Bloomington City Council — Transcript

Monday, June 1, 2026

Police Activity and ICE Line Incident

Smith Park Parking Lot and Dar Al Farooq Agreement

Fiber Optic Installation Contractor Performance

Protection of Bloomington Parks and Green Space

Construction Damage to Private Property

Traffic Safety on 106th Street

Votes (6)

Police Activity and ICE Line Incident (Public Comment)

No formal action taken during public comment.

Jamie Anthony questioned a BPD officer's call to ICE regarding a person in custody, contrary to heard policies. The Mayor explained the standard procedure for fingerprint-based ID verification, which can notify federal agencies without direct BPD intent to involve ICE. Anthony also raised concerns about BPD culture and a confidential MOU with Hennepin County Sheriff's Office regarding human trafficking.

Smith Park Parking Lot Use Agreement (Public Comment)

No formal action taken during public comment.

Sally questioned the council's previous vote regarding a shared agreement for the Smith Park parking lot, arguing the city could not unilaterally opt out, especially to use the land for winter hockey. She maintained that termination requires a breach, which could negatively impact the neighborhood by relaxing parking requirements. Council members clarified that while unilateral termination without breach is not possible, renegotiation is an option.

Fiber Optic Installation Contractor Issues (Public Comment)

No formal action taken during public comment.

Deborah Payon detailed multiple issues with ITG contractors installing fiber optics, including a lack of respect for residents, safety hazards from exposed utility lines and holes, communication failures, and unresolved property damages. She suggested improvements like providing a process URL, better hole covering, and timely claims resolution. The Mayor acknowledged these ongoing concerns and directed residents to report issues to City Hall for contractor accountability.

Protection of Bloomington Parks (Public Comment)

No formal action taken during public comment.

Elizabeth presented a detailed critique of Bloomington's parkland protection, asserting that existing safeguards are insufficient, using Creekside's demolition as an example. She argued against arbitrary guidelines and loopholes, citing a lack of environmental impact assessment and resident advocacy. She highlighted that Bloomington lags behind neighboring suburbs in park protection and proposed actions: re-zoning parkland, implementing a 'no net loss' ordinance, and seeking a charter amendment for permanent protection.

Construction Damage on Newton Avenue (Public Comment)

No formal action taken during public comment.

Brian reported severe and costly damage to his home on Newton Avenue, attributing it to vibrations from ongoing construction. He detailed over $42,000 in foundation damage, cracked ceilings, plaster falling, structural shifts to his home's front entry, a collapsed retaining wall, and cracked garage floor and driveway. He claimed realtors deemed his property worthless in its current state and invited the council to inspect the destruction. The Mayor acknowledged the seriousness and promised staff follow-up.

Traffic Safety on 106th Street (Public Comment)

No formal action taken during public comment.

Jim Bollman expressed strong concerns about dangerous traffic conditions on 106th Street, including widespread speeding by various vehicles (semis, school buses), the misuse of a center turn lane for passing, and a perceived lack of police enforcement. He cited recent accidents, including a fatal one, as evidence of the problem. He urged the city to investigate past traffic regulations and consider reinstating measures like stop signs. The Mayor committed to addressing enforcement with Chief Hodges and exploring traffic calming solutions with relevant staff.

Notable Quotes (18)

And the person the the federal officer off I don't know if it was Officer Madison or not, um but they looked him up and they said, "Yep, this person is someone who's eligible for deportation, so we're going to come to the Bloomington Police Department and take over custody of this person and then take them into our custody. That kind of goes against everything that we've heard over the last few months. So, I would love to know a little bit more about what happened.

Jamie Anthony [01:14]
Police Activity and ICE Line Incident (Public Comment)

And in the process of trying to verify an ID, other agencies became aware of this person being in custody. And we know that that when a fingerprint goes out, it goes out everywhere. And including federal agencies as well. So, that is what I understand happened. And I don't know there was a direct call to anyone or there wasn't a specific endeavor to try and, you know, get ICE involved in this. This was typically what they do when somebody won't ID themselves. And it just happened to end up in in federal custody.

Mayor [02:26]
Police Activity and ICE Line Incident (Public Comment)

I would like to register my sincere concern about BPD signing on to an MOU without any sort of documentation. I understand it's about human trafficking and that that is a concept we try and keep hush-hush and that we don't want to inflame things, um but [clears throat] I would just like to register my deep concern about BPD signing on with another law enforcement agency without any kind of public documentation.

Jamie Anthony [05:05]
Police Activity and ICE Line Incident (Public Comment)

If the city wanted to use the Smith Park parking lot for winter hockey, can it opt out of the shared agreement?

Sally [06:21]
Smith Park Parking Lot Use Agreement (Public Comment)

The agreement that you're talking about, if you recall and and I mentioned this in the in the council minute we could have opted out, but then it takes the agreement on both sides. So, I mean it's not an opt out, it's basically an agreement on both sides to exit the the agreement.

