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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHeritage Preservation - 05/19/2014 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, MAY 19, 2014 6:00 P.M., CUMMINS GRILL HOUSE 13600 PIONEER TRAIL COMMISSION MEMBERS: Ed Muehlberg (Chair), Cindy Cofer Evert (Vice Chair), Steve Olson, JoAnn McGuire, Pamela Spera, Mark Freiberg, Deb Paulson STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Hannah Jeter, Greta Colford, Laura Lindberg STAFF: John Gertz, Pathfinder CRM, LLC; Lori Creamer, Staff Liaison; Heidi Wojahn, Recording Secretary EDEN PRAIRIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: Kathie Case, Sarah Dibble, Ann Higgins, Chris Honaas-Wildfang, Katie Qualey, Valerie Ross I. JOINT MEETING WITH EDEN PRAIRIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY (EPHS) A. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Chair Muehlberg called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. Commissioners McGuire and Spera and Student Representatives Jeter, Colford, and Lindberg were absent. Gertz arrived at 6:23 p.m. Introductions took place. Case invited the HPC to join forces with EPHS for Heritage Day on Saturday October 4. The event will be held 2-5 p.m. at the Dorenkemper House (DK). People can dress up Sunbonnet Day style and there will be old-fashioned games and tours of the house. Ginny Dorenkemper will be in attendance. Other ideas are welcome. It is possible there will also be events at the Riley House and Riley Barn. Higgins suggested looking into crafts in the lower level of the barn. Case will follow up with Nicole Minton. Gertz arrived at 6:23 p.m. B. HPC PRESENTATION—BRIEF OVERVIEW Gertz gave an overview of the background of historic preservation. He explained the HPC mission statement and how the Commission is part of a larger partnership. Prior to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, historic preservation laws were inadequate. Its passing resulted in the institution of HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 19, 2014 Page 2 multiple facets of historic preservation such as grants, legislation, standards, planning, training, and a register. Eden Prairie's UPC is certified. Certification allows HPCs to qualify for Certified Local Government(CLG) grants and to participate in federally-funded local projects involving the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Someone who meets the professional qualifications standards, such as an architect or historian, must serve on the Commission. The UPC's responsibilities include reviewing Certificates of Appropriateness (COA), participating with SHPO, recommending site designations, and doing educational outreach. Heritage preservation extends beyond just old houses to burial mounds, artifacts, settlement habitation sites, waysides,bridges, schools, cemeteries, roads/trails, battle markers, camps, and barns. Two HPC projects involve historic site identification via signage,plaques, and panels, and the creation of a booklet about Eden Prairie's heritage. Discussion ensued about protection of burial sites and following up on a pioneer headstone discovered by George Marshall. Gertz explained the current deteriorated condition of Lookout Park Wayside. It is on the local register but the integrity level is not high enough for the national register. If restored we can reapply,but this is not likely to happen anytime soon given its proximity to the Flying Cloud airport and respective restricted access. Purgatory Creek Bridge is also locally designated. Olson stated the Minnesota Department of Transportation is currently doing a local historic bridge study. He suggested they receive a copy of the City's file on the bridge for the statewide management plans they are creating. Gertz said the local designation information should be in SHPO's files, too. Creamer will follow up on this. Gertz said the Consolidated School is not on the Local or National register but should be. Case said this is a good time to do it. Higgins said she expected the Anderson family would support it as some family members attended school there. Cofer Evert requested it be added to the work plan. Gertz explained the documentation piece has been done and it meets the criteria. It needs to be reviewed and updated so the process can be set in motion. The Smith Douglas More House (SDM) also meets the criteria for,but is not on, the national register. When asked why not, Gertz explained it is a costly process and the building is well-taken care of and not in imminent danger. C. HERITAGE DAY—OCTOBER 4 This item was addressed out of order under Item I.A. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 19, 2014 Page 3 D. UPDATE ON HISTORIC SITES 1. Cummins Phipps Grill Homestead (CG) Case said EPHS is hoping to get grant funding for planned projects at CG. One idea is to restore the upstairs and designate two of the bedrooms for artifact storage and possibly rent out the larger room to someone who could act as caretaker. The fourth bedroom could be used by an outside group for storage or office space. The revenue stream from rentals would help with house restoration and upkeep. In this scenario, the upstairs would not be available for tours. The downstairs would be used for tours. community and member events. Gertz noted air conditioning has been installed making it suitable for storage. Case said there has been discussion about creating an opening from the hired man's attic to the other upstairs spaces. There are two staircases leading to the upstairs. One is not up to code. It could be kept for use by EPHS but cannot be used by the public. The decision has been made to maintain the house in the Cummins 1879 era since J.R. Cummins is the reason the home is on the national register. The Phipps and Grill families and the period of electricity would be addressed in the kitchen and hired hand's area. This summer will be set aside to work on interpretive photographs and timelines so renters can be educated about the original use of each room. The wallpaper is deteriorating and will be replaced with something from the same time period. They have access to the original stencil work from Mattie Cummins and hope to have someone copy it so it can be applied to the dining room walls. Qualey, chair of the CG