Reservation Commission meeting to order. >> Roll call, please. >> Present. >> Phillips >> present. >> Place >> present. >> And chairperson Snyder >> present. All right, that moves us on to item
number three, which is adopting the agenda. Has everyone had a chance to review the agenda for today? >> Yes. >> All right. Would anybody like to make a motion? >> I will motion to adopt the agenda. >> All right. Motion by Commissioner Nagasetti. We get a second.
>> I have a second. >> All right. Seconded by Commissioner Phillips to adopt the agenda agenda. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> And all opposed. Hearing none. The motion carries, which move us into item number four, which is
visitor presentations. Uh, is there anyone in the audience that would like to present today? Uh, Liz, do we have anyone online? >> No, there's no one. >> All right, great. That's going to move us on to item number five, which is approving the previous meeting minutes. Has everybody had a chance to review the
minutes is from August 5th, 2025? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> All right. Can I get a motion? >> I will move to approve the minutes. >> Okay. Motion by Commissioner Phillips. >> I can second that. >> And seconded by Commissioner Nagasetti. All in favor say I.
>> I. And any opposed? >> Great. Hearing none, the motion will carry. And that moves us into item number six, which is the consent agenda. And there are no items on under the consent or action items. So that moves us to number eight, which is discussion items. We have one item under discussion
items today, which is our 2026 goals. Liz, could you please introduce this item? >> Yes, thank you. I'm going to share my screen just so we can see the goals in front of us that I've drafted. Um, not necessarily
the ones you need to act on or officially accept as your 2026 goals, but ones that uh have been previous goals um in other years. So, some of those are carried over, some are uh
lingering projects that are out there. Um, so I did list out four different goals uh to maybe have our eyes on for the year of 2026, but also in maybe future years as well. Um the first one
um is nomination of three properties that um we had Alyssa Bidwell who was a graduate student from the U of M um research last year and put together nomination forms
um basically for properties on the west side of Highway 41 that have been identified by uh the HPC and previous HPC members uh to look into further. Um so kind of the next step in in that
process is to locally designate those three properties. Um I will say that much of that um effort really comes from myself or from city staff to move that along. Um but a goal for all of us to
shoot for and hopefully accomplish this year um is getting that process started. Um so hopefully we can um get the necessary agencies reviewing that and then in front of you guys to formally uh
designate or give that recommendation to our council um who can formally designate those three properties. Um your part will come in um to hold the public hearing when we give that recommendation to city council. So
that's a pretty big step in the nomination process. Um and then giving any further comments that we or you guys may have on uh designating those properties if any. Um so that's the
first one. I think that one um has been a long-standing one, but I think we've made some progress in the last year just getting that the information put together for those three properties. Um the second goal is kind of goes in
hand uh with the first one. um which is doing additional research um for our local designation list and seeing if more properties can be identified and added to that list. Um much of our efforts were on the west side of Highway
41 when we kind of did our walkthroughs and pointing out um homes and buildings that are of importance. Um we haven't done that on the east side of Highway 41. So, I'm hoping maybe this year um once it warms up, we can kind of shift
those efforts on the east side and start to add even further um to that local designation list and kind of go through that same process that we did with the other three and seeing if we can get, you know, additional help uh from the U
or whatever programs exist out there uh with students and research. Um the third goal is updating um historical documents or um context studies um that pertain to our historic
downtown. Uh so we have the historic context study which was done in the early thousands. Um so there are those um studies out there that you know have been helpful um but
are due up for updates every so often just to make sure that um with any changes that have occurred within downtown or you know some goals and objectives that have been outlined either in our comprehensive plan um and hopefully an update to our downtown
master plan um we'll be able to um kind of reflect that and the documents that kind of shape how we review things here within the HPC. Um, and then the fourth and final one is staying engaged uh with any projects
that really have some overlap with HPC's review. Um, so the City Square West project has been kind of a long-standing goal that we've kept on our goal list. Um, since it's right in downtown, it's one of our redevelopment sites, kind of
the the final redevelopment site that was identified in our downtown master plan to move forward with. Um, all the other redevelopment projects identified in our downtown master plan have been achieved and constructed.
