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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992 February�• — —• • • 070�• a • r� The Cottage Grove Department of Public Safety and the city's admin- istrative offices have installed Telecommunication Devices which will enable them to communicate effectively with citizens who may be hear- ing- or speech- impaired. All citizens who require these services are invited to an open house: TUESDAY, FEB. 25, at 7 P.M. COTTAGE GROVE POLICE DEPARTMENT 7516 80TH ST. S. (lower level, west side of City Hall) Citizens will have an opportunity to meet our Dispatching personnel, see our equipment and procedures, and give us suggestions on how our services can meet their needs. Please plan to attend! 2 commissions seek volunteers: Capital Improvements Task Force t o look at - building - -• The Mayor and City Council are looking for volunteers to serve on a citizen -based Capital Improvements Review Task Force. The city maintains a five -year plan to construct and maintain major facility improvements, including all city -owned facilities (City Hall, fire stations, park improvements, public works garage) and other major projects that require a mufti -year focus and funding program. The Council is also interested in knowing more about community interest in an indoor recreation center. Task Force work will begin later this spring, and should be com- pleted by the end of 1992. Applications are now being accepted to fill vacancies on the city's Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation. Qualified applicants will be adult residents of Cottage Grove with a demonstrated interest in historic preservation, local history, architecture, or archaeology. Committee appointments are made by the City Council. Members serve without compensation for two -year terms. For more information, contact City Historic Preservation Officer Robert Vogel at 698 -8224, or pick up an application form at City Hall. printed on recycled POSTALPATRON Carrier Route Presort Bulk Rate U.S. Postage PAID PERMIT NO.1 Cottage Grove, MN 55016 LOCAL POSTAL PATRON — — ••• • • • February, 1992 Inside this issue... "It's all been fun so far. Actually, it's been interesting and fun for the last 15 years or I wouldn't have stayed in it. But now I'm really looking forward to the next four years as mayor." That was Jack Denzer's capsule com- ment after his first month on the job as Cottage Grove's mayor. A 35-year resident and 30 -year business operator (Jack's Cont. on Page 3 — • — • We are slightly more male than female, over- whelmingly white, and 28.7 years old. We have three and a half people per family, and we own the single- family home where we live. We're the City of Cottage Grove as defined in the 1990 Census of Population and Housing. The Census shows Cottage Grove's total population at 22,935, up from 18,994 in the 1980 census and 13,419 in 1970. In the 1990 census, 11,391 citizens were female and 11,544 male. The average age of all city residents was 28.7. Cottage Grove's racial breakdown shows a total of 22,144 citizens identify- ing themselves as white, 267 black, 261 Asian/ Pacific Islander, 68 Indian/Eskimo /Aleut, and 195 Hispanic and other. The city had 7,105 total dwelling units: 6,381 single - family homes and the rest consisting of mobile homes, apart- ments, and multiple - family dwellings. At the time of the census, 6,856 dwell- ings were occupied and 249 were vacant. Of the 6,856 "occu - pied dwellings" 6,203 were occupied by families and 653 by single per- sons. Owners occupied 6,409 of the dwellings (which had a median value of $87,100), and renters occuped 447 units and paid a median monthly rent of $544. The census showed that the average number of persons per family in Cottage Grove was 3.51, and the average number of persons per household (including single - person households) was 3.25. Since the city covers 34 square miles, there was a population density of 674.6 persons per mile. Mayor Jack Denzer 4 Looking Back by Robert C. Vogel City Historic Preserva- tion Officer Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, Native Americans had lived in the Cottage Grove area for about 10,000 years and through several suc- cessive cultures. When the first explorers came to the Mississippi Valley, most of what is now Minnesota was the undisputed realm of the Mdewakanton tribe of the Dakota Nation. Until the mid -1700s their council fires were clustered around Lake Mille Lacs, but sometime between 1730 and 1780, the Mdewakanton aban- doned their ancient homeland and split into several small bands which established villages along the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. One of these villages, called Kaposia, was located near St. Paul. Several early travelers have left accounts of Kaposia, its inhabitants, and the line of hereditary