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Heritage Preservation - 09/18/2000 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION Monday, September 18, 2000 7:00 p.m. Cummins House 13600 Pioneer Trail Commission Members: Jan Mosman, Chairperson; Deborah Barkley, Jennie Brown, Lori Peterson-Benike, Kati Simons, Art Weeks, Mike Wroblewski Commission Staff: John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist; Peggy Rasmussen, Recording Secretary I. ROLL CALL Chair Mosman called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. All members were present. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Weeks asked to review the status of Birch Island Woods. Mosman offered to do this under V. Reports of Commission and Staff MOTION: Peterson-Benike moved, seconded by Wroblewski, to approve the agenda as published and amended. Motion carried 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —AUGUST 21, 2000 Weeks questioned the last sentence beginning on page 2, as it was unclear, and the decision was made to delete it. Weeks made a correction on page 3, by adding the following sentence at the end of the third paragraph. "Weeks said there should be no misunderstanding by the Council if they read the HPC report, which is very clear." MOTION: Peterson-Benike moved, seconded by Wroblewski, to approve the minutes of the August 21, 2000, Heritage Preservation Commission meeting, as published and amended. Motion carried 7-0. IV. REPORTS AND REQUESTS V. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Sunbonnet Day Event Gertz said it went very well and there was a good turnout. He believed it was one of the better Sunbonnet Day events held in the past five years. Gertz thanked Commission members for their help. Gertz said he and Tria Mann made a list of recommended changes for next year. Mann was very involved in organizing the event. Mosman suggested utilizing the front yard of the Cummins House next year for some of the activities. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 18, 2000 Page 2 Wrobewski asked if some of the money made at the event could go toward hiring a cleaning service to clean the house prior to next year's Sunbonnet Day. Gertz said he didn't know how much was made but he would find out. Although there is no accurate way of counting the number of people who attended, it appeared there were about 700. Gertz said City Staff will have a wrap-up meeting on the event and he would be bringing information from that to the next Commission meeting. B. Maplewood Historic Farm Gertz said Maplewood moved the farmhouse and outbuildings about one mile off White Bear Avenue. The city plans to restore it as a historic farmstead. C. Gym Restoration Project Mosman said the gym has been painted and the floors refinished. Red velvet curtains have been purchased for the stage. More lighting will be provided for the stage and a sound system installed. The stage is being advertised as available for use. In April there will be an event to honor people who contributed to the restoration project and it will also be used to raise more funds. D. Lookout Park Gertz found out from the Metropolitan Airports Commission that the site has again been vandalized by spray-painting all over the masonry. The land where the park is located belongs to the airport. It is closed to the public. Restoring the park will probably be a joint project, with the City, MAC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sharing the cost. Gertz said a City crew will clear out brush and clean up the site. Several suggestions were made on how to let students at the high school and middle school know the City is working on restoration of this site and about the vandalism, in order to heighten student awareness and discourage vandalism. It was decided to send a letter to the editors of the high school newspaper, asking them to do an article on Lookout Park. This way, the students could be directly involved and perhaps use peer pressure to keep other students from vandalizing the property. Simons will draft a letter. Weeks questioned whether the City had publicized its historic properties and heritage as much as it should. He referred to the display of historic photographs on a wall at the Chaska city hall, showing how historic places look now compared with how they previously looked. He wondered if this could be done at Eden Prairie's City Center. It could be a traveling exhibit that would go to the schools, library, etc. The Historical Society may be interested in being involved. The exhibit would show places that have been demolished and others that are in poor condition, such as the Anderson house on Hennepin Town Road. