All right. Good. I hate to say wintry evening, but it is unfortunately winter back out there in Minnesota. Uh this is the February 18th, 2026 Cottage Grove Council meeting, which I'm calling to order. Our first order of business is the pledge of allegiance. If you please rise. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Uh, will our clerk please do the role? >> Council member Clawson >> here. >> Council member Olsen >> here. >> Council member Theiti >> here. >> Council member Garza here. >> Mayor Bailey >> here. All right. Thanks everyone. Uh, next on our agenda is open forum. This is the opportunity for anybody who wants to speak on anything that's not on tonight's agenda is welcome to do so. Uh, we did have a signup sheet out in the entryway and we did have uh, I think it's a couple, right, that have signed up uh, and Philip and Tia. Tillia, if you just want to head up to the podium and just state your name and address for the record. And it looks like your topic is about data centers. And I couldn't tell. Is your last name Winter? >> Winkles. >> Winkles. Okay. >> Um, well, my first question is, uh, is there a data a data center planned for Cottage Grove? >> Okay. At the moment, I can say that I'm not aware of an actual data center being planned in Cottage Grove. >> Oh, okay. Well, then my statistics don't mean anything if we're >> concerned because of the amount of water and electricity they use. You can share though. Feel free to share. Um it um it does use over 400 million gallons of water per year. Uh equals that for a thousand households. Uh the electricity use is 400 or 4% of the total electrical grid which equals 10,000 homes >> 100,000 >> 100,000 homes a year. Um the bills for us would double and I don't like that. we're on a fixed income. Um, plus the unknown climate impact that the heat gives off, it's a constant noise. Um, and um, we need to put a like a pause on do on data centers um, until we have more information available and what how they impact the environment. So that was my So I'm glad we're not having one. Well, and what I'll share with you is that there's nothing that we have been said or no one's shown up to say, "Hey, I want to build I'm going to build one or >> there they got one going for um Ember Grove Heights and now the um public has been notified about it and so there's an uproar. So, I wanted to get it before that happens." So, >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> I appreciate it. Thank you. >> I appreciate it. >> Thanks. >> All right. Great. I'm assuming no one else in the audience wants to speak on open forum. All right, I will go ahead and close open forum and we'll move to number five, which is adoption of the agenda. >> Move the agenda. >> We have a motion by council member Theiti. Do I have a second? Second. >> Second by council member Gar. I'll do that since you're going to do the other. Okay. >> Um any further discussion? >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. Uh next is presentations this evening, which is six. We have one which is the proclamation uh for February 18th, 2026 as the Tibetan New Year. And I did ask uh council member uh Clawson to read uh the proclamation. Then after it's done, I'll ask for a motion in a second. So kick it off to you. >> Thank you, mayor. Um uh the proclamation is as follows. Whereas on February 18th, 2026, the Tibetan community and friends of Tibetan culture worldwide welcomed the Tibetan New Year 2153, the year of the fire horse. And whereas the term lossar means from the Tibetan word low meaning year and sar meaning new uh representing a sacred period of reflection, purification, and the renewal of hope for the coming year. And whereas Minnesota is home to one of the largest and most vibrant Tibetan-American populations in the United States with more than 6,000 residents contributing to the rich cultural fabric of our state and region. And whereas the Tibetan-American Foundation of Minnesota serves as a vital local steward of these ancient cultural and spiritual traditions, fostering a spirit of compassion and nonviolence within our community. Uh and whereas and whereas this coincides with global celebrations of the year of compassion, an initiative dedicated to honoring a legacy of universal humanitarian values and the preservation of distinct cultural identities. And now therefore, uh the mayor and city council of the city of Cottage Grove, county of Washington, state of Minnesota, hereby proclaim February 18th, 2026 as Tibetan New Year, LOSAR. And mayor, with that, I would uh move we accept this proclamation. Fantastic. So, we have a motion by council member Clausa. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by council member Olsen. All of those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh, thank you, Council Member Clawson. All right. I will now uh move to consent, uh, which is number seven. Is there anything council would like to pull on consent? >> C. >> Uh, council member Thea, you're going to pull C. Anybody else? All right. Right. So then we'll move to council member thec's appointments to the parks, recreation, and natural resources commission. Yes, I'm uh so I'm the uh the liaison to the parks, recreation, and natural resources commission this year and uh uh every February we kind of have different terms that uh that come up and we need to either uh reinstate people if they have term left or or they have to we have to find somebody new. So, uh, it turns out that this year Samantha Crabtree, who has been on the commission, I think for like eight years, term limited out, and, uh, she's, uh, been a great asset, uh, on that on that commission, and, and I'm sure this won't be the last we see of her getting involved in the city. She's she's been involved in that. Uh so we uh we talked to a couple different people and um uh we came to a decision that Jordan Dibbich was should be appointed to the Parks, Recreation, Natural Resources Commission effective March 1st. So I'd appreciate uh um if you guys would uh kind of take take a look at that and and uh and approve that tonight on with the U consent calendar. Fantastic. All right, sounds good. So, with that, uh, seeing nothing else was, uh, pulled for comment on the consent, I'll look for a motion to approve consent. >> Approve consent or motion to approve consent. >> All right. So, I have a motion by council member Thei. