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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 08/18/1997 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY,AUGUST 18, 1997 7:00 p.m. Prairie Rooms A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Jane Hession, Chair, Kathie Case, Tim Colliton, John Hensrud, James Mason, Nathalie Rabuse, James Wilson COMMISSION STAFF: John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist, Barbara Anderson, City Recorder 1. ROLL CALL Chair Hession called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mason noted that the meeting location was incorrect on the agenda. MOTION: Wilson moved, seconded by Mason to approve the Agenda as corrected. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - June 16, 1997 & July 21, 1997 Hession noted a change to the 7/21/97 Minutes under the Glen Lake Children=s Camp item, by adding Adue to impending demolition date of 9/5/97" after the second sentence in the first paragraph. She requested that the volunteer group under Item C be referred to as the Friends Of Eden Prairie=s Historic Sites. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Mason, to approve the Minutes of the June 16, 1997 and the July 21, 1997 Meetings as corrected. Motion carried 7-0. IV. REPORTS AND REQUESTS - EDEN PRAIRIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Case stated that the Historical Society wanted to discuss the upcoming Sunbonnet Days. V. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Desi2natin2 by Ordinance vs. Resolution - John Hensrud Hensrud stated he had talked to the State Historical Society regarding designation of historic sites via resolution versus ordinance and their opinion was that the resolution was not as effective a tool because people do not take as much notice of a resolution as they do of an ordinance. An ordinance has more legality and visibility. He also talked to Bob Vogle in Cottage Grove who said the resolution was fine and it had just as much legality. He was advised to consult with the City Attorney to see what is usually used by the City. He had not been able to contact Roger Pauley on this issue. Gertz commented that the City of Eden Prairie does more things regarding land use in the City by Ordinance. All six of the historic sites are ready to be protected by ordinance. Hensrud commented the process was a little bit faster when using resolutions, but they were effective in accomplishing the task. Gertz stated that resolutions were a little less work because the notification process and the legal description was not as involved,but it was something Eden Prairie has done in the past. Rabuse felt that the ordinance was a little stronger than the resolution and had more legality. B. FYI - Manarch House - Jim Mason Mason stated that the Manarch House restoration was paid for using no funds from the State by utilizing ethnic groups that funded the project because it was representative of their history and culture. He wondered if they were missing an opportunity to get restorations in Eden Prairie funded by other agencies or countries, and thought this idea should be explored. There may be a group with funds that would be willing to help Eden Prairie get some of its historic buildings renovated. Hession asked if Mason would look into this and see if there were any groups that would be willing to help fund restorations. Case commented there were Irish and Scots families and some Czech families but she did not know if there were any groups who would consider those homes worthy of renovation. There was a Czech store building site which was located near Wooddale Church and this should be designated as a historic site. She volunteered to check into this. Hession noted that Eden Prairie did not have much significant architecture that was distinctive ethnically,most of our historic buildings are eclectic in style. She believed if the Commission focused on the cultural rather than the architectural features it could be more beneficial when trying to obtain restoration funding. Rabuse commented it might be possible to give people or groups that contribute to restoration projects in Eden Prairie a plaque on the site giving that group or those people credit for their efforts. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Heritage Site Desisnations Hession commented that the legal descriptions were not complete enough for the six sites to get on the August 6, 1997 City Council agenda. Gertz stated there is one property survey and two legal descriptions that are incomplete. The survey has to be done by a registered land surveyor so they will be on the September 2, 1997 Council agenda. It will cost between $500-$700 per property depending on the size and complexity. The legal description will cost about $200, which is included in the $500-$700 figures. He reviewed the work which needs to be done on these properties. Hession asked if there was any reason they could not start the surveys as soon as they decide to designate a property as a historic site and Gertz responded that lack of funding in the budget was a good reason. They could select properties which do not EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 18, 1997 Page 3 require surveys to be done. They may need to decide what they will spend their funds on,and it may turn out that special events will have to be funded in some other way. Hession stated that they had decided it was a priority to move forward with the next six historic site designations. Case stated the most important sites were those that were endangered and they had made a list of those sites they deemed to be the most important. Hession asked staff to make a list of the next six sites and rate them from the most important down to the lesser important,and project the costs of getting them designated. She requested this information be available for the next meeting. Case noted that they don=t have the Christmas Party at the Cummins Grill House this year. Gertz stated he had