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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 12/18/2006 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 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 STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES Nathan Wagner,Alexandra Shea, Lauren Bentz COMMISSION STAFF John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Chair Adams called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commissioners Plaza and Akerlund were excused. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Item W.B., Council Interaction with Boards and Commissions, was added under Reports of Commission and Staff. MOTION: Mackay moved, seconded by Muehlberg, to approve the agenda as revised. Motion carried 5-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —NOVEMBER 20, 2006 AND NOVEMBER 30, 2006 Regarding the minutes of November 20, 2006, Adams made a correction on page 3, the third sentence in the first paragraph under D. It should read "Plaza is using the Web page layouts that already exist and then preparing information from the interpretive panels." MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Amell, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission held on November 20, 2006 as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. Regarding the minutes of November 30, 2006, Gertz corrected the spelling of Thomas Zahn's last name throughout the minutes. MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Mackay, to approve the minutes of the special meeting of the Heritage Preservation Commission held on November 30, 2006, as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS UPDATE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 18,2006 Page 2 1. Interpretive Panels Gertz reported that the interpretive panel for Dunn Bros. at the Smith- Douglas-More House is complete, and he believed it was installed that day in the location selected. The Prairie Bluff Conservation panel is almost ready to be sent to Premier Plastics for completion. The Riley Jacques panel is about ten percent finished. 2. History Book Gertz has recently spoken with the staff member who is going to scan the book. One problem is that Gertz cannot find the originals of many of the pictures that are in the book. He is compiling a list of the photos they need, and Kathie Case has agreed to have him speak to the members of the Historical Society at their next meeting. They will be asked to form a group to locate the photos. If they cannot be found, substitutes will have to be used. Higgins offered to assist members of the Historical Society in searching for the photos. Regarding graphics and artwork for the book, Adams said that Dale Redpath did all the artwork for the book. Adams will contact her to see if she has the originals or copies of them. Scanning of the book will begin in January, and in February Gertz will look for bids on binding the books. 3. Kiosk Gertz reported that the design work for the kiosk is done. He is working on text information and will do more work toward spring. This item is third in priority to the first two. B. COUNCIL INTERACTION WITH BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS Adams reported that she and Gertz had received a letter from Scott Neal, which states the mayor-elect envisions establishing a closer relationship with the City's Boards and Commissions. The mayor-elect wants more feedback from the Commissions and input from the Council in the decision-making process and in establishing priorities. He is asking for ideas from the Commissions as to how they believe this new interaction could best work, and is trying to collect this information as soon as possible. By April 2007, when the new Boards and Commissions are in place, the mayor-elect hopes this new system will be set up. Gertz said the Commission could devote time at the next meeting to discuss this. Adams pointed out that the Commissioners have previously said they hope to educate our Council about what the Commission is doing. Mackay said the various Commissions could meet with the Council at workshops, which are held before the Council meetings. The Commissions could do this on a regular basis. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 18,2006 Page 3 Adams said this Commission has not met with the Council at a workshop previously, but thought that would be a good vehicle to use. She believes the Council will want the Commission to be more accountable than in the past. Higgins asked if new Councilmembers have some communication with the Commissions as part of their orientation. Adams said no, but that should be done, and would be one of the suggestions from our Commission. Gertz said he would keep the Commission up-dated between now and the January meeting. He hoped there would be more information forthcoming. This item will be on next meeting's agenda. V. OLD BUSINESS A. FY 2006 CLG Grant Project — Cummins Property Reuse Study Process Discussion—Robert Vogel, Pathfinder CRM Vogel said reuse studies are a basic part of historic preservation but are usually the most overlooked aspect of preservation. Most historic properties are either functionally or economically obsolete. Of all the kinds of heritage properties, most no longer retain their original function and HPCs should always be thinking about adaptive reuse of all the properties they are charged with keeping. A formal kind of reuse study, which is focused on one piece of property with a proscribed budget and time frame, presents different kinds of challenges. The study has to comply with the terms of the grant agreement and the grantor's image of what reuse studies are about. Vogel pointed out that there are several different tasks. First, get to know the historic property itself. He and his company have an advantage because they have worked with this HPC over the years and have talked about what the property could be used for. Second, follow the schedule the Minnesota Historical Society put out; for example, development of scenarios is to be completed in February. Vogel said a third task is to look at what is needed in the community and determine if the Cummins house would fit those needs. He plans to talk to as many people as possible to get ideas. There should also be a whimsical component to the ideas and suggestions. After that is done, the HPC will be looking at this list of ideas and cull it down to a workable number of alternatives. Then a reuse study team would be assigned to review all of those scenarios and prioritize them as to what meets the study's goals and how to make them work. There have to be criteria applied to all of these scenarios. (1) Preservation. The scenarios have to preserve the property. (2) Sustainability. The alternatives and ideas presented have to be sustainable. They have to be affordable and work out financially. If the property is going to be used by a non-profit organization, the group has to be able to sustain it. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 18,2006 Page 4 Vogel said, from his perspective, those are all the criteria needed. However, a third criteria would be a component where the property has some access by the public, because local taxpayers have put money into the property over the years. That component would be written into the agreement. Then the property has to meet the requirements of the disability act, which Vogel said is not difficult to do. Adams asked about the size of the team, if the team would be doing all the interviews, and how they decide who is going to be interviewed? Vogel replied he and John Gertz will do all the interviews. They would make their best effort to identify the potential stakeholders who might want to be involved in the property for the long run. Adams pointed out that the City had made the property available for leasing but not many people were interested. Vogel said he and Gertz will interview them. Adams said they should also go to people who think that doing anything with the property is not a good idea. Vogel replied they would go to those people first. Before it comes to the HPC there has to be a reality check by talking to people who are perceived to be opposed to it. Vogel said that one advantage with Eden Prairie being a small-size large city is there are a variety of people on staff who are able to give professional input to assist with this project. It might be necessary to do some market analyses. The house has had significant work done, so it won't have to be substantially altered. The key is to find the right reuse or combination of uses so it could be self- sustaining. Adams asked if they would be looking at the economic impacts regarding preservation and an economic overview. Vogel replied that they plan to do that. They will not have enough time to work out a business plan, but could make a policy decision this summer that reuse is going to work with a particular entity, and there will be enough information to make that policy decision. They will find out what it costs to maintain the building now and use that as a benchmark. The Secretary of the Interior's standard for preserving an historic property is to use it for its original use or something compatible with it. Historic properties make satisfactory office and retail space for particular kinds of enterprises. The City would not allow an activity that is inconsistent with City policy, however. The HPC will have to look at things that don't require a serious change in use because that usually entails some kind of modification to the building. Mackay asked if the Planning Commission has to be involved in reuse of the property. Gertz replied that it does, after the Parks and Recreation Commission reviews the plan. Vogel said the property would have to be rezoned, but he does not envision any problems with that. In the next week or two, Vogel said he would identify all the constraints. He will involve the City's building inspectors, engineers, etc., to identify the potential problems from their perspectives and to avoid any surprises from them later on. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 18,2006 Page 5 Gertz said they have talked about involving David Lindahl. He has multiple contacts in Eden Prairie. They will also talk to members of the Historical Society with regard to using the house as a museum. Vogel said they should also talk to persons who have actually constructed an historical museum. Vogel pointed out that the timing of this reuse study is good in relation to expansion of County Road 1, which begins in 2008 and will take two seasons to complete. That is not a constraint on the study, however. It would probably take about two years for people who want to buy or lease the property to get it rezoned and ready for use. Gertz said there will be a public component to the study. They have talked about putting together an advertisement to bring in the public and generate ideas. Vogel asked the HPC to talk to people they know and find out what they have to say. He would like to see the house being used by various groups this year to encourage interest in developing some ideas for reuse. Vogel said timing is important. The evaluation process has to start no later than the first of March, so they will need a list of ideas prior to that in order to evaluate them and develop scenarios. The HPC should meet at the house in April to look at the scenarios. Ideally we want to have more than two real choices for the City Council, preferably three or four, with one of them preferred by the HPC, which would have to reach a consensus. The only goal he has seen from the HPC is to preserve the property to historic preservation standards. The reuse study will show how to make it pay for itself. Vogel plans to go out to the public and rely on in-house staff as much as possible for the team component of the study, and reserve using an architectural team for later on. Gertz stated that he would be dedicating most of his time to this project for the next six- to-eight months. Gertz said they have to remember that the peony garden is an historic part of the property. Higgins noted that some of the plants have been lost over time. She said the school district now has a relationship with China, and she wondered if new plants from China could be brought in to exchange for some plants from here. Vogel offered to ask the Rice Creek Nursery how much we could make propagating rare and heirloom plants. Gertz said that idea came up some years ago when he talked to the Edina Historical Society about how they make money every year selling greenhouse plants. That idea could be implemented. If the City put up a greenhouse on the property, Terry Picha has previously said he would work with the City and indicated a genuine interest in growing the plants. Vogel said working out public and private relationships is the kind of thing studies like this one can do. Adams asked Vogel how often he would be reporting to the HPC. He said he would come to the January and February meetings and then May, June and July. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 18,2006 Page 6 Gertz suggested holding an event that would attract the media, perhaps during Historic Preservation week in May. Vogel said to ask the people who come what they would recommend for reuse of the house and give them a card to send back. Gertz said the program could be based on the history of the site. Adams suggested asking Terry Picha or Sever Petersen to be part of the program. Gertz said he would talk to Sandy Werts about events being planned at the property. He wants to get publicity out to the media and on the City's Web site to let people know we are interested in hearing their ideas. Adams asked the student members to find out if there are any students who can use the house for a day to get some publicity for the house. Gertz plans to put together a tentative schedule to give the Commission. Vogel said most of their efforts will go into evaluating scenarios; they need March and April to develop them. At the HPC meeting in February the Commissioners will have to make a decision on selecting from the scenarios that have been proposed. Gertz reminded Commissioners that the January meeting will be on January 22, which is the fourth Monday, because of the Martin Luther King holiday on the third Monday. The President's Day holiday is on the third Monday in February, so that meeting will be held on February 26. There was a discussion about holding the public hearing for designation of the Glen Lake Children's Camp at the January meeting. In that case, a workshop to meet with Vogel would be held at 6:00 p.m., followed by the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. (The public hearing was later moved to March, and Robert Vogel was asked to come at 7:00 p.m.) Mackay pointed out that this was the last meeting for student representatives Nathan Wagner and Alexis Shea. They were thanked for attending the meetings this fall. Lauren Bentz will be continuing through May. VI. NEW BUSINESS VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Amell moved, seconded by Mackay, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Adams adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m.