[Music] Hello Bloomington. I'm Mayor Tim Busy and this is the council minute for the week of October 6th. There wasn't a city council meeting this week, but there have been a lot of exciting things happening around the city that I wanted to share with you. First, on September 30th, Bloomington Public Health hosted a Tri City mental health summit along with the cities of Edina and Richfield. Mental health has been an ongoing priority for Bloomington Public Health, and we all know that effective mental health programming and services have become critical topics of conversation in recent weeks. The summit brought together leaders, community advocates, and public health experts to collaborate on solutions to the growing mental health crisis in our communities. The summit was very well attended and featured fantastic panel discussions and a keynote from Commissioner Brook Cunningham from the Minnesota Department of Health. Hats off to our Bloomington Public Health staff for their leadership on this very important topic. The following day, the focus turned to the Bloomington business community. I convened business leaders and legislators for the second Bloomington CEO Summit. The conversation focused on legislative priorities and how our businesses and our state- elected officials could work together collaboratively to move Bloomington's economy forward. Later in the morning, the city hosted its first ever business forum at the Masonic Homes Heritage Center. The forum provided an opportunity for local businesses to meet community development staff, ask questions, learn about available resources, and network with other entrepreneurs, business ecosystem partners, and city leadership. The event was all about building meaningful connections and connecting through community. The forum is another example of the city's recent efforts to develop and grow the business community. If you're a business owner here in Bloomington and if you missed the forum or even if you didn't, city staff are ready to assist you at any time. Next, our attention turned to Bloomington Park and Recreation. Park and Recreation has had a busy fall with two huge renovations to Bryant and Trepaw parks. A ribbon cutting for Bryant took place on October 6th, followed by a ribbon cutting at Tretball on October 7th. Both parks have seen massive upgrades. Bryant now features the city's first fully inclusive and accessible playground that is a great addition to our parks. It also includes a new from the groundup sustainable netzero park shelter building, trail loops, and a cricut pitch and much more. And Treba boasts a new dedicated bike skills park, another first for the city. It features a paved all-wheel track with taught, beginner, intermediate, and expert options. as well as an unpaved mountain bike course, a new pavilion, and more. These muchneeded upgrades expand recreation opportunities and set new benchmarks for accessibility and innovation in Bloomington's park system. And they demonstrate the city's commitment to the park system master plan. Bloomington parks are all about 50 years old, and the park system master plan was developed to establish a clear 20-year vision for Bloomington's parks, trails, recreation, and open spaces. That includes looking at current park features, prioritizing needs and desires based on what we hear from residents, developing a strategy, and then working with the community to develop parks that reflect Bloomington. That's what happened with both of these park renovations, and the results are spectacular. I'm looking forward to the next steps in bringing our park system master plan to life. And finally, today, another exciting and long overdue park and recreation project is wrapping up. The $37.2 million renovation of the Bloomington Ice Garden. Big is a Minnesota landmark, hosting more than 10,000 hours of ice time annually and serving local hockey, figure skating, lessons, public skating, and regional tournaments. It opened in 1970 with one sheet of ice, later adding two more. And over the decades, the facility started to show its age and core systems became outdated or were failing. The upgrades include a new roof, new refrigeration systems, ADA accessibility, locker rooms and bathrooms, and better ticketing and concession areas. Just to rattle off a few folks, when you walk into BIG, it's going to look like a brand new facility. The transformation is truly remarkable. This is the first of three projects to finish construction as part of the Bloomington Forward project that Bloomington voters passed in November of 2023. A ribbon cutting took place on September 30th, and the rink is open once again to skaters with some finishing touches expected to wrap up soon. Everyone is invited to the grand opening celebration on Saturday, November 8th from noon to 5:00 p.m. It's open to the public and will include free and fun activities throughout the facility. This was a major renovation and it didn't start in earnest until late March at the end of last hockey season. To have it open again in October and ready for a grand reopening celebration in November is quite an accomplishment. Hats off to the entire project team for their outstanding work. That's it for this week's council minute. Thanks so very much for watching. Until next time, stay safe, Bloomington.