Good afternoon. I call to order the January 13th, 2026 regular meeting of the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission. For the record, my name is Marie Bjornberg and I serve as chair of the commission. Just a reminder to silence your cell phones and other electronic devices and to speak clearly into the microphone when speaking at the dis or giving testimony. Would the clerk please call the role so that we may verify the presence of a quorum. >> Commissioner Alexander >> present. >> Booty >> present. >> Curado >> present. >> Melb. >> Rodriguez >> present. >> Thomas >> present. >> Wallace >> present. >> Vice Chair Mast >> present. Chair Bjornberg >> present. >> There are nine members present. >> Let the record reflect that we do have quorum. Our first order of business is to adopt the agenda for this meeting. We will work from the agendas that are available by the clerk. Item number four is 7283rd Street North, number 100, Ward 3. This application is for a certificate of appropriateness and will be on consent unless someone wants to speak in opposition to or modify the staff recommendation. Item number five is 14319th Street West, Ward 6. This application is for a certificate of appropriateness and will be on consent unless someone wants to speak in opposition to or modify the staff recommendation. So the proposed agenda is the consent agenda which will include the following items. Items number four, 728 Third Street North, number 100, Ward 3. Item number 5,431 19th Street West Ward 6. Is there any opposition from commissioners to the staff recommendations for these items? Is there anyone in the public that wishes to speak in opposition to these items? Hearing no opposition to placing these items on consent, we will approve these consent items in one motion at the start of the meeting. Commissioners, may I have a motion to approve the proposed agenda? >> Masten so moves. >> Thank you, Commissioner Masten. Is there a second? >> All the seconds. >> Oh. Oh, sorry. >> Question. >> Uh, Commissioner Well, thank you, Commissioner Wallace. Uh, Commissioner Melb. >> Yeah. Um, I think there's a correction that needs to be made because it says that uh Travis her is still uh a member of the commission. I did ask uh about that prior to this meeting and I believe that we just are supposed to leave it as is for the time being. >> Okay. >> I think Andrea will probably address it at the end of the meeting during the announcements, [laughter] but thank you. Uh any other discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> Those opposed say nay. Any abstensions? The agenda is approved. Our next order of business will be to approve the minutes from our December 2nd, 2025 meeting. May I have a motion to approve those minutes? >> Alexander moves. >> Thank you, Commissioner Alexander. Is there a second? Thomas seconds. Thank you, Commissioner Thomas. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say nay. [clears throat] Any abstensions? Bjornberg abstains. [sighs] The minutes are approved. Before I open the hearing to public comments, let me summarize the process. First, we will act on the consent agenda. Once uh we just set once items on the consent agenda are approved, the commission is done with those items and applicants may contact planning staff tomorrow about next steps. So, I will now open the public hearing on the consent agenda items. Again, item number four, 7283rd Street North, number 100, Ward 3. And item number five, 1431 19th Street West, Ward 6. Again, do commissioners oppose the staff recommendations for these items. Are there members of the public who oppose the staff recommendations for these items? Seeing none, I will now close the public hearing on consent agenda items. May I have a motion to approve staff findings and recommendations for these items? >> Melbourne moves. >> Thank you, Commissioner Melbam. Is there a second? >> Wallace seconds. >> Thank you, Commissioner Wallace. Any discussion? >> I'll ask at the end. >> Commissioner Curado. >> Uh, thank you, Chair Bianberg. Uh, I do have a conflict of interest on item number five, and I'll be accusing myself. Thank you, Commissioner Cra. Any other discussion? [laughter] >> I have a conflict of interest on item four. >> Thank you, Commissioner Alexander. Any other discussion? Okay, seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say nay. >> And again, abstensions. >> Alexander abstains. >> Curado abstains. >> Thank you. Those items are approved as recommended by staff on the agenda. and applicants may contact planning staff about next steps. Do staff have announcements? Thank you, Chair Bjornberg. Um, as you know, I'm Andre Burke and I'm the supervisor for the historic preservation team in CPAD. I do have a number of announcements. First of all, welcome to 2026 HPC. Um, and uh, I will start with them. So, we do um have the preservation awards coming up in early March. Um and Rob has asked for jury volunteers. Um I did send an email, but also the email is that I would be bringing it up tonight. And so I have received a few messages from both of you, but wanted to open it up to the floor. Um and I may Rob is busy at the moment, but from what I do know, it's coming up in February. Forgive me, I don't have the exact date in front of me. Um but it is an evening. It's from two hours I I think it's two hours. It's from 5:30 to 7:30. Um and we always have two commissioners from the HBC who volunteer to participate and help um judge the awards that year. So I guess I'm going to open it up um to the floor to see if there's any verbal volunteers. >> What was the date? Sorry. >> Um I'm going to turn to Rob. Hey Rob, what is the date of the jury? Good afternoon, commissioners. I apologize. I just closed my laptop. Um, I wonder Chair Bjorn, do you have it off the top of your head? I can I can check right here, but I >> I should know it off the top of my head as well, but um currently it is escaping me. So >> yes, this I believe that it is uh February 17th, right? You can confirm that. [sighs] Why don't we do this? I will reforward the message again, but um let me just put this out as your official request for volunteers. I will forward it again. Um and just I'll put a deadline of when we just need an answer by for for two individuals to volunteer. So, >> and I I believe I sent you an email earlier today on this. So, >> yes. And I wrote you back. So, I know you're down, but I I was going to open it up to the floor. So, don't be shy in saying I want to do it. It's okay. And I know I got a message from somebody else, but I'm not going to put them on the spot. So, all right. Thank you. Um, let's see. Other And speaking of volunteers, so this past year, Kelly Messen has served as our volunteer to the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board. That