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From YouTube: Bloomington Today: January 28 – February 3
Description
What’s happening in Bloomington this week? The city council approved a two-year contract to continue the Curbside Cleanup program. Negotiations will continue for trash consolidation within the City. Plus, Winter Fete 2015 meant big crowds and warm weather.
A
Welcome
to
Bloomington
today,
I'm
Laurie
Schulte
thanks
for
joining
us.
First,
we
bring
you
the
buzz
for
the
week
of
January
27th
to
februari.
Third,
the
curbside
cleanup
program
helps
residents,
get
rid
of
stuff,
they
don't
want,
and
the
City
Council
approved
a
contract
that
will
keep
it
going
for
another
two
years.
Well,
the
service
will
remain.
It
will
be
more
expensive.
It
used
to
cost
Bloomington
residents
about
$22
a
year.
Now
there
will
be
an
increased
recycling
rate
of
about
thirty
six
dollars.
So
why
the
change
maintenance,
superintendent,
jim
ayler,
explains
there's.
B
A
large
increase,
because
this
is
a
huge
labor,
intense
program.
Everything
that
you
put
out
at
the
street
is
picked
up
by
hand
and
thrown
into
the
trucks,
there's
also
a
limited
number
of
trucks
that
they
use
their
these,
the
rear,
loader
old-style
dump
trucks,
and
they
all
go
to
the
automated
trucks
now
so
they're
running
out
of
trucks
to
run
the
program.
The.
A
Program
may
be
a
lot
of
work,
but
I
ler
says
about
sixty
percent
of
residents
take
advantage
of
the
program.
It
started
back
in
nineteen.
Ninety
eight
and
it's
pretty
unique.
Most
cities
have
drop
off
sites.
Republic
Services
is
the
contractor
for
the
next
two
years,
but
the
program
may
be
changing
in
the
future.
The
city
is
going
to
brainstorm
new
ways
to
provide
the
program
to
residents
the.
B
A
Program
allows
residents
to
leave
a
pickup
truck
size
of
stuff
outside
their
house.
You
can't
dump
electronics,
plumbing
fixtures
or
hazardous
waste.
Weekly
trash
removal
was
another
item
on
the
agenda
at
the
city
council
meeting
on
january.
Twenty
sixth,
and
it
was
decided
negotiations
about
trash
consolidation
will
continue
into
februari.
Bloomington
has
an
open
trash
collection
system
presently,
but
that
may
be
changing
in
2014
the
City
Council
directed
staff
to
pursue
the
possibility
of
the
implementation
of
organized
collection
of
solid
waste
materials
in
bloomington
hall.
A
Our
negotiations
resulted
in
a
proposal
by
the
seven
licensed
residential
haulers
that
address
trash
recycling,
yard
waste,
bulky
items
and
organics.
The
haulers
submitted
a
proposal
that
would
establish
a
set
price
for
all
the
components
of
solid
waste
collection
and
disposal.
The
haulers
would
establish
the
segments
of
the
city
each
hauler
will
handle,
depending
on
each
haulers
market,
share
of
the
26,000
residential
customers
in
the
city.
This
organized
collection
system,
if
implemented,
could
prevent
multiple
trucks
servicing
the
same
areas
and
creating
more
truck
traffic
than
necessary.
A
The
city
says
the
benefits
also
include
reduced
truck
noise
and
increased
safety.
The
City
Council
decided
to
continue
negotiations
with
the
haulers
in
order
to
receive
the
best
price
for
Bloomington
residents.
If
an
acceptable
proposal
is
received
by
the
City
Council,
a
public
hearing
would
be
scheduled
for
additional
public
input
on
the
proposal.
If
you
love
or
hate
winter,
you've
probably
noticed
we
haven't
had
that
much
snow
this
year.
It's
a
big
relief
for
snow
plow
crews,
who
have
endured
some
brutal
winters
in
recent
years.
This.
C
Winter's
been
good,
it's
been
very
tolerable,
we've
had
a
lot
of
little
snow
events
and
a
lot
of
it
came
in
November.
December
was
very
nice.
It
kind
of
gave
us
a
little
break,
and
now
here
in
January
it's
been
a
little
busier,
but
you
know
the
snows
have
been
relatively
easy
to
push,
and
so
it's
been
nice.
It's.
A
C
Has
been
easier
on
our
salt
budget,
that's
for
sure,
but
we
still
are
out
doing
other
things.
So,
relatively
speaking,
you
never
know
how
the
years
going
to
finish.
So
we
don't
try
and
look
at
just
the
bottom
line.
We
got
a
plan
for
the
worst
and
hope
for
the
best,
and
so
then
we
try
and
do
other
maintenance
work
around
the
city
tree
trimming
and
equipment
maintenance
and
in
our
downtime
between
snowstorm
street.
A
C
A
January
22nd
crews
have
been
out
17
times
that
compares
to
25
times
at
this
point
last
year.
January
is
national,
radon,
Awareness,
Month
and
Bloomington
environmental
health
is
getting
information
out
about
the
radioactive
gas.
Two
in
five
homes
have
an
elevated
radon
level
in
Minnesota,
the
colorless
odorless
gas
is
common
in
the
Midwest
because
of
the
geology
and
the
way
homes
are
built
here.
A
D
Long-Term
effects
could
is
that
it
could
develop
lung
cancer
in
individuals.
It's
actually
the
number
one
leading
cause
of
lung
cancer
among
non-smokers
test.
Your
home
is
the
main
point,
and
you
know,
even
if
you
do
get
elevated
number,
it's
not
shouldn't
be
a
scary
thing.
It's
very
it's
a
preventable
preventable
issue,
radon.
A
Test
kits
are
available
at
City
Hall
or
at
your
local
hardware
store.
The
EPA
recommends
taking
action
if
the
radon
level
is
at
or
above
for
picoCuries
per
liter.
Another
successful
winter
fat
is
in
the
books
and
some
would
say,
mother
nature
made
it
even
better.
This
year
warm
temperatures
brought
a
big
crowd
out
to
richardson
Nature
Center,
where
the
ice
harvest
festival
got
underway.
Families
had
a
chance
to
see
how
ice
was
made
before
electric
refrigerators,
Bloomington
firefighters
also
performed
an
ice
rescue
demonstration.
A
Over
at
the
bush
lake,
ski
jump,
beginners
tried
out
the
high
fly,
sport
organizers
said
they
had
an
overwhelming
amount
of
interest
this
year
and
they
want
to
encourage
skiers
to
come
to
the
hill
after
winter.
Fat
is
over.
The
city
also
hosted
a
warming
house
of
Palooza
at
Brookside
Park.
They
had
activities
for
kids
who
wanted
to
take
a
break
from
the
outdoors,
we'll
have
more
details
on
winter
fat
2015
on
next
week's
show
so
make
sure
to
tune
in
for
that.
A
That
is
the
buzz
on
Bloomington
today
for
the
week
of
January
27th
to
februari
third,
to
see
more
clips
from
this
week's
show
go
to
the
YouTube
playlist.
For
this
week
there
you'll
find
a
story
on
the
cemetery
being
put
on
the
National
Register
of
Historic
Places,
there's
also
a
story
about
a
cat
who
was
adopted
from
the
animal
shelter
and
now
has
a
new
best
friend
thanks.
So
much
for
watching.