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From YouTube: Bloomington Today: June 15, 2011
Description
On this week's episode of Bloomington Today we'll take a look at how trail restorations around Bush Lake are shaping up, as well as speak with two MN Valley Trail advocates, looking to make connections to the trail in Bloomington.
A
Welcome
to
bloomington
today,
I'm
caitlin
cockriel
thanks
for
joining
us.
The
city
is
inviting
residents
to
explore
the
many
cultures
of
the
world
right
here
in
bloomington
by
taking
part
in
the
fourth
annual
global
celebration:
listen
to
traditional
music
taste,
ethnic
foods,
see
native
crafts
and
explore
various
other
worldly
customs
on
saturday
june
25th
from
9
a.m,
to
1
p.m.
At
civic
plaza.
B
Or
they
represent
russia,
they
represent
african
countries
middle
eastern
countries,
asian
countries-
some
of
them
are
singing.
Some
of
them
are
dancing,
some
of
them
are
playing
instruments,
some
are
taekwondo
board
breaking
demonstration
and
because
of
the
nature
of
the
music
and
the
various
entertainers,
it
really
appeals
to
everyone
in
the
whole
family,
whether
it's
young,
kids
or
grandma,
grandpa.
A
The
global
celebration
coincides
with
the
bloomington
farmers
market
and
has
brought
more
than
2
000
people
together
between
the
two
events,
and
while
this
season's
first
farmer's
market
has
come
and
gone,
the
city
wants
to
encourage
more
residents
to
get
out
and
enjoy
the
many
perks
the
market
has
to
offer.
The
bloomington
farmers
market
meets
every
saturday
until
october,
15th
from
8
a.m,
to
1
p.m.
In
civic
plaza's
east
parking
lot:
it's
here
that
growers,
producers
and
farmers
sell
their
own
products
directly
to
the
public,
whether
it's
cheese
produce,
flowers
or
kettle.
A
A
A
If
residents
take
part
in
five
of
those
eight
or
nine
activities
each
session,
they
can
turn
in
a
participation
card
to
be
entered
into
a
drawing
for
a
three
rivers
park.
District
activity
pass
up
to
150
dollars
in
value.
Here's
an
example
of
one
of
the
active
living
guides.
Various
outdoor
activities
like
swimming
or
skateboarding
are
listed
and
then
also
what
park
you
can
find
those
activities
in
and
then
on
the
very
last
page
there
are
participation
cards.
A
This
was
the
scene
at
the
highland
bush
anderson
lakes
park
reserve
back
in
late
april.
The
existing
trails
are
primarily
on
the
west
side
of
bush
lake,
with
wood
chip
trails
on
the
southeast
tip.
With
this
reconstruction,
the
wood
chip
trail
will
become
a
paved
surface,
trees
will
be
realigned
and
the
old
trail
surface
will
be
replaced.
A
Crews
were
out
the
second
week
of
june
grading,
the
unpaved
section
of
the
trail
just
off
of
east
bush
lake
road.
As
we
continued
along
the
trails,
we're
happy
to
announce.
Much
of
the
paving
is
already
done.
There's
some
tree
realignment
yet
to
be
completed
and
the
wood
chip
trails
are
not
yet
paved
city.
Engineers
are
optimistic
that
the
restoration
project
will
be
finished
by
july
4th
the
date
they
originally
set
for
completion,
but
heavy
rainfall
in
may
delayed
the
work
some,
but
contractors
are
making
good
time
on
the
big
trail
project.
A
The
city's
overall
goal
is
to
eventually
create
paved
trails,
allowing
residents
to
travel
the
entire
circumference
around
bush
lake.
That
will
hopefully
happen
sometime
in
the
future.
In
just
a
few
minutes.
We'll
have
two
minnesota
valley.
Trail
advocates
stop
into
the
studio,
hoping
to
educate
and
spark
some
renewed
interest
in
finishing
the
minnesota
valley
trail.
Before
that
happens,
here's
some
background.
On
that
trail.
A
C
There
are
portions
of
the
trail
that
exist
in
certain
communities.
There
are
a
lot
of
gaps,
and
perhaps
one
of
the
largest
gap
is
right
here
in
bloomington
we
do
not
have
an
official
state
trail,
but
we're
working
towards
creating
one,
because
we
could
see
that
just
being
an
incredible
amenity
for
our
community.
A
C
There's
been
a
renewed
interest
in
just
health
in
general,
and
especially
in
trails.
