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05-15-2025 HPC MINCOY of Flk _ River Members Present: Members Absent: Council Liaison: Meeting of the Elk River Heritage Preservation Commission Held at the Elk River City Hall Thursday, May 15, 2025 Chair Lance Lindberg, Commissioners Linda Campbell, Jayne Dietz, Zachary Griffiths, and Gavin Tuckey None Councihnember J. Brian Calva Staff Present: Community Development Director Zack Carlton I. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Heritage Preservation Commission was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Lindberg. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Chair Lindberg led the commission in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Consider Agenda Moved by Commissioner Griffiths and seconded by Commissioner Dietz to approve the May 15, 2025, Heritage Preservation Commission agenda. Motion carried 5-0. 4. Consider Minutes Commissioner Campbell asked that the minutes be corrected for Item 5.3 to reflect that Commissioner Tuckey had also expressed an interest in attending the Fall Conference. Moved by Commissioner Dietz and seconded by Commissioner Campbell to approve the March 20, 2025, Heritage Preservation minutes with that addition. Motion carried 5-0. 5.1 Historic Interpretive Site for the Water Tower Park Mr. Carlton stated he had received seven responses for the RFP proposals and after reviewing them sent three to the commissioners to review and provide comment. Commissioner Campbell commented that she liked HGA's proposed water features and walkway details along with the chosen native plants. She stated the Mend Collaborative provided the least amount of detail in her opinion, and Bolton & Menk had a lot of details. Chair Lindberg stated he felt all the proposals were all good and felt comfortable with Bolton & Menk's proposal as they were familiar with Elk River. Heritage Preservation Commission Minutes May 15, 2025 Page 2 Commissioner Dietz stated she wanted to see the proposals laid out side by side to lessen her confusion with the details of each proposal. Councilmember Calva noted this was his first experience with the RFP process. He thought the proposals would have provided more detail, so he liked that HGA provided a few specific ideas for their proposal. Commissioner Griffiths stated the Mend proposal stood out the most for him because of they paid attention to detail by using the words "historical," "European/Hungarian," "Indigenous," and "value." He felt their proposal was most in line with the city's vision. He stated he thought the HGA water feature was interesting. Chair Lindberg provided an indigenous history regarding which Native Americans were present during the timeframe of Elk River's birth. Mr. Carlton stated all three did a good job with their proposals; he liked that HGA included two designs. He noted HGA's deliverables were unclear and didn't have a step-by-step process. He felt Bolton & Menk were very detailed with their deliverables and clearly outlined those items; he felt they were the best value. Mend Collaborative was a close second, they were very clear and articulate with their deliverables. Commissioner Tuckey felt the spelling errors in HGA's proposal were details that did matter, considering the cost involved, and felt it also mattered that a key requirement was also overlooked. Commissioner Campbell asked if they should go back and provide the firms an opportunity to clarify some of the commission's questions. Mr. Carlton stated he could follow up with them to request clarification. He also asked the commission for two volunteers to be involved with the project and work with staff and the consultants once chosen, along with Councilmember Calva. Commissioner Campbell and Tuckey requested to work on the subcommittee. Mr. Carlton stated he will schedule phone calls with the firms and include the volunteer commissioners to ask any additional questions. He stated he would like the City Council to review the HPC's selected contract at their June 2 meeting. Councilmember Calva asked if it was out of line for us to ask the firms for more details about what they thought the project could look like. Mr. Carlton thought it would be more appropriate to ask about the deliverables. A design could be formulated and orchestrated further along the process. If any commissioners had additional questions, he requested they email them to him. Commissioner Griffiths noted his choice of .firms would be in this order: Mend, HGA, Bolton & Menk. 5.2 Downtown Small Area Plan Mr. Carlton stated a final committee meeting will be held next Tuesday to determine if the plan is moving forward to be reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council meetings. Adoption of the plan is not required and could be temporarily shelved. The commission discussed some parts of the plan, such as the proposed parking ramp and the effect of the discontinuation of the Northstar Commuter Rail service. 1 I E I E I 11 NATURE Heritage Preservation Commission Minutes May 15, 2025 Page 3 5.3 Farmers Market Booth Mr. Carlton stated the HPC is scheduled to attend the Farmers Market on Thursday, July 31. He stated they would have the Plinko trivia questions available. He stated it would be possible to have the water tower project consultant also attend with plan graphics and available to discuss the project with the public. 5.4 Other Business Chair Lindberg asked Commissioner Griffiths about the changes to the census information on Wikipedia, and Commissioner Griffiths explained how he updated it to include the village and township population figures. Mr. Carlton stated that Chair Lindberg provided an HPC update to a recent City Council meeting. 6. Adjournment Moved by Commissioner Campbell and seconded by Commissioner Griffiths to adjourn the meeting of the Heritage Preservation Commission. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 6:58 p.m. Minutes +ared by Jennif J (AL f f ance Lindberg, Chair -1(2 Tina Allard, City Clerk â–ºIitIIEI I NATURE