HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-4-02 City Council Meeting Minutes
COTTAGE GROVE CITY COUNCIL April 2, 2025
12800 RAVINE PARKWAY SOUTH
COTTAGE GROVE, MN 55016
COUNCIL CHAMBER - 7:00 P.M
1. CALL TO ORDER
The City Council of the City of Cottage Grove, Washington County, Minnesota, held a regular meeting on
April 2, 2025, at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Parkway. Mayor Bailey called the meeting to order at
7:00 p.m.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The audience, staff, and City Council Members stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
3. ROLL CALL
City Clerk Tammy Anderson called the roll: Mayor Bailey-Here; Council Member Clausen-Here; Council Member Garza-Here; Council Member Olsen-Here; Council Member Thiede-Here.
Also present: Jennifer Levitt, City Administrator; Tammy Anderson, City Clerk; Ryan Burfeind, Public Works Director; Zac Dockter, Parks and Recreation Director; Pete Koerner, Public
Safety Director; Korine Land, City Attorney-LeVander, Gillen & Miller, PA; Gretchen Larson, Economic Development Director; Brenda Malinowski, Finance Director; Emily Schmitz, Community
Development Director; Phil Jents, Communication Manager; Sam Pierret, Senior Planner.
4. OPEN FORUM
Mayor Bailey opened the Open Forum.
Bonnie Matter, 6649 Inskip Avenue South, Cottage Grove, said hello Mayor and Council Members, thank you very much. I am here tonight because I attended the March 24th Planning Commission
meeting, and at that meeting, we were told that the Planning Commission would no longer be hearing Environmental Assessment Worksheets or Environmental Impact Statements. I was very
concerned when I heard that, I think that this type of information is very important, not only for the community, but for the residents, it helps protect the community and the residents.
So, what I would like to know is who made that decision, when was the decision made, where was the discussion held, who was in the room when the decision was made, and what are the
reasons for not keeping the Planning Commission involved in the environmental assessment process. Thank you.
Mayor Bailey told Ms. Matter that the City would get back to her with the answers to her questions, and thanked her.
As no one else wished to address the Council, Mayor Bailey closed the Open Forum.
5. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Motion by Council Member Thiede to adopt the agenda; second by Council Member Olsen. Motion carried: 5-0.
6. PRESENTATIONS
World Autism Month Proclamation
Staff Recommendation: Proclaim April 2025 as World Autism Month.
Mayor Bailey stated I’ve asked Council Member Olsen to read that proclamation; once we’re done, I’ll look for a motion and a second to approve.
Council Member Olsen thanked Mayor Bailey and said you are correct, April is always World Autism Month. It’s always an honor for me to be able to read this proclamation from the
City of Cottage Grove, as it’s an issue that’s very near and dear to my family with my son being on the Autism Spectrum, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. He proceeded to read aloud
the proclamation.
Mayor Bailey thanked Council Member Olsen for reading that proclamation; it’s always an important one that we have every year and that we like to recognize within our community.
Motion by Council Member Olsen to accept the proclamation that is declaring April 2025 World Autism Month; second by Council Member Garza. Motion carried: 5-0.
National Volunteer Month Proclamation
Staff Recommendation: Proclaim April 2025 as National Volunteer Month.
Mayor Bailey said he’s asked Council Member Clausen to read that proclamation.
Council Member Clausen thanked Mayor Bailey and said, as a matter of fact, our Volunteer Banquet is coming up on April 17th. There are many volunteers that run many organizations;
I mean, just think of the food shelves, the churches, in our own City, all of our commissioners are volunteers. So, I’m happy to read this proclamation for National Volunteer Month,
which he read aloud.
Mayor Bailey thanked Council Member Clausen, and said once again, we all truly appreciate all the volunteers, whether they’re on commissions, or just somebody who’s picking up trash;
there’s a gentleman who’s waving at cars as they’re passing by Norris Square. So, that’s very, very, very cool.
Motion by Council Member Clausen to adopt April 2025 as National Volunteer Month; second by Council Member Thiede. Motion carried: 5-0.
7. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approve the March 5, 2025 Special City Council Meeting Minutes.
B. Approve the March 5, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting Minutes.
C. Approve the March 19, 2025 Special City Council Meeting Minutes.
D. Approve the March 19, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting Minutes.
E. Accept and place on file the minutes from the February 24, 2025 Planning Commission Meeting.
F. Authorize issuance of a temporary intoxicating liquor license to Kaitlyn Mary Tobritzhofer on behalf of the Cottage Grove Lions Club for Strawberry Fest on June 20th and 21st,
2025.
G. Authorize issuance of a temporary intoxicating liquor license to Zac Dockter on behalf of the St. Paul Park Lions Club for Strawberry Fest on June 20th and June 21st, 2025.
H. Authorize issuance of a single-occasion gambling permit to Carrie Lynn Kopischke and Jacqueline
Marie Larson on behalf of the Phoenix Residence to conduct a raffle at River Oaks Golf Course (11099
South Highway 61, Cottage Grove, MN 55016) on June 9, 2025, from 12:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
I. Approve the renewals of the workers compensation and package policies with the League of MN
Cities Insurance Trust for the 2025-2026 policy period in the amount of $1,347,293..
J. Approve the issuance of rental licenses to the properties listed in the attached table.
K. Authorize the Public Safety Department (Fire Division) to apply for the Spark Good Grant offered
through the Walmart Foundation.
L. Approve the Professional Services Agreement between the City of Cottage Grove and Fitch and
Associates to complete a Standards of Cover/Community Risk Assessment for the cost for $49,995..
M. Authorize Construction Manager as Adviser AIA C132 contract with Kraus-Anderson for construction
of the Kingston Park building project.
N. Authorize staff to apply for the Metropolitan Council Community Tree Planting Grant in the amount of
$75,000.
O. Authorize Resolution 2025-038 awarding the 2025 Tree Planting Contract to Hoffman & McNamara
Nursery and Landscape in the amount of $43,180 for the material and labor to install 100 boulevard
trees and authorize the service agreement between Hoffman & McNamara Nursery and Landscape
and the City of Cottage Grove.
P. Adopt Resolution 2025-037 awarding the 2025 Stump Grinding Contract to Anderson Stump Grinding
& Restoration in the amount of $3.10 per linear inch and authorize the service agreement between
Anderson Stump Grinding & Restoration and the City of Cottage Grove.
Q. Adopt Resolution 2025-044 approving the plans and specifications and authoring bidding for the
Intermediate Zone Water Treatment Plant Project.
R. Approve the Right-To-Enter agreements to allow soil boring work to be completed for Ravine Parkway
from 85th Street to 70th Street, with minor modifications by the City Attorney.
S. Approve Resolution 2025-047 authorizing the final payment for the Summer Landing 4th Addition
Project to Northern Lines Contracting in the amount of $45,725.80.
T. Adopt Resolution 2025-053 in support of the County Road 74 Improvement Project.
U. 1) Adopt Resolution 2025-040 approving the Mississippi Landing 2nd Addition Final Plat, which is an
approximate 15.06-acre residential development with 80 single-family lots. 2) Approve the Mississippi
Landing 2nd Addition Development Agreement with Rachel Development, Inc. and authorize
execution of all easements, deeds, and agreements required for the plat and project. 3) Adopt
Resolution 2025-041 approving the Mississippi Landing 2nd Addition Development Plans dated
January 27, 2025, prepared by Alliant Engineering, and as modified by request of the City Engineer.
V. Approve the Award of Commissioners for Parcel 17 and authorize payment.
None of the Council Members wished to pull any Items on the Consent Agenda for further comment and/or discussion.
Motion by Council Member Thiede to approve the Consent Agenda; second by Council Member Garza.
Motion carried: 5-0.
Mayor Bailey said for anybody who was here for anything on the Consent calendar, they’ve all been approved.
8. APPROVE DISBURSEMENTS
Approve disbursements for the period of 3-14-2025 through 3-27-2025 in the amount of
$3,172,571.63.
Motion by Council Member Olsen to approve disbursements; second by Council Member Clausen.
Motion carried: 5-0.
9. PUBLIC HEARINGS
HAWTHORNE PINES 2ND ADDITION - EASEMENT VACATION & BOUNDARY LINE
ADJUSTMENT
Staff Recommendation: 1) Hold the Public Hearing and Adopt Resolution 2025-045 vacating,
rescinding, terminating, and releasing certain easements pertaining to real property within the
City of Cottage Grove. 2) Adopt Resolution 2025-046 approving the boundary line adjustment and
the drainage and utility easement as proposed on Lots 3 and 4, Block 4, Hawthorne Pines 2nd
Addition.
