25 Cottage Grove City Council meeting which I'm calling to order. Our first order of business is the pledge of allegiance. So, if you'd 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. I'll say, will Joe do the role tonight? Our clerk is off this evening. Joe. Uh, council member Clawson here. Council member Olsen here. Council member Theiti here. Council member Garza here, Mayor Bailey here. Uh, next on our agenda this evening is open forum. This is the opportunity for anybody that wants to speak on something that is not on tonight's agenda. No, no one did sign up. We normally have a sign up out in the entry, but in case somebody came in, was there anybody that wanted to speak on something that's not on tonight's agenda? All right, seeing none, I will go ahead and close um open form and I'll move to number five, which is adoption of the agenda. Move the agenda. Second. We have a motion by council member Olsen, second by council member Theiti. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. All right. So this evening we have quite a few proclamations to go through. Um and so we're just going to kind of go down the uh the list and I'm going to start with uh council member Garza. Uh and our and I'll say what the proclamation is. She'll read the proclamation. Then we'll do a motion in a second after each one and just kind of work our way down. So, uh, it's a busy month of May. So, the first proclamation is mental health awareness month. And so, I'll turn that over to Council Member Garza. Thank you. Um, proclaiming this month of May as mental health awareness month, whereas mental health awareness is more important than ever and essential to overall health. And whereas mental health awareness allows us to maintain relationships, take care of ourselves, learn, take care of our physical bodies, and respond and adapt to daily life changes. And whereas mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, it affects how we think, feel, and act, it also affects how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. And whereas the pandemic caused many people to struggle with their mental health and well-being, especially our children and youth. And whereas the World Health Organization found that the number of people with depression and anxiety went up 25% worldwide. And whereas there are steps we can call we can all take to improve our mental health. And with early and effective treatment, people with mental illness can recover. And whereas mental health is awareness is critical to the well-being of our families, communities, schools, and businesses. Whereas all motans have a role to play in promoting good health and there are range of essential community resources to promote to promote mental health and well-being for all motans. And whereas citizens, government and agencies, public and private institutions, businesses and schools should commit to promoting good health and increasing awareness and understanding of mental illness. Now therefore, the mayor, city council of the city of Cottage Grove, county of Washington, state of Minnesota, hereby proclaim May 2025 as mental health awareness month in the city of Cottage Grove passed the seventh day of May by Mayor Myron Bailey. All right. So, uh, thank you for, uh, reading that. Like I said, everybody's going to get their turn this evening to do that, and we appreciate that. So, uh, council, we'll look for a motion in a second. I'll make a motion. All right. We have a good second. All right. We have a motion by council member Garza, second by council member Theiti. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Thank you. Uh, so we'll move to uh B. Proclam. The proclamation for this one is police week and police officer memorial day. and uh council member Theo will take this one. Yes. This proclamation is uh for National Police Week from May 11th to 17th, 2025 and Peace Officers Memorial Day May 15th, 2025. So whereas there are over approximately 900,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the Cottage Grove Police Department, and some 60,000 assaults against law enforcement officers are reported each year, resulting in over 16,000 injuries. And whereas since the first recorded death in 1791, over 25,000 law enforcement officers in the United States have been made the ultimate sacrifice and been killed in the line of duty. And the names of these dedicated public servants are engraved in the walls of the National Law Enforcement's Officers Memorial in Washington DC. And this year, three police officers names from Minnesota will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officer Officers Memorial from 2024 in addition to the national number of 165 officers who died in 2024. And whereas the service and sacrifice of all officers killed in the line of duty will be honored during the National Police Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund 37th annual Candlelight Vigil in Washington DC on the evening of Tuesday, May 13, 2025. And we are honoring the one Minnesota officer that has already died in the line of duty this year. And May 15th is designated as peace officers Memorial Day in honor of all fallen and their families. And whereas the first recognition of Police Week and Police Officers Memorial Day was signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. It was resolved in Congress that May 15th be designated police officers Memorial Day and