I will call this Bloomington CityCouncil listening session to order. Tonight is Monday, May 4th. Welcome toeverybody here. We are going to jump right into it and begin with our firstspeaker. Good evening and welcome. Good evening, um, Mayor Busse, Councilmembers, and City Manager Walker. My name is Sarah Clausen Surtan and I'm theExecutive Director of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. I'm here tonightspeaking on behalf of Bloomington's seven resident arts organizations, theAngelica Cantanti Youth Choirs, Artistry, Bloomington Chorale,Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, Continental Ballet Company, MedalistConcert Band, and Notable Singers, many of whom have members here today.Um, at this meeting. We are long-standing, reliable partnersdelivering consistent, high-quality arts experiences that residents expect andvalue. Together, our organizations have served Bloomington for between 38 and 70years. We collectively represent more than 760 artists, students, and members,many of whom live here, work here, and all of whom rehearse and perform here inthe city, contributing to the cultural life of this community every day.According to the RAO specific data we plugged into the Arts and EconomicProsperity Calculator, which is referenced on page 29 of theSituational Analysis, which is in the agenda packet today, the RAOs have, uh,68,740 audience members, which leads to themspending $2.2 million in Bloomington and an estimatedgovernment revenue for the city of Bloomington of $148,000.Each of our organizations is a separate 501c3nonprofit with a distinct mission, audience, and operating model. We varyin size, staffing, and revenue streams, and yet despite those differences, wehave worked collaboratively for many years, both with both with each otherand in partnership with the city to create a thriving, accessible artsecosystem. The resident arts organizationscollaborated to build Civic Plaza with the Center for the Arts as thecornerstone, rallying community support and fundraising, bringing that vision tolife. Since the building opened in 2003, wehave filled it with performances, exhibitions, classes, and communityprogram programming that make it the vibrantactive space it is today. Our impact extends beyond the buildingitself. We rehearse and perform here. We represent Bloomington throughout theregion, appearing in parks, senior communities, schools, and major venuesacross Minnesota. In doing so, we expand the city's visibility and bring itscultural identity into the broader community.City support has been essential to the success. The combination of generaloperating support and in-kind resources, such as rehearsal, classroom, office,and performance space, along with administrative support, allows ourorganizations to function effectively and responsibly.That support also enables us to leverage additional funding from corporatesponsors, foundations, state and regional arts councils, and individualdonors. In other words, the city's investment multiplies, extending itsimpact far beyond the initial allocation.We take our responsibility to be stewards of this investment veryseriously. Each year, we provide detailed reportingof our finances, programming, and community impact. We share the city'scommitment to transparency, accountability, and continuousimprovement. We want this partnership to remainstrong, stable, and sustainable. We appreciate the city's efforts toexamine how the Center for the Arts can be sustained and strengthened for thefuture, and we share that goal. As the current study moves forward, weare approaching this process in good faith and with openness. For us, thatmeans being willing to explore changes when they are part of a clear,transparent framework that is developed in partnership and grounded in definedgoals and criteria. We want to be active partners in shapingthe future of the arts in Bloomington, not simply participants in a process,but collaborators who can contribute meaningful data, context, andexperience. We are looking forward to being being part of Webb's clearlyarticulated process to see how the RAOs engagement meetings in May and July willmove from conversation into criteria, evaluation, and final recommendations.We recognize that some potential changes under discussion would represent afundamental shift in the city's long-standing partnership model.We believe that any consist consideration of structural changesshould follow, not precede, the development of clear expectations,defined evaluation criteria, and a consistent, transparent process createdin collaboration with the organizations it will affect. And that sequencingmatters. It ensures that any changes are thoughtful, equitable, and aligned withshared goals, and that they set both the city and its partners up for long-termsuccess. Ultimately, we want the same thing, a center for the arts that isvibrant, sustainable, and reflective of the community it serves. We believe theresident arts groups are an essential part of Bloomington and part of whatmakes it an enduring and remarkable community where people want to be. Thankyou for your time, your leadership, and your investment in the arts here inBloomington. Well, thank you for your comments,Sarah. I will say we I I agree with