Christian Meyer, congratulations on attaining the rank of Eagle Scout through Troop 9005, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, presented this 26th day of June, 2024, from the City of Cottage Grove, Myron Bailey, Mayor. On behalf of myself, the rest of the council colleagues I have here, and the citizens of Cottage Grove, we want to congratulate you.”

Mayor Myron Bailey

Cottage Grove resident Christian Meyer was recently awarded the rank of Eagle Scout by the Boy Scouts of America. The City Council publicly recognized his achievement by presenting him with an official plaque from the mayor and the city council at the June 26 regular meeting.
According to the Boy Scouts of America’s Eagle rank requirements, an Eagle Scout must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, learn and display outdoor and leadership skills, demonstrate the Scout Oath and Law, and create and complete a service project in their community. Meyer’s service project was based on fostering the local wildlife community, specifically the bat population in Cottage Grove.
“This is always a very special time for all of us in Cottage Grove, because whether it’s Girl Scout Gold or the Eagle Scout for boys, we take great pride in the citizens of Cottage Grove achieving this huge, important rank,” said Mayor Myron Bailey. “Other than presenting you with this plaque this evening, if you go down the hall to our Council Chambers here, all of the previous Eagle and Gold awards are up on a wall with their name and the year that they achieved. It goes back quite a ways, so you are going to be a part of history here in Cottage Grove that dates back many, many decades.”
Bailey read from the city’s commendation plaque, saying, “Christian Meyer, congratulations on attaining the rank of Eagle Scout through Troop 9005, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, presented this 26th day of June, 2024, from the City of Cottage Grove, Myron Bailey, Mayor. On behalf of myself, the rest of the council colleagues I have here, and the citizens of Cottage Grove, we want to congratulate you.”
Bailey then asked Meyer to describe his community service project.
“For my project, I built three of the rocket-style bat houses, which may not seem very impressive at first, but each bat house stands at over three feet tall and can house up to 400 bats alone,” said Meyer, noting that it took him and others over 200 hours to complete the project.
He continued, “I built these down at Carpenter Nature Center, and the way they’re installed into the ground is you dig a 3-foot hole, you mount it to a 20-foot steel post, hoist the pole into the hole, and then you pour in concrete and let it set. All three of the bat houses are still standing and I’ve been monitoring them and will continue to do so for any signs of bats.”
Bailey noted that “if anyone wants to see your work, they can go to Carpenter Nature Center to see it.” The mayor then asked if there have been any bats in the houses yet, to which Meyer replied that he’s not seen any move in as of yet.
“The hope with the bat house is that they can help re-establish the population,” said Meyer.