Port Richey City panel elects chair, vice chair; secretary appointment deferred

Port Richey City — At its inaugural organizational meeting, the Port Richey City Historical Preservation Committee elected Laurel Hubbard as chair and Christine Sullivan as vice chair and deferred naming a secretary until the next meeting.

The committee convened with staff present to explain roles and procedures. Speaker 1, who led initial administrative items, said the secretary would “perform the roll call and be recording minutes for those meetings,” and offered to locate the relevant resolution and include it in the next meeting packet for review. An unidentified participant raised whether the chair must be a Port Richey resident; staff said they would check the city resolution and code that had been cited during the discussion.

Nominations and votes were brief. An unidentified attendee nominated Laurel Hubbard for chair and another seconded; the motion was brought to a vote and the group approved the nomination, after which Hubbard took the chair role for the remainder of the meeting. Speaker 5 nominated Christine Sullivan for vice chair; that motion also passed after supporters voiced their approval. The committee agreed to table the secretary appointment to allow staff to confirm a candidate’s availability, with Speaker 1 noting, “We can always go back to the recording, so that'll be fine.”

Members discussed committee size and membership eligibility. Speakers said the committee will be an odd number of seats (likely seven or nine) and that council confirms nominations; the body opened membership to residents both inside and outside Port Richey City but reaffirmed that any residency requirements in city code or the resolution would be checked and clarified before final appointments.

The committee spent the bulk of the meeting outlining its work plan and partnerships. Chair Hubbard reviewed recent centennial activities that uncovered archival materials and described a multi-stop historic tour of roughly 15 local sites. A representative of the West Pasco Historical Society recommended inviting two liaisons — Gabriela Miyagony and Dale Hall — to explain criteria for historic designation and to walk committee members through the Certified Local Government (CLG) application process so the city can begin formal designations.

Members agreed to invite the New Port Richey liaisons and recommended that Development Services staff (identified in the meeting as Veronica) attend future sessions to advise on how demolition reviews and code enforcement intersect with historic-property concerns raised after Hurricane Helene. The group set meeting frequency at once a month, on the second Thursday at 6 p.m., and scheduled the next meeting for April 9 at 6 p.m.; members also noted the Port Richey City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays.

The meeting packet will include a copy of the existing resolution for members to review ahead of the next meeting. With no old business remaining, a motion to adjourn was made and the meeting ended.