01-21-2021 HPC MIN City of
Elk �-� Meeting of the
River Heritage Preservation Commission
Elk River City Hall
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Members Present: Chair Lance Lindberg, Commissioners Zachary Griffiths, Mike
Hangaard,Tony Mauren (via Zoom), Debra Mortensen,Joshua Fox
(via Zoom), and Michele Cole
Members Absent: None
Others Present: Planning Manager Zack Carlton, Councilmember Garrett
Christianson?
I. Call Meeting to Order
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Heritage Preservation
Commission was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Lindberg.
2. Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
3. Consider January 21, 2021, Agenda
Moved by Commissioner Mortensen and seconded by Commissioner Griffiths
to approve the January 21, 2021, agenda as presented.
Motion carried 7-0.
4. Minutes of November 19, 2020, Heritage Preservation Commission
meeting
Moved by Commissioner Mortensen and seconded by Commissioner
Lindberg to approve the November 19,2020, meeting minutes.
Motion carried 7-0.
5.1 Website Articles
Mr. Carlton stated the next article will be Steve Rohlfls article. Commissioner
Mauren sent him the Katharine Hepburn article and did receive permission from the
Elk River Star News. He stated it was dated February 15, 1951 and thought it would
�--...„ be appropriate to publish that around Valentine's Day. He asked for suggestions for
other topics, noting Commissioner Mauren was working on an article about aviation.
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January 21,2021
Chair Lindberg stated he will be working on a story about the battles between the
Dakota and Ojibwe.
Commissioner Mauren stated he uses Newspapers.com to locate interesting relevant
news stories that are already created. He asked if this would be a more practical route
to produce content because it seemed like it takes more effort and time to write and
publish articles. He stated these are ready-made sources and knew there were funds
in the budget that could be utilized. He stated he will do some research to determine
if they have a right to share the articles.
Mr. Carlton stated they do have funds in the budget that could possibly be used for
this purpose.
Commissioner Hangaard asked if there was a place to look at prior published articles.
Mr. Carlton stated the city's website contains the articles and he will email him the
link.
Commissioner Mortensen discussed an article topic of the fires in Elk River.
Mr. Carlton stated that topic may be relevant during the water tower celebration this
September as the reason for it being built was because of the numerous fires.
Commissioner Mauren suggested Commissioner Mortensen go to the ERMU
website to read the content written about the fires and she could get ideas on how to �.
expand on the topic.
Commissioner Mortensen suggested the topics of train wrecks and the box car
murder.
5.2 Bylaw Amendments
Mr. Carlton presented updated bylaws that were recently reviewed by the city
attorney with suggested minor logistic changes. Under 1.5. he explained the city
attorney modified the requirement that two commissioner members be from outside
of Elk River to two residents that live in Sherburne County. He explained state
statute outlines detailed requirements and this modification of members being in the
county will tighten up the membership requirement. He stated the rest of the bylaws
were consistent with what was discussed late last year.
Moved by Commissioner Fox and seconded by Commissioner Griffiths to
approve the amendments to the Heritage Preservation Commission Bylaws as
presented in the staff report.
Motion carried 7-0.
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Elk River City Hall
January 21,2021
'� 5.3 HPC Projects and Updates
Mr. Carlton explained the budget has funds available to engage a consultant to
prepare plans for the grounds surrounding the water tower. He will prepare a
solicitation for bids to engage a consultant,bringing the RFP back in March before
advertising for HPC review and approval. He will request one or two members of
the HPC work with him on the plans with the city council ultimately approving the
final plans. He stated the plans will bear the framework for the water tower site,
adding the consultant will meet with the entire HPC at various times during the
planning process to gather details and outline the site layout, number of kiosks, trail
location, etc.
Commissioner Griffiths stated he will be presenting his notes and sources for a
prospective script regarding a documentary at the next HPC meeting. He indicated
he was still working on digitizing Commissioner Mortensen's information and was
not able to get to the Sherburne History Center as they were closed during his winter
break.
Commissioner Griffiths updated the HPC regarding an HPC journal, stating the
HPC can simply get started by deciding to make a journal, decide what papers are to
be published in it, create an editorial board, and then publish the articles.The HPC
will bear the burden of ensuring the articles are verified and accurate. He wondered
if the relationship between the HPC and the city would complicate the process.
Mr. Carlton stated he would have to rely on others to determine the legalities of that
proposal. He stated if the journal were something the HPC was interested in
pursuing, they could determine those details.
Chair Lindberg stated Commissioner Griffiths was going to provide examples of
journals the HPC could replicate.
Commissioner Griffiths stated the journal would be like a smaller community college
journal with a low-key infrastructure,gaining permission of the city and creating an
editorial board to create publications in house. The publications could be printed or
digital. He stated North Hennepin Community College has a good journal called
Northern Lights Academic Journal. He felt it should be the HPC's goal of quality
over quantity.
Chair Lindberg asked if this could be a partnership with the Sherburne History
Center.
Commissioner Griffiths thought that may be a good idea.
Commissioner Cole asked about more details about the interaction between the
public and the journal.
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January 21,2021
Commissioner Griffiths stated the HPC could have a webpage dedicated to any
comments submitted from the public,but he felt the goal of the journal was just to
distribute.
Commissioner Mortensen discussed information regarding military reference books
which lists soldiers and lists a report he wrote. She indicated she was looking for
photos of residents in a Civil War military uniform.
Commissioner Mauren asked if there is a game plan for communications to the
public of the water tower project.
Mr. Carlton stated that was a great idea and he would work with the communications
department along with the consultant to put together a communications plan for
outlining the history of the tower and the improvements being made to it.
Commissioner Mauren could locate older photos of the water tower and submit to
Mr. Carlton for use in any communications.
6. Adjournment
There being no further business, Chair Lindberg adjourned the meeting of the Elk
River Heritage Preservation Commission at 6:35 p.m.
Minutes prepaced by Jennifer Green.
Tina Allard
City Clerk
ance Lindberg
Heritage Preservation Commission Chair