Hopkins Approves Contract for Cottageville Park Consultant

A $40,000 contract to oversee the planning process should kick start the next phase of renovations for the once unsightly green space.   

The City Council on Tuesday approved an agreement for Minneapolis-based Cuningham Group to help the city create a master plan that aims to transform Cottageville Park into a centerpiece of the Blake Road Corridor.

Cuningham will focus on three main areas:

• Stormwater piping and treatment improvements that improve water and wetland quality,
• Public outreach that involves the community in the planning process, concluding with an open house to present the park plan,
• Park planning to examine what “activities, amenities and features” the park should have.

The process should be finished by November. When it’s done, the city will have a planning report that includes a map, a detailed site plan, detailed cost estimates and an operations and maintenance plan.

That plan will, in turn, assist the city in pursuing grant money.

“This is a very large project, and it has so many different components to it,” said Mayor Gene Maxwell.

Cuningham was one of 11 consultants that submitted proposals to do the work and one of four finalists chosen.

The selection committee, which included a staff member from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, recommended Cuningham because of its experience with similar projects and the way its vision matched the city’s vision.

“They just were head and shoulders above the rest,” Public Works Director Steve Stadler said at a June 12 work session.

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