Council holds three public hearings Oct. 16

Hearings on tall weeds, pavement management and Oltman Middle School easements

By Joseph Back
Posted 10/30/24

The Cottage Grove City Council met Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m in the St. Croix Room at City Hall for its regular bimonthly council meeting. On the agenda for the night were several items, including …

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Council holds three public hearings Oct. 16

Hearings on tall weeds, pavement management and Oltman Middle School easements

Posted

The Cottage Grove City Council met Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m in the St. Croix Room at City Hall for its regular bimonthly council meeting.
On the agenda for the night were several items, including a Terrance Patrick Cahill Award recognition for Officer Matt Sorgaard and K9 Partner Odin, pavement management and assessment hearings, and consent agenda approvals.
Council member Justin Olsen pulled consent agenda item D to acknowledge a $2,000 donation made by Chris Gehrman towards a memorial bench for Cole Gehrman. The memorial bench program through the Cottage Grove Parks and Recreation Department allows for individuals to donate towards park benches in the name of loved ones.
Including in the public hearings for Oct. 16 meanwhile were a tall weeds assessment, drainage and utility easement vacation near Oltman Middle School, and assessments related to a 2024 pavement management at Prestige Estates.
Finance Director Brenda Malinowski presented on the tall weeds assessment for the city.
“Mayor and members of the city council, this evening is a public hearing for noxious weeds,” she said. “We do this through our city code process.”
More specifically, the city’s Noxious Weeds and Plants Ordinance 4-3-1 prohibits the growth of grasses or weed on platted or developed lands within the city to a height greater than eight inches.
Failure to comply results in enforcement on a complaint based basis under city code section 4-1-6. A total of 83 notices were mailed to property owners giving five days notice to abate. If the property owner does not abate the nuisance, the city then hires a contractor to do so and sends the invoice to the property owner, with failure to pay resulting in costs being assessed pursuant to Chapter 429 of the Minnesota Statutes.
The city ordinance is aimed at manicured areas rather than backyards or unmanicured ones such as a backyard tree group with buckthorn.
Following the closing of the public hearing after brief comment, the council adopted Resolution
2024 - 142, motion to approve being made by Council Member Dave Thiede and seconded by Council Member Tony Khambata.
Also on the public hearings from Oct. 16 was a pavement management project at Prestige Estates, presented on by Public Works Director Ryan Burfeind.
“The project area this year is just north of 80th Street,” Burfeind said of the current year’s work. Affecting the project this years in part were rain, curb damage, and additional restoration and irrigation work, Burfeind offering an apology prior to public comment on the matter.
“I do want to apologize to residents for that because it’s out of our control,” Burfeind said of the project delays, noting that the August finish goal had still been met for pavement management this year.
Total project cost was $1,122,149.32, with assessments furnishing $502,685.69 and the general levy furnishing $488,048.71 of the value. The balance of the funds for the project came from the sanitary sewer, stormwater, and water utility, as well as street lighting funds.
With many residents speaking their thoughts on the assessment and whether it constituted a net property gain given the circumstances, the council heard residents before adopting Resolution 2024 - 143 to approve the assessment roll for the project. Motion to adopt the resolution was made by Council Member Justin Olsen and seconded by Council Member Monique Garza.
“I’m really disheartened and frustrated at the experience that these people had with this project,” Council member Khambata said before the vote was taken. “I know a lot of the things they faced were outside of the contract, were out of our control…I know that staff is going to make sure the contractor is held accountable for this and these things get done.” Khambata noted that built into the contract was withholding of city funds from the contractor to ensure that this happened.
Last in public hearings from Wednesday was a drainage and utility easement, presented by associate city planner Conner Jakes. Two separate easements were involved.
The first related to the area of the school proper and a private water main around it. The district currently has applications for building changes, one for a cafeteria on the west and another for classrooms on the south. As such easement issues needed to be addressed.
“Because the water main is private the city does not conduct maintenance on the water main itself, however, it does conduct maintenance on the hydrants,” Jakes said. A new and more specific access easement replacing one granted in 2017 would ensure maintenance responsibilities were clear.
The second was related to a storm sewer easement, vacating two previous ones to make one new one and allow for pipe maintenance of a pipe constructed slightly outside the former ones.
The council moved and voted to approve staff recommendations on the easements related to Oltman Middle School, council members taking turns in moving to repeal and approve as necessary.
Approved in consent agenda items from Wednesday, Oct. 16 were a 2025-2026 service agreement with the Washington County Conservation District, final streets memorandum for Woodward Ponds Second Addition, an agreement between the Washington Conservation District and the East Metro Water Education program, parking restrictions on 90th Street, intersection control at Hemingway Avenue and 79th Street, a single occasion gambling license to Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, and approval of meeting minutes for both the council and advisory committee on historic preservation.
Authorization to order two lawnmowers for River Oaks was also approved.
As for the parking on 90th Street, it comes after concern was raised of children’s ability to walk to school safety. The move follows the placing of an eight-foot striped should on the north side of 90th Street from Hadley Avenue to Greene Avenue, to compensate for the lack of sidewalks at the time Thompson Grove was built. The ‘no parking’ zone on 90th Street is meant to preserve the intent of the eight foot striped shoulder for ensuring pedestrian safety.
In regards to intersection control at Hemingway Avenue and 79th Street near Park Grove Library, the council took action to approve Resolution 2024 - 149, allowing for installation of stop signs to control northbound and southbound traffic, effectively making the intersection an all way stop.
The Oct. 16 consent agenda as a whole was approved, motion being made by Khambata and seconded by Garza.
The council meets twice a month on the first and third Wednesday of the month.