Since the original raw transcript did not include timestamps, I have used sequential placeholders `[00:00:00]`. I have identified the speakers based on the roll call, self-introductions, and the context of the officials provided. **Note on Speakers:** * **Crystal:** The primary presenter of the CIP is identified in the dialogue as "Crystal." While not on your provided staff list, she is likely Crystal Duclos (Cottage Grove Senior Planner/Staff). * **Councilmember Khambata:** The transcript refers to "Councilmember Kat." This refers to Tony Khambata, a regular council liaison for the Cottage Grove Planning Commission. * **Commissioners:** Names are based on the roll call (Frasier, Raspon, Bot, Britton, Fisher, Nabai, Rasmason, Stevens). *** **[00:00:00] Chair Frasier:** Good evening and welcome to the planning commission's regular meeting for October 23rd. This time we'll move on to roll call. **[00:00:05] Staff:** Commissioner Raspon? **[00:00:06] Commissioner Raspon:** Present. **[00:00:07] Staff:** Commissioner Bot? **[00:00:08] Commissioner Bot:** Present. **[00:00:09] Staff:** Commissioner Britton? **[00:00:10] Commissioner Britton:** Here. **[00:00:11] Staff:** Commissioner Fisher? **[00:00:12] Commissioner Fisher:** Here. **[00:00:13] Staff:** Chair Frasier? **[00:00:14] Chair Frasier:** Here. **[00:00:15] Staff:** Commissioner Nabai? **[00:00:16] Commissioner Nabai:** Here. **[00:00:17] Staff:** Commissioner Rasmason? **[00:00:18] Commissioner Rasmason:** Here. **[00:00:19] Staff:** Commissioner Stevens? **[00:00:20] Commissioner Stevens:** Here. **[00:00:21] Staff:** Thank you. **[00:00:22] Chair Frasier:** Thank you. This time we'll move to item three which is approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve? **[00:00:25] Commissioner Britton:** Motion to approve. **[00:00:26] Chair Frasier:** Have a motion from Commissioner Britton. Do I have a second? **[00:00:28] Commissioner Fisher:** I'll second. **[00:00:29] Chair Frasier:** Second from Commissioner Fisher. All those in favor say aye. (Chorus of Ayes). Opposed say no. Motion carries 7-0. Item four is tonight's open forum. If there's anyone who's in the audience who'd like to speak on something that is not on tonight's agenda, please step forward to the podium, state your name and address for the record. We'll open the forum. **[00:00:45] Bonnie Matter:** I have to finish chewing my mint—time hasn't started yet, okay? Because I have to swallow. First of all, Commissioners, thank you very much for providing this forum because this is—I now learned that this is what this is. It's a forum where I can address actually city council and City staff. So thank you for providing that. Just some thoughts: in a very uncertain economic environment when there should be more attention paid to cost control and saving, the city of Cottage Grove is continuing to plan more and bigger projects. Many people think that with all the new commercial and residential development, the city has more money to spend with this expanding tax base. This is not the case. With more development comes the need for more infrastructure, more demands on finite resources like water, more streets, more people and manpower to maintain, more pollution and destruction of the land and wildlife habitat. Older areas of the city require ongoing investment for upgrading and replacement of deteriorating infrastructure due to poorly planned development. Our schools need more very costly buildings to educate our children; these buildings will no doubt have increased operating costs. It's difficult to find people to provide services that are needed like bus drivers and food service workers to serve our children. Our wells are overtaxed due to overdevelopment and in some instances we are even being shut down. There is no suitable transportation system available within the city to move residents around efficiently. We have built lovely, lovely municipal buildings that are very costly to maintain. Residents are experiencing hits to their pocketbooks from multiple areas: increased property taxes, increased school district taxes, increased city taxes, increased homeowners insurance, increased auto insurance, food prices, gas—you know, you’ve walked it too. So, we have experienced some very unusual summers, a very unusual summer with extreme weather patterns across the country, rising temperatures, wildfires, extreme storm patterns, drought, and yet there has been no climate change plan put forward or even discussed for the city. So this will be continued. Thank you. **[00:03:00] Chair Frasier:** Thank you. We know who you are, but could you state your name and address? **[00:03:05] Bonnie Matter:** Of course, I'm so sorry. Bonnie Matter, 6649 Inskip Avenue South. Thank you. **[00:03:10] Chair Frasier:** Thank you. Anyone else wishing to address the commission on open forum? Seeing none, we'll close open forum. Item five is chair's explanation of the hearing process. The Planning Commission is a volunteer advisory group to the city council... (Chair reads standard explanation). With that, we will move to item six, public hearings. 