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01-10-2007 HPC MINMEETING OF THE ELK RIVER HERITAGE PRESERVATION COMMISSION HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL Wednesday, January 10, 2007 Members Present: Lance Lindberg, Kristin Harris, Jeff Gongoll, Kurt Kragness, Molly Peterson, Matt Christiansen and Steve Rohlf Members Absent: Staff Present: Rebecca Haug Others Present: Nick Zerwas 1. Call Meeting to Order Elk River Heritage Preservation Commission was called to order at 6:07 p.m. 2. Consider HPC Agenda Chair Lindberg requested a discussion of the Redevelopment Task Force be added to all future agendas and tonight have the discussion prior to the priority discussion. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER GONGOLL AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER KRAGNESS TO AMEND THE AGENDA AS REQUESTED. MOTION CARRIED. 3. Consider December 5, 2006 HPC Minutes Approval of minutes was postponed due to the fact that the Commissioners received them at the beginning of the meeting and haven'. 4. Election of Officers MOTION BY COMMISSIONER GONGOLL AND SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER ROHLF TO HAVE CHAIR LINDBERG REMAIN IN POSITION AND COMMISSIONER PETERSON AS VICE CHAIR. Motion carried. Downtown Redevelopment Task Force Update Commissioners Lindberg and Peterson gave an update on the Downtown Redevelopment Task Force's last meeting. They informed the HPC that a presentation was given my Michael Schroeder, LHB, Inc. Every Commissioner was given a copy of the presentation and encouraged to read through it. Commissioner Peterson highlighted some of the points of the presentation such as "what a downtown should be: a sense of place, utilizing the river, history of the buildings, etc." She also informed the HPC that less parking is actually better because it requires the public to linger, walk and talk through the downtown. Commissioner Gongoll asked who is representing the downtown on the task force. Chair Lindberg informed him that Keith Holme and Dave Romanowski are representing the downtown. Commissioner Peterson informed the HPC that there wasn't time for any discussion after the presentation but there was a lot of focus on Green Space, utilizing holidays such as Christmas, Arbor Day, etc. She also emphasized that redevelopment should take 10-20 years versus the 3-5 years that she feels the City of Elk River did theirs in. Heritage Preservation Commission January 10, 2007 Page 2 Commissioner Lindberg commented that many communities like Maple Grove are trying to achieve the downtown look and feel that we already have or had. He also commented that Michael's presentation talked about maintaining the nice old neighborhoods. He also discussed the SWOT analysis the task force went through. Commissioner Rohlf discussed his frustrations with the current redevelopment of the downtown and his hopes that the new park will offer a place for people to congregate like there once was with the town square. He is concerned about the parking in downtown and is not in favor of a parking ramp. Commissioner Kragness commented on the how the streetscape has changed dramatically with the Bluff Block because the building is oversized for downtown and it doesn't match the old buildings. Commissioner Peterson said that there is nothing we can do about the current projects, we need to move forward and determine what we want to preserve. Council member Zerwas discussed the parking situation downtown and the need for a ramp. He stated that Anoka just built one and is it very beautiful. He also discussed his concerns for safety in the downtown area with Highway 10, the Railroad tracks and the river. 5b. Discuss Goals and Priorities for Redevelopment Task Force Staff gave a brief overview of the direction the HPC was given by Scott Clark at the last HPC meeting to develop a list of priorities stating what the HPC wanted to see happen downtown whether that be no change, certain buildings remain, what types of programs to use, etc. Commissioner Kragness, Commissioner Rohlf and Rebecca worked on a draft. Commissioner Rohlf discussed the reasoning behind the policies and how the economics need to be studied more looking at the total costs. Also, the building code should not be used as an excuse to remove structures because there are exceptions in the code for historic buildings that are not on the National Register they only have to be older than 50 years. Commissioner Peterson would like the policy to be worded stronger and require an ordinance to be developed. She also suggested everyone review the Maxfield Study and policy and make the policy more specific. Anew task force was formed to make the policy more specific. The new task force will include Commissioners Peterson, Kragness, and Harris along with Rebecca. The first meeting will be held on Friday, January 19, 2007 at 3:00 p.m. at the Elk River City Hall in the Uppertown Conference Room. Commissioner Kragness requested feedback from the Commission prior to the meeting. 6. Schedule next HPC meeting and Identif~genda Items The next regularly scheduled meeting for the Heritage Preservation Commission will be held on Tuesday, February 13th at 6:00 p.m. The items to be discussed include the Downtown redevelopment Task Force Update, Planning Commission items (if there are any), policy recommendations and possible grant for survey work. Adjournment Commissioner Lindberg adjourned the meeting at 7:47 p.m.