The
city
in
recent
years
has
conducted
surveys,
and
perhaps
the
number
one
amenity
that
people
have
identified
for
parks
is
trails,
and
we
really
want
to
make
that
happen
here
in
bloomington
along
the
river.
It's
an
incredible
incredible
resource,
amazing
vistas.
It's
an
amazing
piece
of
property
that
we
have.
A
D
G
A
Welcome
back
everyone
we
are
now
joined
by
minnesota
trail
advocates
ed
crozier,
who
was
the
first
manager
of
the
minnesota
valley,
national
wildlife,
refuge
and
dick
durey,
a
good
friend
of
ed's
and
a
wildlife
advocate
and
conservation
advocate
as
well.
Welcome
gentlemen,
thanks
for
being
here
today
well
for
years,
the
unimproved
trail
along
the
minnesota
river
has
provided
outdoor
recreation,
tourist
attraction
hikers
bikers
for
families.
A
H
Well,
the
trail
was
built
many
years
ago
and
authorized
by
the
state,
but
there
was
never
that
portion
between
fort
snelling
state
park
and
the
bloomington
ferry
bridge
was
never
developed
and
never
funded,
and
therefore
it
is
in
an
unimproved
condition.
Although
people
do
use
it
as
for
biking
and
hiking,
but
it
really
does
need
to
be
improved
like
the
rest
of
the
trail,
so
that
we'll
have
a
full
length
trail
from
fort
snelling
to
belle
plaine
and
eventually
it's
authorized
all
the
way
to
south
dakota.
A
F
I
A
H
There's
a
portion
in
the
minnesota
valley,
national
wildlife
refuge
from
the
visitor
center
in
east
bloomington.
That
is
graveled
all
the
way
to
the
cedar
avenue
and
then,
from
that
point
on
to
lindale
avenue.
It's
just
a
soft
trail
with
it
can
get
muddy
at
times,
and
then
it
continues
on
to
the
bloomington
ferry
bridge.
In
that
same
condition
it
is
a
very
popular
mountain
bike
area,
starting
at
the
bloomington
ferry
bridge
and
coming
east.
H
A
Okay,
well,
I
understand
that
one
very
important
connection
to
the
missing
link
is
the
old
cedar
avenue
bridge
which
closed
in
2002
to
all
traffic.
Even
pedestrians
tell
us
a
bit
about
why
that
bridge
closed,
but
in
turn,
why
making
the
connection
whether
it's
through
that
bridge
or
another
way
over
longmeadow
lake
is
so
important.
H
Well,
the
bridge
was,
I
believe,
condemned
because
it
was
unsafe
even
for
pedestrian
travel
for
a
long
time.
It
was
closed
to
vehicular
travel,
but
was
open
for
pedestrians,
but
then
they
even
closed
it
to
that,
and
there
has
been
some
money
available
for
restoring
it,
but
there
is
a
slight
controversy
about
whether
it
should
be
renovated
in
a
historical
sense
or
replaced,
because
it's
so
expensive
to
renovate
it
or
keep
it
historically
preserved
and
maintained
for
a
long
time.
H
But
it
is
a
critical
link
between
say
the
mall
of
america
and
the
river,
but
the
minnesota
valley
trail
can
be
built
without
it
or
the
bridge
could
be
replaced
without
the
trail
they
kind
of
interact
with
each
other,
but
they're
not
necessary
for
each
other.
But
the
longmeadow
lake
crossing
or
the
old
cedar
avenue
bridge
is
very
important.
So
there's
access
across
the
lake.
A
I
J
I
E
E
I
Most
people
are
now
familiar
with:
it's
been
a
great
economic
benefit
to
lanesboro.
This
trail
could
be
used
the
same
way.
That's
often
the
future
right
now,
if
we
link
up
the
metro
area
between
fort
snelling
and
the
bloomington
ferry
bridge,
we'll
have
achieved
an
awful
lot
and
it'll
tie
in
with
trails
that
are
already
on
the
ground,
but
dead
end
at
the
river
valley.
H
We
did
bring
a
map
which
you
can
show,
but
it
shows
in
green
all
of
the
city
and
county
trails
and
then
in
red.
It
shows
the
missing
link
trail
and
it's
very
def
very
obvious
that
it
is
a
critical
link
up
and
down
the
river
and
across
the
river
and
so
and
it's
most
important,
I
think-
for
bloomington
residents,
because
they're
going
to
be
living
right
beside
it
but,
like
dick
says,
there's
also
three
million
people
that
can
access
it
too.
