The Cottage Grove City Council met Wednesday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the St. Croix Room at City Hall.
On the agenda were several items, including open forum, announcement of photo contest winners, paramedic swearing in, presentation on public safety and donation to the Craig Woolery Scholarhip, and proclamation of March 15 as Gary Spooner Day. See the story elsewhere for the proclamation.
Back at the Wednesday council meeting meanwhile, open forum gave a chance to address items not on the night's agenda, with three speakers taking the opportunity to engage the council.
City resident Peggy Nelson spoke first.
"My name is Peggy Nelson, and I am here about the submission of a proposal for ordinance to regulate facial coverings by law enforcement in Cottage Grove," she said. I sent this out to all of you as a council, Honorable Mayor, and to all of you and to the police department, so I respectfully submit the attached proposed ordinance of your consideration. The ordinance would regulate the use of facial coverings by law enforcement officers while performing visible, non undercover duties within the city of Cottage Grove, and its purpose is to support public trust, promote effective communication and ensure clarity identified during routine law enforcement."
Said to be compliant with Minnesota Statute 609.735, the proposed ordinance was not meant to criticize local law enforcement, but to reinforce transparency and consistency.
"I respectfully ask the city council to review the attached proposal to determine whether it may be appropriate for referral to staff or discussion at a future council meeting," Nelson said. "I am available to answer questions when additional information is needed, the purpose and findings, the identification and clarification during law enforcement interaction, support, public trust, community and confidence, concealing a facial identity during routine or visible law enforcement duties may create confusion, hinder communication and reduce transparency...I'd like to point out that in NPR news, the St Paul City Council will pass this ordinance prohibiting law enforcement from wearing masks. I would really like to see the whole city of Cottage Grove have this. I thank you very much for your time."
Bailey thanked Nelson.
"Thank you, Peggy," he said. "All right, next that signed up was Tracy Hamilton, and is regarding cars driving behind Walmart."
Hamilton took the podium.
"I don't have anything written or anything like that," she said. "I wasn't expecting as many people, but pleasant surprise. So as you're aware, I live next door behind Walmart, and nothing against Walmart. It's Walmart's actually been great. The issue has been people from the VFW that frequent it daily, numerous times in a day, living in the neighborhood, using the field between Walmart and the VFW to avoid driving on the streets after they've been drinking. They go through that field and drive right next to our house and then get on the street. There used to be barriers because we're in a cul-de-sac, and they couldn't drive through, but then those were taken down. So I know we worked with Cottage Grove Police Department, but it's such a quick drive, like they're not going to get there in time. So that's, I don't know what can be done, but people walk their dogs and stuff like that."
Bailey thanked Hamilton for her remarks.
"Well, thank you for bringing to our attention," he said. "To be honest, I thought this was going a completely different direction. Somebody ripped them down. I think we can work."
Next on the agenda was Allison Steenberg of Boondocks Vintage Boutique, who spoke on the need for a downtown district in Old Cottage Grove to boost business.
"Hi," she said. "My name is Allison Steenberg. I own Boondocks Vintage Boutique. Basically, I am kind of coming to you with a proposal for the old Cottage Grove Historic District Lamar Avenue South. So I know that the Tank farm will be developed into a bunch of different a new development with a lot of new homes. And I believe that they're going to have to put, like, septic and water, or, yeah, city water, sewer there. I know currently we have a beautiful like, we don't have a downtown district of Cottage Grove right now. And there's a huge historical story, I guess, right on Lamar Avenue. I mean, going all the way back to, like, 1840s and I just think that it could be developed kind of like Afton in a small way, but right now, like if you right now, right next to our building is Angeline, which was, which is owned by the bank, but cannot be purchased. I don't want to purchase it by any means, but it cannot turn into anything because it has no water and septic or parking, and so it's just sits there. It's beautifully renovated. He put over a million dollars into it, but it just sits there empty. And we're obviously having a lot of issues getting people down Lamar Avenue, because there's the sign ordinance is a big problem, and then the fact that there is just, there's no reason to drive down that road unless you know we're there. And I just think that it'd be maybe with that new water consumer, maybe get some sort of, like, hook up to some of the businesses down there. We could, like, rival Afton, like people go to the State Park and then our region, you know, the ravine Park, and then they can go after they're done. On their hikes, they can go either to Afton and get out of their car one time and go to Selma’s and have an ice cream cone, and then go to one of the restaurants down there,,,but they have to get out of their car one time. For our city, you'd go after you're done, you either decide to go to Afton, Hastings, Woodbury, Stillwater and do that otherwise, which we're losing a bunch of tax money too, because there's just nothing to get out. You go to a strip mall and you get out and you go to ice cream at Baskin Robbins, good ice cream, not gonna lie. And then, but you get back in your car, and then you drive to Lake 73 junction, and then you go to Lake TJ Maxx, and it's just not like a we have a beautiful historical landmarks in our city that I think that we could capitalize on. I don't think it would be really expensive to try to do that, or cumbersome. It would just make us have a reason to come down. And with all the new high end developments that are coming, we're going to have people are going to go. They're going to go other places."