Mayor Bailey said this item looks fairly simple, and Emily Schmitz, our Community Development Director, is going to take us through this.
Director Schmitz said good evening to the Mayor and Council. Yes, hopefully this is quite simple. Hawthorne Pines is that development up in the northwest corner of our community, off
of 65th. Pulte has been working in there for a handful of years. They’ve come across this very unique situation where a lot line needs to be tweaked just a bit to ensure that we’re
maintaining that 15 feet total between our buildings on each lot line; so, as you can see, a new lot line is shifted about 2.5 feet. In order to do that, we do also need to vacate that
standard, do a new easement that we have on either side of our property lines, that we can shift that, and then, of course, enact a new, do a new easement on either side of that new
property line, so it would be a paper easement but exists nonetheless and serve the same purpose.
So, with that, I will leave the recommendation before you to hold that Public Hearing, and it is two separate recommendations this evening.
Mayor Bailey said that sounds good, and asked if Council had any questions on this; none were asked.
Mayor Bailey opened the Public Hearing. No one spoke. Mayor Bailey closed the Public Hearing.
Motion by Council Member Olsen to Adopt Resolution 2025-045 vacating, rescinding, terminating, and releasing certain easements pertaining to real property within the City of Cottage
Grove; second by Council Member Clausen. Motion carried: 5-0.
Motion by Council Member Thiede to Adopt Resolution 2025-046 approving the boundary line adjustment and the drainage and utility easement as proposed on Lots 3 and 4, Block 4, Hawthorne
Pines 2nd Addition; second by Council Member Garza. Motion carried: 5-0.
Mayor Bailey thanked Director Schmitz.
10. BID AWARDS
HIGH ZONE RAW WATER MAIN PROJECT
Staff Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2025-039, awarding the High Zone Raw Water Main
Project to A-1 Excavating, LLC, in the amount of $5,134,648.
Mayor Bailey said Ryan Burfeind, Public Works Director, will speak on this project.
Director Burfeind said thank you, Mayor, and Members of the Council. So, we took bids for this project on Thursday, March 20, a couple weeks ago.
Just for a quick reminder and overview, this is a 3M Settlement project that’s going to install a new Water Main across the northern part of the City, down to where our Intermediate
Zone Water Treatment Plant is going to be; so, it’s going to connect Well 11, which is at Highlands Park, across from the splash pad, and then Well 12, which is up in Sunnyhill Park,
up in the Pine Cliff neighborhood. So, largely, it’ll be a 16-inch Water Main, and we call it a Raw Water Main because it’s going to have that untreated water from Wells 11 and 12 routed
down to the new treatment plant, and then it’ll get pumped back up to this area of the City. Like I said, it is nearly all funded through the 3M Settlement project; in the memo, there
was a small amount of funds that’ll City because they’re not
relevant to the 3M Settlement part. With this project, the trail in Pine Tree Valley is going to get torn up, but not the little connectors to the neighborhoods, but we do want those
to be replaced as well, so, that’s a City cost that we have dedicated funding for that. We also have some Sanitary Sewer lining that we’d like to have done because there’s some Sanitary
Sewer lining necessary for the High Zone Raw Water Main, so while we have the contractor, let’s not pay the additional mow charges, let’s get that lining done, and that’s paid for by
the Sanitary Sewer Utility Fund. Then there’s a little bit of oversizing that’s not Settlement eligible for a future well really close to the plant itself, that’s paid for out of the
Water Area Fund, so that is in the memo for the Council.
When we took bids, we had actually five companies bid on the project; you can see all five were under the Engineer’s Estimate, which it’s good to be well under, obviously, but it
was a little surprising to have all five under. I will say, in terms of the estimate, that was based on real numbers with our consultant, SCH, as they are doing some other similar projects
for the 3M Settlement, like in Woodbury and some other communities that took actually took bids earlier this winter. That’s actually what a lot of this was based off of, and we actually
saw much more favorable bids. I don’t know if it was tariff concerns back then that alleviated when we bid, it’s hard to explain, but with the pretty tight bidding we don’t have concerns
that there were things missed by the low bidder or any issues like that. So, we are comfortable with the bids, and A-1 Excavating, they’ve done work as a sub on some other projects
in town; they also were the general contractor, prime contractor, when we extended the Water Main to the Granada Avenue neighborhood in 2020, so, we do have direct work experience with
them as well.
With that, the recommendation is on the screen, and I’ll stand for any questions.
Mayor Bailey asked if Council had any questions for Ryan on this topic; none were asked.
Motion by Council Member Garza to Adopt Resolution 2025-039, awarding the High Zone Raw Water Main Project to A-1 Excavating, LLC, in the amount of $5,134,648; second by Council Member
Thiede. Motion carried: 5-0.
2025 MILL AND OVERLAY - BID AWARD
Staff Recommendation: Adopt Resolution 2025-052 awarding the 2025 Mill and Overlay and Hardwood Court Intersection Improvements to Northwest Asphalt, Inc. for the base bid amount plus
the Alternate for a total of $1,845,575.90.
Mayor Bailey said Ryan will speak about this one, too.
Director Burfeind said Mayor, Members of the Council, so this one we took bids on last Thursday, March 27. Just as a reminder again on this project, there are two scopes to it: Part
of it is the Mill and Overlay, which will be Hardwood Avenue from 80th to 70th, and you can see there’s a little section by the new apartments that was left out, that was Mill and Overlaid
when the turn lanes were installed just a few years ago, so that’s not necessary to redo that work. So, there’s a little gap left out on Hardwood. We also did in purple with the Base
Bid a lot of the Timber Ridge neighborhood, north of 70th Street, and we always like with these Mill and Overlays, we have a dedicated funding source with the Roadway Maintenance Fund;
so, we like to make sure we’re maximizing that, so we like to have an Alternate that if we do get good pricing, we can award it because we have that dedicated funding for this work,
that was in green, the Pine Arbor neighborhood.
There’s also the new signal at Hardwood Court, I know there was some discussion when we authorized bids, just talking about why that’s going in; we’re anticipating more growth,
more development and redevelopment in that area, so that is to manage that growth. Also, a lot of the signal justification was actually the sight lines, and as traffic has increased
over the years, there’s actually a higher accident rate to that intersection, above what you’d expect at that similar intersection in the Statewide average; so, that also went into
that justification. We did a lot of very close, detailed review, to make sure we’re not creating a new East Point and Jamaica; I think it can feel like those intersections at 80th and
Hardwood Court are really close, but it is actually about double the distance with half the traffic level. We looked at full buildout of the City with actually higher, intense uses
than we’d maybe ever see, and even with that, we didn’t have stacking issues. So, I just want Council to be aware that was a big effort to make sure that these signals were going to
work really well together.
In terms of the bid results, if Council remembers with the Pavement Management Project, we saw asphalt pricing quite a bit lower than what the suppliers were anticipating. When we estimate
these asphalt projects, our team does a lot of work with the suppliers over the winter, what’s pricing going to look like in the coming season, and it’s just quite a bit lower than
what we were hearing back then. We saw that on Pavement Management, and we saw that again here with our bidding. You can see we had five bids, it probably looks like very similar contractors
that we had in the Pavement Management project, but there’s a different low bid for this project, Northwest Asphalt, Incorporated. They’ve done many projects throughout the years in
Cottage Grove on our Pavement Managements, on our Mill and Overlays, so very comfortable with their work. With the good bids for the Base Bid and Alternate, we are recommending awarding
the Alternate tonight as well, so we can make sure we’re maximizing those Mill and Overlay Funds for 2025.
Director Burfeind said with that, the recommendation’s on the screen.
Mayor Bailey said I have one question, but asked Council if they had questions.
Council Member Garza said all right, thank you for the presentation. Just a quick question on the signal that’s going in down there: So, is that in anticipation of when the apartments
and the other builds that were going to be doing down that way, too?
Director Burfeind replied yes, that’s correct, Mayor and Council Member Garza. So, we do look at all of the pending development and potential redevelopment when we do that signal
justification.
Council Member Garza asked now, will that signal be on like right away, like is it going to be installed in the next like few months?
