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From YouTube: Council Minute September 21
Description
Mayor Tim Busse is joined by Assistant Maintenance Superintendent Dave Hanson to talk about the City’s Natural Resources Prioritization Plan.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
busse,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
september
19th.
Obviously,
today
we're
not
in
the
studio
we
are
out
at
the
pond
house
here
along
the
banks
of
the
minnesota
river
in
beautiful
bloomington,
a
beautiful
fall
day,
we're
talking
today
about
our
natural
resources,
prioritization
plan.
We
actually
talked
about
this
and
approved
it
at
the
council
meeting
a
couple
of
weeks
back
and
here
to
help
me
talk
about.
A
B
We
developed
a
plan
to
help
us
strategize
natural
resources,
restoration
and
maintenance
throughout
the
city
on
parkland.
We
hadn't
had
one
prior
to
this,
so
there
was
a
need
for
it.
We
knew
that
through
the
park
system,
master
planning
work,
it
came
out
loud
and
clear
from
residents
that
they
desired,
enhance
restoration
of
natural
resources,
enhance
programming,
enhanced,
volunteer
efforts,
and
this
plan
will
help
us
prioritize
and
work
through
all
the
restoration
that
needs
to
happen.
Now.
A
B
We
do
we
are
fortunate
to
have
thousands
of
acres
of
park
land,
much
of
it
is
developed
and
programmed
and
used
for
traditional
recreation,
but
there's
plenty
of
it.
That
has
just
been
left
to
be
natural
areas,
and
over
years
invasive
species
have
moved
in.
Some
of
the
habitat
has
been
degraded,
and
we
aim
to
address
that
with
a
plan
like
this.
So.
A
B
Correct
this
plan
will
set
priorities
for
us
to
go
into
parks
with
redevelopment
plans,
and
at
that
time
we
will
scope
out
all
the
details
of
the
restoration.
What
types
of
invasives
need
to
be
removed?
What
types
of
habitat
there
are
in
this
plan
it
talks
about
target
plant
communities.
That
would
be
the
goals
that
we
would
reach
to
establish,
and
then
it
also
has
sections
on
maintenance
of
these
specific
ecosystems
and
habitats
that
we'd
be
restoring.
So.
B
Correct
mayor,
we
already
have
a
plan
that
addresses
natural
resource
restoration
in
the
river
valley.
The
river
valley
is
unique,
habitat
it's
continuous,
it's
a
south-facing
bluff
that
offers
different
opportunities
for
oak
savannah
and
sun-loving
plant
communities
in
openings,
so
that
plan
addresses
creating
openings
along
the
bluff
land.
It
also
looked
at
the
historical
and
cultural
nature
of
of
that
part
of
bloomington
and
it's
a
little
bit
different
in
than
the
plan
that
we
just
completed
and
that
this
is
a
continuous
track
of
land.
It's
all
connected,
so.
B
Right
now
we
are
working
on
submitting
for
a
grant
application
for
12
acres
just
to
the
west
of
the
pond
house.
It's
very
unique.
It
has
some
really
cool
sloped
aspects
where
we
got
west
facing
and
south
facing
slopes.
It
has
a
spring-fed
stream
and
it's
going
to
have
tons
of
potential
for
restoration
in
the
past.
We've
done
restorations,
just
as
recently
as
completing
this
year
with
the
grant
project
at
parker's
picnic
area
to
the
east,
and
then
in
2016.
B
A
Now,
as
part
of
our
park
system
master
planning
process,
we
did
extensive
community
engagement,
listen
to
residents,
talk
to
them,
listen
to
them
about
what
is
most
important
to
them,
and
they
told
us
that
restoring
the
natural
resources
in
the
city
of
bloomington
was
one
of
their
top
priorities.
So
how
will
this
impact
those
goals
that
we're
looking
to
achieve
it'll.
B
Show
us
how
to
do
more
and
it'll
help
us
understand
what
it
costs.
I
want
to
be
clear
that
bloomington
has
always
cared
about
natural
resources
and
we
have
about
175
acres
of
savannah,
prairie
and
woodlots
that
we've
already
restored
and
are
maintaining,
but
through
that
park
system
master
plan,
we
heard
loud
and
clear
that
the
community
desires
more
more
high
quality,
natural
areas,
more
restorations,
more
opportunities
for
recreation
and
education,
and
volunteering
and
understanding
and
participating
in
our
natural
amenities.
A
B
First
of
all,
we're
going
to
remove
all
the
invasive
understory,
so
you're
going
to
see
a
more
open
wood
lot
with
more
vegetative
cover
on
the
ground,
you're
going
to
see
some
flowers
you're
going
to
see
better
habitat
you're,
going
to
see
some
outreach
and
engagement
and
communication
to
the
residents
about
the
projects.
We're
doing
we
want
to
brag
about
these.
We
want
to
bring
people
in.
We
want
people
to
understand
what
we're
doing
and
then
appreciate
it.
Well,.
A
This
is
important
work.
Thank
you
for
your
work
and
for
the
work
that
your
entire
team
did
on
this
prioritization
plan.
We
know
how
important
parks
are
to
the
people
of
the
city
of
bloomington,
and
I
really
appreciate
the
fact
that
we're
looking
at
parks
holistically
the
interactive
playgrounds,
the
possibility
for
people
to
swim,
but
also
the
opportunity
to
restore
our
natural
resources
to
as
close
to
the
original,
probably
not
the
original,
but
as
close
to
the
original
as
possible
and
give
people
an
understanding
of
what
this
part
of
the
world
used.