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From YouTube: Council Minute October 12
Description
Mayor Tim Busse explains next steps as Hennepin County pursues purchase of Extended Stay America hotel in Bloomington for housing individuals experiencing homelessness, and provides an update on 2021 utility rates and a reminder about COVID-19.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
october
12th.
As
I'm
sure
you've
all
heard.
Several
hotels
in
bloomington
have
been
serving
as
temporary
shelters
for
people
living
with
housing.
Instability
during
the
pandemic,
hennepin
county
has
been
managing
two
locations
for
people
who
are
elderly,
medically,
fragile
or
especially
vulnerable
to
cobit.
19
bloomington
is
one
of
several
cities
in
hennepin
county
that
are
assisting
those
who
are
especially
vulnerable
to
the
coronavirus.
A
Hennepin
county
has
been
looking
for
longer
term,
not
permanent,
but
longer
term
housing
that
is
better
suited
for
living
conditions,
and
the
county
recently
made
an
offer
to
buy
the
extended
state
hotel
at
american
boulevard
in
lindale
avenue.
Now
there
are
a
lot
of
questions
coming
into
the
city
and
to
council
members,
so
I
thought
it
would
be
good
to
address
those
questions
here.
A
A
little
background,
a
few
weeks
ago,
hennepin
county
approached
bloomington
about
purchasing
a
hotel
as
an
ongoing
pandemic
relief
facility
for
medically
vulnerable
and
elderly
residents.
The
county
identified
the
extended
stay
at
american
and
lindale
as
a
good
location,
because
the
facility
is
already
set
up
for
long
stay
use
with
kitchenettes
and
laundry
facilities.
A
A
Now,
of
course,
there's
a
process
for
all
of
this,
and
and
here's
generally
how
it
would
work,
hennepin
county
would
submit
an
application
for
a
rezoning
and
a
re-guiding
of
the
property,
as
well
as
an
interim
use.
Permit
an
interim
use.
Permit
means
the
city
gives
permission
for
a
property
to
be
used
in
a
certain
way
and
with
certain
conditions
in
place
for
a
defined
period
of
time.
It's
not
a
permanent
approval
or
change,
and
the
conditions
piece
is
important
if
we
were
to
approve
this
interim
use.
A
A
The
city
has
the
authority
to
enforce
these
conditions
through
land
use
approvals
before
the
city
before
the
county
can
operate
this
temporary
shelter
at
the
extended
stay
location
now
to
be
clear,
the
city
council
has
discretion
to
decide
whether
to
approve
the
county's
applications
and
also
to
be
clear
as
a
potential
property
owner.
The
county
has
the
right
to
request
these
land
use,
changes
and
permits
through
official
city
processes.
A
As
of
today,
the
county
hasn't
submitted
any
applications,
so
we
don't
know
yet
the
details
of
the
proposal,
and
because
of
that
we
haven't
discussed
the
conditions
the
city
will
want
to
have
in
place.
No
decisions
have
been
made
yet
on
this
issue.
The
public
will
absolutely
have
an
opportunity
to
comment
on
this.
The
process
will
be
entirely
open
with
at
least
two
public
hearings
at
both
the
planning
commission
and
at
the
city
council
in
november,
and
remember,
there
is
another
level
of
government
that
represents
you
that
is
involved
in
this.
A
We
can
set
expectations
and
conditions
on
hennepin
county,
and
we
should
that
being
said
of
all
the
hotels
being
used
for
temporary
shelters
in
bloomington,
the
county
managed
properties
have
had
the
least
impact
in
terms
of
calls
for
service
and
on
the
surrounding
areas.
The
county
has
been
responsive
to
city
requests
and
we
expect
that
to
continue
to
be
the
case
from
hennepin
county.
A
As
I
said,
this
is
a
challenging
situation.
I
have
the
same
concerns
that
you
do
about
the
safety
of
our
neighborhoods,
about
the
impact
to
our
business
community
and
for
the
incredible
pressure
being
placed
on
our
police
and
fire,
who
are
doing
an
outstanding
job
under
very
difficult
circumstances.
A
A
This
year,
our
staff
is
recommending
that
planned
increases
in
utility
rates
be
significantly
limited,
recognizing
that
many
in
the
community
are
experiencing
economic
hardship,
water
rate
increases
are
being
capped
at
3
percent.
Storm
water
rates
will
only
increase,
2
percent
and
wastewater
rates
will
remain
flat
with
no
increase.
A
A
A
I
think
that
everyone
is
aware
that
the
positive
rate
of
covet
19
tests
is
going
up
in
minnesota
as
it
is
around
the
country.
This
week
the
minnesota
department
of
health
reported
the
highest
single
day
cases
in
months
and
the
highest
number
of
single
day
deaths.
The
severity
of
this
pandemic
is
not
receding.
We
have
not
turned
the
corner,
and
the
coming
cold
weather
may
make
things
even
more
challenging.