[music] >> This meeting [music] is being transcribed and summarized. President Erickson, uh we had the city attorney and our uh port counsel weigh in on this. Um you are able Oh, I'm sorry. Uh we had our city attorney and our port counsel weigh on the minutes for the concurrent meeting. So, even if you were not in attendance, you are able to vote on approval of the item if you would choose to do so. Um I understand that folks may not want to do that if you are not in attendance, but just wanted to let you know that you are able to do so if you would prefer to do so. I'm strongly in favor of adopting all the minutes. And so, I'm going to move that we first adopt the minutes from the February 17th, 2026 meeting. >> We have a second? Any additions or corrections? If not, in favor all those in favor, please signal by saying I. I. Opposed? Minutes carried approved 5-0. And you want to make a motion on the next >> move that we for item 1.2 that we approve the minutes of the March 10th, 2026 concurrent meeting. Any additions or corrections? If not, all in favor, please signal by saying I. I. >> I. Opposed? Motion carries 5-0. And I wasn't there, but some of the rest of you were, too. So, whatever. >> I I I sat afterwards and watched it, so. >> Okay. All right. We next have the Bloomington Creative Placemaking Commission work plan. Welcome, Alejandra. Hello. Thank you. Hello, commissioners, mayor. Nice to be here tonight. Thank you for having me. Um I want I know some of you have already seen this presentation, so just want to kind of keep it brief and also highlight some things related to port authority specifically in our economic plan. So, we will continue here. Let's Oh, there we go. Here we go. Oops. And I just want to acknowledge our Creative Placemaking Commissioners who are listed here for their work in engaging with and leading the development of this plan and prioritization of our projects. And Katherine Murray, who's not able to be here tonight, but is our Creative Placemaking Specialist here at the city. And highlighting our mission is that Bloomington Creative Placemaking will cultivate a sense of belonging in Bloomington by celebrating and reflecting diverse perspectives, supporting local arts and culture, promoting exceptional places, and creating a vibrant and inclusive community to live in, work in, and visit. And that is from our newly approved citywide creative placemaking plan. Here we have the goals listed out. And of course, these goals are a lot more thorough and broken out in in terms of what they mean, what are some strategies and activities and ideas related to each of them in our citywide creative placemaking plan. But here they are listed, and I'll just go through them. Support culture bearers and artists, ensure equitable inclusion and representation of Bloomington's diverse populations across social and aesthetic environments, public spaces, and cultural activities. Foster relationships and build connections. Enhance belonging and engagement and build placemaking capacity. I also just wanted to highlight within the Port Authority's plan, there's a focus on thriving places, which is really about creating vibrant, livable neighborhoods and commercial areas. And our work really does support that in a few key ways. We use creative placemaking to activate public spaces, strengthen connections across the city, and support local businesses. And of course, that includes artists as entrepreneurs and small businesses. This shows up through things like creative trails and corridors. It could also be partnerships tied to broader city initiatives, ongoing work in commercial areas and more. We're also looking at this year at an arts and culture impact report and art space feasibility study to better understand needs and opportunities. So, overall, it's really about using creative placemaking to support economic development and quality of life here in Bloomington. So, I'll briefly go over some of our 2025 project highlights. I'll start with citywide. Some highlights across the city include a strong mix of events, partnerships, and public art. We celebrated, of course, the adoption of our citywide creative placemaking plan. Also supported events like Juneteenth at Valleyview, the Bloomington Street Arts Festival, and live murals at Dred Scott. On the public art side, we added two murals to the Bloomington Ice Garden and expanded our hometown poetry stamp installations. We also focused on resource development including encouraging privately invested investments in public art. And here in the South Loop, we continue to build momentum through both public art and events. On the public art side, we added new murals including the Evening Primrose mural, and that's at the Fenley Building by international artist Mariela Acraze. And the Cedar Healing Bridge project, which includes murals and indigenous garden by Tara Perron and Sandy Spieler, along with an unveiling event for that project, and several new art box installations. We also supported a range of events and partnerships. We worked a lot with Parks and Recreation to produce these events including the Sunday Funday, Nature Fest, On the One Music Festival, and Celebrando las Fiestas Patrias, which is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. So, overall, really reflecting a mix of creative projects and community-driven programming in the South Loop. Yes, Commissioner Lenz. Uh Alejandra, where's the Evening Primrose at? What building was it in? So, it's on the Fenley Building, which is right next to Backstory Coffee. So, if you're facing the on the park, it would be on the east side of Bloomington Central Station Park. And there's kind of that main entrance to Backstory Coffee. It's underneath that overhang of the Fenley Building. Um there's