what you have said. I mean, this is thisis a the start of the conversation. What we're hearing tonight is the council'sfirst bite of this conversation, and so I'm looking forward to the conversationand continuing to collaborate with our arts organizations as we move forward.Great. Thank you very much. Does anyone have any questions on this? Very good. Thank you very much. Sally, good evening.Thank you. Um asking the council, they should notsupport the proposed shared agreement shared use agreement 8201 Park.From staff summary, additional opportunities for alternative access andoverflow parking benefit both properties.This statement is inaccurate. The city did not need additional parking when itsigned the agreement in 2015, and it still does not.Additionally, note that it states overflow parking. It Darul Furooq hasbeen relying on the Smith Park parking lot every Friday and for40-some days of Ramadan. That is not overflow parking, and the shared useagreement should include language addressing Darul Furooq's non-compliancewith the current agreement. From the staff summary, the city cannotterminate these rights without adversely affecting the existing conditional usepermit. As such, the shared access and parking provisions must remain.Darul Furooq's use of the city's Smith Park parking lot is non-compliant andcan and should be addressed. And it is inaccurate to state that shared accessand parking provisions must remain. The only reason shared parking should remainis if Darul Furooq is compliant and the city benefits from the shared use. Thecity does not need additional parking, but it does need the shared use of thefootball soccer field. From the staff summary, formal parkprogramming and activities no longer scheduled utilizing the football fieldlocated on the Darul Furooq property. This should not have happened. The fieldis a premium field that taxpayers invested in from the ground up to thelights. And staff should not be able to discontinue its use without taxpayerinput. That staff no longer scheduled use ofthe field would be no different than if the staff put up a sign at Cedar CrestPark stating the city will no longer be utilizing the playground, splash pad,and park after taxpayers invested in the property.From staff summary, the updated agreement retains the terms of the 2015agreement for the tennis and basketball court, while the city and Aljazerasorry, ultimately decide the future of these facilities under a separatewritten agreement in the future. The city moved the pretty previouscourts and playground east so that a parking lot could be constructed for thelarge gym where parking was needed be closed for sanctioned athletic events.The tennis and basketball courts should not be determined under a separatewritten agreement in the future. Darulfikr needs to continue the sharedagreement for the parking stalls required for the conditional use permit,and now is the time to ensure the future of the tennis and basketball courts andthe football soccer field. Staff states,the updated and restated agreement addresses key priorities of parks andrecreation staff. This is a concern because the parkspriority would be to get residents out onto the fields, especially a premiumfield. It would be parks priority to maintain what the city identifies as apark and to encourage residents to utilize the parks including the fields.Staff states and is more reflective of the current use dynamics of Smith Parkarea. This is a concern because Smith Park wasdesigned for athletics on the south end and nature on the north end. And ifgames are not playing being played on the fields, that would be an error ofparks not for not properly scheduling field use, and that should not result inthe loss of a shared football soccer field.Staff states, the updated agreement reduces the city's maintenanceresponsibilities without sacrificing the benefits of the shared access andparking to both properties. This is a concern because the city doesnot need additional parking, but Darulfikr's compliance with itsconditional use permit does. Staff states, the agreement also pavesthe way for future discussions on the best permanent solution for the tennisand basketball courts which still enjoy some level of public use.This is a concern because a permanent solution should be determined beforesigning the shared agreement with Darrell Fruit because they need theagreement to be compliant with its conditional use permit.From a letter from the Darrell Fruit attorney, their agreement amends andrestates the original agreement in its entirety and reflects the good faithnegotiations. To state that the agreement amends andrestates and that it reflects good faith negotiations misrepresents the agreementin that it removes the football soccer field that the city invested in andneeds, does not provide permanency for the city's investment in the tennis andbasketball courts but allows Darrell Fruit to retain the shared parking thatDarrell Fruit needs but the city does not. Again, council should not supportthe proposed use agreement with 8201 Park.Thank you. Council, any questions, comments on this? Very quick one,council member. Very quick one. Sorry, really quickly. You Hi Sally,nice to see you again. You indicate that this is a premiumfield. What is your definition? Like how are you defining that as a premiumfield? Like I didn't see anything in the in the statement that defined it thatway, so I'm curious what what you say is the reason that you call it that. It's aconstructed high school football field and it is a premium field and if theylook at the requirements of use, it's limited to maintain the field and the umthe it's it's got the proper umfor the water to run off properly. It was constructed at a high level justlike a regular Okay, I understand. And that was back in what, like 2011 orsomething like that? Is that what you're No, it was constructed probably1998-2000. >> Got you.Helpful. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, Sally. You should have signedin. Mary. Good evening and welcome. Could you grabthe mic and pull it as close as possible? We have a hard time picking upthe >> okay? Very good. Thank you. Good. Thankyou. I miss De Alessandro. I left you avoicemail on Friday. IOh, no worries. Yeah, thanks. Um so, the reason I'm hereum well, first myself, I'm Mary Kravil. I have lived in Bloomington for 33years. I raised a son here by myself. And I recently retired to take care ofmy mom. I cut my lawn and still cut my lawnsince I've lived here. I know my lawn and I've been havingissues with one of my neighbors. The reason I'm here is that last year orthis year we had a 9% increase in our home taxes. I had a 22% increase in myhome insurance. And at this time in my life, I am notfinding that I'm able to get any assistance from the civic or from thisgroup to help me with my lawn situation from my neighbor.I called four years ago and I was told that umwe don't have um oh, sorry. That District 3 does not haveum anything that protects a homeowner from their neighbor's trees and weedsgrowing into their yards. And I've worked for many, many yearswith my neighbor to ask her to trim her tree off my yard, which is now 60 to 70%covering my backyard. I've I've also had issues with hercontaining her weeds. I think uh I've had creeping Charlieissues for over 6 years when I first identified them to her and shedoes not understand how invasive this is and what it's done to my property. Ihave tried several different remedies to get rid of it. Last year I spent $500 ona company just to come in and get rid of the creeping Charlie. Now it's growingcoming into my front yard. This year again it has come over from her yard andit even grows on top of mulch. So I just spent about 20 bucks and 3hours of my own time pulling the weeds out of her fence that have come over tomy yard and remulching just that area. But what happened in 2019 is that shedecided to remove the pool from her backyard and said that she might be inmy yard. She was well over 8 ft in my yard with a very tall and big piece ofequipment that had to pull the pool out and I lost about 12 ft of perennials atthat time. And then the creeping Charlie lastsummer I at the end of last summer I had to pay someone a couple hundred dollarsto remove another 12 ft of my flowers along the fence line.So I'm losing all my perennials. When she did the pool I lost a hill tothe side of my driveway that was not refinished and her idea of compensatingme was to send me some pansies, a bottle ofliquid weed killerand I tried to explain to her that pansies are not the same as perennials.Those were perennials that were there forover 20 years. Okay, so now I'm at the point whereagain we're still in the same place all these years later. We still don't have ahave any plan to help a homeowner when their neighbors are obtrusive anddestructive to their property. So I'm here today asking why?How can we get this to change because St. Louis Park and Apple Valley, they dothis work. They go in, they cut down the tree, and they leave it in their yard. Ihave offered that to my neighbor, and I don't know who she's talking to, butshe was told that she is fully compliant with her with her weeds, and her trees,and her lawn. And I'm the one suffering because ofthis, and I'm over well over a thousand dollars trying to combat this. It is sobad that I actually the tree hangs in my face when I mow my lawn. It's a hugehumongous tree. The last time that she trimmed it was in December of 2023. Iasked for her to at least take the bottom limb off cuz now that has grownover into my garden, which I didn't even plant last year because I can't dealwith uh everything dying because there's not enough sunuh because of the tree. So, what I need to know is what can I doabout this? I'm fearful that if I I've been told when I called four years agoand again last week that I can go in and have somebody cut down the limbs off myprop- property line. Why should I pay thousands of dollars to do that? She'llprobably sue me. Okay, so this is not okay that we don'thave any defense as a homeowner to protect our lawn, that's our property,and that's something that we have paid heavily for.So, I'd like to understand why and what I can do to change this.I Thanks for coming forward, Mary and I feel your pain regarding the thecreeping Charlie. Had neighbors that did the same thing. Know exactly what>> The tree is the biggest problem. >> I'm sure is the big and and I feel thatas well because uh it it's tough to regulate shade from a aneighbor's tree. So, what