order. I am filling in for mayor mayor Buzzy tonight because he's out of town and I'm the acting mayor tonight. Uh thanks to everybody who's here. We have had three people call ahead to register. Uh I'll go over the ground rules which I don't really know that well. So bear with me. Okay. The one that I do remember is do talk for more than five minutes. So >> just remember that because I won't cut you. Yeah, we allow each speaker five minutes to speak. Make sure you say your name clearly so we have it for the record and then speak into the microphone. Please sign your name in in the log after you're done. Thank you. And um Karen Linquist is the first speaker we have listed. >> Good evening, Karen. >> Good evening. >> Hello. I'm back after being here a couple of weeks ago and I'm here with a proposal idea that I've shared with some of you before in an email, so it might ring familiar, but I think it's such a worth worthwhile idea that I hope by planting the seed again that one of these times you'll take it up. So, the problem that I've identified that I think needs to be solved is plastic bags at the farmers market. There I think all of us can agree there's too many plastic bags. We have them, you know, out of going coming out of our ears practically at home and we bring them to recycle. So the question is how to incentivize the vendors at the farmers market to not use plastic bags and to then decrease the overall use of them at the farmers market. And really there's two ways you could penalize or incentivize. Penalize and there's a 5 cent charge like they do in for a plastic bag. No one likes to be punished. So the better solution is how can we incentivize? This is where the program comes in. Names could be the Bloomington Green Ger program or not quite as catchy, the Verden vendor. I like green ger more. So, this is a program for Bloomington where you offer for the vendors um an incentive to use the plastic bags. And I've heard from Mayor Busy that the the paper bags are more expensive than plastic, which is why they use them. So to try to again incentivize, you offer a discount on the cost of renting one of the booths for the summer. That discount would then offset of course the increased cost of the paper bags, but then they become a member of the Bloomington Green Ger program. So there could be signs at each of their boos with nice maybe an apron or a t-shirt that they get. So all of us as customers, we go and we want to go to those vendors that are more environmentally friendly that are taking part of it so that the Bloomington um residents or the customers feel good about themselves because they're taking part in this. And then you would hope too that in year two there would be peer pressure from you know the those who didn't take part of it part in the program they would see the people who did that maybe had you would hope more customers who were going there and it would gen you know eventually hopefully soon lead to no bags plastic bags being used at the farmers market. The city could also sell, you know, recyclable grocery bags with the the logo Bloomington Green Ger. And it could be an amazing model. Um, I don't know if any farmers markets around the country or anywhere anywhere do a program like this, but I think it could be um a great program for Bloomington to put into place that could be a model for other cities, too, to really be a way to just decrease um all of the plastic bags that we have that are we all know are so damaging for the environment. So, that is my proposal for you. The Bloomington Green Ger Program Thank you. >> Takes a while. >> Thank you. Uh do you have any questions council? >> So well thank you. I believe that we have taken notes on that. Right. So we'll follow up on that. Uh uh next uh person is uh John Mink speaking about social media policy. Good evening, council members and city staff. Tonight, I'm here with two concerns that go directly to leadership, professionalism, and boundaries within the city of Bloomington. One, the mayor's endorsement of divisive, hatedriven rhetoric. Mayor Busy, I've seen your public engagement on social media where you liked posts that used inflammatory language, post calling certain Bloomington residents and candidates magazines. A mayor publicly endorsing content that demonizes residents is not leadership. It fuels division. It encourages hostility and it undermines trust in the community. So my question is this. Do you believe it's appropriate for the mayor of Bloomington to endorse rhetoric that labels residents fascist or racist simply because of different viewpoints? I also want to remind the council of a previous situation about two and a half years ago. I reported a city employee for social media behavior that blurred professional boundaries. At that time, city staff told me the employee employee was walking a fine line because of their online engagement involved in election related materials and city officials. That was the city's own standard. And now, Mayor Busy and Paul Coat, your public actions closely mirror the very behavior the city previously deemed inappropriate for its employees. If it was a fine line, then the standard should be the same, especially for the mayor. Two, repeated and unexplained monitoring of my wife's personal profile. The second concern involves repeated views of my wife's private social media profile by public officials and their associates. We have seen visits from Mayor Busy, Corey Busussy, Commissioner Paul Coat, Council Member Mua, and other staff connected to city leadership. So, I will ask you directly, why are city officials and their affiliates repeatedly re reviewing a private citizen's personal profile? What exactly are you looking for? What is the motive behind these patterns? When multiple officials and associates take an unusual interest in a resident's spouse, it raises serious concerns about boundaries, professionalism, and what may be be occurring behind the scenes. This behavior is not reflective of leadership moving in a