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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-09 HPC Minutes MINUTES MAPLEWOOD HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL March 19,2009 - 7:00 P.M. 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by Chair Ron Cockriel 2. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Ron Cockriel, Vice Chair Richard Currie, Commissioners Caleb Anderson, Pete Boulay, Robert Creager, AI Galbraith, Liaisons Dave Fisher and Shann Finwall, New City Manager James Antonen, New Maplewood Area Historical Society President Bob Overby (also a former Historic Preservation Commissioner) and Recorder Lois Behm. Absent: Lu Aurelius Chair Ron Cockriel suspended the agenda to introduce the new City Manager, James Antonen, and welcomed him to Maplewood. Mr. Antonen said he just wanted to introduce himself so we would recognize him, commenting that if we read the Maplewood Review we already know everything about him but his hat and shoe sizes. He also said he has an open-door policy, so anytime we are at city hall, if his door is open we can come in to visit so he can learn our viewpoints and more about the City of Maplewood. Ron then presented Mr. Antonen with a 50th Anniversary pin, a "Where the heck is Maplewood?" bumper sticker and a map of Maplewood, and thanked him for coming to meet us. 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Shann Finwall asked to remove Item 10.a. as DuWayne Konewko was unable to attend. It will be presented at a future meeting. There being no other changes, AI Galbraith moved to accept the aaenda as amended: seconded bv Richard Currie: Aves - all. While giving the Commissioners time to review the two sets of minutes Ron read the Commission Objectives as found on the City website: "The Historic Preservation Commission was created to help the city of Maplewood with its overall historic preservation goals. These goals include: supporting the protection of the City's heritage by preserving, protecting, conserving and wisely using the significant historical, cultural, architectural, or archeological objects, structures, buildings, sites in the City. The City encourages broad citizen participation in historic preservation activities and has worked on such projects as the Bruentrup Farm preservation project. The Historic Preservation Commission also works closely with the Maplewood Area Historical Society." This was to remind folks why the Commission is here and to encourage them to participate in the process. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. January 29, 2009: Richard stated that in Item 7, 'City Attorney Discussion - Open Meeting Law', Shann's introduction included correcting the staff report which stated the City Attorney was going to the Parks Commission instead of to the Historic Preservation Commission. Ron also mentioned that at the end of the discussion he had asked Shann to work with the City Attorney regarding the appropriate disclaimer for possible Commission quorums at City events and Historical Society meetings, He is happy to see it has been done, now appearing on the Agenda, and thanked Shann or taking care of it. Richard moved to approve the minutes of Januarv 29 as amended. AI seconded: Aves -All. b. February 19, 2009: Richard moved approval of the Februarv 19 meetina. AI seconded - 2 Aves. 4 Abstentions. 5. CHAIR OPENING STATEMENTS/PRESENTATIONS Ron announced that last month the Maplewood Area Historical Society held its bi-annual elections, with the results being: President - Bob Overby. replacing Charlotte Wasiluk , Vice-President - Carolyn Peterson, Secretary - Raydelle Bruentrup and Treasurer - Lois Behm. They will serve for 2 years. He then introduced Bob Overbv, who stated he has been involved with the Society for 10 years and it has been 10 years since the Society, with the help of the Commission, the City, the Legislature and the Minnesota Historical Society, was able to save and move the Bruentrup Farm buildings from White Bear Avenue to the current location % mile northeast on County Road D. The Society plans to celebrate the anniversary later this year with a couple of events to recognize the the 10 years of effort the City, society members and other volunteers have put into trying to develop and maintain a facility for research and interpretation of local history. There is a large number of artifacts which are being cataloged and the Society plans to have displays and programs in the near future to tell the story of Maplewood and the area. He announced that on April 4th there will be a quilting bee at the Farm from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - no charge, but a lunch will be available for a donation. There will also be a tea at the Farm on May 9th with seatings at 11 :30 and 2:30, the theme will be ethnic costumes. Anyone interested in attending the tea can call Char at 776-7183 for more information. Ron thanked Bob for appearing and commented that there is a lot going on at the farm, especially with the fire suppression system along with the upgrading of the barn and all the energy at the site. Bob added that along with the artifacts the Society is researching, they are also inviting any residents who would like to get involved with the activities, or who have stories to share, to come to a Society meeting. They are held at 7:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month, 2170 East County Road D. Ron reported that, following his Commission Corner article in the March issue of Maplewood Monthly, in which he wrote about the Gladstone neighborhood, he received several interesting calls from residents. One call was from a gentleman who invited him to his home to see a drawing of the Gloster station, then loaned it to Ron to bring to the meeting to get additional information from the commissioners. Pete verified that looking at the drawing gave a view from northeast to southwest, and that, although the artist took some license with the background, the rest of the drawing is correct. The man's home is in the picture, and is known as "the railroad house". He provided the original abstract - first entry was in 1849 - and he believes the house was moved from its original location. Some of the names on the abstract were later street or development names, and there was a discussion of the development in the area. Ron also received a call from the great-grandaughter of William Kohlman, who has a lot of information and items she is interested in giving to the Commission and the Historical Society. Ron suggested she contact the Society, but also asked her to come to a Commission meeting to tell her story. 