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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 01/14/2013 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY,JANUARY 14, 2013 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Prairie Rooms A & B COMMISSION MEMBERS: Ed Muehlberg (Chair), Cindy Cofer Evert (Vice Chair), Jeffrey Lawler, Mark McPherson, Steve Olson, JoAnn McGuire STAFF: John Gertz, Pathfinder CRM, LLC; Lori Creamer, Staff Liaison; Adam Feidt, GIS Coordinator Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Melissa Berman, Leanne Zhang I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Muehlberg called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Student Representatives Berman and Zhang were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: McPherson moved, seconded by Olson, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 6-0. III. MINUTES MOTION: Cofer Evert moved, seconded by Lawler, to approve the December 17, 2012 minutes as published. Motion carried 6-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. THE 2012 CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT REPORT Creamer said she received a letter from the Minnesota Historical Society stating they have reviewed our 2012 report. We meet all the requirements and will continue to have a Certified Local Government certificate. B. COMMISSION RECRUITMENT FOR 2013 Creamer said the terms of Commission Members McPherson and Lawler are up, and there is a vacancy due to the resignation of Kay Desmarais. Mr. McPherson has served two full terms so the City Council would have to reappoint him on a unanimous vote in order for him to serve again. Mr. Lawler has said he will not seek reappointment. She asked Commission Members to suggest individuals to fill the two HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2013 Page 2 vacancies. The interview night is February 26 and orientation is March 21. New Commission members would start with the April meeting. C. JOINT MEETING WITH HISTORICAL SOCIETY Creamer said we discussed a joint meeting when Betsy Adams was here last month. Ms Adams suggested we meet on April 15 at the Cummins Grill house at 6:30 PM. The Historical Society would have their meeting first and then meet with us at 6:30 PM. Creamer asked Commission members to suggest discussion topics for the joint meeting. McPherson asked if the Commission would have a short meeting in addition to the joint meeting. Creamer said we could meet after the joint meeting if there is a need. V. OLD BUSINESS A. WEBSITE DEMO—ADAM FEIDT Creamer introduced Adam Feidt, GIS coordinator for the City. She noted he was the one who set up the park finder on the City website. Feidt said his position is a subdivision of the IT Department. He said Eden Prairie is unique in that we have the ability to do this work in-house. His goal for this project was to develop something similar to the park finder for the City's historic sites. He thanked Mr. Lawler for sending some great pictures for the project. He reviewed the preliminary work he has done on the project. Gertz asked if there is a limit to the number of sites that can be pictured on the website page. Feidt said there is no limit,but it might become necessary to scroll down the page or possibly add tabs. McPherson said we could have tabs for various categories. Muehlberg suggested having photos of everything but then dividing them into subsets. Gertz suggested dividing by National Register sites and local sites. Creamer noted the photo for Riley Jacques should be the barn, not the house. Cofer Evert asked if driving directions to each site are available. Feidt said we would have to buy additional technology for that although we could link to another website. Feidt said the top bar is customizable and could be changed with approval of the Communications Department. Creamer said we could work on that with the Communications Department if we have ideas for changes. Cofer Evert suggested a collage of historic site photos. Olson asked if it will be updated periodically. Feidt said it can be updated whenever we have a new picture or text to add. Creamer said we would plan to enhance this as time goes on. Gertz suggested we get our logo on the website and add archeology sites. Cofer Evert said we should tweak the names to make sure they are the same as those commonly used. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2013 Page 3 Gertz asked about the maximum amount of text available for the details. Feidt said he set it up with four paragraphs of 254 characters apiece. He said he could give more space but he hasn't tested that. Gertz asked if the text under the photos is part of the paragraph space. Feidt said those are separate text fields. Feidt suggested the possibility of including aerial photos of the sites. Muehlberg asked if there are historical aerial photos. Feidt said he is currently working on a development map that has an option to compare aerial photography. Gertz said the State Historical Society has a lot of that data. Olson suggested a progression of aerial photos for the sites. McPherson suggested Commission members get printouts of the text and discuss them next month. Lawler said he previously gave copies of the text to Mr. Feidt and Commission members. He will email that information to Ms Cofer Evert and