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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 11/18/2019APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL RD HPC COMMISSION MEMBERS: Steve Olson-Chair; Tara Kalar-Vice Chair; Pamela Spera; Valerie Ross; Paul Thorp; Shanti Shah; Cheryl Kessler COMMISSION STAFF: David Lindahl, Staff Liaison Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary STUDENT MEMBERS: Maia Chavez; Ellyse Ferlauto; Lilly Hyland; Aditya Nandhiyar I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Olson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Absent was commission member Shah. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Kessler moved, seconded by Kalar to approve the agenda with the addition of the student website searching project to Item VF, Old Business, and a Riley Barn update under Item VII, Reports of Historical Society. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Thorp moved, seconded by Kessler to approve the amended minutes of the October 21, 2019 meeting. Motion carried 6-0. IV. NEW BUSINESS A. LOOKOUT WAYSIDE – US FISH AND WILDLIFE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN Lindahl displayed a Google earth image of the site and explained it had been vandalized 15 years ago, though it retained its designation. U.S. Fish and Wildlife was planning improvements to the area and wished to inform the commission. Posts and cables would be removed, and nonnative vegetation would be removed and native grasses and trees planted. Trash and fire rings would be removed and the stonework protected. Thorp noted this indicated work would be done outside of the structure, on land that was owned by MAC (Metropolitan Airports Commission). Lindahl agreed this would include restoration work outside of the structure. He used the online overhead map to explain the location of the site. EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION November 18, 2019 Page 2 Lindahl added the work may have already begun; U.S. Fish and Wildlife had entered into an MOU with MAC for the work. Ross asked for and received clarification of the site in relation to other historic sites. Ross noted the new turnaround was built as a replacement. Thorp stated a grass burning project had been done a few years ago. Kessler asked for and received clarification the site was not accessible to hikers today, but in its day it offered spectacular views. B. FELDMANN FARM – HISTORICAL KIOSK PROPOSAL Lindahl explained Kathie Case was working to help Jeff Miller, a Feldmann family descendant, to erect a kiosk on the property to show it was once a working farm. He displayed a FAQ document and explained the Feldmann family history. Thorp explained some of the relatives and descendants. Kalar asked for and received clarification the request was both for permission to erect a sign and for funding. Lindahl displayed the location of the site in 1957 and an image of the farm in the 1940s. It was now in the Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area. Lindahl stated the applicants sought confirmation from the commission this site merited an interpretive sign. Olson asked Thorp if this property was on the historic sites inventory. Thorp replied the property was, but the farm house had been moved and there was nothing left of the farm. Olson asked if this could be considered a historic site. Kalar replied the importance therefore became the content of the sign, not any designation of the property. Olson noted the commission’s action on a sign would not require the intervention of the City Council. Spera asked for and received clarification the property was now part of a City park. Olson asked Kessler for her expertise. Kessler noted the actual house still existed. Lindahl confirmed this and displayed the current site of the house. Kessler expressed concern that an interpretive sign mentioning the move might bring curious residents to see the current house on private property. Spera suggested the interpretive sign did not have to mention the house being moved. Kessler suggested some residents could remember the move and this was something to consider. Discussion followed on how to interpret the story of the house without compromising the privacy of the current residents of the house. Thorp suggested a one panel-like sign rather than multiple ones or a four-sided kiosk. Kessler suggested having consistency between interpretive signs around Eden Prairie. Lindahl asked if the history of the Feldmanns until the present day should be included. Thorp agreed with this suggestion. Ross suggested considering asking a grant for it through the community foundation. C. JANUARY AND FEBRUARY MEETNG DATES FALL ON HOLIDAYS – MOVE MEETING DATES TO SECOND OR FOURTH MONDAY THOSE MONTHS EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION November 18, 2019 Page 3 The January meeting would be held after the City Council Workshop on Tuesday, January 21, 2020. The February meeting would be held on Monday, February 24, 2020. V. OLD BUSINESS A. STATE HP GRANT UPDATE (CUMMINS GRILL) Lindahl stated the prospect was not good, as the item did not receive much discussion. Staff apparently had some concerns about work getting done within the timeline in the draft grant. Recommendations would go to the Executive Committee in December but this did not seem to receive a specific recommendation. Kessler noted this was an extremely competitive grant and Lindahl concurred. Lindahl added Kathie Case was aware of this outcome and was exploring other avenues, such as meeting with the Facilities Manager, rescoping the project if possible to have the Facilities budget handle part of it, et cetera. Thorp stated there was not that much left to do. The floors did not need to be refinished, merely cleaned. To his mind it was not a $100,000.00 project. Ross stated the Society wished to involve John Gertz again and have him look at the linoleum on the floors upstairs and