the week in which falls designated as police week. The purpose of peace officers Memorial Day is to honor the police officers at all levels of government who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty. Staff from the Cottageg Grove Police Department will attend the Peace Officers Memorial Service held at the Minnesota Peace Officers Memorial in St. Paul, Minnesota on Thursday, May 15th, 2025, as well as attending the Law Enforcement Memorial Day service at the historic courthouse in Stillwater, Minnesota. Now therefore, the mayor and city council of the city of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, state of Minnesota, hereby proclaim the week of May 11th through 17, 2025 as National Police Week and Thursday, May 15, 2025 as a Peace Officers Memorial Day in the city of Cottage Grove and urge Cottage Grove residents and civic organizations to salute our dedicated law enforcement officers in our community and in communities across this nation to be passed the 7th day of May, 2025. All right. Thank you. Uh, council member Theiti, would you like to make the motion to I will I would move that we designate the month uh or the week uh of May 17th through 11th, 2025 is National Police Week and May 15, 2025 as Peace Officers Memorial Day. All right. So, we have a motion by Council Member Theiti, second by Council Member Olsen. All those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Motion carries. All right, we'll move to the third one which is uh EMS week. Uh uh that is C and I have uh council member Olsen that's going to read this one. So, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, this is a proclamation proclaiming the week of May 18th through the 24th, 2025 as emergency medical services week and it reads as follows. Whereas emergency medical services is a vital public service and whereas the members of emergency medical services teams are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And whereas access to quality emergency care dramatically improves the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury. And whereas emergency medical services fill health care gaps by providing important out of hospital care including preventative medicine follow-up care and access to tele medicine. And whereas the emergency medical services system consists of first responders, emergency medical technicians paramedics emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, prehosp nurses, emergency nurses, emergency physicians, trained members of the public, and other outofhos medical care providers. And whereas the members of emergency medical services teams, whether career or volunteer, engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills. And whereas it is appropriate to recognize the value and the accomplishments of emergency medical services providers by designating the emergency medical services week. Now therefore, the mayor and city council of the city of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, state of Minnesota, hereby proclaim the week of May 18th through the 24th, 2025 as emergency medical services week in the city of Cottage Grove, pass this, the 7th day of May, 2025, and then ultimately will be signed by Myron Bailey, Mayor. And Mr. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to uh move that we accept this proclamation proclaiming the week of May 18th through the 24th, 2025 as emergency medical services week with the proviso that the Cottage Grove emergency medical services are the best in the state of Minnesota. Of course, definitely second that. There we go. So, we have a motion by council member Olen, second by council member Clawson. Uh all those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Motion carries. Uh thank you, Council Member Olsson. And then we'll move to D uh which is proclamation is building safety month and council member Clson. Thank you, Mayor. Uh this is uh designating May 2025 as building safety month. Whereas the city of Cottage Grove is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role of our homes, buildings, and infrastructure play both in everyday life and when disasters strike. And whereas our confidence in the resilience of these buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of vigilant guardians, building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, engineers, builders, trades people, design professionals, laborers, plumbers, and others in the construction industry who work year round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. And whereas these guardians are dedicated members of the International Code Council, a nonprofit that brings together local, state, territorial, tribal, and federal officials, excuse me, who are experts in the built environment to create and implement the highest quality codes and standards to protect us in the buildings where we live, learn, work, and play. And whereas these modern building codes and standards include safeguards to protect the public from hazards such as hurricanes snowstorms tornadoes wildland fires, floods, and earthquakes. And whereas building safety month is sponsored by the International Code Council to remind the public about the crucial role of our community's largely unknown protectors of public safety. Our code officials who assure us of safe, sustainable, and affordable buildings that are essential to our prosperity. and where is uh game on the theme