Mayor’s address touts how community came together during COVID; looks ahead to a big year

As we come out of the toughest year any of us can recall, we are still operating within this global pandemic. However, the City of Cottage Grove is in excellent position. Our City’s economy remains healthy, we continue to grow, adding more and more jobs and housing, and our residents and business owners remain committed to supporting each other!

But even as I look at the folks joining me here tonight, inside our Council Chambers, the change from this time last year to today is quite noticeable. With social distancing requirements, only a handful of my colleagues and City Staff Members are joining me for this State of the City address. I’d like to recognize and welcome my Council colleagues Dave Thiede, Steve Dennis, La Rae Mills and Justin Olsen as well as State Senator Karla Bigham, State Representatives Tony Jurgens and Keith Franke and Washington County Commissioner Wayne Johnson. Your continued advocacy on Cottage Grove’s behalf truly does contribute to our success as a City, and I look forward to what we’ll accomplish together in 2021.

I can recall sitting in our training room on a Sunday afternoon in March of last year.The outlook was bleak and news of the fast-spreading virus was sobering. There was so much at stake and throughout the country, there was a significant fear of the unknown. But in that room, as I turned to the members of the City Council and the Directors of our City’s Departments, I saw a team dedicated to seeing our community through whatever was ahead of us. Our leaders remained dedicated to serving our residents and businesses, despite the lingering uncertainties connected to COVID-19 at that point. It was going to be a heavy lift, but I knew our resilient staff was up to the challenge.

But perhaps more importantly, I knew our community would come together to help us pull through the pandemic. When the Fire Department asked for masks for those in need, residents fired up their sewing machines and produced 17-hundred of them, in two days-time. When parents couldn’t host birthday parties for their children during the shutdown, our police officers, firefighters and plow operators participated in hundreds of drive-by parades. And when the difficult decision was made to cancel the Holiday Train festivities, leaving a 70-thousand dollar hole in our local food shelf’s budget, our community stepped up, raising nearly 200-thousand dollars.

Those are 3 examples, but trust me, we have hundreds of incredible stories of perseverance, generosity and kindness. We picked 20 accomplishments and detailed them in the Annual Report we’ve mailed to each and every one of you, but trust me, we left an awful lot on the cutting room floor!

This year, we have projects, plans and initiatives that will definitely build upon our successes of last year. We’ll still be working through a pandemic, but we’ll work through it together. Cottage Grove is, and always will be, a Photo by John McLoone. City where Pride and Prosperity meet. It doesn’t matter what comes our way, the foundation of hard work and supporting one another our community was built upon will always win the day!

Last year, our Nation, and the Twin Cities in particular, began an important and long-overdue conversation regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. Our City Council and Department Leaders want to move past the conversation and enact real change here in the City, ensuring we are an inclusive and welcoming City to everyone.

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Staff members are committed to continuing their work with a grassroots-led community group formed following the death of George Floyd. We also hope to partner with the school district and neighboring communities to produce real change around diversity, equity and inclusion for our residents. I will also mention that all City staff members have completed diversity training and are creating programs to increase diversity within our own City staff. The Cottage Grove Police Department is also committed to this goal and has already made great progress within our last hiring cycle.

Speaking of cycles, and remaining welcoming to everyone, our Community Development team will spend a lot of time and energy in 2021 diversifying Cottage Grove’s housing stock. We continue to exceed market expectations with our growth in recent years; this is a community where people want to live. We’re still seeing strong demand in the single-family housing market, but we’ve also recorded important gains in the townhome and market-rate apartment sectors. Look for that to continue! We have become a City where people want to buy their first home, start their families, transition to empty nests and retire.

This year, our Community Development employees will be conducting a developer survey to ensure our future growth is consistent with predicted development trends. To that end, we will continue to enhance our permitting capabilities, streamlining our processes as we continue our strong track record as a City that works hard to get things done. We are a City that developers want to work with!

One of the biggest selling points of our community is the Public Safety Services we provide. Our police officers, firefighters and paramedics have built high-expectations within the community with their incredible response times and professional service. That did not change in 2020 as our teams compassionately and safely responded to tens-of-thousands of calls, while working under COVID-19 protocols.

