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Heritage Preservation - 01/23/2006 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2006 7:00 P.M., Prairie Rooms A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS Betsy Adams, Chairperson; Molly Gilbertson, Vice Chairperson; Bob Amell, Deborah Barkley, Nina Mackay, Ed Muehlberg,Jane Plaza STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES Danny Dunleavy,Anna Hewitt, Jennifer Nicklay COMMISSION STAFF John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Chair Adams called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Commissioner Gilbertson was excused. Commissioner Barkley was absent. Student representative Hewitt was excused. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Amell moved, seconded by Mackay, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 5-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —NOVEMBER 21, 2005 MOTION: Mackay moved, seconded by Plaza, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting, held on November 21, 2005, as published. Motion carried 5-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF Gertz showed a color digital photo of the exhibit kiosk to show how it would look when filled with preserved photographs and other items from Eden Prairie's past. It has three sides with an acrylic case that juts out about 3% ". At this point, the oak frame has been built and the basic parts of the acrylic case are almost finished. Three-dimensional items will be in the upper level of the kiosk, and the Eden Prairie logo will be in the center of the lower section. The kiosk is seven feet high to the top of the masthead. Mackay asked if the masthead could be enclosed within the frame rather than above it. The Commissioners agreed to remove the masthead from above the frame and to put it inside the frame at the top of the panel, using the title shown, "Preserving the Past." Gertz said he would inform the staff person who is doing the work. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 23, 2006 Page 2 Mackay inquired where the kiosk would be on display. Gertz said good locations would be in the library, the City Center building and the historic homes. V. OLD BUSINESS A. FY 2005 CLG Grant Updates Gertz said Robert Vogel is working on the current project, compiling information and putting documents together. He has provided two reports so far, which Gertz has forwarded to SHPO. B. Cummins and Riley House Repairs Gertz reported that the work on the final punch list would resume in the spring, when brickwork on the Riley house is to be completed. There are not many items left to complete. Between April 3 and 7, an historic preservation class from Anoka-Ramsey College will be restoring the ice box attached to the Cummins house. It will be dismantled in February, and then the City will put in footings and the foundation prior to the class completing the restoration. Gertz said he believed the restoration work is to be covered by Channel 16. C. Dorenkemper House Restorations Gertz met at the house with Lori Benike from the Historical Society recently. Benike has volunteered to start the planning process for the interior work. She will put a list together of the work that needs to be done and a schedule for completing it. The next time they meet at the house she will bring some members of the Historical Society to assist with the planning. They are looking beyond that group for people who have skills, such as wallpapering. Commissioners looked at a photo taken inside the house that shows the wall where lathe was removed in one area to expose the original log construction of the house. A Plexiglas panel will be placed over it to protect the logs, but people would be able to see and study it. Gertz recommended hanging a picture over the Plexiglas to make it look like a wall. Dedication of the house is planned for Sunbonnet Day in September, but Gertz believes the house should be ready for programming prior to that. Adams said there are original pieces of furniture from the Dorenkemper family that the Historical Society has had refinished locally for placing in the house, as well as some items from the museum. D. Reprinting of Eden Prairie— The First 100 Years Gertz reported that Helen Anderson doesn't want any editions or editing of the original book, except for misspellings and other typos. She is willing to update HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 23, 2006 Page 3 the forward she wrote. Other than that, the book will be reprinted as it is. The Commissioners agreed to that. The next step is to complete the scanning work. Gertz said City Council approval for the cost of reprinting would be needed. However, there are some funds available from previous sales of the book. E. Pioneer Trail Expansion/Cummins House Construction of the additional lanes for Pioneer Trail is scheduled to start in spring 2008 and is expected to take two full construction seasons to complete. The work begins at Highway 212 and ends at Shetland Road. Gertz met with the SHPO and a representative from MnDOT to review Section 106 of the Federal Code. As a result, there will be some type of mitigation that hopefully will lessen the impact to the historic property. One suggestion from the SHPO to mitigate impacts would be to eliminate the median in front of the house as far as the stoplight. Another is to eliminate the trail on the north side of the road, and another is to see if the MAC would give up some of the land on the south side now dedicated to parking. Regardless of how that process goes, Gertz said the City might try to get the County to help eliminate the LAWCON restriction on the house itself if the City could do a trade with the County for the land needed. The SHPO thought that was a good idea. It would make reuse of the property in the future much easier. The Parks department is considering a parking area behind the house to provide access to the athletic fields. That would be a big impact to the Cummins property. The Parks department doesn't intend to start planning for this area until the end of 2006. When they develop that plan the HPC would be able to comment on it. Gertz emphasized there have been no formal discussions with the SHPO, MnDOT or Hennepin County. The best case scenario would be to get everyone together to discuss what works best for all parties. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. FY 2006 CLG Grant Application Since the December meeting, Scott Neal has informed Gertz that the educational Web-based project and folded brochure could be done in-house. Gertz asked the Commissioners if they want to apply for a different project, in which case they would have to rescind the motion they passed at the November 21 meeting. MOTION: Mackay moved, seconded by Plaza, to rescind the motion from the November 21, 2005 meeting, for a CLG grant application. Motion carried 5-0. Commissioner Muehlberg excused himself from the meeting at 7:45 p.m. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 23, 2006 Page 4 Gertz suggested they discuss the possibility of applying for a grant to do reuse planning for the Cummins house. A reuse plan would be a great opportunity to study the house in a number of ways. The grant would pay for bringing in an architect to help with assessment and also develop a floor plan and a site plan. Gertz said a reuse plan would produce a document to bring to the City Council and show the best use of the house. This might show how it could be adapted for use as a Historical Society museum and office space, and how it could be used for commercial space, as well as indicate the priority for best- and second-best use. The plan would be presented to the HPC first and then the City Council. That work would be done in 2007, which puts it ahead of the beginning of road construction. Adams said it makes a good deal of sense to have professionals come in and look at reuse of the Cummins house. It would be money well spent to know whether the best use would be for a non-profit like the Historical Society or if it should be leased for commercial use. Gertz stated that if the grant is awarded to the City, an architectural firm, such as Miller-Dunwiddie, would be hired, and a team would be formed to work with the architect. The HPC could ask someone from the Historical Society, the Parks department, the SHPO, citizens from Eden Prairie and a member of the HPC, to serve on the team. It could also include marketing experts, historical preservation planners, etc. Adams said the team would not be brought together until the grant money is received, so she hoped that the HPC would have the feedback of the team before all the decisions are made about changes to the property. Gertz replied if the SHPO gets involved in this they would know the HPC is doing a reuse study. The HPC would be able to communicate with the Parks department throughout this process. Gertz said the grant would pay for a reuse study for a building that has not been used for a long time, and that would be a good thing to do for the Cummins house. Adams said it would show the HPC is taking an active role in finding a reuse for this building. The Historical Society has shown a new interest in using the house. A few years ago the City thought the Society might be interested in housing the museum and some artifacts there. However, the members did not want to become fund-raisers. Now it turns out they have become fund-raisers because of the Anderson House. In addition, they have new members because of that, and believe that they could do some fund-raising on a small scale. Gertz said private, non-profit use of the building would be a natural fit and would have the least impact. Adams pointed out it would be a good space for the Historical Society now that the house has been renovated. Gertz stated he was at their last Board meeting. He told them about this possibility and that he would work with them on the process. Gertz said he suggested the reuse study because of the Pioneer Trail expansion that will impact the property. A study would deal with all of the impacts. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES January 23, 2006 Page 5 MOTION: Mackay moved, seconded by Amell, to approve the Fiscal Year 2006 CLG grant application for a reuse study for the Cummins-Grill property. Motion carried 4-0. Gertz asked the Commissioners to study the Minnesota Historical Society's "A Primer for Historic Properties Reuse Teams in Minnesota" that he included in the packets sent to the Commissioners. B. Site Alteration Permit Review - Riley-Jacques Farm and Fredrick-Miller Springy Gertz said sign design "J" was approved by the City Council for use at all park locations and historic sites. The color will be green for all the signs, but the heights would be different. Heights of five feet and six feet are being considered for the historic sites. The Commissioners were asked to select heights for the Riley-Jacques Farm and Fredrick-Miller Spring. They should also make a recommendation on plantings at the base of the signs. The base is not included in the height. With regard to the Riley-Jacques Farm, Gertz said there would be another sign at the entrance to the park itself. Adams noted there doesn't appear to be room to put "Heritage Site" on the sign, but Gertz said that could be done using smaller letters. The Commissioners could recommend adding "Eden Prairie Heritage Site." They could do the same on the sign for Fredrick-Miller Spring. Mackay stated the need to be consistent with signs at both of the sites. MOTION: Plaza moved, seconded by Amell, to recommend the City Council approve Heritage Preservation Site Alteration Permit No. 2006-01-0004 for a park identification sign at the Riley-Jacques Farm. The HPC recommends the six-foot sign be installed and that "Riley-Jacques" be placed on the first line, "Farm" on the second line, and "Eden Prairie Heritage Site" on the third line using a smaller font. The HPC also recommends future landscaping at the sign location be limited to native grasses and flowers. Motion carried 4-0. MOTION: Amell moved, seconded by Mackay, to recommend the City Council approve Heritage Preservation Site Alteration Permit No. 2006-02-0005 for a park identification sign at Fredrick-Miller Spring. The HPC recommends the five-foot sign be installed that would read "Fredrick-Miller" on the first line, "Spring" on the second line, and "Eden Prairie Heritage Site" on the third line using a smaller font. The HPC also recommends that future landscaping at the sign location be limited to native grasses and flowers. Motion carried 4-0. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Plaza moved, seconded by Mackay, to adjourn the meeting. Chair Adams adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m.