Director Burfeind replied in terms of schedule, there’s a little bit of lead time on those. So, what’s nice about this intersection, there’s not a lot of reconstruction. If you
remember like 95th and Jamaica, we had to do a lot of work; here, it’s pretty much just putting the signals up, but there is quite a lead time, so it could be more into the Fall. Once
we get the contractor on board, they’ll give us a hard schedule. So, all that Mill and Overlay work and everything will be done, and they’ll pour like the bases, do all the head ramps,
and then once the signals arrive, they’ll put those up; and it’ll stay operating the same way it does now, as a side-stop intersection, until the signals are here.
Council Member Garza replied okay, thank you. I wondered if that would cause a delay for traffic for people that would be going down that road and there’s not as much traffic just
yet, so.
Director Burfeind said that’s a good question, Council Member Garza. So, because it is a signal, we can actually time it accordingly; the timing now will probably be a little more
based on Hardwood, and then as things redevelop and change, we always actually every year analyze our signals and look at the timing and should we tweak it based on new traffic patterns
and new development.
Council Member Garza said thank you, I appreciate it.
Mayor Bailey said so, two questions, which is a little piggyback on what Council Member Garza just mentioned. So, I know eventually we’re going to redo 80th Street, right? When you do
that with this other new signal system that’s going in there, will that be kind of incorporated, if you will, into whatever the signal at 80th is doing, so it’s kind of a through process,
if you know what I mean; so, there’s not as much stacking, especially if there’s redevelopment in there.
Director Burfeind replied yep, that’s correct, Mr. Mayor. So, we will in the 80th Street project, we’ll redo Hardwood and 80th Street, we’re putting dual lefts in, and then they
will be connected, so they’ll be timed together; so, that way they can make sure traffic’s continuing to flow and further, just make sure we’re not having any issues between the two
signals.
Mayor Bailey said okay, and then my only other question, I know what it is, and I’ll say it; so, when you’re showing the picture of the area that we’re going to do, there’s obviously
a portion of Hardwood that is not done, and I know that it’s not going to be done because it got redone with the apartments going in there. Do you have any concern with a thump or something,
you know what I’m saying, where it’s not going to be smooth? I just want to make sure it’s smooth, because I know we had them replace it, remember? Because when they first put the one
in, it wasn’t good at all.
Council Member Thiede said the fact that you’ve got trucks working on both sides of them and doing work and everything else, whether it’ll actually damage any of that.
Mayor Bailey said yeah, I just want to make sure that it’s going to be a smooth transition with that gap in the middle, so.
Director Burfeind replied nope, that’s a good question, Mr. Mayor; so, you’re right, when it was first done, it was actually two different paving companies with two different projects
in a smaller apartment. It did not meet our standards and not just at the transition, but the entire thing; so, that was redone, and we actually had and my first time pull a letter
of credit, redo it with our own contractor, so its much better. You’re right, at the transition points, we do have standards that they have to meet to make sure there’s not that thump
when we do meet. I will admit we did discuss the benefits vs. the cons of just Milling right through it, but given what that extra cost would’ve been, it really felt better used on
roads that needed the Mill and Overlay; and then just really making sure we’re working with our contractor to have a correct, smooth transition when we’re all done.
Council Member Thiede said just real quick, so is there something in the proposal that requires to make sure that the contractor doesn’t degrade that portion, like all of a sudden having
grooves where water will sit?
Council Member Garza said or even matching, so that, I mean, it’s a parkway; so, when you’re driving along, you want to keep the look of it.
Director Burfeind replied so, for both those questions: 1) Drainage: There are no concerns about the amount of traffic that that road gets loaded with on a daily basis, the little
bit of their trucks driving over, no concerns with rutting or anything like that because it is an arterial roadway, a very thick pavement mat. 2) But the transition, that’s 100% what
we have to work with them on; any time we have a project, that’s something we look at; but even though it feels different, if you think about like an East Point and Jamaica, that project
had like 13 different phases with 13 different paving efforts. I think I would say you drive through there, and I don’t think you notice. So, even though that was all done within two
years, it really is very similar. So, we want to just work and have that same effort, and that is clear in our spec in how tight they have to be with the transition for it.
Council Member Olsen said first of all, congratulations on the bidding environment, it’s nice for us to be able to get ahead a little bit. As you know, I’m a huge fan of the Mill and
Overlay, my neighborhood was the first one to get done, and it is still just fantastic; it’s such a great program, particularly because we don’t have to assess anybody. So, I’m really
grateful that we got a favorable bidding environment this year and that we’re able to do some additional areas as an Alternate. My question for you is this: In terms of the communication
with the residents in Pine Arbor, have we kind of thought through a communication plan for those folks? Because it’s a little different when you’re in the neighborhood vs. just on Hardwood;
you know, finding alternate parking for them for that period of time, etc., and these guys tend to work pretty quick, but I’m just wondering if we’ve already kind of put a communication
plan together or if we’re working on that?
Director Burfeind replied yep, Mr. Mayor, Council Member Olsen, so, each year with the Mill and Overlay, we develop I think a really nice, detailed flyer that we do. For these,
we actually just have them done like for a Neighborhood Meeting because it is, in general, such a low impact because we’re not getting down to the gravel base, it’s really quick; they
Mill out one day, and then just a little bit later, because we’re not doing concrete curb or other things like that, so we are prepped and ready. We wanted to get bids to see what it
would be, and after tonight, we’ll send that mailing out, it’s a nice front-and-back sheet, it’s got the project website info, our inspector contact information on there; that’s ready
to go and go out to the entire project area. We have a little bit extra information for the folks at the signal, just so they have a little more detail on what’s happening with the
signal as well.
Council Member Olsen replied and you know, for whatever it’s worth, we visit that neighborhood often during Night to Unite each year, and just a tremendous level of support for
the City and what have you; but one item of note is that we do have some snowbirds there, you know, retirees who maybe travel extensively, they may take long trips and stuff, so if
we can just put that little extra ounce of effort into the communication piece, I think they would appreciate it.
Director Burfeind replied yep, certainly.
Mayor Bailey asked if there were any other questions; none were asked. He thanked Ryan, said there was more on that than you thought, I think. Director Burfeind replied no, it’s all
good.
Motion by Council Member Olsen to Adopt Resolution 2025-052 awarding the 2025 Mill and Overlay and Hardwood Court Intersection Improvements to Northwest Asphalt, Inc. for the Base Bid
amount plus the Alternate for a total of $1,845,575.90; second by Council Member Garza. Motion carried: 5-0.
11. REGULAR AGENDA
KWIK TRIP - CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT, SITE PLAN REVIEW, AND VARIANCE
Staff Recommendation: 1) Adopt Resolution 2025-043 to approve the Conditional Use Permit for a
Kwik Trip convenience store to be located on 95th Street South. 2) Adopt Resolution 2025-042 to
approve the Site Plan Review and Variance to the minimum side yard setback for a parking area
and drive lanes. 3) Approve the Development Agreement with Kwik Trip, Inc. and authorize
execution of all agreements required for the project as outlined in the Development Agreement.
Mayor Bailey said Samantha Pierret, our Senior Planner, is going to take us through this, and welcomed her.
Senior Planner Pierret replied thank you, good evening Mr. Mayor and members of the Council. So, Kwik Trip has applied for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP), Site Plan Review, and one Variance
for a property at the intersection of Jamaica and 95th Street. The property is currently zoned I-1, which is General Industrial, and they are proposing to do a convenience store with
a traditional fuel canopy and a commercial diesel canopy. The proposed site does comply with all of our City Zoning Code items, including setbacks, height restrictions, architectural
materials, landscaping requirements, as well as parking requirements. The applicant anticipates hiring 25-to-30 new employees to operate the store 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The
site will be accessed via three driveways, off of 95th Street; these will provide access for larger trucks and traditional passenger vehicles. Access will also be retained to the City’s
Compost Site, currently operated by Rumpca, through the applicant’s property, and an agreement for that is included in your packet for approval tonight. A right-turn lane will also
be installed on 95th Street to facilitate traffic moving to northbound Jamaica Avenue.
The applicant has also applied for one Variance for a zero lot line setback for their parking/driving lane, to be 22 feet wide, 300 feet long, onto City-owned property to the east.
There is also an agreement in the packet for this encroachment for your consideration this evening. The Variance was requested due to the restricted buildable area on the site, the
required driveway setbacks and driveway widths to accommodate those larger trucks coming in and out. It should also be noted that three overhead light poles will also be installed in
that encroachment.
So, with all of that, there are three recommendations on the screen for your consideration tonight, and I will stand for any questions.
Mayor Bailey asked Council if they had any questions for Samantha; none were asked. Mayor Bailey thanked Samantha.
