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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 05/23/2011 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, MAY 23, 2011 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER PRAIRIE ROOMS A&B COMMISSION MEMBERS Ann Higgins, Chair; Ed Muehlberg, Vice Chair; Jeffrey Lawler, Mark McPherson, Kay Desmarais, Cindy Cofer Evert STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE Ian English COMMISSION STAFF John Gertz, Pathfinder CRM, LLC Jan Curielli, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Higgins called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Desmarais and McPherson were absent. Higgins noted McPherson's absence was excused. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Higgins said a representative of the Historical Society was not able to be present tonight so she will give an update for that group. She asked that the update be the last item before adjournment. MOTION: Evert moved, seconded by Lawler, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion Carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. COMMISSION MEETING HELD APRIL 18, 2011 Muehlberg said the final sentence of the minutes should be changed to: "Muehlberg adjourned the meeting at 9:20 p.m." MOTION: Muehlberg moved, seconded by Lawler, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting held on April 18, 2011 as amended. Motion carried 4-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF (Taken after Item VI.A.) V. OLD BUSINESS HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 23, 2011 Page 2 A. HPC MEMBERS INFORMATION PACKET Gertz said he has been working on the packet with Creamer over the past couple of weeks, and this is a preliminary version. Most of the information will also be put on the website. He asked that Commission members email any suggestions for the packet to him or Kipp. The first page shows the organization and contents of the packet. There are schedules included for City Council and HPC meetings, a City employee list, information on parliamentary procedures and information about the open meeting law. Other items are included such as the HPC background information and mission statement, historic preservation basics, forms and applications, and helpful online links. He said the rest of the packet will be sent out as it is completed. It will be his responsibility to keep up the packet once it is complete. Higgins asked if there are items from the original packet that aren't included in this one because this seems to be smaller. Gertz said this packet differs from the older one,but there is a lot of information yet to be included in this one. Higgins said at some point she would like to get familiar with places in Eden Prairie that have an historic standing. Gertz said they could add the list of all sites in the City that have been surveyed. Some of the sites are gone and some will never be designated, so the number of sites is in the hundreds. He thought the list could be put in the book with minimal information on the sites. The consensus of the Commission was to include that information. Gertz said he will include the inventory list. He cautioned that archeological sites are somewhat sensitive unless they are part of a bigger planning process. We don't typically release that information in order to avoid vandalism or looting of those sites. B. UPDATE ON LOCAL HERITAGE SITE DESIGNATIONS FOR: 1. GLEN LAKE CHILDREN'S CAMP 2. STARING LAKE OUTDOOR CABIN Gertz distributed rough drafts copies of the designation material for the Glen Lake Children's Camp and the Staring Lake Outdoor Center(Bush Cabin). He said there is a lot more information to include for both of the documents,but these drafts are a rough sketch of the basic pieces of information that will be addressed. 3. DORENKEMPER LOG HOUSE Gertz said he is still working on this and will provide copies once it is done. He said these three will be scheduled to go to the City Council for designation during one of the summer months. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 23, 2011 Page 3 VI. NEW BUSINESS A. COA 2011-01-032 DUNN BROS. SITE IMPROVEMENTS PLAN Higgins said we need to discuss what is in the memo and then make a recommendation and finding of fact for the City Council meeting. Gertz said the City is requesting this action and is looking for the HPC to review and approve the request before sending it on to the City Council for approval of the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA). They have requested demolition of the shed that served as a workshop for the farm. Dunn Bros. has used it to store their trash bins, but it is now too dilapidated to use. There are some concerns for public safety with the current condition of the building. They plan to demolish the building, remove it from the site, and restore the area with grass seed. They will build an enclosure for the storage of trash bins on the north side of the building that will be aligned with the existing fence and made of the same material as the fence. Higgins asked if a cement slab will be required for the new enclosure. Gertz said it will be required. Higgins asked how the collection happens. Gertz said the truck comes in the driveway, and they wheel the bins out to the truck. He noted there is a future concept plan to expand the parking that would almost double their parking. Evert asked if the Historical Society is aware of this proposal and, if so,how do they feel about the project. Gertz said they are aware of the project. Generally this kind of a review process is strictly up to the HPC,but we would welcome their comments if they have them. Since it is a locally designated site, any changes come to this Commission. Evert asked if the material is salvageable and if any thought was given to preserving the materials. Gertz said the bell has been removed,but the cupola is not salvageable. The building doesn't contain much material that is salvageable. He said they will use the same material when they build another shed on site but there is probably not enough material in good condition to reuse. He said he can bring the question up with Paul Sticha who will be in charge of the demolition. There is a lot of salvaged material out at the Riley Barn,but he will suggest salvaging any boards from this building that are in good condition. Muehlberg asked if there will be gates for the trash enclosure. Gertz said he believes there will be a gate on it. His understanding is it will look exactly like the fence that is already there. He said he will mention they should make sure the gate is constructed of the same material they are showing on the plan. Higgins asked if the next step is to develop a motion to establish a list of findings and fact. Gertz said the findings are here and the City Council will have to make the motion to adopt the findings of fact and approve the COA. Council approval of the COA is the construction permit and the contractor can then begin the work. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 23, 2011 Page 4 Muehlberg asked if the recommended motion would include the direction regarding salvaging the reusable materials. Gertz said that could be added as a condition to the recommended motion. MOTION: Muehlberg moved, seconded by Evert that the Heritage Preservation Commission has found the Dunn Bros. Site Improvements Plan, dated May 11, 2011, as submitted by the City of Eden Prairie, meets the general preservation standards and recommends the City Council approve COA 2011-01-032, with the condition that the City salvages any reusable material of historic significance. Motion carried 4-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. UPDATE FROM THE EDEN PRAIRIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Higgins said the Historical Society Board of Directors has expressed interest in providing a tour of locally designated sites in the City for Commission members. They suggested we use our next meeting on June 20 as an opportunity to go with some of their Board Members to tour those sites. She said she and Kathie Case discussed starting at 6:30 p.m. to make sure we have enough daylight for the tour. We would meet at the Cummins Grill House at 6:30 p.m. They will put together a light meal to serve before we call the meeting to order. She was not sure how much more business we might have to conduct at that meeting. Gertz said he couldn't think of anything that would require action then. Higgins said she would inform Mark and Kay of the plans, and noted we might have to postpone it if the weather is inclement. Muehlberg suggested meeting in the Cummins Grill House if the weather is inclement. Lawler noted we have received the most information on the Cummins Grill House. He suggested just hitting the high spots of that site and then going on to the others. Gertz said the Glen Lake Children's Camp is harder to get in during the summer, and it is almost a trip in itself. We might want to visit that site in September so we have more time to spend. Higgins said we could go to the Riley-Jacques Barn and see the Dorenkemper House. She noted there is a new tenant there. A discussion followed about the tenant, Nathan Lovas, who is a photographer. He has offered to create new photos of the site that could be sold to raise money for the Historical Society. MOTION: Lawler moved, seconded by Evert, to change the June 20, 2011 HPC meeting to start at 6:30 p.m. at the Cummins Grill House. Motion carried 4-0. Muehlberg asked about the SHPO meeting with Mr. Schussler. Gertz said since they hold the covenant regarding standards they wanted to make it clear to Mr. Schussler how they would apply the standards to the building and site. Evert noted she saw the fences up around the property. Gertz said they don't have issues HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 23, 2011 Page 5 with the fences. Mr. Schussler needs to put together a plan to show them what he is planning to do so their staff can review it and work out the details with him. They told him there are better ways to do insulation than using the spray type, and he seemed open to that. SHPO will come up with a solution for all the issues he had. Muehlberg asked who has oversight there. Gertz said it has no designation right now,but there is a covenant that effectively enforces the Secretary of the Interior's standards. No current owner of the property wanted to do the national or local designation, so it ended up being a covenant applied to the purchase agreement. Evert asked if Mr. Schussler could petition for designation. Gertz said he could, or the City, represented by the HPC, could recommend designation. Higgins asked what Mr. Schussler wants to do in the short term. Gertz said the loft area is a design lab and he is storing his cars in the lower level. Muehlberg asked if we will get updates from SHPO. Gertz said we will. He suggested another special meeting event might be to go out there. Muehlberg asked if Mr. Schussler is interested in local designation. Gertz said he was not sure how he feels about that but it might be easier for him to get his reviews here than to go to St. Paul since the standards are the same. Lawler said Kipp recommended we add the website as an agenda item going forward. He met with City staff and they have changed the website and added some links that will be updated periodically. Gertz asked who is responsible to do the updates. Higgins said Lawler volunteered and he will have to come in to meet with the Communications Department for that. Evert asked about the nomination forms. Gertz said those are forms to use for candidates for local heritage site designation. Additional work needs to be done on them but he included them so Commission members could see the format. The Dorenkemper House should be an easy designation and will probably be on the July City Council agenda. The others may be included at the same time or possibly in August. He will finish the paperwork for the three sites and distribute it to HPC members to review. English noted he will not attend next month's meeting as he will be out of town. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Muehlberg moved, seconded by Lawler to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Higgins adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m.