►
From YouTube: Council Minute December 15
Description
Mayor Tim Busse provides a rundown of this week’s study session, including an update from staff on a self-storage study and the annual City Manager evaluation. Plus, a call for support of the police department Toys for Bloomington Tots drive, new winter swag bags from Parks and Recreation, I-35W interchange improvements and a tribute to Bloomington lives lost to COVID-19.
A
This
week's
study
session
of
the
council
only
had
a
couple
of
items,
but,
as
always,
there
are
plenty
of
things
to
talk
about
around
bloomington,
let's
get
to
it.
Earlier
this
year
the
city
council
placed
a
moratorium
on
the
development
of
new
self-storage
facilities
in
the
city.
The
council
was
worried
that
we're
seeing
a
concentration
of
self
storage
in
bloomington
and
we
wanted
staff
to
research
the
implications
of
that
for
our
land
use
planning.
A
A
Another
one
has
recently
received
a
building
permit,
so
there
will
soon
be
nine
self-storage
businesses,
with
a
total
of
650
000
square
feet
of
storage
space,
that's
7.6
square
feet
of
storage
for
every
man,
woman
and
child
in
bloomington,
and
that's
more
than
any
nearby
city,
except
for
st
louis
park.
Now
self
storage
facilities
aren't
bad.
In
fact,
they
provide
a
needed
service.
According
to
the
self
storage
association
about,
10
of
households
have
used
self
storage
in
the
past
year.
A
Self-Storage
facilities
also
typically
have
24
hour
access,
and
they
often
have
bright
lighting
that
makes
them
undesirable
as
neighbors
in
residential
areas.
So
staff
presented
this
information
to
the
planning
commission
and
then
to
the
city
council,
and
they
made
four
recommendations
regarding
the
future
of
self-storage
facilities.
First
to
prohibit
their
use
on
parcels
designated
as
protected
in
the
city's
comprehensive
plan.
A
Second,
to
prohibit
them
within
a
half
mile
of
existing
planned
light,
rail
and
bus,
rapid
transit
stations;
third
to
prohibit
them
on
parcels
of
budding
lindale
avenue
and
fourth
to
prohibit
them
within
500
feet
of
residentially
zoned
properties.
After
discussing
this,
the
council
directed
staff
to
prepare
an
ordinance
for
consideration,
based
on
the
four
recommendations
presented.
The
other
item
on
the
council's
agenda
this
week
was
a
closed
session
to
conduct
the
performance
evaluation
of
the
city
manager.
A
Mr
jamie
verbrugge,
in
bloomington,
the
city
council
has
one
employee,
the
city
manager
he's
responsible
for
implementing
the
direction
of
the
council
and
overseeing
the
day-to-day
activity
of
the
city
departments.
Providing
services
to
the
community
state
law
allows
for
the
council
to
go
into
closed
session
to
discuss
the
performance
of
an
employee
supervised
by
the
council.
We
are,
of
course,
required
to
provide
a
summary
of
the
discussion
at
our
next
meeting,
which
we
will
do
and
that
meeting
is
scheduled
for
december
21st.
A
For
many
years,
the
bloomington
police
department
has
coordinated
a
collection
of
toys
and
gifts
for
kids
around
the
holidays,
they're
doing
it
again
this
year
and
the
collection
that
they
are
doing
goes
exclusively
to
serve
needs
in
our
own
community.
This
is
the
last
week
that
you
can
donate
to
the
toy
and
gift
drive,
so
let's
make
it
count.
Bloomington.
As
of
monday,
we
have
80
children
from
bloomington
that
are
signed
up
to
receive
a
toy
or
a
gift,
and
several
other
families
that
are
on
a
waiting
list.
A
A
If
you
want
to
bring
in
a
toy
or
a
gift,
that
would
be
great
but
remember
we
are
serving
kids
from
toddlers
to
older
teens
for
those
of
you
who
have
already
donated.