for building safety month 2025 encourages us all to get involved and raise awareness about building safety on a personal local and global scale. Now therefore the mayor and city council of cottage city of cottage grove county of Washington state of Minnesota hereby proclaim the month of May 2025 to be designated as building safety month. is passed this Wednesday the 7th day of May 2025 and I would move that we adopt that proclamation. Thank you. So we have a motion by council member Clawson. Do I have a second? Second by council member Garza. All those in favor on this one please uh signify by saying I opposed. Motion carries. And believe it or not, we're down to the last one. Uh and the last one is uh Council Member Garz is going to read which is the proclamation for Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. There you go. So, I am making the proclamation as the mayor said of the Asian-American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month. Whereas Asian-Americans and Pacific Islander Heritage was first celebrated in the United States in 1978 and was made into a month-long event in 1992. During Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, our community recognizes the innumerable contributions, vibrant cultures, and rich heritage of of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. And whereas the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community represents a wide tapestry of languages, eth ethnic ethnicities, and cultural traditions contributing to the social, economic, and political fabric of the nation. And whereas the celebration of this month provides an opportunity to reflect on on the collective resilience and achievements of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities. And whereas we acknowledge Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders have thrived and worked in Cottage Grove for generations and that Asian-Americans represent the largest minority group in the city and that Pacific Islanders represent a small but strong portion that illustrates the city's welcome diversity. Now therefore, the mayor and city council of the city of Cottage Grove, County of Washington, and state of Minnesota hereby pro proclaim the month of May, 2025 to be designated as Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Pass this Wednesday, the 7th day of May, 2025 will be signed by Mayor Myron Bentley. Thank you. Fantastic. Would you like to make the motion on that? I will make the motion of May 20 2025 as Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Second. Second. All right. So, we have a motion by council member Garza, second by council member Theiti. Uh, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. So, thank you everyone. Thank you. I know we have some of our first responders in the audience, too. Thank you for stopping in here tonight. Uh, we appreciate obviously all that you do. Um, the next part on our agenda is consent. Um, is there anything council would like to pull on consent? I have council member Olsson. What would you like to pull? Mayor, I'd like to pull item H, please. H. Okay. Anybody else? No. Okay. So, we'll uh go then right away to item H, which is the appointment of a city engineer position. Yes. Thank you, mayor. Uh you're correct. Item H is a city engineer appointment. And this is uh a item to appoint Paul Spanholtz, if I said that right, to the position of city engineer uh with the city of Cottage Grove. Um his start date will be as soon as possible. Should we agree to approve this item? We'll see how it goes. Uh, but I wanted to pull this item to actually ask our public works director, Ryan Berfine, to introduce Paul to us and to the public and maybe have Paul tell us a few things about himself. Thank you, mayor, members of the council. As you know, we've been spend the last few months uh working to fill that city engineer position. And as we've taken that time, you know, we've been very intentional. We want to find the right fit not just for the engineering team, the public works department, but really the city as a whole. Uh the city engineer is obviously a very important leadership position here at Cottage Grove. So um with Paul here, we've had uh several rounds of interviews uh really all levels of staff from who his team would be to the leadership team as well. So uh we feel very confident after going through that and are you know excited to have him on the agenda tonight uh to be appointed uh to the city engineer position. And so it's an exciting night for that. With that, I'll turn over to Paul just to say a few words. Thank you very much, Paul. Let's uh let's hear a little bit about you and your background. Well, thank you. Um I've been here a resident of Cottage Grove here about 15 years or excuse me, um since 2015, excuse me, what is that? Seven or eight years. Um and uh currently a uh the uh county engineer for the Steel County down in Owatana. Uh good hour drive here. It's not a short commute. uh this job certainly was interesting to me as uh for a much shorter commute but but I'm also very excited uh to share uh some 20 years of experience that I have uh working in county governments uh state uh and uh private sector uh engineering work uh u my passion's been dealing with the local governments uh working for the local agencies and uh and being able to do that and have my passion of engineering and making a difference to a community where I live is uh really exciting to me. So, um I'm looking forward to this opportunity and um uh appreciate you bringing me here. So, thank you. Well, thank you very much. And I have to ask um you didn't happen to go to any of the Michigan schools for your engineering. No, University of Minnesota here. Okay, good for you. That's perfect. Yeah, we we go first. We do we do hear a lot about Michigan periodically. So, um yeah, glad to hear you're uh you're one of ours. Skyuma, back to you, mayor. