The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2020-11-16 City Council Agendas (8) City of Palo Alto (ID # 11653) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Consent Calendar Meeting Date: 11/16/2020 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: Approval of Resolution for Williams House and Roth County Grant Applications Title: Adoption of two Resolutions for the Santa Clara County Historical Heritage Grant Program Authorizing the Application and Receipt of Grant Funds by the Museum of American Heritage (MOAH) for Roof Repair/Replacement at the Williams House (351 Homer Ave) and by the City of Palo Alto for the Roth Building (300 Homer Ave) Roof and Frescoes Rehabilitation From: City Manager Lead Department: Administrative Services Recommendation Staff recommends that Council adopt the attached resolutions (Attachments A and C) to apply for historic preservation grant funds from the County of Santa Clara to rehabilitate the Williams House roof and the Roth Building frescoes and roof. Executive Summary The Museum of American Heritage (MOAH) has a lease agreement with the City to occupy the historic Williams House for the general purpose of providing exhibition services, historical information, and educational activities to residents and visitors of the City. As part of the lease, MOAH is responsible for the maintenance of the home and grounds. MOAH is applying for a historical heritage grant program from the County of Santa Clara to repair and replace the flat roof of the Williams House. The application requires the City, as the property owner, to approve MOAH to apply for this grant by signing a Property Owner Approval Resolution. For the Roth Building, in 2019, the City in coordination with the Palo Alto History Museum (PAHM) applied for the county historical heritage grants to repair and rehabilitate the art frescoes and the roof. The attached resolution completes the application process for which the Roth Building has already been awarded. City of Palo Alto Page 2 Background The Williams House is a Tudor Revival located at 351 Homer Avenue and was the residence of Dr. Thomas Marion Williams, an early Palo Alto physician, and his wife Dora, and their daughters Rhona and Betty. The family played active roles in the Palo Alto and Stanford communities. Rhona Williams, the last Williams daughter, died in 1989 and bequeathed the home to the City to be designated for cultural or park purposes with the proviso that the house and gardens be maintained as a center for cultural purposes in honor of her parents. The Williams House is a designated historic property on the Historic Buildings Inventory. Designed in 1906 by Ernest Coxhead, a noted Bay Area architect, and completed in 1907, the Williams House is categorized as a Category II in the inventory of the City of Palo Alto. The Williams House bears historic significance because it is a rare example of Coxhead’s work as many of his buildings have been demolished. This house is one of the few residential properties in the now commercialized area of downtown Palo Alto. In 1997 the MOAH signed a 20 year lease to occupy the Williams House, which was replaced with a new 25 year lease in 2016 (CMR ID # 6501). While MOAH rents the Williams House from the City for a nominal fee, all maintenance costs for the house and garden are borne by MOAH with generous support from the community. The museum has a board discretionary fund for capital improvement projects and an annual maintenance budget. The property remains largely as it was in the Williams era, complete with Dr. Williams’ original medical wing. A generous gift from the Mel and Bill Lane families in honor of their mother Ruth Bell Lane, co-founder of Sunset Magazine, has enabled MOAH to undertake extensive garden restorations. Mrs. Lane’s passionate enthusiasm for western gardening has guided MOAH’s efforts to create period-appropriate aesthetic and culinary plantings on the property. Being one of the two known surviving buildings designed by Ernest Coxhead, it is important to preserve the Williams House. MOAH provides free entry to the public and offers the opportunity for all walks of life and those who want to see a historic home and its exhibitions. Discussion Williams House (Museum of American Heritage) Repairing and replacing the Williams House flat roof is a priority because the roof is very deteriorated due to the elements and passage of time. The last time the roof was worked on was when MOAH moved into the Williams House in 1997. MOAH is aware of a leak in the roof. When it rains, the water can potentially get into the walls, causing further damage to the structure. By repairing and replacing the roof, MOAH will be able to maintain the integrity of the building without compromising and incurring further damage. The project will help preserve the building for all to enjoy for years to come. MOAH has selected Environmental Roofing & Waterproofing, Inc., for the roof repair and replacement project. They have done similar work in the Palo Alto area and provided a proposal (Attachment B). Upon project completion, the new roof will carry the contractor’s five-year Leak Free Warranty and the manufacturer’s 15-year No-Dollar-Limit Warranty. City of Palo Alto Page 3 Allison Wong, the Executive Director of MOAH, will be responsible for reporting the status of the grant and completing a grant report or any requirements the County may have, in addition to overseeing the project to completion. Eileen Wall, MOAH’s Finance Manager, will be responsible for keeping track of and reporting the project expenditures. Allison has four years of management experience at MOAH and Eileen has been managing MOAH’s finances for 10 years. Should the MOAH receive the grant funding for the Williams House roof, both the MOAH as applicant/grantee and