Hello Bloomington. I'm Mayor Tim Busy [music] and this is the council minute for the week of November 24th. First up, I wanted to share some highlights from a trade mission I recently participated in along with representatives from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Greater MSP, Governor Walls, business executives and other regional leaders. We traveled to Switzerland and Germany, specifically Zurich, Dusseldorf, and Berlin to meet with government officials and business leaders interested in investing in Minnesota and the Bloomington region. One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to the headquarters of Sik in Walkerk, Germany. Sik is a global leader in industrial sensor technology, and they're currently investing $64 million to expand their North American headquarters right here in Bloomington. It was great to meet with its executive team and celebrate the strong partnership between our community and sik. This trade mission helped us strengthen international ties, identify new opportunities in areas like advanced manufacturing and clean tech, and to promote Bloomington as a great place for global companies to do business. It was also a chance to learn from Germany and Switzerland's education systems and see how they're building a skilled, future ready workforce. We will continue working with Dean and other partners to follow up on these opportunities and to keep Bloomington at the forefront of innovation and economic growth. At Monday night's council meeting, the city council held a discussion to review the 2026 general fund budget and proposed tax levy. This discussion included public comment from Bloomington residents who shared feedback on funding priorities and city services. If you missed it, the current proposed levy increase in Bloomington stands at 7.48%. Your city council knows full well that amount is more than zero, which is what some people would prefer, and I get that. But that 7.48% increase reflects the city's work to fund and support the services that Bloomington residents have identified as priorities year after year. services like the best police department in the state, a full-time fire department to keep residents safe, a public works department that plows the streets and delivers the best drinking water in Minnesota, park and wreck programming, economic development, and so much more. Once again, this year, the city budget reflects the priorities and the values of Bloomington residents. As part of the presentation, we heard from the city's finance team about key factors impacting the budget, including cost inflation, staffing needs, and investments in infrastructure. The conversation also included a review of preliminary property tax impacts for Bloomington residents and next steps in the budget process. Bloomington's truth and taxation public hearing is scheduled for the council meeting on December 8th, followed by the final 2026 tax levy and budget approval on December 15th. If you can't make it to the December 8th public hearing, you can follow along and learn more online, and you can share your thoughts and feedback. Also, also on Monday, we learned that the city's creative placemaking division recently received the advancing diversity and social change award from Minnesota's chapter of the American Planning Association. The award was specifically for the city's creative placemaking plan that was adopted earlier this year and it recognizes innovative planning efforts that strengthen communities through meaningful collaboration and engagement. Creative placemaking's plan was selected due to the intentional and robust public engagement efforts that went into creating the plan and because it's unique, it's forwardthinking and it sets Bloomington apart from other cities. Hats off to the creative placemaking team for making Bloomington a place where creativity, equity, and community thrive. And finally, today, Normandale Community College recently celebrated the completion of phase one of a major library renovation project. This first phase created modern classrooms, collaborative study areas, and updated student service spaces, including disability services, makeup testing, and TRIO support services. It also added a new workspace for the IT department and a more visible service desk. The renovation also included clearer wayfinding with enhanced signage and pathways to help students navigate the building more easily, which at Normandale sometimes can be a bit of a trick. Phase two of the project, currently in its final design stage, will renovate the rest of the library to add even more study rooms and meeting rooms, create new service spaces, and add large classrooms to help meet growing enrollment needs. This project is all about supporting student success, and it reflects this community's commitment to education and innovation. I think sometimes we take for granted what a gem we have in Normanddale Community College. Normanddale was founded in 1968 and initially welcomed 1,358 students. In the 50 plus years since, Normandale has broadened its mission, emphasized equity, community engagement, and support for learners of all ages and backgrounds and has grown to the point where it serves more than 14,000 students and awards more than 1500 degrees and certificates across their programs each year. Normandale is an important part of this community in so very many ways and it's great to see their successful expansion to serve their students better. That's it for this week's council minute. Thanks so very much for watching. Until next time, stay safe, Bloomington.