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by council member Garza. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. Opposed. >> Motion carries. So, if anybody's watching or in the audience that's here for anything on tonight's consent agenda, all of those items have been approved. Uh, number eight is approved dispersement, which is 8A is to pay the bills. I'll move to pay the bills. All right. So, we have a motion by council member Clawson. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Second. Was that you, Council Member Olson? >> That was me. >> Yep. Uh, second by Council Member Olsen. Any further discussion? >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. All right. Uh we're down to number nine already and we have one item which is a public hearing. Uh is A is the yellow tree development site plan review planned unit development preliminary and final plat and tax abatement. And so I know um we have a couple different people that are going to be presenting on this topic, but we'll start with Sam uh Parrot um who's our planner, senior planner with the city of Cottage Grove. I know Nate Carlson, who is our economic development manager, is going to be up here a little bit later. And then I also believe we have Shane Ruddlin. Yep. From uh Ellers that's going to be sharing some information. So we'll kick it off to you. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. This evening we are I am presenting along with my uh esteemed colleagues the yellow tree development pro uh proposal for a site plan planned unit development preliminary and final plat and tax abatement public hearing for an apartment building on outlot D of the Everwood edition and outlot B of Falones South Point Ridge. Uh these are on East Point Douglas Road and are vacant parcels with that are wooded with some steep grades there. Outlot B is currently owned by the city of Cottage Grove and is proposed to be purchased by the developer to facilitate access to their parcel in the development due to the steep grades and the restricted buildable area here. Um outlot B does not currently have a conservation easement um unlike some other portions of the property as seen here. A conservation easement was established over outlots D and C of the Everwood edition in 1997 and then that was amended in 2007 in response to a proposed development. No development including grading, excavating or structure construction may occur on outlot D above the 860 contour line uh which is the area that is still in a conservation easement. A former farm road was also preserved as a trail easement and must remain a natural path with very limited grading and excavation allowed. The farm road connected East Point Douglas to what is now Aspen Cove uh north of the parcel and the farm road uh is part of the trail easement. Uh the northerly 60% of that farm road is the portion that is still in conservation easement. The lower 40% of the original road is not in a conservation easement. Uh the location of the road may be amended or trail that is proposed may be amended as the city sees fit fit so long as an unpaved pedestrian connection is maintained to East Point Douglas Road. The conservation easement, the trail easement, and the grades of the property significantly reduce the buildable area on the site. the developer has had to design their building around these areas um including the grading that is allowed. The land trust, the Minnesota land trust has approved all proposed trail configuration and grading within that trail easement. Due to the site constraints, as I mentioned, uh the applicant has proposed to purchase outlot B of Fred alone South Point Ridge. Um, this would mean that these two uh pieces of land need to be combined and since they're in two different plats, the land must be replplatted to combine land that's in two different plats. Um, the applicant has prepared the Everwood sixth edition and included the required drainage and utility easements for preliminary and final plat consideration this evening. The property is currently zoned mixed use where apartment buildings are a permitted use and the property is also guided mixed use in our 2040 comprehensive plan. Permitted density in the mixeduse district is 20 to 40 units per acre and the proposed density of the apartment building would be 30.39 units per acre. As mentioned, the applicant has also requested a planned unit development or PUD with this um request. The planning commission did discuss this at length at their December meeting and the applicant has requested that PUD consideration um which is a zoning tool to allow flexibility in the city's zoning standards where without using a variance in unique uh situations where unique circumstances exist. Um the proposal being located on the land with the existing conservation easement, trail easement, and the varying topography are all unique limitations to this property where the use of a PUD would be um acceptable. Providing diverse housing opportunities while preserving these natural features also supports the use of the PUD uh which is in conformance with the city's strategic plan, comprehensive plan, um etc. The PUD is proposed for building height, building setbacks, parking ratios, and architectural materials. Um, and I'll also note that the Roars apartment project um further down on East Point Douglas