Meeting Wednesday, April 21st for its second April meeting, the Cottage Grove City Council covered several topics. Along with the otherwise routine consent agenda items and approval of the bills (“disbursements”) were presentations on an Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month Proclamation, an update on the City’s Water Conservation Program, an Arbor Day Proclamation, and a 2021 Public Works Spring Cleanup Presentation.

Alongside these were bid awards, with staff recommendation to adopt Resolution 2021-056 awarding the bid for the 2021 Mill and Overlay project in the amount of $593,417.30 to OMG Midwest Inc., along with a staff recommendation to award a bid for the Hamlet Park Improvements Project in the amount of $710,464.80 to Miller Excavating, including the base bid plus “Alternate number 1.”

Returning further up the agenda, the proclamation of Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, the resolution to proclaim as much by the council makes reference to Autism as a spectrum disorder referring “to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and non-verbal communication,” before tying this into the local community with a book written by a Cottage Grove mother about her autistic son that shares the power of music therapy. The resolution also states in part that “one in 54 U.S. children has Autism Spectrum Disorder,” while the prevalence in the State of Minnesota is one in 44, otherwise deemed as, “the third highest rate of 11 data collection sites throughout the country.” By proclaiming April as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month, the Cottage Grove’s Mayor and City Council seek to promote “autism awareness, inclusion and self-determination.”

As to the City’s Water Conservation Program update, the Council packet doesn’t have an indepth attachment, although materials elsewhere on the City website detail its origin in the Metropolitan Land Planning Act, amended in 1995. In December of that same year, the City of Cottage Grove adopted its first Water Conservation Plan, as prepared by two council members, city staff, and the City’s engineering firm. Cottage Grove updated its water conservation plan again in 2007, with the essence of the plan being to help preserve the water supply for future generations, as the increasing population within the Twin Cities area has led to strain on the region’s water table. The Minnesota DNR’s target for residential water use in 2016, for instance, was “less than 75 gallons per capita per day,” with a reduction target of 1.5 percent in water use by institutional, industrial, commercial and agricultural users as well.

See TREE Page 3 Tree

From Page 1 Although groundwater is supplied by natural aquifers, these take time to replenish, and overuse can lead to increased drought periods, along with other consequences to the local environment and people who utilize it.

For its Arbor Day Proclamation, meanwhile, the Wednesday Council meeting has a resolution similar in form if different in content to the resolution proclaiming Arbor Day.

Saying that “climate change is a complex problem that impacts all Minnesotans and our ability to thrive,” the resolution ticks off a list of reasons that climate and more specifically trees matter, including the aside that “a healthy tree canopy decreases temperatures along streets providing cooler spaces in the summertime.”

As such, and citing many other reasons including a tree planting event at Hemington Park on Wednesday April 28, with a tree giveaway to residents on Friday April 30, the Mayor and City Council of Cottage Grove officially proclaim April 30th Arbor day in the resolution.

Closing out the round of Council agenda items covered is a Public Works Spring Cleanup presentation.

With a City-wide Spring Cleanup held on Saturday May 1 from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Cottage Grove Public Works Garage at 8635 West Point Douglas Road South, traffic flow will proceed down West Point Douglas Road South and around 96th Street South to Irvin Avenue. The following items are a partial listing of what is accepted at the Spring Cleanup event, along with fees:

• Hot Water Heater $10

• Washer or Dryer $10 (each)

• Stoves, Refrigerators (no gas ammonia), Freezers, Dishwashers, Microwaves, Air Conditioners, Dehumidifiers and Sofas $10 each

• Commercial or RV appliances are $75 and up

• Box Spring Mattress (all sizes) $20 As to car and light truck tires, the cost of disposal is $2, while for Semi-Truck tires the cost is $8. For Tractor tires, the cost is $30, while for car batteries there is no charge. Miscellaneous loads of material and treated lumber are also accepted, with varying rates charges.

As for hazardous materials that residents seek to dispose of may be brought to the Washington County Environmental Center in Woodbury, located at 4039 Cottage Grove Drive in Woodbury. The Center is open on Tuesdays from 11am through 7p.m., Thursdays from 8a.m. through 4:30 p.m; Fridays from 8 am through 4:30 p.m; and Saturdays from 8am through 2:00 p.m. The Center is closed on major holidays, though these are not specified.

In the meantime the Grove can be kept healthy, so long as we watch the environ-