the City as owner would be required to execute the grant agreement with the County. The City is required to sign as a party to the agreement to reaffirm the action taken in adopting the proposed resolution – making the commitment to use the Williams House as a park facility – and to contractually bind the City to do so for at least 20 years from project completion. The MOAH land has already been designated as a park. This is similar to the Roth Building resolution that was Council passed in 2018 (CMR 9767). Unlike the Roth Building, however, because the City is not the applicant and would not be the grantee if the grant is awarded for the MOAH project, the City would not undertake other rights and obligations under the grant agreement. Roth Building (City of Palo Alto) In 2018, the City first received a grant under the County’s historical heritage grant program in the amount of $100,000 to cover a portion of the cost of replacement of the Roth Building roof. Through that application process, the City Council approved a resolution committing the project to park use for twenty years (CMR 9767), and the City executed a grant agreement with the County. Subsequently, the City in continuing collaboration with the Palo Alto History Museum (PAHM), applied for and was awarded an additional Santa Clara County Historic Grant (CMR 11287) for the roof replacement ($200,000) and for the preservation of the art frescoes ($105,000) at the Roth Building. Council approval of the proposed resolution (Attachment C) would authorize the City Manager to execute the grant agreement, administration of the grant and commit to the project for park use for at least twenty years. This resolution is substantively the same as the previously adopted resolution for the Roth Building. The resolution and grant agreement are the only outstanding items to be completed for the City to receive the awarded grants. The program guide for the grant can be found on the County’s website at this link. Timeline MOAH submitted the application for the County grant on October 20, 2020, but the resolution may be submitted at a later date. MOAH will apply for a building permit from the City to replace the roof when it has received confirmation that the grant is approved. The permit will be acquired by MOAH’s contractor Environmental Roofing & Waterproofing, Inc. and is estimated to cost $500.00. Once the building permit is obtained, MOAH will then schedule the roof work with the contractor. Once underway, the expected duration of the project is approximately one City of Palo Alto Page 4 week. After the work is complete, MOAH will complete all requirements for reimbursement of the grant. For the Roth Building the overall project is due to be reviewed by the Finance Committee in the November timeframe. Resource Impact The cost of the Williams House roofing project will be borne by the MOAH. The roofing project is expected to cost $12,270, based on Environmental Roofing & Waterproofing, Inc.’s proposal. MOAH has not secured any cash contribution funds from other sources for this project and is not intending to request additional funding. Replacing and repairing the flat roof is the most cost-effective solution to rehabilitate the existing leak in the roof. MOAH is free to the public and obtaining funding that would otherwise have had to come out of the board discretionary fund or endowment will greatly help the museum’s operations. For the Roth Building, Council approval of the resolution will allow the City to enter into the grant agreements to receive County funding for the roof and the frescoes once the overall project is started. The roof portion of the project previously received Santa Clara County Historic Grant Program funding ($100,000) in 2019. This makes the total grant funding for the roof $300,000. Stakeholder Engagement MOAH, the City of Palo Alto, and the general public will benefit from the funding of this project. MOAH receives an estimated 20,000 visitors annually. The target audience is the local community and public at large. The museum has and will continue to be free general admission, educating visitors on the history of the building and MOAH’s mission of preserving and showcasing inventions of the past. Environmental Review With respect to the MOAH project at the Williams House, the proposed repair of a roof/replacement in kind for a historic building only requires a building permit. Therefore, in accordance with CEQA Guidelines §15268, the proposed project is statutorily exempt from CEQA. The Roth Building rehabilitation project is Categorically Exempt from CEQA review pursuant to CEQA guidelines section 15331, Historical Resource Restoration/Rehabilitation, as a project limited to maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation in accordance with the secretary of interior standards for historic preservation. Attachments: • Attachment A: Property Owner Approval Resolution • Attachment B: Environmental Roofing & Waterproofing, Inc.’s Proposal • Attachment C: Roth resolution Not Yet Adopted 1 2020102301 Resolution No. Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Approving Museum of American Heritage’s Application for a County of Santa Clara Historical Heritage Grant for Repairing and Replacing the Flat Roof Project at Museum of American Heritage WHEREAS, the County of Santa Clara (“County”) has established the Historical Heritage Grant program to promote historic preservation and the awareness of significant cultural, historical, and archaeological resources within Santa Clara County (“Grant Program”); and WHEREAS, the County funds the Grant Program with County Park Charter Development Funds, which must be used for the development of real property for county park purposes; and WHEREAS, the County requires that the property on which the grant-funded project is located be continually used for park purposes for a minimum of 20 years and be open to all Santa Clara County residents on a non-discriminatory basis; and WHEREAS, the applicant proposes that the County award Grant Program funds for the Repairing and Replacing the Flat Roof project (“Project”) at the Museum of American Heritage; and WHEREAS, the City of Palo Alto (“Owner”) has reviewed the proposed Project and provided or hereby provides all required discretionary approvals for the Project in the Park, including but not limited to, any licenses, permits, environmental review or operational agreements required prior to authorizing construction; and WHEREAS, to provide additional assurance as to compliance with the Grant Program requirements, the County requires that the Owner execute the grant agreement; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Palo Alto hereby makes the following determinations: 1.The Project is located on land that will be continually used for park purposes for a minimum of 20 years and, subject to Constitutional or Charter limits on appropriations for future years, will be open to all Santa Clara County residents on a non-discriminatory basis; and 2.The City of Palo Alto has reviewed the proposed Project and provided or hereby provides all required discretionary approvals for the Project in the Park, including but not limited to, any licenses, permits, environmental review or operational agreements required prior to authorizing construction; and Attachment A Not Yet Adopted 2 2020102301 3. The Executive Director of the Museum of American Heritage is hereby authorized to sign the grant application and grant agreement. The City Manager or designee is hereby delegated authority to execute the grant agreement on the Owner’s behalf. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Palo Alto hereby approves of the Museum of American Heritage’s application for County’s Grant Program funds for the Repairing and Replacing the Flat Roof Project at the Museum of American Heritage. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Palo Alto on _____________________, 2020 by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTENTIONS: ATTEST: ________________________________ ______________________________ City Clerk Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: ________________________________ _______________________________ City Attorney or designee City Manager ________________________________ Director of Administrative Services _________________________________ Director of Community Services Attachment A Attachment B Attachment B Attachment B Attachment B Not Yet Adopted 1 2020102601 Resolution No.____ Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Approving City of Palo Alto’s Application for a County of Santa Clara Historical Heritage Grant for the Roth Building Roof Rehabilitation and Roth Building Art Frescoes Projects in Heritage Park WHEREAS, the County of Santa Clara (“County”) has established the Historical Heritage Grant program to promote historic preservation and the awareness of significant cultural, historical, and archaeological resources within Santa Clara County (“Grant Program”); and WHEREAS, the County funds the Grant Program with County Park Charter Development Funds, which must be used for the development of real property for county park purposes; and WHEREAS, the County requires that the property on which the grant-funded project is located be continually used for park purposes for a minimum of 20 years and be open to all Santa Clara County residents on a non-discriminatory basis; and WHEREAS, the applicant City of Palo Alto proposes that the County award Grant Program funds for the Roth Building Roof Rehabilitation and Roth Building Art Frescoes projects (“Projects”) in Heritage Park (“Park”); and WHEREAS, the City of Palo Alto (“Owner”) has reviewed the proposed Project and has provided all required planning approvals for the Project in the Park, including but not limited to, any licenses, permits, or environmental review required prior to authorizing construction; and WHEREAS, to provide additional assurance as to compliance with the Grant Program requirements, the County requires that the Owner execute the grant agreement; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Palo Alto hereby makes the following determinations: 1.The Project is located on land that will be continually used for park purposes for a minimum of 20 years and, subject to Constitutional or Charter limits on appropriations for future years, will be open to all Santa Clara County residents on a non-discriminatory basis; and 3.The City of Palo Alto has reviewed the proposed Project and has provided all required approvals for planning entitlement of the Project in the Park, including but not limited to, any licenses, permits, or environmental review required prior to authorizing construction; and 4.The City Manager or designee is hereby delegated authority to execute the grant agreement on the Owner’s behalf. Attachment C 2 2020102601 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Palo Alto hereby approves of the City of Palo Alto’s application for County’s Grant Program funds for the Roth Building Roof Rehabilitation and Roth Building Art Frescoes Projects in Heritage Park. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Palo Alto on ________________ by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTENTIONS: ATTEST: ________________________________ ______________________________ City Clerk Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: ________________________________ _______________________________ City Attorney or designee City Manager ________________________________ Director of Administrative Services _________________________________ Director of Community Services Attachment C