Committee, explained that the hired hand's room is blocked off from the other rooms. They are wondering what opening up a section of the wall to access the stairway will do to the integrity of the house. Gertz said it would need to meet code. Another option is to put in an exterior staircase. The integrity would take a hit,but an interior stairway would be less invasive and easier to do than an exterior stairway. Cofer Evert suggested installing a lockable door to block access to the other stairwell. Dibble asked why the other staircase cannot be brought up to code. Muehlberg explained the changes would be too significant. Case asked for feedback on the proposed ideas and said they would be running it by City Council as well. Higgins asked if a COA would be required. Gertz explained the City's ordinance only requires a COA for exterior or site work. But because it is a City-owned property, the City can decide what it wants done on the interior. There is language addressing this in the lease agreement. Case asked if making the proposed changes would hurt its national register status. Gertz said CG is a rehabilitation and not a restoration like DK. There is more flexibility in a rehabilitation, but they still do not want to do anything non-reversible to the house or inadvertently damage it. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 19, 2014 Page 4 Gertz gave copies of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards to EPHS and explained the guiding principles of rehabilitation. Cofer Evert said she appreciated EPHS' efforts to maintain the Cummins era and how that aligns with a portion of the City code which she read aloud. Gertz said he, the HPC, and SHPO are all available resources. It is not so much the plans that are a concern as the implementation process. For example, they would need to consider how to combine trims from two different rooms which are from two different time periods if they create an opening upstairs. Qualey said the chandelier will be rehung in the parlor. Ross added they are hoping to find a way to raise it so people don't bump their heads on it. Gertz suggested finding a different light fixture representing the same era. Ross explained the main reason for wanting the opening is because one stairwell is non-compliant. She asked if there was any use for the upstairs in which the staircase could be grandfathered in and not have to be altered to meet code. Gertz said it would not have to be altered if it was a restoration. If used for rental/commercial, then it would because of safety issues. Two fire exits are required to meet code. They may not need to update it if using it for storage only. Case recommended continuing to discuss this with Gertz to consider all options before any final decisions are made, including what type of grant to apply for. Muehlberg raised an issue with the railing. Case said perhaps there is a way to put it behind Plexiglass to preserve it without it being a safety concern. Gertz gave Case the Best Management Practices for CG and reviewed it with her. 2. Dorenkemper House (DK) - Creamer The Riley Barn is being completely scraped and painted. Painting has begun, but working around rainy weather has been challenging. After the barn, the Riley House and DK are next. There are several areas of peeling paint. Plans include ventilating the two house attics as well. 3. Smith Douslas More House (SMD) - Creamer Necessary steps are being taken in order to grind the stump remaining from the ash tree removal. Stu Fox is working on determining an appropriate tree to replace it. City staff is in the process of obtaining proposals for replacement of cedar shingles and sidewalk sections as well as for asphalt sealcoating in the parking lot. E. NATE LOVAS PHOTO UPDATE —Cofer Evert Cofer Evert distributed copies of current photos of some of Eden Prairie's historic properties taken by local resident Nate Lovas. The HPC and EPHS have permission to use them at any time with proper credit. Lovas is available as a resource for any other pictures we might want taken as well. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 19, 2014 Page 5 F. BYERLY'S PHOTO DISPLAY—Cofer Evert Byerly's is opening a new store in Eden Prairie. Other area Byerly's stores have photo displays and Cofer Evert has initiated contact about the possibility of designating space in the Eden Prairie location for a historical photo display. Renovations are starting soon,but a store manager has not yet been named. More to follow. Cofer Evert presented her concept for a historical photo display at City Center. Paulson emphasized the need for continuity and a sense of community throughout the community since Eden Prairies lacks a downtown area. Visual appeal is important. G. ADJOURN JOINT MEETING Chair Muehlberg adjourned the joint meeting at 8:14 p.m. Commissioners took a 12-minute intermission. II. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL (HPC REGULAR MEETING) Chair Muehlberg called the meeting to order at 8:26 p.m. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Creamer added Item V.A. PANEL UPDATE DISCUSSION to the agenda. Cofer Evert added items I.E. NATE LOVAS PHOTO UPDATE, I.F. BYERLY'S PHOTO DISPLAY, and IX. D. HERITAGE SIGNAGE PROJECT to the agenda. MOTION: Cofer Evert moved, seconded by Paulson, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Freiberg moved, seconded by Paulson, to approve the April 21, 2014 minutes. Motion carried 5-0. V. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. PANEL UPDATE DISCUSSION Creamer said she received commissioner feedback on the final drafts for the Riley Jacques Farmstead interpretive panels. Additional feedback was received from Betsy Adams of EPHS. Commissioners have had three opportunities to review the text and she feels it is too late in the game to be starting over with rewriting the text. She assumed commissioners she did not hear from were ok with the drafts. