I think it's no surprise that the biggest struggle me and my neighbors are having is the price tag.”

Mallory Martin

Roads break down, and that means assessed road maintenance.
Meeting Wednesday, Jan. 7 in city hall, the Cottage Grove City council approved pavement replacement for 2026 to include those neighborhoods west of Jamaica Avenue, south of Hillside, and north of 90th Street to be included, otherwise defined as Woodridge Park Twelfth Addition, Thompson Grove Estates Eleventh Addition, Pinetree Pond Townhouses First Addition, and Cottage Grove Commercial Addition.
Total project cost is estimated at $3.767 million, with $1.1 million paid by assessments. General levy will furnish $1.797 million of the amount, the rest coming from water, stormwater, and sanitary sewer utility funds as well as streetlight enterprise and road and trail maintenance funds. Motion to approve was made by Council Member Justin Olsen, seconded by Council Member Monique Garza.
City Engineer Paul Spanholtz presented on the project for the city.
"Good evening Mr. Mayor, council members, members of the public," Spanholtz said. "This evening I'll be giving you information on the upcoming 2026 pavement management project. The main purpose of my presentation tonight is to discuss the need for the improvements. We'll discuss current conditions, proposed improvements, and anticipated project schedule."
Spanholtz went on to touch on different pavement rehabilitation methods, before discussing conditions.
"The pavement management program in Cottage Grove was started in 1994," he said. "It helps us maintain good roads, and that helps us maintain accessibility for our residents and businesses to get to their homes and businesses, and helps maintain their property values."
With 92 of 188 total road miles in the city completed since 1994, pavement management kept roads in good condition and allowed access while keeping property values high.
Spanholtz said the city used PASER ratings, maintenance records, and core samples, in assessing the need for pavement management, with a thin overlay done eight years ago
Spanholtz shared more in his presentation.
"So in 2025 the visual inspection of the neigbhorhood the roads showed a lot of cracking, striping, patching, and early signs of failure of that overlay we did eight years ago. The PASER ratings we did of road segments had PASER scores of five, six, or seven (on a scale of one to 10), all below the citywide average of seven-and-a-half. While these ratings are of fair condition, partially it's due to that recent thin overlay that we did eight years ago, masking all those underlying conditions under there. Our maintenance history on it is doing a significant amount of patch and overlay before we did it.
"We also looked at the curb and gutter, and the vast majority of it is significantly cracked and spalling and needing replacment." Taking core samples of the road asphalt structure that showed asphalt striping and loss of cohesion, the decision was then made to do reclamation and pavement replacement of the affected roads.
"So looking at these cores we determined that superficial improvements like mill and overlay would be insufficient, or fail in a short period of time," Spanholtz said. Significant root intrusion of sanaturary sanitary sewer was also found in televising the area of near multifamily homes. A liner will be put in the sanitary sewer pipes to prevent roots.
As such, the work in view for 2026 on the affected roads includes full pavement replacement to a depth of 3.5 inches, full curb replacement, and minor utility repairs, including pipe and manhole structure lining, pipe and manhole structure repair or replacement as needed, hydrant reconditioning and raising as needed, installation of hydrant access pads as needed, and replacement of damaged light pole and replacement of HPS fixtures for LED. Sanitary sewer service lines leading off the main are the property owner's domain, as outlined in city statutes.
Also included meanwhile is a new sidewalk on Hillside Trail from Jamaica Avenue to Woodridge Park, not assessed with the project.
With 211 assessable properties split between single family units, townhomes, commercial properties as well as two religious institutional properties, estimated assessments for the affected area will include 45 percent of the project cost.
Assessement by property type after special benefit appraisal include $7,100 for single family homes ($687.73 per year over 15 years), $2,700 for townhomes ($261.53 over 15 years), $37,700 for Aldi, $29,000 for Armstorng Elementary, $23,500 for Grove Church. Autozone does not have driveways accessing the roads in question, meaning $0 in special benefit appraisal. Interest is 1.5 percent above the bond rate.
As for project schedule moving forward the council will approve project plans and specifications on March 4 of this year, followed by a project bid date of April 7. A second neighborhood meeting as complement to one in December last year will be held in late April 2026, with construction starting this spring and completed in September 2026.
An assessment hearing will be made in October 2026. Assessments may be paid within 30 days of adoption to avoid interest charges, or over 15 years. Partial payment is allowed (minimum $500), with deferral available for reasons including disability, military, or age.
Following Spanholtz's presentation residents were given a chance to speak in public hearing.
Mallory Martin was among those speaking.
"I think it's no surprise that the biggest struggle me and my neighbors are having is the price tag," she said. "$7,000 is a lot for one family, and whether or not my family personally can afford it or not I think about my neighbor across the street who is a single mom who moved in this fall from Minneapolis to get a better life for her daughter and this is how we welcome her to our town. Or I think about my other neighbors whose youngest child is in high school and they might pay for this project and not be around much longer if they decide to move after this project. And they won't be here to reap the benefits I believe is how it was phrased earlier. Or my other neighbors who have five children and only one of the parents works out of the home. We found out about this in November as many families were preparing for the holiday season. That is a very big budget crunch for many families, and we are finding out we have a very small time window in which to pay it, and if we can't pay it in that time window we're goring to be punished further by having interest put on top of it. Personally I know the payment policy is not up for a vote tonight. My perspective is that everybody in Cottage Grove uses all of the roads in Cottage Grove, so it makes more sense to me to spread that cost out among the whole community every time rather than the neighborhood where the work is happening. Because I don't only drive in my neighborhood and other parents who drop off their kids at school are coming from other places as well. It's something we all share and as taxpayers and I think we've already agreed to share each other's burdens financially, through paying taxes on a regular basis." Martin asked that there be no interest in the installment plan as an honor to those residents and businesses charged with an extra fee.
"We don't have a lot of time to gather this much money," she said, other residents also taking time to speak.
A community meeting will be held as the project moves forward, with a city phone number and email as well.
In other news from Jan. 5, the council passed a resolution in the consent agenda recognizing several donations. Among the donations was one for $500 from Karla Bigham to put up a plaque and tree in memory of the Hortman Family, including Melissa, Mark, and dog Gilbert, another for $7,500 from Rosemary Callahan, for a sculpture at Woodridge Park in memory of her son Ryan, and a third from Amrize Midwest of $2,348 for 156 tons of Class 5 material for Grey Cloud Trail, Grey Cloud Island Township, and the connecting road to St. Paul Park.