H
The
other
point
I'd
like
to
make
is
that
the
val
or
the
trail
goes
through
the
minnesota
valley,
national
wildlife
refuge.
So
it
is
really
truly
a
wild
land
trail
and
there's
no
other
place
in
the
united
states,
where
a
wildland
trail
like
that
is
in
such
close
proximity
to
three
million
people.
So
it's
very
special,
and
so
the
city
of
bloomington
ought
to
take
advantage
of
that.
A
H
It
may
be
a
little
bureaucratic
because
the
trail
for
many
years
was
in
the
state
park
division
and
obviously
they
had
higher
priorities
for
parks
and
if
it
had
been
in
parks
and
water
or
trails
and
waterway,
we
might
have
had
the
trail.
But
that
wasn't
the
case,
and
so
the
state
has
never
put
the
emphasis
on
this
particular
trail
and
primarily
because
there's
been
no
constituency
for
it.
Nobody
really
strongly
advocating
for
it
and
that's
what
we're
now
trying
to
do
and
to
build
up
support
for
it.
Okay,.
A
One
thing
that
you
had
mentioned
earlier
ed
is
that
there
is
this
huge
chunk
of
natural
habitat
that
is
literally
right
in
our
backyards.
In
the
backyards
of
the
mall
of
america.
In
the
backyards
of
this
busy
metropolitan
city,
tell
us
a
bit
about
what
a
lot
of
residents
may
not
even
know.
Is
there.
H
Well,
if
you
would
it's
just
a
bountiful
wildlife
area,
there's
all
several
nests,
there's
a
heron
rookery
nest,
all
kinds
of
wild
creatures,
plus
beautiful
landscapes,
and
if
someone
were
to
view
our
youtube
video,
they
would
see
many
wonderful
scenes
of
wildlife
and
the
landscapes
taken
by
dr
scott
sharkey,
who
is
a
fantastic
nature
photographer
who
lives
in
west
bloomington
and
there's
some
great
scenes
there.
But
thousands
of
people
cross
the
river
valley
every
day
on
the
bridges
and
they
have
no
concept
of
what
they're
crossing
or
really
even
think
about
it.
A
I
They
can
show
that
there's
public
support,
we've
already
received
petitions
or
signatures
from
about
a
hundred
people,
most
of
them
bloomington
residents
that
have
heard
of
this
and
say
yeah.
This
is
a
good
idea
which
should
be
done
and
we
we
feel
that
the
next
step
is
to
get
more
people
involved
and
show
that
there
is
a
groundswell
of
support
for
this
project
and
then
get
it
built.
A
Go
on
with
it:
okay,
well
we'd
like
to
thank
ed,
crozier
and
dick
durry
for
being
here
today
with
us.
If
you'd,
like
some
more
information
on
the
missing
link
trail
that
we
talked
about
today,
go
to
youtube
and
search
minnesota
valley,
missing,
link
and
that'll
pull
up
an
informational
video
about
the
things
that
we
touched
on
here
today.
It's
now
time
for
a
short
break,
we'll
be
right
back.
K
E
A
One
illustration
used
in
the
publication
shows
the
city's
index
page
and
highlights
the
importance
of
meeting
the
needs
of
as
many
members
of
the
community
as
possible
by
providing
websites
in
multiple
languages.
The
apa
says
the
feature
is
good.
Customer
service
to
all
members
of
the
community
also
featured
is
bloomington's
webcast,
page
specifically
the
streaming
capabilities
of
the
city
council
meetings.
A
American
planning
association
describes
how
bloomington
features
a
webcast
page
that
utilizes
microsoft,
silverlight
and
windows
media
player
to
allow
people
to
stream
live
video
for
community
meetings.
They
are
unable
to
attend
all
of
bloomington's
televised
productions,
including
bloomington.
Today,
roll
call
and
special
events
are
available
in
the
city's
webcast
section
of
the
website,
or
you
can
find
those
on
youtube
accessible
right
from
the
city's
home
page.
A
Well,
that's
all
the
time
we
have
for
today
to
get
more
information
on
city
projects,
parks,
road
construction
and
events
visit.
The
city's
website
to
check
out
past
bloomington
today
shows
or
other
city
productions
visit,
bloomington's
youtube,
channel,
accessible
right
from
the
city's
homepage.
That
and
so
much
more
is
online
right
now
at
www
com.