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From YouTube: Council Minute February 3
Description
Mayor Tim Busse provides a rundown of the February 1 Council Meeting, including an update on the City’s temporary pandemic housing resolution, earned sick and safe leave and sustainability work plan.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
first
week
of
february,
it's
hard
to
believe
it's
february
already
and
it's
hard
to
believe
that
we're
fast
approaching
the
one-year
mark
of
living
in
a
covid19
world.
I
know
everybody
watching
this
has
been
affected
in
some
way.
As
I
said
monday
night,
there
is
a
light
at
the
end
of
the
tunnel,
so
please
keep
doing
the
little
things
to
keep
yourself
and
the
people
you
care
about
safe.
A
I
want
to
see
all
of
us
make
it
to
the
other
side
of
this,
so
please,
please
be
safe,
just
as
all
of
our
lives
have
been
affected.
I'm
sure
you
know
that
the
pandemic
has
presented
many
challenges
to
the
city
of
bloomington.
We've
had
to
manage
budget
and
financial
pressures.
We've
had
to
make
sure
that
our
public
safety
and
public
health
staff
can
operate
safely
and
that
they
have
the
resources
they
need.
A
A
We've
responded
to
needs
in
our
community
by
committing
federal
relief
funds
to
veep
for
food
and
rent
assistance
by
partnering,
with
the
school
district
to
help
deliver
meals
and
by
directing
one
million
dollars
of
critical
financial
assistance
to
bloomington
small
businesses
devastated
by
this
pandemic,
and
we've
been
working
on
the
issue
of
homelessness
and
how
we
partner
with
those
providing
shelter
to
people
experiencing
homelessness.
This
week,
the
city
council
acted
on
a
resolution
to
allow
for
temporary
pandemic
housing
under
very
tightly
controlled
conditions.
A
The
temporary
pandemic
response
housing
permit
is
a
short-term
remedy
designed
to
alleviate
the
impacts
of
covet
19
and
respond
to
the
governor's
executive
orders
related
to
the
housing
of
unsheltered
persons.
As
I'm
sure
you
know,
over
the
past
year,
several
bloomington
hotels
entered
into
contracts
with
hennepin
county
and
with
other
social
service
organizations
to
provide
shelter
for
homeless
and
displaced
persons.
A
A
Finally,
there
also
has
to
be
a
transition
plan
that
identifies
next
steps
to
connect
occupants
to
stable
housing
and
other
support
services.
So
there
is
a
thoughtful
approach
to
how
people
move
out
when
that
time
eventually
comes.
The
transition
plan
will
also
outline
the
plan
and
the
timeline
for
returning
the
hotels
to
its
intended
and
licensed
views.
A
I
want
to
thank
our
staff
for
their
diligence
in
making
sure
that
the
health
and
safety
of
our
community
were
paramount
considerations
as
they
work
through
this
issue,
providing
safe
shelter
options
for
those
living
with
housing,
insecurity
and
ensuring
a
safe
community
for
our
residents
and
businesses.
These
are
not
mutually
exclusive
goals.
A
For
the
past
couple
of
years,
a
number
of
council
members
have
shared
their
concerns
about
the
inequities
experienced
by
workers
who
do
not
have
a
right
to
take
time
off
from
their
jobs
when
their
personal
or
family
circumstances
require
it
in
this
time
of
pandemic.
That
concern
has
only
been
heightened,
as
we've
seen,
disparities
in
how
the
virus
has
affected
people
working
in
service
industries
that
often
don't
have
paid
time
off
benefits.
A
Last
year,
the
city
council
directed
staff
to
research,
something
called
earned,
sick
and
safe
leave
and
to
return
to
the
council
with
an
outline
for
how
the
city
of
bloomington
might
consider
such
a
policy
for
our
community.
An
earned,
sick
and
safe
leave
ordinance
would
require
employers
operating
in
bloomington
to
provide
some
amount
of
paid,
sick
and
safe
leave
to
employees
in
minnesota.
Three
of
the
other
largest
cities,
duluth
st
paul
and
minneapolis
they've,
already
adopted
an
ordinance
like
this.
A
This
week
our
staff
provided
a
side-by-side
comparison
of
the
ordinances
in
each
of
these
three
cities.
With
details
like
the
amount
of
leave
that
employees
can
earn,
which
employers
the
ordinance
applies
to
and
the
process
the
cities
used
to
develop
their
ordinance,
the
staff
also
laid
out
a
couple
of
different
process
options
for
the
council
to
consider.
A
The
preliminary
timeline
laid
out
by
staff
would
have
the
working
group
study
an
issue
through
the
summer
and
fall
with
a
recommendation
to
the
city
council
toward
the
end
of
the
year,
but
before
we
get
there
we'll
be
reviewing
the
project
scoping
document
on
march
22nd
to
make
sure
that
the
council
and
the
staff
are
working
with
the
same
expectations
and
understandings
of
our
goal
around
this
time.
Each
year
the
city's
advisory
boards
and
commissions
present
their
annual
work
plans
to
the
city
council.
A
Sustainability
was
one
of
the
pillars
of
the
strategic
plan
adopted
by
the
city
council
in
2016.,
we
established
the
sustainability
commission
in
2017
as
one
of
the
key
actions
implementing
our
strategic
plan.
Since
that
time,
the
commission
has
been
steadily
moving
ahead
on
issues
that
will
make
a
difference
well
into
the
future.
For
2021,
the
commission
will
focus
their
work
on
these
seven
areas:
ecological
land,
stewardship
energy,
with
a
special
emphasis
on
natural
gas
and
electricity,
environmental
justice,
solid
waste
transportation,
water
and
multiple
areas
of
sustainability.
A
Those
are
just
some
of
the
initiatives
they'll
be
taking
on
folks.
We
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do
as
we
strive
toward
the
city's
carbon
reduction
goal
of
75
percent
and
our
energy
goal
to
reduce
city-wide
electricity-related
greenhouse
gas
emissions
by
95,
both
by
the
year
2035..
I
want
to
offer
my
thanks
to
the
sustainability
commission.
They
are
doing
great
work
on
behalf
of
all
of
us
to
ensure
a
better
bloomington.