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From YouTube: Council Minute August 16
Description
In this week’s Council Minute Mayor Tim Busse celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Sister City partnership between Bloomington and Izumi, Japan, gives an overview of solar project recommendations and answers a few of your questions about Bloomington Forward, specifically Nine Mile Creek.
A
Hello
Bloomington
I'm
mayor
Tim
Bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
August
14th.
We
recognized
a
very
special
anniversary.
At
our
council
meeting
Monday
night,
we
had
the
opportunity
to
celebrate
the
30th
anniversary
of
bloomington's
sister
city
relationship
with
the
city
of
Izumi
Japan,
a
delegation
from
Izumi
led
by
mayor
hiromichi
Suchi
was
in
Bloomington
for
the
past
several
days
and
they
joined
us
at
the
council
meeting
for
a
formal
presentation
of
a
proclamation
recognizing
the
three-decade
relationship.
A
A
group
of
students
who
are
also
part
of
the
delegation
gave
the
council
a
great
presentation
about
their
city
and
their
country.
The
sister
city
relationship
was
formed
in
November
of
1993
when
Bloomington
mayor,
Neil,
Peterson
and
Azumi
mayor
tadal
akeda
signed
a
declaration
of
sister
city
affiliation
between
the
two
cities.
The
Declaration
stated
in
part
that
the
two
cities
shared
a
desire
to
deepen
friendship
and
mutual
under
standing
between
the
two
cities
through
education,
Industrial
and
Commercial
exchanges.
A
The
overall
goal
was
to
contribute
toward
peace
and
prosperity
in
the
world.
Over
the
years
there
have
been
about
50
delegations
that
have
traveled
between
Izumi
and
Bloomington.
The
delegates
have
included
Mayors
and
city
council
members
of
both
cities,
as
well
as
representatives
from
business,
education,
non-profit
organizations
and
youth
groups
in
the
early
2000s.
A
The
cities
even
exchanged
brass
and
concert
bands
in
1994
Bloomington
hosted
the
first
student
Exchange
program
and
since
then,
our
two
cities
have
sent
delegations
of
Youth
from
our
middle
schools
and
high
schools,
as
well
as
Boy
Scouts
college
students
and
band
members.
There's
also
been
an
annual
Student
Art
exchange
and
a
marathon
runner
exchange
where
Runners
have
competed
in
the
senshu
International
Marathon
and
the
Twin
Cities
Marathon.
The
visit
this
year
included
tours
of
City
facilities
and
local
businesses,
a
number
of
social
events
and,
of
course,
a
trip
to
Mall
of
America.
A
The
Bloomington
sister
city
organization
took
on
the
work
of
planning
and
organizing
the
visit,
and
they
did
a
fantastic
job:
hats
off
to
Kelly
Lohman,
president
of
the
Bloomington
sister
city
organization,
and
the
entire
group
who
worked
on
this
event.
The
event
was
truly
a
special
milestone
for
the
two
cities
and
it
was
a
pleasure
to
be
part
of
it.
A
Back
in
2018
Bloomington
adopted
an
energy
action
plan
which
set
goals
around
Energy
Efficiency
and
renewable
energy
and
reducing
greenhouse
gas
emissions
in
2019,
the
city
commissioned
a
study
looking
at
Energy
Efficiency
opportunities
and
solar,
the
Energy
Efficiency
opportunities
were
completed
in
2020
and
2021,
and
this
year
one
of
the
action
items
in
the
sustainability
commission's
work
plan
was
to
evaluate
solar
opportunities
for
City
facilities,
all
of
which
led
us
to
Monday
night
and
the
sustainability
commission's
recommendations.
Regarding
those
solar
opportunities,
the
recommendations
were
high
level
and
were
pretty
straightforward
and
logical.
A
The
sustainability
commission
recommended
that
any
solar
project
on
City
facilities
should
demonstrate
an
economic
benefit
to
the
city
that
The
Upfront
investment
should
lead
to
long-term
savings
and
that
any
cost
savings
should
be
dedicated
to
the
city's
climate
change
mitigation
Investments
like
Energy
Efficiency
equipment
or
electric
vehicle
Chargers.