Road at the Culdeac also was approved as a PUB in 2024. The applicant is proposing a six-story apartment building with four levels of residential and two levels of covered parking. that planned unit development that I mentioned uh would allow the maximum height of the building to be 77 feet where 55 feet is allowed by our zoning ordinance. Um as I discussed the varying grades of the site would result in the front of the building being 77t tall at the tallest point. However, as you move around the back of the building, it will be built into the hillside and so the height will be actually be 45 ft from bottom from lowest adjacent grade to the top of the roof or the parapet. Um the structure setbacks are also proposed to be reduced via the PUD from 20 ft to 10 ft. Um, this is acceptable given again the reduced buildable area on site and the 10-foot setback will keep the structure out of all drainage and utility easements. The applicant has also proposed to provide the landscaping on site in compliance with the city code. Up to 40% of existing trees may be removed on site per code. However, given the extensive area in the conservation easement where trees are not allowed to be removed, um a significant amount of trees will be preserved on the site. The applicant will also be responsible for thinning some overgrowth and brush on the city-owned parcel to the east along East Point Douglas Road and the Mindot parcel uh to the south on the corner of East Point Douglas Road. Uh the developer must also maintain these properties to the back of the curb. um using sod and irrigation on the mindot parcel. Um but seed will be used on the city-owned parcel because it does serve as a storm water feature and does also have some uh very interesting grades. So um architecture of the building is also a proposed um use of the plan unit development. Uh the developer has requested to use 61% class one or two materials where 65% is required by our ordinance. Um the applicant has um ensured that the portion the walls facing East Point Douglas will have that 65% or more class one or two materials used while uh other portions of the building as you wrap around to the backside would be closer to that 61%. Um this is again similar to the roars bu uh build which was approved for 61 uh 61% of class one or two materials in 2024. However, giving um adherence to that 65% on the portions facing highway 61. So this is very similar to that request as well. Uh the plan unit development would also request a reduction in the number of parking spaces required on site. Um there are 298 spaces required and the applicant has proposed 296 spaces. This would be split up between 38 surface parking stalls and 258 underground stalls on that two-tiered parking system. A firetruck turnaround area must be provided to accommodate fire truck turning on the paved surface on the west side of the building. um to accommodate the truck turning up to two spaces may be lost. Um and therefore staff is comfortable with reducing the required parking down to 294 spaces for a parking ratio of 1.58 spaces per unit uh via the plan unit development. This would be comparable. Again, I'll mention the Roars apartments which had 1.5 spaces per unit and also the Legends apartments which had 1.2 spaces per unit. Um, an existing unpaved natural trail currently exists on the property connecting the sidewalk on East Point Douglas up to Aspen Cove. This is that former farm road that I mentioned earlier. Um, as I mentioned, there is that existing trail easement that was established as part of the conservation easement that must stay in place undisturbed in a more natural state. Um, however, the lower 40% of the farm road may be amended and the applicant has proposed to route that behind the proposed building along the parking lot and then down on the west side over outlot B to East Point Douglas Road. Um, this has been found to be an acceptable pedestrian connection by staff as and the land trust as I mentioned also reviewed this and gave their blessing. Um, the applicant has also proposed a stairway connection over a the city lot on the east side of the property for residents only to be able to access the trail on East Point Douglas Road. All right. And with that, I will bring up my counter Ryan Berine, the public works director, to talk about some transportation information. >> Good evening, mayor, members of the council. I'm gonna talk about two different things. uh thinking about East Point Douglas Road capacity of that. Also touch on Hardwood Avenue capacity and then look at some off-site pedestrian connectivity as well. Um so you can see on the screen currently around 1100 trips per day on East Point Douglas Road. Um and looking at Roars which is under construction and Yellow Tree that adds about another 1500 trips per day. Uh so we're looking at 2600 trips per day on East Point Douglas Road and the capacity is 5,000. So, um, from an engineering perspective, we're comfortable with that cuz, uh, Yellow Tree is the last developable, um, property, uh, on East Point Douglas Road. So, this is really kind of the end of of, you know, major traffic growth, uh, for this roadway. Certainly, it's a contributor, right? It, I mean, that's a big change. Um, it's a change in that traffic pattern, but, it is within the design capacity. Um, also highlighted in yellow is the Hardwood East Point Douglas Road intersection. um thinking about, you know, what impacts this development may have certainly over time, right? We're going to continue to monitor this area um for continuing traffic changes, but right now with Yellow Tree and RORS combined, looking at warrants for that intersection, warrants are what would trigger like an always stop or a traffic signal if it's even greater. Um at this time, always stop, those are the lower warrants. Those are not met um at this time with the traffic