(a) Specific powers. In addition to the powers and duties stated elsewhere, the board shall take action necessary and appropriate to accomplish the purpose of this article. These actions may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Conducting a survey of historic buildings and areas and preparing a plan for their preservation;
(2) Soliciting public input for the purpose of collecting information to assist in making recommendations to the planning and zoning commission and city commission;
(3) Recommending to the city commission and the planning and zoning commission designation of historic districts and individual landmarks;
(4) Adopting written guidelines for making exterior changes to designated property and for undertaking new construction on designated property;
(5) Regulating proposed alterations to designated properties, where those alterations are visible to the public; regulating demolitions, relocations, and new construction involving designated property;
(6) Working with and advising the federal, state, and county governments and other parts of the city government;
(7) Advising and assisting property owners and other persons and groups including neighborhood organizations who are interested in historic preservation; and
(8) Conducting educational programs including the preparation of publications and the placing of historical markers.
(b) Rehabilitation of buildings. The board may initiate and encourage plans for the preservation and rehabilitation of individual historic buildings. The board shall, on a regular basis, give recognition to owners and tenants who maintain or rehabilitate their historic buildings with care and thus contribute to the preservation of the history of the city.
(c) Survey of historic buildings. In making its survey of historic buildings and areas, the board shall conduct this work in accordance with the guidelines of the Kentucky Heritage Council. The board shall provide that its survey and preservation plan shall be maintained and continued. The board shall use the preservation plan to assist the city and the planning and zoning commission in their overall planning efforts.
(d) Meetings of the board. The board shall adopt and make public rules for the transaction of its business and shall hold monthly public meetings and special public meetings, when necessary. All meetings shall have a previously available agenda and shall comply with the Kentucky Open Meeting Statute, KRS 61.805. The votes of a simple majority of the membership shall be required for decisions involving historic districts and landmarks.
(e) Annual report. The board shall prepare and keep on file, available for public inspection, a written annual report of its activities, cases, decisions, qualification of members and other work.
(f) Right to receive and spend funds. The board, in addition to any appropriations made by the city, shall have the right to receive, hold and spend funds which it may legally receive from any and every source both in and out of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article.
(g) Other duties under the certified local government program. In the development of the certified local government program, the city may ask the board to perform other responsibilities that may be delegated to the city under the National Historic Preservation Act.
(h) Assistance for the board. The board shall receive regular assistance in the performance of its responsibilities from the city staff. In addition, the city may, by contract, obtain assistance on preservation matters from a professional with expertise in historic preservation, architecture, or a closely related field.
(Ord. No. 1479, 6-30-93; Ord. No. 1802, § 3, 4-23-12; Ord. No. 1838, § 3, 6-23-14)