chiefs named Petit Corbeau (Little Crow). •I 0 • Sometime after 1825, and for reasons that are lost in the fog of history, the Kaposia band frag- mented into three fac- tions. Most of the band remained under Little Crow at Kaposia. One of the breakaway groups established itself on the Minnesota River at what came to be known as Black Dog's village in present -day Eagan. Another moved a few miles down the Missis- sippi and encamped for several years at the western end of Grey Cloud Island, then known as "Medicine Wood Island," an allusion, we are told, to a giant beech tree which grew there. The leader of the Grey Cloud band was Waukanojanjan (whose name translates as "sacred light "), nicknamed Medicine Bottle, a refer- ence to the glass vial he wore on a leather thong around his neck. ®• Waukanojanjan was an important chief, shaman, and leader of the Kaposia band's soldier lodge. He was obviously a favorite of the fur traders, and his name appears on numerous treaties. In 1858, Waukanojanjan jour- neyed to Washington as part of the treaty delega- tion and his likeness appears in a photograph of the treaty signers taken in a New York City studio. After his return to Minnesota, he lived out the remainder of his life at the Lower Sioux Agency, where he met a most unfortunate end: while chasing one of his chickens, the old man was impaled upon an iron hook on a corn -drying rack. The hook pene- trated his brain, and he died instantly. Medicine Bottle and his band remained at Grey Cloud Island for only a few years. On July 29, 1837, the Dakota signed a treaty by which the Native Americans relinquished their tribal lands east of the Mississippi as far north as the mouth of the Crow Wing River in exchange for $87,000. After the treaty, Little Crow's village moved across the river to what is today South St. Paul. In compliance with the treaty, sometime during the early months of 1838 Waukanojanjan and his people moved to a new site at Pin de Tour, present -day Pine Bend, directly across the Missis- sippi River from the former encampment on Cont. on Page 5 Cont. from Page 4 Grey Cloud Island, where they remained until the Treaty of 1851 required their removal to the Lower Sioux Agency reservation near present -day Red- wood Falls. The location of Medi- cine Bottle's Grey Cloud camp can be pinpointed because the early settlers Hazen Mooers, Andrew Robertson, and their families occupied several of the band's abandoned lodges when they came to the island in 1838. The location of the Mooers- Robertson settlement was mapped by the pioneer archaeolo- gist Jacob V. Brower in 1902, but, unfortunately, the site has since been destroyed. as• r UT UME4 iWiTtro Hazen Mooers, a veteran of the War of 1812, came West in the 1820s and was employed by the American Fur Company before coming to Grey Cloud Island. His wife, Margaret Aird Anderson, was part Dakota, and therefore kin to some of Medicine Bottle's band. This remarkable woman was the daughter of the Scottish fur trader James Aird and Mahkpiahotowin, the sister of the famous Wabasha, chief of the La Feuille ( "leaf ") band of the Mdewakanton. Wabasha was a key player in all of the deal- ings between the Dakota nation and the European invaders and was the dominant figure in early Minnesota history. Margaret Aird, who shared her mother's Dakota name, was born in Wabasha's village near Winona and was raised in the polyglot fur trader community at Prairie du Chien. Upon reaching her majority, she married Thomas Gummersall Anderson, atrader. Before Margaret sepa- rated from Anderson (who went on to enjoy a long career as an Indian agent for the British government in Canada) the couple had three children. The date of her marriage to Hazen Mooers is un- known, but they had several children of their own by the time the family relocated at Grey Cloud. • • - 14H RT90 0 N FTlrf ! Margaret's oldest daughter, Jane, was married to Andrew Robertson, one of Mooers' fur trade associ- ates who was afterwards the superintendent of Indian schools on the Upper Sioux Reservation. By all accounts, it was Robertson who renamed Spirit Wood Island "Grey Cloud" in honor of his mother -in -law. His own name, misspelled, is preserved in Robinson's Rocks, a landmark on Upper Grey Cloud Island. The Mooers and Robertson families left Grey Cloud around 1842, in order to follow their Native American relatives to the new reservations on the Minnesota River. Margaret Anderson Mooers died in 1850 and was buried at Black Dog's village in what is now Eagan. Hazen Mooers died several years later at Ft. Ridgely. Native American Influences Although only a few Indians lived in Cottage Grove after the Treaties of 1837 and 1851, their influence on later Euro- American settlers was important. Mdewakanton old fields were utilized by pioneer farmers at Grey Cloud and Pine Bend: because of