That's the last remaining one. Um, that hopefully will get kicked off soon. It's all pretty dependent on funding being available from legislation. We continue to do bond tours um with those representatives to
keep that keep that project in front of them um to hopefully uh be a part of a a future funding bill. Um so that could happen as soon as this year. Um but again it it has been a few years
since we received our first funding bill for the project. So we may be waiting a few more years uh following this to get that kicked or started with um with us and everyone who gets involved with
that. Uh so those are the ones that I've listed out for 2026. Um, if there's, you know, this isn't a set list, so we can still, you know, make deletions or even additions to this. If you guys feel like there's anything that's missing or you
don't really want to prioritize your your time and attention to a certain thing, this is kind of the the time to discuss that and hear any other ideas. Um, I think the to nominate those um, locations, that the houses specifically,
I think that's great. I think the the work that was done was really awesome on that. And I think that hearing some of the stories was kind of the coolest part of that whole thing. So, I wonder if there's maybe a way for us to um, do a little bit more work in kind of telling those stories as opposed to just
nominating them, but like is there is there an avenue for us to do a little bit more of that? um because I think that was the most interesting part of that whole process is is coming up with those like really nuance specific things that you'd never know if we hadn't done that study. So I think that was really
interesting. And then you had mentioned um trying to do something similar again this year. Is that the expectation? Is that the goal? Like do we have any any sort of sense if we'll do that again or if it'll be available? Yeah, right now it's hard to say if
we'll have um that same program available. Um I do think what is achievable this year is starting to identify properties in other parts of downtown um to add to that list. um and
hope, you know, I'm pretty hopeful that um there is uh interest and um students available that would be able to do that work. It's just kind of aligning the timelines and um uh getting someone
on board and kind of going through that process to, you know, kickstart the real tangible research on on those properties. But at least we can take steps to kind of get there and set that up for whoever would be interested in
taking it on. >> I think all these goals uh look great. For number four, uh the City Square West project. I think that's incredibly exciting just for the city at large. And you know, I want to recognize the city for all of their efforts to date for just preserving the character and the
atmosphere of downtown. And I think it's awfully important to continue to maintain that momentum in any new development. So, I'm looking forward to our role as well as the the rest of the organizations involved to continue to kind of help influence that just to preserve the nature and the the
architectural and history of Chaska as we think about that really exciting project. U probably one item on that first school that you mentioned a community hearing. So is that at the city council meeting or is that at this meeting that that would be or is that a separate meeting when you'd have like a community hearing
for those sites or review process whatever that is >> for the three properties? Yeah. >> Um so yeah the public hearing is kind of a formality in our process to designate those properties. So, um that would have
to happen at your level at the HPC meeting level. And basically it would um for the three properties it would have kind of a notification radius around each of those properties that are getting nominated within 500 ft I think
is our um limit or our radius uh required for designation. Um, so those properties would be informed that a public hearing is going to be held to for you guys to make uh a review and decision on nominating and
designating those properties. Um, which would be recommended to council. So at that time, if there's any property owners that are interested in the project or have questions on the project or have concerns with those nominations, that would be their time to make a
formal statement. And I know that we had a couple of other properties that were looked at that either didn't meet the requirements or I think there were a few that we had homeowners that weren't interested >> that is that correct? There were a couple that they just weren't interested in purchasing.
>> Yeah. Yeah. They just didn't feel comfortable moving forward with additional research or >> uh bringing their property to that level. Were there any that like we had pretty complete research on and they just weren't willing or did we kind of stop the the research portion pretty early?
>> Yeah, we didn't go down the avenue of research if we were getting that initial push back. >> I just didn't know if there was ones that we had done the work on that we could then, you know, go and and have a conversation with them again because I don't want something to be left off, you
know, due to that kind of that earlier conversation and maybe they feel differently now. But if we didn't do the research, then it doesn't. >> Yeah. I I think there is that ability to potentially revisit some of those properties that didn't get as much focus
on them um in um subsequent years from now to see if property owners are feeling different or maybe it's someone different who's involved now and has interest in in wanting to bring it to that level. So,
um, yeah, I I I feel like we still have quite quite a few properties that we just didn't get too far into the process just because we didn't have, you know, the the bandwidth um just from um Alyssa
alone and because yes, there hasn't been that interest uh stated from the property owner to continue. >> Sure. Any other comments from anyone on the plans goals?
>> All right. Um, does anyone have any other business that they'd like to discuss? Liz, any other staff updates? >> I don't think so. um other than you know not really pertaining to HPC realm but
um you know our uh public safety facility is hopefully going to be opening soon. Um they're putting final touches in there. Um they still have to get a a certificate of occupancy. So that's kind of the the
biggest thing before our police and fire can move in there. Um and then soon um we will be breaking ground on our new m municipal services building on Creek Road. Um so that's kind of working itself through its through that process
too. So, uh, a lot of, uh, changes happening, um, within that realm, which will ultimately, uh, start the process on kind of the next, um, city building, um, kind of a part of that building
improvement program that both the public safety facility and MSB building were a part of. The next one on the list would be the library. and um yeah, basically finding the new location and starting the design process for the
new library in downtown. And that one um I bring up just because um it is in downtown and so there may be some overlap too of the HBC >> having some part in that. >> So, >> the public safety building looks great. It's I drove past it yesterday.
>> It's really It's coming along. Yes, I just visited the inside of that last week with council because they did a a works uh work session there just to get a tour of the facility before it was all kind of occupied and fully built up. And
yeah, it's it's got a lot of progress going on in there and it's it's definitely to the point where it's just barely ready. Um just a few more final touches and then it'll be open. And I believe there will be an open house that's going to be open to
the public. So, as soon as we know that information, we'll definitely share with you guys as well. >> Um, all right. Would anyone like to make a motion to adjurnn? >> I'll make a motion to adjurnn. >> All right. Motion by Commissioner Pice.
>> I will second. >> And seconded by Commissioner Phillips. All in favor say I. >> I. And any opposed? All right. Hearing none, this meeting is adjourned at 7:17. 17.