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From YouTube: Council Minute June 30
Description
The City joins the Just Deeds Coalition, and Mayor Tim Busse explains what it is. Plus, strategies to improve homeownership opportunities in Bloomington and an update on franchise fees.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
june
28th.
This
week
the
city
council
acted
on
a
joint
recommendation
made
by
our
bloomington
human
rights
commission
and
the
bloomington
planning
commission
to
adopt
a
resolution
joining
the
just
deeds
coalition.
A
The
just
deeds
coalition
is
a
group
of
cities
and
interested
parties
who
are
working
to
remove
discriminatory
covenants
from
property
titles.
So
let
me
take
a
minute
to
explain
what
this
is
all
about.
Over
the
past
couple
of
years,
we've
all
learned
a
great
deal
about
institutional
and
systemic
racism
in
our
country
and
in
minnesota
that
predates
all
of
us.
A
One
glaring
example
of
systemic
racism
is
the
history
of
restrictive
covenants
on
property,
deeds
that
explicitly
prohibit
ownership
according
to
race
or
religion,
in
other
words,
when
people
would
buy
land
or
buy
a
home.
The
deed
for
that
property
would
contain
specific
language
that
said
that
the
property
could
never
be
sold
or
occupied
by
a
specific
group,
for
example,
the
language
often
included
prohibitions
against
negroes,
asians
or
jewish
people.
A
The
federal
fair
housing
act
made
racially
restricted,
covenants
illegal,
but
all
of
those
actions
didn't
do
one
really
important
thing:
they
didn't
get
rid
of
the
discriminatory
language
in
the
document.
That's
where
the
just
deeds
coalition
comes
in
the
justice
coalition.
Is
a
group
of
community
stakeholders
committed
to
acknowledging
and
addressing
systemic
racism
in
housing
in
minnesota
coalition.
Members
provide
free,
legal
and
title
services
to
help
property
owners,
find
discriminatory
covenants
and
then
helps
them
remove
that
language
from
their
property
titles.
A
So,
if
you're
wondering
if
these
covenants
exist
here
in
bloomington,
sadly
they
do
using
data
gathered
by
the
mapping
prejudice
project
of
the
university
of
minnesota.
The
city
has
learned
that
there
are
374
racially
restricted
covenants
within
the
city
of
bloomington
through
changes
in
parcel
boundaries.
500
properties
now
intersect
with
those
374
covenants
of
those
500
properties.
18
are
now
owned
by
the
city
of
bloomington
and
one
is
owned
by
the
bloomington
housing
and
redevelopment
authority.
A
The
resolution
adopted
by
the
city
council
on
monday
does
four
things:
first,
it
disavows
and
condemns
the
past
use
of
discriminatory
covenants
and
says
that
discriminatory
covenants
should
never
be
allowed
in
the
future.
It
directs
the
city
attorney
to
identify
any
property
owned
by
the
city
of
bloomington,
with
discriminatory
covenants
and
to
do
the
work
necessary
to
remove
that
language
from
those
property
titles.
A
That
work
includes
educating
the
community
about
just
deeds
and
other
historically
discriminatory
practices,
identifying
contemporary
discriminatory
systems,
policies,
codes
and
practices
and
taking
additional
actions
to
dismantle
racist
systems,
practices
and
policies
in
the
city
of
bloomington
to
create
equity
for
all
the
city.
Council's
commitment
to
inclusion
and
equity
mostly
focuses
on
issues
of
today
and
tomorrow.
A
But
adopting
this
resolution
is
an
important
step
in
recognizing
the
role
of
history.
In
creating
systems
that
perpetuate
racism
and
workings
towards
transformational
systems
changes,
thank
you
to
the
members
of
our
human
rights
commission
and
our
planning.
Commission
members
who
unanimously
recommended
the
city
council,
take
this
action
thanks
also
to
the
community
members
and
staff
who
are
working
to
make
it
happen.
Over
the
past
year,
the
city
council
has
made
major
strides
in
our
goal
to
develop
housing
that
is
affordable
in
this
community.
A
We've
done
much
of
that
by
working
with
developers
and
builders
to
increase
the
inventory
of
rental
housing
in
bloomington,
making
sure
that
new
apartment
projects
include
a
certain
number
of
units
that
are
accessible
to
people
at
most
income
levels.
When
we
talked
about
our
strategic
priorities
earlier
this
year,
the
city
council
keyed
in
on
another
important
housing
issue,
home
ownership,
homeownership
and
the
important
role
that
it
does
play
in
creating
generational
wealth
and
family
stability.
A
We
asked
city
staff
to
develop
strategies
to
improve
opportunities
for
home
ownership
in
bloomington,
and
this
week
staff
provided
an
update
on
that
work.
The
bloomington
housing
and
redevelopment
authority
has
partnered
with
the
minnesota
homeownership
center,
a
non-profit
that
promotes
and
supports
homeownership
in
minnesota,
with
a
particular
emphasis
on
serving
those
facing
the
greatest
barriers
to
home
ownership,
including
lower
income,
households
and
communities
of
color.
A
Now
there
are
two
really
important
opportunities
for
us
to
be
working
on
in
partnership
with
the
minnesota
homeownership
center.
