[0:00] [Music] [0:06] hello Bloomington I'm mayor Tim busy and [0:08] this is the council minute for the week [0:09] of July 14th at our meeting on Monday [0:12] night the city council took two [0:14] important steps to continue to move [0:16] forward the proposed Veterans Memorial [0:18] here in Bloomington some quick [0:20] background but my guess is that you know [0:22] most of this Bloomington remembers [0:24] veterans is a nonprofit group staffed by [0:26] an all volunteer Committee of dedicated [0:29] community members the majority of whom [0:31] serve this country as members of the [0:32] Armed Forces since 2018 they've been [0:36] working to Envision fund and ultimately [0:38] build a Veterans Memorial here in [0:40] Bloomington that will provide a [0:42] meaningful lasting tribute honoring all [0:45] service members who have served the [0:47] United States they've done fantastic [0:49] work and have made exciting progress on [0:51] fundraising and the design of the [0:53] memorial if you recall the original site [0:56] selected was on the Civic Plaza campus [0:58] just to the east of the building along [1:00] the pond now when that site was selected [1:03] City staff knew that there were [1:04] underground Utilities in the area as the [1:07] planning process continued it became [1:09] more clear just how risky it was to put [1:11] a memorial over the top of those [1:13] utilities the last thing anyone wanted [1:16] to see was a mechanical issue with any [1:18] of those utility lines which could then [1:20] result in the disruption of the memorial [1:23] in other words nobody wanted to have to [1:25] dig up the memorial to fix any problems [1:27] with the utility lines so City staff and [1:30] Bloomington remembers veterans started [1:32] looking at other possible sites and they [1:34] didn't have to look far on Monday night [1:36] the council approved the new location [1:38] for the memorial on the northeast point [1:41] of the Civic Plaza property where 998th [1:43] Street and old Shaka Road come together [1:46] the site was actually one of the [1:47] original possibilities that were [1:49] considered and while it would require a [1:51] redesign of the memorial to make it work [1:53] I think it will be a great location that [1:55] will provide plenty of room for events [1:57] like Memorial Day or Veterans Day [1:59] services and at the same time be very [2:01] visible and easily [2:03] accessible the other important step the [2:06] council took on Monday night was to [2:08] approve a city contribution of [2:10] $250,000 to help push the project toward [2:13] the Finish Line as I mentioned earlier [2:15] Bloomington remembers veterans has done [2:17] a great job of fundraising with more [2:19] than $100,000 in donations already [2:22] received from individuals Bloomington [2:25] businesses and groups like Legion Post [2:27] 550 and VFW Post 1296 [2:30] they also received [2:32] $350,000 in state bonding money from the [2:34] state of [2:35] Minnesota the $250,000 from the city [2:38] will come from the Strategic priorities [2:40] fund and will be used for site survey [2:42] and planning work that's necessitated by [2:44] the move and to help cover construction [2:47] costs in my mind this investment fits [2:50] perfectly into the city's Bloomington [2:53] tomorrow together strategic plan [2:54] priority of a connected welcoming [2:58] Community these are two big steps in [3:00] what has been a long process and [3:02] Bloomington is closer than it has ever [3:04] been to having a Veterans Memorial [3:06] that's fitting for the fourth largest [3:08] city in the state and as I'm talking [3:10] about this I certainly have to remind [3:13] everyone that you can be part of this as [3:15] well visit the Bloomington remembers [3:17] veterans website to learn more about how [3:19] you can volunteer donate or add a [3:22] veteran to the memorial also on Monday [3:24] night staff brought the council up to [3:26] speed on a project underway to [3:28] streamline development approv approvals [3:30] in the city as part of the planning [3:31] commission's 2024 work plan staff has [3:34] been looking closely at city codes to [3:36] identify possible changes that could [3:38] make the development review and approval [3:40] process in Bloomington shorter less [3:42] expensive and less onerous the last time [3:45] the city looked at streamlining [3:46] processes was in 2009 so the time is [3:50] right admittedly this is a lot of deep [3:53] in the weed stuff of what goes on at [3:55] Planning Commission and City Council [3:56] meetings hats off to the Planning [3:58] Commission and staff path they talked [4:01] about this extensively at two study [4:02] sessions and came forward with some very [4:05] thorough and thoughtful [4:07] recommendations cities everywhere are [4:09] looking at ways to streamline [4:10] development to increase housing [4:12] production ensure Economic Opportunity [4:15] and boost overall Community resiliency [4:17] very simply it's an important best [4:19] practice a good example is happening in [4:22] Rochester where the city has done some [4:24] very interesting work with their unified [4:26] development [4:27] code staff looked at a number of [4:29] different streamlining possibilities and [4:31] asked if those changes would reduce time [4:34] for development approval reduce costs [4:37] increase implicity or increase [4:39] confidence of approval