Bailey thanked Steenberger for her comments, then moving on to adoption of the agenda.
First up was presentation of 2026 photo contest winners by Cottage Grove Communications Director Phil Jents.
"Well, thank you, Honorable Mayor, members of the council,
everyone in attendance," Jents said. "My name is Phil Jents, the city's communications manager, and I'm honored and delighted to be here tonight once again to talk about the 2026, City of Cottage Grove annual photo contest. I would be lying if I said that, selfishly, this wasn't one of my and our communication staff favorite events of the year, just a great way to engage our community and kind of share in the vibrancy and beauty that our community has to offer through people's really awesome photography. And so this year was no different. It was a lot of fun and a lot of fun to help manage. And the city, you know, promoted this contest through various communications channels, social media, the newsletter, the website, etc."
With 86 total entries spread across five categories including life in Cottage Grove, animals, lifestyle and landscape, and then also a Best in Show Category, which, of course, encapsulates all of the photo submissions that we received, of which we got 86 total photo submissions, so a healthy library of really adorable, beautiful photos from from our residents. And so with that, and without further ado, I will move on to our winners.
With that Jents listed the contest winners by category:
Life in Cottage Grove - "Farm on the Hill" by Gene Anderson.
Animals - "Fox on Lamar Avenue" by Erin Spence
Landscape - "Where Summer Lingers" by Charlene Swanlund,
Best in Show Category - "Mirror Flight, also by Charlene Swanlund
No Category - “Baby Rainbow on the Way” by Zoua Her.
“I think that's just a very, very awesomely titled photo,” Jents said of “Baby Rainbow on the Way.”
With each photo taker receiving a certificate of appreciation, the photos will be used in city advertising.
Also from Wednesday was the swearing in of three paramedics, Deputy Fire Chief Nick Arrigoni leading out the presentation.
"Mayor and council, thank you for having us tonight," Arrigoni said. "As you know, the fire service is deep rooted in tradition, and one of those traditions is swearing in of firefighters throughout the country. This takes place for various reasons, promotions, appointments and their probation period. So tonight, what we like to do is perform the swearing in of Mike Dandle and Sam Anderson, who have completed paramedic school and have also completed their task book as a paramedic. So for lack of better terms, there are fully functioning firefighter paramedics now, which is fantastic. And then also, we would like to swear in Adam Higley, as he's nearing the end of his probation period, Adam will go first."
With that Arrigoni gave a summary of each candidate.
"So Adam began his began his fire service career as a fire explorer with the Roseville Fire Department," Arrigoni said. "He graduated from mountains who High School and the opportunities in emergency care program at Spring Lake Park High School in 2020 earning his EMT, firefighter one and firefighter two certifications. He then began working for the lake Johanna Fire Department as a firefighter EMT while pursuing his undergraduate degree at the University of Saint Thomas, after completing his bachelor's degree in 2024 Adam attended Century College, where he completed his associate's degree in paramedic science in June 2025 Adam was hired with us as a firefighter paramedic. Since then, joining the fire department, he's been heavily involved in the development of our rope technical rescue capabilities, and is currently in community paramedic school, we're not on duty. Adam enjoys, drumming, DJing, rock climbing and teaching anything that keeps him active and engaged. Adam finds deep fulfillment in serving the Cottage Grove Community alongside a public safety team committed to excellence on every response. He's grateful for the leadership and crew members who have invested in his personal professional growth, and looks forward to the opportunities that to serve that lie ahead. And then, after his swearing in, his mother, Aaron, will be pinning his badge."
