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Heritage Preservation - 02/24/2003 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2003 7:00 P.M. Prairie Rooms A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Lori Peterson-Benike, Chairperson; Betsy Adams, Deborah Barkley,Jennie Brown, Elise Kist, Kati Simons STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: John Buteyn, Mackenzie Epping, Ron Viland COMMISSION STAFF John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Peterson-Benike called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Commissioner Brown arrived at 7:15 p.m. A prospective commissioner, Richard Akerlund, was also present. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Peterson-Benike moved the presentation by the Boy Scouts forward on the agenda, immediately after approval of the minutes. MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Kist, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —JANUARY 27, 2003 Adams made a correction in the wording of the motion on page 4, replacing the word "District" with "Area", so that it reads " . . to support the idea of Birch Island Lake Area Heritage Area, . . ... MOTION: Kist moved, seconded by Simons, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting held January 27, 2003, as published and amended. Motion carried 4-0-1, with Barkley abstaining because of her absence from a portion of the meeting. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Eagle Scout Project Presentations 1. Graham Kist—Split Rail Fence at Dorenkemper House Graham Kist, Troop 342, said he proposed building a split rail zigzag fence at the Dorenkemper House. A fence will help to demarcate the HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES February 24, 2003 Page 2 property line, enhance the site, and also add to its authenticity. This would be the type of fence used at the time the Dorenkemper house was built. The fence would be nine rails high to a height of approximately 36 inches, and will be 140 feet long, with a six-foot opening to the paved trail. It will require 108 cedar rails, four inches in diameter and ten feet long, laid on top of each other. Rocks will be placed underneath the bottom rail. Kist said his grandfather has built fences of this type and was able to tell him the proper way to build one. Kist estimates the cost to be $5.95 per rail, for a total of $642.60. He is asking the City for $200 of that amount and plans to ask Dan Herbst for a donation of rails and/or funds. 2. McLeod Brennaman—Cummins-Grill Landscape Renovation Project McLeod Brennaman is with Troop 695. The goal of his project will be to re-landscape part of the property at the Cummins-Grill site and make the interpretive panels accessible to handicapped people. To accomplish this, he plans to put down a brick pathway and place plantings around the two trees near the panels and around the well cap, which is between the panels and the barn. Seven hundred brick pavers will be used for the pathway. The pathway would be four feet wide and 25 feet long, extending from the parking lot through the gate, and end in a standing area around the interpretive panels. Brennaman said the mulch that currently forms the path would be removed and he would dig out seven inches of dirt. One inch of sand and four inches of gravel will be put down under the pavers. The City has agreed to move the antique thresher so the tongue can be used to cover the well cap. He would then plant three spirea plants to further hide the asphalt and well cap from view. He will also plant peonies around the two trees near the panels. Brennaman plans to work on the project in May. He will need fourteen volunteers every shift for two weekends, and will ask other Scouts from his troop to help. The total cost is estimated to be $562.20. He has been promised $200 from the City, and other donations are expected to come from the Scout account and friends and relatives. Gertz said the plantings have to be historically correct, but should not require much watering. He recommended splitting up the existing peonies that are in the garden and planting them, rather than buying new peony plants. It was pointed out that Dale Bachman lives in Eden Prairie, and Brennaman could ask him for a donation of plants. Peterson-Benike thanked both Scouts for their presentations. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES February 24, 2003 Page 3 MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Barkley, to approve the Eagle Scouts plans; as presented by McLeod Brennaman for the Cummins-Grill landscape renovations project, and by Graham Kist for a split-rail fence project at the Dorenkemper House. Motion carried 6-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. CLG Grant Gertz reported that the grant application for the cemetery project was completed and signed by Scott Neal, who expressed interest in the project. The grant application was submitted the week of February 17. The state will be reviewing the applications the first week in April, and the City should know if the grant was approved a week after that. There is expected to be a lot of competition,however. Adams said if the grant is not approved this year, the City should continue to try in future years. Peterson-Benike pointed out that because of the shortage of state funds, the City would probably be forced to look at other ways to obtain other funding sources. B. Reprinting of"Eden Prairie: The First 100 Years" Gertz reported that Dan Herbst is interested in purchasing the existing stock of books so that he can give them to people buying homes in Hennepin Village, which he is developing. He plans to contribute $5 per book to the Historical Society. He has asked for 50 books at this time. Gertz was told that the cost of reprinting the book would be $1,900, which would include scanning a copy of the book into a computer to make a file copy, original artwork for the cover, and adding new information. The money to pay for this would come from the previous sales of the books. The original books cost $4.95 each to print. The Historical Society has agreed to supply pictures for the reprinting. The author will be offered an opportunity to write a forward, with updates. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Program Planning for the Riley-Jacques Farm and J. R. Cummins Homestead Gertz distributed information from the Adaptive Reuse Proposal approved by the City Council in July 2000. The commissioners discussed options for reuse of the Riley-Jacques Farm and the J. R. Cummins Homestead, and were asked to write down any other ideas they might have before the next HPC meeting. Gertz said he would present the ideas to the Historical Society. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES February 24, 2003 Page 4 For the Riley-Jacques Farm, Gertz proposed the following recreational uses: history camp; art camp; demonstrations of harvesting (such as threshing); interpretation of the Dorenkemper House; Community Theatre performances in the barn; exhibits of farm equipment or other types of exhibits in the barn. The interior of the brick house could be converted for use as an artists' studio, and the upstairs could be converted into an apartment for a property manager. Other suggestions by commissioners were for a juried art fair; antique dealers' show and appraisals; barn dances and hay rides. The J. R. Cummins Homestead could have an educational function. With cooperation of the school district a curriculum could be developed, and Oak Pointe fifth-grade students would be invited to participate. They could walk over to the property from the school. If successful, other communities might included. With regard to the City Council Workshop on March 18, to which the commissioners are invited, Gertz said the Historical Society would also be asked to attend. The entire workshop will be devoted to a discussion about the City's historic properties. The Council may ask the HPC to suggest alternative uses for the properties and the potential for adaptive reuse of the J. R. Cummins Homestead. The City may be able to develop another private/public partnership. There will be further discussion at the March 17 HPC meeting. B. Miller Spring Improvements A memo was sent to the HPC from Bob Lambert, stating that the latest cost estimate from Barr Engineering for the proposed improvement is approximately $70,000, an increase from the original estimate of $40,000. Approximately $13,000 of the total is related to the development and installation of a pre-cast concrete replica of a horse trough that would have to be electrically heated to keep it from freezing. City staff recommends installing an inverted pre-cast concrete manhole cone, as an efficient method for collecting drinking water at this time. The heated horse trough could be installed at some future time provided funds are available. Dan Herbst has indicated to City staff that he has excess fill from the Hennepin Village development that he would donate toward the Miller Spring Improvements,provided it is completed as soon as possible. City staff believe the majority of this project can be done in-house at a fraction of the cost estimates, if they are able to proceed early enough to obtain the free fill. Gertz said the HPC previously approved a site-alteration permit. The improvement plan is unchanged except that the trough has been eliminated, and in its place is a concrete manhole cone. There would be a metal grate with a five- inch opening for the water pipe where people can fill their bottles. The next phase of the project would include a trail and footbridge over the creek. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES February 24, 2003 Page 5 Gertz said once this is installed, the HPC might not want to take it out and put in the horse trough at a future time. MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Kist, to recommend approval of improvements to Miller Spring with a modification that the heated horse trough element may be added at a future time. Motion carried 6-0. VI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Simons, to adjourn the meeting. Peterson- Benike adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m.