the stenciling on the walls to determine how best to preserve them. Lindahl replied Case spoke to Gertz and he was interested. Thorp stated there were loose sheets on the floor and to his assessment leaving it would destroy it. Perhaps a piece in a frame could be preserved, otherwise eventually it would disintegrate. Spera asked for and received clarification the $4,000.00 was for the report. Lindahl stated the next steps were for Case to speak to Rick Clark, Facilities Manager, and get his reassessment of what needed to be done, then have Case come back to the commission with the results. Perhaps the City could meet the match if a match was needed. Thorp replied an essential question was what to do with the space since most of it was being used for storage and research, not an adaptive resuse. Olson recommended introducing Novak-Krebs to the SHPO staff to build relationships. Discussion followed on this. Lindahl reiterated the next steps involved meetings with Case, Thorp, himself and Novak-Krebs; this would also be advantageous for future grants. Lindahl would report to the commission in December with more firm numbers and possible fundraising ideas from Case. B. HPC NTERACTIVE MAP – REVIEW REPLACEMENT PHOTOS Lindahl displayed the current photos on the website with the text copy. They were thumbnails and the IT department had notified Lindahl these did not display well EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION November 18, 2019 Page 4 when enlarged. Lindahl stated he had pulled photographs as candidates for replacements and thought the commission could choose them tonight as they saw them. Kessler suggested showing “then and now” alternates. Lindahl said he believed multiple photos for each site was possible. Kessler suggested displaying the historic photo above the current one, if available, or have the user click the historic photo and then have the current photo appear with the blurb. The commission members chose among the photographs Lindahl displayed. C. HERITAGE BOOK UPDATE Lindahl gave some options: once printed the book would be digitized, which would decrease the cost of subsequent printings, and also the more books printed the less it would cost. He asked if the commission would need more than 30, say. Kessler asked what opportunities there would be to sell the books, and Lindahl replied it could be offered on the book rack and be publicized. Thorp replied the Historical Society could sell them. Kalar asked if the books could be paid for with a credit card and Lindahl replied since the signs were sold that way it was possible. Discussion followed on the various scenarios on Lindahl’s list. Kalar pointed out the difficulty and expense of producing an eBook, including ADA requirements to render the text accessible. Olson suggested a PDF version. Spera noted the cost of eBooks at Eden Prairie Library; the librarian had mentioned they were five times more than print due to licensing, et cetera. Kessler agreed, but added that the commission should have at least one version for checkout; it might spur sales as well. Lindahl stated online sales of print books were possible. The general consensus was on option three (order 100 books, keep 20 for HPC and have 80 available to sell, and perhaps advertise in a city email blast or on the Eden Prairie website). Lindahl agreed to return to the commission with numbers and options. D. 2020 WORK PLAN Lindahl asked for final thoughts on the plan. Discussion followed on changes and corrections to the 2019 accomplishments and the 2020 Work Plan. Lindahl agreed to put this into a presentation format to bring before the commission members at the December meeting. E. YORKVILLE & BLOOMINGTON ROAD – HERITAGE PRESERVATION PLAN DISCUSSION Lindahl summarized the presentation at the public hearing, the Planning Commission and to the City Council, which approved it. The next step was to formulate a management plan, required by ordinance. In the past a consultant had helped with this, and Lindahl asked the commission members to think about how they would like to address next steps. The landscape plan could be a part of the management plan. Thorp suggested broaching the subject with Jay Lotthammer at EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION November 18, 2019 Page 5 the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department. Kessler suggested getting input from the student commission members. Discussion followed on a management plan. Kalar suggested abating the vegetation that might grow on and obscure the road, following the recommendation by the consultant, if any. Thorp found it on page 12 of the nomination report and read it for the commission. Ross asked if the vegetation was not actually preventing erosion, and Thorp concurred; it might actually be advantageous to leave the site alone with its sandy soil. Kalar suggested asking for further clarification and for a draft of the vegetation management plan. Lindahl replied the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department was looking for guidance, not looking to give it. He agreed the vegetation plan could be a part of this. He suggested using the money remaining in the budget to retain a consultant. Thorp suggested McDonald and Mack, and Lindahl agreed to explore this and return with information to the commission so it could vote at the next meeting. Thorp added he would like to see a cut walking path to the road from the Jersey barriers. Lindahl replied the City would need to meet many standards to provide access; again, this could be part of the plan. Olson suggested a service trail for staff rather than a public trail. Thorp agreed; the point was for staff to get to the road. Lindahl agreed to bring this idea to the consultant as well. F. STUDENT WEBSITE ASSESSMENT The student members gave their reports on the Eden Prairie website and recommended the Edina Heritage Preservation website as an example as an improvement, and the