With Cottage Grove City Administrator Jennifer Levitt administering the oath, Higley was officially sworn in as a firefighter paramedic. Next to be sworn in was Sam Anderson, with Arrigoni giving the details.
"Sam Anderson grew up in Cottage Grove and graduated from pike Park High School in 2022 before joining the fire department," he said. "Sam was involved in the Cottage Grove police explore program and continues to stay involved as a reserve officer and 2022 Sam was offered a part time firefighter position with the Cottage Grove Fire Department. During this time with the fire department, Sam has completed numerous state certifications and training programs to further develop his skills in fire and EMS. Last year, Sam had the privilege of being hired as a full time firefighter with the Cottage Grove Fire Department. While attending paramedic school through Century College, Sam attained his paramedic certification last year and has since been working as a firefighter paramedic. Sam has a strong interest in public education. He does a lot of our teaching, CPR, our bleeding control and fire safety. And then outside of work, Sam enjoys playing video games, building more hammer models and playing tabletop games with friends. After his swearing in, his mother, Tessa, will be pinning him."
With Levitt once again administering the oath, Anderson was officially added to the city roster of firefighter paramedics. Last to be sworn in was Mike Dandle, with Arrigoni once again giving the details.
"Mike and his family moved from St Paul to Cottage Grove in 1995 where Mike graduated from Park High School in 2000," he said. "On May 13, 2002 Mike officially began his time with the Cottage Grove Fire Department as a paid on call firefighter for near for 22 years as a paid on call firefighter, Mike obtained his EMT nearly every fire certification offered through the state of Minnesota, assisted with training, became a lieutenant and was honored as being the first two time firefighter of the year…Mike takes absolute pride in representing the department out in the community. Is usually one of the first to sign up when opportunities become available, which I can confirm in October 2024 Mike finally got the ultimate honor of being offered a full-time position with the department. He started paramedic school in January 25, 2025 and officially became a paramedic just before Thanksgiving of 2025 Mike has also assisted with training the next generation of firefighters and EMTs as an instructor with Century College. And when he's not working, he enjoys taking his oversized truck out the mud with friends and family. Enjoys watching wild hockey, watching his daughter play volleyball, and collects and displays action figures and merchandise of his favorite WWF wrestler, the Ultimate Warrior. Also can confirm if you ever want to come visit his desk, Mike has done many things in his time in the fire service, but the thing he's most proud of is being called a husband, a dad, a son, a brother, an uncle and a friend. Unfortunately, Mike's wife, Amanda, is sick tonight, so hopefully she's watching at home, so after the swearing in, his daughter, Brasil will be pinning him."
With Levitt administering the oath, Dandle was pinned as a full-time firefighter paramedic.
From there it was on to a presentation by Cottage Grove Public Safety Director Pete Koerner, who shared more on the work of the Public Safety Board and Craig Woolery Scholarship. The Craig Woolery Scholarship is made possible by the Cottage Grove Lions and administered by the Public Safety Board.