Mr. Muehlberg who did not have their copies. Muehlberg commented this is a great start. Creamer will send the website link to Commission members and will compile a list for discussion next month. B. UPDATE ON HISTORIC SITES Creamer said she received updates from Paul Sticha. The Eden Prairie Historical Society was recently awarded a grant for general assessment and long term planning for the museum storage facility. They are exploring multiple funding sources for the remodel which will cost about$40-50,000. She said the floor the repair at the Smith Douglas More House has become more complicated. We do not need to get approval of the repairs because it involves the interior only, C. UPDATE ON INTERPRETIVE SIGNAGE Cofer Evert said she has no update. Creamer said she received another brochure from Pannier Corporation. Gertz noted they did the previous signs and should still have the artwork. Gertz said the City is supposed to have a County representative on the Commission. He noted he completed the annual report so it could get in on time. Creamer asked if that is for the Glen Lake Children's Camp only. Gertz said that was correct. Cofer Evert volunteered to be the representative to the Hennepin County Historical Society. McPherson announced he will not reapply for another term on the Commission. D. UPDATE ON LOCAL DESIGNATION SITES Creamer said she received comments back from Stu Fox about the Staring Lake cabin and the Glen Lake Children's Camp site nominations. Mr. Fox suggested we add a reference to the Glen Lake Master Plan of 2008 in the document. After the revisions are made we can move forward with the two items. She asked if the items would go to the City Council only. Gertz said they would go first to the Planning Commission HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2013 Page 4 and then to the Council. He noted there is no rush as we need to get a comment letter from the SHIPO office. He didn't think they would find any disagreement with designating these sites. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. 2013 WORK PLAN-CITY COUNCIL PRESENTATION Creamer said at the February 5 City Council workshop the Council wants staff liaisons and commission chairs to give brief presentations of their work plans. They want one or two slides that present the major points in the work plans. The Council will give feedback on what they want us to do for the year. Muehlberg said we could revisit last year's presentation to prepare bullet point items. Creamer suggested a slide of the site map. Muehlberg asked if this is in lieu of a presentation to the Council. Creamer said the workshop will have all commissions giving five to seven minute presentations. She will work on the presentation this week and send it to Mr. Muehlberg and Mr. Gertz for feedback. Cofer Evert asked that the item in the work plan regarding updating the Historic Site Plaques and Interpretive programs be broken into two separate bullet points. B. ELECTRONIC PACKET DISCUSSION Creamer asked if Commission members were okay with her emailing the packet to everyone. Lawler said it would be good to have access to the City website to pull up the site map via Wi-Fi. Gertz noted we would need paper plans if there is a project review on the agenda. VII. FYI ITEMS Gertz said he reviewed the application packet for the Certified Local Government grant. A pre-application is due on January 25 with the final application due in mid-February. A committee will review it in mid April. He needs to get the City EIN to get into the grant portal and complete the application. He also needs to know if the City is willing to pursue the grant which requires matching funds in cash or in time given by a Commission member or a consultant. Creamer asked what the grant would be for. Gertz said it is a landscaping plan for Riley Jacques to enhance the interpretive signs and complete a plan related specifically to the Dorenkemper House. He got cost estimates of about$10,000. The grant would be for $5,000, and the City would fund $5,000 in cash or time donated. If the City does not want to pursue the grant, we could see if a legacy grant is possible. The window for the CLG grant closes soon,but the legacy grants come around two or three times a year. Creamer said she will discuss it with Mr. Getschow and Ms Jeremiah on Thursday. McPherson asked if we should open the possibility of the legacy grant. Gertz said the CLG grants are tailored to do this type of project while the legacy funding would depend HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2013 Page 5 on their priorities. He thought there might still be funds in the City preservation accounts which were earmarked for these types of projects and could be used as the City's match. Creamer asked Commission members how we should track action items that may not have been put on the agenda. McPherson said the items may be in the minutes. McGuire suggested we do a year-end review. Muehlberg suggested reviewing quarterly and keeping action items on the agenda. Cofer Evert suggested putting items on a schedule. Gertz suggested adding the work plan review as a regular agenda item. VIII. STUDENT UPDATES None. IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: McGuire moved, seconded by Cofer Evert, to adjourn. Motion carried 6-0. Muehlberg adjourned the meeting at 9:11 p.m.