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From YouTube: Council Minute July 14
Description
Mayor Tim Busse provides a rundown of Monday’s council meeting, including the swearing in of new police officers, results of a body camera audit, the future of the Burnsville Sanitary Landfill and neighborhood traffic.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
july
12th.
This
week's
meeting
started
with
a
swearing-in
of
four
new
officers
in
the
bloomington
police
department.
It's
been
nearly
two
years
since
we've
been
able
to
swear
in
new
officers
in
the
council
chambers,
and
it's
one
of
the
events
that
all
of
us
on
the
council
really
enjoy
doing.
A
Our
four
new
officers
bring
a
good
amount
of
work
experience
to
the
bpd
from
as
far
away
as
new
york
to
as
close
as
hennepin
county,
as
well
as
bringing
diverse
life
experiences
that
will
help
them
relate
to
our
community.
We
are
looking
forward
to
their
contributions
to
bloomington
and
to
provide
a
safe
and
thriving
community,
but
what
I
really
enjoy
about
these
swearing-in
ceremonies
is
how
much
support
there
is
in
the
room
for
the
new
officers.
A
A
A
The
bloomington
police
department
is
one
of
the
best
trained
and
most
professional
departments
in
the
state
of
minnesota.
These
four
officers
have
that
expectation
to
live
up
to,
and
I
am
confident
they
will
rise
to
the
challenge.
Speaking
of
police
professionalism,
the
city
council
received
a
report
from
our
interim
police
chief
mike
hartley
reporting
the
findings
of
a
required
audit
of
the
city's
police,
body-worn
camera
policies
and
procedures.
State
law
requires
that
an
independent
audit
be
conducted
every
two
years
for
departments
that
use
body-worn
cameras.
A
The
audit
is
done
to
verify
that
the
equipment
and
systems
are
complying
with
state
law
specific
to
body-worn
cameras.
Now,
back
in
2017,
the
bloomington
police
department
received
a
federal
grant
to
help
with
the
implementation
of
a
body-worn
camera
program
that
grant
helped
the
city
make
the
significant
capital
investment
needed
to
buy
the
equipment
and
the
significant
policy
process
to
develop
the
procedures
for
how
the
cameras
would
be
used
and
how
the
data
is
managed.
A
The
policies
were
developed,
we
conducted
a
state
required
public
hearing
in
june
of
2018
and
body
cams
rolled
out
department-wide
in
march
of
2019..
The
audit
that
was
done
is
pretty
extensive.
The
independent
auditor
looks
at
how
the
city
classifies
data,
whether
data
retention
is
being
done
consistent
with
state
guidelines
and
local
policies
and
who
has
access
to
the
data.
The
auditor
also
reviews
the
inventory
of
our
technology,
how
the
recording
systems
are
used
and
how
data
is
shared
among
law
enforcement
and
justice
system
agencies.
A
I'm
very
happy
to
report
that
the
bloomington
police
department's
first
audit
found
no
discrepancies
for
any
of
the
data
elements
that
were
reviewed,
but
an
audit
isn't
just
to
make
sure
that
we're
following
the
letter
of
the
law
audits,
often
identify
opportunities
for
improvement,
and
there
were
three
recommendations
in
that
regard.
The
auditor
recommended
a
procedure
be
developed
to
track
written
requests
for
the
sharing
of
data
within
other
law
enforcement
agencies.
A
There
was
also
a
recommendation
to
make
additions
in
the
data
classification
policy,
so
it
is
clearly
defined
what
data
is
presumed
private,
confidential
or
public,
and
there
was
a
recommendation
that
the
department
established
a
procedure
requiring
written
authorization
from
the
police
chief
to
grant
access
for
other
members
of
the
department
to
review
private
and
non-public
camera
data
for
legitimate
and
specified
law
enforcement
reasons.
Now
you
might
wonder
why.
Why
is
the
mayor
spending
so
much
time
talking
about
an
audit
and
internal
policies
and
procedures?
A
Well,
last
week
I
talked
about
the
nuts
and
bolts
types
of
things
that
local
government
does.
This
is
squarely
in
that
category.
It's
not
as
simple
as
saying
we're
going
to
equip
our
officers
with
body
cameras
and
just
send
them
out
in
the
field.
There
is
a
heck
of
a
lot
of
thought
and
effort
that
goes
into
a
decision
like
this
police
deal
with
difficult
and
sensitive
issues.
A
Body
cameras
get
a
lot
of
attention
because
of
how
important
they
are
in
cases
that
involve
deadly
force,
but
99.9
percent
of
the
work
that
our
police
officers
do
never
rises
to
that
level.
They
deal
with
traffic,
stops
domestic
assaults,
neighbor
neighborhood
disputes
and
calls
for
suspicious
activity.
A
Body
cameras
help
ensure
that
people,
interacting
with
our
officers,
have
a
full
and
thorough
accounting
of
those
interactions,
they're
an
important
tool
to
provide
supporting
documentation
of
witnesses
and
officer
reports,
and
it
protects
our
officers
against
unfounded
charges.