"I just have a couple slides that I wanted to cover tonight," Koerner said. "First, just kind of highlighting all the great things that our Public Safety Board does for our public safety team and our community. And then after that, obviously a few words from the Lions Club as well, and then Justin and Kim, they also help with the scholarship fund. So with that, I just real quick though, the Public Safety Board is a 501 c3 organization. It's made up of citizen volunteers from various backgrounds. We do have a liaison from both the police and fire department. Ryan Pierre from police and fire right now, I think it's more John Pritchard that hits most of the meetings. So just kind of as a plug for them, if anyone ever wants to involve looking to volunteer, they do meet once a month, and they do a variety of fundraising events throughout the throughout the year. So their mission is provide financial support for equipment training and programs to enhance safety and to provide crime prevention safety information to citizens. Our finance director, they're our Finance Directors, best friends every time we have a donation. So thank you. They get really involved in the community through different events. They're at parades. They're at our Strawberry Fest. They sponsor things with night tonight. Over the years, they've sponsored safety camp. They're always at our police and fire open houses, and, most recently, again, at the HERO Center open houses and the community showcase. So they're out there, out and about funding opportunities. Sometimes they get, they'll get just a grant, but most of the time, it's just blood, sweat and tears going out there, getting doing fundraising, getting donations. I don't know if one of them will bring up later, but they just started a raffle that I think they just kicked off too, but one of their members is really into the plushies and all the different patches and everything. And they also started selling challenge coins. So they're, they're looking for a lot of unique ways to to raise money, lot of money that they have donated both to the police department, fitness center and, most recently, the fire fitness center, the portable speed signs you see around town. They've donated those. They donated the message board that we have. Most recently, they cut a check for about $20,000 just over $20,000 for our newest canine to pay for a lot of the equipment squad setups and everything. And now they're really doing a lot more with the technology too. Most recently, they donated a state of the art drone to us, and that was upwards of over $10,000 so and of course, the Craig Woolery Scholarship. So with that, just have a couple slides about the scholarship. I'm not going to read it all to you. Council member Olsen. I don't want to steal his thunder. I've heard he likes to talk a little bit, but the application is on the city web page. If you click just on the Public Safety Board, we have a link to everything. And then I think with the amount of money they've been raising, they used to just do one, and now you have a few, I think they'll be looking for so all of that is on our website, and with that, I'll turn it over to council member Olsen first.”
Council Member Justin Olsen spoke on the Woolery Scholarship.
Thank you, Pete," he said. "Thank you to the Cottage Grove Public Safety Board and Cottage Grove Lions Club for being here this evening, along with the City Council and of course, most importantly, Craig Woolery and his wonderful wife, Katie, for being here this evening. For those who may not be aware, the Craig Woolery scholarship is intended to support young people in our community who want to go into a career in public service as a firefighter, an EMT or a police officer. We have been grateful over the years to have had many worthy recipients, some of whom are now in their full time careers, which is very rewarding. The scholarship was started, I think, seven years ago, because Craig has been retired for what eight years now."
With experience as a police officer, paramedic, and SWAT commander, Woolery had gone through firefighter school when named as public safety director, which impressed Olsen.
“I tell this story a lot, but one of the things that impressed me most about Craig is when he became the public safety director after a career in law enforcement, he actually went to firefighter school,” Olsen said. “He put himself into firefighter school because he said, You know, I'm going to have to supervise firefighters. I better know what it's like to be a firefighter. And having just this past summer with council member Garza and the mayor, spent a day doing firefighter related activities. I can tell you that is not for the faint of heart."
This year Olsen and family donated $1,500 to the scholarship, with an additional $1,500 from the Cottage Grove Lions making the donation $3,000.
Cottage Grove Public Safety Board Chair Julie Rice said the Board hadn't received scholarship applications.
"We, unfortunately, right now, have not had any applications," she said. "So I encourage the public. If you are in high school in Cottage Grove, please, please apply for this. It is well worth it, and we are honored to do it. And it depends on how many we have, how much goes out. So the minimum is $1,000 so. I thank Justin, and I thank the board the Lions Club for donating this money to us."
Craig Woolery spoke Wednesday as well.
“Justin, Kim, you guys have been so generous as well,” he said. Great public servants, Mayor, Council, the crime board and the Lions. Oh my gosh. So I know, is that times are difficult, and you justify for dollars and public safety needs and what the public expects, those funds make a huge difference, and to see that keep coming, and see the good uses being put to just makes me really proud to be a retired old guy.”
Also covered Wednesday night was a proclamation declaring March 15 as Gary Spooner Day, read by Council Member David Thiede. A birthday party is planned on Sunday, March 15 at the Legends of Cottage Grove with Mayor Myron Bailey presenting the proclamation to Spooner.
In other news from Wednesday council, Brad Madison was appointed to the planning commission for a term ending on February 29, 2028, with Plan Commissioner Jessica Fisher appointed as commission chair through February 28, 2027 due to current chair Evan Frazier reaching his term limit on the commission. The council also approved appointment of Joseph McDermott and Mary Domini to the city’s Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and held two public hearings, one for a Panera Bread outlet at 7162 East Point Douglas Road South presented by Max Erickson and another for a new life church building addition off Highway 61, presented by Community Development Director Emily Schmitz.
Both were approved. Cottage Grove City Council meetings are held on the first and third Wednesday of each month in the St. Croix Room at city hall. The public is invited to attend.