a mural there that's I don't know, maybe like I don't know, maybe 8 12 ft by 12 ft maybe. I'll get back to you. Yeah, there's it there's an image of it actually in that middle shape. So, there's an image of a woman with yellow flowers. That's an image of the of the mural itself. Yeah, of course. There we go. We're also seeing some recognition and impact of our work. So, the city did receive an APA Minnesota Advancing Diversity and Social Change Award specifically for our work on the citywide creative placemaking plan. And our work has been featured in national outlets like Codaworks and Forecast Public Art. We're also seeing results on the ground. We've been tracking the number of visitors and pedestrian activity at Bloomington Central Station Park through Placer AI. So, that kind of helps us inform a little bit about the traffic levels during events and and big destination kind of things that are going on in that area. I'll go up to some upcoming projects next. And here we've got again a mix of public art events and partnerships and resource development. So on the public art side of things, we have selected artist Craig David to install a sculpture at Bryant Park that reflects on the natural elements of the park specifically. Um that'll be installed in September. We did have an open house and have some ongoing engagement opportunities with youth coming up. Um and so that'll be fabricated over the summer. We also have the Pond Dakota Mission Park sculpture. Um we're anticipating this to be installed in 2027. That will reflect more of a Dakota history and culture element um that's greatly, you know, has a great history within that area and within Bloomington. And so our call for art, our RFQ, recently closed. We'll be selecting an artist probably in June um and will be announced shortly after that. We also recently installed a garden kaleidoscope at Civic Plaza. If you haven't noticed when you walk into the Art Center and turn left at that >> day. Oh, great. But it doesn't have flowers in yet. Not yet. Yeah, we >> I was looking at it. I said, [laughter] "What is Yeah. What what is exactly what you're supposed to do. It makes you think. That's why it's wonderful. Thank you. Yes, we will we'll be working with actually the volunteer garden club members. Um they're out of Logan Lodge, but they've also done volunteer work throughout the city for plant installations and they'll be switching it up seasonally. So we've provided them with a budget to be able to do that themselves and select the planting. So you'll be seeing some planting soon. We're also working on an artwork um an artwork label or an artwork um why am I blinking on the name? Um plaque. Thank you so much. An artwork plaque um for that piece which will give more information about how what it is, how it works, and and give credit to the garden club members for programming that. So keep your eye on that. We're also right now working on a community health and wellness center mural. So this will be quite a large-scale mural. It'll take place on the two corners of the fas- facade of the building and we'll look for that RFQ to come out later this year, likely towards the end of summer. Um so that will be a probably a national call for art um for murals on the space. So is that going to fill some of the spaces that Commissioner Peterson was asking the mayor about that are blank? I hope so. Yes, a large portion of it at least. I mean, obviously not the entire building, but yes, the two of the corners of it will be taken up by the mural. So quite large-scale. Yes. Hm. Will that be something similar than the the one we have on the building here, the Schneider? It could be. I mean, in terms of I mean, I think we are looking to paint directly on the building which is a little different um from the mural that's installed on the building. I think it was actually painted on a different surface that was then mounted to the building. Um but this is we're looking to paint directly on the building in this case. And in in the sense of what it will look like, um will really depend on the artist proposals. Usually we open it up to a theme, so we're looking for a wellness theme within that mural. Um you know, that's just one theme that it could represent. And the artist will then submit design proposals. So it could be abstract or it could be you know, more figural or literal literal um in response to that theme. So we're not sure what it will look like quite yet. >> So you're going to have some abstract depictions of council members? >> [laughter] >> I'll try to make it a very easy process for everybody. Um so moving on, just events and partnerships, we have a few listed here. Um one I want to outline is the ValleyView Skate Park Youth Workshop. This is another partnership with Parks and Recreation. Um it'll take place June 8th through the 11th and for ages 11 to 14. We partnered with Juxtaposition Arts who's a really um well-known arts organization in the Twin Cities and with the hope that they will co-create designs to help renovate the space in the future um and to alleviate some of the graffiti and tagging concerns that are here um while also providing potentially a sanctioned graffiti art wall for people to practice their art skills on. Um so that's in development, but that workshop will take place in a couple months here. Um for resource development, we're looking to develop toolkits for community-led creative placemaking. So really looking to understand how can we expand our goals by outside of staff and commissioners, how can we empower businesses, residents, and artists in our community to also lead creative placemaking efforts within the city. And then South Loop, I'll highlight a few. So if you haven't noticed already, um if you drive by the Goldfinch, you'll