Mayor Bailey asked if there was anybody in the audience from Kwik Trip and if they had anything that they would like to add. She replied no, and Mayor Bailey asked if they were all good,
which was confirmed.
Motion by Council Member Thiede to Adopt Resolution 2025-043 to approve the Conditional Use Permit for a
Kwik Trip convenience store to be located on 95th Street South; second by Council Member Clausen.
Motion carried: 5-0.
Motion by Council Member Garza to Adopt Resolution 2025-042 to approve the Site Plan Review and Variance to the minimum side yard setback for a parking area and drive lanes; second by
Council Member Thiede.
Motion carried: 5-0.
Motion by Council Member Clausen to approve the Development Agreement with Kwik Trip, Inc. and authorize execution of all agreements required for the project as outlined in the Development
Agreement; second by Council Member Olsen. Motion carried: 5-0.
Mayor Bailey said so, we’re finally on our way. Now, I will ask one question now that we’re done with that, timing. Have you heard anything yet? If you want to come up and share with
us, I know our public has been, it is a hot topic town.
Lisa Watson, with Kwik Trip, 9900 Dell Ridge Road, Bloomington, Minnesota, replied timing wise, we don’t have it yet, totally a set-down date. So, our Gantt Chart moves a lot, just
recently I saw some projects move off, and so, some more are going to get added on. So, I’d like to be able to come back to Council when I have a little better idea of what that timing
looks like.
Mayor Bailey replied perfect, and whether or not you come back to us or you share it with staff, that would be good because then we can share it amongst ourselves and let the public
know when they’re finally going to see you break down on that new building.
Lisa Watson replied, yeah, perfect, thank you.
12. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS
Council Member Clausen said I have nothing to add tonight, Mayor, thank you.
Council Member Olsen said I’m just going to talk a little bit tonight about a couple of upcoming events that are not on our calendar of upcoming events, so that the public is aware:
First of all, our friends at Basic Needs are holding their annual Fashion for a Cause Gala this year on the 10th of April at River Oaks, I believe that starts at 5 o'clock. The
event goes to support all of the various charitable contributions that Basic Needs makes to the South Washington County Community, but in particular, the Basic Needs Food Shelf, where
people are eligible to come in if they’re facing food insecurity; without any charge at all, they are able to find some healthy food that they can take home to feed themselves and their
family. So, if you have not already bought a ticket, you can go to the Basic Needs website or their Facebook page, and there’s a link right there for you to buy a ticket; again, April
10th, Fashion for a Cause, at River Oaks, starting at 5 o'clock.
Additionally, we’re getting to that time of year where the Easter Bunny is going to come and visit Cottage Grove, and our Cottage Grove Lions Club, as we do each year, will be holding
our Easter Bunny Breakfast at the Cottage Grove VFW on April 13, from 8:00 a.m. to noon. The cost to attend is $12 for adults, $8 for kids; that includes your meal (milk/juice, coffee,
and other drinks for people), and we’re also going to be giving away several different prizes, including bikes and scooters for the kids. There is no cost to enter; when you pay your
$8 fee for your child, they’re automatically entered into the drawing for the bikes and the scooters. So, come enjoy a little bit of breakfast and a lot of fun with the Easter Bunny,
you can get your picture taken with the bunny if you’d like. Again, April 13th at the Cottage Grove VFW from 8:00 a.m. to noon. All proceeds go, of course, to the Cottage Grove Lions,
which is a nonprofit that supports various different endeavors throughout the Cottage Grove community and the local area. So, we’ll look forward to seeing you there. With that, Mayor,
I’ll turn it back to you.
Council Member Thiede said I don’t have too much. As I usually do, I’ll mention the Strawberry Fest’s next meeting is next Monday, April 7, at 6:00 p.m., at Carbone’s; we always enjoy
having people from the community come in and see what it’s all about and see if there’s ways they can assist and help out.
Mayor Bailey said fantastic, it’s hard to believe that’s coming up sooner and sooner; it’s already April, for crying out loud. Council Member Thiede replied I know, right?
Council Member Garza said I will give another plug for the Basic Needs Fashion Show, I’m actually walking in the Fashion Show, so I’m really excited. They have some awesome fashions
to be had, and they are very reasonable; they are designer fashions, they just have a lot of really great stuff down there, so if you haven’t gone to Basic Needs, I’d say get down there
and check out their stuff, they have some good stuff.
Also, River Oaks is in full swing with their Fish Fry; we actually had dinner there tonight, and it was amazing. So, I would say if you are looking to have a really spectacular Fish
Fry, get down to River Oaks Friday night; they suggest making a reservation, it seems like it’s getting pretty packed, they’re having a full house, so we’d love to see you come and
check us out.
Council Member Thiede said the white fish entrée that we had tonight, I don’t remember the name of it, but it was very good. Council Member Garza said it was amazing, there’s a
new chef down there, and it’s really good. So, if you haven’t had a chance, get down there and eat, but that’s all I have.
Mayor Bailey said it’s funny, we’re all looking at each other; it was good, but we don’t know what it was. It was Bronzini; it was very good and it’s on the menu for Friday night.
Council Member Thiede said Bronzini and it wasn’t even brown color, it was all white.
Mayor Bailey said the only item I had for just the general public to share this evening is I had the opportunity today to do our first podcast that you’re going to be seeing. So, we’re
always looking for new ways to engage the public, and one of the things that I brought up earlier, like in December, when Phil joined us, is to do more communication type things to
the public in various means. So, today, we taped our first podcast, which will be released in the very near future; and I had the opportunity to be their first guest, if you will, and
I say their because Phil and Emily both were there, so we had a great time, it was amazing. I just would share with you, Council, if you get the invite or staff, if you get the invite,
to be part of it, you’re going to love it. It’s fun to banter and just talk differently, if you will, and learn about positions and people. Some of the questions that were sent to me
or put to me, I got to answer, and a couple of them were like, what, you did that? So, I just wanted to make a nice plug that it’s going to be cool, so I encourage you to listen to
it when it does come out.
With that, we do have two workshops this evening, one of which is open to the public, and that’s Twin City Land
Development, which is a concept of the Tank property; and then we do have a closed workshop right after that, for which obviously the public cannot be present, pursuant to Minnesota
Statute 13D.05, Subd. 3(c), to develop offers for the purchase of property. So, it’s basically a property acquisition possibility that the City is looking at doing.
So, with that, Council will be heading into the Training Room, so anybody in the audience that wants to sit in is welcome to do so. We’ll be adjourning this meeting later. Thank
you.
13. WORKSHOPS - OPEN TO PUBLIC - TRAINING ROOM
TWIN CITY LAND DEVELOPMENT - TANK PROPERTY CONCEPT WORKSHOP
Staff Recommendation: Receive information from Twin City Land Development on their proposed
concept plan on land east of Keats Avenue and south of 70th Street and provide comment and
feedback on their proposal.
Mayor Bailey said we’ll go ahead and get the workshop started, which is open to the public, regarding Twin City Land Development, which is a concept for the Tank Property. I guess I’m
going to first kick it off to Emily, and then she can introduce our guests.
Director Schmitz said Mayor and Council, good evening, we welcome Twin City Land, who has about 146 acres of the Tank property and Brier property, I’ll include that in there, under contract,
and so they’ve been working on a concept for that particular site. They’re looking at a variety of different products, lot widths, and I’m trying to keep you kind of informed as we
work through that process; they’re at a point where they’d like to share and have that discussion with you to get a little bit of feedback on those lot widths and some products that
they are proposing within this particular development.
So, Alyssa Armstrong with Alliant is here with us, and Ben Schmidt with Twin City Land are both here to share some more details, and obviously, answer any questions that you might
have about their proposal.
Mayor Bailey said sounds good. Welcome, we’ll let you get started.
Ben replied thank you. Mayor and Council Members, we appreciate this opportunity with Twin City Land Development. I feel like I haven’t done this in a while, but I don't know what, I
feel a little out of sorts, I don't know why, maybe just I think a lot of cities have gone to shutting people like me out a little bit. So, that was before, I really appreciate this.
So, yes, we’ve got a portion of the Tank property under contract, which includes the Brier property in the middle. I think what I’ll do because really any questions you already may
have asked, I’ll give a little overview of what we’ve been looking at and how we got to where we did, in terms of our Concept Plan, and then I’ll be willing to answer questions now.
