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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 10/20/1997 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 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 STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Jenny Freemyer, Kristin Kelly COMMISSION STAFF: John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist, Barbara Anderson, City Recorder 1. ROLL CALL Chair Hession called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commissioners Wilson and Rabuse were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Hession add the introduction of the new Student Representatives to the Heritage Preservation Commission as Item IV on the Agenda. MOTION: Colliton moved, seconded by Mason to approve the Agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - September 15, 1997 Mason noted that the vote on Item II should be 4-0 instead of just 0. MOTION: Colliton moved, seconded by Mason,to approve the Minutes of the September 15, 1997 Meeting as corrected. Motion carried 5-0. IV. INTRODUCTION OF NEW STUDENT MEMBERS Kristin Kelly stated she is a junior at Eden Prairie High School and she had applied for appointment to this commission because she thought it would be interesting and she cared about what was happening to Eden Prairie. Jenny Freemyer, a senior at Eden Prairie High School,had been a student representative to the Park and Recreation Commission last year and because she would like to major in history she was changing to this commission. She works with an archeologist at the Sibley House in St. Paul, and thought being appointed to the Heritage Preservation Commission would give her insight into how communities worked to preserve their heritage. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 1997 Page 2 V. REPORTS AND REQUESTS - EDEN PRAIRIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Case noted that at Severt Peterson=s farm the Eden Prairie Historical Society has set up a booth next to the Corn Maze on Highway 169 and Mr.Peterson has requested that they give presentations on the history of Eden Prairie there. He has made a large donation to the Historical Society in return. They do tours and have given this presentation every year. It is also a stop on the bike tour. VI. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Preservation Alliance of Minnesota Festival Gertz stated he would be there to set up between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and the festival would be open from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They will not be serving a lunch this year so anyone planning to attend should bring their own. There will be a registration desk at the Festival where participants can obtain name tags. Hession stated she would be there from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. in the booth and Mason will be in the booth from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Hession commented she believed it was an opportunity to find out what was going on in the area in the area of historic preservation. Colliton stated they would be meeting with Brian Rudd who has pioneered some legislation in St. Paul to limit urban sprawl. B. Eden Prairie Working Group for Community Use Space at Eden Prairie Center Hession commented this committee had been put on hold since Dayton=s has decided not to come into the Eden Prairie Shopping Center. They will meet when something more develops regarding this project. C. Darril Peterson Barns Survey Gertz stated he went through the barns and buildings on the site with Jeff Cordiss from Park and Recreation and, based on the things that he saw, he put together a memo of recommendation based on what he thought might be salvageable. It is a wish list because they won=t get everything that is on it,but there are some things that they should salvage such as the batten strips which could be used on the Riley- Jacques farm to restore the woodwork. Case said Gertz brought four Chaska brick molds to her house and they will get more later on. The Cummins-Grill house is made of that brick and it would be good to have some on the site for people to see when they visit the property. Gertz commented they were salvaging inventory from the other buildings and they were storing it at the Riley-Jacques barn. As far as the end use of these items goes, he believed they could be used at the shopping center for display purposes or used to HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 1997 Page 3 repair existing buildings when necessary. So far they have not had any problems with storing these materials in the barn on the Riley-Jacques property. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Cummins-Grill Peony Garden Gertz reviewed the memorandum from Jan regarding what needs to be done in the garden and he put the memo together for Bob Lambert which would give him more information about exactly what needs to be done in this garden. They need to get together and start the fall work. Lambert views this as a budget issue and requests such as this one are making demands on his Park and Recreation budget. He thought they might need to go to the City Council to get it resolved. Gertz hoped that they could get the work done on the garden without having to wait for funds as there are monies in the Cummins-Grill House budget that could cover these expenses. These budget issues will need to be addressed in the near future. Hession commented that the HPC will need to have a budget that will address these issues and provide funding for these things. Discussion ensued regarding what the garden club was willing to do and for how long and the issue of using a volunteer group to have responsibility for something that the City owns and should be responsible for maintaining. Hession believed there should be someone on the HPC that was in charge of this and would follow it through. Case stated it was the City=s responsibility to provide the funds for materials and equipment because the site was a City-owned property. Gertz stated they need to have a maintenance plan that can go to the City Council for approval. They are in the process of doing this. Concern was expressed regarding the potential loss of volunteers through inaction if nothings happens on the site. Discussion ensued regarding how to have this happen before the ground freezes. Gertz will call Lambert and ask him to schedule the mowing and they will see what happens. MOTION: Hession moved, seconded by Colliton, that the Heritage Preservation Commission requests that the Park and Recreation Department provide the manpower to mow the garden at the Cummins-Grill House by November 1, 1997 and that it be mowed according to Jan Mossman=s recommendations. If necessary to contract for these services outside the City,funds shall be obtained by accessing the Historic Preservation Commission budget. Motion carried 5-0. B. Riley-Jacques Granary Restoration Tom Diethelm is the contractor that Gertz recommends to do the restoration work. Gertz has not received an estimate for the restoration of the granary to date, He asked Diethelm to break the items down so they could approach it by individual parts, as he knew the roof was the most important thing to have done. Diethelm has been trying to locate materials to match the original construction type but he has not gotten back to the City regarding the cost estimate. It would be done by the beginning of next year. Gertz stated he was comfortable having Diethelm do the HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 1997 Page 4 restoration work as it was being approached as a historic preservation project. C. Heritage Site Sims Gertz stated he had ordered