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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-04-21 HPC Minutes MINUTES MAPLEWOOD HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL APRIL 21, 2011 - 7:00 P. M. 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chair Richard Currie at 7:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Present: Acting Chair Richard Currie, Commissioners Caleb Anderson, Lu Aurelius, and Pete Boulay, Staff Liaison Dave Fisher, Council Liaison Marv Koppen, Guest Speaker Honorable Judge Gary Bastian Absent: Commissioners Bob Creager. AI Galbraith and Recorder Lois Behm 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Pete requested adding an item for Commissioner Presentations. Caleb moved approval of the Aqenda as amended. Pete seconded. Ayes - All. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Minutes of February 17. 2010 Lu moved approval of the February 17 minutes as presented. Caleb seconded. Ayes - All. 5. CHAIR OPENING STATEMENTS / PRESENT A nONS - NONE 6. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS a. Honorable Judqe Gary Bastian. Past Mayor from 1990 to 1997 Richard introduced Judge Bastian, who commented that Commissioner Lu Aurelius could probably tell even more than he could, since she was here longer than him and was the City Clerk who swore him into office in 1980. His family moved from Iowa to Maplewood, on Hazel Street, in 1956. He went to St. Peter's grade school in North St. Paul, then Maplewood Junior High before the family went back to Iowa where he graduated from to high school. They then returned to Maplewood, lived on Atlantic Street and he went to college at River Falls but returned to Maplewood during the summers. His family moved back to Iowa, but he stayed here and eventually bought a house on Chisholm Parkway, later moving to Frost Avenue & Donna Senty Drive. His mother-in-law for a number of years was Donna Funk who owned the Gladstone House. In 1979, when Don Weigert decided to give up his council seat, Gary was one of five candidates for the two seats available, and was fourth of the five in the Primary. He had been asked to run for the House in the State election, but having just recently finished law school it was not economically feasible to spend $25,000 to $50,000 to gain a seat that paid $14,000 a year. He was elected to one of the two available City Council seats in the general election and continued as a councilmember until he became Mayor. He chose not to run for office in a higher level of government - he believed that most people do not know what people do at the federal level, and what they do doesn't affect most people. At the state level, again, what they do usually doesn't take effect for several months and then may not affect too many people. At the county level their actions affect people more directly, but at the city level, the residents know what the council members are doing and there is direct contact between them, which is what he wanted. He also served on the first Ramsey Washington Cable Commission, The Association of Metropolitan Municipalities and The League of Minnesota Cities. When Mayor Norm Anderson died in 1990 Gary was appointed to fill the remainder of his term and was elected in 1993 to serve again. He initiated the monthly citizen forums, and during the following years Council appointed a committee to investigate options for purchasing open space for the city. They identified the criteria for land acquisition and took over selling the idea of a $5 million referendum to the residents. Their efforts resulted in passage of the first referendum in the country for purchase of open space. The next major effort was getting the Community Center started, and there was also a lot of support from the residents for that. In 1996 the Council initiated creation of a committee whose goal was to create a local historical society. That resulted in the establishment of both a Historical Preservation Commission and the Maplewood Area Historical Society. Gary continued as Mayor until September of 1997 when he was appointed a Judge. He asked if there were any questions - Pete asked what the most challenging issue was during his tenure. Garv's response was the lack of up-to-date ordinances, which resulted in legal actions, followed by complete updating of the city's ordinances setting rules for how things were to be done and all the ordinances were made current. He felt the most successful times were when neither party left a meeting completely happy but in the long run were satisfied. 7. OLD BUSINESS a. Certified Local Government 1. Update Richard Currie's Vice-Chairperson Resume Dave reported he had updated Richard's resume and will give him a copy. 2. Amend the HPC Ordinance to Clearly Define the Review Process per Minnesota Historical Society Requirements. Dave said he has made the required changes to the ordinance based on information from Mike Koop regarding criteria for historic designations as they are now shown in the revised ordinance, and if the Commissioners accept it he will submit the revision to the City Council for their approval. Richard responded that he feels Section 2-91 should be changed as it says the Chair and Vice Chair will be appointed in January, but should be May since this Commission's "yearend" is in April. Lu moved the Chair and Vice Chair be elected in Mav since terms end and appointments beQin in April. Richard seconded. Aves - All Dave also commented that at this time there are only two properties - the County Poor Farm and the Bruentrup Heritage Farm which are locally designated as historic. There are others to consider, but the Priory property received funding through the State Historical Society for a recent project so they may have already been through all the processes to make it happen and get them on the National Register. We just need to look at the criteria to see if they meet everything, but the ordinance has to be approved before that can be done. Richard also noted the revised ordinance says "This ordinance shall take effect after publishing in the official newspaper. The Maplewood City Council approved this ordinance on June 28, 2010." Dave thanked him for pointing that out and said that paragraph will be removed before it is submitted to the council. Lu moved approvinQ the revised ordinance and sendinQ it to the City Council for action. Caleb seconded. Aves - All. 8. NEW BUSINESS a. Thank you letter Dave said the Commission had previously talked about sending a Thank You card to the people who have come to speak at a meeting, and thought a letter might be a better option. A sample letter is in the Agenda Packet. He feels having the speakers gets the community interested and involved more and it is a great way to learn about things in the city's past. Richard said he likes the letter, but thinks perhaps the Chair or Vice Chair should co-sign the letter. Marv Koppen commented that he thought the letter to Gary Bastian should include thanking him for waiving his $1,000. speakers fee. Lu said she thinks the letter should come from and be signed by Dave since he is the one who issues the invitation. Dave said the disadvantage to having additional signers would be the time delay until the next meeting. Lu moved leavinQ the letter as it is with Dave siQninQ it. Caleb seconded the motion. The vote: Aves - Caleb. Lu and Pete. Naves - Richard. The motion passed. 9. MAPLEWOOD AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY REPORT Richard reported the Historical Society had a Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, April 17 which was very well attended. There was an Exhibits Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 19 and they are moving along with the Gladstone Exhibit which will be seen throughout the summer. The other thing coming up will be a talk about the Lost City of Gladstone at the Ramsey County Library on Southlawn Drive on Tuesday, May 3, at 7:00 p.m. Richard asked Marv if he would like to comment on anything, and his response was he was just here to see what's going on. 10. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS Pete said he wanted to say a few things about the talk he will be giving May 3 at the Library in conjunction with the Gladstone Exhibit the Society is presenting this summer. The thing he has to keep reminding himself of is that as more people move to Maplewood and all the young people keep arriving, many of them don't even know where Gladstone is. We all know and take for granted that others do as well. Generally speaking, it is basically between Highway 61 and White Bear Avenue, and from Larpenteur up to Highway 36, essentially neighborhoods 6 and 7 on the Maplewood neighborhood map, most notably the Frost Avenue area. The talk will focus on the older Gladstone area from around 1886. The exciting thing is that the Exhibits Committee has found pictures of the area that he has never seen before. There are a lot of buildings from that era that he knew about but has never seen. These pictures will be on display at the farm at events and open houses this summer. There will also be two walking tours, one in "downtown" Gladstone and the other at the Poor Farm on White Bear Avenue. 11. STAFF PRESENTATIONS Dave reported Brenda Rudberg was appointed as the new Commissioner and is expected to be at the next meeting. Dave also reported there is an upcoming Capital Improvement planning meeting on May 17, and suggested that it might be something the Commission could attend to see how that process works. 12. ADJOURNMENT - 8:22 p.m.