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Heritage Preservation - 08/18/2003 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY,AUGUST 18, 2003 7:00 P.M. Prairie Rooms A * B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Lori Peterson-Benike, Chairperson; Betsy Adams, Deborah Barkley,Jennie Brown, Molly Gilbertson, Elise Kist, Kati Simons COMMISSION STAFF: John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Peterson-Benike called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. She reported that staff liaison Gertz was ill and unable to attend. Commissioners Kist and Barkley were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Adams moved, seconded by Simons, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 5-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —July 21, 2003 On page 2, paragraph 2 under the Riley-Jacques Farm Project Update, the second sentence was changed to read "Gertz said the ventilators are no longer available . . ." MOTION: Simons moved, seconded by Gilbertson, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting held on July 21, 2003, as published and amended. Motion carried 5-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. 24`h Annual Statewide Historic Preservation Conference—New Ulm Peterson-Benike reported that SHPO has scholarships available to cities to reimburse 60 percent of the cost of sending representatives to the conference on September 18 and 19. The City is required to send a representative. Commissioners were asked to let John Gertz know by September 3 if they plan to attend, as the deadline for submitting applications to SHPO is September 8. Several of the commissioners said they plan to attend at least part of the conference. B. Eden Prairie Historical Society Use of the Cummins-Phipps-Grill House Reference was made to the letter from Scott Neal to the Historical Society, requesting that the Society form an ad hoc committee to represent it in discussions with the City on a partnership agreement for using the house. John Gertz is expected to be included in the negotiations. The HPC will have the opportunity HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES August 18, 2003 Page 2 for input and would be asked to recommend approval of the final agreement to the City Council. Peterson-Benike said the HPC would continue to be involved in the restoration plan for the site. If the Historical Society decides to display artifacts inside the house, the HPC would need to approve how it is done in order to protect the integrity of the house. C. Removal of Peony Plants from the Cummins-Phipps-Grill Property Peterson-Benike distributed a photo taken after approximately 50 percent of the peony plants were mowed down by a crew from the Parks department, without HPC approval. It is hoped the plants will come back in the spring of 2004. Park staff said they were mowed to get rid of the weeds growing between them. HPC members recommended putting down weed killer in the spring. The possibility of volunteer groups working in the peony garden was discussed. Peterson-Benike emphasized that the HPC should be asked to approve any changes made to the city's historic properties, including landscaping. Steps to prevent future loss of this type were discussed. An inventory of each property was recommended. Also, because maintenance of the properties is an issue, a meeting between the HPC and Parks maintenance staff would be helpful, after which the decisions made would be put in writing for future use. This will be discussed further at another meeting. V. OLD BUSINESS A. Smith-Douglas-More House Shutters have been installed on the house. Dunn Bros. had a white plastic picket fence installed around the patio. However, at the request of Gertz, this will be removed and replaced with a wooden picket fence. B. CLG Grant—Cemetery Designations Gertz left information that the project is underway, using a Certified Local Government (CLG) grant to do research and photo-documentation at the two cemeteries. The RFP will be mailed out to prospective bidders on August 19 and published in the Eden Prairie News. The length of the grant is from August 1, 2003 to July 31, 2004. The HPC will review the work of the consultants who submit proposals and select one of them. C. Riley-Jacques Farm Rehabilitation Plans Bids for the job are due at the City on August 28. Three bidders attended a pre- bid meeting on August 14 at the site. The work would begin on March 4, 2004 and end in September 2004. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES August 18, 2003 Page 3 D. Dorenkemper House No work was done during the past month but should resume in the fall. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. Glen Lake Children's Camp Rehabilitation Plans Peterson-Benike explained that Friendship Ventures, which leases the property from the City, was moving ahead with plans to rehabilitate the camp. No structural changes to the buildings are proposed. The HPC was being asked to review the preliminary plans and make sure historic materials would be used. No action was required. The HPC will be involved in approval of the final plans. SHPO has also been asked to review the preliminary plans and send comments back to the City. Commissioners reviewed the plans and Gertz's written comments. Friendship Ventures is proposing to make storage rooms out of the former nurses' rooms in the dormitory building, and the recreation room in Birch Hall will become a great room/sitting room. Gertz comments included making the new walls removable and low enough to see over. The fireplace brick is to be restored. Insulation will be added to the walls. Gertz wants the existing interior doors to be reused and not replaced with modern ones. He does not want the historic windows to be replaced, but safety catches will be added. New doors on the exterior should match the historic material and style. B. Memorandum of Agreement between MAC, SHPO, and HPC rmardins! Flyins! Cloud Airport Historic Hangars MAC plans to negotiate a Memorandum of Agreement relating to demolition of some historically significant hangars. The oldest of these hangars were built in 1949. SHPO, HPC and MAC will be meeting to negotiate the MOA and possible mitigation. The Section 106 process will likely require recordation and documentation of each structure prior to its removal. Copies of Section 106 were distributed to commissioners for review. Commissioners discussed the possibility of moving the hangars to another part of the Flying Cloud Airport property or to another location where they could be used to interpret the history of the airport. Peterson-Benike said that could be negotiated for inclusion in the MOA. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by Adams, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Peterson-Benike adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m.