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Heritage Preservation - 06/20/2011 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY,JUNE 20, 2011 6:00 P.M. CUMMINS GRILL HOUSE COMMISSION MEMBERS Ann Higgins, Chair; Ed Muehlberg, Vice Chair; Jeffrey Lawler, Mark McPherson, Kay Desmarais, Cindy Cofer Evert STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE Ian English COMMISSION STAFF John Gertz, Pathfinder CRM, LLC Lori Creamer, Recorder I. ROLL CALL Higgins called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. English was absent, which was excused. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Higgins noted Ian English has been accepted for another term serving as the student representative. MOTION: Lawler moved, seconded by Muehlberg, to approve the agenda. Motion Carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. SPECIAL COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 23, 2011 MOTION: Muehlberg moved, seconded by Evert, to approve the minutes of the Heritage Preservation Commission meeting held on May 23, 2011. Motion carried 4-0, Desmarais and McPherson abstained. IV. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. JOINT MEETING WITH THE EDEN PRAIRIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AT THE CUMMINS GRILL HOUSE Higgins thanked the Historical Society for inviting the commission to the Cummins Grill House for a joint meeting and tour of several historical sites within the city. Introductions were done by the HPC commission and the Historical Society. The Historical Society board members present were: Valerie Ross, Kathie Case, Jan Mossman, Dave Kopperl, Bob Hirt and Jim Clark. Case HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES June 20, 2011 Page 2 said she was glad the HPC and Historical Society could meet together and she thought it would be beneficial for especially the new HPC members to see some of the buildings in which past commissions have worked hard to preserve. Case stated the Cummins Grill House and the Dorenkemper house are available for meeting space if at any time in the future the HPC would like to hold their monthly meeting there. She also recommended the new members either purchase Helen's Eden Prairie the 1 sr 100 year's book or check it out from the Library to get an idea of what has been done in the city to preserve the past. Another book recommended was Heritage, which was created and printed through a CLG grant in years past. Case asked if that book could be reprinted. Gertz agreed it would be a good book for commission members to read since it included not only technical information on what is involved in the preservation process in Eden Prairie, but also included some history. There would need to be some research done to determine the cost of reprinting the book. Case talked about a program that was in place in which the owners of older properties in Eden Prairie were approached to see if they would be interested in purchasing a plaque to place somewhere on their property which designated the property as a historical site. These properties were not locally designated, so there were no restrictions placed on the properties. Case mentioned there are still numerous plaques available for$25 and suggested that may be a good project to start contacting those remaining properties within the City. V. OLD BUSINESS A. WEBSITE UPDATE Lawler reported on the progress that has been made with the City website. He mentioned he is able to go through Google Analytics and track how many hits there have been to the website as well as how the user entered the site,how much time was spent on each page and what key words were searched, etc. It is in the very beginning stages, so there really isn't much data to report. This tool will be helpful moving forward to know what people may be looking for so we can provide that type of information on the site. The intention is to link the City website to the Historical Society's website which would enable students working on project easy access to both sites and all the information they need. Case stated there needs to be a balance with the website, because some points are better talked about in person. Evert suggested putting together a marketing piece such as a history brochure. It could contain a map of the city with the historical sites marked and a little history about each site. Make it available at the sites which are open to the public such as the Smith Douglas More house. Gertz stated the HPC does have a responsibility to provide educational information to the public and this could be a potential CLG HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES June 20, 2011 Page 3 project. The brochure which was produced for the Sesquicentennial was also a CLG project. Case suggested the commission apply for a CLG grant to construct a kiosk at the Richard T. Anderson Conservation area where the original Feldman house stood. The Feldman house was moved by the river and contains the original light fixtures, window treatments and front porch and it would be a nice tribute to the family. B. SITE VISITS TO LOCAL HERITAGE SITES: 1. RILEY-JACOUES BARN Case gave a brief history of the Barn and thanked Gertz for his instrumental part in restoring the barn. This site is reserved almost every weekend and many activities during the summer month are held here. It is great to see how many people are enjoying this property. 2. RILEY-JACOUES FARM HOUSE The new renters allowed us to take a tour of the farm house. 3. DORENKEMPER LOG HOUSE Case talked about how the Dorenkemper house was saved, restored and how the icebox was rebuilt and is in working condition today. The stove is also functional and the sink will pump water. This house is open during sun bonnet days for public viewing. Ed Muehlberg left the tour at 7:55pm. 4. SMITH DOUGLAS MORE HOUSE The focus at the Smith Douglas More house was the shed. The HPC recently reviewed a COA for the demolition of the shed and it was approved by the City Council. There was some discussion about the content of the shed and who would be involved in helping sort through everything before the demolition. VI. NEW BUSINESS VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Desmarais moved, seconded by Lawler to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Higgins adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m.