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Due to their balanced budget, though, 83% of Cottage Grove’s residents felt little impact from the demand. Next on the list; Cottage Grove received and utilized $2.8 million from the Federal CARES Act Fund. This majestic amount of cash funded personal protective equipment and COVID-19 testing to residents. One last financial development of 2020 was how work from home opportunities became possible. Info Technology produced a “hyper-converged data center refresh” and provided the necessary updated devices to the city’s employees. “These opportunities helped us to have continuity for operations during the time of COVID…making sure we didn’t have any breaks in providing services for our community,” Dennis revealed.

Records regarding the growth of Cottage Grove were absolutely crushed this year. In fact, the Community Development Department reported the breaking of two records. The first one being the distribution of 377 housing permits. Considering the conditions that the housing market were placed in due to COVID-19 struggles, this was a remarkable occurrence. Next, a record number of inspections were carried out in 2020. These 16,481 procedures valued about $146.6 million in total.

On top of the establishment of new records within the Community Development Department, 314 new residential lots were constructed as well as 153 townhome units to accommodate different home needs. One last accomplishment in regards to Community Development in Cottage Grove is how after rigorous work, Cottage Grove earned the formal Met Council adoption of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Dennis explained that this achievement will positively affect Cottage Grove beyond this year, “…Which, in essence, defines how we grow as a community, not only within, but also how we interact and match up with other communities to ensure that smart growth for the area.”

With that, Dennis transitioned into the accomplishments of Cottage Grove’s Parks and Recreation Department. Over the course of the year, the majority of citizens had excess down time due to COVID-19 restrictions. Playgrounds, trails, picnic tables, and open spaces became an important way for residents to remain occupied in one of the safest ways. The extensive use of River Oaks Golf Course in 2020 is evidence of that significance. 40,000 rounds of golf were played in the last twelve months, pronouncing a new record. In addition to the success of River Oaks, the Ice Arena was able to reopen safely after the emergency shutdown last spring. This generated the 90% recovery of their typical rental sales. On a city-wide scale, the Parks and Recreation Department refinanced and expanded seven parks. Included in this selection was the brand new park entitled, “Strawberry Fields”. After temporary shutdowns were enforced in early 2020, Parks and Recreation made an admirable resurgence in Cottage Grove. Cottage Grove’s Public Safety Department also aimed high this year through their police, fire, and EMS teams. As Dennis read through their achievements, The Journal prepared to report those of immense importance. To begin with, Cottage Grove’s authorities rescued a group of ducklings that slipped into a sewer. This was one of the 29,000 service calls that were acted upon. Secondly, another year brought upgraded technology to the police department. For instance, officers gained higher quality cameras, drones, and less lethal munitions. Not only did the police department make advancements in technology, they also improved themselves as officers. Employee training in the HERO training center and health screening was emphasized in 2020. Dennis justified the updates made within the police department, “This is all done to better serve our community and to better serve in a way that’s respectful and professional.”

The victories of the Public Safety Department did not end there. Both the fire department and EMS in Cottage Grove sparked noteworthy changes this year. First, the fire team secured additional life saving equipment. This includes a ladder that is capable of reaching the roof of any building in Cottage Grove. Why is this important? “…to improve response capabilities…,” explained Dennis.

Secondly, Cottage Grove’s Public Safety Department “exponentially” increased the amount of fire-related precautions usually taken. 350 fire inspections were completed “to keep our community safe” during 2020. Lastly, thanks to the EMS and Management team, Cottage Grove had an opportunity to access COVID-19 testing. In the month of November, this team facilitated the testing of 3,000 residents.

Before concluding his “2020 Year In Review”, Dennis described what Cottage Grove’s Public Works Department accomplished since January. Dennis mentioned first the installment of a new interim water treatment plant in an intermediate pressure zone. Another addition Cottage Grove’s Public Works team made in 2020 was a thirteenth snow plow route. This new route is expected to “enhance drivers’ safety’’ in more areas, according to Dennis. The Public Works Department was extended further through hiring an Administrative Technician. Their role of managing 1,100 pieces of equipment and automobiles in years to come will “take care of our entire fleet of vehicles.” As far as the productivity of the Public Works Department goes, more than 3,500 tons of asphalt were used for the completion of more than 350 road assignments and 431 calls to manage urban forests were responded to this year.

Engineering is a large aspect of the Public Works department and that remained evident all year. Dennis claimed that the engineering team “led our city in the busiest construction season ever!!”

There are two ways in which they did so. First, public and private construction of streets and utilities totaling $38.4 million were worked on by engineers. The improvements made on 80th street and West Point Douglas Road made up a large fraction of that total. Finally, with the help of this team, Cottage Grove was able to design a “sustainable future”. They increased the quality of the drinking water to do so. Just as all of the other city departments flourished in 2020, Public Works thrived alongside them.

With that, Dennis brought the “2020 Year In Review” to a close. The audience was left to ponder this fact: The “bright sides” of 2020 in Cottage Grove prove that this city can thrive through an obstacle.

Perhaps Mayor Myron Bailey would agree with this idea. In a comment shortly after Dennis’ presentation, he suggested, “You know, it’s been a crazy year as we all know, dealing with COVID and all that, but, behind the scenes there’s been a lot of really neat things happening in our community…record-breaking housing developments… road projects, additional construction and such…”

Bailey concluded this segment of the meeting’s agenda by expressing his gratitude for the people that generated the success of Cottage Grove’s year. He expressed, “From me personally, I just want to say thank you to all of our staff, everybody out there, the citizens of Cottage Grove