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Heritage Preservation - 07/21/1997 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MONDAY,JULY 21, 1997 7:00 p.m. Cummins-Grill House 13600 Pioneer Trail COMMISSION MEMBERS: Jane Hession, Chair, Kathie Case, Tim Colliton, John Hensrud, James Mason, Nathalie Rabuse, James Wilson COMMISSION STAFF: John Gertz, Historic Preservation Specialist, Barbara Anderson, City Recorder 1. ROLL CALL Chair Hession called the meeting to order at 7:25 p.m. Commissioners Colliton, Hensrud, Mason and Rabuse were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Case requested that an update on Grace Church be added under New Business. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - June 16, 1997 Wilson noted that a change should be made to his remarks on page 2 under new business reflecting that the Eden Prairie Center Amay have funding—rather than Awill have funding—. The Commission was not able to approve the Minutes due to lack of a quorum,and they will be added to the agenda for the next meeting. IV. REPORTS AND REQUESTS - EDEN PRAIRIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Case stated that they have accumulated$1,000 from advance sales of the blankets depicting historic scenes from early Eden Prairie,and will place an order for 75 of these and sell them on Sunbonnet Day. V. REPORTS OF COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Glen Lake Children=s Camp - John Gertz Gertz stated he photographed the site two weeks ago and hoped to get out to take measurements of the dining hall. He intends to find out what it would cost to move the buildings,which should be done in September. Wilson stated he had measuring devices which Gertz could use if he desired to do so. Gertz commented that there was a standard form that has to be followed which was prepared by the National Historic Registry and they will take photos and measurements and include floor plans in the documentation. HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES July 21, 1997 Page 2 VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Local Desisnations Update Gertz stated that Historic Sites 4, 5, and 6 will go before the Planning Commission on July 28th. He believed the Planning Commission was not clear regarding what they were supposed to comment on, but they need to comment on the impacts any development could have on the sites and what is involved when development occurs on property adjacent to historic sites. The six sites will go before the City Council on August 5, 1997 for approval. The first three sites are 1)Cummins-Grill House,2) Overlook Park, and 3) Creek Knoll Bridge. These three have been reviewed by the Planning Commission. The next three sites are 4) Fredrick-Miller Spring, 5) Riley Jacques Farm, and 6) the Smith-Douglas-More House. These three items will be reviewed by the Planning Commission on July 28, 1997. Case asked if they had a grant to get some of these sites completed and Gertz responded they have a grant to get six properties completed and it should start on September 1, 1997. They could change sites if they need to do this. They will start with the cemeteries because they be endangered when the highway construction begins. The Raguet House and the Wagner House are also included in this category. Case commented they should send a Finding of Significance statement to the City Council to let them know that these houses are significant. Hession stated she has concerns regarding where the Finding of Significance statements go in the process and requested staff to determine how this could be restructured to work better. She understood that it would mark the property and get the Heritage Preservation Commission involved in the process loop. Gertz responded that the Commission makes a recommendation on a property and the City Council decides whether to designate that property as significant or not. Hession stated the process was not working because there were changes being made on sites without the Heritage Preservation Commission=s review or approval, and she was concerned that some of these changes might be inappropriate for the sites. Discussion ensued regarding the Gazebo being proposed for the Miller Spring site and whether that was an appropriate structure to be located there. Case suggested that Gertz and Hession approach the City Council during their next regular meeting and discuss this process with them. Discussion ensued regarding ways to make the process more effective and what changes could be implemented to achieve this goal. Hession stated that the Wagner House and the Miller House should be gone through and the process of designation begun. Gertz stated he was going to do an evaluation of the Miller House but did not recall what the significant points were that gave these properties their historic value. Case stated that the Miller House was representative of 1920's architecture and Art Millers home was important because he was a great contributor to Eden Prairie=s early development. She noted that the Raguet House was significant because three generations of Raguet=s had lived in this house,which was constructed in 1910 and HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES July 21, 1997 Page 3 was still in its original condition. Hession asked if Case would list points to bring to the next meeting for discussion, and Case agreed to do this. Gertz stated he could mail a Form of Significance on the Miller House on Thursday, July 24, 1997 to all of the Commissioners and if they concurred, then it could be presented to the City Council at their next meeting on August 5, 1997. B. Historic Marker Placement Gertz has a list of the sites where markers were placed until they ran out. They found four more signs which will be placed. Jerry Purdell=s house should be on the list of historic homes. The Heritage Preservation Commission needs to determine where the other three signs will be placed. Discussion ensued regarding the sign placements and how many more signs should be ordered. Hession commented she believed this discussion should be continued when Commissioners Colliton and Mason were present, and the rest of the Commission concurred. C. Grace Church - Gertz Gertz stated he had heard nothing about a meeting but there was an article in the Eden Prairie News on land development south of the MUSA line and Grace Church was briefly mentioned. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Riley-Jacques Granary Restoration Gertz stated he and Kevin Schmeig, the Director of Inspections, went through the building and Schmeig will give the Commission a written evaluation of the building. His initial evaluation of the building was that it was in good shape even though it was constructed in 1890. There is some work that will need to be done on the structure and some roof rafters will need replacement over the shed wing, and the entire roof needs to be replaced. Other that those items, it appeared to be in very good condition. They will need to get some estimates for the reconstruction of the granary. Hession inquired where the funding was coming from and Gertz responded the Elaine Jacques donation. Gertz stated that Bob Lambert, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities, suggested that the Heritage Preservation Commission submit a request to the City Council for a budget for restoration work that needs to be done on all the historic sites in Eden Prairie. Case inquired if the missing shingles had been replaced on the barn as Mrs. Jacques had been quite upset about this,and Gertz responded that he did not see any shingles missing when he visited the property a few days ago. Case inquired if anyone had been found to live in the property and assist with the restoration, and Gertz responded this should be an item for the next agenda as there are many things that HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES July 21, 1997 Page 4 will need to be done before the house is ready to be lived in. Hession commented that once these properties were designated as historic sites they should be reviewed monthly to ensure that the Heritage Preservation Commission is doing all that needs to be done to maintain these properties. Gertz commented that the Jacques House was painted and some minor repair work was presently being done. This is not reconstructive work,but will stop the deterioration of the property until adequate funding can be obtained to complete a restoration of the site. B. Murphy=s Landing River Crossing Project Hession stated she and Gertz have had two meetings with Shirley Olson, the Executive Director of Murphy=s Landing, regarding restoring the old ferry which used to run between Murphy=s Landing and Eden Prairie. Also they are interested in restoring the Murphy=s Landing Inn. Murphy=s Landing is a non-profit organization. Hession reviewed the funding costs and they are looking at doing a feasibility study for the inn and an interpretive center. They would like to ask the City of Eden Prairie for about $25,000 to contribute to this program. The project would be completed in three phases: first, the Inn and three boat landings would be constructed,then the trail connection through Eden Prairie down to the landing site, and finally a working ferry. They want to connect the bike trails to the river and there would be a crossing at the ferry, which would enhance the use of the trails through all of Eden Prairie. The inn would be a reconstruction of the original building, and would appear to be historic, but would in reality have all the modern conveniences and be used for meetings, etc. Hession showed building renderings and elevation drawings of the Murphy=s Landing side of the river. Eden Prairie has to determine how the bike trail would connect to this. Murphy=s Landing would like to have a letter of support from the Historic Preservation Commission saying they were in favor of the concept and pending approval by the City Council they support this project. Gertz stated they can write a letter of support without getting any official action. Case commented it was very exciting to know that Eden Prairie was part of the original Murphy=s Landing and she was in support of this project. Wilson stated he was also in support of the project,and believed that making the trail connection to the ferry landing site was an excellent decision. Hession commented there were many issues that will need to be resolved to get this project completed. Case requested that the statement Hession made regarding this project would enhance Eden Prairie and bring the river more into focus for the Eden Prairie Community should be included in the letter. Discussion ensued regarding coordinating with Bob Lambert and notifying the City Council of this project. C. Discussion of a Friends Volunteer Group Hession stated she had a meeting with Chris Enger, Scott Kipp, Marie Wittenberg, and Kathie Case was unable to attend. The Friends Volunteer Group is viewed as a HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES July 21, 1997 Page 5 free-standing group that does various projects that come up from time to time. They would work on specific projects and be coordinated through the Heritage Preservation Commission. There would be people who only want to do specific types of things,and they will need to clarify who does what and what the differences are between the organizations. The Historical Society is the keeper of artifacts of the City, the Heritage Preservation Commission preserves and protects the historic real estate, and the Friends would be the group that does the maintenance and enhancement of these historic sites. Gertz stated they were going to write something up to have all this clarified. Hession stated they want to have these groups do some fund raising to help make these things happen more readily. Gertz noted that Chris Enger was going to open up a discussion with the City Council as to how this could be implemented,particularly regarding such issues as insurance and liability for this group. Hession commented this would be the next step in the process and then they should have some type of an event to kick this off. VIII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.