those questions [4:41] can also be considered key goals of this [4:43] project if bloomington's development [4:46] review processes can meet those goals [4:48] while not sacrificing the thoroughness [4:50] and integrity of the review and still [4:53] protecting public health safety and [4:55] Welfare Bloomington will be a more [4:57] attractive location for the development [4:59] and business business community and [5:01] remember existing Bloomington residents [5:03] and businesses are the most common [5:05] development applicants in the context of [5:08] the possible changes the council [5:10] discussed related issues like the [5:12] workload of both the council and the [5:13] Planning Commission public engagement [5:16] and expanding staff approval Authority [5:18] staff will take the council feedback and [5:20] the Planning Commission recommendations [5:22] and draft a proposed ordinance on this [5:24] the Planning Commission will consider [5:26] the ordinance at a public Hearing in [5:27] August or September and it should be in [5:29] front of the city council at a public [5:30] hearing no later than October of this [5:32] year and finally on Monday the council [5:35] had our first in-depth discussion on [5:37] another topic that's included on the [5:39] 2024 Planning Commission work plan [5:42] single room occupancy housing or co- [5:44] living [5:45] arrangements these housing types have [5:47] some unique characteristics and [5:49] opportunities that could expand housing [5:51] choice in Bloomington both in terms of [5:53] the supply and the variety of housing [5:56] here in Bloomington co- living isn't [5:58] even defined in our zoning code but you [6:00] could think of it along the lines of a [6:02] dorm room a living Arrangement where [6:05] someone rents a room or an apartment [6:07] within a communal property there may be [6:09] shared or individual bathrooms and there [6:12] is generally shared kitchen or community [6:14] space in the facility and it's important [6:16] to note that these new developments tend [6:18] to have much more robust on-site [6:20] amenities than previous generations of [6:23] shared housing types A lot of cities are [6:26] considering co-living facilities as a [6:28] potential tool to expand housing variety [6:30] and increase housing [6:32] affordability henpen County assembled [6:34] the task force and issued a report in [6:36] 2021 related to co- living that included [6:40] recommendations for cities to consider [6:42] now specific to Bloomington there are [6:44] few factors to consider as this [6:45] conversation [6:46] evolves the first is that Bloomington [6:49] residents are the fourth oldest [6:51] communities in the Twin Cities 29% of [6:54] Bloomington residents are 55 years or [6:57] older as we all get older and want to St [6:59] in Bloomington it will be important to [7:01] provide housing options that meet the [7:03] needs and ranges of affordability that [7:06] can best serve residents co- living [7:09] arrangements can certainly be more [7:10] affordable and in some cases a co- [7:13] living environment could help combat the [7:15] negative health effects of social [7:17] isolation another factor to consider are [7:20] reuse or conversion opportunities of [7:22] hotel or office space the pandemic [7:25] changed the hotel and office markets in [7:27] Bloomington and the city needs to be [7:29] open minded about possible reuse of [7:31] those facilities when those locations [7:33] make sense it's worth noting that one [7:36] project converting Hotel space to [7:38] residential units has already occurred [7:39] in Bloomington the Air apartments at the [7:42] Crown Plaza Hotel includes 185 [7:45] Apartments 44 of which are affordable [7:48] the development was done without public [7:50] financial assistance from the city and [7:52] has been successful to date now each [7:54] unit has a kitchen space and a bathroom [7:57] so they aren't officially considered co- [7:58] living fac facilities but it's an [8:01] example of a successful conversion of a [8:03] hotel space anecdotally while planning [8:06] staff has recently received some [8:08] inquiries about office to residential [8:09] conversion interest in hotel to [8:12] residential conversion has diminished so [8:14] we'll need to keep an eye on this [8:16] topic and finally there is the issue of [8:19] Greater [8:20] affordability because facilities and [8:22] other amenities are shared co- living [8:24] developments typically are more [8:25] affordable than other housing types our [8:28] recent development in Columbia Heights [8:29] that features co- living facilities [8:31] lists rents that range from $700 to [8:34] $1,000 per month no other new [8:37] construction housing type is going to [8:39] offer accommodations that are as [8:41] affordable as I mentioned this is the [8:43] first time the council has talked in- [8:45] depth about this topic and there are [8:46] still a number of questions to be [8:48] answered but the council agreed that [8:50] it's a conversation worth having my [8:53] personal opinion is to move carefully [8:55] and deliberately on this and ensure that [8:57] all questions about livability [8:59] health and safety and appropriateness of [9:02] use are considered before moving [9:05] forward that will do it for this week's [9:07] Council minute thanks so very much for [9:08] joining me today until next time stay [9:11] safe Bloomington