Meeting Date: March 11, 2021
To: Members of the Heritage Preservation Commission
From: Mikayla Schmidt, City Planner
Title
Staff Updates
Body
Staff Updates:
• Mural Policy Update: Staff has met to discuss options on how to move forward with a policy for murals. More research and study is needed regarding the approval process and identification of best practice regulations regarding designated historical areas (as stated in Commissioner Thomas’s shadowing report).
• The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has submitted their comments on the proposal to local designate the Northfield Depot. SHPO states in their letter (attached):
o The Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific Railway Depot is historically significant as a representation of the importance of the rail system in the growth and development of Northfield. Despite being moved, this significant association has been retained in its new location. For these reasons, we concur that the Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul & Pacific Railway Depot is a good candidate for local designation under Criterion A.
• Staff has made some changes and updates to how HPC commissioners and the public access meeting information.
o The Notify Me email (for the HPC), which notifies those signed up for alerts about the HPC, will now only contain one link. It will link to the HPC homepage.
o On the HPC homepage, there will be:
§ a link to a PDF of the agenda packet, which is not restricted to a certain amount of users,
§ a section which shows how the public can monitor the meeting by Live Stream or electronically from a remote location using GoTo Meeting (this is the same GoTo Meeting link that the HPC members use),
§ a “Search City Records” button, which will also provide you a link to the agenda packet, but has a limited amount of users. (this button/link also provides access to minutes and agendas of all the boards/commissions and City Council)
§ a “View Agendas and Watch a Meeting” button, which provides the agenda and subsequent reports and attachments, minutes and a link to watch the HPC meeting live or watch past recordings.
o Staff will not be sending reminder emails for the meeting or the link to the meeting, since it is now available on the HPC homepage.
• The Northfield City Council is updating its Strategic Plan. Members should have received an email with a link to a survey related to the Strategic Plan.