see that it's now now lit up at night. Um so we're hoping that gives it a little bit more visibility, especially at the night time. It gets really dark in that corner um to both South Loop and the Goldfinch sculpture itself. Um we're also working on some scope development for both an activation in front of the new 6 site and creative wayfinding throughout the South Loop and what that could look like and coming up with a plan for that. Uh we also have several events and partnerships coming up including the On the One Music Festival again at Bloomington Central Station Park, our fourth annual Nature Fest at Refuge Visitor Center in September, and then a few other potential events throughout the summer. Here we go. And then I just have a slide here and just, you know, a few a few ways that this work really comes down to building both community and economic impact. Um obviously it can help build community pride and identity, but it also supports local artists and cultural leaders and enhances public spaces while also bringing people in and supporting local businesses. So more broadly, it really positions Bloomington as a cultural destination while advancing equity, safety, and neighborhood vitality. With that, I'll end. There's any questions or clarifications on anything? I think what's exciting is the cumulative impact of this because as you add pieces and it gets more, so it just gets to be fun to to go around and and see and you know, it's something that so many European cities have done for years. They don't even think about it and and and again, as we get a more of a mass, then you really start to notice it. So it's it's fun. Questions, comments? Mayor Busse. Thank you, Mr. President. So we uh when when we put together the Bloomington Tomorrow Together Strategic Plan 5 years ago. We just talked about this last night at our our council retreat. Uh one of the one of the goals was to create a welcoming community and to to to connect people in different ways and let people feel more connected to their community. And one of them the action steps was, how do we do that? And it was to expand creative placemaking citywide. And I I think and and that was a box we have checked uh on that on that uh Bloomington Tomorrow Together Plan because uh we saw the the value of it and put it into action and made it happen and and off we go and and there we are. And it's uh I think an enormous benefit to share across the city. I I know we developed just a strong muscle in the in the South Loop when we got it all put together and and started figuring out what we meant by creative placemaking. And now to be to expand that citywide is just I think a gift to the entire city and it's just a great benefit to everyone uh in so many different ways. And I know that those ways continue to evolve and looking forward to see where we end up 5 years from now, 10 years from now, what creative placemaking across the city of Bloomington means. Because you're right, uh Mr. President, that uh there've been plenty of cities who've been doing this for years, uh mostly in Europe, not here in the United States. And to be able to emulate what they're doing in terms of making their communities just uh a place where art is is just a a fabulous thing and it's a a great goal for us to have. Thank you so much, President Erickson, and Mayor Busse, thank you. Other questions? Comments? [clears throat] You know, I I was just thinking just walking into City Hall here. Again, when you've got the we have the exhibits and stuff, different artists. And now with the new work out in front and and then artwork is displayed around. I mean, again, it just makes it part of the environment which is just good. I think it just makes it more human. I mean, again, it's just so that's that's great. Thank you. Thank you very much, Commissioner Hunt. Will that be sick art piece be ready for the opening on what is it, May 8th or something like that? Uh no, it won't. And we've actually not identified yet if it will be an art piece or what that activation will look like exactly yet. We do want to create a welcoming gathering place of some sort, but we want to get more input from the workers in that area and in the area surrounding that space to make sure that it's something that will be utilized by everyone. So it won't be ready this year, unfortunately. We are planning to develop the scope this year and hopefully installing it next year. Are you including uh >> [laughter] >> request for proposal from Germany? That might be interesting. Haven't considered that. Thank you, Commissioner Lonz. I'll consider that. Any other questions, comments? Thank you very much. Thank you. Very interesting. Mr. President, do we have do we have to accept this or >> There's no action required. I think it's just information. >> Information only. Thank you. And I think the same thing is true with with the next report that Alan's going to do. So all welcome. Thank you. We we have a native of Worthington, Minnesota. And we were talking before about the they want to build this $4 billion center down there. So I it's mostly, you know, Worthington is is an a suburb of the the metropolis, Slayton, Minnesota, which is 30 miles north. At any rate. >> [clears throat] >> Yes, uh excellent introduction and background. Uh and I'm here to present the uh 2025 annual Port Authority report. Uh so I had the honor of sort of aggregating all of our, um, work that we have done this year. Um, and so, I chose to put it together alphabetical. So, it goes business assistance, creative placemaking, real estate development, workforce, and then the administrator updates. Um, and so, as you may all right, remember, uh, at the beginning of the year, we worked with you to do, um, the, uh, Okay, the clicker isn't working. Uh, the