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From YouTube: Council Minute November 17
Description
Mayor Tim Busse provides updates on potential land acquisition for World Expo 2027, the annual Energy Action Plan update and the I-494 project.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
november
15th.
We
had
a
lot
to
talk
about
this
week,
but
what
I
wanted
to
do
today
was
start
with
something
from
a
meeting.
Last
week,
a
meeting
last
week,
a
joint
concurrent
meeting
between
the
port
authority
and
the
bloomington
city
council
on
the
topic
of
that
meeting
was
expo
2027..
A
I
talked
a
couple
of
weeks
ago
about
the
potential
for
expo
2027
being
here
in
minnesota.
The
idea
of
having
an
expo
in
minnesota,
also
known
as
a
world's
fair,
has
been
around
since
about
2012
and
a
couple
of
years
after
2012
bloomington
realized
the
benefit
of
bringing
an
expo
to
the
united
states
to
minnesota
and
potentially
to
bloomington.
Undeniably,
there
would
be
a
huge
benefit
to
our
hospitality
and
tourism
industries
here
in
the
city
of
bloomington,
but
the
real
benefit
would
be
the
long-term
economic
development
opportunities
that
would
come
with
an
expo.
A
So
the
talk
about
bringing
expo
to
minnesota
really
picked
up
steam
over
the
summer,
and
last
week
the
port
authority
and
the
city
council
met
in
a
meeting
to
discuss
the
acquisition
of
land
to
host
expo
here
in
bloomington
two
pieces
of
land,
the
adjoining
lands
just
to
the
east
of
mall
of
america
and
spruce
shadows
farm.
If
you
watched
the
meeting,
you
saw
that
the
two
boards
met
in
both
open
session
and
in
closed
session,
a
quick
side
note.
Typically,
discussions
about
the
purchase
or
acquisition
of
land
is
done
in
closed
session.
A
The
available
surrounding
spruce
shadows
farm
now,
an
important
side
note
regarding
the
sale
of
the
adjoining
lands.
The
adjoining
lands
are
officially
owned
by
the
owners
of
mall
of
america.
We
are
going
to
require
that
any
revenue
they
gain
from
the
sale
of
that
land
has
to
be
put
toward
the
proposed
water
park
at
mall
of
america.
That
will
help
move
that
project
forward
and
will
also
ensure
that
public
money
spent
on
the
adjoining
lands
purchase
will
stay
in
bloomington
for
a
bloomington
project.
A
A
Some
outstanding
and
amazing
images
of
what's
going
on
there
now
here
in
minnesota,
in
bloomington,
we're
talking
about
a
world
expo
on
an
entirely
different
scale,
but
google
it
get
the
information
you'll
get
a
good
idea
of
exactly
what
an
expo
is
and
what
the
benefits
to
the
host
country
and
the
host
community
could
be
back.
In
2017,
a
group
of
community
representatives
and
city
staff
developed
a
very
specific
energy
action
plan
for
the
city
of
bloomington.
The
city
council
adopted
that
plan
in
2018..
A
The
plan
includes
goals
regarding
energy
use
and
transportation
for
the
city
of
bloomington,
the
two
largest
contributors
to
greenhouse
gases
in
our
atmosphere.
The
plan
approved
by
the
city
council
in
2018
called
for
a
reduction
of
75
percent
of
greenhouse
gases
in
the
city
of
bloomington
by
the
year
2035..
A
Now
over
the
past
year,
the
city,
council
and
the
city
have
done
some
good
things
to
try
and
meet
that
goal.
We've
passed
two
energy
inspection
programs
designed
to
reduce
greenhouse
gases.
We've
done
a
lot
of
public
outreach.
We've
worked
closely
with
excel
energy
and
center
point
energy
on
a
variety
of
different
energy
saving
programs.
A
But
folks
we
still
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do.
Bloomington
is
still
not
on
track
to
meet
our
climate
goals.
On
average,
we
need
to
be
saving
five
times
the
amount
of
electricity
and
two
and
a
half
times
the
amount
of
natural
gas
we've
currently
spent
saving
each
and
every
year.
There
are
solutions.
There
are
resources,
but
we
all
have
to
work
together
to
do
it.
Our
city
staff
and
our
sustainability
commission
are
doing
outstanding
work.
A
I
want
to
thank
them
for
their
commitment
to
this
important
important
issue,
and
I
want
to
remind
everyone
that
we
are
all
in
this
together,
we're
working
together
for
this
and
we're
not
working
to
save
the
planet.
The
planet
is
still
going
to
be
here,
we're
working
to
save
you
and
I,
our
children
and
our
grandchildren.
A
And
finally,
today,
on
monday
night,
the
city
council
considered
a
request
from
the
minnesota
department
of
transportation
for
municipal
consent
for
the
494
project.
Now,
you've
heard
me
talk
about
494
before
it
is
a
massive
project
to
improve
494
between
the
airport
and
highway.
169.
municipal
consent
is
basically
what
it
sounds
like.
A
It's
a
state
law
that
requires
mndot
to
go
to
communities
who
are
affected
by
major
projects
like
the
rebuild
of
a
major
freeway
through
a
community
like
494
and
get
input
and
feedback
and
ultimately
allows
communities
to
give
the
thumbs
up
or
the
thumbs
down
on
the
improvements
that
are
being
made.
Mndot
came
to
the
city
of
bloomington
because
the
project
will
increase
capacity
and
because
there's
right-of-way
acquisition
that
needs
to
happen
to
make
the
project
go.
A
A
Now
there
is
still
a
ton
of
work
to
do
even
before
this
project
gets
started
in
2023,
it
will
be
a
four
hundred
million
dollar
project.
That's
going
to
take
at
least
three
years
to
complete,
and
I
promise
you
item
number
one
on
the
to-do
list
for
the
city
of
bloomington
is
to
make
sure
that
the
traffic
that
is
inconvenienced
or
possibly
diverted
off
the
freeway
because
of
the
construction
doesn't
jam
up
our
local
city
streets.
A
We're
also
looking
at
additional
funding
possibilities
that
are
now
available
because
of
the
infrastructure
bill
that
passed
congress
last
week
and
we're
looking
at
ways
to
fully
fund
the
vision
of
494..
That
will
do
it
for
today's
council
minute.
Thank
you
much
for
tuning
in.
I
appreciate
it
and
hope
to
see
you
again
next
week
until
then
stay
safe,
bloomington.