Heritage Preservation Commission Meetings and Work Sessions

City of Excelsior Hennepin County, Minnesota Minutes Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Tuesday, August 23, 2022 1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Tyler called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Commissioners Present: Bolles, Brattland, Caron, Noll, O’Hanlon, Tyler Commissioners Absent: Salita Also Present: City Attorney/Assistant City Manager Staunton 2. AGENDA APPROVAL Caron moved to approve the agenda as drafted. Bolles seconded. Motion passed 6/0. 3. CONSENT AGENDA a) June 28, 2022 Minutes. Chair Tyler noted that he had sent some suggested edits of the minutes to staff before the meeting. Staunton indicated that he had amended the June 28, 2022 minutes per suggestions by Chair Tyler. Bolles moved approval as amended. Brattland seconded. Motion passed 6/0. b) July 26, 2022 Minutes. Caron suggested an edit to suggest an edit to the top of page 2 of the minutes to change the reference regarding an outside expert to an “outside window restoration expert.” Bolles suggested an edit to the last page under item 6(a) to insert that reference to the fact that Bolles was to connect after the meeting with the consultant to provide additional corrections on that agenda item and that Bolles added six historic photographs of the Blue Line Ticket Booth. Caron moved approval of the July 26, 2022 minutes as amended. Bolles seconded. Motion passed 6/0. 4. CITIZEN REPORTS OR COMMENTS Sally Hochmesiter of Deephaven commented that she is a long-time resident of Deephaven who appreciates all of the character of the community and encouraged the HPC to not approve the hotel project at 10 Water Street. Resident Peter Hartwich, 186 George Street, made comments regarding two points. First, he asked whether the portion of the Downtown Commercial Historic District that is on the National Minutes Heritage Preservation Commission August 23, 2022 Page 2 of 4 Register of Historic Places includes 10 Water Street. Caron responded that it does not. He then echoed Ms. Hochmeister’s objection to the proposed project at 10 Water Street based on it being a four-story structure. Finally, he registered his objection to having Community for the Commons added as a commission of the city if it were to replace the HPC regarding comments on the future of The Commons. 5. NEW BUSINESS a) Consultation on Hazardous Building Order (44 First Street). Staunton provided the staff report. Caron provided background information regarding the reason behind the requirement that the HPC be consulted before a building is demolished pursuant to a hazardous building order, noting that the procedural requirement was added to ensure that the hazardous building order process is not used as a way for property owners to evade HPC review and effectively demolish a structure by neglecting it until it is deemed hazardous. He also provided context on the structures of merit report included on the packet, noting that it was a sample of structures in the city and was not intended as an exhaustive review of the structures in the city. Accordingly, the fact that 44 First Street is not on the list of structures reviewed by the report does not, in his opinion mean that the structure at 44 First Street should not be preserved. Having said that, he also noted that the time to have designated 44 First Street (if it were appropriate to designate) has long since passed and that he was not supportive of designating the structure at this point. Commissioner Brattland echoed the comments made by commissioner Caron. After further discussion regarding the meaning of “consultation,” Brattland moved to state that the HPC does not oppose the demolition of the structure at 44 First Street. Noll seconded. The motion passed 6/0. b) Bylaws Amendment. Staunton provided the staff report. A discussion ensued that included a number of suggested revisions to the draft bylaws. It was agreed that Staunton would make edits to the draft bylaws amendments consistent with the discussion and bring a revised version back to the commission’s September meeting. Caron moved to continue the item to the September 27 meeting of the commission. Brattland seconded. Motion passed 6/0. c) Update on Ball Park Seating Stairway. Staunton provided the staff report. After discussion, the commission directed staff to have the MacDonald and Mack consultant return to the site to investigate further whether there are any historic stairs under the existing timber stairs adjacent to the Ballfield Seating. The commission also gave direction to staff to draft a Supplemental Review and Recommendation consistent with the discussion it had regarding the portion of the Concession Building project that affects the ballfield seating and adjacent hillside. At the conclusion of the discussion, the commission members provided direction to staff to proceed consistent with the discussion. Minutes Heritage Preservation Commission August 23, 2022 Page 3 of 4 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Designation of City-Owned Resources. Staunton delivered the staff report asking for approval of Resolution. Commissioner Caron moved to adopt HPC Resolution 22-14 Nominating and Making Preliminary Determinations Regarding City-Owned Resources. Noll seconded. The Motion passed 6/0. 7. COMMUNICATIONS and REPORTS a) Next City Council Meeting – September 6, 2022 b) Next HPC Meeting – September 27, 2022 c) Administrative Permits Issued – Staunton reported that no administrative permits were issued since the last meeting. d) Recent City Council Actions. Staunton reported briefly on recent City Council actions. e) Other Updates – • Staff Reports -- Staunton reported on the status of 366 Water Street and 173 Second Street. In addition, he reported that the owner of 262 Lake Street had asked for permission to remove limited portions of the siding to see what is behind it. The commission expressed support for a very limited removal to facilitate some investigation of what is underneath the existing siding. • 262 Lake Street Subcommittee Report -- Chair Tyler and Commissioner Caron provided an update on the subcommittee’s meeting with the applicant at 262 Lake Street. The update included discussion of whether the building can be lifted to permit either work on or replacement of the foundation. The subcommittee reported that, given the risk of collapse of the structure if it were raised, it encouraged the owner to explore all alternatives before proposing that approach. The subcommittee members also reported that there might be some threshold issues that the owner would need to return to the commission to discuss. • 409 Second Street Subcommittee – Commissioners Bolles and O’Hanlon reported on their visit to 409 Second Street, confirming that the windows that were proposed to be replaced were not original (noting that there were vinyl side rails and some of the windows were plexiglass rather than actual glass). • 463 Second Street – Commissioner Caron reported that the fan window on the property has been removed and that it has been covered by plywood for some time. He asked for staff to reach out to the owner to inquire regarding plans for Minutes Heritage Preservation Commission August 23, 2022 Page 4 of 4 replacement of that window, which is a character-defining element of that contributing structure. • Heritage Month Planning Committee – Commissioners O’Hanlon, Noll, and Brattland reported on the continuing efforts of the committee to plan for an event in May of 2023, asking that they work with the staff to utilize the website for publicizing the event. They are looking at sponsorships and targeting an appropriate date so that it won’t conflict with other big events in the community. • Preserve Minnesota Conference – Staunton reported that he and Commissioners Bolles and Brattland will be attending the annual conference in September. • New Commissioners – Staunton reported that the city is looking for applicants for Commissioner Salita’s position and an additional potential future opening on the commission. 8. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS – Staunton reported that he anticipates receiving applications from 345 Water Street and 287 Water Street in the near future. 9. ADJOURNMENT – Caron moved to adjourn. Noll seconded. Motion passed 6/0. The meeting was concluded at 8:38 PM. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Staunton City Attorney/Assistant City Manager