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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 10/20/2003 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2003 7:00 P.M. Prairie Rooms A & B 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 7:10 p.m. Commissioner Kist arrived at 7:45 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Peterson-Benike added the article about historic houses that appeared in the Star Tribune under VII. New Business. MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Barkley, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — September 15, 2003 MOTION: Gilbertson moved, seconded by Simons, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting held September 15, 2003, as published. Motion carried 6-0. IV. TOUR OF THE GLEN LAKE CHILDREN'S CAMP NATIONAL REGISTER DISTRICT The Commissioners and Student Representatives met at 6:00 p.m. for a tour of the Glen Lake Children's Camp, led by John Gertz. V. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Welcome to Student Representatives Peterson-Benike extended a welcome to the Student Representatives. Mackenzie Epping is a senior at Hopkins High School; Tom Grant and John Buteyn are seniors at Eden Prairie High School. Gertz encouraged their participation in the meeting. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 2003 Page 2 B. Preservation Conference—New Ulm Adams, Brown and Kist attended the conference. The theme was "Heritage Preservation in this Economic Climate." Adams said it was a good conference, but she was surprised at how few people came. Tours of New Ulm were offered. Adams said it is a charming city with an interesting history. At one of the seminars they talked about how the residents' German roots are used to promote the city and its historic property. They also pointed out that if you want your town to get behind historic preservation, it is important for the residents to focus on it and to tie the city's heritage into an event that is fun. New Ulm has a sense of place. Right now, Eden Prairie doesn't have that sense of place. Brown said the keynote speaker was a former member of the National Trust, who has written a book on streetscapes - how to make streets more accommodating for people and what is being done to revitalize cities' downtown areas. Brown toured a business where decorative building stones are formed for various purposes. She also attended a workshop on lighting, including the type of lighting a city might choose for displaying historic buildings, and the City of St. Paul was featured. Adams and Brown talked about having the next conference in Eden Prairie. Gertz said he didn't think Eden Prairie or another suburb would be selected, but suburban historic issues would be a good subject for discussion. C. 2003 Minnesota Preservation Awards Gertz reported that the Smith-Douglas-More House rehabilitation project is going to receive a Preservation Award from the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota. It will be presented on November 7, 2003, at the St. Paul Union Depot. Gertz and Gilbertson plan to attend. MacDonald & Mack will be acknowledged as the architects of the project, and Gilbertson is being recognized as the interior designer. Someone from Dunn Bros. Coffee is also expected. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Preservation Budget—CIP Gertz reported he was in the process of putting together a Capital Improvement Program for the Riley-Jacques Farm project. He hopes to include funding to make improvements to the Riley-Jacques house and the J. R. Cummins house over the next three- to four years for which estimates have already been made. Gertz will forward these figures to the City Council for review at an upcoming workshop. After approval by the Council, those figures would become part of the seven-year CIP. He believes it is important to let the Council know about the work that needs to be done on those houses, because without it they will HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 2003 Page 3 deteriorate rapidly. If the funds are not approved, the HPC will have to look at grants or donations to get the work done. B. CLG Grant Project Update Gertz said the project for the Pleasant Hill and Eden Prairie cemeteries is underway. Robert Vogel met with Wes Dunsmore and Stu Fox of Parks and Recreation Services. Gertz said that Vogel would be using GPS to determine where each burial site is located. He will find out which burial sites are occupied and which are not. Vogel plans to attend the November HPC meeting to discuss the project. He also hopes to set up a meeting with City staff at the two cemeteries. HPC members would be invited to come. C. Draft Flyins! Cloud Airport MOA Review The most recent draft version of the Memorandum Of Agreement was reviewed. Gertz said the City would be meeting with MAC and the State Heritage Preservation Office soon, and he will bring back information to the Commission after each meeting. Any comments from the HPC would be incorporated into the MOA. Peterson-Benike would be invited to the meeting and will be a signatory to the agreement. Gertz asked if there were any comments the HPC wanted to make. Peterson- Benike said the HPC has a vested interest in this Agreement, specifically that there will be the opportunity for recordation of the historic hangars before they are demolished. Gertz explained that the MOA is an agreement on the process to develop a mitigation plan, and asked for approval by the HPC of the process that is outlined. MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Barkley, that the Heritage Preservation Commission approve the draft Flying Cloud Airport Memorandum of Agreement review document. Motion carried 7-0. D. Riley-Jacques Farm Project Update Gertz reported that there was a pre-construction meeting at the farm attended by the contractor, subcontractors, City staff, and the architect. On October 21, Parkos Construction Company will be given a Notice to Proceed and can start November 1. During the winter months, the company would be limited to bringing in a trailer and getting set up, working in the barn doing demolition work, window work, etc. The project is expected to be substantially completed by September 15, 2004. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 2003 Page 4 The Dorenkemper house has been painted white. The hardware has not come in yet, and the doors have not been installed for that reason. E. Fredrick-Miller Springy Project Update Gertz said the improvements are nearly completed. The asphalt will likely be put down soon. The trenching is done, which extended down to the original pipe under the road. The spring is capped and should be running in about two weeks. Gertz plans to install the interpretive panel describing the history of the spring. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Historical Society's Anderson Schoolhouse Project Adams reported that she attended the latest meeting of the Historical Society, where they talked about restoration of the former Anderson Schoolhouse. There was an article in the paper about the proposed project, followed by a letter to the editor criticizing the project and responses by members of the Historical Society. Adams wrote that the schoolhouse is not so much a historic structure as it is a symbol of early Eden Prairie life. After the building is restored, the plan is to let today's schoolchildren experience what it was like to attend school in pioneer times, similar to the Cahill School in Edina. Adams said the Historical Society plans to form an ad hoc committee made up of people of different ages and from different backgrounds that would come up with a plan to move the project forward and might be willing to spearhead a fund drive to pay for the restoration. Adams and Simons expressed an interest in working on the ad hoc committee. Gertz said students at the Northwest Technical Institute (NTI) did measured drawings of the Anderson Schoolhouse as it exists now. They would like to come back to do more drawings of how the building originally looked, based on what a former student there remembers. The HPC does not want to designate the building as a historic site because it does not have enough historic integrity left. Adams said the Historical Society would like an indication that the HPC is supportive of their efforts and their reasons behind wanting to save this old building. MOTION: Kist moved, seconded by Simons, that the Heritage Preservation Commission agrees to support the effort of the Historical Society in the Anderson Schoolhouse initiative. Motion carried 7-0. B. Article in October 20,2003 Star Tribune A staff writer for the Star Tribune, Mike Kaszuba, wrote an article about the cost of remodeling the Smith-Douglas-More House for use as a Dunn Bros. coffee HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 2003 Page 5 shop, and the fact that the state auditor's office is going to respond to resident requests to review the financing of the Dunn Bros. project. Peterson-Benike said there are a few City residents who have expressed disapproval of the money being spent on historic preservation. She wondered if the HPC should put a letter in the newspaper pointing out things that were missed in this article, such as the fact that Dunn Bros. is paying to lease the building. Peterson-Benike believed it would be better to write letters to the Eden Prairie News than to the Star Tribune. Gilbertson said taxpayers should be assured that the City has a lease agreement with Dunn Bros. that will eventually repay the cost of renovations. She wondered how many other communities are under scrutiny. Peterson-Benike said many cities are engaged in discussions about what they want to preserve. In the case of Eden Prairie, the HPC has enjoyed support from the City Council. However, right now money is tight and there are several preservation projects going on. Gertz said he believed there should be a response to the article because of the misinformation contained in it, which will do a lot of harm if it is not corrected. He believed certain City staff members, himself included, would be asked to respond. He suggested the Commissioners respond individually, either as Commission members or just as citizens. The letters should be positive about promoting preservation, give the facts, and not be contentious. He was asked to provide the facts for Commissioners to use. D. Update Rmardins!the Story Garden Peterson-Benike reported that Vicki Pellar-Price brought her up to date about the idea of a "Story Garden", taken from the book about Minnesota written by Elizabeth Frey Ellet. The location has been changed from Purgatory Creek Park to the Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area. It is an appropriate location because that is where Elizabeth Frey Ellet looked over the valley when she came here, and later said she had been to the "Garden of Eden." Vicki Pellar Price has asked the HPC for its support of the project, which will refer to Eden Prairie history, and requested that a Commissioner be at the November 18 City Council meeting, when Bob Lambert will present the concept. Peterson-Benike pointed out that the HPC did express support for the project when Pellar-Price made her presentation at the HPC's June meeting. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Barkley, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. Peterson-Benike adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m.