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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 12/20/2004 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2004 7:00 P.M. Prairie Rooms A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS Betsy Adams, Chairperson; Jennie Brown, Vice Chairperson; Bob Amell, Deborah Barkley, Molly Gilbertson, Elise Kist STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES Ben Costello, Katie Kunitz, Trevor Diddell COMMISSION STAFF John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Adams called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Commissioners Barkley and Gilbertson had excused absences. Student Representatives Costello and Diddell were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Adams added an item on a recommendation to the Commissioners regarding letters to newspapers, under Reports of Commission and Staff. MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Amell, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —NOVEMBER 15, 2004 Gertz made a correction on page two, under Burial Mound Restoration at Hennepin Village; the last sentence should read, "As a result, a steep cut was made next to the mound, and an edge of the mound was exposed." Adams corrected the last sentence under Cemeteries Registration, to replace "Eden Prairie" with "Edina." MOTION: Kist moved, seconded by Amell, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission held on November 15, 2004, as published and amended. Motion carried 4-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Letters from Commissioners to the Newspapers Adams referenced her commentary in last week's Eden Prairie News. It was a factual report to clarify what a CLG form of government is and information about what distinguishes the HPC from the Historical Society. She told Stuart Sudak he could use any of her titles under her name. He chose to use all of them. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES December 20, 2004 Page 2 However, it was pointed out to her that using her title as chair of the HPC might have been misunderstood to indicate she was representing the Commission by what she said in the news article, which was not the case. She apologized to the Commissioners for that. Adams recommended that if Commissioners write letters to the editor of the newspaper, they identify themselves only as residents of Eden Prairie and not as a Commissioner. Adams believed this should be in writing for future reference. Gertz said he agreed that Commissioners should not be writing as representatives of the HPC, only as Eden Prairie residents. It is politically sensitive, because there is the potential what is said could reflect badly on the City and the Commission. Staff is concerned that any issue about which the Commission wants to make a statement be discussed at the Commission meeting so everyone gets a chance to state their opinion; then the Commission could send a letter to the newspaper reflecting the agreed-upon position of the HPC. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Riley-Jacques Barn Gertz reported that the work on the barn is 99 percent complete. He expected the Council at its next meeting to approve the final Change Order covering the last few items. There will be a final walk-through by an architect from Miller- Dunwiddie, some of the Park staff, and himself. If there are any problems, the contractor will have two months to resolve them. The barn has been winterized and water drained from the plumbing systems. Park staff is already working on programming the property for 2005. B. Dorenkemper House Gertz said he has asked Kathie Case for permission to talk to the Historical Society Board at its meeting on January 19 about plans to finish the Dorenkemper house in 2005. The Historical Society is interested in furnishing it, and Gertz would like to coordinate their timetable for refurbishment of the furniture with completion of work on the house. He hopes the Society will do the programming for the house once it is opened. Gertz returned a call from Dan Herbst about completion of the house, but was unable to reach him. Herbst may have developed a plan to finish the work. If not, Gertz wants to find a way to complete the house in 2005. He would like to come up with a plan to use crews from the Lino Lakes prison, perhaps with the City providing the materials. He also plans to talk to staff at the Hennepin Technical Center about students finishing the work. Adams asked whether high school groups could be contacted to help. Kist offered to contact the National Honor Society. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES December 20, 2004 Page 3 C. J. R. Cummins House Gertz distributed a flyer on the Cummins-Grill house prepared by David Lindahl, the City's Economic Development Manager. The City is hoping to generate interest in the property and is waiting to see what proposals for reuse of the house come in. The City is not doing a formal RFP at this time. Gertz said Lindahl knows the house is very important to the HPC and that whatever proposal is made would be brought to the HPC for review. Adams pointed out that some guidelines of importance to the HPC are listed in the flyer. For example, the HPC hopes to have the house and grounds open to the public, and that is addressed. If written guidelines are needed, there are federal guidelines available to the HPC. Amell asked what is happening about the basic maintenance items that need to be taken care of. Gertz said he brought this up at a staff meeting recently and was told to go ahead and plan on using the funds that are in the 2005 budget for that purpose. He expects to have contractors look at the property this winter and submit firm bids. He will develop a list of things the contractors are to look at, and the HPC will review that list before it goes out. If contractors say they cannot meet the requirements listed, Gertz and the HPC will start prioritizing them and then send the list back to the contractors. He hopes work can start in the spring. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Certified Local Government Program Gertz said because of the discussions that have been in the newspaper, there has been a lot of confusion about what the HPC does and what the Historical Society does. People mix up the two organizations and that causes misunderstanding, which will require an on-going public educational mission. As part of this mission, the HPC should think about putting something together, such as a freestanding display, which would help to address these concerns and issues. Gertz suggested the HPC learn about what a CLG is and start the process of educating the Commissioners. He asked how they want to do this; for example, by devoting 30 minutes at the end of each meeting to a discussion about historic preservation, or by dedicating an entire meeting to it. There is too much information to be able to cover it in just one hour. They could start to cover some of the material at this meeting if they wished. Adams said she realizes there is a lot of information but knows it will help her as a Commissioner if she assimilates it. In order to familiarize themselves more fully with the information, she asked the others if they would prefer having a three-hour workshop or taking 30 minutes at each meeting. Kist said she liked the latter idea, because it would be easier to remember than it would be if they got all the information at once. Adams wondered if they could bring someone in to speak at a meeting, such as the state archeologist. Gertz said he would ask him. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES December 20, 2004 Page 4 Adams stated the Commissioners should understand how Eden Prairie became a Certified Local Government. The City government chose to put an emphasis on historic preservation by becoming a CLG. The Commissioners need to remind themselves of this because the City is being challenged by some citizens. In eleven out of the last thirteen years the City has received CLG grant money. Gertz said he would give a quick overview and then explain what he wants to cover at the January meeting. Gertz referred to material sent to the Commissioners prior to the meeting. He copied the front page of the National Park Service's "Links to the Past" Web site. From this, Gertz said they could get to a lot of good information through the various links shown. They can find a list of National Register sites, including Eden Prairie's. In terms of the amount of information in a broad area, this is the best Web site. Among other things, it includes information about the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Gertz said President Bush appointed Governor Pawlenty to the Advisory Council. Also included are links to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions. The National Trust is the only fully-funded advocacy group for historic preservation. The National Alliance deals directly with the local preservation commissions to support their efforts. Preserve America is a federal program for recognizing historic places. Gertz said in the past he has talked about applying for a Preserve America city program, and will discuss at a future meeting. Gertz referred to the Federal Historic Preservation Laws. The most important is the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 with its amendments. He copied certain pages for the HPC. The Act established the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. It describes how CLGs are established. Another document Gertz copied for the Commissioners from the National Park Service Web site is "Preserving Your Community's Heritage", which provides information on the CLG program. It explains what the program is and what things are possible through a CLG. One of the most important is that once a City becomes a CLG, it can apply for grants. Through a CLG grant, Eden Prairie was able to conduct a citywide survey to look at which City historic sites to evaluate. During this process it became evident there was nothing that addressed landscapes in the City that have become landmarks. Using a CLG grant, "Landscape and Archeological Resources" was created. That would not have been possible without the grants. Adams referenced the section of the CLG document that says "In many states, CLG grants support creation of historic preservation plans that analyze current community needs and propose future strategies." Adams said the City applied for a CLG grant in January 2004 to help write nomination forms for the next three preservation sites. Given what is going on right now, however, she asked if it wouldn't be important to apply for a grant to analyze current community needs. Gertz said if they applied for a grant to do that now, they would pull back their HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES December 20, 2004 Page 5 previous request. If the application were approved in March, the grant period would go into 2006. Adams said that would be too late to provide any strategies for the current issues that are being discussed. Gertz said that type of analysis usually goes along with adaptive reuse planning for districts, where you have a number of buildings and look at uses for those properties, etc. There might be ways to address that, however, through the preservation information plan they come up with. Gertz referred to the City's Code, Chapter 11, Section 11.05, which approved the designation of Heritage Preservation Sites in December 1990. Eden Prairie became a Certified Local Government in 1990-91. Through the State Historic Preservation Office, the Heritage Preservation Commission became a Certified Commission and each person on it has to be a qualified Commission member. As long as the City maintains that standard and meets report deadlines, etc., it maintains its CLG status and can then apply for grants. The Commissioners should be familiar with the process of designating properties, described in the Code. Referring to "The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties", Gertz said they were used for the Smith-Douglas-More House restoration, which are the government's guidelines. He recommended that the Commissioners familiarize themselves with these. Gertz has the book with the complete guidelines, and they are also on the National Park Service Web site. Anyone considering reuse of the Cummins-Grill House has to know this is a