524-31.90.
100% reimbursement is provided through the State of Florida Department of Historical Resources. The City of Delray Beach has been a Certified Local Government (CLG) since 1988 and is one of 1,966 communities participating in the CLG program nationwide. A benefit of being a CLG is that the city can apply for the SMG program without the requirement to locally match the grant funding request. The grant funding opportunity is a total of $50,000 per grant request for a total of $100,000.
Timing of Request:
The two grant projects are to be completed by June 30, 2020.