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Paul. And I'm assuming I'm going to be able to say welcomed uh officially here. By the way, did we say your name right? Yes, you did. Okay. Beautiful. Thank you. All right. So, uh council with nothing other uh no other items pulled from consent. I'll look for a motion to and a second to approve consent. I'll make a motion to approve consent. All right. So, so motion by council member Garza, second by council member Theiti. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. So, if you happen to be here for anything on this evening's consent agenda, all of those items have been approved. Uh, next item on our agenda is eight is approve dispersement or pay the bills. Move the bills. We have a motion by council member Olsen. Do I have a second? Second. Second by uh council member Clawson. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh, nine is public hearings. We have none this evening. 10 is bid awards. We have none this evening. 11 is regular agenda. We're being easy. Uh nothing this evening. And so we're already down to council comments request. And again, I'll start on my right down here with Council Member Clawson. Uh one quick thing just want to mention is I've been driving around the city and noticed that our public works department, the uh streets and parks have been doing they've been working all winter and all spring um cleaning out brush and things. And I noticed the parks look absolutely wonderful and the center medians and the boulevards are looking great. So kudos to our parks and engineering and streets staff. Thank you. Looks great. Yeah, good call. Definitely. Council member Bolson. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to remind the public that um as you heard earlier uh the month of May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and our Beyond the Yellow Ribbon team is really looking forward to our Memorial Day service this year because we are doing a salute to our Asian-American and Pacific Islander veterans from the state of Minnesota and throughout the country. And to that end, we have uh the honor of two very distinguished speakers who will be present at the event. Uh one is um retired Army Colonel Ye Hang. He is the co-founder and the president of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander Veterans Association here in Minnesota. And he is bringing a friend as well. Uh actually this this friend is um actually bringing uh Colonel Hang to us because I wasn't sure he would be available. But uh we also have Staff Sergeant uh active in the United States Air Force Reserve John B. Yang. Now uh we have a John Yang that we work with for a couple of events each year. This is not him, hence the B. Uh but um really excited to have them both speak. They have some very unique perspectives on what Memorial Day means to them. And as a reminder, we have that event each year here at city hall out by the Veterans Memorial, weather permitting. Uh it starts at 10:00 a.m. on Memorial Day. For those who uh don't know what day that is, it is the 26th of May. And uh we would love to have you join us. to be on the Yellow Ribbon team, the city staff, our public safety department, um, River Oaks, etc. We put a lot of time energy and effort into this event. Unfortunately, last year it rained a little, so we brought it inside and it worked out just fine, but uh, I think it's uh, a lot better when it's outdoors and, you know, the the music carries better, the speakers carry better, etc. And we will also have the um honor guard from the Washington County Sheriff's Department joining us again this year. So I want to extend our gratitude to Sheriff Dan Stari for coordinating that with us. And with that, Mayor, I'll turn it back to you. All right. Sounds good. Thank you, Council Member Bros. Council Member Theiti. Okay, just a couple things. We're uh I should mention that uh we're actually Is that right? You're only six weeks away from Strawberry Fest. Yes. that can't be. Geez, I don't know. I was using my fingers. I just wasn't even using my whole hand yet, you know, both hands. But, uh, so, six weeks away from Strawberry Fest and so things are are going well with all the planning and everything else. Uh, you know, just one thing I'll mention too, something kind of exciting this year, we're we're besides the regular fireworks that uh that we're having, we're we're also having a drone show. So, uh, you can, uh, you can kind of take a look up all the different Strawberry Fest activities at, uh, cottagegrow strawberryfest, uh,.com and, um, and it's going to going to be a great year for it. I was also going to mention I got my my River Oaks, uh, golf on here and it's kind of kind of both a golf and activity center. There's a lot of things that uh, that different leagues and things like that that can sign up for. Uh right now if you go online there's botchi ball and