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From YouTube: Council Minute November 16
Description
In this week’s Council Minute Mayor Busse provides an update on the Oxboro Heights Development Project, a proclamation in honor of small businesses and a congratulations to the latest Bloomington Leadership Program graduates.
A
Hello
Bloomington
I'm
mayor
Tim
Bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
November
14th
back
in
October,
the
city
council
approved
a
number
of
land
use
applications
for
the
oxboro
heights
development
project.
On
Monday
night
we
took
the
next
steps
by
adopting
the
oxboro
heights
Redevelopment
project
area
and
plan,
and
by
establishing
the
oxboro
heights
tax,
increment,
financing,
housing
district
and
approving
its
financing
plan.
Oxboro
Heights
will
be
a
five-story,
affordable,
independent
senior
apartment,
building
on
93rd
Street
just
to
the
east
of
Lindale
Avenue.
A
It's
adjacent
to
Popeye's,
restaurant
and
the
site
currently
consists
of
two
vacant
lots
and
one
single-family
home.
The
project
will
include
125
units
and
will
bring
people
vibrancy
and
Life
to
Lindale
and
will
help
support
existing
and
new
businesses
with
new
sidewalks
and
new
Transit
along
Lyndale
Avenue.
It
will
also
be
a
lot
easier
for
residents
to
get
around
the
oxboro
heights.
Development
fits
really
well
with
the
Lindale
Avenue
retrofit
plan,
which
the
city
adopted
last
year.
A
The
plan
establishes
a
vision
for
the
future
of
Lindale
Avenue,
and
the
goal
is
to
maintain
and
strengthen
Lindale
as
a
lively,
Community
amenity.
The
affordability
component
of
oxboro
heights
is
really
important.
We've
heard
from
a
lot
of
residents
about
the
need
for
additional,
affordable
housing
options
for
seniors,
and
we've
heard
the
housing
needs
to
be
close
to
services
and
amenities.
A
Oxboro
Heights
will
help
fill
that
need
it's
a
great
location
and
all
of
their
units
will
be
affordable
and
income
levels,
ranging
from
30
percent
to
70
percent
of
area.
Median
income,
in
addition
to
serving
the
senior
community
oxboro
Heights,
will
bring
benefits
to
local
schools
and
I've
said
this.
A
Before
anecdotally,
we've
heard
from
developers
that
new
senior
developments
in
Bloomington
tend
to
attract
at
least
half
of
their
residents
from
Bloomington
itself
as
those
residents
move
from
their
previous
homes
that
opens
up
new
housing
opportunities
for
growing
families
and
brings
more
students
to
our
local
schools
from
the
time
the
council
first
heard
about
this
project.
Until
now,
three
things
have
changed
that
make
this
a
really
good,
strong
agreement.
First
of
all,
the
number
of
units
available
at
the
deeply
affordable
levels
have
increased
of
the
125
units.
A
Nine
will
be
available
to
residents
at
30
percent
of
area.
Median
income
and
23
units
will
be
available
to
residents
at
50
percent
of
the
area
median
income.
Now
the
area
median
income
in
the
Twin
Cities
is
roughly
one
hundred
and
eighteen
thousand
dollars.
That
means
half
the
families
in
the
Twin
Cities
make
more
than
that
half
make
less
so
families
that
will
be
eligible
for
housing
units
at
30
percent
area.
Median
income
would
be
making
about
thirty
three
thousand
dollars
each
year,
families
that
would
be
eligible
for
housing
units
at
50
percent
area.
A
Median
income
would
be
making
about
fifty
eight
thousand
dollars
a
year.
Fifty
eight
thousand
dollars
a
year.
That's
twenty
nine
dollars
an
hour,
that's
folks,
working
in
our
hospitality
industry
or
in
our
care
facilities,
or
at
one
of
our
light
industrial
companies
we're
working
toward
housing
that
people
can
afford.
The
second
part
that
I
really
like
is
that
the
development
agreement
states
that
the
affordability
requirements
will
be
in
place
for
30
years.