positive, transparent, or respectful direction. and no resident should ever feel monitored or singled out by officials elected to represent them. In closing, I am not here to exaggerate anything. I'm here to point out clear patterns and ask for transparency. Why is the mayor engaging with divisive, hateful rhetoric online? Rhetoric the city itself previously warned its employees not to engage in. Two, and why are city officials and associates repeatedly viewing my wife's private profile? Bloomington deserves answers openly and on the record. And I want to close by highlighting the city's own stated values. Bloomington, Minnesota's core message emphasizes creating a thriving and welcoming community where residents feel safe, engaged, and connected while also promoting a strong economy and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The city's values for its people, neighborhoods, and businesses, and the government center on safety, cooperation, and respect, and a shared vision for the future. Tonight, my questions simply ask that our leadership reflect those values in action, not only in words. Thank you. And my name is Jonathan Minkx. >> Thank you, Jonathan. Do does council have any questions regard? All right. >> Thank you. Next speaker is uh Palmer about CHWC. >> Hi, my name is Pamela Palmer. Um I have a couple of questions. I believe at tonight's meeting, council meeting, you guys are going to be discussing the listening session guidelines. And I have concerns that it says audio recorded only, no video or live broadcast. For the last few months, there has been a video. So why is that being stopped? Or is this mistyped? you know so I don't know which it is because it really helps when you guys are giving feedback to the speaker even I who follow you extensively whose voice was that who said that it really helps to see who it comes from so I'd like to have that clarified I did not get it clarified when I asked about it and just said nothing has changed well then why is it saying audio so which is it um And okay, excuse me if I'm stupid or dumb, but when you get the uh agenda online, it would be I think it would be handy if right in there it would say who to contact to make uh register yourself until it gets posted like yesterday or today or Saturday, Sunday, whenever. Then it showed all these other how to participate and all that. But if somebody's trying to sign up on Friday, this didn't exist yet about that. It should be the agenda gets posted way ahead. It would just be nice to make a a reservation, whatever you call it, just put it in there and the phone number as it is. I called the front desk and they transferred me. but you know make things easier and uh oh what does content neutral mean? I guess I've always been curious process must be content neutral and um yeah more accessible and please please please keep the video. And my second question is on the community center. Has Henipin County approved the Penn Avenue exit? I can't get a straight answer to that either. Last I heard in one of the meetings we had with the 494 uh from the state and county is that PM will remain the same uh as an entrance and exit from the freeway. However, Nicollet will be shut down. >> No, no, for the community center. >> Oh, the community center. Oh, no. that that uh the last that I heard if and correct me if I'm wrong um um um but what I heard is that they had approved one entrance only to the to the community center not two just one and it will be on the >> to one but has that actually been approved by the county >> as far as I remember they did say yes in the last conversation we had >> and why won't anyone answer that >> um Okay. But I mean, you know, I mean, I've called, I've emailed, and and you know, my problem with emails, Denise gets everything and I can't connect with people directly. So, that's very frustrating. >> Ma'am, I I don't have a recollection of the exact date that we discussed that, but it was in a public meeting uh during the council meeting that that that took place. So, if you don't mind, >> whenever I've read minutes or things about it, it always seems like it's proposed. So, I mean, we all know of that 86th and Penn the in and out issues there. Speaking of which, I still have a couple minutes. >> Any update on that whole project? >> Town homes. >> The Penn Avenue town homes have a new sign up. >> That's a change. Yeah. He used to be very open with me and but now he's like I can't discuss it. So then you wonder what changed. I used to be friends with Brian. So it's just kind of weird how now it's like we can't talk about it. So those were my questions. But um thanks. I just Yeah. I I just hope that the way there is an exit on on pin because poor Newton is getting way too much credit. Thank you. Oops. Thank you. >> Right. Thank you. Thank you all for participating. Uh there are no other speakers. Um >> we got Okay. So, uh >> Yes, you're welcome to. >> So, uh Andy Thu, uh 54 year resident of Bloomington. Um I sent the council an email earlier today. So on October 31st, my wife works out of the house, there was a bad accident on the corner of 83rd and Stevens. Um, one car went probably 40 ft from the intersection. Um, the other car all four airbags went off. Um, we've had probably within the last 5 months probably three accidents. Another one happened where a trailer flipped upside down on top of the fire hydrant on the corner. In the last 5 years, the neighbor's house on the corner, I emailed you guys. um the gas meter in the corner of the house was taken out and it actually took out the structure of the house, you know, so the neighbor is not comfortable with her grandchildren playing in the front yard anymore because of the speeds. And I know you guys have reduced the speed limits, you know, in the city and in a res residential areas. And so when the cops came upon the scene of the 83rd and Stevens, they basically said, I can't believe that the city allows such intersections to exist, you know. So, what we've got is high-speed