6.1 is the Capital Improvement Plan for 2024 to 2028, case CP2023-17. **[00:04:15] Crystal (City Staff):** Well good evening, Mr. Chair and members of the commission. Thanks for the opportunity for allowing me to present on the 2024 to 2028 Capital Improvement Plan for Cottage Grove. This is a planning document that we use to see what's coming in the next 5 years and really to estimate our capital needs and how those will be financed... (Crystal presents detailed CIP projects for Public Facilities, Parks, Streets, and Utilities). That was a lot of stuff, but does anybody have any questions? **[00:09:45] Chair Frasier:** Any questions for staff? No? All right, thank you. I do have one question: what do you mean when you say "development driven project"? **[00:10:00] Crystal (City Staff):** As development happens in those neighborhoods which we've seen developers interested in—as development actually comes to fruition, we'll need to build out things like parks and Ravine Parkway and features for those residents that move in there to use. **[00:10:20] Commissioner Raspon:** I have a quick question. Using the 80th Street project as reference, I think we had like a $10 million budget and then it said half of that was maybe state grants or something. Does that mean we're like at $15 million or is $10 million the total project amount, with half of it funded through the state? **[00:10:45] Crystal (City Staff):** $10 million is the total project amount... I'm going to just make sure that's correct with Amanda. Yes, $10 million is the total amount and then $5 million is already paid for by grant. So then our portion will be $5 million. **[00:11:00] Commissioner Raspon:** All right, I understand. Thank you. **[00:11:05] Chair Frasier:** Thank you very much. At this time we open the public hearing on the application. Anyone wishing to speak for or against the application can step to the podium. **[00:11:15] Bonnie Matter:** Thank you, Commissioners. Bonnie Matter, 6649 Inskip Avenue South. Regarding the CIP, I have more questions than I can cover in a three-minute talk but I'll give you some broad brush thoughts... (Bonnie critiques spending on the utilities building, the $43 million South District project, and rising utility fees). The proposed amendment CIP 2024-2028 should be scrapped and a more realistic plan should be presented to the residents of Cottage Grove. Thank you. **[00:15:30] Chair Frasier:** Thank you. Seeing no other public comment, I'll close the public hearing on the application. If I could have someone from staff step up to answer a couple of the questions that were posed? **[00:15:45] Crystal (City Staff):** Good evening, Chair and members of the commission. As far as the comp plan amendment question, I may pass that over to our community development director Emily Schmitz to respond to. **[00:16:00] Emily Schmitz (Community Development Director):** Mr. Chair, members of the commission. So the CIP is kind of wrapped in or referenced in the comprehensive plan. Therefore, every year when we review an update for the next coming year, we need to make sure that we're amending that comprehensive plan to reflect the new, polished CIP. **[00:16:20] Chair Frasier:** And just as a review, the comprehensive plan is the guiding document for how the city is going to develop and what land use policy is for the city, correct? **[00:16:30] Emily Schmitz:** You are correct, Mr. Chair. **[00:16:32] Chair Frasier:** And so the Capital Improvement Plan is a part of the comprehensive plan that gets updated every year to show where the plan is to spend the city dollars? **[00:16:40] Emily Schmitz:** That's correct, Mr. Chair, as we look out those five years. **[00:16:45] Commissioner Britton:** And just to add into that, you know, the five-year mark at the end of the comprehensive plan is predicted but not as well planned as the one year out. As we do this one-year step, five years gets a little more clear because now it's four years. Would that be correct? **[00:17:00] Emily Schmitz:** That's correct, and that's why we reevaluate and take a deeper look every year. **[00:17:10] Crystal (City Staff):** I do just want to reiterate—the city did go through an extensive process to put together a financial management plan... (Crystal explains the AAA bonding rate, utility rates, and grant funding strategies for the 100th Street project). **[00:20:00] Commissioner Britton:** Could you give a little overview of the street light fund and water fund? How do those work? There was the question of negative balance. My assumption is that we're accumulating money for larger projects. **[00:20:15] Crystal (City Staff):** Mr. Chair, members of the commission. We are working very closely day-to-day with our finance department to understand funding on every project... (Crystal explains utility fund balances and franchise fees). **[00:22:00] Commissioner Stevens:** One of the things she brought up was like a moratorium on development. I think that's a common concern—that