that we're anticipating. On the right, kind of thinking big picture, right? What are we looking at with Hardwood Avenue? That's a road that we continue to monitor. Uh we put the signal in at Hardwood Court because we've seen continued traffic growth along that roadway. Um and it's kind of two different roadways. As you go north of East Point Douglas Road, it's a two-lane arterial roadway. As you go south, it's a four-lane arterial. So, um these numbers in yellow, the top number is uh the existing traffic counts. The bottom is the capacity. So thinking similar to East Point Douglas Road, um both sections of road around 40% capacity. Um and then Yellow Tree and Roars will add to this, right? So it's definitely going to, you know, increase that traffic amount on Hardwood Avenue, no question. Still within design capacities and still going to continue to monitor that roadway as we continue to get development and redevelopment for any needs. So no additional um improvements at this time recommended for Hardwood Avenue. Uh the signal was the main one and the signal did take into account this growth, right? So um this uh this project and then roars were contributing factors to the need uh for that signal. We took those into account from the traffic perspective. Uh last thing is pedestrian connectivity. I'm at the planning commission. I know there was quite a bit of discussion about pedestrian connectivity and what does East Point Douglas Road look like. Um thinking about these four lane sections. This picture on the left, that's where it's that four-lane section and and they can they are a barrier to to pedestrians. There's no question. We're trying to move traffic efficiently along this roadway. Um, you can see in the middle at Harkness there used to be a striped crosswalk. We did remove that when we put the signal in. The signal is where we got that blue star. Um, we really wanted to try and encourage uh pedestrians to use that signalized intersection. That's the safe protected crosswalk at this point. Um, but certainly with the amount of apartments, you're going to have a lot of pedestrians on East Point Douglas Road. Um, so I think it's something we want to continue to look at. Um, when we think about our safe streets and roads for all, we have that grant that we're going to be implementing and doing a lot of pedestrian um, review throughout the city. Um, and even looking at where I highlighted in yellow, uh, there's that striped out median right now. Um, definitely some opportunities for improvement there, I think, for pedestrian access actually at this location. That could work quite well if we could do like a protected median or something like that. So, I think there are some things just for the whole network, right? not just for Yellow Tree, but for all the users and all the residents on East Point Douglas Road. There's probably some improvements that we could make here in the future at a relatively low cost. Um, but we want to review that with our safe streets for all program because we want to look citywide. What's our biggest uh uh issue points? You know, where's our biggest challenges for pedestrians to cross? So, um, that's what I have from a transportation perspective. Uh, with that, I will turn it over to Nate. Can >> I ask a quick question? >> Oh, yeah. Can you Ryan, real quick? I'm sorry. Yep. Council member Garza. >> Hi Ryan. Thank you so much for all the information. That was a lot. Really, really good. Just a quick question on that intersection that's circled in yellow. Y >> um >> is there um any plans as far as bike trails like extra going all along the new area that's getting put in? >> Yeah, Council Member Garza. So, uh no new plans for additional uh bike trails right now. Currently, we do have bike trails on both sides of Hardwood Avenue. it does switch to a sidewalk when you go south of East Point. Um, and being arterial roadway, that's where we like to see those trails on both sides. Um, so feeling good about that roadway. And then East Point Douglas Road has just the one sidewalk, but being more of a minor collector, um, that's pretty typical to see the one sidewalk on one side. So, um, from a kind of global perspective, I think pretty comfortable with it. So, no changes at this time. So, with the new the couple of new apartment units that are going in, you don't anticipate more need for expanding the bike trails down that way or anything? >> Uh, not at this time, Council Member Garza. With Yeah, with with two bike trails on Hardwood, there's really kind of maxed out at that point. Um, and like I said, it is a sidewalk and not a bike trail on East Point, but that is pretty typical for a roadway like that um to not have more of that kind of higher speed bike trail on a on a culde-sac. >> Thank you. Okay, council member uh Theiti had a question, too. seeing that we're talking about pedestrians and >> where they're most likely to to go uh coming out of Yellow Tree and and you know being that it's a market rate and so forth and um probably not necessarily a lot of older people but but we do know that they're and you kind of mentioned this in the in the uh the narrative but uh they're going to come across probably come across uh uh East Point Douglas and go right up into the to the like parking lot by by Kohl's or they're going to go right into the by uh um um >> Culver >> Culver's and so forth. So, I'm just wondering whether whether we should, you know, I know you mentioned in there about the the steepness of some of that and and making it ADA and so forth, but uh I mean, people are going to going to be taking that route anyway. Most most likely and I don't know, maybe we we should kind of consider maybe doing something with that, but uh >> it's a good idea. >> Yeah, Council, we can definitely take that in consideration. You're right. the grades were the biggest challenge. Um we