I'm going to do because I don't know the answersright off the top of my head, what I'd like to do is ask our city manager tohave you sit down with somebody in our environmental health division can talkto you about weeds, can talk to you about>> Well, I've poison Yeah, and to actually sit down and talk to themand and explain, you know, in as you've just done here, explain indetail, see if we can work to a an issue, maybe even invite your neighborand and maybe you can come to a an agreement if if maybe the city could>> is obese and I've never in 20 years seen her walk on her lawn.Okay, she never comes out, she never sees the lawn, she doesn't understand. II I understand that. Maybe we can maybe we can get the city to mediatesomething. We can have our environmental health talk to her, talk to you, see ifwe can't come to an agreement. >> Why isn't that St. Louis Park and othercities have this to protect >> I I don't know what happens in St. LouisPark and other cities. I I don't know what their regulations are regarding So,who's going to help me? >> I will have our city manager asksomebody from our environmental health. His name is our city manager is ZachWalker and he will have somebody from ourenvironmental health department reach out to you directly.Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Paul. Good evening and welcome.Hello, and uh may the force be with you. Those who celebrate.Um uh first of all, I have a question and Ithink I know the answer, but I do want to bring it before the council again. UmI was curious if there's been any forward movement on the investigationinto the death of Desiree Marie Roselle in March that could be shared with thepublic. Uh there has been movement, I assume, but there's nothing that we canshare. Uh basically, the release that we did on March 13th, the publicinformation that we provided is is basically where it stands now.Obviously, you understand if something happens internally here, we don'tinvestigate this internally. So, currently, the Hennepin County Sheriff'sOffice is investigating and I think there's at least a couple of additionalinvestigations going on, but they are their own investigations. They're notThey're not ours. We're We're waiting on them. All the details, all theinformation has to come from them. And as I as I said, I'm sure you understandwe don't do these internally. When something happens like this, you get itoutside the walls and you make sure that others take a look at it.So, unfortunately, we don't have any new information to provide at this timebecause like you, we're waiting on the results of these investigations.Thank you for that follow-up. The other thing I quickly wanted to justbring up as a continued concern I have. So, I amthe descendant of Irish immigrants from the 19th centurywho when they came to America they weretreated by the natural-born citizens of the country at the time, colonialAmericans, as inferior and they were called criminals and they were calleddirty and they were accused of bringing poverty and bringing crime andthey were accused of being uneducated andwe're just generally demonized. And so as the descendant of immigrants who wentthrough that 150 years ago, when I grew up in Omaha, Nebraska in the1980s and 90s, I lived around a lot of Latino immigrants who had recently cometo America who were treated the same waywith the same exact laundry list of anti-immigrant sentiment. And I wasdisgusted by that because these are my friends and neighbors.And so today as a 50-year-old man living in Bloomington, I just want to share mycontinued concern that we are still seeing and are seeing an increase inhorrible anti-immigrant sentiment specifically againstSomali and Muslim Americans who are immigrants today and the exact samelaundry list is being relayed or uh projected onto this immigrantpopulation. And so, I just want to voice my concern and my hope, and also myappreciation for the work that this council does to make sure that allimmigrants uh feel welcome in Bloomington. But, I just uh fervently uhwant to ask and voice that you continue to focus on that because we have tostand up to bullies. Um whether you're Irish or Latino or Somali or whateveryour journey is that led you to this particular shared space and thisparticular shared time. Um and I just wanted to make sure that I continue tobring that voice um uh into the room um because I'm really worried about myfriends and neighbors today because of that continued horrible anti-immigrantbacklash that is based on the exact same false laundry list that we've heardhurled at immigrants for hundreds of years now.So. Well, thank you. And yes, I I remember my grandmother tellingme stories about the signs outside shops, NINA.No Irish Need Apply. Mhm. And we're not that that's that's a generation,basically. That's that's within a shared lifetime of of both of ours. And so, uhI understand what you're saying, and I think you've seen this council iscommitted and has shown a commitment to making sure that Bloomington is awelcoming and inclusive place. And I can I can promise you as long as I'mthe one sitting here at the in in the big chair, that that's going to be thecase. And the city of Bloomington I just want to say keep it up. Thank you. Okay,well then. Jamie.