City of Minneapolis website as an outdated example. Lindahl displayed these websites and then displayed the Eden Prairie website for comparison. Discussion followed on improvements to the Eden Prairie website, including displaying photographs of commission members. Olson suggested a group photograph at a historic site instead of individual head shots. Kessler suggested adding the heritage books for sale to the HPC page. Ross suggested taking a group photo in the City Hall behind some of the historic photographs. Lindahl suggested staff could help. Ross suggested taking a group photograph in the lobby in front of the historic photographs, a previous HPC project. Discussion followed on which meeting the photograph could be taken. Spera asked if the historic photographs in the hallway were on the website. Kessler suggested showing these on the website might not display well. Olson stated he was not sure the locations of the places in the photographs could be mapped online. Spera suggested they had historic interest and could be displayed as a slide show. Kessler concurred, and suggested the sign at Lake Riley could also be online. Kalar suggested the commission members brainstorm and return to the next meeting with ideas. VI. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION November 18, 2019 Page 6 A. CHERYL KESSLER - PRESERVATION CONFERENCE (9-11-13 ST CLOUD MN.) Kessler stated it was a fun event, even though it was pouring rain, and she could not attend as many sessions as she wished to. The two most remarkable sessions were the keynote address by Donovan D. Rypkema, author of The Economics of Historic Preservation, in which he outlined hidden costs of, for example, demolishing historic buildings. The other session was Best Timeline Practices for Historic Preservation Grants and she recommended the information for anyone writing a grant. Two other valuable sessions were “Historic Properties Grant Timeline” and she passed around the handout, “Predevelopment Grant: Working Drawings/Architectural Plans and Specifications. The other was “Your HPC; More than Just Regulations.” Kessler stated it was invaluable for an HPC commission member to attend this conference each year. VII. REPORTS OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY A. VAL ROSS – ORAL HISTORY PROJECT UPDATE The lighting of the Sharing Tree would be held on November 30 at 6:00 p.m. Ross stated she spoke to Betsy Adams regarding the oral history project. Nine interviews completed and transcribed, but this was done professionally and in real text (including every “um” and repetitive sections). The next step was editing them. Three were completely edited. This was time-consuming and detail-oriented, but three oral histories were prepared to be shared on the website. There were concerns as to giving the Historical Society property credit, and perhaps first display before appearing on the HPC’s website. Thorp added there was some discussion of putting these on the HPC’s website with a link back to the Historical Society’s website. Ross updated the new members on the history of the project. Kessler suggested looking at St. Louis Park’s and Golden Valley’s websites as examples of historical society sites, but she added if more exposure would come from hosting them on the City’s site, she would agree a link back to the Historical Society was an effective way to bring traffic back to the Society’s site. Thorp stated he did not think hosting the histories on the Society’s site would give them much exposure. Lindahl noted it would be more interesting to the reader to see photographs and maps with the transcript online. Kessler also suggested a clip of the interview with a link to the transcription. Ross added there were 11 additional oral histories in the process for a total of 20. Olson asked for and received clarification the transcript, not the audio clip, was being edited. Discussion followed on sound file types and sizes. Ross asked which EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION November 18, 2019 Page 7 the City would like to have, and Lindahl replied a user would like a choice to listen to a clip or to read the text. He allowed this would be a tremendous amount of work. Spera asked if the Society had photos of all the interviewees, and Ross replied it did not, but Lindahl replied photos could be easily obtained; all had signed a release. He could obtain photographs as they were completed. Ross agreed more discussion was needed on the subject of hosting audio and/or text. She was certain this project required a grant. Ross stated the Riley Barn stanchion contained a great deal of farming implements artifacts on display. It had been cleaned up to be viewed during the Harvest Celebration and she hoped to gain permission for a sign on the wall to say this area and its artifacts were provided by the Eden Prairie Historical Society. Olson stated he found this an appropriate way to recognize the Society’s contributions. Lindahl asked her or Case to put her request as a proposal in an email, and Lindahl would seek input from Jay Lotthammer and his staff. VIII. FYI ITEMS A. 2019 BUDGET BALANCE Lindahl referred the commission members to their packets and reiterated there was funding for the book printing and the consultant for the land management plan. B. MORAN/GUNNARSON/WALTERS PROPERTY PHOTOS Lindahl displayed photographs and Thorp explained the history of Gunnar Electric. Thorp explained this was where residents bought gas and got their oil changed in the 1920s and 30s. Before the building was torn down and both he and Lindahl had gone out to view and photograph the site. IX NEXT MEETING The next HPC meeting will be held on Monday, December 16, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in Prairie Rooms A & B. X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Kalar moved, seconded by Kessler to adjourn. Motion carried 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m.