6. OLD BUSINESS a. Comprehensive Plan Review Shann recapped the actions taken at the January meeting with regard to the Comprehensive Plan Review. She pointed out that identifying and researching historic family names and pursuing the creation of a Heritage Award had not been fully addressed in the previous discussions so this would be a good time to include them. They could be put in the Historic Preservation Action Plan as items to be worked on in the next couple of years. The Plan has been sent to adjacent cities and all but one has responded. After all the comments are in it will be sent to the Met Council, and they have 60 days to review and comment, so adoption of the full document will not occur until July or August. Richard asked when the corrections agreed on in January would be incorporated into the introduction. Shann said that apparently was overlooked and she would make sure it gets done. Discussion concluded that the family research and the Heritage Award should be added. Further discussion clarified that the Heritage Award would be a new, rather than revised, award given to honor a person or place which was significant to the Commission's preservation efforts. Richard moved approval of this portion of the Comprehensive Plan as amended. The motion was seconded. and the vote was Aves - all. b. 2009 Goal Implementation Strategies Shann reported she contacted the Minnesota Historical Society about the best way to to pursue the top goal, obtaining Certified Local Government status, and they indicated the first step should be getting the Ordinance amended to ensure the Commission has oversight of the historic sites in the City. She said Staff would be willing to put together some proposed language and bring it back in April for Commission review. This is also a good time to look at the point Mr. Currie brought up about appointing Commissioners and making sure it is consistent with Council policies. She also inquired about the survey, which is also required for CLG status. They suggested any type of documentation available that shows the historic sites in Maplewood, She said the list of Century homes would be good, and other sites could be added to the list. Richard said he doesn't believe the Commission needs to change Ordinance 845 about how the Commission picks its candidates for appointments. It states the Commission can interview the candidates before they are presented to Council, and he is opposed to changing it. Ron said he would at least like to have an opportunity to review the ordinance for that plus any other possible long range issues and determine, from the Commission side, what we would like to see. Shann said she will get copies of the Ordinance and have them in the packet for the April meeting. Richard said he has compared Ordinance 845 with the sample received from the Minnesota Historical Society and feels there is very little difference except as it relates to this Commissions influence over what happens in the City. Ron said the portion to be reviewed is 'that the Commission has oversight of the historic sites and that there is a public process in place for these sites. So this will be on the April Agenda, we will determine what changes need to be made and, presumably, the Council will act on this in the next few weeks. Ron continued - goal #2 is the education of history through events, the time capsule, etc. This is something we can do as the Commission and coordinate with the Society as in the past. The 10th Anniversary at the Farm as well as other events there give us several opportunities to participate. Goal #3 is Pete's project - repair of the informational kiosk (Community Board on Frost Avenue) Goal #4 is identifying historic families, and there is probably a good amount of information available at the Society for this project. Pete asked to go back to the Historic Site Survey - He would like to build on the previous Commission work, which includes pictures of the houses that were 100 years or more old in 1997, and information about some of the houses. Discussion followed about where those files are and how additional information can be obtained. Pete will work with Lois to obtain the files.and any other information available. Bob Overbv reported that when the Century House project was starting the Commission set up criteria for the sites, such as age, history and why it is significant. He also suggested that the Society has the original Little Canada Township records and they might have property information. Ron will check the files he received from the previous chair for the criteria information. AI Galbraith urged Bob to continue working toward getting the Little Canada records into the hands of the Minnesota Historical Society and into better storage conditions. Bob responded that the MNHS people had been at the farm as well. Those records are part of the inventory cataloging project which is currently going on and will likely be completed early in the scanning process, but a decision has not been made as to whether the records will go to the MNHS. Shann reported that the information Richard was talking about is available to anyone on the Ramsey County website, including when the house was built. Ron - to recap the implementation process, first there will be the ordinance coming to us for review and possible changes; we will be working on the educational events; Pete will get the sign repaired; work will start on researching historic families, and Pete will start the Survey project. When A and B are done we will be set up for C work with the Society on historic sites so we need to get the sites identified. People who are watching may want to call or e-mail with new sites we haven't thought of. Shann asked for verification of the plan and Ron restated it, saying that he feels as each portion is completed it will most likely move seamlessly into the next one. 7. New Business a. 2008 Annual Report Ron asked for direction from Shann about what is to be in the report and when it needs to be done. Shann: Since the ordinance did not specify a requirement for an annual report and one has not been done before, you should take the time to do it well. Ron: So if we go back a year or year and a half, include the 50th celebration activities and other accomplishments. . . . . Shann: Include members, when appointed, cooperative activities and efforts with the Historical Society, etc. Give these ideas to her and she will prepare the report. They can be either e-mailed or brought to the next meeting. 8. Visitor Presentations - None 9. Commission Presentations - AI asked what is happening with the Gladstone Window and Door Store site, - we asked to be notified whenever a building was going to come down and haven't heard anything. Dave Fisher said he had a code enforcement issue there because they hadn't cut the grass but hasn't seen a demo permit from them. AI said it looks like it's about have done. Dave said he will have to go there tomorrow. Richard asked if anything had come of the request for e-mail for the Commissioners. Shann said she had talked to Michael Fowlds, the IT person, and he thought it was a good idea, but she hasn't checked back with him to see what the status is. She thinks it would be important because she learned yesterday in a class she is taking, that if you use your personal e-mail to send a message to the City about City business, it opens up your computer to inspections for the open meeting law. a. Maplewood Historical Society Update Completed earlier. 10. Staff Presentations a. Community Development and Park Department Reorganization - Removed from Agenda b. Historical Preservation Commission Appointments Shann reported that the City Council reappointed the six members whose terms had expired to staggered 2- and 3-year terms. So Commissioners Creager, Currie, Aurelius, Cockriel, Galbraith and Boulay - Congratulations! . c. Minnesota Historical Preservation Society's Annual Conference (September 17 and 18, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum) Shann reported that when she was talking to the people at Minnesota Historical Preservation they asked her to pass along the invitation to the annual conference which will be held September 17 and 18, at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The details are coming in the mail and she should have them by next meeting. Shann also said this is her last meeting with this commission as the reins are officially turned over to Dave Fisher. She will help him as needed, but he is now in charge. Ron thanked her for all she has done and she received a round of applause.. 11. Adjournment - 8:48 p.m.