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Heritage Preservation - 05/19/2008 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY, MAY 19, 2008 7:00 P.M. Prairie Rooms A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS Betsy Adams, Chairperson; Ann Higgins, Vice Chairperson; Richard Akerlund, Nina Mackay, Mark McPherson,Ed Muehlberg, Kathy Veurink STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Claire Lukens, Mark Muston,Alexandra Shea COMMISSION STAFF John Gertz, Planner II Peggy Rasmussen, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Adams called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Student representatives Lukens and Muston were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Mackay moved, seconded by Higgins, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES —APRIL 21, 2008 A correction was made on page 1, under Roll Call, where the fifth sentence should read "Chuck Liddy, an architect with Miller-Dunwiddie, George Watson, a landscape architect with Brauer and Associates, . . ... On page 3, the fourth sentence in the fourth paragraph was corrected to read "They also met at the SHPO with Susan Roth . . ." MOTION: McPherson moved, seconded by Akerlund, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission held on April 21, 2008 as published and corrected. Motion carried 7-0. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. NAPC FORUM 2008—JULY 10-13, 2008 Gertz reported that the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions is holding Forum 2008 in New Orleans from July 10-13. He said it is probably the best annual conference in the country devoted to the work of preservation commissions. Commissioners interested in attending would have to pay their own expenses. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING May 19, 2008 Page 2 B. F. Y. 2008 CLG GRANT Gertz said the City received the CLG grant contract from the state, which will be signed and sent back to the SHPO for signatures. Adams will be asked to sign as Chair of the HPC. As soon as they are signed, Gertz said he will prepare RFPs. He expects a start date of September 1. V. OLD BUSINESS A. SESQUICENTENNIAL UPDATE Gertz showed the Commissioners one of the fifteen banners donated by Northern Lights Display. One banner will be put up in the Riley-Jacques barn; the others will be placed in Purgatory Creek Recreation Park, Staring Lake Park and Round Lake Park. The City ordered 250 commemorative mugs with sesquicentennial artwork that should be arriving by the end of May. They will be sold at various events this year. Adams said she was at the Riley-Jacques barn for the History Tour on May 3. The tour included the Cummins House, the Domkemper House, the Smith- Douglas-More House, the Consolidated School and the Riley-Jacques barn. Historical Society members were at each location to talk to the people who came. They also had a handout with a description and photos of the historical sites. A flyer with information about the tour was distributed with the Eden Prairie News. Gertz reported that Mayor Young read the Heritage Day proclamation at the City Council meeting on May 6. Adams suggested celebrating each May 11 as Eden Prairie Heritage Day. Gertz said that would be appropriate and could be tied in with Heritage Preservation Week in May. Gertz said the tri-fold pamphlet will be mailed out in the next week or two. Adams has offered to put it together. A map of Eden Prairie will be included showing where all the historic sites are located, along with a sentence or two about each site. Adams said she would continue writing articles for the Eden Prairie News about Eden Prairie's history. The May issue of Eden Prairie Magazine has a photograph of the Cummins House and mentions the sesquicentennial. Gertz reported that City staff is still working on reprinting "Eden Prairie: the First Hundred Years", but it probably will not be done until mid-summer. He plans to contact Helen Anderson about writing the forward to the book. B. SESQUICENTENNIAL TREE PLANTING—MAY 22 Gertz said the planting of the Sesquicentennial Tree would take place near the barn at the Riley-Jacques Farmstead, on Thursday, May 22, at 5:30 p.m. The tree to be planted is a burr oak, which can live up to 250 years. Several Commissioners said they plan to attend. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING May 19, 2008 Page 3 C. HPC/CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP—MAY 20 Gertz said the workshop would start at 5:30 p.m. and end at 6:25 p.m. The J. R. Cummins Reuse Study is the only item on the agenda. Gertz will begin by providing some background on the site's boundaries, showing slides that indicate the National Register boundary, the LOCKON boundary, and the adverse effect of the County Road 1 construction on the boundaries. Gertz will show the proposed ball field and new east side access to the property to indicate how the site is shrinking. Robert Vogel will be explaining the reuse study and options for reuse. By 6:00 p.m. they will open up the meeting to discussion. The goal is for the Council to accept the recommendations in the report and indicate the direction they want to take. Later, Gertz will send the Council a statement they can vote on. The Council might ask staff to prepare an RFP. Adams asked the Commissioners to look at the report again prior to the workshop. Gertz said they will be sitting around the table with the Council members and are welcome to participate in the discussions and ask questions. As Adams was not able to stay for the Council meeting to help Gertz present the HPC update, Higgins agreed to take her place. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. GOODRICH-RAMUS (SJOSTRAND) BARN REUSE STUDY As a result of the barn being eligible for National Register status, Gertz said MnDOT and Hennepin County have asked the City to go ahead and complete a reuse study for the barn. Gertz said they have to start immediately because of the tight schedule. He contacted Robert Vogel and asked him to send a proposal on providing assistance to the City. Gertz received the proposal and forwarded it to the Engineering Department. It has been accepted by the County, which will be paying for the reuse study. Gertz said the work would probably start next week, and they have until the end of July to complete the report, after which it will be turned over to MnDOT and the County. Gertz contacted Liz Able from MnDOT, who agreed with him that documentation of the site should be added to the work, if demolishing the building seems imminent or if it will be reused in a way that will significantly change it. Gertz believes Vogel would probably do that as a stand-alone project. Gertz said the HPC would be involved in reviewing the report and plans, which is part of the Section 106 process. It will require a Memo of Agreement, with the HPC as a signatory. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING May 19, 2008 Page 4 B. CUMMINS SHED DEMOLITION APPROVAL The Commissioners looked at photographs of five outbuildings. Gertz explained that none of the outbuildings is historically significant. The first building in the packet was the red shed, which Gertz said collapsed about a week ago and should be removed since it now represents a public hazard. It has been previously documented. Because it is on the heritage site, approval is needed from the HPC to have it removed. Gertz has asked Douglas Ernst to salvage some of the wood to build a display case for the Riley-Jacques barn, with a piece of glass or Plexiglass over it. McPherson recommended salvaging all of the wood as there are people who would be interested in buying it. Gertz said the wood not used for the display case could be stored in the barn. MOTION: Higgins moved, seconded by Mackay, to approve removal of the collapsed red storage building from the Cummins property, and that the building's deconstruction involve taking salvageable material and storing it at the Riley- Jacques barn. Motion carried 7-0. The second building in the packet was the garden shed near the peony garden. Gertz said it is about to collapse; the roof is in bad condition and the back of the building is collapsing. It is not restorable without replacing all material. Gertz recommended not having the building removed, and he would talk to the Parks Department about shoring it up to prevent it from collapsing. He recommended the same for the other outbuildings. Akerlund said this could be an Eagle Scout project, and Gertz agreed. Gertz said the third building has been used to store "sparkle", which is used to make the white stripes on the ball fields. Of all the wood buildings on the site it has the most potential for rehabilitation or restoration. Gertz recommended that the building be stabilized and the roof leak repaired. Also the debris should be cleared away from the foundation. The building is in reasonably good condition. The fourth building was used as an outhouse and is in its original location. Gertz recommended stabilizing it. The door is off the building and is being stored in the house. A concrete pad was poured to set the building on,but that was never done. However, it has a durable foundation. Gertz said a new owner of the Cummins property would not want to maintain it properly, and that could become "demolition by neglect." Depending on reuse of the property, the HPC could discuss moving it to the Riley-Jacques farm near the Dornkemper House. Akerlund inquired if it could be moved onto the concrete pad at this time. Gertz said he would ask the Parks Department to do that. The building can be repaired with the boards from the collapsed building because it is the same type of wood. Gertz said the fifth building is a pump or well house. It is still used for storage by the Parks Department. Gertz said there is no reason to do anything with it; just maintain it. There is a crack in the concrete that should be repaired, a new door has to be installed and the window needs to be repaired. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MEETING May 19, 2008 Page 5 MOTION: Mackay moved, seconded by Akerlund, to make temporary repairs to and stabilize: the peony garden shed, the gray building, and the outhouse at the J. R. Cummins Farmstead. Motion carried 7-0. MOTION: Muehlberg moved, seconded by Higgins, to repair and maintain the pump house on the J. R. Cummins property. Motion carried 7-0. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Mackay moved, seconded by McPherson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. Adams adjourned the meeting at 8:27 p.m.