Body
cameras
are
another
tool
that
help
increase
the
professionalism
and
transparency
of
our
police
department.
I
want
to
extend
my
appreciation
to
the
chief
and
all
members
of
the
police
department
who
are
committed
to
the
tradition
of
professionalism
in
the
bloomington
pd.
A
Not
all
of
the
public
policy
issues
we
deal
with
are
pleasant.
We
had
a
lengthy
discussion
about
one
of
those
topics
in
the
less
than
pleasant
category
on
monday
night,
solid
waste.
In
this
case,
we
heard
from
our
staff
and
staff
at
the
minnesota
pollution
control
agency,
the
mpca
about
an
important
issue
that
will
affect
the
south
metro
around
bloomington
and
ultimately
affect
the
whole
metro
region.
That
is
the
future
of
the
burnsville
sanitary
landfill.
A
Waste
management
is
proposing
to
expand
the
landfill
by
23.6
million
cubic
yards,
a
volume
that
the
environmental
impact
statement
estimates
will
accommodate
just
under
22
million
tons
of
waste.
The
mpca
estimates
that
well,
it
will
take
20
years
for
the
entire
seven
county
metro
area
to
generate
that
staggering
amount
of
waste.
The
expansion
is
proposed
to
increase
the
height
of
the
landfill
to
a
height
that
is
300
389
feet
above
the
nearby
minnesota
river.
The
top
of
the
mound
will
be
higher
than
mount
gilboa
bloomington's
highest
elevation,
which
is
in
highland
ski
area.
A
The
top
of
the
landfill
mound
will
be
more
than
340
feet
higher
than
the
nearest
residence
in
burnsville
and
250
feet
higher
than
the
nearest
residence
in
bloomington
on
top
of
the
river
bluff.
If
approved,
the
burnsville
sanitary
landfill
will
become
the
dominant
and
defining
visual
feature
of
this
portion
of
the
minnesota
river
valley.
A
Most
concerning
very
little
outreach
has
occurred
to
date.
Local
residents
and
the
surrounding
communities
have
not
been
sufficiently
involved
in
the
environmental
review
and
certificate
of
need
processes.
Local
residents
and
the
surrounding
communities
absolutely
need
to
be
more
involved
in
any
future,
permitting
approval
process.
A
We
here
at
the
city
of
bloomington
have
documented
the
city's
concerns
in
official
responses
to
the
mpca
that
are
part
of
the
official
public
comment
process
related
to
the
certificate
of
need,
and
we
will
continue
to
document
our
concerns
in
the
public
comment
process.
Regarding
the
environmental
impact
statement,
there
is
a
lot
of
information.
That's
publicly
available
and
much
more
than
I
can
talk
about
right
here.
You
can
view
this
information
on
our
website.
It's
listed
here
on
the
screen.
A
If
you
would
like
to
provide
comments
to
the
mpca-
and
I
imagine
many
of
you
would
the
deadline
to
do
so
is
july.
31St
information
about
how
to
submit
your
concerns
to
the
minnesota
pollution
control
agency
is
also
available
on
the
web
page
that
I
mentioned
earlier.
I
also
want
to
emphasize
that
the
city
of
bloomington
does
not
have
decision-making
authority
over
the
landfill
expansion.
A
We
do,
however,
have
an
important
role,
raising
awareness
of
the
issue,
identifying
concerns
that
need
to
be
responded
to
and
joining
with,
other
public
agencies
in
ensuring
that
public
policy
decisions
are
being
based
on
the
best
information
possible
and
in
the
best
interest
of
the
region
as
a
whole.
We
talked
about
more
nuts
and
bolts
on
monday
night,
the
kind
of
issue
that
nearly
everyone
in
the
community
cares
about
traffic
in
neighborhoods
and
how
to
ensure
that
our
streets
are
safe.
A
I've
said
before
that
this
is
the
most
common
issue
I
hear
from
residents
about,
and
it's
one
that
we
need
to
address.
Folks
from
our
engineering
division
in
public
works
walked
the
council
through
an
extensive
overview
of
what
we
are
currently
doing,
to
manage
traffic
on
local
streets
and
what
options
we
can
consider
to
do
more,
if
necessary.
A
After
a
good
discussion,
the
council
directed
staff
to
develop
a
plan
that
looks
at
the
issue
from
a
holistic
or
a
big
picture
view.
I
framed
it
up
that
we
need
to
consider
the
issue
through
three
e's
environment
enforcement
and
education,
and
I
should
probably
add
a
fourth
e
engagement
over
the
next
12
to
18
months.
Bloomington
will
be
engaging
residents
on
how
best
to
tackle
this
problem,
simply
lowering
speed
limits
or
writing.
A
More
tickets
isn't
going
to
solve
the
issue
and
with
the
different
elements
involved,
including
neighborhood
streets
collectors
and
arterials,
county
roads,
school
zones
and
streets
close
to
parks.
There
is
no
one-size-fits-all
solution.
I
know
a
lot
of
folks
have
ideas
and
opinions
on
this
and
I
look
forward
to
hearing
from
you.