So, the original red is the area that we’ve got under contract, and really from a Concept Plan perspective, in some ways we didn’t have a lot of flexibility because we’ve got a
couple of things that are in place: The Met Council’s got a big easement that comes through here, there’s a gas line that comes through here that’s got a big easement, and a Stormwater
easement with an original Stormwater pipe that comes through here. So, we really have just a couple nodes that we can work with. And then, from your Comprehensive Plan perspective,
and Melissa will correct me if I’ve got it wrong, but essentially, this area is all guided as medium density, a little bit of high density here, and then some low density throughout
here. And when we looked at that, we wanted to kind of again, based on some of the things that we had to deal with in terms of the easement, we wanted to rejigger it a little bit, still
in keeping overall with what you would have expected from density. So, we added it all together, you’d say we’re just under 5 units to the acre, and that’s what we’ve got in our plan.
And what we did is we really took kind of this high density area here and slid it over here, and we’re treating it more like a medium density; the rationale for that in our perspective
was just this being a busier road, we like the idea of having medium density up against it. We’ve got that kind of ponding here, and we’re really kind of taking development and starting
with a higher-density area of the road; and as we get towards what is going to be ponding, I think ultimately you’ve got a Comprehensive Plan for a pretty big park in this area, when
you go from a medium density along to a low density as we move towards that park. So, that was what kind of guided us. We also recognize, you know, we’ve got touchdown points here and
here that are benched, and so we want to work within that to come up with our plan.
Really, what we’ve got, we have, everyone kind of calls everything a little bit different, but we call this our urban townhomes, which is front door’s on one side, garage door’s
on another. So, we’ve got a stack of those in here. This we call suburban townhomes, front door on the same side as the garage door, and I’m going to save this one for a second.
And then we’ve got kind of standard single-family 65’-wide lot, so like you have in many areas of the City.
This area in purple is a little bit different, not something you have in the City, not something that is in a lot of places in the metro, but in a few places; what we’ve got here
are really kind of a townhome that’s split apart. So, we’ve got a 28’-wide single-family lot that has a 20’-wide house on it. So, that 20’-wide house really is kind of the same size
as a townhome. Why do we have it? It’s a different product type. I mean, in terms of the square footage, you know, it’s a lot like a townhome, but by being split apart, I don’t share
a wall with my neighbor. I don’t have to worry about their noises and their smells and things like that; and it allows us to get windows on the side, so that oasis becomes a little
different feel, it feels like a house and you get some more light in there. It is something that again we’ve seen in Maple Grove, they did a number of them. We’ve got a builder.
I didn’t tell you anything about us: We’re a developer only; like I said, I’m a little rusty. We are not a builder. We just develop lots. The negative is we can’t tell you today,
at this Concept Plan, exactly what this townhouse is going to look like. The positive is we get to find the right builder for the right spot; so, we’re not going to just plug what we
want to do, we’ll go find a builder and plug him or her into the right spot.
And so these houses, we’re waiting for the builder, David Weekley Homes, and they built these in Maple Grove, I think they also did some in Rosemount, and they had a good success
with them. Again, if you get the price down, not as cheap as a townhome, but more akin to a townhome, but yet it feels like a single-family home. And for us, what we want to see, you
know, if you did all of this as one product type, it’s a lot of the same product, which I think is: A) Going to slow down our absorption; B) It doesn’t provide different housing types
for different people; and C) It just really isn’t going to look very good; I mean, it’s going to be just too much of the same thing.
And, so, that’s why we wanted to have some different products, that’s between the urban townhomes, suburban townhomes, and then this idea of these kind of detached townhome, if
you will.
Ben said that kind of covers everything. Again, we recognize, you know, we’ve got to have this extension here, our Purchase Agreement kind of comes down to this red line; it doesn’t
include this area because we know we’ve got
to have that, but purposely, the Tanks as the sellers really wanted this to kind of be their southerly or northerly boundary to what they’re retaining. Ultimately, I mean, do I want
to assume they’re going to sell this and develop that as well, yes; but they want to kind of have a hard line as part of the family still resides on the parcel, but recognize that we’ll
buy this piece as well, but that’s why there isn’t any development surrounding that, it really is just going to be an access road to get us there. When this southerly area develops,
then it’ll be part of that.
We do have plans, I think this is a high point, and so it’s a natural spot for a future water tower, and that is planned as park space, and see with these ponds in terms of they’re
the natural low point, and that is really why they are where they are. So, in some ways, although we’d like to take great credit for coming up with a great concept, in some ways, it’s
kind of dictated to us with the different easements that are running through there, the low points and the high points. But at the end of the day, I feel really good about what we’re
putting forth in terms of differentiation of product type, different housing types for different people at different stages in life. We do have this easement that runs through here;
we’re proposing a trail that goes across that, so we have a nice regional trail that ultimately gets the north-south connectivity. And then we also, throughout these medium-density
areas, we’ve got areas where we opened it up; we’ve got common space in the middle, private common space for the people that live there, but then we’re running trails through the area,
kind of east and west, to get people out to this more regional trail, if you will. We certainly feel connectivity in any of our developments being important, but this space is especially
important, given the fact that we anticipate there’ll be some kind of regional park in this area.
I talked about the Comprehensive Plan, and kind of how we fit in. Your Zoning Ordinance, I would say, which will help me, from a zoning perspective, we just kind of fit within your
ordinance, our two townhouse sites fit within your ordinance. This bluish-purple area does not, you do not have something that would allow for that in your ordinance, that’ll be something
we’ll have to request in some kind of PUD. We recognize that’ll be kind of more controversial, just because it isn’t something that you’re doing and it isn’t something that’s in your
ordinance; we recognize it’s a little bit different and I think it’s going to be all right.
Maybe what we can do, let’s show you just a couple pictures. There’s a time, some of us in the room have had it, where you go from being, you thought you were trying to be a young
and hip person in the room; and then one day you turn around and you’re like gees, I’m the old guy, I don’t know what this technology is, and that’s where I’m at.
So, as I talked about high density here, we really just kind of took this high density, moved it over here; you know, we can agree or disagree, but the rationale for it was up against
the road. Now, you know, when I’m talking with staff, they brought the point of like, well, are you worried about having low density up against some high- density area? And we think
just the way this land use is likely to come together, we think there’s going to be some natural buffer there. So, I’m not worried about that, I think it makes a nice transition.
Okay, here, these are renderings, not actual photos. I think we do have some actual photos, but these renderings are legitimate in terms of this is what they look like. So, again,
28’-wide lot, 20’-foot wide house, so you’ve got 4’ on each side, so 8’ between buildings. It’s dense, right? But it does meet part of our challenge with some of these areas is trying
to meet the Comprehensive Plan medium density and still trying to have a product type that appeals, though; you know, with you as the City, we as the Seller, and people who are going
to buy. And, so, that’s why I like this again, it's just something a little bit different.
Council Member Thiede asked can we ask questions as you go through this? Ben replied for sure.
Council Member Thiede said so, the first thing, I’m an industrial engineer, so part of me is the efficiency and so forth, and I see that as, you know, kind of like you wouldn’t,
nobody’d use that space in between the houses. So, it’s kind of wasted space. Also, I think you tend to find that people don’t like to be able to, if they look out that window, I mean
they get light, but all they can see is their neighbor. Now, the teenagers might like it because they can put a piece of wood across and just walk between the houses, but you know,
so, I’m wondering if skylights. Personally, I thought when I looked at that was yeah, you could get the townhome, you could get a little bit even maybe a little bit bigger building;
you might put a little bit more soundproofing between them so that you can kind of have that separate building. Maybe there’s some other, like I say, other skylights or something to
bring some of that outside light into some of those rooms, even light pipes or things of that nature in the construction. Maybe the light pipes can even come through that sound deadening
type of area or something like that. So, just at least
personally, it’s some feedback; I wasn’t sure I really liked that. I don’t mind, you know, kind of the rowhome type of look in the right spot, you know? That area seemed kind of big
for some of that rowhome type of aspect, but anyway, so just some feedback.
Council Member Garza said just to piggyback off of what he’s saying, in regards to these homes, so actually the ones that you’re speaking of in Maple Grove and other places, I’ve seen
these actually in action; and these are really a good model for first-time homebuyers and for beginning families because a lot of first-time homebuyers and beginning families, they
don’t want that townhouse, like you said. They don’t want to be attached to other people, but they enjoy this look, and these things sell pretty fast, they’re going quick. But they
like this look because they get that single-family feel. They are really close, like you said. That buffer in between, I’ve seen a lot of like nice-colored trees, and the windows are
offset of one another, so, they’re not looking over into each other’s like windows or anything. So, it is a pretty good layout. They are tight, but the other thing that consumers really
like about these is that they have the HOA that does their lawn and their upkeep and all of these things, especially, again, for that first-time homebuyer or that beginning family.
