After 12 years, city planner Cottingham retires

City planner and zoning administrator Al Cottingham received a round of applause during Tuesday's Cloquet City Council meeting - a meeting he hopes will be his last.

Cottingham is retiring June 6, after 12 years with the city of Cloquet.

"I will very very much miss seeing you here every day and keeping the rest of us on point," said city administrator Tim Peterson.

Cottingham said he will miss the people, the job not so much.

"It's time to retire and go do some things that I've been putting on hold for a while. I'll enjoy that, but I will miss the people also ... the coworkers, the different council members I've worked with," said Cottingham, an outdoorsman who still referees soccer games every summer and fall. He and his wife, Jane, have three grown children and several grandchildren they enjoy.

Community development director Holly Hansen shared a synopsis of his career, from a bachelor's degree in local and urban affairs, through jobs in Plymouth, Minnesota - nine years as an associate planner - and planning director in Brainerd for 11 years. He was Economic Development Authority and planning director in North Branch another 11 years before coming to Cloquet.

"Thank you, Al, for your career as a public servant ... and fostering excellence in planning over this very long 43-year career," Hansen said.

The council hired John Kelley to replace Cottingham Tuesday. Kelley has 14 years of experience working for the city of Duluth and an extensive resume.

"The Community Development Department has three staff, comprised of the city planner, the building official and the community development director. This is a critical position to the city of Cloquet," Hansen said.

"I'm surprised you can replace him by hiring just one person," said Ward 1 councilor Bun Carlson, also Cottingham's neighbor.

Hockey lease

Councilors also approved a contract with the Cloquet school district to lease the city's two hockey arenas for girls and boys varsity and junior varsity practice and games. City administrator Tim Peterson said city council members negotiated the lease agreement with the district, sharing information about recent expenses and investments at Northwoods Credit Union Arena and the older and lesser-used Pine Valley arena.

"They were able to go through page by page and take a look at the bills that the city is paying and realize basically the justification for the lease agreements that we have," Peterson said.

The lease agreement with the school district is one of three. The school district will pay $177,000 in 2025, $178,000 in 2026 and $179,000 in 2027. It's roughly $30,000 more per year compared to the 2022-2024 contract.

Cloquet superintendent Michael Cary told his school board at its meeting May 13 that the district would have to grin and bear the higher lease cost. He said after going through all the bills, he was satisfied that the cost is "legit."

Cary said he hopes the lease increases will lessen in the future as the city works to make improvements, namely in the ice plant. It would eliminate the stop-gap fixes that are proving costly in keeping the arenas running.

The city also leases ice and locker room space to the Minnesota Wilderness junior hockey team - that lease was signed last month - and the Cloquet Area Hockey Association. The CAHA lease is up at the end of the year.

Rent for the Wilderness is $38,500 per year for training and home games, plus payment for advertising rights of $25,000 in 2024, $27,500 in 2025 and $30,000 in 2026. The advertising agreement doesn't include naming rights, center ice and other previously agreed-upon advertising.

Peterson said the lease agreements are more complicated than simply calculating hours of use or number of teams.

"The school district technically has the most prime time within the arena, because they do it right after school and into the early evening. So that time would be the most expensive. The Wilderness [often] takes the time that nobody wants, but it also fits into their schedule. So if it's Monday at 10 a.m., none of the kids can be there, but the Wilderness can. So it works for the groups that we have."

High school intramural and physical education classes also use the hockey arenas at no additional charge.

Notes

• Voted unanimously to waive nearly $25,000 in city permit fees for C&C Holdings for its renovation of the Solem Hotel property at Ninth Street and Cloquet Avenue.

• Held a public hearing regarding the creation of a Local Housing Trust Fund, but no citizens attended or spoke at the hearing, which also served as a first reading of a new chapter in city code. The council will vote on the new trust fund at its June 4 meeting. The fund can be used only toward a project or household that meets the program affordability requirements. The city has a current balance of nearly $65,000 in statewide affordable housing aid and will receive the first 2024 biannual payment in July of $32,405.