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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 12/15/2025Agenda Eden Prairie Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting 7 p.m. Monday, December 15, 2025 Heritage Rooms City Hall 8080 Mitchell Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ATTENDEES Commission Members: Steve Schumacher (Chair); Paul Thorp (Vice-Chair); Rod Fisher; George Maxwell; Robert Bowes; Andy Ludowese; Catherine Lau, Prima Sisinni, Lisa Rude Student Members: Annika Rice, Fiona Rohde, Jaya Agrawal, Kadie Crider, Nico Allen, Saloni Siddavatam, Tatum Hesby City Staff: Beth Novak-Krebs, Staff Liaison, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary MEETING AGENDA I. Call the Meeting to Order II. Reading of Land Acknowledgement Statement III. Approval of Agenda IV. Minutes A. Heritage Preservation Commission meeting held Monday, November 17, 2025 V. New Business VI. Old Business A. Discuss Research Report and Annotated Bibliography for book. (Paul and Zack to attend) B. Discuss Draft 2025 Annual Report and 2026 Work Plan A. Reports A. Reports of Subcommittees 1. Native American History Outreach 2. New Heritage Preservation Site Designations HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA December 15, 2025 Page 2 3. Renovation/Maintenance Development 4. Documentation/Historical Recordings/Outreach B. Reports of Commission and Staff C. Reports of Students D. Reports of Historical Society General Update (Paul and Bob) VIII. FYI Items IX. Next Meeting; The next HPC meeting will be held on Monday, January 26, 2026 X. Adjourn Unapproved Minutes Eden Prairie Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 17, 2025 City Center Heritage Rooms 8080 Mitchell Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ATTENDEES Commission Members: Steve Schumacher (Chair); Paul Thorp (Vice-Chair); Rod Fisher; George Maxwell; Robert Bowes; Andy Ludowese; Catherine Lau, Prima Sisinni, Lisa Rude Student Members: Annika Rice, Fiona Rohde, Jaya Agrawal, Kadie Crider, Nico Allen, Saloni Siddavatam, Tatum Hesby City Staff: Beth Novak-Krebs, Staff Liaison; Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary MEETING AGENDA I. Call the Meeting to Order Chair Schumacher called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Commission members Thorp and Lau II. READING OF LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT Maxwell read the land acknowledgement statement. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Schumacher moved, seconded by Maxwell, to amend the agenda to address Item VC (DISTRIBUTE RESEARCH REPORT AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE BOOK) first. Maxwell moved, seconded by Fisher to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 7-0. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Maxwell moved, seconded by Fisher to approve the minutes of the October 20 2025 meeting. Motion carried 7-0. V. NEW BUSINESS A. DISCUSS WATER TOWER ON DANFOSS PROPERTY (FORMERLY EATON) AT 14900 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE Novak-Krebs displayed the location and Thorp stated he wished to bring this to the commission’s attention. It was built in 1964. Novak-Krebs stated it would HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 17, 2025 Page 2 continue to be used; there was a redevelopment possibility in this area. Thorp stated it had never been hooked up to the City’s water system. He outlined the aluminum casings for the hydraulic pumps, which were now unique and historic, but the tower would probably be lost in the redevelopment by the new owner(presently higher-end industrial use). The area was re-guided to mixed use, with a mix of commercial and residential. Fisher asked for and received confirmation the commission could not, even if it wanted to, save the tower and prevent redevelopment. Thorp stated that he was bringing it up as a point of interest. B. DISCUSS DRAFT 2025 ANNUAL REPORT AND 2026 WORK PLAN Novak-Krebs stated the interpretive panel had to be taken down for the parking lot improvement. Novak-Krebs met with Kathie Case, Paul Thorp and Communications to update the panel. Maxwell added the sign covering had degraded, making it difficult to read the small font. He stated the replacement font should be larger. Novak-Krebs stated the panel should be reformatted to improve the flow of the story. The rain garden information also needed to be updated. She summarized the work that Earl and Helen More did to restore the house. Matt Bourne of Parks, Recreation and Forestry would replace the sign. Schumacher suggested a QR code. Maxwell suggested the language on the sign be tightened up, with the QR link providing more narrative. Sisinni objected that some might not wish to use QR codes. Lau suggested the QR Code be linked to The Smith Douglas More House video, and Schumacher suggested it take the user to the City website, which included the video. Maxwell asked how much information needed to be included about the rain gardens. Discussion followed on the text. C. DISTRIBUTE RESEARCH REPORT AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE BOOK PROJECT Novak-Krebs displayed a slide showing “Useful works for the Study of the Indigenous People of Eden Prairie: An Annotated Bibliography” and distributed the report and bibliography. Mohlis stated the bibliography was so long due to the many sources found. He and Maravelas discussed formatting it by source type, or topic instead of an alphabetical list by source. The research report gave a high-level overview of questions and approaches. Maxwell stated an index would be an aid to the book and the annotated bibliography. Schumacher noted the index would be created later. Mohlis added HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 17, 2025 Page 3 some of the sources in the bibliography might never be cited. Maxwell asked for and received confirmation the history of indigenous peoples would include more modern sources. However, Mohlis could not state as to in what year (1930, 1940, or later) this history would terminate. This would come into shape as the book was written. The same sources could mention different events far apart in time, et cetera. Discussion followed on possible formats for the final bibliography. Schumacher noted the authors could not state how long the book would be but asked for a general outline of the book. Mohlis stated there was so much more information than what was covered in the existing local history that at times a chapter draft could be long, and other surprisingly short. A 600-page book was possible, but not his goal; he estimated a 125-page book. The point was to comprehensibly give an overview of the story. Fisher stated the point was not to tell the complete history of the indigenous