In 2020, our police officers began wearing body-cameras and our firefighters took possession of a new, 101-foot aerial ladder truck. This year, both departments will be updating their policy and procedure modules to ensure we’re consistent with the most current, best-practice standards. If you talk with our Police or Fire Chief, the other thing they’re looking forward to is reconnecting with the community outside of crises. COVID took away our ability to gather in the ways we’re usually accustomed to. Once we turn the corner on the pandemic, our public safety professionals will be ready to reengage with our residents. We’re all safer when we work together!

And when our residents were looking for a safe space to enjoy some fresh air, after being stuck inside their homes during the Stay at Home Order, they headed to our parks, trails and open spaces. We take so much pride in our parks system, and even without leagues and tournaments, I can’t remember a year when our residents took advantage of Cottage Grove’s outdoor amenities as much as they did in 2020.

Our Parks and Recreation Director likes to say we are always growing and adding new parks, but we will always continue to reinvest in our existing parks as well. As far as meeting growth, crews will begin constructing the new Strawberry Fields Park near Summer’s Landing and Mississippi Dunes this summer. And even though Cottage Grove already boasts 82 miles of paved trails and paths, we’re still looking to add and expand trails throughout the City. Plus, we’ll continue our aggressive native habitat restoration work. You’ll also see a new building at Hamlet, and our teams will be working on the ball fields this year as well. And for parents, look for new playground equipment at Oakwood, Lamar and Hearthside Parks.

Last year, we invested a significant amount of time and energy in sprucing up one of our crown jewels of recreation, the Cottage Grove Ice Arena. This year, with the return of ice skating and hockey, we hope you’ll enjoy the fruits of that labor.

And I’ve got to hand it to the crew at River Oaks. COVID stole 9 months of banquets, events and restaurant service in 2020. But against all odds, and with the help of 40-thousand golfers, we still turned a profit in 2020. We’ve put those profits back into the course, and with the help of federal money, we’ve expanded our kitchen for COVID compliance. I can assure you Chef James is taking full advantage of it so stop by when the restaurant is back up and running. Look for details on the return of the Friday Night Fish Fry soon. And as we celebrate River Oaks’ 30th anniversary, employees are encouraging visitors to “play hard, eat big and create memories!”

You can also expect to see new retail, restaurant and service-provider options throughout the City in the coming months. Not only is Caribou keeping its storefront in our community, this spring they’ll build another center where coffee- lovers can get their drinks through a drive thru or walk-up window. A salon “suite center” also plans to move into town in 2021 right next to TJ Maxx and Sports Clips.

While the pandemic certainly affected the state’s overall economy, the City of Cottage Grove did very well. We did not have any retail or restaurant closures and I firmly believe it is because we take care of our own; shop local is much more than a tagline in our community. When our residents knew our business owners needed us, we showed up to take care of each other!

Here’s the good news… inquiries into our retail and restaurant spaces are starting to pick up. Developers and brokers are interested in our growing community, and as we navigate what the new normal will be, our teams will adjust together for the greater good of our community.

I’m also happy to report that our business park is in prime position to welcome new employers, further increasing our tax capacity. As industrial and manufacturing outfits look to grow, Cottage Grove will remain competitive in the marketplace. In 2021, we’ll be extending sanitary sewer in the area of 100th Street and Ideal Avenue, which gives us room to add larger end-users who can employ hundreds of people. Our 2040 Comprehensive Plan also allows for some housing growth in this area so stay tuned for some exciting announcements in the months and years ahead.

As for the state of our roads, I’m proud to say 2020 was an ambitious road construction season, as we rebuilt large sections of 80th Street and West Point Douglas Road. This year, we’ll be replacing Jamaica Avenue, from Indian Boulevard to 80th Street. The road will remain open throughout construction, but motorists will encounter some lane closures. Crews will also tackle a neighborhood reconstruction project near Arbor Meadows Park and they’ll complete a Mill and Overlay Pilot Project South of 70th Street and west of Hardwood Avenue. This pavement preservation technique extends the life of the roadway will keeping construction costs down.