Council Member [07:28]
Smith Park Parking Lot Use Agreement (Public Comment)

And the term Yeah, he didn't say he didn't answer the question. He sent the agreement, and the agreement says that it can be terminated if there is a breach. And then if there is a breach, the termination means that you guys can't uphold the conditional use permit. The conditional use permit requires so many parking spaces. If they breach and we terminate, they don't have to have those parking spaces. We're already It's already injurious. Their parking is already injurious to our neighborhood, and that termination means they do not have to have those parking spaces. They can fill up our neighborhood more than they already do.

Sally [08:58]
Smith Park Parking Lot Use Agreement (Public Comment)

I think the overarching theme here is respect. Um it really feels like there's been a lack of respect for our neighborhood.

Deborah Payon [10:30]
Fiber Optic Installation Contractor Issues (Public Comment)

They dig very, very deep below gas lines and they're exposed and they're exposed for weeks. You can just go up and peek in and see the pipe and see holes and see the gas line right there. Um so, injury, loss of power, which happened in our neighborhood, and inadvertent gas line damage is all possible.

Deborah Payon [11:20]
Fiber Optic Installation Contractor Issues (Public Comment)

They're working in the right-of-way, so they have the right to do that, but they have to follow some rules and regulations. And I know that over the past couple of summers we've uh uninvited a couple of contractors from working in the city of Bloomington because of their shotty workmanship. So, please let us know and our our our crews will get out there.

Mayor [13:17]
Fiber Optic Installation Contractor Issues (Public Comment)

The problem is is all of these three safeguards have arbitrary guidelines and they can ultimately fail the parks and the residents that use them. We will use Creekside as an example, which brings us to page four.

Elizabeth [14:48]
Protection of Bloomington Parks (Public Comment)

So, that's a failure as far as protecting parks. I'm not saying the project was a failure. Protecting parks. Just so we're clear.

Elizabeth [16:05]
Protection of Bloomington Parks (Public Comment)

Rezone the park land to strengthen the protection. Another option is adopt a no net loss park, uh, loss of parks ordinance. So, if you take away green space, you're required to replace it. The last thing is, um, seek a charter amendment for permanent protection.

Elizabeth [18:00]
Protection of Bloomington Parks (Public Comment)

I have $42,000 plus of foundation damage, new foundation damage done by the vibrations of this construction. And that is proven by one of the top foundation companies in the Twin Cities.

Brian [19:15]
Construction Damage on Newton Avenue (Public Comment)

I have now been told by realtors that my house is worth exactly zero. It cannot be sold in its present condition until all the repairs are completed. Well, that's not going to happen.

Brian [20:25]
Construction Damage on Newton Avenue (Public Comment)

I mean, those are serious allegations. I appreciate you bringing those forward and our staff will be getting back to you.

Mayor [20:50]
Construction Damage on Newton Avenue (Public Comment)

This is the new Bloomington Freeway. I invite everybody to come and sit there between 4:30 and 5:30 and watch the traffic. There is hardly anybody that drives the speed limit.

Jim Bollman [21:40]
Traffic Safety on 106th Street (Public Comment)

Last Friday night, we had a major accident. Two people died. And nobody was speeding. It's that stupid turn lane. You got took a four-lane road, made it two lanes with a turn lane in the center. People are passing in it. It's irresponsible. This needs to change. This is a second accident in a week and a half there.

Jim Bollman [22:38]
Traffic Safety on 106th Street (Public Comment)

What I'm going to do is I'll tell you well, I'm going to talk to Chief Hodges about up in the the enforcement there because no, we shouldn't have semis at 50 miles an hour. We shouldn't have school buses speeding in that area either. Absolutely not. And I'm also going to ask our traffic folks, our uh our environmental uh folks to to get out there and see what could be done.

Mayor [23:18]
Traffic Safety on 106th Street (Public Comment)

Ordinances & Resolutions (11)

MOU with Hennepin County Sheriff's OfficeOther

Memorandum of Understanding on the consent agenda concerning human trafficking, criticized for lack of public documentation.

Police WebsiteOther

Resource for filing formal complaints against officers.

Shared Agreement (Smith Park)Other

Agreement governing the use of Smith Park parking lot, debated for termination clauses.

Dar Al Farooq Use AgreementOther

Document related to parking for Dar Al Farooq, with specific termination clauses.

Conditional Use PermitPermit

Requires specific number of parking spaces, affected by termination of shared agreement.

Fiber Optic Installation Process URLOther

Suggested resource for residents to understand the installation process.

Site Plan ReviewsOther

Safeguards for parkland decisions, reviewed by planning commission and city council.

Park System Master PlanPlan

Guiding document for park decisions, noted as not legally binding.

Zoning Restrictions (Residential One)Ordinance

Zoning for city-owned parks and residential land, cited for arbitrary 'compatible' language.

Institutional Use Zoning OrdinancesOrdinance

Secondary safeguards that failed to protect Creekside.

PD OverlayOther

Mechanism used to combine residential parkland and residentially-intended land for the community center project.

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Bloomington City Council - Bloomington Recorder