the signs and managed to obtain the same price as before which is $42.00 for the House Plaques and $30.00 for the street signs. They will have the steel signs in about a week but the others will take longer because they have a time framework they have to work within. The funds that will be used to pay for these signs will come from the sale of the other signs and the Heritage Preservation fund. Case commented they should look at getting a good list together while they have some time before the signs arrive. She is putting together a scrapbook of all the houses that will have a plaque in Eden Prairie to keep records of the preservation efforts. D. Grants 1. Certified Local Government Gertz wanted to get the Request For Proposal out for the CLG grants and he will be preparing this to reflect the list they have prepared for sites. This will be to designate six properties they listed in 1997. It is published in the paper and is sent out to contractors for proposals. This has to be finished by July, 1998. Case was concerned about doing private land and they should get the landowner=s approval before proceeding with these designations. Discussion ensued regarding which properties should be included on this list. 2. State Bond-funded Gertz stated the grant application was reviewed last Thursday for the Glen Lake Children=s Camp and the City of Eden Prairie was not going to receive any funding for this project. When he inquired why they did not receive any funding he was told that one-third of the requests were turned down. The decisions were based on the limited funds they had access to and the requirement for being listed on the National Register of Historic Properties. The Glen Lake Children=s Camp was not purely a public resource which was something that was considered when reviewing the funding applications. It was uncertain how well Friendship Ventures would maintain the property ten years from now, even though the City actually owns the property. The average award was for $15,000 which would not be enough to save the building. He felt better not having to administer a grant that would not be adequate to accomplish the task. He will talk to Chris Enger and see if there is a different source for funding they could investigate. He will have a meeting to inform everyone of the results of the grant application. E. Heritage Site Budget Planning HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 1997 Page 5 Hensrud reviewed the initial budget they set up which would include categories for site development, site maintenance, site designation and heritage education. The total budget amount came to $67,500 which would be requested for FY99. Hession inquired if it would be helpful to research past expenditures to justify these figures for the City Council and Gertz responded affirmatively, but they don=t have these figures at the present time. The next step is to develop individual site budgets which would include an end use and perhaps generating some revenue. This should go to the City Council as a package and inform them as to the benefits from these properties. The budget is determined in July and August for the coming fiscal year. Hensrud questioned whether the HPC had focus as a group and whether a long range plan should be developed. He thought it would improve the effectiveness of the group and things should be prioritized so they can act accordingly. He felt the group was somewhat fragmented in their approach to certain projects and perhaps this would help eliminate some of that. Discussion ensued regarding plans for the City-owned properties and how to implement them. The budget issues need to be resolved to establish what funds are available to the Commission and the best uses for those resources. Gertz commented he thought the Commission should meet to determine the plans for these properties. Hession felt it should be a meeting outside the regular meeting schedule. She felt the Commission should tour these properties before making any decisions. Discussion ensued regarding when to have the tour and it was decided to have it on Saturday, 11/15/97 from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. They will meet at City Hall and tour as many properties as they have time for. The Riley-Jacques property and the Smith Moore house would definitely be on the agenda, with the possibility of adding more properties if time permitted. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Heritage Site Alteration Permit Applications Gertz introduced the form he had created for Heritage Site Alteration Permit Applications,and outlined the review process which would take place when residents wanted to alter historic sites. He noted he had used forms from other municipalities to develop the process for Eden Prairie. If the Commission approved the form it will be sent to all City Department heads along with a memo to make them aware of this process. He noted a change on page 4 of the permit which should read Apermissive=only. MOTION:Mason moved, seconded by Case,to approve the Heritage Site Alteration Permit Application Form and process as presented by staff, with the plaque being removed from the cover, Motion carried 5-0. Hession inquired why the Department of Community Development had its name on the cover of the application form and Gertz responded that was so people would HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 1997 Page 6 know which department they needed to go through to get the application approved. The actual permit would be issued by the City Council, but the Community Development Department was where people would interact with City staff to obtain the permit. B. HPC Heritage Site Fall Tour The tour will be held on Saturday, 11/15/97 from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. as established under Agenda Item 7-E. C. Requests for Project/Street Names 1. Pemtom Land Company Gertz stated that Pemtom Land Company has a project they have been calling Vista on the Bluff which is located in the SW1/4 of Eden Prairie on Darril Peterson=s property. They requested the Commission to supply them with some street names for this project. Hession asked if Student Representatives Kirsten and Jenny would be interested in undertaking this project, and they responded they would be very interested in doing this. Case stated she would do some initial research to get them started, and would call them later in the week with the information. They can make recommendations to the Commission at the next meeting. She has a list of some options, and the early history of the area. It was noted that the project was now being called Settler=s Ridge, which was more appropriate for the area. 2. Leslie Anderson Leslie Anderson has submitted a request to rename Franlo Park to Samuel Anderson Park. Discussion ensued regarding the entire site and the Commission felt the house and silo should be looked at on the tour. Gertz will find out if it is scheduled to be torn down. Hession noted there was a Finding of Significance on the site. Case stated she would inform him that the Commission would tour the site on November 15th. D. Project Review Concerning Palmer Mounds and Fieldman Mounds Gertz stated there were two projects that have come into the City which have Indian Burial Mounds on them and both cases have been referred to the State Archeologist to have the burials authenticated. Christina Harrison is doing the work and if there are burials there they will be preserved in place. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES October 20, 1997 Page 7 IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Mason moved, seconded by Colliton,to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m.