TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Anthea Gianniotes, Development Services Department Director
THROUGH: Terrence R. Moore, ICMA-CM
DATE: October 5, 2021
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
Review and consider 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 Delray Beach Historic GIS (Heritage Education) and the Delray Beach Municipal Cemetery Historic Resource Survey (Survey Project) with a total of the two grants not to exceed $100,000.
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Background:
At its meeting of May 19, 2020, the City Commission authorized city staff to submit grant requests to 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. Since the City is a Certified Local Government, grants are awarded without the requirement to locally match the grant funding request.
Both grant requests were awarded, and the Historic Preservation Division of the Development Services Department is requesting approval and acceptance of the grant funding. Specifically, the two grants are as follows:
Delray Beach Historic GIS - $50,000 grant award
This grant will facilitate the provision of information to the public regarding historic properties in Delray Beach via an online digital/interactive mapping system. The Historic GIS Mapping Project will be developed from information that has been compiled via the 5 District Historic Resource Resurvey Project as well as the Scanning and Digitization Project, projects that were also funded via the State Historic Grant program.
The Historic GIS Mapping Project will include data sets for Florida Master Site File (FMSF) forms, historical information, building permit records, photographs, maps, and historic Sanborn Maps. It is anticipated that the Historic GIS Mapping Project will:
• Improve city staff review times for development applications and building permit applications;
• Facilitate expeditious State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) reviews as part of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program;
• Aid in planning efforts related to preservation, redevelopment, spatial analysis, emergency management, and infrastructure improvements;
• Establish a spatial catalog of resources, which will improve the database management efforts for all future Historic Surveys and Resurveys; and,
• Create a system to catalog and map future historic resources.
Delray Beach Municipal Cemetery Historic Resource Survey - $50,000 grant award
This grant request will facilitate a Historic Resource Survey of the Delray Beach Memorial Gardens Municipal Cemetery (formerly known as the Pine Ridge Cemetery), which is located on 902 SW 10th Street. The cemetery was developed in early 1900 and is the final resting place of members of many Delray Beach pioneer families, such as the Swinton and Sundy families. The project will:
• Document the boundary of the historic cemetery and create a map of the cemetery & plots;
• Record grave markers and monuments (dates, inscriptions, condition, etc.), and natural features, such as trees, landscaping, fencing, etc. through GPS, photographs, survey tools, etc.; and,
• Establish a written history and background for the cemetery.
Recordation of the historic of the cemetery could aid the city in future grant funding related to historic preservation efforts for site improvements and historic markers. Documentation from the historic resource survey of the cemetery would be included in future GIS mapping data sets. This information would be made available to the public via the city’s website.
Both proposed grant projects support policies in the Always Delray Comprehensive Plan Historic Preservation Element:
Policy HPE 1.2.4: Create and regularly update a digital database of Florida Master Site File forms for properties and historic districts listed on the Local and/or National Registers of Historic Places. [Complete by 2022].
Policy HPE 1.4.6: Analyze the historic development pattern and characteristics of each historic district for the purpose of creating context-related Land Development Regulations. [Complete by 2025]
Policy HPE 1.5.6: Survey the City cemetery for potential designation to the Local Register of Historic Places. [Complete by 2022]
City Attorney Review:
Approved as to form and legal sufficiency.
Funding Source/Financial Impact:
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.
The grants are reimbursable for Fiscal Year 2021/2022.
Timing of Request:
The 2 grant projects are to be completed by June 30, 2022.