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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 01/12/2004 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2004 7:00 P.M. Atrium III 8080 Mitchell Road Commission Members: Lori Peterson-Benike, Chairperson; Betsy Adams, Deborah Barkley,Jennie Brown, Molly Gilbertson,Elise Kist, Kati Simons Student Representatives: John Buteyn, Mackenzie Epping, Thomas Grant Commission Staff: John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Peterson-Benike called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commissioner Barkley was excused. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Kist, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —December 15, 2003 Peterson-Benike made several changes. In the first paragraph on page 2, in the sentence beginning "She pointed out . . .", "the Riley-Jacques property" should be changed to "the Cummins-Phipps-Grill property." On page 3, in the second paragraph, "and a Farmer's market" should be deleted from the last sentence. On page 4, in the first paragraph, the fourth sentence should read "Peterson-Benike responded that the format he was using is easier to understand and more concise." The last two sentences of the paragraph should be deleted. MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Gilbertson, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting, held on December 15, 2003, as corrected. Motion carried 6-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Minnesota Chapter of the ASLA Award for Smith-Douglas-More House Gertz reported that Close Landscape Architects is applying for the ASLA award for the landscaping work the firm did at the Smith-Douglas-More House. Gertz submitted the application and believes it has a good chance of receiving the award. They will know in February. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 12, 2004 Page 2 Gertz said he would like to assemble the awards received for the house and put them on display, along with a text to explain the preservation program. Stu Sudak could also be asked to write an article for the Eden Prairie News. B. Preserve America Communities Award Gertz referred to information received about the Bush Administration's Preserve America initiative, which promotes historic preservation in and heritage tourism. Gertz said Eden Prairie could apply for the Preserve America Community designation and would likely get the award. The City meets the qualifications in Category 2, such as efforts to protect its historic resources and having an on-going inventory of historic sites; and in Category 3, the City provides funds for on-going heritage preservation. If awarded, the designation could be put on the signs leading into Eden Prairie. MOTION: Kist moved, seconded by Brown, that an application be completed to receive the Preserve America Community designation award. Motion carried 6-0. C. Anderson School House Update Adams reported that she and Simons are on the Anderson School House task force, which will have its second meeting on January 13. The group is laying the groundwork to move ahead with this project. A letter was received, dated December 15, 2003 from the Eden Prairie School District, regarding the school district's partnering with the Historical Society in relocation of the school house. The purpose of the letter is to clarify the process for site preparation and relocation to Prairie View Elementary School property. Hennepin Technical College has said the students could work on restoring the building if it were moved to the college grounds, but that would cost a great deal of money, so no decision has been made on how it will be restored. The Eden Prairie Foundation is holding an auction at its annual ball, and Marie Wittenberg has suggested auctioning off the book Eden Prairie: The First 100 Years, which belongs to the City, to raise money for the restoration of the school house. She asked if Adams would get authorization from the HPC to donate a copy of the book. MOTION: Adams moved, that the Heritage Preservation Commission donate a copy of Eden Prairie: The First 100 Years, to the Eden Prairie Foundation Ball. Brown asked if the Commission was authorized to do this. Gertz recommended adding to the motion that the HPC supports donating the City's book. Adams amended her motion as follows: HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 12, 2004 Page 3 MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Brown, that the Heritage Preservation Commission supports donating a copy of the City's book Eden Prairie: The First 100 Years, to the Eden Prairie Foundation Ball. Motion carried 6-0. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Reuse Alternatives for the Cummins-Phipps-Grill Property Gertz said many ideas have been offered for reuse of the property. However, the LAWCON agreement and its listing on the National Register of Historic Places limit the property's use. They provide guidelines for appropriate reuse alternatives. A memo Gertz wrote to the Mayor and City Council in July 2003 contains recommendations for use of the property. The HPC can assure no drastic changes are made to the house. The Historical Society is believed to be interested in using the house and is waiting for a meeting with the City to discuss this further. Therefore, the focus now is on repair and maintenance of the house. Gertz said he would like to see the grounds developed as a Heritage Garden site. He has contacted Terry Picha about planting vintage varieties of flowers and vegetables, and he is interested in doing this. Adams said if revenue-generation is important to consider, she wondered if funds could be generated by leasing space to local farmers for a Farmers' Market. If the Historical Society uses the house, a Farmers' Market might bring people in to see the house and museum. Gilbertson suggested leasing space to antique dealers in the house. Gertz stated that he didn't believe the LAWCON agreement would allow the City to get into a business arrangement, so the City could not lease space anywhere on the property. Peterson-Benike said there could be planned events when antique dealers would be invited to come and display items for sale. Adams wondered if the dealers could be charged a commission at those events. Gertz said the City Attorney would be asked to look at that and determine if it would be allowed. Gertz said he could envision having many more flowering gardens around the property, and perhaps a kitchen garden. The property would then have an outdoor leisure and recreational use. There are a number of other plants growing on the property, including the peony garden planted by Harriet Phipps, so adding other gardens would tie in with the history of the site. A Master Gardener could come in once a season to give a talk, and that could be scheduled through Parks and Recreation. Brown suggested having a store inside the house where toys, books, etc., could be sold, such as the Mill City Museum has. At the museum there was also a film about the flour mill and a demonstration on how flour was made. Since Cummins HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 12, 2004 Page 4 was a horticulturist, she suggested having someone come to the house on occasion to give a talk about him and about how the property was used in the past. Peterson-Benike said the HPC was requested to recommend uses for the property to the City Council and asked Gertz what steps should be taken next to accomplish this. Gertz said he could come to the next meeting with more specific ideas, or the Commission could have a few members get together to work on details. The City still needs to work with the Historical Society. Peterson-Benike said the Society should know what the Commission is going to recommend to the Council, and they have to articulate what their expectations are as well. Peterson-Benike said she believed it is most important to use the property in a way that is very inclusive and involves the community. The HPC should be an advocate for the site. Kist said the community would support keeping the property if it were put to a good use. Gertz stated that the west porch has to be completely reconstructed with a new roof. However, he is more interested in the programming of the site right now, because the house would need to be air-conditioned if the Historical Society uses it. That would be considered adaptive reuse. Gilbertson wondered if the City could get volunteers to make repairs to the house. That would show citizens that people in the community are interested in the house. Gertz said he believed that could be done. Grant said the City could probably get the high school Honor Society to help with repairs. Kist said Boy Scouts and community service groups would also likely be willing to volunteer. Gertz said he would bring all these items together in a memo to the City Council, for review by the HPC at the next meeting. Eventually, the HPC should meet with members of the Historical Society before going to the Council. It is important for the Historical Society to be involved. B. Outdoor Space Use at the Riley-Jacques Farm Gertz said the use of the outdoor space is tied to use of the Cummins property. If it were adapted to a garden site, Sun Bonnet Day would have to be moved to the Riley-Jacques Farm. That would need to be a recommendation from the HPC to the Parks and Recreation Services. Gertz said that some small area near the Dorenkemper house should be preserved for planting a crop, such as wheat or rye, for demonstration purposes, and he believed Sever Peterson would be willing to plant it. Gertz knows of a person who would be interested in threshing the crop in the fall. Also, a large strip surrounding and along the north side of the Dorenkemper house should be kept open and seeded with annual prairie flowers and native grasses. That would make a good setting for the home. Adams suggested having a kitchen garden also. Kist said heirloom tomatoes could be grown in an historic garden. Brown suggested having a reenactment of pioneer days, with people making butter, etc. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 12, 2004 Page 5 Gertz would like to see the history of the farm and barn displayed on a sign. There should be signage and landscaping at the entrance that would reflect the farm's historic aspects. With regard to the Dorenkemper house, it would be best to have the Historical Society take charge of programming that. They are having furniture refinished to use in the house and would want to protect it. Peterson-Benike said that the HPC would have further discussions on the use of the property at the February meeting. C. CLG Grant Update Gertz reported that Vogel has accomplished some primary research and has completed the Heritage Preservation Site Registration form. More work will be done at the cemeteries as spring approaches. Peterson-Benike said a tour of the cemeteries would be scheduled when the weather is better. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Chance Order Proposal Review for the Riley-Jacques Barn Gertz reported he met with the architect and the general contractor that day to discuss the Proposal Requests (PR) outlined in the memo he sent the Commissioners. Referring to PR2, Gertz said the architect had proposed using fiberglass reinforcement cement board (FRCB) in place of wood, along the staircase between the first and second levels. FRCB is generally used as a backer board for tile. The advantage of using this material is that it would not be subject to rot or mold. However, plywood would look much better and would cost less. They decided that plywood could be substituted for FRCB, and the cost increase of $1,284 would be removed from PR2, leaving just the $379 cost of a window- darkening shade. PR1 is to replace roof sheathing, at a cost of$1,247, and the City received a credit of$1,010 because the new roof did not need a fire retardant. PR3 is for 10 footings/excavation of $12,819, and plywood flooring of $5,354. Gertz explained that more footings were needed. The engineers and architects made the recommendation to build up the floor with footings made of concrete block. They also looked at the loft floor, and decided that a substantial number of floorboards would need to be replaced and a lot of work needed to make it level and eliminate "toe-catchers." Instead, they decided to overlay it with a plywood floor. The architect recommended that it be left unfinished. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 12, 2004 Page 6 PR4 is the result of review by the City inspectors, who thought the proposed fire- protection system was very elaborate and beyond what was needed. They asked the contractor to reduce the cost,resulting in a credit of$5,968. The total of the four Proposal Requests total $16,218.94, including additional fees of $1,811.94 incurred as a result of unforeseen conditions at the footings. The HPC was asked to make a recommendation for approval to the City Council. MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Kist, that the Heritage Preservation Commission recommends that the City Council approve Proposal Requests 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the Riley-Jacques Barn Project, dated January 7, 2004. Motion carried 6-0. The City Council will be asked to approve the Proposal Requests at its meeting on January 20. B. FY 2004 CLG Grant Gertz said that the draft application for a CLG grant is due on January 16, and the final application on February 13. Possible grant projects would be local designations, conversion of completed local designations to CD format, or conducting survey work, such as a Minnesota River Valley cultural resources survey. The HPC made a list of prioritized designations, which the Commissioners could look at again. Adams said she would like to complete some of the designations that were previously selected. Simons agreed. She asked if the HPC needed to be specific about sites in the grant application or just indicate that the City wants to complete the designations. Gertz replied they would need to be specific about the sites. The City did receive grants in the past for some of these sites but too many were done in too little time and they need to be redone. The prioritized list previously compiled by the HPC: Consolidated School Staring Lake Outdoor Center Glen Lake Children's Camp The Narrows Indian Road Corridor in the Minnesota River Valley Picha Farm Gertz said the most endangered site from the prioritized list is the Consolidated School because changes could be made to the building at any time. Staring Lake Outdoor Center needs significant repair work. The Glen Lake Children's Camp should be locally designated. The Minnesota River Valley properties are not in imminent danger. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 12, 2004 Page 7 MOTION: Gilbertson moved, seconded by Simons, to apply for a Fiscal Year 2004 CLG grant for local designation of the Staring Lake Outdoor Center, the Consolidated School and Glen Lake Children's Camp. Motion carried 6-0. Gertz said the cost of designating those properties would be about$6,000. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Kist moved, seconded by Brown, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 6-0. Peterson-Benike reminded members that the next meeting would be on the second Monday in February. She adjourned the meeting at 9:15 p.m.