just submitted the Historic Preservation Commission budget to the City Council and they can discuss these items and how they want to spend their funds. He will let the Commission know what the costs will be to designate the next six historic sites and he will send a memo out to inform them prior to the next meeting. He noted that they were really talking about 12 sites because the first six site designation funds came out of this year=s budget. He noted that the Commission could request General Fund monies from the City Council if they needed to do this. Hession stated that the Commission was not aware that these costs would be incurred when they made up their budget request. Case inquired about the Finding of Significance and if it would be forwarded to the City Council. Gertz responded that it was for the City Council information packet which would go out that Friday. Case asked if this would go to Chris Enger also and Gertz responded that since Enger received the FYI packet, he would undoubtedly be informed as well. Hession inquired when the Raguet House Finding of Significance would be sent to the City Council. Case stated she was concerned about the property which was being sold to Grace Church and the historic significance of the building on the property being disclosed to the new owners before they decided to tear it down. The land has been owned by the Raguet family until 1988 when the property was sold. Discussion ensued regarding ways they could meet the criteria for the Finding of Significance. It was determined that it was a nice,intact farmstead which met the criteria and could be designated. Designating it as a historic site won=t save it unless they can figure out a way to convince the new owners that it should be preserved. MOTION: Mason moved, seconded by Hensrud,to have Gertz send the Finding of Significance on the Arthur Miller House located at 8430 Eden Prairie Road to the City Council in the FYI Packet on Friday. Motion carried 7-0. B. Heritage Site Markers Hession commented there were a couple of issues with the heritage site markers that needed to be discussed by the Commission. They are out of these markers and will need to determine how many more need to be ordered. She stated that when the first sets of markers and plaques were distributed, houses that received plaques were charged $25.00 to cover the costs. However, she understood that the original EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 18, 1997 Page 4 intention was to only give out one item, such as either a plaque or a curb side marker. She questioned the Commissioners to think about if this was something they wished to continue doing or would perhaps pass on to the Friends of Eden Prairie=s Historic Sites group. There is also the issue of whether to place signs where historic sites used to be located. Case stated the Historical Society was going to be involved with that but they didn=t have the funding to pay for it so it was passed on to the Heritage Preservation Commission because they are a funded body by the City. She felt that it could be delegated to another group but she was concerned that whoever they passed it on to would not be funded. Gertz commented that the program administration could be given to the Friends group with the Heritage Preservation Commission funding the program through their budget. Discussion ensued regarding how many plaques were left and how many should be reordered. The issue of cost was discussed,and Gertz noted that an exact accounting would be available from the Finance Department. MOTION: Case moved, seconded by Wilson,to order 25 plaques and 25 road side signs. Hession stated she believed if they have the volunteers determining how these signs should be distributed it would be a more effective use of staff time. Case stated she would make a list of how many sites there were and bring that number back to the Commission at the next meeting. Discussion ensued regarding recovering the funding and whether the City Council would even give the Commission the funds to purchase the signs. Gertz stated they should inventory all the sites they have marked plus all the sites they would like to include and send this list to the City Council along with a description of their efforts to recoup the costs and how much money they will need to make this purchase. Discussion ensued regarding the amounts that should be charged for the plaques to cover the costs and why there were two markers at each house when the original intent was to have only one. The use of the plaques was discussed. The consensus was that the homeowners should pay for the plaques which are installed on their houses. Case withdrew her motion. Wilson withdrew his second of that motion. Case stated she will make a list of all the sites that she is aware of in Eden Prairie and bring it to the next meeting. Gertz stated that some of these sites should be discussed by the Commission. Hession stated they would review the list and determine the qualifications for each site according to the criteria and the Commission must then determine whether each site qualifies as a historic site. Discussion ensued regarding the criteria. Hession appointed a committee consisting of Case,Gertz,Colliton,and Mason to work on the signs and funding issues and how much additional funding would be needed. This committee will need to decide if each site needs two signs. EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 18, 1997 Page 5 The committee will need to determine what the criteria will be and whether the sites meet that criteria. Such things could be included in the criteria as whether the structure or site was worth recognizing as a piece of the past. It would also be possible to have signs designating sites because of what used to be there. Gertz stated that kiosks that would have pictures in them which tell people what used to be on the property could be utilized. Hession requested a list of all the sites which have plaques on them and their