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From YouTube: Council Minute May 3
Description
Mayor Tim Busse provides an update on the City’s efforts to create more affordable homeownership opportunities in Bloomington, presents how he and City Manager Jamie Verbrugge promoted Expo 2027 at the Cities Summit of the Americas and, sends a reminder to support local during Small Business Week.
A
Hello
Bloomington
I'm
mayor
Tim
Bussey,
and
this
is
the
council
minute
for
the
week
of
May
1st
this
week.
The
city
council
continued
our
discussion
of
a
series
of
proposed
zoning
code
changes
that
would
create
more
opportunities
for
affordable
home
ownership
in
Bloomington
and
allow
options
for
smaller
homes
attractive
to
seniors.
A
At
the
same
time,
the
city
council
recognized
that
something
needed
to
be
done
to
ensure
opportunities
for
affordable
home
ownership.
Now,
I,
don't
need
to
tell
you
that
home
values
have
been
going
up.
You've
seen
that
in
your
own
house,
increasing
home
values
combined
with
a
very
tight
housing
market,
meaning
there
are
fewer
homes
on
the
market
over
the
past
couple
of
years
than
we
have
ever
seen.
A
Construction
costs,
land
values
and
increasing
prices
due
to
supply
and
demand
makes
it
even
more
so
in
the
industry
they
like
to
refer
to
the
Three
L's
land,
labor
and
lumber,
and
the
city
is
trying
to
influence
the
one
area
that
we
have
some
control
over
and
that's
the
land
and
regulations
that
impact
housing
costs.
In
this
case,
we're
looking
at
things
such
as
zoning
land
use
restrictions
like
setbacks
and
impervious
surface
limits
and
lot
sizes.
A
Our
city
HRA
the
Housing
and
Redevelopment
Authority
works
with
non-profits
land
trust
organizations,
Housing
Finance
agencies
and
other
levels
of
government
to
bring
resources
into
each
project
so
that
a
family
meeting
income
eligibility
requirements
can
buy
a
home
and
give
their
family
the
opportunity
to
create
generational
wealth.
It's
the
American
dream
and
it's
becoming
harder
and
harder
for
families
to
attain
that
dream.
A
I'm
going
to
say
something
here
that
may
sound
contradictory.
The
change
is
being
discussed
by
the
council
are
both
significant
and
modest.
At
the
same
time,
they're
significant
in
a
couple
of
ways:
first,
it
changes,
long-standing
definitions
for
single-family
and
two-family
residential
lots
in
the
city
to
create
smaller
minimum
lot
sizes
and
the
changes
provide
more
buildable
area
on
a
lot
which
will
allow
lots
to
be
split
in
ways
that
weren't
allowed
before
now.
At
the
same
time,
these
changes
are
modest
because
we
don't
expect
there
to
be
extreme
changes
in
existing
neighborhoods.
A
A
Risks,
innovate
and
try
things
that
haven't
been
tried
before
all
in
the
name
of
cultivating
and
enduring
and
remarkable
Community
where
people
want
to
be
we'll
have
one
more
public
hearing
on
Monday
May
22nd
on
this
issue,
the
council
will
consider
two
options:
one
that
adopts
all
of
the
proposed
changes
and
one
that
adopts
some
of
the
proposed
changes.
We
haven't
reached
consensus
on
the
council
about
the
right
or
the
best
path
forward,
yet
so
tune
in
on
May
22nd.
A
In
the
end,
I'm
confident
we
will
make
progress
in
our
efforts
to
make
Bloomington
a
welcoming
and
inclusive
community
that
provides
Equitable,
Economic
Opportunity
for
all
last
week,
city
manager,
Jamie,
vibrugi
and
I
had
the
opportunity
to
attend
the
first
ever
cities
Summit
of
the
Americas.
The
city's
Summit
was
a
gathering
of
leaders
from
across
the
entire
Western
Hemisphere,
with
representatives
of
government,
business,
Academia,
youth,
cultural
organizations
and
Indigenous
and
underrepresented
groups.