appointment goes until February 9th, which is oddly like 3 days before their next meeting. Um, I do have to bring these appointments through the city council for an official appointment to the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board. That was a change in process last year. So, um, I think same with the preservation awards, I'm going to put it out here as a verbal request for volunteers. Um, if anybody else wants to, of course, if Kelly, if you're like, I'm willing to do it again, I'm more than happy to. >> I would be happy to do it again. >> All right. Wonderful. I unless there's any objections from somebody else who's clamoring, um I will put that through and I'll just coordinate with you, Kelly, on the next steps. Most of this is is my um doing. I I handle all the paperwork and everything that goes through council, but I'll keep you informed. So, thank you. Yes. >> Maybe for future notice, can you explain [clears throat] a little bit what is involved with that? >> Yeah. Would you want to go ahead, Kelly? Um, it's a group that gets together, I think, three times a year and we kind of review and discuss different events or items related to that kind of St. Anthony Falls area. So, it's it's been good. Thank you. Um, also uh since it is the beginning of the year, we are also um coming upon elections for HPC officers. So what my plan is is again this is my verbal notification that this will come up at the next meeting. So on January 27th there will be a clear agenda item that says we will be electing officers. So I wanted to put the notice in um to each of you to start thinking about either whether you would like to be reelected to your officer seats and I'm looking at three of you or if you um would like to give up that seat and let somebody else take a turn. And if there's anybody else though, this is for the chair, this is for the vice chair, and this is for the secretary. And where those mostly come in is that the chair um as you have all witnessed um by chair Bjornberg has the script, conducts the meetings, the vice chair will conduct meetings in the chair's absence. And in the instance where the chair and the vice chair are absent, which has happened, um the secretary will run the meeting. So that is the the roles of those seats. We will hold nominations verbally through the clerk next week and sorry at the next meeting on the 27th and then we'll also vote for seats as well. Any questions? Thank you. All right. Um the next phase of the context study is underway, the African-American contact study. Um, we have awarded contracts to each of our scopes of work under the underrepresented communities grant through the National Park Service. So, just to disclose those, the 106 group is putting together the MPDF and the Harry Davis Senior House National Register nomination. Hes Royce is putting together the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder National Register nomination. and New History is putting together the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center National Register nomination. Aaron is managing those projects. Um, and we're we're like getting started and also doing work at the same time with those. It's still a little early in the development, but it's it's happening and it's it's rolling. So, okay with it. Now, um, two more. Um, we did get an appeal for 2011 Franklin Avenue East. This was the project we heard at the December 2nd meeting uh for a replacement of sighting that was unpermitted. Um the appeal is to several of the conditions of approval. So that will be heard at the January 27th BIS meeting provided everything with the RCA go through. I guess that's a bit premature, but that's the proposals to hear it at the January 27th meeting. Forgive me. Um and then just regarding 599, I know I've had a question about this. So um how we have proceeded with this is our new ordinance is in effect. It went into effect January 1st. Um but how we have treated applications is that applications received and that were complete up until December 31st are treated under the old code. So you will still see these that's what these applications were before you today. And then applications going a little further into the future will still be reviewed under the old code. So, we'll have the same staff report templates. Um, and then anything that is now received and complete under the new post January 1st gets reviewed under the new code. So, you will see a transition happening probably around February. Um, but that is it. We're still getting a lot of our application forms are almost ready to go. Um, some of them are are are there and we're uh working to get them up on the web, but I have uh released several of them to the staff to begin working with applicants on. So, wanted to give that update. That concludes my updates. Do you have any questions? >> Yeah. Uh, I'll go to Commissioner Melbourne, but can you give an update on Commissioner uh appointments? >> Yes. Um, that has stalled out for a while. um essentially uh had made uh we've had selected a candidate. We have recommended a candidate to the council. Um did not get an answer back from the council in time to make it on the final biz agenda and then had to break for the end of the year. Um and so and then had to wait for council to organize and then wait for the council to set their calendar. That I believe is pretty much complete now. So now I will be reaching back out to to get an answer on that um selected candidate for appointing to the HBC to fill former commissioner hair seat. >> So I do have a question. If if it's former commissioner, why is his name still on the agenda? >> I am going to turn to our clerk Paul Nasik to answer that question. Thank you. Uh the answer to your question, Commissioner, is partially due to limbs limitations as well as how the city gets appointed, how we fill appointed seats. So until unless uh Commissioner Hair fully resigned from the position, he'd be removed. Um, and until someone is appointed to that position and fills that seat, uh, Commissioner Hair has the ability to come and sit and actually vote on these decisions, uh, until that seat is fully reappointed. Um, however, Commissioner Harris has decided to not continue um, coming to the meetings. However, due to how the city runs uh these appointed processes and then how Limbs does it, he will remain on the agendas as well as we'll have a seat up here until that position is refilled. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions for staff? >> Any other commissioner announcements? Okay, with that we've completed all items on the agenda for this meeting. There being no other business to come before this meeting and without objection, I will declare the meeting adjourned. The next regular meeting of the HPC is January 27th. Thank you.