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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 03/18/2003 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM TUESDAY,MARCH 18,2003 CITY CENTER 5:00- 6:25 PM,HERITAGE ROOM H 6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher,Ron Case, and Jan Mosman, and Philip Young CITY STAFF: City Manager Scott Neal, Police Chief Dan Carlson,Fire Chief George Esbensen,Public Works Director Eugene Dietz,Director of Parks and Recreation Bob Lambert,Management and Budget Director Don Uram, City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Lorene McWaters Heritage Room H I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. DISCUSSION TOPICS • Heritage Preservation Vision Scott Neal asked the Council to offer their ideas on a vision for heritage preservation in Eden Prairie. Butcher said she is impressed with the notion of adaptive re-use as a way to keep historic properties viable and available to really be used. She is very happy with the way in which the More House/Dunn Bros. venture has turned out. Young said he is appreciative of the work staff did in gathering information on historic preservation in Eden Prairie and in other communities. He said his main question revolves around the role of government in historic preservation,particularly in funding historic preservation. He is concerned about the implication of spending public dollars on historic preservation, and wonders if the City can get a"return on it." He said he wonders how the state auditor would perceive the spending Eden Prairie has done and plans to do on historic preservation. Young said it is important to consider the community's vision of historic preservation. He noted that the community survey conducted two years ago indicated that spending on historic preservation was a relatively low priority. Young suggested the Council think long and hard about the current economic model of funding historic preservation. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP NIINUTES March 18,2003 Page 2 Mosman said historic preservation is not something that is necessarily going to show a return on the dollar,but that the Council needs to think about its value to residents and businesses. She said there has been some consideration of using some of the historic properties for park uses. She said Council needs to keep open to different types of partnerships. Case agreed that there is no question that Council must pursue private partnerships. Case said he believes the survey Young referred to is outdated and is no longer relevant. Case said that the Council needs to remember they are talking about meeting the needs of a broad spectrum of the community. It is their responsibility to maintain the perception of Eden Prairie as a quality community. He said in addition to schools and parks, things like history and art contribute significantly to quality of life. He said that for 25 years Eden Prairie City Council's have chosen to fund historic homes and make them a priority. He said impressive numbers of people have visited the Dunn Bros./More House in the three months it has been open. Case said the Council needs to do as much as it can with what is available, especially in conjunction with private partnerships. Butcher said she is not sure the Cummins House is necessarily the right place to a pursue public/private partnership. She cautioned the Council to be very careful when it comes to specifics. Young said he does not believe the government can be all things to all people, and the Council is elected to represent the people. He thinks it unwise to discount the survey results, saying it is one of the few sources of objective information available. Young said the Council needs to begin by defining the role of the City in historic preservation. Other communities seem to be fulfilling the same vision and spending less on it. It will be important to find out how they do this. He said it appears that Eden Prairie has spent more than any other community. He also said he feels there is no danger of people saying the quality of life in Eden Prairie is poor. Tyra-Lukens said she has less faith in surveys than Young. She believes there is a sizable group of people in the community who have historic preservation as a value. Case said that when referring to money Eden Prairie has spent on historic properties, it is important to note that some of that money also went toward acquiring park land that surrounds the homes. Tyra-Lukens asked how the Council wishes to direct the Heritage Preservation Commission to proceed,particularly in light of the current budget situation. Case said he thinks the HPC should continue to focus on preserving the City's three historic homes,but to do it as inexpensively as possible. He noted that three of the five current Councilmembers served on HPC before running for Council, and he thinks the public knows of and values their perspectives. Tyra-Lukens agreed that the three historic homes the City already owns are what the Council needs to be concerned with. Mosman said that since the City already owns the homes, it is obligated to do the best job possible in restoring and using them. She urged staff and HPC to continue to seek grants, sponsorships and partnerships