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From YouTube: Council Minute March 9
Description
In this week’s Council Minute, Mayor Tim Busse explains how census data is used for redistricting, and highlights redevelopment at 8200 Humboldt Avenue and the proposed 2022 work plan of the Parks, Arts and Recreation Commission.
A
Hello
bloomington,
I'm
mayor
tim
bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
march
5th.
As
I'm
sure
you
remember
way.
Back
in
2020,
during
the
height
of
the
pandemic,
the
u.s
government
conducted
the
2020
decennial
census,
the
census
counted
people
living
in
all
50
states
and
the
five
u.s
territories,
and
it
marked
the
24th
time
the
united
states
has
done
a
census.
A
You
probably
also
remember
that
minnesota
rocked
it
in
terms
of
census,
response
and
participation,
which
is
likely
why
we
still
have
eight
congressional
seats
and
that
bloomington
grew
by
nine
percent
to
an
official
2020
count
of
89
987
residents.
Unofficially,
I'm
pretty
sure
we're
over
90
000
people
in
bloomington.
Of
course,
that
data
is
used
in
a
lot
of
ways
and
one
of
the
most
important
ways
is
when
it's
used
for
redistricting,
the
drawing
of
new
districts
for
the
u.s
house
of
representatives,
the
state
legislature
and
ultimately
bloomington
city
council
districts.
A
The
census
numbers
are
used
to
adjust
the
boundaries
of
those
congressional
state
and
local
districts
to
ensure
that
the
number
of
people
in
each
are
generally
equal.
The
congressional
and
state
legislative
maps
were
released
in
mid-february
nationally
bloomington
will
stay
in
the
third
congressional
district
and
locally.
The
districts
of
our
state,
senators
and
representatives
were
redrawn
pretty
significantly.
A
A
The
city
now
has
the
responsibility
to
redraw
our
four
council
member
districts
once
again
to
ensure
a
balanced
population
among
the
districts.
The
bloomington
city
charter
states
that
the
difference
between
the
most
populous
council
member
district
and
the
least
populous
district
must
be
less
than
5
percent.
A
Currently,
the
difference
between
the
most
populous
district,
which
is
district
4
and
the
least
populous
district,
which
is
district
2,
is
6.2
percent,
which
means
we
need
to
make
some
adjustments.
Some
slight
changes
to
the
district
boundaries
are
needed
to
bring
the
populations
into
the
appropriate
range
and
into
better
balance.
The
proposed
council
member
district
map
makes
two
changes
to
the
current
district
boundaries
on
the
east
side
of
the
city.
The
boundary
between
district
1
and
district
4
is
shifted
to
the
east,
which
adds
population
to
district
1.
on
the
west
side
of
the
city.
A
The
boundary
between
district
1
and
2
is
shifted
to
the
east,
also,
which
adds
population
to
district
2..
With
those
two
changes,
the
difference
in
population
of
the
most
populous
district,
which
is
now
district
3
and
the
least
populous
district,
which
is
now
district
1,
is
now
1.96
percent,
which
means
we're
in
compliance
with
the
city
charter
and
trust
me.
It
sounds
a
lot
more
confusing
than
it
really
is.
The
bottom
line
is
that
the
changes
will
ensure
that
our
council
districts
are
equally
balanced
from
a
population
perspective.
A
Two
additional
changes
that
we
talked
about
on
monday
night
were
the
re-numbering
of
precincts
in
the
city
and
changes
to
polling
locations
in
some
of
those
precincts.
If
you
look
at
our
existing
precinct
map
in
bloomington,
the
numbers
don't
follow
any
logical
sequence.
For
example,
in
district
1,
the
precinct
numbers
from
east
to
west
go
roughly
7
8
9
10
30
14
15
12..
It's
confusing
and
the
proposed
changes
try
to
make
things
a
bit
more
logical
again
using
council
district
1
as
the
example.
A
The
proposed
changes
would
make
the
precinct
numbering
go
one
two,
three,
four,
five,
six,
seven,
it's
an
opportunity
to
make
elections
less
confusing
and
more
accessible
for
voters
to
follow
the
proposed
changing
in
polling
places
is
something
that
happens
to
some
extent
every
10
years
as
precinct
boundaries
shift.
In
my
time
in
bloomington
I
voted
in
three
different
locations
while
living
at
the
same
address
the
entire
time.
A
At
our
council
meeting
on
february
28th,
the
council
approved
a
comprehensive
land
use
guide
plan
amendment
a
rezoning
and
preliminary
and
final
development
plans
for
a
four-story
149
unit
apartment
building
located
at
8200
humboldt
avenue.
You
may
not
recognize
the
address,
but
I'm
sure
you
know
the
building
site.
The
building
is
the
big
white
office
building
located
just
to
the
west
of
35w
and
just
to
the
south
of
82nd
street.
If
you
travel
35w
you
pass
by
it
on
a
regular
basis.
A
A
However,
the
comp
plan's
land
use
strategy
encourages
the
city
to
use
land
use,
controls
like
zoning
changes
to
encourage
higher
density,
residential
and
mixed
use,
development
in
locations
that
are
near
services
and
amenities
and
employment
centers,
and
where
significant
investments
in
transit
have
been
made
or
are
planned.
Well,
8200
humboldt
is
immediately
adjacent
to
the
pen
american
district,
which
includes
all
the
new
development
done
there
recently
as
well
as
south
town.
A
The
orange
line,
which
serves
the
35w
corridor,
has
a
station
located
about
a
half
mile
from
the
site
and
metro
transit
operates
the
4
and
538
bus
routes
along
west
82nd
street.
In
short,
this
is
a
perfect
spot
for
high
density
redevelopment
in
bloomington.
The
plan
department
building
will
include
a
mix
of
studio,
one
two
and
three
bedroom
apartments,
with
nine
percent
of
the
units
or
fourteen
total
being
identified
as
affordable
at
sixty
percent
of
the
area
median
income.
A
As
I
mentioned,
the
developers
worked
with
city
staff
and
utilized
elements
of
bloomington's
innovative
opportunity.
Housing
ordinance
14
units
will
be
designated
as
affordable,
which
is
important
as
bloomington
continues
to
make
some
pretty
impressive
strides
in
encouraging
housing
that
people
can
afford.
A
A
On
monday
night,
we
heard
from
the
parks,
arts
and
recreation
commission
key
accomplishments
in
2021
included,
reviewing
park
fees
and
the
long-range
capital
plan,
collaborating
to
evaluate
and
award
cultural
arts
support
grants
and
the
adoption
of
the
park
system
master
plan.
The
master
plan
was
a
two-year
effort
to
lay
the
foundation
for
the
parks
department
as
well
as
park
improvements
over
the
next
10
to
20
years.
A
A
new
design
for
park
shelters
will
be
completed
as
part
of
this
process
as
well.
The
commission
will
also
take
up
discussions
of
a
comprehensive
park,
maintenance
and
operations
plan
and
a
city-wide
natural
resources
plan.
Now
acknowledging
the
significance
of
the
natural
resources
plan
staff
emphasize
the
importance
of
integrating
that
planning
work
with
the
work
of
the
sustainability
commission,
like
all
of
our
boards
and
commission
members,
the
members
of
the
parks,
arts
and
recreation
commission
do
outstanding
work.