the land's previous use, settlers were assured that many tracts were farmable. The any Indian mounds were also helpful as indicators of land that was high and dry, and as homesites for floodplain dwellers. The ancient Indian site on Lower Grey Cloud Island overlooking Baldwin Lake was se- lected by Joseph R. Brown (whose brother was married to one of Mahkpiahotowin's daugh- ters) for a trading post and later for an unsuc- cessful townsite project. Native Americans in later years After the Dakota War of 1862 and the subse- quent expulsion of the Dakota from the state, some Native Americans returned to the Cottage Grove area. A special census taken in 1883 indicated 33 Native Americans resident at Lower Grey Cloud island, but by 1888 this commu- nity had shrunken to just 11 individuals and was labeled "a mere squatters' camp." They do not appear to have owned any land — certainly there was no reservation. This group certainly consid- ered themselves ethnic Native Americans but probably lacked tribal ties and were more or less integrated with the general French Canadian - Yankee population along the river. By the end of the century, the Native American presence in Cottage Grove had evaporated. 2 • • • ! • •" This is the second article in "Cottage Grove Today, "a continuing series on how Cottage Grove city government operates. When people ask Cottage Grove City Administrator Kevin Frazell if he wants to run for mayor, the answer is always "No." "The roles are distinc- tively different," according to Frazell. "A city adminis- trator is professionally trained and is hired by the elected Mayor and Council to make sure the work of the city gets accomplished effectively and efficiently. As the city administrator, I take direction from the elected officials and make democ- racy work." Frazell, who has headed the city's staff for the past two and a half years, described his role in a recent interview. Changing needs over the past 70 years have moved the city manager's primary roles from techni- cal ones like engineering or city planning to "people skills" like facilitator, empowerer, negotiator, initiator, consensus builder, educator, and healer, Frazell said. He also supervises city operations in line with council policy and objec- tives. "Council members tell me what their goals are; my job is to go back to them with ideas on how they can accomplish Continued movement of people to outer -ring suburbs will mean contin- ued steady growth for Cottage Grove, according to a look at expected growth patterns in the next 20 years from the city's Community Devel- opment department. According to the report, the city is planning for approximately 225 new single- family dwell- those goals," Frazell said. In cities today, he said, elected officials want to be more involved in government on a day -to- day basis. In fact, citizens in general want to be more involved — and are, through neighborhood meetings, advisory commissions, and other means of participation. Local examples are the neighborhood meet- ings held in five city locations last year and the Truth -in- Taxation hear- ings each December. "The people who came to these meetings saw that city government was reaching out to them," Frazell said. "At the end of one of those meetings a guy stood up and said he felt like he was back in America again!" Another part of his role, he said, is to "take the city's staff to the next level of professionalism" Cont. on P. 3 ings and 50 new multiple - family dwellings to be built each year between 1990 and 2010. It estimates there will be 3.1 persons per household in 2000 and 3.0 persons per house- hold in 2010. This com- pares to 4.7 persons per household in 1970, 3.7 in 1980, and 3.35 in 1990. In its annual year -end report of economic activity, the department reported that 1991 saw 231 single - family housing starts and construction of 39 units in five multi- family buildings. The city also issued 445 remodel- ing permits (decks, base- ments, additions, etc.), and two commercial permits: to Wendy's and Midas Muffler. The number of single - family home permits was consistent with the city's building experience in the past five years, when new home permits fluctuated from 220 to 269. During the past 30 years (exclud- ing five years when building activity dropped to almost zero), the city has averaged 234 new homes per year. "There are now approximately ten builders actively involved in constructing new single - family dwelling units within the city," said Gary Berg, director of commu- nity development. "This eliminates the city's vulnerability to large fluctuations due to its reliance on one primary builder." — — i •rl A total of 1,825.5 tons of materials was recycled by Cottage Grove residents in 1991, according to year -end statistics from the city. The total included 64 tons of phone books dropped off at