That's
normally
not
the
case
and
finally,
I
love
how
the
tax
increment
financing
is
structured
to
help
with
this
project.
A
Bloomington's,
Housing
and
Redevelopment
Authority
will
provide
a
2.125
million
dollar
loan
from
the
city's,
affordable,
housing
trust
fund.
The
funds
generated
in
this
tax
increment
district
will
go
toward
paying
that
loan
back,
which
will
ultimately
help
replenish
bloomington's,
affordable
housing
trust
fund.
This
is
a
really
good
project.
I
want
to
thank
the
developer
MWF
for
working
closely
with
City
staff
and
with
their
lending
partner
to
bring
this
project
from
idea
to
reality
and
I
want
to
thank
our
city
staff
for
the
great
work
they
did
on
this
as
well.
A
You
can
expect
to
see
construction
over
the
next
couple
of
years
with
the
goal
of
opening
in
January
of
2025..
Also
on
Monday
I
read
a
proclamation
in
support
of
small
business
Saturday.
The
last
Saturday
in
November
is
recognized
as
National
Small,
Business
Saturday,
it's
the
Saturday
after
Thanksgiving,
and
it's
an
opportunity
to
celebrate
our
local
small
businesses
and
the
contributions
they
make
to
the
local
economy
and
this
community
still
this
year.
Small
businesses
need
our
support
as
they
continue
to
navigate
to
retool
and
to
Pivot
from
the
effects
of
the
coronavirus
pandemic.
A
A
Now
we
all
know
on
those
days
after
Thanksgiving,
there
are
plenty
of
shopping
opportunities,
both
in
person
and
online,
but
we
also
know
that
supporting
small
independently
owned
businesses
has
enormous
social,
economic
and
environmental
impacts.
That's
why,
for
the
first
time
this
year,
Bloomington
has
partnered
with
Hennepin
County
to
launch
the
love
local
campaign,
love
local,
encourages
residents
to
support
local
businesses
that
create
jobs,
boost
the
local
economy
and
make
our
communities
vibrant
and
livable.
There
are
a
lot
of
great
small
businesses
in
Bloomington.
Small
business.
A
Saturday
is
a
wonderful
opportunity
to
get
to
know
them
and
support
them.
Look
for
these
window
clings
at
small
businesses
across
Bloomington
and
show
us
how
you're
supporting
small
businesses
this
holiday
use
the
hashtag
lovelocalbloomington
and
if
your
business
needs
a
window,
claim
stop
by
Civic
Plaza
and
ask
for
one
at
the
front
desk
and
finally,
today,
on
Monday
night,
we
heard
from
graduates
of
the
most
recent
class
of
the
Bloomington
leadership
program.
The
Bloomington
leadership
program
is
a
city
sponsored
program
led
by
our
community
outreach
and
engagement
division.
A
It
promotes
Civic
engagement,
develops,
Community
leaders,
bring
breaks
down
barriers
and
increases
understanding
of
local
government.
The
14
members
of
this
year's
cohort
made
the
commitment
to
attend
nine
sessions
that
typically
lasted
two
to
three
hours.
So
it's
not
an
insignificant
commitment.
Topics
of
discussion,
included
government
101,
an
overview
of
boards
and
commissions,
a
comprehensive
look
at
city
services,
public
participation
and
Community
leadership
sessions
also
included
experiential
learning,
a
mock
city
council
meeting
and
the
always
popular
tour
of
the
Bloomington
water
treatment
plant.
A
It's
a
great
program
and
over
the
years
we've
seen
a
number
of
graduates
move
into
leadership
positions
here
in
the
city,
in
Bloomington,
schools,
in
faith
communities
and
in
our
non-profits.
These
folks
are
committed,
they're
informed
and
they
provide
a
solid
foundation
of
leadership
throughout
our
city.
Congratulations
to
this
year's
graduates.
They
will
now
join
a
network
of
more
than
100
program
alumni.