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.
St. Odilia’s Church will review the plan for approval at the end of March. After their decision, final plans will go to the RWMWD board of managers for review and approval to go out to bid to select a contractor. Our goals is to have a contractor selected by early May and start work late summer or early fall of 2024. Final plans will be posted on the site after approval.
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