The Cottage Grove City Council met Wednesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. in the St. Croix Room at city hall. Prominent on the night's agenda was the 2026 Pavement Management Project, scheduled for the southeast side in the neighborhood near Inwood and Jamaica Avenues, between 90th Street and Hillside Trail.
Bids for the the project received and opened in March had come in over the engineer's estimate of $3 million by approximately 13 percent. With bids determined to be competitive and reflecting market conditions at the time, the project was ultimately awarded to low bidder McNamara for $3.388 million after discussion, with Park Construction and Bituminous Roadways also making bids.
City Engineer Paul Sponholz made the project presentation to the council.
"Good evening, mayor and council, " Sponholz said. "In our capital improvement plan the city has an annual pavement management project that rehabilitates our city streets and utilities and keeps them in good condition. Tonight we have the bid award for the 2026 Pavement Management Project."
Sponholz went on to explain that Cottage Grove has been refining its pavement management program in recent years, using condition ratings and lifecycle modeling to determine when and how streets should be repaired or reconstructed. Rather than waiting for roads to deteriorate completely, the city was increasingly focusing on preventative maintenance.
“The goal is to intervene at the right time,” he said, noting that timely treatments such as seal coating or mill-and-overlay projects can significantly extend a road’s lifespan at a fraction of the cost of full reconstruction.
He emphasized that pavement management was ultimately about maximizing taxpayer dollars, with a road that received maintenance at the appropriate interval potentially lasting decades longer than one that is neglected until failure.
“If we wait too long, the cost curve changes dramatically,” he explained. “You go from relatively inexpensive maintenance to full reconstruction, which is far more costly.”
Using charts and condition data, Sponholz then illustrated how the city categorizes streets based on their condition and prioritizes projects accordingly. Streets in fair condition tended to be targeted for preventative treatments, while those in poor condition may require more substantial rehabilitation or complete reconstruction.
Council Member Justin Olsen had a question on project cost for the current project.
“I know that this is a super unique project given the timeline we’re trying to get this done in," he said, asking if this had factored into the bid price.
“I’m not sure what’s really driving it,” he said. “The bids are comparable to each other. It just seems to be the way the market is going right now.”
Olsen was followed by Council Member Dave Thiede, who asked about oil price and cost.
“With that, right now we know we oil is at a high price," Thiede said. "How much do you think that might have influenced the price?”
Sponholz said the asphalt industry stocked oil in its tanks over the winter for the following season, meaning it shouldn't have had a large effect.
“The asphalt industry stocks oil in tanks over winter for season," he told Thiede. Next year was unknown.
“What they’re going to be next year is anybody’s guess,” Sponholz said. That said there were options to consider.
Option 1 involved an increased bond amount of $300,000, with tax levy increase of $35,000 or 0.12 percent. Benefits were known costs, maintaining the project schedule, and savings on future maintenance.
Option 2 was to take 90th Street out of the project, removing $250,000 to $300,000 in cost. Option 2 would affect two to three different property owners, with Aldi’s not assessed, while the church assessment would be reassessed based on two access points. The main benefit from Option 2 was no change to the property tax levy. Detrimental aspects of Option 2 included delayed work, increased maintenance, a change order, and potential renegotiating of other aspects of the project.
There was also Option 3, which was to delay pavement management and not award the project, reevaluating for the future. Detriments from Option 3 would include at least a two year delay as East Point Douglas was deemed a higher priority, with other pavement management projects delayed as well. Other detriments was a restarting of the assessment process, additional maintenance costs, construction inflation of 10 to 15 percent each year, and delay of future pavement management projects.
"It creates a lot of ripple effects to pavement management,” Sponholz said of Option not award the project.
Thiede had a question.
"How does it affect individual property assessments?” he asked.
“It’s capped,” Mayor Bailey said. “Which is why it would see the recommendation that would put it on the tax levy.” While oil prices were the topic of conversation, the increase was across the board in terms of bid.
Also chiming in was Cottage Grove City Administrator Jennifer Levitt.
“If we don’t do 90th now it will probably be 2032 until we get back to it,” she said. Putting off 90th Street wouldn’t affect resident assessments but push it back to general levy. Council member Monique Garza and David Clausen spoke to increased costs if the project was delayed, a point touched on by Olsen as well.
“First off, it never gets cheaper when you wait,” Olsen said. “So I don’t think that’s a good idea.” With ripple effects to consider with contractor schedules, a better option was to use the fund balance to buy down the project if available to avoid bonding extra funds.
Levitt said there was money in city debt service to buy down project, but the bond market was volatile and it might be better to use debt service funds on debt payments.
“Based on that information it would be better to award the project," Olsen said. Approval would also keep the project on schedule.
"The weather’s looking good and the sun’s only going to shine so many months here in Minnesota,” Levitt said.
“We’re so used to them coming in under estimate,” Bailey said. The city then moved to adopt resolution 2026-05, awarding the pavement management project to McNamara for $3,388,121.63. Motion to approve was made by Garza and seconded by Olsen.
Also covered April 15 were several proclamations, with Olsen reading a proclamation on Arbor Day, Thiede reading one on National Work Zone Awareness, and Council Member David Clausen reading one on Drinking Water Week.
All were passed unanimously. Also touched on were a volunteer tree planting April 22 at 1 p.m., and a bare root tree drawing, with one entry per household and entries due by April 22.
Cottage Grove Public Works Director Ryan Burfeind shared on spring clean up plans, with Spring Clean Up Day scheduled May 2 at 8635 West Point Douglas Road from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"You can see our pricing here which is pretty consistent from last year," he said. The one change Burfeind highlighted was that the city isn't planning to provide electronics recycling, with residents encouraged to use the Washington County Environmental Facility instead at 4039 Cottage Grove Drive in Woodbury. Hours for the center are Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Returning to Spring Cleanup Day in Cottage Grove, payment is by cash or check only, with checks made payable to the city of Cottage Grove. Cost for most items between $10 and $35 dollars. Car batteries and document shredding are free, while commercial and RV appliances are $100 and up. Miscellaneous material by load is $40 to $90 for a station wagon/SUV, $$70 to $175 for a pickup truck with level load, $30 to $75 for a car trunk, and $95 and up for a box truck, price depending on load size.
As for council updates from April 15, Olsen noted two recent volunteer awards, one to Dan Harrison as president of the Cottage Grove Athletic Association and another naming Basic Needs as Volunteer Organization of the Year.
"I just wanted to congratulate our volunteer of the year Dan Harrison," Olsen said. "I also wanted to congratulate Basic Needs for being awarded Volunteer Group of the Year." Both Harrison and Basic Needs had received their volunteer awards at the annual volunteer banquet.
Thiede used his council update to highlight Strawberry Fest, just two months away.
"I want to officially state that we aren’t raising any of the food prices or vendors for any of the events,” he said. “Even though everything else is.” Rather than fireworks, the entertainment focus would be on drones.
Garza highlighted Park Run and pickleball.
"Park Run at Hamlet every Saturday at 9 a.m.," she said, with sign up for pickleball on the city website at
Bailey closed out noting the city administrator review from the last council meeting had went well.
"I just want to make official that we did have that review and everything went well," he said.
There were no workshops for April 15.
Cottage Grove City Council meetings are held on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. in the St. Croix Room at city hall. The public is invited to attend.