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<br /> <br />MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER <br />DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT PLAN TASKFORCE <br />HELD AT ELK RIVER CITY HALL <br />MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2007 <br /> <br />Members Present: Stewart Wilson, HRA Chair; Louise Kuester, HRA Commissioner; Larry Toth, <br />HRA Commissioner; Lance Lindberg, Heritage Preservation Commissioner; Dana <br />Anderson, Planning Commissioner; Mike Niziolek, Parks & Recreation <br />Commissioner; Dan Tveite, EDA Commissioner; Dave Rymanowski, Business <br />Representative – First National Bank; Keith Holme, Business Representative <br />(Kemper Drug); Molly Nadeau-Peterson, Resident Representative (arrived at 6:30 <br />p.m.); John Anderson, Resident Representative <br /> <br />Members Absent: Jean Lieser, HRA Commissioner and Mark Urista, Business Representative <br />(Coldwell Banker Vision) <br /> <br />Staff Present: Community Development Director Scott Clark, Director of Economic <br />Development Catherine Mehelich, Assistant Director of Economic Development <br />Heidi Steinmetz and Planner Chris Leeseberg <br /> <br />Others Present: Stacie Kvilvang of Ehlers & Associates, Inc. and Michael Schroeder of LHB <br />Architects & Engineers <br /> <br />1. Welcome/Meeting Recap <br />Stacie Kvilvang of Ehlers & Associates welcomed the taskforce members to their third meeting. She <br />summarized the results of the last meeting; specifically that the members had answered “no” and one <br />member was unsure regarding the following question: Is the former/current model of downtown <br />still viable? <br /> <br />2. Approve December 4, 2006 Minutes/Purpose of Meeting <br />The December 4, 2006 minutes were approved. <br /> <br />Ms. Kvilvang introduced guest speaker Michael Schroeder of LHB Architects & Engineers. She <br />stated that the main goal of tonight’s meeting is to learn and gain ideas from Mr. Schroeder regarding <br />the following main topics: <br /> Designing along the river <br /> Sense of place and how it relates to historic preservation <br /> Downtown redevelopment principles <br /> <br />3. Presentation by Michael Schroeder, LHB Architects & Engineers <br />Mr. Schroeder provided the taskforce with a two-hour presentation, followed by a question/answer <br />session. Key presentation points included: <br /> Current and future improvements to the downtown will be historical buildings someday. <br /> Connecting a river walk with the rest of downtown can be uniquely designed; i.e. “weaving” <br />between buildings. <br /> Historic preservation is not necessarily saving buildings; it’s about sense of place and <br />experiences. <br /> Smooth correlations between the residential neighborhoods and other downtown areas are <br />critical. <br /> Downtown can be defined by “a place where the greatest number of activities take <br /> <br />