annual report. Sorry, the, um, mission statement for the port. Come on. Ah, okay. Uh, so, it the Port Authority cultivates, uh, community prosperity and quality development through bold vision and, uh, responsible public investments. We continue to We contribute to the growth and success of Bloomington's inclusive and resilient economy. And so, I think throughout this report, you'll kind of see how that plays out. Um, and so, uh, some kind of just I'll briefly kind of go through this and if there are questions, feel free to stop me. Uh, some of the, uh, highlights for business assistance was definitely the business forum. It was the first year that we did this, had an incredible turnout. Uh, the mayor, uh, was able to speak for us. Um, and we also did, um, a a bunch of ribbon cuttings this year. We did 11 in total and I've listed them all kind of on that page in alphabetical or in chronological order. And also, I added captions, um, for the going forward so you can kind of see, uh, some of the community members cuz I think some commissioners were there, council members came, mayor, city manager. So, it's just kind of fun to see who was all at a lot of these ribbon cuttings. Uh, and then we did, uh, facade grants and have some before and afters of Pay It My Pizza and Park Up Kitchen. Uh, and then I also included a map of where those are cuz I thought it was really good to see that the work that business assistance has done for the facade grant program has been throughout Bloomington. Um, and then, uh, I have some information about some of the partnership that we've done with the community at the Zawadi Center and these are some of the, um, pack or the classes that they specifically did and kind of the number of attendees. And then, of course, Hatch, our winner, um, Twila Jackson with Book Mother. Had to feature her as well. Um, and then we just heard about creative placemaking, so I won't go into too many details uh, from their work of this last year. And then real estate development, my team, not that I'm biased. Um, so, we, uh, >> [laughter] >> want to feature, uh, you can be biased. Yeah. We definitely wanted to talk about it cuz [clears throat] that was a big, um, project. So, the, um, it's we're into, uh, phase two and it that includes the office building as well as the parking ramp and my colleague, Luke, has had the pleasure of working through all of the punch list items on the parking ramp. Um, and then, uh, and next highlight was the third annual broker breakfast. We saw an increase in attendance this year, which was great. And then, um, the on the right side bottom of the page, the Y Bloomington, um, is it's a front and back, uh, handout that we created to kind of give like a marketing piece or kind of an overview for the city. And this actually went with, um, the mayor and, uh, community development director Berggren to the uh, the governor's trade mission to Germany and Switzerland and had some great feedback on that. So positive that we're actually developing one that's South Loop focused so we can give it to prospective developers about why the South Loop. Um, some other things as we, uh, saw some great business expansions this year, um, from Colonial Market to taking over the former Oxendale space in Carbon 31, uh, as well as Polar and Seagate, uh, continued to expand as well. And then Burns & McDonnell, uh, relocated to Bloomington. And Thermo King, too, did a renovation of their headquarters and added some, uh, head count as well. Um, the affordable housing side of the real estate team, uh, we got to, uh, having we got to have, uh, some openings as well as some new constructions. So, the Roslyn and Ever were some of our new construction projects and we also did the OHO Nexus study to kind of understand how that ordinance was impacting development in the city and that was presented like a month ago at to council. Um, and then, next we have the workforce development team and Warsame's been leading this. Um, we have seen, um, some great increase in the number of applicants that we've had since the program started in 2023. And then we've, uh, seen some an increase in the placement of our interns as well and this is our class from last year. Um, we also, uh, are working to kind of map the workforce, uh, infrastructure, workforce home infrastructure. So, working on some apprenticeship programs as well. And then for the administrator update, just some notes about the CEO round table and the Bloomington Economic Partnership and that photo is from that. And, uh, we had some great, uh, improvements in our website traffic as well. Um, and it's obviously because I put together a Y Bloomington one-stop shop about all the facts of Bloomington and that's what drove traffic. Um, but also, it was really great to see how much, um, the Bloom in Bloomington page has increased, um, and that all goes, uh, to Warsame's credit as well. And that, I believe, concludes our report. Are there any questions I can answer? Well, that's fantastic. Very interesting. So, questions, comments? >> [snorts] >> I guess we just thank you. >> [laughter] >> Sure. Of course. Yeah. Great. Immediately. What what's what's so nice with something like that is you can go through and, you know, and then leaf through something like that in several years from now and just see what kind of the context and things and stuff. So, that that's great. So, >> Yeah. And I tried to add more pictures and graphs and not make it so text heavy, too. So, thank you all. And if I could, Mr. President, uh, Rob brought it up, the the ribbon cutting at Sick. And early May, if you haven't been there yet, you you have to get there. Uh, it's it's a fantastic building. It's a fantastic building. Yes. Well, I will be in Europe, but I'll try to get there afterwards or