development is what's causing the need for these expensive projects. Maybe you want to take a second and talk about the benefits of development and how those funds help pay for existing infrastructure? **[00:22:20] Crystal (City Staff):** I think there's probably pros and cons. As we think about projects as a whole, a lot of what we see in our CIP are projects that are necessary for our current residents... When we talk about getting new development, it's more people living, shopping, eating, and providing into our community financials. **[00:23:15] Commissioner Raspon:** When developers come in, don't they have to shoulder some of the costs of actually running utility lines? **[00:23:25] Crystal (City Staff):** That's a really good point. As developers are coming in, they are bearing all of the initial costs for utilities and streets. **[00:23:45] Commissioner Rasmason:** Throughout the presentation, looks like we're getting a lot of state and federal grant money. Does the CIP planning process allow us to apply for that? **[00:24:00] Crystal (City Staff):** Yes, it is very good to see on a grant application that it is in our CIP and that we are planning for it. **[00:24:15] Commissioner Fisher:** I just want to make one more comment. The city of Cottage Grove works really hard to keep up with things. Potholes maybe—Tony [Khambata] probably can agree with me... Cottage Grove is a good place to be and I appreciate all of this. **[00:25:00] Commissioner Nabai:** I had a question. For example, a Zamboni in 2027 at $120,000. Is there inflation built into that number or do you revisit every item as it gets closer? **[00:25:20] Crystal (City Staff):** We are adding in some inflation as we go each year. Also, those ice arena projects are being funded from the North Point naming rights, so that's not necessarily funding coming from our taxpayers. **[00:26:00] Commissioner Rasmuson:** Regarding the Oltman Middle School, there was funding for a lacrosse field. How does that play with the school board? Is it a city-owned park or school district property? **[00:26:30] Emily Schmitz:** My understanding is that it is a city project on that parcel... I'm happy to clarify again with our park and rec department on the specifics. **[00:27:00] Commissioner Bot:** Regarding the federal grants—have they already been applied for or is that the amount you're going to apply for? **[00:27:15] Emily Schmitz:** It's a bit of both. Some like 80th Street and Shops at Cottage View have already been received. For 100th Street, we've obtained 7 million and are in the midst of applying for more. **[00:27:45] Commissioner Bot:** And regarding climate change—are there any considerations towards that in these projects? **[00:28:00] Emily Schmitz:** It hasn't been a huge topic of discussion for street reconstructions, but for buildings like Glacial Valley Park, we reviewed and implemented alternative energy sources to make it nearly self-sufficient. **[00:28:30] Chair Frasier:** Any further discussion? I appreciate that Miss Matter brought up the fact that citizens need to be involved. I totally agree with that statement. With that, I would look for a motion. **[00:28:45] Commissioner Raspon:** Motion to approve the 2024 to 2028 CIP. **[00:28:50] Chair Frasier:** Do I have a second? **[00:28:51] Commissioner Nabai:** Second. **[00:28:52] Chair Frasier:** All those in favor say aye. (Chorus of Ayes). Opposed say no. Motion carries 7-0. Item seven is approval of the minutes from July 24th... (Motion by Fisher, second by Rasmason, passes 7-0). Item eight is reports. 8.1 is recap of August, September, and October City Council meetings. **[00:29:45] Emily Schmitz (Community Development Director):** Mr. Chair, members of the commission. We haven't been here since July... (Director Schmitz highlights the Comprehensive Plan Amendment, bee ordinance, appointment of Commissioner Bot, and Mississippi Dunes updates). I will pass it on to Councilmember Kat [Khambata]. **[00:31:30] Councilmember Tony Khambata:** Thank you, Director Schmitz. I have to commend Bonnie on raising a lot of really, really good questions... (Councilmember Khambata explains that the CIP is a tool to access grants, discusses the 100th Street realignment, and the funding of public utilities and parks). Since I came on to the council, I have tasked every one of the directors to seek out grants. These items are on this plan because it gives our staff the tools it needs to access those funds. With that, I'll open it up to any questions. **[00:35:00] Chair Frasier:** Any questions for Councilmember Khambata or Director Schmitz? Seeing none, thank you. 8.2 was response to planning commission inquiries—we didn't have any. 8.3—any other Planning Commission requests? Seeing none, we'll move to item nine, adjournment. **[00:35:15] Commissioner Rasmason:** Motion to adjourn. **[00:35:16] Chair Frasier:** Do I have a second? **[00:35:17] Commissioner Nabai:** Second. **[00:35:18] Chair Frasier:** All those in favor say aye. (Chorus of Ayes). Motion passes 7-0. We are adjourned.