peoples of the area, and Mohlis agreed. Thorp asked for and received confirmation Birch Island would be included. Mohlis stated the transcript of the talk Maravelas made were in the bibliography. Discussion followed on resettlement history. Fisher asked at what point would the commission give guidance on what topics to focus on. Novak-Krebs replied the authors would submit an outline for review and feedback during the writing phase. Mohlis stated the writing phase would include he and Maravelas writing certain chapters each and checking in with each other. Fisher asked for and received confirmation those draft chapters would be submitted for commission review. Schumacher asked for and received confirmation the best approach at this point was to read the report and the bibliography and identify gaps and main topics. Maxwell noted only a 1931 article on the Battle of Shakopee by Jim Otherday was the sole cited source, which was a secondary account giving the Dakota side of the story, and asked if there were Ojibwe narratives of the battle. Mohlis replied there were, including Warren’s history published in 1884 and a musicologist who had gathered oral histories and songs before and during the battle. Discussion followed on how to approach the battle and Otherday’s account of it years later. Sisinni asked, understanding the lens was primary a landscape focus, how the Battle of Shakopee would be placed in context of the natural resources and the tribes who used them. Discussion followed on Sisinni’s question. Mohlis replied choices made while writing would set out goals and objectives to connect a battle story that has been told many times to how lakes and valleys were formed, tribe agency and sovereignty. That had not come out in the report and the bibliography. It was a balance between being informative and “welcoming.” Discussion followed on the beginning of the battle and the challenge of HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 17, 2025 Page 4 recounting it. Mohlis stated his hope was that the reader would finish the book and come away with a story that had been told many times and that the authors and their decisions would not be intrusive. Fisher stated there was no way to include all stories; the authors had to choose the best and most representative. This was not an academic tome or a textbook. Wolfchild, Otherday, the Red Rock were examples of stories to be included. Fisher urged the text be written for the layman or the high school student, and Mohlis agreed. Maxwell read aloud and asked Mohlis to explain this statement regarding the Red Rock or Sacred Stone, “Mindful that this may be a subject that many Dakota people do not wish to see probed and publicized, we expect to develop this theme as fully as seems appropriate.” Mohlis replied this was a good reminder that no two people, including indigenous people, were the same and had different ideas about what stories could be told publicly or not; the book could upset someone. Maxwell asked why the stones were red, and Thorp stated this was an anomaly. Mohlis added at times the stone was described as red, others as painted red, et cetera. He and Maravelas would focus on commonalities between indigenous stories and scientific explanations (such as the rocks moving, have been deposited by glaciers). He emphasized the importance of passing the text by certain people to get feedback. Focusing on relationships, such as medicinal dogwood to other plants, would be another approach. Thorp stated there were variations on origin stories as evidenced by Sheldon. Mohlis added there were also two creation stories, and some indigenous people refused to argue about them, and some insisted on the correctness of their version. Sisinni asked if there was a diverse group of Dakota being drawn upon. Mohlis replied he had been talking with a wide group to find convergences of stories. There was a video being made about the Otherday family as well and he was in consultation with the filmmakers. He summarized other sources of historical projects being done by colleagues and private collections not available to the public. The owners could release some information from these collections to the authors. Being in conversation was crucial; this was a human endeavor, writing about the ancestors of people who live in Eden Prairie. Fisher asked for and received confirmation there was more research to be done. Mohlis stated there was always something new to find. The prospect of including images in the bibliography had also been discussed. Schumacher requested the commission members review both the bibliography and the research report before December’s meeting. Novak-Krebs offered to send both to the commission members. Fisher requested the project scope also be sent out, and Novak-Krebs agreed to do so. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 17, 2025 Page 5 VI. OLD BUSINESS A. DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLANS FOR HISTORIC STRUCTURES Schumacher asked if there were updates. Novak-Krebs stated there were no disaster plans for existing historic structures. Discussion followed on adding this to the 2026 Work Plan. Novak-Krebs stated SHPO was a resource for writing a disaster preparedness plan and she would send out an outline. The IT Department was documenting historic structures with photographs and video. VII. REPORTS OF SUBCOMMITTEES A. NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY OUTREACH B. NEW HERITAGE PRESERVATION SITE DESIGNATIONS C. RENOVATION/MAINTENANCE DEVELOPMENT D. DOCUMENTATION/HISTORICAL RECORDINGS/OUTREACH VIII. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF IX. REPORTS OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY Thorp stated the next meeting was on Thursday, in which they would be walking part of the Ox Cart Trail. Santa was beginning this week at the Cummins Phipps Grill House. The Vintage Sale was a great success, earning $4000.00 . The next project was to clean up the basement of Cummins Phipps Grill House. Sisinni stated it would be a good project to have Ginny Dorenkemper in the house to present, as she was an excellent storyteller. X. FYI ITEMS Fisher stated he had visited the Minnesota River vista overlook near C. H. Robinson. There were three blank placards in place of interpretive panels. Novak-Krebs stated she would ask Matt Bourne if there was a plan to update these. XI. NEXT MEETING The next HPC meeting will be held on Monday, December 15, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. at the Heritage Rooms, City Hall. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES November 17, 2025 Page 6 XII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Schumacher moved, seconded by Sisinni to adjourn. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m.