city hall bins. The remaining recyclables were collected by refuse haulers in the city's curbside recycling program, which began in late 1990. "We are above our county- mandated recy- cling goals," said John Burbank, the city's recycling coordinator. "The city wants to thank to all the environmentally - conscious citizens of Cottage Grove." Burbank said most residents did a good job of sorting recyclables for curbside pickup. (See box at right for information on how to prepare re- cyclables.) Targeted recyclables currently being accepted by trash haulers in Cottage Grove are: 1 and 2 plastic bottles with a threaded neck Newspapers Tin cans (bi- metal) Aluminum Glass food and beverage containers. For more information regarding recycling, contact your refuse hauler or call 458 -2828. Proper recycling bin stacking arrangement 7 MEWA DID YOU KNOW that entire loads of re- cyclables may end up at landfills because of rejection at reclamation sites? If your recyclables are not prepared properly they can contaminate a load. Please follow the instructions listed below and REDUCE - REUSE - RECYCLE i• • Rinse and clean recyclables Remove caps and neck rings (Do not recycle) Separate all recyclables if your hauler doesn't co- mingle Place recyclables in paper grocery bags Utilize recycling bins Stack one bin on top of the other (see illustration) Place on side of driveway opposite normal garbage Place out on regular garbage day, before 6 a.m. Recycle anything that is not listed Seminars and Classes: "55" Alive defensive driving, educational seminars Events: monthly and seasonal Newsletter: Senior Scope r ( Interest Groups: crafts, cards, games, and more Opportunities to Volunteer: Project GO (Grandparents Organized) and others Recreation: trips and tours Services: legal, health, congregate dining 3 days a week If you would like to learn more about these activities, please call or stop in: South Washington Senior Center 900 Third St., St. Paul Park 458 -4244; ask for Dorothy b a s � Z Proposed changes in the Cottage Grove Hunting Ordinance will be the topic of a neighbor- hood meeting set for April 14 at City Hall. The meeting will be conducted by the Cottage Grove Public Safety, Health, and Welfare Commission to solicit citizens' input on the proposed amendments. Under the proposed charges, hunting with firearms would not be permitted In land zoned AGA or AG -2 or 80 contiguous acres or more, or on any public right -of- way under the follow - Ing circumstances: north and west of Military Road and Keats Avenue; west of Keats Avenue; south and west of U.S. Highway 61/10 and Keats Avenue. In a second major change in the ordinance, hunting with bow and arrows would be permit- ted only on land zoned AGA, AG -2, or R -1 "consisting of 10 contiguous acres" or more. For both archery and firearms hunting, permits from the landowner or tenant and from the Department of Public Safety will be required, and a hunter cannot take wild game within 500 feet of any building, other structure, highway, or roadway. A complete copy of the proposed changes is available at City Hall. Hunting map: proposed Cottage Grove ordinance (Map shows city land where hunting will be allowed under the new ordinance.) Cont. from Page 1 Union 76), and 15 -year Councilmember in Cot- tage Grove, Denzer said it's still different being mayor. "I like being mayor," he said. "It's an opportu- nity to be part of a lot of decision - making you didn't have access to before." Denzer said his major goals as mayor are to improve the image of Cottage Grove, to provide an affordable tax structure for its citizens, and to maintain a professional city staff. City image "I think we need to emphasize the positive things about our city, such as our parks and recrea- tional programs, "' Denzer said. "This include the Ice Arena, ball fields, the new River Oaks Golf Course, more than a thousand acres of parks, and the trail system within the city. And Cottage Grove is located within easy reach of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers." He added, "Our school system is one of the best. We have a strong religious commu- nity representing a wide variety of faiths, and a good mix of housing including multiple dwell- ings to estate homes." He pointed out that the city's geographic location gives easy access to the airport or central cities "but still has a rural atmosphere." Still, there are areas Cottage Grove needs to improve, Denzer said. These include the en- trances to the city and the vacant buildings, and "improving the overall appearance of the traffic routes through the city with lighting, landscaping, and sidewalks." Affordable tax structure "The city should concentrate on projects that provide immediate benefit to the taxpayers," Denzer said. "We need to increase the tax base of the city, including building more high-end 'estate' type