They’re not ready, you know, for all of the tools and stuff that you need to have for a home. These are actually a really good product right now, they’re underneath that big single
family, and they’re not that townhouse that people are like, ugh, you know, they don’t want to be connected. So, it’s a good product, I can tell you that.
Council Member Clausen on the east side of approximately County Road 19, I know its a south road, what is the driver for a person probably in that row of homes looking at? Are they going
to see the front door, or are they going to see the back, or what’s the transition from the house to the road?
Ben replied great question, and the answer is a little bit of both. So, we look at our, again what we call our urban townhomes where we’ve got the front door on one side, garage
on the other; this is the private road where the garages are. So, when you’re driving down this road, on these you are going to see the front of the house, so you’re going to see the
front door. Conversely, when you come here, the garage door and the front door is on the same side, so on these you’re going to see the back of the house, the back yard. And, again,
what I liked was a little bit of variety, I mean, this is a fair number of units in this area; again, not over dense, it meets what you’re looking for, but it is a fair number of units.
That’s why we want to see some variety, so it didn’t just feel like a sea of the same thing, be it front door or back. And, so, that’s why we have the two different townhome styles.
Council Member Clausen said I’d like to add onto that. So, and then I’m going to call it the alley, the road between the garages; yeah, there, right there, exactly. How wide is
that going to be? Is there going to be resident parking on that road or no parking? Is that going to be your road or a City road?
Ben said we’ve got these all as private streets, right? Alyssa replied what you’re pointing at is a private road, yeah, but parking will be included in the preliminary plat; so,
some guest parking area could maybe.
Council Member Clausen said thank you.
Ben said as well as there will be, each unit would have a driveway going in their garage; so, of course, two cars in the garage, they will fit two cars on the driveway. No street
parking in terms of like going up and down the street, but yes, as Alyssa said, there will be some areas where there’d be additional guest parking space.
Council Member Clausen replied okay, thank you.
Council Member Olsen asked would you please go back to the original slide that had the little colors for each little neighborhood. I know you mentioned one of your challenges here is
how to efficiently use the property, taking into consideration all of the challenges that are there. How many different drawings did you have to go through before you kind of landed
on this? Because as I’m looking at it, it doesn’t really make sense to me. There’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but it’s almost like we’re trying to put square pegs
into round holes just to make it fit, as opposed to other drawings and developments that we have in town where it seems to flow a little more effectively. So, I’m wondering, like did
you just land on this, you know, the first time through, or have you guys noodled on it for a while?
Ben replied, no, we’ve certainly, we’ve been working on this for, I don't know, four months maybe. We’ve had meetings with City staff, not a hundred of them, but we’ve had meetings
with City staff. So, I don't know what plan
this is, but it’s probably mid-teens, in terms of different plans. More importantly, I guess, tell me what doesn’t feel like it fits.
Council Member Olsen replied well, so you have the smaller homes, I would call those single-family homes, kind of tucked into two different townhome developments; and I know you’re
trying to hit a certain density number, but you probably would find that it makes more sense, or at least to me it would make more sense, if we were a little more consistent throughout
the property. So, for example, those single-family homes, I assume those are slab-on-grade, right, there’s no basement?
Ben asked here? Council Member Olsen replied yes. Ben replied likely, they’ll be slab-on-grade, yes.
Council Member Olsen said okay, so, I mean, you know, we’ve got villa homes, and I know that that builder, because I looked at his website, at some of his stuff that he’s built;
you know, he does some different carriage homes, villa homes they call them, that seem like it might fit better. Or if you just went with an all-townhome concept plan that maybe fit
a little better; you know, I’d be curious what staff thinks because obviously they work with this far more than we do, but it just seems like one of these things doesn’t belong here,
and it’s that, to me, so. Mayor, do you have a thought?
Mayor Bailey replied yeah. Well, I have one other question on the green part that you had talked about before. Just for my clarity, so, the garages would be within each unit; so, when
you talked about not the orange, but in the green, so the garages are with the homes up there, right?
Ben replied yes.
Mayor Bailey said so, there isn’t a separate garage. I thought the way you were talking there’d be separate garages on the south, okay. So, you would have garages facing the internal
street, and then the entrance, if you will, on County Road 19, and then you kind of flip it on the bottom part? Ben replied yes.
My, you know, we’ve done, as you may or may not be aware of, we have spent many, many, many years on this East Ravine project, right? Trying to massage it and try to figure out
how we can make things work. I don’t necessarily have a concern about you shifting the density piece, the higher density down, maybe to the other corner; I don’t see that as a big,
big issue. I just don’t feel those homes in that purple, it just doesn’t feel right for me for what we’ve envisioned for this particular area.
Council Member Thiede said that’s what I’ve been saying with the red, you know, those.
Mayor Bailey replied well, whether it’s red, whether it’s a villa, whether you do something different from a density standpoint, I mean, I appreciate you trying to bring in a product
that’s different, right? And what is intriguing to me a little bit about it is the lower price point. I just don’t see it here, and that’s, I’m just going to tell you. I saw a couple
of the pictures that you had provided, there was one, and I actually showed it to my wife, and it was one from Maple Grove, and to me, it just looked too plain; to me, it looks like
a mobile home with an upstairs, and I just don’t feel it, not that one. The rest of it and how you’ve got it laid out, I can work with that. I just would like to see something different
in the purple; that’s just me, Council, for my two cents.
Council Member Thiede asked where is the actual gas line there? Ben replied the gas line runs right through here.
Ben said and I appreciate everyone’s comments. Again, we acknowledge this would be the one thing that was a little bit different, right?
Mayor Bailey replied yep.
Ben said one of the things that I’d like to, just for the heck of it, look at, and this is why I see it differently than you do; now, that doesn’t mean one of us is right and one
of us is wrong, we just have a difference of opinion. So, one of our challenges was kind of what you’re talking about, which is my concern was if we end up with all townhomes, and we
can change that area to townhomes, right? I mean, it fits the medium density, we can make that work. We can sell them, it works. My concern with just having too much of the same thing
is from a streetscape perspective; and so, this is a streetscape of those detached houses, right? And what I like is they kind of move up and down, some are taller, some are shorter,
they can all kind of be different. When we get to the townhomes, although truth be told, this is a good-looking townhome, right? I mean, it’s got a lot of articulation, a lot of variation
within that elevation, this is a good-looking townhome, too, but it certainly begins to feel a little more like they’re all kind of the same; and that was my concern from the City’s
perspective and a little bit from
ours, we have to sell them. Just when we get to the number of units, if we get too many that are all the same, I was concerned about that. At the end of the day, we’re not going to die
on the heel of these 28’ lots, right? If you as the City say we just don’t like those, we want townhomes in there, then that’s what we’ll do. We wanted to at least bring the idea, say
is this something that you find interesting? Is it something that, you know, do you share some of our concern over just having too many townhomes in that area that kind of look the
same and a way to break it up. If you don’t have that concern and frankly, feel the opposite, then I’m okay with that, too. But that was our rationale for what’s that streetscape going
to look like?
And that is why, just to go back to this for a second, just to make sure we’re all with that, it is why again, if we looked at what is along this road, you know, to have some variation,
to have a couple different types of townhomes; so, as we’re driving down that road or walking down the trail, it doesn’t seem like it just goes on forever of kind of the same thing.
We just want to see some variety out there. Now, obviously, this is kind of tucked in the middle of it, somewhat purposeful, right? I mean, somewhat purposeful in terms of a transition
between larger single-family homes and townhomes. Am I overly worried about that? No, again, we’ve got a natural break here, and an unnatural break here in terms of where that gas line
is and, therefore, where we’re going to put that trail.
So, what the consensus kind of the Council is, hey, we kind of like it, but we’d like to see this be something different, that’s what we’ll go back and look for, you know?
Council Member Olsen said just to staff, and again, I’m going to ask it, and I don't know if you are prepared at all to even discuss it; but if you think about some of the villa homes
that we’ve seen in town or the carriage homes that we’ve seen in town, does it feel like those could potentially be an alternative to this, or any thoughts on what we might do differently?