Next,
they
recommended
that
any
solar
infrastructure
should
be
owned
by
the
city
and
that
renewable
energy
certificates
should
be
kept
by
the
city
to
contribute
toward
bloomington's
renewable
electricity
use
and
carbon
footprint
reduction
goals.
A
They
logically
stated
that
any
solar
infrastructure
should
be
located
on
a
flat
roofed
City
facility,
that
is
solar,
ready,
gets
plenty
of
Sun
and
is
accessible
to
our
City
Maintenance
staff.
I
do
want
to
point
out
that,
in
anticipation
of
these
recommendations,
when
bloomington's
Public
Works
facility
got
a
new
roof
last
year,
it
was
built
to
be
solar
ready.
The
final
recommendation
was
that
the
project
should
be
done
by
the
end
of
2024.,
again
pretty
straightforward,
Common
Sense
recommendations
by
the
sustainability
commission.
A
The
council
agreed
that
next
steps
should
be
to
develop
a
request
for
proposals
for
the
project
to
get
a
better
idea
of
scope
and
cost
of
installing
solar
panels
on
the
roof
of
the
Public
Works
facility.
City
staff
will
also
continue
looking
into
funding
opportunities
that
might
be
available
through
the
Energy
Efficiency
and
conservation
block
program,
federal
tax
credits
and
EPA
climate
pollution
reduction
grants
more
on
this
in
the
very
near
future
and
finally,
today,
as
I'm
sure,
you've
heard,
the
city
has
developed
a
long-term
investment
Plan
called
Bloomington
forward.
A
Bloomington
forward
would
support
three
major
Community
projects
for
Better
Health,
Wellness,
Athletics,
Recreation
and
improved
natural
areas.
The
projects
include
renewal
in
The,
Nine,
Mile,
Creek
Corridor,
an
upgrade
of
Bloomington
Ice
garden
and
construction
of
a
new
Community
Health
and
Wellness
Center
on
November
7th
Bloomington.
Voters
will
consider
a
half
percent
local
option
sales
tax
to
finance
155
million
dollars
in
bonds
to
pay
for
the
projects
as
part
of
a
city-wide
referendum.
If
approved
67
percent,
that's
two-thirds
of
the
local
sales
tax
revenue
will
come
from
non-residents
by
using
a
sales
tax.
A
Instead
of
a
property
tax
to
finance
the
projects
non-residents
would
share
in
the
cost
of
paying
for
them
when
they
patronize
local
businesses.
This
is
an
import
ant,
Community
decision
and
I
know.
There
are
a
lot
of
questions
about
the
projects
and
the
process.
So
we
thought
it
would
be
a
good
idea
to
spend
some
time
in
the
council
minute
to
answer
one
or
two
questions
about
the
investment
plan
that
have
come
into
our
city,
email
boxes
or
have
been
posted
on.
Let's
talk,
Bloomington.
This
week's
questions
are
about
the
Nine
Mile
Creek
project.
A
The
first
question
is:
how
would
the
project
impact
affect
and
enhance
the
natural
areas
in
The
Nine,
Mile,
Creek,
Corridor,
The,
Nine,
Mile
Creek
Corridor
is
one
of
the
most
ecologically
diverse
areas
in
all
of
Bloomington.
The
proposed
project
would
improve
access
to
the
area
without
disrupting
the
natural
surroundings
of
the
Nine
Mile
Creek
Corridor.
The
city
is
looking
to
restore
eroded
river
banks
and
protect
natural
habitat,
while
expanding
Trails
for
hiking
and
biking.
The
second
question
asks:
will
Nine
Mile
Creek
be
straightened
out?
A
If
this
ballot
question
is
approved,
that's
an
interesting
question
and
it's
one
frankly,
I
hadn't,
even
thought
of
the
answer
is
no.
The
proposed
project
would
focus
on
restoring
eroded
Banks
along
the
creek
and
protecting
natural
habitat
from
invasive
species,
to
ensure
that
native
plants
and
Wildlife
thrive
in
the
future,
but
Nine
Mile
Creek
would
still
Meander
its
way
all
the
way
through
Bloomington.
It
wouldn't
be
straightened
out
as
I
mentioned
earlier.