A
The
plenary
sessions
Roundtable
discussions
and
the
expert
panels
covered
an
inspiring
range
of
topics
that
were
relevant
to
Bloomington
and
to
cities
across
the
Americas
topics
like
connectivity
and
the
role
of
cities
in
Global,
Leadership,
Building
Bridges
through
arts
and
culture
and
green
jobs,
and
the
skills
needed
to
fill
them.
It
really
was
a
great
conference
with
more
than
3
000
people
attending
the
city
Summit.
We
also
took
advantage
of
the
Gathering
to
promote
Expo
2027..
A
We
know
that
Mayors
from
smaller
countries,
like
the
island
nations
of
the
Caribbean,
are
much
more
likely
to
have
a
direct
connection
to
their
presidents
or
their
Prime
Ministers,
and
those
are
the
people
who
will
ultimately
vote
about
the
Expo.
So
we
took
the
opportunity
to
talk
to
city
and
Community
leaders
from
Canada
to
Argentina
about
how
the
entire
Western
Hemisphere
could
benefit
from
an
expo
focused
on
the
theme
of
healthy
people.
Healthy
Planet.
A
A
A
A
Now
the
Minnesota,
fair
or
the
Expo
won't
be
facing
either
of
those
challenges
and
I
firmly
believe
that
the
attendance
projections
of
13
million
visitors
and
the
estimates
of
a
two
billion
dollar
economic
impact
on
the
region
are
not
at
all
out
of
line
at
the
city.
Summit
of
the
Americas
I
had
the
opportunity
to
speak
with
Mitch
landrell
Mr
landrow
is
the
former
mayor
of
the
City
of
New
Orleans
and
is
now
Special
Assistant
to
President
Biden.
He
shared
a
couple
of
things
with
me.
A
First,
he
shared
with
me
that
President
Biden
is
fully
supportive
of
the
Expo
effort
and
he
talked
at
length
about
how
the
1984
New
Orleans
Fair
spurred
a
massive
amount
of
development
and
Redevelopment,
including
the
Riverwalk
Marketplace,
and
the
convention
center
in
New
Orleans.
That
is
benefiting
the
city
still
today.
The
impact
of
the
Expo
will
be
tremendous
for
our
hospitality
industry
here
in
Bloomington
and
that's
good
for
all
of
Bloomington,
but
you've
heard
me
say
before
beyond
the
93
Day
event.
A
This
effort
is
a
long-term
Economic
Development
opportunity
that
could
be
transformative
for
Bloomington
and
for
the
entire
Twin
Cities
region.
I.
Think
the
economic
development
success
in
New
Orleans,
born
from
an
expo
nearly
40
years
ago,
bears
that
out
and
again
to
be
very
clear.
The
Minnesota
Expo
effort
is
not
a
city
of
Bloomington
effort.
Minnesota
Expo
2027
is
a
501c3
non-profit
entity
with
its
own
leadership,
its
own
board
of
directors
and
its
own
fundraising
apparatus.
A
The
Expo
will
be
funded
through
a
public-private
partnership,
a
combination
of
public
dollars,
private
sponsorships
and
event
Revenue,
the
taxpayers
of
the
city
of
Bloomington
are
not
at
risk.
If
you
hear
someone
saying
otherwise,
that's
incorrect
information
and
finally,
today
National
small
business
week
is
April
30th
through
May
6.
A
and
according
to
the
United
States
census,
there
are
more
than
38
000
small
businesses
with
under
100
employees
in
Hennepin
County,
representing
more
than
96
percent
of
all
firms
with
paid
employees
in
Hennepin,
County
I
encourage
all
residents,
go
support,
local
businesses
that
create
jobs,
they
boost
the
local
economy
and
make
our
communities
vibrant
and
livable
support
small
businesses
and
Merchants,
not
only
during
National
Small,
Business
Week,
but
throughout
the
entire
year.
That
will
do
it
for
this
week's
Council
minute,
thanks
very
much
for
joining
me
today
until
next
time
stay
safe,
Bloomington.