In 2021, we’ll also begin design work to alleviate the traffic congestion we’ve all experienced at the intersection of East Point Douglas Road and Jamaica Avenue. Our engineering team will be working with business owners and residents throughout the year to discuss options that will help folks get in and out of the busy retailers and restaurants in this area. Right now, we’re exploring the expansion of the traffic signal at the intersection itself and taking a look at adding a roundabout to help with the traffic flow into both Cub Foods and Target. Final design work will occur in 2022 with construction set to begin in 2023, as the City works to secure state funding to help pay for the project.

Now, I’m extremely excited to say 2021 is the year we transition from talking about permanent water treatment solutions to building permanent water treatment solutions. As the state finalizes its plan, our teams are pushing for immediate 3M Settlement funding for the design of two permanent water treatment plants that will serve our City and residents for decades to come. One will be located near the Central Fire Station, the other near 100th Street. While we have built three temporary treatment plants in the past 3 years with settlement money, which will continue to serve us well in the interim, this long term solution is something City Council Members, Staff Members and residents have been working tirelessly to achieve. In the coming year we will also drill a new well to replace a few contaminated wells and connect more homes into the City’s water system.

Before we discuss the possibility of a Community Center, I’d like to briefly detail the Shoppes at Cottage View development project. Before the pandemic, we were heavily marketing this retail, entertainment and housing hub, and we were gaining momentum and interest in this area located near the northwest corner of Keats and East Point Douglas Road. This is a development driven effort, so we are making great progress on the medium to high density housing aspect of the project. Housing development will lead to more retail development. As we reinvigorate our marketing efforts, we’ll keep you posted and updated.

Finally, as you are well aware, we have been talking about a potential Community Center for years and years, but I’m here to announce that this is the year we will put the question before you, the voters! Between now and November, our goal is to educate residents on what a community center would entail, where it would be located and what it will cost. What I can promise you is when you head to the ballot box on November 2nd you will have all the information you need to make an informed decision.

Based on an enormous amount of studies and feedback gathered recently, and over the course of the last decade, I’d like to provide a glimpse at what will be up for referendum in nine months. Please know more and more details will be provided as we move through the process leading up to November.

The concept includes the following:

• Indoor Playground

• Community or Multi-Purpose Rooms

• Sports Dome with Walking Track

• Climbing Wall

• Performance Space

• Early Childhood Family Ed

• Office and Storage Space for the Cottage Grove Athletic Association

• Outdoor Landscaped Areas

• Outdoor Aquatic Center with 50 Meter Pool Just to give you a better sense of what we’re considering, features of a potential Aquatic Center would include an extended lazy river, water slides, a zip line, shallow water play features and equipment, diving boards and shade structures.

Again, the proposed Center itself would be located just off of Keats Avenue, across the street from Ravine Regional Park within the future Shoppes at Cottage View Development.

We will be sharing potential financing details in the coming weeks. With a 50 Meter Pool, we can explore the potential for some significant state funding. One other thing I’d like to share is while we offer this project as a referendum question in November, if approved, financial impact to taxpayers wouldn’t begin until 2023.

Again, we will be releasing financial data throughout the year as staff members continue to explore partnerships, cost recovery projections and funding options to lower the overall cost of the project.

So, to sum things up: In 2020, the City of Cottage Grove and its residents proved we were resilient. We learned there is no challenge too great for us. We adjusted and supported each other, and today, we’re a stronger City because of what we conquered together.

As the President of the Association of Metropolitan Cities, I’m never shy about sharing success stories related to Cottage Grove’s overall character and operational excellence. I couldn’t be prouder to work on behalf of our City, representing our amazing residents. We have big plans for the future and I cannot wait to see what we’ll all accomplish together in 2021.

On behalf of the Members of our City Council and our City employees, I’d like to say THANK YOU for truly making Cottage Grove the City where Pride and Prosperity Meet, no matter what!

Cottage Grove City Council members (from left) Steve Dennis, La Rae Mills and Dave Thiede listen to Mayor Myron Bailey’s State of the City Address last Wednesday. Council member Justin Olsen was in row two. Photo by John McLoone.