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City Council Meetrng <br />May 30, 2002 <br />Page 3 <br />up hazardous and unhealthy houses. Ms. Harper commended the city for <br />continuing the beautification of Paris that began with Mayor Charlie Neeley. <br />She stated that Mr. Neeley fought hard and successfully to keep the Post Office <br />as part of the city, and noted that he also wanted to preserve the old Post Office <br />as a public building. She referred to the progress being made in Arlington as <br />was pointed out from an article in the materials she presented. She observed <br />that Arlington had thought they were doing a good thing when they leveled four <br />square downtown blocks to get rid of dilapidated buildings. <br />Ms. Harper said the state statute on which the city is basing this proposed <br />ordinance talks about the value of historical property. It has a section devoted <br />to the preservation of historic and substandard buildings and it talks about ways <br />that cities can persevere these buildings. Ms. Harper pointed out that section <br />is not included in the proposed ordinance. She said that Mr. Schenk added <br />words on page six of the proposed ordinance, which are well meaning, but they <br />are very unspecific. They do not spell out how a historic building out of <br />compliance will be handled. There is no differentiation made between <br />hazardous houses and deteriorated but very historic brick buildings in <br />downtown Paris. Ms. Harper said she was here to ask that the highlighted <br />section be added verbatim to the proposed ordinance. This provision requires <br />that the city become a certified local government first, which is a process that <br />will take approximately ninety days. Ms. Harper said she feels that it can be <br />expedited, but it is a certification that this historical city needs. Ms. Harper <br />also asked that two members of the Building and Standards Commission be <br />members who demonstrated a commitment to historic preservation in Paris. <br />The proposed composition of the Commission specifies members with <br />backgrounds in health, fire, and safety, but none who can provide historical <br />vision to what will be a very powerful group. <br />Pike Burkhart, 524 South Church, appeared stating that he supports the efforts <br />of the City of Paris to clean up these houses, but that he does not support the <br />proposed ordinance that is being considered. Mr. Burkhart said the ordinance <br />does not differentiate between the houses that are historic and commercial <br />