Bloomington City Council — Transcript
Monday, September 14, 2026
International Day of Peace Proclamation
National Suicide Prevention Month and Week Proclamation
Hatch Bloomington 2026 Program Celebration
Introduction of New Public Works Employees
Merit Board Appointment
Advisory Board of Health Bylaws and Rules of Procedure
2027 Preliminary Tax Levy and General Fund Budget & 2028 Conceptual Budget
Delinquent Utility Assessments
Tree Removal Assessments
Weed and Brush Removal Assessments
Public Nuisance Abatement Assessments
Civil Fines for Property-Related Violation Assessments
James Avenue City Homes Rezoning and Development
Votes (13)
Appointment to the Merit Board
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Lman [0:34:49] · Seconded by Council Member Dalesandro [0:34:53]
Mayor Busy recommended Paige Roman for the Merit Board, citing his extensive leadership, management, and labor relations experience from the University of Minnesota, as well as his prior six years on the Bloomington Planning Commission. The council unanimously supported the recommendation.
Advisory Board of Health Bylaws and Rules of Procedure (Item 3.12)
Dissent: Council Member Lman
Moved by Council Member Rivas [0:37:37] · Seconded by Council Member Dalesandro [0:37:41]
Council Member Lman held this item from the consent agenda to register his 'no' vote. He did not elaborate on his reasons, stating his background on the issue was already known. The item was subsequently approved by the rest of the council.
Resolution Adopting Preliminary 2027 Tax Levy
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Lman [1:08:44] · Seconded by Council Member Robertson [1:08:52]
Krie Carlson presented the preliminary 2027 tax levy, a 6.64% increase, emphasizing it's a starting point. Public comments included calls for more equitable policies, concerns about efficiency, and questions about Axon technology. Council discussion focused on justifying the increase compared to CPI (citing personnel costs), ensuring service quality, and leveraging debt management funds for sustainability.
Resolution Adopting Preliminary 2027 General Fund Budget
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Lman [1:10:48] · Seconded by Council Member Robertson [1:10:53]
This item was part of the same discussion as the preliminary tax levy. The council approved the preliminary general fund budget for 2027, following a comprehensive presentation on revenue sources, expenditures (with public safety making up nearly half), and budget drivers.
Resolution Approving Conceptual Preliminary 2028 General Fund Budget
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Lman [1:12:35] · Seconded by Council Member Robertson [1:12:41]
As part of the broader budget discussion, the council approved the conceptual preliminary 2028 general fund budget. It was clarified that this budget is purely conceptual and not binding, allowing for future refinements.
Public Hearing: Delinquent Water, Sewer, Storm Water Drainage, Garbage, Recycling, and Organics Assessments
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Dalesandro [1:26:50] · Seconded by Council Member Rivas [1:26:56]
During the public hearing, a resident suggested exploring debt forgiveness for utility assessments, potentially linking it to incentives for native plant landscaping to reduce water usage. Council members expressed interest in understanding the underlying reasons for delinquencies (economic hardship vs. unwillingness to pay) and exploring mitigation strategies.
Public Hearing: Tree Removal Assessments (3-year levy)
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Dalesandro [1:35:05] · Seconded by Council Member Robertson [1:35:10]
A public commenter proposed innovative ways to manage tree removal costs, such as partnering with companies to purchase removed trees for biophilic architecture or converting them into valuable biochar/activated charcoal. The council acknowledged these ideas as opportunities for innovation.
Public Hearing: Tree Removal Assessments (5-year levy)
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Dalesandro [1:36:17] · Seconded by Council Member Robertson [1:36:22]
This item was part of the same discussion as the 3-year and 10-year tree removal levies. No additional specific discussion points for this particular levy duration beyond the general comments on tree removal assessments.
Public Hearing: Tree Removal Assessments (10-year levy)
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Dalesandro [1:37:28] · Seconded by Council Member Robertson [1:37:33]
This item was part of the same discussion as the 3-year and 5-year tree removal levies. No additional specific discussion points for this particular levy duration beyond the general comments on tree removal assessments.
Public Hearing: Weed and Brush Removal Assessments
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Robertson [1:39:54] · Seconded by Council Member Lman [1:40:02]
The public hearing for weed and brush removal assessments saw no public comments or council discussion, indicating a routine process.
Public Hearing: Public Nuisance Abatement Assessments
Dissent: None
Moved by Mayor Tim Busy [1:55:54] · Seconded by Council Member Lman [1:56:07]
A resident, Muhammad Abd, passionately contested a $155 charge for leaf bag removal from his property at 8724 Crest Road, arguing extenuating circumstances (travel for family emergency) and questioning the cost. Council members expressed sympathy, noting the fine had been waived and agreeing to waive the removal cost due to the circumstances and perceived lack of urgency. Concerns were raised about the overall increase in nuisance abatement fines.
Public Hearing: Civil Fines for Property Related Violation Assessments
Dissent: None
Moved by Council Member Dalesandro [2:04:36] · Seconded by Council Member Robertson [2:04:41]
A public commenter reiterated concerns about civil fines not appearing on property title searches, leading to waivers for new owners unaware of previous violations. The City Attorney clarified that disclosure is typically made upon request during the sale process, acknowledging timing complexities. The council discussed whether to formalize such disclosures in time-of-sale processes.