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 19, 2014 Page 6 Cofer Evert emphasized we are the client. She feels strongly on several points but will agree to go along with what the majority decides. The name of the site should be the major heading so it ties to the website, there should be consistency with signage at other Eden Prairie sites, the panels are lacking color, the photos are lacking in relevance and image quality, and there are inconsistencies in the information. She envisioned the human interest aspect being addressed more and not enough editing has been done. Her interpretation was the signs did not have to be identical but she was not anticipating that big of a departure. Muehlberg agreed Cofer Evert had several legitimate points but stated the content for the Riley Farmstead sign was intended to be an overall orientation to the site. We also do not yet know content plans for future panels for the site. BHG was told they didn't have to stay true to existing panels but they should serve as a reference. Discussion on the different panel elements and brainstorming about how best to communicate these concerns to BHG followed. Gertz said BHG's development of the interpretive plan will address a lot of information that might not go into the panels. It is always ideal to have a plan in place first. Paulson said it is critical we make our concerns known but with the caveat we are unaware of what the plans are for the future panels. That may influence the content of these panels. She agrees with Cofer Evert's concerns but does not feel it was communicated strongly enough to BHG the importance of the history of the families. This could have been interpreted from existing panels however. Olson suggested we give BHG back the two weeks from the shortened timetable to make changes and keep the schedule on track with the subcommittee giving them specific direction. Cofer Evert said she likes Adams' proposed text. It has the human interest woven into it and is only about 20 words longer than the draft. Gertz said there is a much bigger package to come and we are looking at just two signs. The human interest aspect might be better relayed elsewhere. Paulson said while the HPC might be looking at it from the human interest perspective, it is possible a large percentage of the public might be more interested in the history of the land and buildings. After additional discussion about panel elements, a decision was made to contact BHG regarding unacceptable graphics/setup, dissatisfaction with the overall design, inconsistency in branding on each panel, and the lack of incorporating the human interest aspect. Muehlberg said we must articulate these are major items we need and not just recommendations. We should let them know the more we think about it, the more we like what we have in our existing panels. We also need to get ideas from them of what they are thinking for the big picture in terms of the interpretive plan and remaining panels. Creamer said she will set a date for the subcommittee to meet with BHG the first week of June and asked Cofer Evert to attend. It needs to be clear ahead of time what we are going to ask of them. Olson asked to have them send their overall plan before then as well so the subcommittee can provide a concise feedback document to BHG. Gertz noted BHG is not under contract for the additional panels at this point but we can ask HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 19, 2014 Page 7 them to see how these panels fit into the bigger picture of the overall interpretive plan. Creamer said we will need another draft of the panel before the June HPC meeting. VI. STUDENT UPDATES None. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. WORK PLAN REVIEW Muehlberg suggested adding a column to the work plan for inserting dates or check marks as projects are completed. B. CITY CENTER HISTORICAL PHOTO PROJECT UPDATE More on this item was addressed out of order under Item LF. Creamer reported City staff likes the proposed photo project. Some of the aspects will be able to be handled in-house. Involvement of the Communications Department is design-dependent. More in-depth discussion is forthcoming. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. CLG GRANT AWARDED 4/17/14—NEXT STEPS Creamer reported the CLG grant for additional outdoor interpretive panels at the Riley-Jacques Farmstead was approved. She will put together a Request for Proposal. IX. FYI ITEMS A. SCHUSSLER PARKING Creamer stated Steve Schussler is proposing additional parking at the Goodrich Ramus Barn. The project needs to go through the Planning and City Council process. A COA and conditional use permit will need to be reviewed by the HPC. Gertz said the plan should be run by SHPO first. B. SWLRT SECTION 106 CONSULTATION Creamer reported a meeting was recently held regarding the Southwest Transit and Cultural Resource Unit to discuss which sites were impacted and at what level. The Section 106 process is a federal act in which properties affected by a project route have to go through review. As a result, there may be some surveying done in the Golden Triangle area of Eden Prairie in the future. Gertz said he will HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES May 19, 2014 Page 8 issue a report when the surveying is done. Anything needing mitigation will be relayed prior to the report. He doesn't expect anything will be found, but the Commission will need to be involved. C. UPDATE ON HENNEPIN SITE MEETINGS - Gertz Gertz stated Paul Thorpe has requested to meet with him about research Thorpe has done on the Hennepin Village Site. He has new information that could lead to a potential archaeology site. Gertz plans to meet with him in June and will report back to the HPC. D. HERITAGE SIGNAGE PROJECT Cofer Evert referred to the heritage site signage project she is working on. She has created a draft letter and questionnaire to be sent to those identified as having historic properties. She asked commissioners to review the documents and send her their comments. She also asked for input on whether or not owners who already purchased a sign should have to cover the cost of a replacement sign if their sign is in poor condition. Muehlberg said owners should not have to pay for a second one. Gertz agreed. Creamer asked Cofer Evert to email the documents so changes can be tracked. X. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HPC meeting will be Monday, June 16, 2014, 7 p.m. at City Center, Prairie Rooms A & B. Muehlberg will be unable to attend. XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Freiberg, to adjourn. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Muehlberg adjourned the meeting at 9:39 p.m.