did look at that I believe with Legends. Uh the other item that's probably was a bigger concern, but we can definitely look at it. Um is Kohl's itself, you know, mostly that's on private property. So it would have to be owned by Kohl's um and maintained by Kohl's and not the city. So just something we'd have to work with them if they would have interest in, you know, taking on that that connection. Certainly for their customers, it would be a nice quick access. you know, in the summertime people probably walk up the hill, but in the winter, maybe in more recent winters, but normally you're not getting up that hill. So, that's something we can look at further. And obviously they they'll they may also walk up the the the drive there to the uh um uh child care center and and to come across to to get to to a walkway on 80th Street, which which ends a little soon right there at >> Culver's >> and and so forth, which might be a way to and then then you get into an easement that that the city could possibly um you know do something there. But uh >> no and that's correct. If if it was in like a public easement and that was the route that was determined, you know, then it is something the city could maintain for sure. So something we can look into further. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Anybody else? >> Any other questions? >> All right. Turn over to Nate. >> Good evening, mayor, members of council. Nate Carlson. I'm the economic development manager. I'm also joined with my colleague uh Shane Redling of Ellers and we'll be discussing tonight presenting the uh the application and review of tax abatement for the yellow tree project. Uh so the question of what is tax abatement and why is it needed for this apartment project? I'd state it's it's similar to tiff. It captures the increment from an improvement on a site. Um but uh it only accounts for the city taxes. That's what we're contemplating. this evening. The t the new taxes from the project will continue to flow to the county and schools. And with this tax abatement project, there are no affordable unit requirements allowing more flexible use as opposed to a housing tax increment financing district. The reason for uh the application is due to the significant site constraint, excuse me, uh site constraints. uh it's not economically feasible for this project to move forward uh if not for but for the uh the assistance and our abatement review was conducted by our team at Ellers. Uh the graph before you demonstrates what the total project cost is at this time which is just over $45 million or $45.6 million with a per unit cost of uh $245,490. As for what the abatement terms are, um in in the agreement, uh it's to finance the first of all, they have to finance and construct the project. These new taxes need to be paid. They need to prove up the total costs prior to us issuing the note. Uh it's what we have determined as you a look back clause to rightsize the note. Um, right now it's it's situated where there's a $100,000 buffer and at if there's cost savings beyond $100,000, then there's a 50% reduction or 50 cent reduction per dollar uh that's reduced. And it's situated as a 10-year note with step downs. Uh to the right there's a graph that shows the year-over-year uh reduction. Uh it starts at 100% for the first three years and then over the course of the next few years it decreases by 5% and then in year 8 it's down to 75% and by year 10 following year 10 all taxes will be um flowing back to the city and the present value of the note currently is sit situated at $1.241 million. I'd invite my colleague uh Shane forward to discuss more of the returns of the project. Thanks, Nate. Thank you, mayor, council members. Uh Shane Redlang with Ellers. Um we do the financial work for for you guys related to these projects. Um you'll maybe recall we were before you in March of 2025 with a similar project. At that time it was 160 units. Over the course of that roughly year between now and then, um the development has gone up to 186 units. Included in your packet is a a breakout of the the mix between studios all the way up to three bedrooms. But the project got has gotten bigger. The terms of the abatement that you heard back in March of 2025 are are the same. Although the abatement number has gone up because there is more units. There's more cost of the project. The finances are largely the same. That's why we kept the abatement structure and the step down um the same as what you saw back in March of 2025. We've um tweaked the look back a little bit in kind of developing that whole concept with the developer given them a buffer but also again it would rightsize the abatement amount if the cost comes in lower. Whole concept there being they presented a cost today. If they save money in the project then uh the abatement that would be committed in present value isn't needed in the amount that we committed today. So pretend they save you know a million dollars. Obviously they didn't need the abatement amount that we're talking about today. for example. Um we generally don't anticipate that construction cost look backs are are usually not um enacted but they're they are a method that lots of cities use especially in the metro to you know to to manage uh abatement and tiff notes. So with that yeah we have the same recommendation as we had before although again the note amount is different because the costs and unit count are are changed and with that be happy to answer any questions. Okay. I should state, mayor, uh it's necessary for the council to hold a public hearing. It has been um uh stated in the the newspaper. It's been notified. And so, prior to um acting on the resolution, we need we do need to hold a public hearing. >> Okay. So, uh before we do that, let me just ask on council um with our staff here, the different members. I know Ryan got