Cottage Place Wetland Regeneration
The wetland area located off the Cottage Place cul-de-sac just south of St. Odilia’s Catholic Church is a degraded wetland that has lost much of its ecological value and stormwater treatment capacity due to changes within the watershed and direct alterations. A portion of the wetland has been filled with bituminous and concrete visible as dump truck piles overgrown with cottonwood, boxelder, buckthorn, and ash trees.
The City of Shoreview and St. Odilia Catholic Church own the property. The site provides many opportunities to meet watershed district goals, including restoring ecological value, providing additional stormwater treatment, cleaning up environmental contamination, serving as an educational facility, restoring wildlife habitat, and providing passive recreation.
A public meeting was held on November 13, 2023 to share the proposed plans with nearby residents. The main takeaway from the meeting was that many residents did not support the proposed trail around the wetland area. The plan was revised to remove the proposed trail system altogether. The plan has also been revised to include additional trees and shrubs for screening purposes while still allowing the central area to be kept open to allow more sunlight the native wetland plants.
On June 5, 2024, the RWMWD board of managers awarded the project contract to Dimke Excavating. Tree removal is complete, and though it is a drastic change, it will allow us to achieve the goals of this restoration project including the removal of materials such as concrete, asphalt, and other debris that were dumped here over the years. The contractor will be doing some site assessment the week of December 16 to determine the extent of this material and will begin removing the material immediately and grading the site for spring planting as long as conditions allow this winter. Additional site preparations and planting efforts will take place Spring 2025 with a completion date of mid-July 2025. RWMWD will be overseeing ongoing maintenance of the area upon project completion.
Presentation to Shoreview City Council
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