homes." He also encourages development of the commercial areas that 3M Orchestra to play here March 8 The 85- member 3M Club Symphony Orches- tra will present a free concert with music by Rossini, Beriot, and Copland.at 3 p.m. Sun- day, March 8, in the Park Senior High School Auditorium. The concert will be sponsored by the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce. There will be no admission charge, but audience members are asked to bring a food donation for the South Washington County Food Shelf. The program will be conducted by John Noble Moye. Elise Dalleska will be the violin soloist. already have utilities in place, adding businesses that will complement the city's existing business community. "We want to make Cottage Grove a place where young families and retired people can afford to live," he said. City staff, council Denzer said a high priority must be to main- tain the professional staff — and add needed posi- tions, depending on state aid money. Not only the mayor is newly elected: three out of the four Cottage Grove City Counciimembers are also new. Denzer said the 47 0M Cont. from Page 2 by instituting better management processes. "I inherited an organi- zation that had somewhat lost its sense of direc- tion," Frazeil said. "Now, there's more staff focus in terms of management by objectives. I want to make sure that we're accom- plishing what we prom- ise." Other specific respon- sibilities include manage- ment of City Council agendas, preparation of a recommended annual budget, public informa- tion, relationships with other levels of govern- ment, and personnel ad- ministration, including contract negotiations with city labor unions. N council that was sworn in Jan. 2 has the biggest turnover of any council in his 15 -year experience. "I think we have a very good council," he said. "Kevin Raun is from the public safety sector. Bill Buth is very knowl- edgeable on economic development. Jeff Rageth represents an age group that's the highest popula- tion in this city. And Jim Wolcott is from Cottage Grove's business commu- nity. They're all very well - qualified people who have the best interests of the city at heart. They have a good, sincere approach to their positions. And they've really stepped in and come up to speed." Frazeil and his family have lived in Cottage Grove since he was hired as city administrator, but he believes that "this is not 'my city.' It belongs to all the people who live here. "Obviously, knowing how to work with and through people has become as important as understanding how to put out fires or fix the pot- holes!" In Cottage Grove, the Office of the City Adminis- trator includes Frazeil and a secretary. The 1992 budget provides for the addition of an Assistant to the City Administrator/ Personnel Officer. 4 Looking Back by Robert C. Vogel City Historic Preserva- tion Officer Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, Native Americans had lived in the Cottage Grove area for about 10,000 years and through several suc- cessive cultures. When the first explorers came to the Mississippi Valley, most of what is now Minnesota was the undisputed realm of the Mdewakanton tribe of the Dakota Nation. Until the mid -1700s their council fires were clustered around Lake Mille Lacs, but sometime between 1730 and 1780, the Mdewakanton aban- doned their ancient homeland and split into several small bands which established villages along the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. One of these villages, called Kaposia, was located near St. Paul. Several early travelers have left accounts of Kaposia, its inhabitants, and the line of hereditary chiefs named Petit Corbeau (Little Crow). 11 1 • f. • •J. uqrwito Sometime after 1825, and for reasons that are lost in the fog of history, the Kaposia band frag- mented into three fac- tions. Most of the band remained under Little Crow at Kaposia. One of the breakaway groups established itself on the Minnesota River at what came to be known as Black Dog's village in present -day Eagan. Another moved a few miles down the Missis- sippi and encamped for several years at the western end of Grey Cloud Island, then known as "Medicine Wood Island," an allusion, we are told, to a giant beech tree which grew there. The leader of the Grey Cloud band was Waukanojanjan (whose name translates as "sacred light "), nicknamed Medicine Bottle, a refer- ence to the glass vial he wore on a leather thong around his neck. Waukanojanjan was an important chief, shaman, and leader of the Kaposia band's soldier lodge. He was obviously a favorite of the fur traders, and his name appears on numerous treaties. In 1858, Waukanojanjan jour- neyed to Washington as part of the treaty delega- tion and his likeness appears in a photograph of the treaty signers taken in a New York City studio. After his return