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 18, 2000 Page 3 Mosman suggested starting with one site, Lookout Park. Peterson-Benike and Simons said they will take photographs of the site, and Gertz was asked to bring old photographs of the park to the next meeting. They could then be made into the right size and inexpensive frames obtained. Gertz said he would find out if the City will allow such an exhibit. After being displayed at the City Center, it could travel to the schools, and eventually it is hoped a permanent place would be found at the City Center. Further publicity for the historic homes was discussed. At one time, the Eden Prairie News ran excerpts from John Cummins's diaries. The HPC may ask the newspaper editor to reprint them. Also, Mosman has a letter she received from a woman who knew Harriet Phipps, the person who planted the peony garden, and this letter could be printed in the newspaper. A suggestion was made that the HPC arrange to have a monthly article in the newspaper and ask the Historical Society to assist with the articles. Brown wondered how expensive it would be to have models of the historic homes made, which could be displayed at the City Center or shopping center. It was suggested that this could be a project for students at Oak Pointe or Eden Prairie High School. Weeks said this exhibit of models could be expanded to include photographs, and shown at events like the Lions Club Corn Feed, Schooner Days and Sunbonnet Day. E Birch Island Woods Update Mosman reported that Jeff Strate, spokesman for The Friends of Birch Island Woods, is trying to publicize the woods through events such as a silent auction and story-telling on Saturday, October 28. He is giving a tour of the woods to State Legislators this Sunday, September 24. Hennepin County is asking $1.2 million for the property. The City doesn't have the money and would like the County to deed the property to the City. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. 21St Annual Minnesota Historic Preservation Conference Gertz previously distributed information on the conference, being held in Winona on September 28-29. Gertz, Mosman and Weeks are planning to attend. B. FY 1999 CLG Grant Project Photos of the interpretive signs were available for review by Commissioners. They will be 3 feet x 4 feet in size. Full-scale copies will be made for the members to look at. Commissioners commended Gertz on the appearance of the signs and the work that went into making them. Gertz reported he has found out, through researching the 1890 plat map of Eden Prairie, that Frederick did not own any land in the City at that time. The property called Frederick-Miller Spring was owned by a person with the last name of HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 18, 2000 Page 4 Krueger. It was agreed that the name on the interpretive sign should be changed as a result of this discovery. C. Historic Site Update 1. Smith House Ralph Nesbitt, a member of the Eden Prairie Historical Society, has been circulating a petition that urges the Mayor and Councilmembers to retain ownership of the house for the City. The petition was available for signatures at the Cummins House on Sunbonnet Day. He plans to unobtrusively deliver it to the City. Gertz said the City has arranged to hold a community forum and survey of City residents, selected at random. The forum will be held at the end of October, and the survey will be conducted later, with the results to be available in February 2001. Gertz assumed nothing would be decided about the Smith House until after those results are available. Gertz said he would obtain more information on the survey for the HPC. No responses were received to the Request for Proposals (RFP) sent out by the City to local real estate companies. Gertz said he talked to a few real estate agents, who said eight days was not enough time to respond. They didn't have the qualifications to do everything the City was asking, and it would have required time to put together a team that had the necessary skills. The RFP was put together by Bob Lambert, Don Uram and John Getz, and was a reflection of what the HPC indicated it wanted in its Adaptive Reuse Proposal. Weeks asked if it would be appropriate for the Commission to review RFPs before they are sent out. Gertz responded that the HPC should review any RFPs that go out relating to the HPC. 2. Riley Farm Gertz said restoration of the garage has been completed. Elaine Jacques told Gertz she would like to make a donation toward restoration work that still needs to be done on the farm. Gertz will be meeting with her to discuss possible projects. Gertz said there is a small group of City Staff working on programming for both the Riley Farm and the Cummins House. Gertz is working with Laurie Obiazor. 3. Cummins House Gertz said there is still a problem with bats, and the City may have to contract with an exterminator to take care of it. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 18, 2000 Page 5 Gertz said the expenses listed in the Adaptive Reuse Proposal were through 1999. The expense to clear out the bat droppings was incurred in 1999, and there have been no expenses this year. Gertz said he would like to wait until the next meeting to discuss plans for the rehabilitation work to be done on the Cummins house, as it would require a lengthy discussion. He will send out information with the packet for the next meeting. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. State Capital Projects Grant-in-Aid Project Grant Gertz said the funds are being used for the Glen Lake Children's Camp. The project is underway to re-roof all the buildings, and they should be done by the end of the year. B. HPC Meeting Schedule through FY 2000 MOTION: Peterson-Benike moved, seconded by Barkley, to meet at the Cummins House for the remainder of the year. Motion carried 5-0. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Simons moved, seconded by Barkley, to adjourn the meeting. Chair Mosman adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m.