whatever. Yes, I've been there a couple of times for a couple of different, um, uh, events. They actually hosted one of our, uh, our CEO meetings. They hosted in there and it's in the new building and it's spectacular. And then everybody was Uh, all of the other CEOs were saying, "Well, we'd love to host also, but not if we're going to be compared to this >> [laughter] >> cuz Okay. Kevin, you have some administrator updates? Yes, President Erickson and Commissioners, I've got a couple updates for you for the administrator updates here. Uh, so, thanks to folks last month. I know we ended up canceling the Port Authority meeting, but we kept you busy with some other items. Uh, the concurrent meeting that was the focus of the OHO Nexus study that was framed as well as the ribbon cutting for the Roslyn. So, that was the affordable building that was built at 700 American and I believe, uh, Commissioner Peterson and Commissioner Hunt as well as Mayor Buss were able to do attend. Uh, it was great to have a great turnout there and see the investments that the city is making in affordable housing in the community. Um, a couple other updates. Uh, Commissioner or, Port Administrator Masic and family are doing well. Um, she even shared that they had 6 hours of sleep last week, which is >> [laughter] >> I think just on one day, but possibly. >> [laughter] [gasps] >> Um, for a development update, so we're expecting to bring forward an update about Southtown from Cross Anderson here in the next month or two. Uh, so, staff have been working with them on the revision for the redevelopment of the eastern portion of that site and the potential creation of a TIF district. So, there will be an update for you about that here in the near future. Uh, we're also, um, in communication with the developer that's looking at doing in a or a market rate housing development at, uh, 79th and Xerxes. So, we're seeing, um, the market kind of change a little bit from a development perspective. Um, and then it was also mentioned the Sick, uh, the ribbon cutting that's taken place on May 7th. So, I believe everybody should have received invitations for that, but if you didn't, please let me know. And then, uh, quick update on the Mall of America front. So, we're continuing to work with them on, uh, the redevelopment agreement that would be for the water park project. Uh, they're meeting with their lender on some potential updates there. And then they also refinanced the mortgage for the north pad property. So, that would be, uh, the hotel and the office building on the north side of the mall. Um, and that really aligned that term with the master mortgage for the greater mall property itself. Then on the Correct. Yes, in the office tower. Um, and then on the small business front, the small business assistance grant applications closed last night. Uh, as of now, we've awarded $161,000 to businesses, and our staff alongside Next Stage will continue to review the applications, and sure that they've submitted the necessary documents, um, and go through the underwriting process to determine eligibility for that program. And then we're anticipating bringing an update about that program to the June meeting, so we'll have an update for you on that here soon. And then, uh, I wanted to share an update about Hatch. So, that program is redesigned for this year. Uh, the focus is on supporting existing businesses that are facing challenges and looking to grow or expand in the community. So, instead of one award to one entrepreneur, there will be, uh, awards to multiple existing businesses that have brick-and-mortar retail here within the community. And, um, the underlying goal of the program hasn't changed, but the focus, given the current market, is on supporting existing businesses. And then, uh, on the workforce front, so the Bloomington Bloom or Blooming Bloomington program, so that that is our intern program. Interviews, uh, were recently conducted, and intern placements are currently happening. So, we're expecting four young adults to begin, um, their internships here in, uh, May, so late May, and then high school interns would be beginning in late June. And so far, uh, we've got 25 interns that will be paid placed across city departments as well as external partners. That's great. Yeah. So, Wearsing has been doing a great job engaging with, uh, external businesses to place interns there and expanding the program, uh, as well as looking at how we can really serve the workforce, not just with that program, but looking at kind of the broader continuum or continuum of workforce development. So, with that, that's the updates I have for you tonight. Great. Anybody got any questions or >> Just one quick question. Do you have any updates on the proposal for the Wicks and Site? Oh, yes. Uh, so the Wicks and Site, that is at 99 and or in Lindell. So, the former Wicks and Jewelers Site, we are working with Real Estate Equities. Uh, the hope would be to bring forward an item for that project. Um, we're still determining whether or not that would go before the Port Authority or HRA. The reason that, uh, there is that conversation is that is a uh, 60% AMI averaging building, so, um, the units would average to 60% AMI for the households. It's 180 units. Um, but the intention would be to bring an item to either the Port or HRA, likely next month. And then, that would be an introductory item to the project to, uh, discuss the terms that staff and the developer are proposing for that project. And then, there could be a potential TIF district in the future for that project. Great. It's on the east side of Lindell. Yeah. Yep. Correct. Yeah, it's right further down. Further down, it's still there, right? Okay, anything else? If not, I think we're adjourned. Enjoy the weather.