Public Hearing: James Avenue City Homes Rezoning, Final Site and Building Plans
The public hearing began for a proposal to rezone two single-family lots for nine detached townhomes, consistent with the 2040 Comprehensive Plan and the new missing middle housing ordinance. The applicant highlighted how the missing middle ordinance made the project financially viable and committed to managing construction impact by limiting concurrent home building.
Notable Quotes (17)
Paige brings extensive leadership and management experience at the University of Minnesota where he has served in senior leadership roles overseeing the operations budgets and a significant number of employees.
Paige had six years of service on the Bloomington Planning Commission, and he, uh, it would be especially valuable, I think, as a a merit board member. The experience means he already understands how Bloomington operates.
I just don't agree uh with the changes that are being uh suggested here uh with the bylaws for the advisory uh board of health and uh rules of procedure. I think everybody pretty much knows my my background on that. So, I don't need to elaborate on all that, but uh I I just wanted to hold this so I could vote no.
the preliminary levy is a starting point and we uh will continue working to reduce that before final adoption.
CPI is really a measure of uh as defined by the Department of Labor, a market basket of goods across a wide array of com uh consumer items. Um at the city, we're not buying things like beef and milk and eggs... instead, we're in the people business. you saw that 74% of our costs are in personnel.
81% of our budget goes to police, fire, public works, community development, park, and recreation. Those are the five absolute cornerstone building blocks of what city government should do.
I feel as though debt forgiveness, there should be a path for debt forgiveness on this one specifically... if we adopted a a program that's like this, water uses usage would assuredly go down and it could build a pathway for people to do it themselves.
one of the challenges we have is simply that we don't know why this is occurring for people. And that's a hard question to ask people. It's a hard question to ask why are they having trouble paying their bills. Some people just don't want to pay them. That's fine. But some people do and can't.
there is a company based in Wisconsin called Whole Trees... It will buy your tree. Not just pay, it will pay for the removal. It will buy your tree if it meets certain criteria... It's a great it's a great thing to do. We should absolutely be doing it. It could save people thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars.
he charge $155 for nine bags. Nine bags. Nine leaf bag... That mean 10 minute for each bag. That mean you go outside this building and come back 10 minutes. Okay. And [laughter] that no not that only he charge a $75 an hour. $75 an hour. In my 47 years I never made $75 an hour.
I'm a little nervous about with the fairly sharp uptick on both this one and I could guess I could say the same thing related to 4.7 uptick in the number of fines that we're going to assessments with is that that may not be working.
I'm I'm sympathetic to this also based on the circumstances. I I do understand from staff that the fine was was waved has already been waved. Um but I I do think it might be appropriate to to to wave the the cost of the removal as well because I just I think extenduating circumstances and I guess I'm not exactly sure why this became an issue in in March of the year.
If if there's been a fine or assessment made, then it should be done in a way that it shows up for closing or title company searches.
when assessments are in their pending stage, what is very common practice in the industry is that the realtor or the title company or someone calls the city and we tell them we tell them about all the different pending assessments that might be on the property... but there is a period of time just based on the assessment schedule where some of those charges are sitting there pending.
Recently adopted missing middle um housing ordinance was uh recently adopted earlier this year. And so this provides a missing middle uh housing type.
the financial feasibilities of developing this site were not great... until the missing middle housing ordinance was enacted. And that allows us now to present this plan if the site is to be uh reszoned to R3 where we can make this financially feasible.
I think it makes sense to probably limit us to maybe three shells under construction at one time is probably feasible to minimize the impact in the neighborhood and then um have that be a a first come first serve on the on the permit process.
Ordinances & Resolutions (19)
Declares September 21st, 2026, as the International Day of Peace in Bloomington.
Declares September 2026 as National Suicide Prevention Month and September 13-19, 2026, as National Suicide Prevention Week.
Resolution adopting the preliminary city tax levy for the year 2027.
Resolution adopting the preliminary general fund budget for 2027.
Resolution approving the conceptual preliminary general fund budget for 2028.
Document outlining the operational rules for the Advisory Board of Health.
Resolution adopting the assessment role for unpaid utility charges.
Resolution adopting the assessment role for tree removal costs to be levied over three years.
Resolution adopting the assessment role for tree removal costs to be levied over five years.
Resolution adopting the assessment role for tree removal costs to be levied over ten years.
Resolution adopting the assessment role for costs associated with weed and brush removal.
Resolution adopting the assessment role for costs associated with public nuisance abatements.
Resolution adopting the assessment role for unpaid civil penalties and fines related to property violations.
Proposed rezoning for 9025 and 9033 James Avenue South to allow for higher density residential development.
Plans for constructing nine detached townhomes at 9025 and 9033 James Avenue South.
Plan to re-plat two single-family residential lots into nine detached townhome lots and one outlot.
City's comprehensive plan guiding land use, specifically for medium density residential.
Recently adopted city ordinance facilitating diverse housing types, including detached townhomes.
Proposed condition for the James Avenue City Homes development to address construction impacts.