>> [clears throat] >> Good evening. Welcome back. Thank you.I'm happy to be here. Thanks for creating a space for this. So, I'm JamieAnthony. I live in District 4, Precinct 4. Victor is my elected representative.Um there are a couple different things in my chicken scratch, so I'm going touse my time, but did Rachel show up? Rachel? Michelle? Michelle, right. Didnot see her. Okay, cool. We set the limit to 5 cuzeverybody Totally. Totally, 6:13, I'm watching. Um sofirst, in light of other cities in the news, I feel very compelled to make adirect in-person statement in favor of the city of Bloomington continuing tofly the new Minnesota flag on city property instead of the former flag. UmI know that some people, including some people in this room, prefer the oldflag. They are obviously welcome to fly it on their own property however theylike, but I want to be sure that it is on therecord that at least someone in Bloomington does not see a reason forthe esteemed Bloomington City Council to spend their time or effort consideringwhether we should go back to flying the old Minnesota flag.That's topic one. Thank you.And I will say that that subject has not come up, and I will say if you've lookedat our council agenda tonight, we have plenty to do without trying to decide ifwe should fly the old Minnesota flag or the Jolly Roger. We're we'rewe've got work to do. >> Every city in Minnesota has more to do.>> We've got work to do. Yep. >> to debate that.Um I also want to respond to some comments that I heard earlier. This wassomething I just jotted down, um claiming that the city of Bloomingtondoesn't benefit from activity at Dar al Farooq mosque and activity center.I actually think all of us benefit from having vibrant activity spaces where ourneighbors and people from other communities can come and gather. So,uh I I just wanted to make that statement. I think we all are betterwhen everybody has spaces where they can thrive. We don't all need to thrive inevery single space in our community, but our community is better when everybodyfeels welcome. The next thing I was going to ask aboutwas what Paul asked about. Um so then the only other thing I have is aquestion and it's probably an administrative question. But I noticedthat there's been no update to the online police dashboard since mid-March.Usually there are weekly updates and there's been no update. I heard a rumorthat maybe someone was getting a kidney transplant or a liver transplant andthat's why there was no update. But I do want to call attention to the fact thatit does happen to coincide with a couple of pretty high-profile cases where folkswould have expected to see items listed. One of those is the death of the personin BPD custody and then the other is a detainment of a constitutional observerof ICE officers who was led to BPD by those ICE officers. So I'm justwondering why hasn't there been an update? Uh that's a good question and Idon't know. We'll have to check in with our friends at BPD. Uh unless Kathy, ifyou've got any Yeah.Kathy, we'll check into that and we'll we'll we'll report back to you. We'llWe've got your contact information. We'll let you know what we know. Cool. Next, Council Member Rivas. Is itpossible that because he's being placed on the Bloomington this week?That's what I see it all the time. He comes weekly on the Bloomington thisweek. I don't know if you guys uh on the dashboard. Yeah. Yeah. I thinkthat's would be that. organ transplant. Butit's possible. I'm not saying it's a no, but I I never heard of anything. I alsoheard a worse rumor, which is that the police chief said that there would be noinvestigation. So I have to say I was very pleased to hear your responseearlier. >> No. ThatAnyway, I yield my 2 minutes. I'll get with you. Thank you so much. Uh Rochelle was the only other thatsigned in ahead of time. Is Rochelle here yet?We officially have 3 minutes if anybody would like jump in and use those 3minutes, but I'm going to cut you off at 6:15. I'm sorry Sally, you get one biteof the apple. Sorry. We're going to No. We're going to We're going to let othersWe're going to let others have an opportunity. The misconception>> We're We're going to let I for you to hear what she said and not say youmisunderstood Miss Ness. The Daryl Fruit wants to remove>> Sally, thank you so very much. wants to remove the use of the field from thepublic. She misunderstood what I said and you should have said something. Ishouldn't have let this misconception happen to the room. I appreciate yourevaluation of my performance tonight, Sally. We're going to We're going to letothers speak if they would like to speak right now. Thank you.>> Yeah, but again I understood what you were saying. Thatthey want >> Is there anyone else who would like tospeak? We've got about 3 minutes. football field to the public. Council, Ihear No, I see no one coming forward. I would look for a motion to adjournthis evening and head down to We've got a motion and a second toadjourn this evening. All those in favor, please signify by saying I.Opposed, motion carries 6-0. Thank you all very much for being here.Thanks for participating this evening and join us downstairs if you'd like to.A nice long meeting that we've got facing us tonight, so join us, please.