September 8 virtual meeting updates residents on referendum

Come November, the residents of Cottage Grove will have some choices to make. Alongside the customary decisions on whether to hire, re-hire, and/or potentially fire various elected officials (local school board officials for this round), will be a ballot decision on whether or not to approve a $39.2 million increase in property tax funded general bonds related to the construction of a proposed Community Center across from Ravine Park on Highway 61.

To that end, and in an attempt to help voters make an informed decision on the matter, the City of Cottage Grove held a live Facebook chat September 8, following a series of online videos over the summer plugging the potential perks of such a facility, should the bond to finance it be approved. So what to expect on the November 2 ballot? The exact language is as follows: “’The City of Cottage Grove is asking for voter approval to issue and sell its general obligations bonds in an amount not to exceed $39,200,000 for the acquisition, design, construction and betterment of a Community Center that will include an Aquatic Center, Playground Areas and a Sports Dome. The Community Center will provide opportunities for the arts, recreation, aquatics, athletics, community programming, and events,” the question opens—then the kicker.

“Shall the City of Cottage Grove issue and sell its general obligations bonds in an amount not to exceed $39,200,000 for the acquisition, design, construction and betterment of a Community Center that will include an Aquatic Center, Playground Areas and a Sports Dome in order to provide opportunities for the arts, recreation, aquatics, athletics, community programming, and events?’ BY VOTING ‘YES’ ON THIS BALLOT QUESTION, YOUARE VOTING FOR A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE.”

All caps in the original.

Showing a video during the live Facebook event and also later during an appearance before the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Commission, local grandpa and Cottage Grove mayor Myron Bailey plugged the possible facility to be located just off Highway 61 southeast of Walmart.

“For at least the last 20 years, I’ve been hearing consistently the citizens of Cottage Grove want a gathering place,” Bailey says in the promotional video on the Community Center. “They want to be able to do things here in Cottage Grove that right now they have to go to other communities outside of Cottage Grove to do. So here after 20 years, we’re finally here. We’ve done a lot of research, a lot of talking to the public to get an idea of what they want, and this is what we’ve come up with,” he says.

With concept art showing an indoor playground, sports dome with walking track, an art class, and even a 50-meter outdoor swimming pool, there would also potentially be a climbing wall, with the Center aiming to take all Cottage Grove residents and their needs into account, per the promotional video. So how’d the live Facebook chat go in terms of helping inform the public to make a hoped for ‘yes’ vote on the city’s part?

Not so good, if after the fact data is to be trusted. More specifically a total of 10 went, 41 were interested and four shared the event on Facebook. Other versions of recorded online data say that seven shared, with a high-water mark of 18 total shares. Feedback from residents was mixed, with the event’s Facebook comment history being instructive. Along with the naysayers that will rise to the surface with most any project in a city the size of Cottage Grove with more than 35,000 people, were questions on the proposed Community Center—one chief one being the associated costs for it.

“What will it cost to use the center?” Dana Kelly asked. “Residents are paying approximately $15 per month to build it, so do they have to pay to use it?” Kelly’s figure appeared to relate to an estimated tax impact reported in the informational video for a $300,000 property. And the answer?

While there will be a fee to use the Center once constructed, residents of Cottage Grove will receive a discount. And whereas many residents had questions on an indoor pool, the cost impact of such a feature would be prohibitive and not return the same value, explaining the otherwise limiting outdoor pool option. That doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be places to get in out of the cold at the center, come wintertime.

“Having an indoor meeting center, having an indoor playground, our seniors are telling us they want a place where they can meet,” Mayor Bailey shares in the informational video on the center. “I think what your going to see is a lot more grandparents staying in town, a lot more parents bringing their kids to the water park or community center,” Bailey says of the center he thinks will drive growth in the area. Not all feelings or comments, though, were so upbeat.

“Waste of money,” Timothy Monigold commented on the video, being answered in turn by Mike Crider.

“Express that opinion at the ballot box,” he told Monigold. “A lot of people want this.”

Whether the increased property tax quid (i.e. money) is worth the pro quo (aka “new Community Center”), is a question that Cottage Grove voters will decide this November 2.

Indoor playground. Photo submitted