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From YouTube: Council Minute January 27
Description
Mayor Tim Busse provides an update on the City’s strategic plan, fleet maintenance storage and legislative priorities.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
january
25th.
For
the
past
five
years,
the
city,
council
and
staff
have
prioritized
our
work
based
on
the
one
bloomington
strategic
plan.
That
five-year
plan,
which
was
adopted
in
2016
had
what
we
called
six
pillars
and
those
are
community
amenities,
community
image,
equity
and
inclusion,
focused
renewal,
high
quality
service
delivery
and
sustainability.
A
A
So
why
spend
so
much
time
focusing
on
community
input
and
participation?
I
mean
we
could
develop
a
plan
similar
to
how
we've
done
it
in
the
past,
and
our
current
five-year
plan
has
been
pretty
successful
as
we've
made
a
lot
of
progress
on
things
like
sustainability,
neighborhood,
renewal
and
reinvestment
and
racial
equity.
The
community-based
approach
is
an
intentional
decision
by
the
city
to
partner
with
the
community
to
create
the
mission
for
the
future
of
bloomington.
A
We
spent
a
lot
of
time
talking
about
how
bloomington
has
changed
over
the
past
couple
of
decades
and
how
we
can
position
ourselves
to
be
as
successful
or
even
more
successful
in
the
next
couple
of
decades.
Recently,
the
theme
of
our
annual
work
plans
have
accentuated
that
notion
and
they've
been
called
a
bridge
to
the
future
and
a
community
of
choice,
but
what's
been
missing
in
our
process,
is
a
conversation
with
the
people
who
are
invested
in
bloomington
today
and
tomorrow,
and
that's
you
later
this
year,
when
it's
safe
to
conduct
in-person
meetings.
A
A
The
information
we
glean
from
those
conversations
will
be
the
foundation
of
a
planning
process
to
set
the
course
for
an
intended
future.
When
the
process
will
start
is
still
up
in
the
air.
A
lot
of
it
will
depend
on
how
quickly
the
coven
19
vaccinations
get
rolled
out
to
a
point
that
the
minnesota
department
of
health
says
it's
safe
to
hold
larger
gatherings.
A
In
the
meantime,
the
city
manager
will
be
coming
back
to
the
council
in
march
with
details
about
how
the
process
will
roll
out
and
the
timeline
and
what
you
can
expect
from
us
as
we
invite
you
into
a
conversation
to
plan
the
future
of
our
community.
One
of
the
city
council's
strategic
pillars
is
high
quality
service
delivery.
As
part
of
that
commitment,
the
city
council
directed
staff
to
conduct
assessments
of
various
aspects
of
the
city's
operations.
A
One
of
the
areas
we
studied
was
our
city's
fleet
management
and
maintenance.
Now
keeping
our
police
fire
public
works
and
our
other
services
rolling.
It
takes
a
lot
of
work.
Our
fleet
maintenance
team
is
responsible
for
more
than
600
vehicles,
ranging
from
police,
cruisers
and
fire
engines
to
snow
plows
and
sewer
jetters.
The
assessment
was
done
in
2019,
and
one
of
the
most
significant
issues
it
identified
was
the
antiquated
and
undersized
fleet
maintenance
garage.
A
A
The
service
assessment
recommended
a
new
fleet
maintenance
garage,
be
constructed
this
past
monday,
our
public
works
team
laid
out
the
process
to
select
a
site
for
the
new
maintenance
facility,
and
once
a
site
is
determined,
the
building
design
process
can
begin.
Now.
The
site
options
are
focused
on
the
existing
public
works
location
at
98th
and
james
and
on
nearby
properties.
One
of
the
preferences
is
to
have
the
maintenance
facility
in
close
proximity
to
the
rest
of
the
city's
operations,
at
civic
plaza
because
building
a
new
facility
at
a
remote
location.
A
It
would
add
significant
inefficiency
because
of
the
number
of
vehicles
that
are
shuttled
back
and
forth
each
year
for
maintenance,
and
just
so
you
know
that's
more
than
four
thousand
maintenance
and
mechanic
jobs
each
and
every
year.
This
is
a
big
project.
It's
likely
to
cost
close
to
25
million
dollars.
The
planning
and
design
will
take
place
in
the
next
two
years,
with
construction
expected
to
begin
in
2023.
A
The
city
council
hasn't
approved
this
project,
yet
there
are
a
lot
of
steps
to
go
before
we
take
that
action.
But
the
council
does
understand
that
we
have
to
make
sure
that
our
operations
are
run
safely
and
that
we
have
to
replace
aging
facilities
when
they
become
functionally
obsolete,
as
the
existing
maintenance
facility
currently
is
we'll
keep
providing
updates
over
the
next
couple
of
years.
As
this
project
moves
forward.
Back
in
december,
the
city
council
adopted
its
annual
legislative
platform
with
things
getting
busy
in
st
paul
and
in
washington.
A
I
thought
it
would
be
a
good
idea
to
talk
a
bit
about
our
legislative
platform
now.
First
of
all,
it
may
surprise
you
that
we
have
a
legislative
platform,
but
we
do
we
review
and
approve
it,
each
and
every
year
advocating
for
laws
and
policies
that
will
improve
the
lives
of
people,
especially
people
here
in
bloomington.
A
It's
important
and
the
legislative
platform
guides
the
work
that
we
do
to
advocate
on
issues
of
importance
to
bloomington
at
the
minnesota
state
legislature
and
in
congress
we
usually
have
four
or
five
priority
issues
in
the
platform
that
we
identify
as
active
lobbying
issues
this
year.
There
are
four
issues
that
our
staff
will
be
most
focused
on.
The
first
are
issues
related
to
the
coven
19
pandemic,
including
issues
related
to
public
health,
economic
and
financial
issues
and
advocating
for
needed
assistance
to
our
residents
and
to
our
businesses
affected
by
the
pandemic.
A
A
Four,
a
sales
tax
exemption
there
would
likely
result
in
a
project
savings
to
our
taxpayers
of
more
than
two
hundred
thousand
dollars,
and
this
past
monday,
the
city
council
amended
our
legislative
platform
to
add
a
very
important
section
advocating
for
statewide
policies
that
advance
the
work
of
racial
equity
in
bloomington
and
across
minnesota.
The
added
language
was
timed
to
coincide
with
the
city
council's
adoption
this
week
of
a
very
important
resolution
where
the
city
declared
racism
to
be
a
public
health
crisis.
A
Finally,
I
want
to
say
that
I'm
very
grateful
that
we
have
such
a
close
and
productive
working
relationship
with
our
bloomington
legislative
delegation,
I'm
very
appreciative
of
their
ongoing
support.
I
also
appreciate
the
great
support
we
receive
in
washington,
both
from
congressman
phillips
and
the
entire
minnesota
congressional
delegation.