The
first
is
preventing
another
foreclosure
crisis
during
the
pandemic.
State
and
federal
governments
put
in
place
mortgage
forbearance
programs,
meaning
that
homeowners
experiencing
economic
loss
could
not
be
foreclosed.
A
Those
forbearance
programs
are
expiring
next
month
here
in
minnesota,
in
hennepin
county
alone,
there
are
11
000
homeowners,
who
are
more
than
30
days
behind
on
their
mortgage
more
than
a
third
of
those
are
not
currently
in
a
forbearance
program.
This
is
where
the
minnesota
home
ownership
center
can
really
assist
us.
They
have
a
strong
track
record
of
helping
people
keep
their
homes.
A
They
do
this
through
default
prevention,
counseling
and
by
working
with
minnesota
housing
to
get
federal
funds
for
housing
assistance
to
the
people
who
really
need
it.
The
second
opportunity
is
increasing
home
ownership,
opportunities
for
bipoc
communities,
black
indigenous
and
people
of
color
folks,
who
have
historically
had
less
access
and
opportunity
to
own
their
own
homes.
A
A
By
partnering
with
the
minnesota
home
ownership
center,
bloomington
will
be
looking
at
a
number
of
program
options
to
help
close
that
gap
in
our
city
options
include
down
payment
assistance,
programs,
land
trusts
that
allow
people
to
purchase
the
home
and
lease
the
land
which
lowers
the
purchase,
price
and
alternatives
to
credit
that
provide
culturally
specific
opportunities
to
buy
a
home
that
reach
non-traditional
or
unbanked
buyers.
Why
is
this
important
to
the
city
council
and
to
all
of
bloomington?
Well,
housing
stability
is
an
absolutely
essential
component
of
a
healthy
and
vibrant
community.
A
It
keeps
kids
in
schools.
It
contributes
to
steady
employment.
It
provides
for
economic
growth.
It
is
in
the
city's
best
interest
to
work
with
partners
to
make
sure
that
all
members
of
our
community
have
access
to
and
opportunities
for
home
ownership.
Finally,
this
week
the
city
council
discussed
options
for
our
scheduled
increase
to
franchise
fees.
A
The
city
of
bloomington
began
collecting
a
franchise
fee
on
gas
and
electric
utility
bills
in
2016
to
provide
a
stable
and
predictable
funding
stream
for
many
parts
of
our
very
successful
pavement
management
program,
utility
account
holders
for
excel
and
centerpoint,
currently
pay
a
franchise
fee
of
3.75
cents
per
quarter.
These
franchise
fees
fund,
the
yearly
projects
for
overlay
and
sealcoating
of
the
streets,
the
construction
and
maintenance
of
trails
in
our
parks
and
the
construction
of
trails
and
our
rights
away
along
roads
and
streets.
Some
quick
facts:
here:
the
city
maintains
341
miles
of
streets.
A
There
are
210
miles
of
concrete
sidewalks
in
bloomington
and
we
have
43
miles
of
asphalt
trails
and
we
track
the
condition
of
every
mile
to
ensure
the
safety
of
drivers,
pedestrians
and
bicyclists.
Now
we
are
able
to
forecast
the
estimated
number
of
miles
of
road
and
trail
improvements
a
good
number
of
years
into
the
future,
and
it's
more
than
five
million
dollars
a
year
for
these
overlay,
sealcoat
and
trail
projects,
and
we've
built
the
pavement
management
program
to
keep
up
with
those
needs
with
a
stable
funding
source.
A
But
when
we
adopted
the
franchise
fee
in
2015,
the
financial
model
forecasted
an
increase
in
2020.
Now
we
didn't
do
that
scheduled
increase
last
year
because
of
the
pandemic.
So
it's
been
five
years
without
an
increase
in
these
fees.
On
monday,
staff
presented
several
options
to
the
council,
based
on
different
investment
options
to
improve
our
road
and
trail
infrastructure.
A
Around
town,
the
council
directed
staff
to
prepare
an
increase
of
85
cents
in
the
franchise
fee,
and
we
also
asked
to
have
them
study
a
couple
of
additional
options
that
may
allow
us
to
add
trail
miles
to
the
program
and
fix
bad
trails.
Sooner
than
the
current
schedule
would
allow.
Now.
Staff
will
be
hosting
an
open
house
on
july.
14Th
at
public
works
to
get
resident
input
on
the
proposed
payment
management,
investments
and
franchise
fee
increases.
A
There
is
also
an
engagement
and
feedback
form
on
the
let's
talk
page
of
the
city's
website,
and
the
city
council
will
hold
a
public
hearing
on
july
26
before
taking
any
action.
If
the
council
does
adopt
an
increase,
the
new
rates
would
go
into
effect
in
january
of
2022..
Well,
that
is
a
wrap
on
this
week's
council
minute.
I
hope
to
see
everyone
at
summerfet
on
saturday.
It's
going
to
be
a
great
time.
I
hope
everyone
has
a
safe
and
festive
independence
day
weekend
and
I'll
see
you
next
week
until
then
stay
safe,
bloomington.