The Grapevine Heritage Foundation board of directors meeting on Wednesday was a mix of yays and nays for plans at Nash Farm.

The foundation and Nash Farm Committee met in the farm's pole barn to discuss development proposals for the city's historic farmstead at 626 Ball St., including furnishing the farmhouse, installing perimeter fencing and moving two city-owned historic buildings to the property.

Foundation members voted to approve moving the 1930s Soil Conservation Service Office to Nash Farm at a cost to the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau of about $12,000. However, they scrapped plans to move the 1870 Estill Cottage to the farm.

Bob Crill, who lives on Homestead Lane across the street from Nash Farm, expressed concerns about the cottage's condition. He showed photos of the building with boarded up windows to foundation members before they took a vote.

"Certainly, you don't want to stick this in your neighborhood," he said. "I don't think it would benefit the City of Grapevine to have a structure like this, as it exists now, stuck in here."

Board member Sue Franks expressed similar concerns during discussions.

"I think it is our responsibility to preserve Grapevine's unique heritage, but I don't think it is our responsibility to preserve, how do I put this? Junk," she said. "I mean I'm sorry, there are so many houses — I grew up in one of them — it was just like the Estill house, it was torn down. I know that we need to preserve as much as we can, but what is it going to cost?"

Plans were for the cottage to serve as an entrance to the farm and include exhibits, an information center, resource library and office spaces.

Nash Farm manager Jim Lauderdale said staff cannot manage the farm off site.

"I would hesitate to say the Soil Conservation offers all of the space that we need to properly move forward to make Nash Farm the best educational facility that it can be," he said.

Board member Pam McCain disagreed and made the motion to recommend against moving the Estill Cottage to the farm.

"We are going to lose the look of the farm if we put too many structures," she said.

The foundation also unanimously voted to accept about $18,000 of Faith Bybee Collection furniture purchases from the Grapevine CVB to furnish the farmhouse's downstairs. Some residents opposed the furniture purchase when they found out about it at last month's public meeting seeking input on proposed plans. Board chairman Curtis Ratliff said the timing was not right.

"This committee did not go off and purchase furniture," he said. "This furniture was purchased by CVB with the hope that if the board approved furnishing the house, it would be used there."

The foundation approved replacing the existing fence with perimeter fencing — woven wire with barbed wire and wooden posts — with an opening near the white picket fence. They also requested the addition of cross fencing to keep future cattle away from the farmhouse.

The foundation voted against on-site parking, but approved pursuing perimeter parking, a potential bus drop-off area and handicap parking with input from the city's street engineers.

The Historic Preservation Commission is scheduled on April 25 consider the foundation's unanimous recommendation to designate Nash Farm as an historic landmark.

Nash Farm neighbors earlier this month urged the City Council to consider the designation to provide protection to the farm. Any major exterior alterations to the building and/or moving a building onto a landmarked property would require a review process with the city's Historic Preservation Commission.

As for the next step, the commission would make a recommendation to the City Council and city's Planning and Zoning Commission, City Manager Bruno Rumbelow said.

"That could happen as early as this next meeting coming up or it may take a month just depending on how quickly the staff can get the case prepared," Rumbelow said.

While the foundation made a decision on a number of proposals for the farm, following recommendations from the committee, they left the meeting open to revisit plans in the future.

"Let's remember, we don't have to do everything this year," McCain said.

Ross Bannister, a volunteer at the farm, said the foundation's board of directors' willingness to compromise shows a strength of character.

"Having the farm with the landmark overlay attached to it is a very good thing and I am very pleased that the board of directors have voted to support that," he said.