asked while he was in the middle of his, but is there any questions at the moment that council has with staff or Ellers? No. Okay. All right. Thank you. So then I guess what I'll do is I will go ahead and open the public hearing. Uh if there's anybody that wants to speak on this item is welcome to do so at this time. Anybody at all? All right. I seeing none, I will then go ahead and close the public hearing and uh council, you do have uh before you on the screen um there are four different resolutions, but yes, council member Theiti, >> one question. >> Yeah. >> And is uh anybody from Yellow Tree? >> I believe they are. >> Yep. Would you like to speak? >> I didn't see it in the packet anywhere. I was just curious what is your estimate of of cost for these different level apartments and and actually I I I I wasn't sure what a a Tetris al cove or or >> No, sure. >> Maybe maybe you could I did find you know the alcove in the concept of what the alcove is and so forth, but I I didn't couldn't couldn't find anything that added the word Tetris to it. I'm thinking, well, maybe it stacks it somehow or >> Right. Exactly. That's um that's a unit plan we developed um four or five years ago that um allows an efficiency within um different unit types and how they allocate on the exterior cladding. Um so we have a way that we can divide the the walls between units in a staggered pattern. So it looks like two Tetris pieces coming together. Um so that bulk of two units, one is an al cove that only has um you know roughly 16 feet of exterior wall and the adjacent unit is a full onebedroom that has um the bedroom has a window and then living space does as well. So that's that's just a term that we use to identify that grouping of a of a design set. So then like for uh in a I think a studio was maybe the smallest at about 500 square feet. >> Yeah, correct. >> But what were you thinking estimating? I don't know if you're >> Yep. >> on on a monthly >> rent on that or >> for the rent? Yeah, absolutely. So we um our goal since we started at Yellow Tree is to provide entry point market rate housing. That's why we have a broad unit mix. studios, El Codes, onebedroom, onebedroom, den, two bedrooms, um, and then a stack of three bedrooms as well. So, the studios would likely start the high 1200s. $1,280. Um, onebedrooms, the one-bedroom El Cove unit, so it has a bedroom, but not an next window. Um, high $1,300 is probably where they'll average out. Onebedrooms will range from $1,400 all the way up to $1,900. um if they have a den, that sort of thing. So, um you know, we do look at the um area median income and kind of consider where those fall >> uh as far as kind of a rental segment. And that that does provide I believe the majority if not almost in all of our units being at 80% AMI or below and a majority of our onebedrooms at 60% AMI just naturally without. >> Okay. Yep. >> All right. Good. Thanks. All right. Yeah. Uh, Council Member Brson, >> good evening. >> Good evening. >> Thanks for coming out in the snow. >> Yeah, it was fair. >> I'm sure that was fun. >> Yeah. >> Um, two things that I'm curious about. Uh, and I know that you mentioned it when we originally workshopped. >> Um, but I just am going to ask because we're a little further down the road. What is your plan for uh maintenance of the facility? >> Yep. So, we are a fully integrated um company. So, we do I head up the design, my original business partner has a property management, and we have in-house construction. So, we manage, we build and manage and own all of our properties, and we have a full staff um property management, leasing, there'll be an assigned u maintenance person, and then we also have roving maintenance um if any additional work orders might be needed for the building. Um >> is your is your maintenance person on site? Oh yeah. Yep. Yep. So, they'll be required to be on site um every day. They may be called away or we may provide an additional person for filter changes or some other type of maintenance. But this is a um yeah, a fully staffed building. So, there will be someone at the front door, um someone available to take leases, and then the maintenance certainly. >> Okay. And I know you've been working on a project in Inenver Grove, uh Crystal as well, I think. Right. Y >> um when you're uh built out and um you anticipate, you know, 90% or whatever it is of of capacity for your rental units. Um do you have an idea of the number of residents that that would represent? Uh so for example, you know, you got a mix of Oh, I'm sorry. You have a mix of units >> and uh um you I'm sure you know some are going to be one person, some are going to be two, three. So, based on some of the statistics from your other units and uh just your experience, do you have a ballpark idea? >> Um, we do absolutely. Um, I don't have it for this building based upon the unit types, but I know studios is almost certainly always a one person. Very rarely do we have more than one person in one of our studios. And that's true for Eloves. >> Onebedrooms, um, I would put it under one and a half persons per unit. Um, one-bedroom dens might be a little bit more. Two bedrooms are almost always two. Uh, it's a roommate situation for the most time. >> We do have some families um, you know, certainly in Farmington. We anticipate them in Inenver Grove and I think that's going to be consistent here. Um, I doubt that that's going to get over three persons per twobedroom. Um, maybe four. So, >> I appreciate that. And the reason I asked the question is earlier as you saw in the presentation there was uh some conversation about um pedestrians uh p primarily some of our elderly who live in the adjacent units um and what that might look like in terms of you know where they can cross the road and all those kinds of things. And um obviously having another uh developer, you know, putting an apartment building in there uh is going to add some additional pressure to that. And then further uh being market rate, I would guess that um you probably have more of your renters who actually have a vehicle versus some of the more affordable that we have in town as well. So, um, just trying to kind of get a feel for, okay, it's a pretty tight little area there on on East Point Douglas with all those apartments in there and are people going to be able to get in, get out, be safe, especially if they're not moving as fast as maybe they did 20, 30 years ago. So, that's helpful information. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Okay. Any other questions for the applicant? >> All right. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. As I mentioned, uh, council, um, there I believe there is one, two, three, four, there are five resolutions before us. Um, and I guess at this point, I'd look for council to start with, I guess, number two on the screen. I will move to adopt resolution 2026-032 approving the sale of outlet B Fred alone South Point Ridge to East Point Apartments LLC and the purchase agreement for outlet B Fred alone South Point Ridge with East Point Apartments LLC. >> Second. So I have a motion by council member Garza, second by council member Thei. Any discussion? >> Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. >> Motion carries. Uh, who would like to do number three? >> I'll do number three. Okay, mayor. Um, I move to adopt resolution 2026-030 approving the preliminary plat and final plat for Everwood sixth edition. All right, so I have a motion by council member Clson. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by council member Garza. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Who would like to do number four? Mayor, I'll move that we adopt resolution 2026-031 approving the planned unit development and site plan review for a 186 unit sixstory multifamily apartment building located on East Point Douglas Road South. >> All right. So, I have a motion by Council Member Olsen. Do I have a second? >> I'll second that. >> Second by Council Member Clawson. Again, any discussion? Seeing none, all all those in favor signify by saying I. I I opposed. Motion carries. Number five, >> I'll move to approve the storm water management facilities agreement, encroachment agreement, and permanent trail access agreement. >> All right. So, I have a motion by council member Theiti. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by council member Garza. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. >> I. Opposed. >> Motion carries. And then number six, >> I will move to adopt resolution 2026-028 approving the tax abatement agreement between the city and East Point Apartments LLC. >> All right, so we have a motion by Council Member Garcia, second by Council Member Theiti. Last time, any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. There you go. Sounds good. Thank you. >> Welcome to Cottage Grove. >> Yes. >> Yeah. I'm very interested to see how it looks over there. Uh once it's hard to visualize it a little bit. I mean, your pictures do a good job of it, but it's going to be interesting to see how it looks there. So, >> I just really want to make sure that they keep in mind all of the pedestrians that will be walking along that road and crossing there. So, that is really, really important. There's a lot of kids down there. So, >> I agree 100%. >> Yeah. And I will just share >> big one. >> Yeah. Yeah, I will just share with the council if you're not aware of this or not, but next a week from tomorrow, I will be actually going to the legends with I believe you guys along with our staff to meet with some of the residents over there to, you know, share with them the process and all that. Um any concerns that they might have so they get to hear that too so we can make sure that they feel comfortable. >> Uh I know there's a lot happening in their area over there between the ROS and now this project. So >> the kids are busy busy over there. They love to run around in that area. So, >> sounds good. Thank you all for that. All right. Uh, next we're moving on to 10 bid awards are in this evening. 11 is regular agenda. There's nothing this evening. Uh, we're now to council comments and requests. So, I will start with uh Council Member Clson. >> Thank you, Mayor. Nothing to add tonight. Nothing for you. Okay, sounds good. How about Council Member Brolen? >> Thank you, Mayor. Earlier this evening, um, Council Member Clawson read a proclamation about, uh, the Lunar New Year. Uh, thank you for doing that, by the way. Um, I wanted to just mention, uh, it's been a pretty busy week. Uh, between that, uh, we also saw the start of Ramadan for our Muslim friends on 217. And then, of course, uh, today is Ash Wednesday, so uh, Lent is right around the corner as well. Um, I'm grateful that uh, you know, we we were able to recognize Lunar New Year because, uh, when we were growing up, you know, we always called it, um, you know, I think it was Chinese New Year and since that time has expanded to include, uh, all of the Asian countries that celebrate in that area like Korea, um, Vietnam, uh, Brunai, etc. So, uh, it's important that everybody who lives here in the city of Cottage Grove understands that, uh, you're welcome here. We, uh, very much appreciate the fact that you've chosen Cottage Grove as the place to settle and hopefully, uh, raise a family and do all of those things. And, uh, whether it's Ramadan or Lunar New Year or, Ash Wednesday, we wish all of you the very best uh, for these holy days. And then lastly, mayor, I wanted to just mention um when I received a memo uh in via email the other day from our new economic development manager, one of the things that he referenced in the memo was the Maxfield study. Uh the Maxfield study, for those who may not