Director Schmitz replied Mayor, Members of the Council, one of the things that I’ll probably have to take you back in time, north of 65th Street, the Silverwood development, they’re
an 85’ lot, remember? The issues we had when the adjacent development had 65’ lots. Where I think you’re going to struggle with this is single-family lots are backing up to 28’ lots;
so, one single-family lot has got like three homes in their back yard. Typically, you don’t necessarily always make that break in the rear yard, especially looking at such a drastic
difference in product. Typically, you’d maybe try to break that up with a road vs. rear yards. I know they’re trying to do it with the corridor, but with the gas easement, you’re probably
going to struggle with land, to be able to get that difference. You know, we’ve also done a substantial amount of berming; I don’t necessarily see how that is going to incorporate there,
you know, when we look at it, right, we try to create a neighborhood feel, you know? How do you create a neighborhood? And that’s, you know, more curvilinear roadway, it’s more open
space; how do you provide the connectivity, how do you make those natural transitions? I think I struggle with this plan because I don’t think it provides that creativity, that open
space, how those all come together; it feels like we’re just trying to get the most efficient lot layout to get the most amount of units, and not what creates a neighborhood feel.
So, I think we also have to be cautious of what do we do with that north, right? If we go back to what’s the zoning task, I think we need to be careful about that and to be sensitive
of how we do that. Because a lot of times we do try to create, you know, variations in berming and landscaping. And with some of the challenges that they have, I think we need to get
a little more creative.
Council Member Thiede said yeah, and anything in there, might be like he’s saying, some areas where that would be challenging, maybe down closer to Highway 61 and 10 or somewhere in
that area or something like that.
Council Member Garza said you know, I don't know, but if you go down this road, Woodbury, like when you cross over to Woodbury, Woodbury has all of that mix, like he’s talking about
right now are the different looks; they have the garages on one side, and you see people’s back yards going down the road, so it’s a total mixture from Woodbury coming up to Cottage
Grove. And then this, you know, mix that they’re proposing, it’s a good mix. I know that you guys are impartial about the single townhomes, but I promise you, and maybe our staff can
get us numbers or something, but they are really a hot commodity, especially in a growing City. And we aren’t growing so much with so many expected families coming in here, I think
that is a way to get families in a home that they can afford without having to go into a townhouse. So, by providing those types of options, whether we like the look or
not, maybe you could figure out another way to make it work, but I do think it’s a good opportunity for our younger families. So, that’s my two cents.
Administrator Levitt said and then, Mayor and Council, just a reminder that Settlers Bluff, I think it was a 5’ and 5’ for a 10’ setback between homes, and this is an 8’; so, you know,
we dealt with the additional fire kind of challenges between those. So, that’s really the narrowest we’ve gone between homes is 10’, this proposal is 8’.
Council Member Olsen said and the reason I ask the questions I asked about the villa homes and the carriage homes is because first of all, the price point is lower on those than on these,
and second of all, you get a little bit more of that separation, right? And it seems like it’s a little bit, to your point, Jennifer, a little more neighborhood feel, but you know,
I mean, I’m certainly flexible and open to any other suggestions, but again, I go back to it just doesn’t feel like it fits properly.
Council Member Garza said the only thing I can say about the villa homes and the carriage homes, they’re more set for retired people, it’s more for someone who wants a one-level
home that they’re not having to go up. So, I think it’s a good opportunity, but again, because our community is growing and because we have so many new families coming, I think we really
need to think more about the new families because we’re already thinking about our existing community by building our retirement homes and all of these things. But really looking out
for the new families that want to get over here and not go to Woodbury and say hey, we want to live in Cottage Grove, this would give them an opportunity.
Council Member Clausen said the Settlers Ridge also has, that’s down on 100th and Hadley, that area filled up and sold out very, very, very fast, so there’s a demand for that sort
of home.
Council Member Thiede asked and what’s the demographic in this, though? Council Member Clausen replied young families. Council Member Garza agreed, and Mayor Bailey also said it
is. Council Member Thiede said it’s young families? Mayor Bailey said there’s actually a good mix over there, but there is a lot of young families because we hear the people that live
over there talk about, you know, how many kinds are at Pine Hill and how many now have to go to Pullman; it’s pretty significant, and it’s because there is a lot of children in there.
Administrator Levitt said and Mayor and Members of the Council, you’ll remember, too, the Maxfield Research that we had in the Housing Study really indicated we were also in need of
some active-adult housing, that was the market, that was also a need in our community as well. So, if we could find a little bit of way to create that, that’d probably be helpful as
well.
Mayor Bailey said yeah, it’s interesting, and I’ll just throw this out to you guys, and you can take it however you want: Literally, figuratively, I have an older family, you know
who I’m talking about, and a brand new young family who are both looking for a home that has like an association with a community, they’re pushing for a community pool. So, I’m just
sharing with you I have both ends of the spectrum, and enough so where the one individual was looking like up in Lake Elmo, and they’re lifelong residents of Cottage Grove. So, I’m
trying to also, not just because of those two, but I just find it ironic in the last month, and then now we get to see your project proposal, and I’m thinking gees, is that it, something
we really, I mean, we have one, Calarosa, and they’re sold out. I just share that with you, is that’s something that I’m hearing. Unfortunately, in Cottage Grove, we don’t have a Community
Center or a community pool, if you will; so, having maybe that option or something, and I don’t know if that fits like within that area, but I just wanted to give you some ideas of
at least what I’m hearing internally about some of the things that people are looking for.
Ben replied yeah, it’s interesting, the community pool is something we’ve done in some neighborhoods, not a lot. I’ve kind of been not against it, part of my issue is we get this
increase of cost, right? Now, they’ve got their HOA dues to take care of that, and it just all adds up and gets more challenging. Now, in this case, we’ve got a number of units that
we can potentially spread it across, so that way that cost can be a little more reasonable for people; so, I think that’s good feedback. We certainly hadn’t put that off the table,
we don’t have it in there, but it’s something that we can absolutely consider.
Council Member Thiede said we can make a Lake. Council Member Olsen said yeah, there you go, and Mayor Bailey said you never know. Council Member Garza said that’s a really good idea.
Council Member Olsen asked Ben, is that helpful?
Ben replied yeah, I think it is helpful. I mean, one of the things we’ve done to balance a little bit, I don’t remember where all the numbers are, is just you’ve got, you know,
one of our challenges sometimes; I’ll just bet on this one more so than some others we work on, where we’ve got a Zoning Ordinance that’s typically trying to depress density, and we’ve
got a Comprehensive Plan that comes from the Met Council that’s trying to increase it, and we’ve got to try and find the middle, right? And, so, one of the things that I think we have
to do here is we’re trying to, sometimes the developer gets a little bit of a bad rap because it sounds like we want more density, and generally, there’s some truth to that, of course.
I mean, if there’s more units, it hopefully works out better. But we also do have the Met Council saying we’ve got to have density, and if we don’t have it in this spot, as it's slated,
it’s got to go someplace else. So, that was part of why didn’t we, did we consider, do we have a plan that had what I’ll call villa homes? I mean, like I say, they’re called 10 different
things, did we have a plan that had some villa homes through here? We did, and they were 40’-and-50’ lots; the challenge becomes meeting the minimum density requirement, and that’s
part of why we did this change. Part of it was also, I mean, the fact of the matter is, that villa home in today’s day and age doesn’t turn out to be a heck of a lot cheaper than this
house, some cheaper, and our rule was to it as you mentioned, our rule was to try and get these houses to be affordable. And one of the challenges we have, it’s funny, oftentimes, there’s
different degrees of education, and by education I don’t mean school, but if you haven’t bought a house recently, you maybe aren’t quite as familiar with what the prices are. I mean,
even for me, I’m in the business, and I get woken up every day, and so people will say, well, these aren’t even more affordable; and I’m like, yep, and then I tell them the price, and
they say, well, that doesn’t sound more affordable, but in today’s day and age it is, right? I mean, the fact of the matter is a house today that sits on this lot is going to be in
the $600Ks, you know, I mean, it just is, which is kind of shocking sometimes. So, our goal is to try and get houses in here that start with a 4 in front of them, which is a lot harder
than it should be, maybe, and a lot harder as we speak.
