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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 05/15/2006 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, MAY 15, 2006 7:00 P.M. Prairie Rooms A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS Betsy Adams, Chairperson; Nina Mackay, Vice Chairperson; Richard Akerlund, Bob Amell,Ann Higgins, Ed Muehlberg, Jane Plaza COMMISSION STAFF John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Adams called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Commissioner Akerlund arrived seven minutes later. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Mackay, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —APRIL 17, 2006 Adams made two corrections on page 2. Under item C, the last line in the second paragraph should read "occurred, the City has tabled designation to a future time." Under item E, the second line in the last paragraph should read "Society would use the City's Web site . . ." MOTION: Mackay moved, seconded by Amell, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting, held on April 17, 2006, as corrected. Motion carried 6-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Riley Barn Antique Sale Gertz reported that the sale was canceled because the City's insurance policy would not cover damage or theft of items that dealers bring into the barn. The dealers would need to show they were covered by insurance. Gertz said the Park department is having a meeting on May 16 to discuss finding a way to make it easier to hold an event in the barn. He is going to the meeting and will let the Commissioners know the results at their June meeting. V. OLD BUSINESS HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 15, 2006 Page 2 A. Cummins House Ice Box Reconstruction Gertz said the reconstruction is going to happen, but not as originally planned. Classes scheduled to do the work were canceled twice. However, Mark Wickstrom, the masonry instructor, is going ahead with a group of apprentice brick masons. They have the top course of block work done and rebar in. The Park department is doing the backfill work and Facilities is paying for the materials. Salvaged brick will be used. Gertz hopes they will be finished by mid summer. B. Pioneer Trail Expansion Gertz said he and other City staff met in St. Paul with traffic officials from Hennepin County, MnDot, FHWA and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) regarding the impact the expansion will have on the Cummins Homestead property. The meeting was short, but provided the launching point for the mitigation process under Section 106 of the National Preservation Act of 1966. Both MnDot and SHPO agree that the project will result in an adverse effect on the Cummins property, with significant loss of front yard space and vegetation, but also a potential impact to the site on the north side if parking for the athletic fields is relocated there. Mitigation will seek to minimize the impacts. At some point the HPC will be reviewing the project plans and mitigation steps. Adams inquired how much of the front yard would be lost to the road expansion. Gertz said the property would lose 80 feet off the front, which is a significant impact. Another adverse effect, resulting from the expansion, would be collateral damage caused by parking vehicles behind the house. The relocation of parking is only being proposed at this time. The traffic officials from Hennepin County said they would not be responsible for that happening. Gertz told them they would, because parking would not need to be relocated behind the house if expansion of the road was not occurring. Adams stated it is a good thing that SHPO is involved. This is protected property, which means the City has some negotiating power. Gertz said there will be a meeting at the site to discuss mitigation measures. One possible mitigation measure would be to go underground with the fiber optic cables for electrical and phone lines. County representatives will be asked to stake out the limits of the road construction and then they can see the trees that will be impacted. Gertz said many large, old trees will be lost. He encouraged members of the Commission to come to the meeting. Gertz reported that the City just received comments from the DNR regarding the City's request to initiate a process for removing the part of the land where the Cummins Homestead is located from LOCKON restrictions. The City is asking to get out of those restrictions so it can use the property for a commercial purpose. In order to do that, the City would have to swap it for land of equal value. The land the City is considering is Birch Island property. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 15, 2006 Page 3 However, Gertz said removing LOCKON now would have an adverse effect with regard to the mitigation measures, because the City would lose the protective restrictions of Section 106 when LOCKON is removed. Gertz hopes the mitigation process is in place before that happens. Because this is a very unique situation, Gertz has talked to his contact at SHPO to see if these two processes could be combined and if SHPO could come up with a memo of agreement that would satisfy everybody. C. Eden Wood Center—Glen Lake Children's Camp Rehabilitation Gertz and Adams attended the Groundbreaking Ceremony at Eden Wood Center last week. Gertz displayed the rehabilitation plans that were just approved by the City. They were also sent to SHPO for review, but Gertz has not heard that they returned any comments. The contractor will be working with these plans, which Gertz said are much more complete than those reviewed by the HPC at its March meeting. Adams said Friendship Ventures are just doing foundation work under the dormitory this summer. Next fall they will begin to make the changes to the interior of the dormitory and dining hall that were discussed with the HPC. Gertz said the only item not resolved is the windows, which they hope to resolve by August. Gertz will be meeting with an architect from Miller-Dunwiddie this week to look at the building. The architect is expected to help in determining whether the present windows can be reused. Adams said the HPC's job is to investigate every possibility in trying to reuse them, but if new windows have to be used the old ones would be saved. Gertz said perhaps it will end up that the most practical answer is to have new windows that fit into the old openings. However, he will investigate whether the historic windows can be used. If they can, he will encourage Friendship Ventures to use them. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. HPC PowerPoint The PowerPoint was shown at the Recognition Banquet. Gertz put it together and Adams presented the information that accompanied the pictures. Mackay said it was a good presentation. New members on the Commission, like herself, have a lot to learn, and this put everything together for her. Gertz suggested putting the whole presentation on the City's Web site after modifying it. He said he gets many calls regarding the signs that are placed at historic sites. There is nothing on the Web site about them. Plaza inquired about the status of the education project that was dropped from the 2006 CLG grant application. Gertz said he plans to work with Pat Brink to get some information together and put it on the Web site. He asked if the HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 15, 2006 Page 4 Commissioners want to have pictures of historic places in Eden Prairie and accompanying text. Plaza agreed that would be a good way to let people read about them. She asked if it could be set up so that all the information on each place could be pulled up individually. The information on the Web site could be based on all of the research put together for the power point as well as the outdoor interpretive panels at the various sites. Gertz said they could include a map of Eden Prairie showing the location of the historic sites to click on and take a virtual tour. Adams suggested including pictures and text from the interpretive panels. Gertz said they could also be pinpointed on the map. Gertz asked Plaza if she would be interested in helping with this project and Plaza said she would. Gertz will talk to Pat Brink about the format. Akerlund asked if the HPC should have links with other commissions that might be involved with historic sites, such as the Anderson Nature Center. Gertz said he could work with the Parks department on that. Gertz said he has also talked to Scott Neal about the possibility of the Historical Society having a link via the City's Web site. He believes there is a legitimate connection between the City and the Historical Society to justify a link. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Amell, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. Adams adjourned the meeting at 8:05 p.m.