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From YouTube: Council Minute October 5
Description
In this week’s Council Minute, Mayor Tim Busse provides updates on a grant that will allow the Bloomington Fire Department to hire 18 new full-time positions and the Oxboro Heights development, which will provide affordable housing for seniors. He also gives thanks to those serving as election judges and a recap of the joint City Council and School Board meeting.
A
A
Hello
Bloomington
I'm
mayor
Tim
Bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
October
3rd.
It
feels
like
it's
been
a
while,
since
we've
been
together,
I
hope
everyone
is
doing
well.
Here
are
some
highlights
from
the
past
couple
of
weeks.
Our
first
item
today
is
very
good
news
related
to
our
ongoing
Community
discussion
about
staffing
issues
within
the
Bloomington
Fire
Department
late
last
month,
the
Bloomington
Fire
Department
received
notification
that
it
has
been
awarded
a
staffing
for
adequate
fire
and
emergency
response,
Grant
a
safer
Grant
from
the
Federal
Emergency
Management
agency.
A
Folks,
this
is
a
big
deal.
The
funds
received
through
the
safer
Grant
will
enable
Bloomington
Fire
to
hire
18
full-time
firefighters,
to
better
serve
Bloomington
and
to
provide
much
needed
additional
Staffing
for
the
Department.
As
we've
talked
about
in
the
past,
additional
firefighters
are
needed
to
help
Bloomington
Fire,
improve
fire
response
times
and
to
better
meet
the
safety
needs
of
a
community
of
90
000
residents.
The
safer
Grant
will
provide
a
great
jump
start
toward
the
goal
of
hiring
full-time
firefighters
and
will
provide
three
years
of
funding
for
these
positions.
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The
process
the
higher
the
full-timers
will
start
immediately
with
Bloomington
Fire
working
closely
with
Bloomington
human
resources.
The
process
to
fill
these
18
positions
should
be
complete
in
about
six
months.
In
2021,
the
city
adopted
the
Lindale
Avenue
retrofit
plan.
The
plan
which
benefited
from
significant
community
outreach,
establishes
a
vision
for
the
future
of
Lyndale.
A
It's
called
oxboro
Heights
oxboro
Heights
will
be
a
five-story,
affordable,
independent
senior
apartment,
building
on
93rd
Street,
one
parcel
east
of
Lindale
Avenue
adjacent
to
Popeye's
restaurant.
The
site
currently
consists
of
two
vacant
lots
and
one
single-family
home
with
125
units.
Oxboro
Heights
will
bring
added
vibrancy
to
Lindale
and
will
help
support
existing
and
new
businesses.
Seniors
will
benefit
from
new
sidewalks
that
will
be
added
and
new
Transit
lines
along
Lindale
Avenue.
The
development
will
have
an
urban
character,
with
small
setbacks
from
the
street
and
underground
parking.
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Now,
we've
heard
from
a
lot
of
residents
recently
about
the
need
for
additional,
affordable
housing
options
for
seniors
that
are
close
to
the
Bloomington
services
and
amenities
that
they've
grown
to
love.
Oxboro
Heights
will
help
fill
that
need
with
all
of
their
units
affordable
at
income
levels
ranging
from
30
percent
to
70
percent
of
area
median
income
and,
in
addition
to
serving
the
senior
community
oxboro
Heights
will
also
benefit
Local
Schools
anecdotally.
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We've
heard
from
developers
that
new
senior
developments
in
Bloomington
they
tend
to
attract
at
least
half
of
their
residents
from
Bloomington
itself
as
those
seniors
move
from
their
previous
homes.
That
opens
up
new
housing
opportunities
for
growing
families
and
brings
more
students
to
our
local
schools.
On
Monday,
the
city
council
unanimously
approved
several
land
use,
applications
for
oxboro
Heights
and
an
economic
assistance
request
will
be
considered
at
an
upcoming
city
council
meeting.
This
project
is
on
an
aggressive
schedule.
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The
developer
MWF
will
seek
a
building
permit
before
the
end
of
the
year
to
start
construction
in
the
spring
back
on
September
28th,
the
Bloomington
city
council
and
the
Bloomington
School
Board
got
together
for
a
joint
meeting
for
the
first
time
since
before
the
pandemic.
That's
way
too
long,
and
it
was
a
pleasure
to
welcome
board
chair
Tom,
Bennett
and
the
rest
of
the
school
board
to
City
Hall.
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The
agenda
included
reports
on
School
District,
enrollment
Trends
and
the
Bloomington
housing
market,
a
presentation
on
the
safe
and
Innovative
schools,
capital
projects,
Levy
renewal,
an
update
from
city
manager,
Jamie
verrugi
on
Expo
2027,
and
a
very
good
discussion
on
joint
efforts
between
the
city
and
the
school
district
on
chemical
health
concerns.
You've
heard
me
say
before
that:
Bloomington
has
a
unique
advantage
in
that
the
city
boundaries
and
the
school
district
boundaries
are
basically
the
same.
The
vast
majority
of
our
neighboring
cities
and
school
districts.
A
A
Both
bodies
agreed
that
these
meetings
should
become
a
regular
occurrence
and
in
fact
we
already
started
talking
about
agenda
items
for
our
next
meeting,
which
we
hope
to
get
scheduled
shortly
after
the
new
year.
I
think
in
order
to
fully
meet
our
mission
of
cultivating
and
enduring
and
remarkable
Community
where
people
want
to
be,
we
need
to
align
our
work
to
the
fullest
extent
possible
and
capitalize
on
the
potential
of
having
two
strong
elected
bodies
working
toward
a
common
Vision
with
the
city
council's
approval
on
Monday
night.
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The
city
has
now
completed
its
hiring
of
more
than
400
Bloomington
community
members
who
will
serve
as
election
judges.
This
November,
the
election
judges
play
a
vital
role
in
making
our
democracy
work.
As
I
said,
these
are
Bloomington
community
members,
people
you
see
at
the
farmers
market
or
church
or
Nine
Mile
Brewing.
These
folks
are
retirees
students,
local
business
owners
or
parents
of
your
kids
friends.
They
do
an
important
job
before
their
work
at
the
polls
begins.
Election
judges
receive
extensive
training
from
the
city
clerk's
office
and
on
Election
Day.
A
A
Thanks
to
everyone
who
has
signed
on
to
be
an
election
judge
this
year
and
thanks
in
advance
for
your
service,
we
appreciate
all
you
do
for
our
community
and
speaking
of
Elections.
This
is
a
good
time
to
remind
you
that
Civic
Plaza
is
now
open
for
in-person
early
voting,
stop
by
anytime
between
8
AM
and
4
30
P.M
Monday
through
Friday
to
cast
your
Ballot
or,
if
you'd
like
to
vote
by
mail.
A
You'll
need
to
complete
an
online
application
which
you
can
find
at
minvotes.org,
or
you
can
call
the
city
clerk's
office
at
952-563-8729
to
have
an
application
form
mailed
to
you
and
finally,
today,
a
quick
mayor's
shout
out
to
the
Bloomington
Campus
of
Seven
Hills
Preparatory
Academy,
which
was
recently
named
a
2022
National
Blue
Ribbon
School
by
the
U.S
Department
of
Education.
The
National
Blue
Ribbon
School
program
is
a
prestigious
annual
award
that
recognizes
schools
for
academic
Excellence
or
their
progress
in
closing
achievement
gaps.
Congratulations
to
everyone
at
Seven,
Hills
prep.