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
So
very
much.
These
80,
kids
and
hopefully
more
will
have
a
better
holiday
because
of
your
generosity
and
thanks
as
always,
to
the
bloomington
police
department.
Thank
you
for
demonstrating
your
concern
to
the
community
and
for
taking
the
lead
on
collecting
and
delivering
the
gifts
in
this
important
and
wonderful
holiday
tradition,
as
they
always
do.
A
The
bloomington
parks
and
recreation
department
is
working
hard
to
make
sure
that
fun
activities,
especially
outdoor
ones,
are
available
to
everyone
in
bloomington.
So
project
play
and
play
stands
for
providing
leisure
activities
for
youth.
It
offers
fun,
engaging
active,
imaginative
and
inclusive
recreation
activities
for
kids
of
all
ages
and
abilities.
A
A
So
these
free
winter
activity
kits
include
a
wide
assortment
of
fun
and
engaging
outdoor
recreation
supplies
winter
crafts
gear
to
keep
you
warm
and
a
lot
more
registration
for
these
open
on
wednesday
december
16th
at
11.
Am
the
information
on
how
to
register
for
a
kit
is
available
on
the
screen
here?
But
here
are
some
things
that
you'll
want
to
know.
First,
there's
a
limit
of
one
kit
per
household
and
supplies
are
limited.
A
Second,
the
kids
are
for
youth
for,
under
the
age
of
18.,
third,
you've
got
to
be
a
bloomington
resident
and,
finally,
when
you
register
you'll
need
to
sign
up
for
a
pickup
date,
time
and
location.
Pickup
dates
are
available
december
17th
through
the
23rd.
These
winter
activity
kits,
which
are
great
they're
offered
through
project
play,
which
is
funded
by
a
cares,
act
grant
from
hennepin
county
for
more
information,
call
parks
and
rec
they'll
answer
any
questions
that
you
do
have
you
can
reach
them
at.
A
Strip
952-563-8877
commute
on
35w.
I
don't
need
to
tell
you
how
badly
494
and
the
35w
interchange
are
in
need
of
attention.
For
a
couple
of
decades
now,
bloomington
and
our
neighbors
in
richfield
have
been
working
with
regional
partners
to
find
funding
to
make
the
crucial
and
necessary
improvements
to
494
between
169
and
the
airport,
in
an
effort
to
ease
congestion
and
make
for
a
safer
drive
in
2018,
the
state
of
minnesota
awarded
a
corridors
of
commerce
allocation
of
more
than
200
million
dollars
toward
improvements
along
494..
A
Well,
recently,
the
city
received
word
that
our
application
for
a
minnesota
highway
freight
grant
has
been
selected
to
receive
funding
of
11
million
dollars.
That
is
a
good
thing.
Bloomington
submitted
this
funding
application
to
show
our
support
and
show
that
our
efforts
toward
completion
of
this
critical
transportation
system
improvement
project
will
continue.
A
This
award
will
help
the
momentum
to
reconstruct
the
35w
494
interchange
in
2023,
and
I
would
say
it's
arguably
the
most
needed
improvement
in
that
entire
corridor
and,
I
would
say,
in
the
state
of
minnesota,
we
have
spent
a
lot
of
time
over
the
past
couple
of
months
talking
about
covent
and
how
it's
impacting
bloomington,
sometimes
with
all
the
numbers
about
case
rates
and
vaccines
and
so
on.
It
starts
to
feel
like
a
lot
of
technical
details
and
maybe
feels
a
little
impersonal.
A
A
A
But
I
want
you
all
to
remain
vigilant
until
the
vaccine
is
available
for
mass
distribution.
We
all
share
the
responsibility
to
keep
ourselves
our
families
and
our
community
safe.
Please
do
so
well,
that's
a
wrap
on
this
week's
council
minute.
We'll
see
you
next
week
until
then
stay
safe,
bloomington.