historic building on the National Register of Historic Places. However, the peony garden is also included, because it is associated with the occupants of the home. A boundary is drawn, and everything inside is evaluated as to whether it contributes to the historic value of the property. There are also National Register Districts. The Children's Camp is an example of this. When it was designated for the National Register, it was considered a district made up of buildings associated with one another that are all protected. "Choosing an Appropriate Treatment for the Historic Building" refers to the four treatment approaches and how to determine which is the right one, depending on the relative importance of the building, the proposed use, etc. (1) Preservation—keeping the building in good repair. (2) Rehabilitation—allows for adaptive reuse that preserves the building. (3) Restoration—the approach taken when a property has a high degree of historic significance (Smith House), or when the person who owned it is an important figure (Ramsey House). (4) Reconstruction — when the site is an important historic place, but there are no surviving examples of the construction, so it is reconstructed based on historic plans (Fort Snelling). Gertz asked what the Commissioners want to focus on for the next meeting. It was decided they would explore the Web sites referred to, and go over the HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES December 20, 2004 Page 6 information on them before the meeting. Gertz has books covering all the subjects and would be willing to get copies of any of them for the Commissioners. Gertz said confusion about the differences between the HPC and the Historical Society should be discussed at the next meeting. Adams said there are letters of agreement between the City and Historical Society that could be copied and given to all the Commissioners. Gertz explained that the Historical Society is a private, non-profit group. It is charged with acting as curators and archivists of historic artifacts, and making them available for viewing to the public. It is accountable to its Board of Directors while the HPC is accountable to the City Council. Adams said it is important to know where they overlap and where they don't, and to understand their different missions. Gertz said the partnership between the two groups is the most important element. Part of the mission of a CLG is to partner with other groups in the City that are focused on historic preservation, and work with them. B. Historic Preservation Information Planning Gertz explained he would like to put together an informational kiosk describing historic preservation and also link that with what is going on with preservation planning in Eden Prairie. Many residents don't know about it. He would also like to describe some of the awards the HPC and the City have won, such as awards from the Historic Preservation Alliance. Brown said they had talked about having a special month to recognize historic preservation. The informational kiosk would be a good tie-in with the State Preservation and National Trust program. She asked if they could do something similar with the schools as well as in the City Center. Gertz said the kiosk would be mobile and could be taken to the new library, the schools and the Eden Prairie shopping center. Adams asked how it would be funded. Gertz said he had a budget of about $1,000 that could be used. He also has access to funds for preservation-related projects, made up of sales of art prints and book sales. Gertz said he would put together information, along with the cost of the project. He believed the City has a freestanding kiosk,but it may not be large enough. Adams said the kiosk display could show a collage of things that have happened throughout Eden Prairie's history. Gertz said it would rely heavily on images with captions and a timeline. Brown suggested having something interactive, like a button people could push to hear recorded information. Gertz said he would come back next month with an outline of how the display might look and the HPC can decide what it wants to include. C. Cemetery Task Force Gertz reported that the City Council has asked for an ad hoc task force to study the issues involved in the City's management of its cemetery. Establishment of HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES December 20, 2004 Page 7 the task force will be on the Councils Consent Calendar for approval at its December 21 meeting. The HPC has been asked to appoint a representative to serve on the Cemetery Task Force. It would likely be a six-month commitment. The task force would address the issues listed in the Charter Statement and come back to the Council with a report and recommendations. Gertz pointed out that one of the issues is to recommend improvements to the grounds of the cemetery. He suggested Commissioners review the documents prepared on the proposed treatment plan for the cemetery by Robert Vogel, and to assist the task force in preparing this information for the Council. He said the task force might want to reference the treatment plans. Gertz has not heard anything from the Parks Department since he asked for an update on their recommendations regarding the treatment plans. He added that the task force's work does not supersede nomination of the Pleasant Hill Cemetery as a historic site. When comments are received from the Parks Department and the plans are finalized, then they will move forward with the nomination process and at the same time the task force is doing its work. Amell volunteered to serve as the HPC's representative on the task force. Adams accepted his offer. Gertz will submit his name to Scott Neal through Janet Jeremiah. Once the membership of the task force is complete, Amell would be receiving a letter from Neal about when the meetings will begin. VII. ADJOURNMENT The Commissioners were reminded that the third Mondays in January and February are holidays, so the meetings will be changed to the fourth Mondays. They will be held on January 24 and February 28, 2005. MOTION: Kist moved, seconded by Brown, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Adams adjourned the meeting at 9:20 p.m.