And, so, that’s why we ended up here, but certainly, based on the feedback, we’re going to go back and revisit some of those different plans and figure out, and maybe the answer
is a combination of a couple of things, right? Maybe it’s breaking this up and having some villas in here and having some more townhomes, that might be the answer. Again, it’s trying
to meet kind of these density minimums, fit within the ordinance, have different products that can sell at different prices, and that’s a little bit of the art of it, and certainly,
we don’t get it right every time, and we don’t get it right the first time. But, yeah, we certainly appreciate the feedback, and we’ll go back and revisit a couple of these areas. I
think what I heard, generally, is no one’s got heartburn over the kind of the mix of what we’ve got out there, the fact that there’s townhomes and there’s single family, and kind of
the layout, given again some of the constraints that we’re dealing with, with the different easements. I heard a little bit of talk about hey, some parts of this don’t feel like a neighborhood,
and again, maybe some things we can look at, maybe the community pool becomes part of that as well, right? Maybe that becomes our, a bit of our focal gathering spot, if you will; so,
yeah, good conversation for us to take back, but we certainly appreciate the comments, it helps us a lot.
Council Member Thiede said so, it seems like we’re running into the zoning or the density being a really restrictive thing, and I don't think it’s that restrictive, is it?
Director Schmitz replied so, when we looked at the units they’re proposing vs. the acres, right? And we thought we have to do some kind of average density; so, if you go back to
the Land Use, we’ve got some high guided, we’ve got some medium, and we’ve got some low. So, we kind of looked at the big picture and said, okay, this particular area, technically,
can support I think it’s about 1,200 units when you take the high and medium; but we averaged it over, and when we averaged where they’re at right now, again, this is rough math, of
4.68 units per acre. So, that is on the low end when you look at the area of high and medium density over here. So, they’re teetering, but I think they found a middle ground.
Mayor Bailey asked so, then if you, because obviously they’re in their project that they’re talking about, what within that mix would be categorized as high? Those single?
Director Schmitz replied none of it, none of it; but when we look at the high, we take into consideration what that density could be, up to that 30 units per acre.
Mayor Bailey said I see. So, when you’re talking about, you know, what we’re trying to do from a City standpoint vs. what the Met Council wants, and you are correct, they want more density.
To your point, what I was looking at, and I’m just throwing it out there, when you look; to me, when I’m thinking high density, I’m thinking more of some type of apartment complex,
right? And, as you know, in our, eventually where that commercial area is up there, eventually, you know, our goal has always been, which I hope it would be in this case, too, with
all these neighborhoods is walkable; getting, you know, put the density near the commercial, walkable ability to get there. It's kind of what’s been going on down by Kohl’s, you know,
in that area, and eventually Shoppes at Cottage View, and the Langdon Village area. So, I mean, I’m not personally against you taking, you know, some of that area that you were talking
about originally; I know you shifted things, and I don’t dislike what you did, but if you guys are going hey, you know, I really probably need to add some more density, I’m telling
you then maybe you do take an area and you go we’re going to put apartments or something in there. I’m just giving you options for that, just because if that’s going to help you with
your density or for the Met Council density thing, I’m fine with that.
Council Member Thiede said and I mean, they’ve got one piece of that bigger piece, and the overall bigger piece is what actually has to meet the overall requirement; so, if we do
have that higher density outside of the area they bought, you know, I mean, in the end you add it all up, so, in that one area they bought, they.
Director Schmitz replied yep, and that’s why we talked about the average, right? Spreading that across, and so when we look at, you know.
Council Member Thiede said yes, it’s spreading across that whole section from 70th all the way down to 80th.
Director Schmitz replied we’re not taking into account anything north of that dashed, dotted line, but we take the acres of the high density, which in this case, as you know, is
about 10 acres, right? And then we say you plan to have 30 units per acre in the high-density piece of property, that gives you the total units. But that’s why it’s important to the
Met Council; if we spread it out, that works, too, right, because we’re meeting that average.
Mayor Bailey said in the long run, because it’s not necessarily going to be, if it was high density, it wouldn’t have to be on this parcel.
Director Schmitz replied right.
Mayor Bailey said if they said, hey, we’re going to go with more medium vs. high?
Director Schmitz said if you recall, down south of 100th, the Zywiec 40, as we called it, right, we transferred some density in a different way to obey the density.
Council Member Olsen asked if you look down at Mississippi Landing, at the Capstone development, what’s your density around there, do you know?
Director Schmitz replied we did an average of Mississippi Landing as well, right? So, we saved, but then there’s no way it’s above 4, overall, right? Because there were larger lots
that offset the multiple smaller lots.
Mayor Bailey said the tighter ones, yeah, and Director Schmitz agreed.
Council Member Olsen said because those homes, at least what Capstone is building, they’re a little tighter, right? Director Schmitz replied yep. Council Member Olsen said and I
think they’re running in the $370s, something like that down there, so, I’m just curious if it was apples to apples or not. Director Schmitz said right.
Council Member Garza asked and you said your minimum starting point is at $400K?
Ben replied no, not necessarily; we don’t have it all figured out. I just know that getting a house to start with a $3 in front of it is very hard. Capstone, we sell them a lot,
they do a nice job, I know there’s tradeoffs, right? There’s tradeoffs in what they provide to get down to that number. But it’s just, it is hard, I mean, in today’s day and age, it
is hard to get houses, and it’s nearly impossible to get it with a $3 in front of it; Capstone has a few, and not too many, all right? They get up to about $400K. But they have some
houses that start in the $400Ks; that really allows us to reach down into people that maybe aren’t first-time homebuyers, but early homebuyers, right, the early families. And I just
think that’s so important, I mean, when you start talking about $600K, I mean, that’s, you need real income.
Council Member Garza said it’s similar to the Lennar’s that I believe are that slab-on-land, those ones start off at $400K, you know? And theirs is no, you know, they’re a box,
they’re a box; Council Member Olsen said they’re basic. Council Member Garza replied yeah, so.
Ben said it’s hard. Council Member Garza said but they’re selling them, so; Ben said yeah, because it’s what people can afford. Council Member Olsen said it’s because the price is right,
yeah. Ben said that’s exactly right.
Council Member Olsen said well, thanks for sharing all that with us.
Ben replied well, yeah, thank you for the opportunity to come and talk and to listen. So, we’ll go back and do some work, and we’ll work with staff, and we’ll work with a few different
concepts.
Mayor Bailey said that would be really great, thank you for doing that.
Alyssa said and I think, too, what you might have to get is kind of lot specific, too; so, you know, we haven’t added the details of the trails and the sidewalks and landscaping,
and I think that will also and how that all makes the neighborhood feel. And that’s all to come, but before we do that, it’s important to get everybody’s feedback, so.
Mayor Bailey replied no, we appreciate that, thank you. Ben said thank you. Mayor Bailey said hopefully, you didn’t feel we beat you up badly.
Ben replied not at all; I mean, candidly, it’s what we want, right? What we don’t want to hear is it seems fine, and then we come with a programmed plat, and then the questions
come out, right?
Council Member Olsen said yeah, I mean, we want the same thing, right? We want it to end up being a very nice end product.
Mayor Bailey said one last question from me, real quick, before we move to our next meeting: On those smaller homes, I know you guys had said they’re up in Maple Grove, and I think you
said there’s also some down in Rosemount?
Ben replied I think there’s some in Rosemount, I believe that Weekley did some there as well. I’ll have to double check that, but that is what we were informed.
Mayor Bailey asked can you do that? Because not that I wouldn’t drive up to Maple Grove and look at them, but I’m interested. Ben said Rosemount’s easier. Mayor Bailey said it’s
just that I’m interested.
Council Member Olsen said but we like to drive by; Ben replied yeah.
Mayor Bailey said I’ve done, as a matter of fact on some of those Capstones and such, I went up to Ramsey because I was concerned about how tight their homes were going to be; and
after going through the neighborhoods and talking to some of the people up in Ramsey, I was like okay, it makes sense, right? So, I just want to make sure there’s more to it, you know
what I’m saying? Ben replied, yeah, for sure. Mayor Bailey said so, I like to go physically see it myself.
Ben replied for sure, we can provide that to staff. Mayor Bailey said that would be great, thank you.
14. WORKSHOPS - CLOSED TO PUBLIC
CLOSED MEETING - PROPERTY ACQUISITION
Staff Recommendation: Closed session pursuant to Minnesota Statute 13D.05, Subd. 3(c) to
develop offers for the purchase of property at PID #11.027.21.41.0001 & PID #11.027.21.12.0003.
15. ADJOURNMENT
Motion by Council Member Olsen, second by Council Member Thiede, to adjourn the meeting at 8:44 p.m.
Motion carried: 5-0.
Minutes prepared by Judy Graf and reviewed by Tamara Anderson, City Clerk.