addresses. Case requested staff to organize a tour of the sites by the entire Commission so they could see them and discuss them. C. Continued Discussion of Friends of Eden Prairie=s Historic Sites Group Hession stated they need to meet with Chris Enger and the concerns about liability on the part of the City have not been addressed. Gertz stated that they want to have something prepared for Sunbonnet Day so people can sign up to volunteer. D. Glen Lake Children=s Camp Hession reviewed the history of the camp and noted it is the only one in existence in Minnesota today. The camp is not suitable for the owner=s needs and the City Council gave permission for the building to be demolished. The funding for the new building has not materialized and it will be at least a year before they do anything which will give the Historic Preservation Commission time to investigate some possibilities to save the building and still help Friendship Ventures meet their needs. Gertz was told that the building had to be on the National Registry of Historic Buildings and the site was found to be eligible for this grant. He has begun to put together the grant pre-application and they will tell the Commission if they are eligible for this designation. He submitted the pre-application Friday and the final application will be submitted in mid-October. They will have to wait and see what happens. Half the grant funds must be matched but they are permitted to use in-kind services to do this. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Welter=s Brookhaven Farm Development - Wolf School Site Gertz noted this item was a FYI item for the Commission. Part of the plans include a historical kiosk which the developer will construct. It will look like a park with some landscaping and it is not within the right-of-way for the County road so it will not be impacted by that construction. B. Sunbonnet Day - September 14, 1997 Sunbonnet Day will be held on September 14, 1997 from 12 Noon to 4:30 p.m. There has been no program developed yet but Gertz and Sandy Wertz will be EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 18, 1997 Page 6 meeting to figure out what they want to do. Case stated she would work in the house, Mason volunteered to run the games, and Hession stated she would work in the Friends booth to recruit volunteers. Gertz noted that the house needs to be cleaned prior to Sunbonnet Day, and stated he will try to organize a cleanup day for the preceding weekend. Gertz noted he closed out the Sunbonnet Day budget but the costs have gone up and the Commission will need to talk to the Historical Society regarding what they can change to recoup some of these costs. He will meet with the Historical Society on this. C. Fredrick Miller Sprint Improvement Concept Plan Gertz stated there was an article in the paper regarding the plan for the spring which included a gazebo, and he believed the Historic Preservation Commission should discuss whether they concurred that this was an appropriate structure to have on the site. If the gazebo is added it will destroy the historical significance of the site as the Historic Preservation Commission has defined it. Also there is the question as to whether a gazebo is the appropriate structure or if any structure at all should be built. Case stated that the spring was considered holy water by the native Americans and there should be no covering over it and only native plants should planted there but not in any organized way. Gertz stated the plans are not in keeping with the recommendation the Commission made and he did not believe the site should be changed in this manner. Hession stated the site was one the Historic Preservation Commission was designating as significant and there was a problem in the process because this information had not reached the governing bodies or been incorporated into the planning for the site. Gertz stated the Historic Preservation Commission needed to be more involved in the entire process. The recommendation of the Heritage Preservation Commission was never addressed and the City Council needs to be informed of this issue. He believed the Commissioners should talk to the Council members regarding this issue before the Council took action on the plan. The Council has approved the concept of the structure,but did not take final action because they wanted more information on the costs of constructing the gazebo. Discussion ensued regarding how the Heritage Preservation Commission could make its recommendations known to the City Council and put them in specific terms. The Commissioners felt the site needed to be more natural and if there has to be a building on the property it should resemble a spring house, not a gazebo. The felt a representative of the Historic Preservation Commission should work with the designer to achieve a setting which would be more appropriate and in keeping with the historical significance of the site. Hession suggested they talk to Bob Lambert and give him the recommendations of the Commission. Gertz stated that if this plan is constructed it would alter the site to such an extent that the Historic Preservation Commission should withdraw the designation. It was decided that the Commissioners would call the City Council members to express their concerns. EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION August 18, 1997 Page 7 D. Potential Renters for the Riley-Jacques House Hession stated there was a potential renter for the house and they have the intention of doing some minor work on the house. The City will need to determine what the rent will be and the Historic Preservation Commission can make a recommendation but will not make the final decision. Rabuse noted they will need to be careful in establishing criteria for any potential renters. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION:Wilson moved, seconded by Mason to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7- 0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.