to Minnesota, he lived out the remainder of his life at the Lower Sioux Agency, where he met a most unfortunate end: while chasing one of his chickens, the old man was impaled upon an iron hook on a corn -drying rack. The hook pene- trated his brain, and he died instantly. Medicine Bottle and his band remained at Grey Cloud Island for only a few years. On July 29, 1837, the Dakota signed a treaty by which the Native Americans relinquished their tribal lands east of the Mississippi as far north as the mouth of the Crow Wing River in exchange for $87,000. After the treaty, Little Crow's village moved across the river to what is today South St. Paul. In compliance with the treaty, sometime during the early months of 1838 Waukanojanjan and his people moved to a new site at Pin de Tour, present -day Pine Bend, directly across the Missis- sippi River from the former encampment on Cont. on Page 5 5 IyAmars =wOno UP =041 Cont. from Page 4 Grey Cloud Island, where they remained until the Treaty of 1851 required their removal to the Lower Sioux Agency reservation near present -day Red- wood Falls. The location of Medi- cine Bottle's Grey Cloud camp can be pinpointed because the early settlers Hazen Mooers, Andrew Robertson, and their families occupied several of the band's abandoned lodges when they came to the island in 1838. The location of the Mooers- Robertson settlement was mapped by the pioneer archaeolo- gist Jacob V. Brower in 1902, but, unfortunately, the site has since been destroyed. Hazen Mooers, a veteran of the War of 1812, came West in the 1820s and was employed by the American Fur Company before coming to Grey Cloud Island. His wife, Margaret Aird Anderson, was part Dakota, and therefore kin to some of Medicine Bottle's band. This remarkable woman was the daughter of the Scottish fur trader James Aird and Mahkpiahotowin, the sister of the famous Wabasha, chief of the La Feuille ( "leaf") band of the Mdewakanton. Wabasha was a key player in all of the deal- ings between the Dakota nation and the European invaders and was the dominant figure in early Minnesota history. Margaret Aird, who shared her mother's Dakota name, was born in Wabasha's village near Winona and was raised in the polyglot fur trader community at Prairie du Chien. Upon reaching her majority, she married Thomas Gummersall Anderson, a trader. Before Margaret sepa- rated from Anderson (who went on to enjoy a long career as an Indian agent for the British government in Canada) the couple had three children. The date of her marriage to Hazen Mooers is un- known, but they had several children of their own by the time the family relocated at Grey Cloud. Margaret's oldest daughter, Jane, was married to Andrew Robertson, one of Mooers' furtrade associ- ates who was afterwards the superintendent of Indian schools on the Upper Sioux Reservation. By all accounts, it was Robertson who renamed Spirit Wood Island "Grey Cloud" in honor of his mother -in -law. His own name, misspelled, is preserved in Robinson's Rocks, a landmark on Upper Grey Cloud Island. The Mooers and Robertson families left Grey Cloud around 1842, in order to follow their Native American relatives to the new reservations on the Minnesota River. Margaret Anderson Mooers died in 1850 and was buried at Black Dog's village in what is now Eagan. Hazen Mooers died several years later at Ft. Ridgely. Native American Influences Although only a few Indians lived in Cottage Grove after the Treaties of 1837 and 1851, their influence on later Euro- American settlers was important. Mdewakanton old fields were utilized by pioneer farmers at Grey Cloud and Pine Bend: because of the land's previous use, settlers were assured that many tracts were farmable. The many Indian mounds were also helpful as indicators of land that was high and dry, and as homesites for floodplain dwellers. The ancient Indian site on Lower Grey Cloud Island overlooking Baldwin Lake was se- lected by Joseph R. Brown (whose brother was married to one of Mahkpiahotowin's daugh- ters) for a trading post and later for an unsuc- cessful townsite project. Native Americans in later years After the Dakota War of 1862 and the subse- quent expulsion of the Dakota from the state, some Native Americans returned to the Cottage Grove area. A special census taken in 1883 indicated 33 Native Americans resident at Lower Grey Cloud Island, but by 1888 this commu- nity had shrunken to just 11 individuals and was labeled "a mere squatters' camp." They do not appear to have owned any land — certainly there was no reservation. This group certainly consid- ered themselves ethnic Native Americans but probably lacked tribal ties and were more or less integrated with the general French Canadian - Yankee population along the river. By the end of the century, the Native American presence in Cottage Grove had evaporated.