[Music] the new brighton department of public safety has taken an active role to prevent the spread of covit 19 in our community public safety staff has promoted vaccine clinics held at the community center and managed an online dashboard on the city's website that shows local infection rates and up-to-date information on current restrictions and resources available to residents the public safety center also has the ability to test the city of new brighton employees and their family members in an effort to reduce the spread in the workplace [Music] newly released census data showed that the demographics in new brighton have changed and will continue to do so in the future as an organization this requires us to review our practices policies and procedures to ensure we are serving all of our residents businesses and visitors in the most effective manner possible the city has taken several steps to achieve this goal the city council approved the creation of an equity commission devoted to addressing issues related to diversity equity and inclusion in our community [Music] every year the city receives a bond rating that works similar to a personal credit score for the second year in a row new brighton remains at double a plus the second to highest rate possible the gains have come from new apartment and single-family home developments and redevelopment efforts as well as an appreciation of existing properties one significant project in the city's mixed-use midtown village development that is projected to add 65 million dollars to the tax base the finance department also received a clean audit report for the 2020 financial audit the best results that it could get [Music] parks and recreation secure two grants from the minnesota department of natural resources dnr totaling 355 000 one of the grants will be used to remove our over 66 percent of our city's boulevard and park-owned ash trees in an effort to reduce the spread of emerald ash borer an invasive beetle that kills ash trees the city will plant new diverse species of trees to replace the ones removed the city also received a dnr outdoor recreation grant that we use to improve hansen park [Music] the city council adapted an ordinance that requires property owners to obtain a permit from the city prior to renting out their property as a short-term rental on websites such as vrbo airbnb the purpose of the 10 permit is to ensure that such properties are being overseen by a resident agent during the time of the rental the renters get documented and the property owners are responsible for seeing that their guests comply with all local ordinances [Music] the new brighton city council approved the sale of 10 million dollars in abatement bonds to fund improvements at six city parks over the next three years these improvements were considered a high priority in the park strategic comprehensive plan that was passed by the city council after 18 months of work and engagement with residents and stakeholders the projects and parks targeted for this first phase of improvements are creek view lions park totem pole park sunny square park silver oaks park and hanson park [Music] city staff with the help of a newly created zoning code steering committee started a zoning code update project in an effort to modernize and update the city's zoning ordinances which date back to the 1970s in some cases their goal is to make the zoning code user-friendly and make sure all languages are consistent with changes to state statute and laws over the years the city also launched a public outreach effort specific to development in areas guided for mixed-use development hkgi the consulting firm that led the city's comprehensive planning effort is leading a discussion with landowners and neighbors of our mixed-use areas to guide the city in creating new zoning for such areas [Music] in order to ensure that we have a proper framework created for sustainable change across the organization and community the city has contracted with the consulting agency culture brokers the consultant will assist us in developing our equity philosophy creating a charter and parameters for the new equity commission and developing and implementing an equity action plan in partnership with our new dei coordinator [Applause] the minnesota recreation park association mrpa rewarded the city of new brighton with two awards of excellence last year one award was for the community resource group that was implemented in the beginning of the pandemic city staff collaborated with the ralph reader food shelf and other agencies to provide resources to residents in need the other award was for the mission possible day camp program that provided child care to families when schools transitioned to distance learning parks and recreation continued to find creative ways to offer events and programming during the pandemic such as the gnome hunt pumpkin walk tales and trails and story walks in different city parks the community center was host once again for both the indoor and outdoor edition of the farmers market [Music] the city council approved a creation of a new tif district to facilitate redevelopment of the former u.s bank site at palmer drive and turn it into an apartment complex tiff also known as tax increment financing is a way to subsidize a new development by covering the increase in property values resulting from the new development the tax increment finance and assistance will not only support affordable housing on the news site but also future affordable housing development initiatives elsewhere [Music] the city of new brighton and ramsey county reconstructed the intersection of old highway 8 and 8th avenue the improvements were made to repair and replace aging infrastructure accommodate redevelopment that is occurring in the area and provide improved bicycle and pedestrian facilities a new permanent traffic signal was also installed at old highway 8 and 8th avenue in november mark suggs started working for the city as di coordinator he will work on advancing equity and inclusion within the organization and community he will also serve as staff liaison to the equity commission suggs is well known to the new brighton community served most recently as the community and cultural liaison at pel air elementary school for over 18 years you