to help fund work. She said she would hate to see the City sell off irreplaceable properties. She noted that some historic homes have been converted to bed and breakfast inns in other communities. Case noted that he has heard that Dunn Bros. would love to move into CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES March 18,2003 Page 3 the Cummins House under the right circumstances. He said he thinks it is a safe government bet to invest in these historic properties. Young said he sees two main issues. The first is whether or not to do historic preservation, and the second is how to go about doing preservation if they decide to proceed with it. He said he is not suggesting that the City not do historic preservation,but merely asking that they take a look at how it is done. He said if Dunn Bros. is interested in the Cummins House,they should pay to restore the building and assume the financial risks. He said he was not aware of a"historic preservation mandate"on the Council. Case asked Young why he was picking on historic preservation rather than something else like a$6 million water park. Young said there will be a referendum on the water park, and the people will be allowed to decide whether or not they want to fund it. Case said instead of looking at this as just historic preservation, the Council should view these homes as an important part of our community's identity and uniqueness. Butcher pointed out that figures provided by Historic Preservation Specialist John Gertz show the City has spent$221,000 total on the Cummins House. She said that translates into only about$8,000 a year to maintain and use this structure. Case said it sounds as if the Council agrees on more than it disagrees on—and none of them want to spend money heedlessly. Case said if the Council can get the Cummins House"off the roster"through some sort of adaptive reuse like that at the More House, they can concentrate on the Riley-Jaques farmstead. Case said that in essence, everything the City does can be considered a subsidy. Therefore the question is whether or not the City should subsidize history. In his mind,the answer is yes. Butcher said perhaps the appropriate directive would be to look at ways to more creatively use these structures. Butcher said she also feels Council needs more direct input from the HPC. Parks and Recreation Director Bob Lambert asked for clarification about a comment Case made about putting an old schoolhouse on the Riley-Jaques property. He said this is the first he has heard of such a plan, and cautioned that such a move would be expensive and would significantly alter a site plan that is currently under development , by a consultant. Case said he did think the City should consider moving the old schoolhouse to the property. City Manager Scott Neal said staff received good input from Council from this discussion. Neal said he would draft a vision statement on historic preservation for the Council to review. He asked the HPC and Historical Society to submit written input to him for consideration in drafting this statement. IV. OTHER TOPICS Council Chamber CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES March 18,2003 Page 4 V. OPEN FORUM (Scheduled participants, 6:30-6:50 p.m.) • Nancy Holden—Community Involvement Initiative Nancy Holden introduced herself as the director of PROP and representative of the Eden Prairie Community Education Advisory Council. She presented Council with an overview of the Education Advisory Council's latest initiative,which is an interactive website through which individuals and organizations can both post and search for volunteer opportunities. The website address is www.edenMrairievolunteers.org. Holden said once it is fully functional,probably in April,the website will act as a central clearinghouse for City, School District,private organizations, and individuals wishing to participate in volunteer opportunities. • Dipak Shah Dipak Shah said he was appearing before Council with questions about a commentary in the Eden Prairie News written by Councilmember Case. Shah said he was offended by the article and asked Case to explain what he was trying to imply in the article. Mayor Tyra-Lukens said she did not think Shah's question was necessarily pertinent to the Council Forum, since Case wrote the article as an individual. Shah said he believed his question was pertinent, since the article identified Case as a teacher and a Councilmember. He said he was greatly disturbed by the content of the - article. Case said he would be happy to talk privately with Mr. Shah about his concerns. Case noted that the newspaper is generally responsible for identifying commentary writers as residents, Councilmembers, etc. Shah again asked Case to explain what Shah referred to as racist, anti-immigrant comments. He said Case implied school test scores were going down due to the immigrant and low income population. Councilmember Case began to respond,but was interrupted by Shah. Mayor Tyra-Lukens told Shah it was her job to run the meeting. Shah said he expects an apology and a retraction, or he will"make this a Federal case." VI. OPEN PODIUM (Unscheduled participants, 6:50-7:00 p.m.) No one requested to speak during this portion of the meeting. VII. ADJOURNMENT