know, is a study that the city commissioned to look at um housing and in particular apartments. and Maxfield gave us sort of a target uh that that we should try to hit based on the data that they had at the time in order to ensure that we have a variety of housing stock available for people who either currently live in town and are looking to live some place different uh whether that's a step up or a step down and or people who want to move to town. So, I'm just curious if staff might consider um kind of updating us now that we've approved Yellow Tree. Uh we've got Roars and some others that um you know, we've also approved recently. Be curious to note where we're at versus the target. For example, if the Maxfield study said, "Hey, you need a thousand additional units." What have we done since that time? and um how close are we or how far away are we from that goal? And with that, mayor, I'll turn it back to you. >> Fantastic. Thank you, Council Member uh Thei. >> All right. So, coming in here outside, you might not uh be thinking about it, but Strawberry Fest is only 120 days away, and it'll be warm and sunny, and it'll be beautiful weather for Strawberry Fest. So, uh, mark that on your calendar for June 18th. And I don't know, I might be stealing a little bit of the mayor's thunder here, but, uh, we've got, uh, talking about Ash Wednesday and so forth. The fish fry is starting at, uh, at River Oaks on on Friday night, and I know the mayor's going to be there. I'm going to be there uh, for the first time. >> Olson's going to be there, too, I believe. >> Oh, there you go. Okay. one minute. >> So, >> so and uh I think keep in mind that reservations do need to be made uh because they they fill up uh fill the place up pretty quick. So, uh and the expanded menu this year actually looks really good, too. So, uh you know, look up River Oaks and and uh fish fry is a great thing to take, you know, take in. So, um I think that's all I got. Just be careful. Don't forget the dessert. >> Oh, the dessert. Yeah. The uh there there's salted caramel cheesecake that that we've actually been able to sample in the past. It's really really good. >> That is good. >> Chocolate cake. >> And the chocolate cake. Well, I Yeah, I like the the cheesecake better, but but yeah, good chocolate cake, too. So otherwise, just be careful going home tonight because it is uh fairly slippery and and uh actually probably one of the worst snowstorms I think we've had this year so far, isn't it? >> We I don't know. >> Maybe. >> Ryan, >> we forget. >> Yeah, Ryan doesn't have much hair left on the top of his head, so I think that tells you how this winter has been. >> All done. >> All done. Uh Council Member Garza. >> Sure. Well, I will uh share the last event that we have on here from our parks and recck group. They are doing the parks and rec department. They're having an event called Grow and Glow. Sounds like a lot of fun. Actually, it's a mindful mindfulness and friendship event. It's on March 6th from 10:00 to 11:30 at the Glacier Valley Park. And it looks like participants will enjoy yoga, face masks, succulent planting, and fun fizzy drinks. Sounds fun to me. Um, space is limited, so you can register online with our parks and recck department. Back to you, mayor. >> Fantastic. Thank you. Uh, the only other thing I was just going to bring up since I think we covered most of the other topics, um, and council council member Olsson mentioned it briefly. I've been, um, uh, honored, I'll say that sincerely, uh, the the Tibetan community has actually invited me to be a guest speaker at their event tomorrow up in Isanti. Um, and so part of the proclamation is kind of great timing because I'm going to be able to read our proclamation up there. Uh, but they were pretty excited to have me come as kind of their guest uh, speaker and such up there. Uh, so I I'll be able to kind of immerse myself in their culture, which is going to be pretty awesome. So, I was very honored to be uh, invited up to that event. So, I'll just mention that and I'll report back to council and staff kind of how how that uh, how that all panned out. And then uh the other last thing I'll just say and I had the uh I'll say the opportunity as our communications managers here uh with uh I got to do the last official taping of the mayor's moment uh at the uh True Lens uh facility here in Cottage Grove. For those that may not be aware, they're actually moving from their current facility in Cottage Grove to a larger facility that's going to be in the um Central Park, I guess what you'd call it, in Woodbury, which is uh which is maybe sad for us because it's not going to be in Cottage Grove, but they're going to have a lot more space and it's good for them from a growth standpoint. And though I can't publicly say it, but we did hear a certain business I'm looking at out in the audience at at uh Phil Jents that we heard from them that they've already had somebody else that's interested in that spot. And let's just say if it's true and they come in, we're all going to love it because it does involve food, which I think we all love. So, >> is it finally White Castle time? >> No. I wish it was a White Castle. I'd be okay. I'd be okay with that. I'm being honest with you. >> I don't think White Castle should No, I don't think Cor Corey does business in West St. Paul. She could bring us some at some point, maybe. >> That is true. >> Yeah, that'd be nice. >> Slider delivery. >> Yeah. >> So, with that, um the uh that was it for me for this evening. Uh workshop, uh we have none open to the public, which is 1314. Is workshop close to the public? We have none this evening. Council, I am looking for a motion to adjurnn. >> A motion to adjurnn. >> Second. A motion by council member Garza, second by council member Theiti. All those in favor signify by saying I. I I opposed. We are adjourned.