traffic and basically uncontrolled intersections and you've got basically people they don't know, nobody's really got the right away, if you will, right? So, really, you should stop at every intersection as you know, but so we've got down the residential streets is increase speed and I know we have a nice sign shop in Bloomington. So my ask is that kind of like Richfield kind of when I drive through Richfield, I see a lot of the intersections with um stop signs um kind of the north and south side so that the through streets from like Portland to England, you know, people kind of have the right way and it have to stop at least at one of the intersections, you know. So it's only a matter of time. And so this happened on October 31st. Bad one on a corner, you know. Luckily, nobody was hurt. Airbags went off and cars are pretty safe these days. They fold up nicely. Um down two weeks later, November 11th, down on Clinton Avenue. Same thing, big crash on the on the intersection. You know, um there was a bus that collided with a car on our 83rd and Stevens uh intersection, too. So, it was a bus car accident. Now, I see buses fly through the intersections, too. I'm not going to lie. Like, my neighbor has a camera, and I could pull some video up, but these buses fly through the intersections, too. It's not just cars, you know? We're talking school buses that are flying through these intersections. So, I just want to bring it to the council's attention. You know, I think there's a serious safety concern and I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I don't know if council can weigh in, but I'm very concerned city manager about Ridgefield has lots of stop signs at the intersection. So, >> it's warming up. >> Testing, testing, testing. >> Hello. Okay, there you go. Um, so just for the public who's listening that 83rd and Stevens is a neighborhood. They're two neighborhood streets that they're just not marked. They're unmarked. So it's really not clear. And I mean I will say that um I I think I brought this up when I first started on council because I do agree that um I mean I do agree that it's not safe. Uh the challenge I think we have in Bloomington is that we have so many of these intersections that um I think it would be really challenging to put in stop like that many stop signs. But I do think that you bring up a good point. I know every time I drive through neighborhoods, it's east side, it's west side. Um there are many uncontrolled intersections and I mean I know I'm always slowing down because I've almost gotten hit many times. Um, so you know, I think you bring up a really good point and I think it would be challenging, but I would be curious to know like if we were going to take that approach in Bloomington, like what would that even take? Like, and how many stop signs would that mean? And >> hopefully the council can look at the cost of of said sign. Like I said, when you go into Richfield, you actually see these uncontrolled intersections with these stop signs on on like the the north and south side where the the through streets are going from Portland to Nicllet. And Portland's closed down right now. So, what I think is happening is because Portland's uh shut down, um people are just zigging through our neighborhoods right now. They're kind of they're cutting over 83rd. They're taking Portland over to Nickellet so they can get on 494 type deal. So, so our neighborhoods are becoming their own little 494s. They don't hurt. >> So, I wanted to just mention something real quick to you, a little history lesson. U which I was interested in that too because I I grew up not too far from there, 84th and 5th. As I asked that question of one of the planning managers, I said, "This is crazy. Why do we not have any stop signs anywhere up here? I mean, what who gets the ride ofway? Well, so like, well, tell me why is the case? Well, they said, well, there was a was a certain uh planning manager we had and the philosophy was if you don't put any stop signs out there, it will make people more cautious as they go up on the intersections because they have no idea what to do. And so, this was years ago in the 60s or something like that when they were doing that. And so I always thought that was a crazy explanation, but it really explained everything. And so with that philosophy, that was not the philosophy that Richfield or some of the other suburban areas took, but that was kind of, you know, the history behind why why they do that here. Um, and why it's like that. And so just just so just you not right or wrong. I'm not saying we should continue to do that, but that's just that's the history. >> Yeah. I hope the city can just put together some kind of proposal and just kind of let do studies on the intersections because I know it's not an east or west problem. It's pretty much everywhere that people are driving faster and faster >> and it's it's there's a lot of fast driving, you know, in the city. So, if you live in the neighborhoods, you kind of know to stop at the intersections here. You're kind of like you're getting your foot over the brake. You're kind of like eking through. And I do that quite a bit and people just fly right in front of me, you know, and living in that neighborhood. I come I'm going 83rd east west, you know, and people just fly right down the side streets. Doesn't matter which. >> Okay, Andre, you're five minutes up. Sorry. >> And I just realized nobody answered my question about video. >> We'll be back to to you on that one. Okay. So, we we >> we can't give you an answer at the moment. So, we'll >> don't know what's deciding to >> uh not not at the not at the moment. We'll get back to you on it. So, just >> for tonight, >> there are no other speakers. I would look for a motion to adjourn. >> Motion to >> motion to adjurnn. >> Second. Motion by council member Ker, seconded by council member our next session. No further discussion. All those in favor please signify by saying I motion carries 40. This meeting thank you.