Historic District Meeting Minutes 10-08-2015City of Van Buren, Arkansas
Municipal Annex
1 1 1 North 12'h Street • Van Buren, Arkansas 72956
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES
October 8, 2015
The Van Buren Historic District Commission held its monthly meeting on Thursday, October 8, 2015 at 5:30
P.M. in the City Council Room of the Municipal Complex.
Members Present — Chairman Vickie Davis, Vice Chairman Lisa Willis, Derald Porter and Lonnie London,
TOTMA. Members Absent: Paul Gibson and Cathy Gifford. Others Present —Planning Assistant Julie
Copple
Historic District Commission Chairman Vickie Davis called the meeting to order at 5:30 P.M. The first item
on the agenda was to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. A motion was made by Lonnie
London and seconded by Derald Porter to accept the minutes. The motion was approved unanimously.
Geocache update: Vice Chairman Lisa Willis distributed the final copy of the fall brochure with updated
pictures and new color scheme. Derald Porter will have new coins with 2016 and the picture of the Depot
for the spring geocache tour. Chairman Vickie Davis suggested a new coin each year for those who like to
collect. The commission really liked the brochure and appreciates all the work Vice Chairman Willis has
invested in this project. We have received good feedback from the public about the geocache. A motion was
made by Lonnie London and seconded by Derald Porter to approve the geocache brochure for printing,
contingent upon changes being made to the combination to reflect the original.
Next item on the agenda was for the training update from Destination Downtown. Chairman Vickie Davis
stated it was very good training with some great ideas for downtown. Chairman Davis asked Planning
Assistant Julie Copple to send out the .pdf training power point from the conference to each of the
commissioners. Derald Porter mentioned the Pop-up Little Rock training as very insightful. Lonnie London
stated he is working on making Main Street a one-way with angled parking on one side, some green spaces
with some public seating areas, which would help with speeders driving through Main Street. Chairman
Davis suggested a good comprehensive plan with a trial run of a pop-up event for public input.
Other business: Lonnie London made a suggestion that all the agencies interested in the Historic Downtown
meet on a quarterly basis so everybody is working together to improve the downtown i.e.; VBO, TOTMA,
HDC and the City Council. Maybe even rotate the meetings. A motion was made by Derald Porter and
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e motion was approved unanimously. �bJ�
Vickie Davis, Chairman Joseph Hurst, Planning Director