and golf league sign up and and man we're gonna we're this next week is gonna kind of be a scorcher for us motans. It's going to be kind of warm. We're going to probably just have to leave the top down on the car all the time but um so uh you know get out there have some fun be safe and and um there you go. There you go. Fantastic. Thank you uh council member Garza. Thank you mayor. It sounds like we have some fun things that are coming up for the summer here in Cottage Grove. I know another event that will be happening happening pretty quick. Prior to this one, I will mention on Saturday, May 17th at Park High School at 400 p.m. it will be the Battle of the Badges. So, our fire department and our police department will be having a battle. So, if you have time, stop over at Park. That starts at 4:00 next Saturday. And then a few weeks pri after that, we have the kids adventure mud run that's coming up and that's on June 7th at Hamlet Park. The sign up is online and it's 23 bucks to participate. So if you want to if your kids want to run in mud, sounds like a fun thing to do. I'd like to do it. So go look online. Fantastic. If I want to run in the mud, can I come, too? I You should look and see if we can. Okay, good enough. Thank you. All right. Uh just one uh quick item. I was not and actually I know customer BA was not able to be there. We had a uh I'll say a regrand opening or ribbon cutting uh yesterday. Um uh today of course uh being the 7th. It was on the 6th of May uh at the Madison uh which is the former I'll call it the former Fer Farms. Uh this these new owners are absolutely amazing. Uh unfortunately I was out of town so I was not able to be there to be participate in the ribbon cutting but I did uh turn the reigns over to um council member Garza and I I believe council member was there too. Correct. Uh and so I just wanted to uh officially say from my I'm apologizing for not being there but they did a great job holding holding fort. Uh and uh this these this family member these family members I should say are amazing people. They're doing great things with that place there. Uh, and again, it's called the Madison. It is a historic uh, uh, structure out there for, uh, different types of events, uh, weddings, uh, whatever you want it for. So, I encourage you to look them up. Uh, whether it's on social media or maybe it's, uh, just, uh, giving them a call. Uh, if you have any types of events, I'd encourage you to reach out to them. I will say Brad and Louise, they are amazing. They they have a lot of great activities in mind for that spot. So, just be on the lookout and and and and just watch for any newsletters that they may have coming out because they have a lot of good plans in play and so I'm hoping this summer we have some exciting events coming from them. Absolutely. And then I will just throw in there since we're talking about future uh things happening in the community. Uh short, it's kind of weird how Strawberry Fest kind of happens and then right there is the 4th of July. Um we are once again going to be um having the uh 4th of July fireworks show. Uh it'll actually be on July 6th uh which is two days after. And the reason we're doing that is the way we are here in Cottage Grove, everybody goes out of town for that that weekend, comes back on that Sunday. And so we uh had a really good success with it last year. Um, and I will mention other than our local business community that are fundraising, and I'll mention them in a second, uh, the Connor Grove Lions Club is helping uh, put this project or this uh, event together along with food and, uh, prizes and events for kids and that. So, um, and that is at Kingston Park. And then just so you know, um um our local uh business community is 100% with the exception of a little bit of extra from the Lions um 100% uh funding uh the fireworks uh show. And so I want to uh do specific call out and thank you to 3M Renewal by Anderson North Point uh which is the logistics park um tennis uh sanitation and also HY. Uh all of them are donating $5,000 each uh to create a what would normally be a $25,000 show, but because we found a new vendor uh that is going to add some excitement to the show, uh the Lions threw in an extra 3,000 to bring it up to a $28,000 show. So, it's going to be a great event this year. I encourage everybody to uh join me and others out at Kingston Park on the Sunday after the 4th of July. So, just wanted to throw that out there. All right. Um, next item on our agenda, uh, which is open to the public, uh, we do have a workshop, uh, which is, uh, real estate equities, and it's a proposed multifamily project here that's going to be, uh, being proposed here in Cottage Grove. Uh, and we're going to be doing that in the training room. Uh, and then the second item is, uh, new well number 13 construction update is the other item that will be during the the open uh, workshop. So if anybody in the audience is interested, they go in there. Uh 14 is a workshop closed to the public. We do not have any this evening. Uh so we will not be adjourning in here. We'll be adjourning in the training room. So if anybody in the audience here wants to come with us over there and hear what's going on uh with these two projects, uh you're welcome to do so. Otherwise, I hope everybody has a great summer. It's it's literally like summer out there now. It's beautiful. So enjoy the evening and the week.