thank you to everyone for joining us today I am Jennifer harmony president of the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce the chamber is pleased to be co-hosting the 2020 Burnsville State of the City address like so many events in the past few months we are improvising how we are hosting and presenting the state of the city typically we gather together in fellowship for this event although we are not physically together I'm happy to report that our fellowship and collaboration continue in other ways I am so proud of how our partners have come together to pivot how we communicate and engage deliver services and support our community thank you to our chamber business community the city of Burnsville the CVB the school district dakota county and many others we saw this last week as we came together to celebrate Small Business Week and support our local businesses and we will continue to seek ways to collaborate as we make our way through recovery this has been a challenging time but we have risen to the challenge in so many ways in Burnsville we are better together today we are gathered together again virtually as the Chamber of Commerce in the city of Burnsville welcome you to the 2020 State of the City address it is my privilege today to introduce Mayor Elizabeth counts Thank You Jennifer before I begin I want to take this time to acknowledge the Burnsville chamber of commerce jennifer harmony the board of directors and staff for hosting today's event please accept our deepest appreciation and gratitude for hosting this event every year and for being a wonderful partner and a great resource as we navigate cope at 19 related challenges thank you and welcome to you our viewers I am usually presenting the state of the city live from the beautiful Ames Center in the heart of the city today I am coming to you live from City Hall in the council chambers I imagine you may be viewing the state of the city from your home or office first I want to introduce you to our City Council members councilmember Dan Keeley council member dan Gustafson councilmember Kara Schultz and councilmember Vince workman although this pandemic is front and center right now I don't want to forget or pass over the important work and accomplishments of our city this past year our wonderful staff and stakeholders have worked tirelessly for our community and its residents and businesses the groundwork we laid in 2019 is vitally important to fortifying the foundation of a strong caring and compassionate City it is the foundation that we can use to help us through this crisis and recover better and stronger in the future let's take a look at the great work we were able to accomplish in 2019 as in years past the city of Burnsville spent 2019 looking ahead the Burnsville city council and department leaders collaborated in multiple facilitated strategic visioning sessions create a clear concise vision for the city nothing says vibrant more than a redevelopment vision plan this exciting plan will help reimagine reestablish and reinvigorate the important retail area north and south of County Road 42 which includes the Burnsville Center as a local and regional destination the city of Burnsville is committed to long-term environmental sustainability through multiple projects that help reduce greenhouse gases and energy use protect water sources in nature and promote the benefits of being green in 2019 the city expanded the restoration effort of terrace Oaks Park to an additional 26 acres of adjacent parkland members from public safety partnered with community members told very important conversations affecting our community a facilitated discussion that explored issues related to race in a safe and supportive environment by listening to feedback from over 1,400 community members who said Burnsville is diverse friendly and stout like home the city of Burnsville thoroughly embraced its uniqueness of focusing on inclusion and being welcoming to all people our brand you belong here stems from our city's caring and compassionate character as the city of Burnsville continues to focus on the future we thank you for being a member of our vibrant bold and welcoming communities I would like to take a moment to thank the many people that helped to achieve those accomplishments and many more throughout 30 as I watched the 2019 Year in Review video it seems like a world away what a difference a year makes but what a difference that work has made in how we are handling our current situation and preparing for what lies ahead as we continue to work to be a vibrant city we will continue our efforts on redevelopment and ways to grow our community we will lead boldly and take action that support sustainability and care for our environment and energy efficiency and we will continue to embrace our inclusivity we want people to know that for all who choose to make Burnsville their home they are welcomed here as we navigate the challenges and uncertainty in the coming year we may find that we have differences in our approach but in the end we truly have a shared vision and values that not only guide us in the next phase of response and recovery but will set the stage for future successes one of the most important things we did at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 was to articulate a clear vision for leading our city we had a vision statement that was adopted in 1996 and it served as well today we find ourselves in a new time and we need it to redefine our vision and ultimately our future we your mayor councilmembers and city staff work together to develop a clear concise vision statement a vision statement that would serve as our North Star guiding us as we collaborate with residents and businesses as we make decisions and eight opportunities for our city in the future this is our vision statement Burnsville is a vibrant city boldly leading and welcoming to all the covet 19 pandemic has put a vision statement and I'll see it a city leadership and staff to the test I'm happy to say our vision helped guide us as we solidified our team our priorities and approach moving forward on April 21st 2020 the city council established priorities and expectations to guide response and recovery efforts navigating response and recovery to something in which nobody or a local or national level has experienced before can be tricky and complex as we debated response and recovery efforts it came back to our vision we knew that priorities and expectations had to be guided by our vision that Burnsville is a vibrant city boldly leading and welcoming to all therefore the council established COBIT 19 response and recovery priorities and expectations priority one safety and health as elected officials our number one priority has always been the safety and health of our residents however we know that COBIT 19 impacts are putting extra pressure on the physical and mental well-being of our community it was important for us to recommit ourselves to this priority we have been and continue to be a compassionate and caring community this is who we are above all your council is committed to the safety health and well-being of our community priority to quality of life one of the things our residents have told us in the past is that they appreciate the quality of life they have here in Burnsville the parks programs affordability and more have made our community a place to call home for many different groups of people it is imperative that we continue to promote the best for all people in our community as we tackle recovery from covet 19 and priority 3 balance balance is critical it is aligned we continue to walk through all of this we know that we have a have to harmonize the health and business needs of our community our city our state and our country are not only in a health crisis but in an economic crisis as well our Chamber of Commerce along with the city and other partners have come together to provide resources and support to our entrepreneurs businesses and organizations and we will continue to do so we know that we have a responsibility and commitment to the residents and businesses of Burnsville I along with council members and staff are committed to a response and recovery effort that best prioritizes health and safety quality of life and balance not only did our vision statement guide our response and recovery priorities but it also helps to remind us who we are it reminds us of how we are going to conduct ourselves through these challenge times we have a commitment to being adaptable to use in creativity and innovation and to communicating information openly and honestly Burnsville is a vibrant city boldly leading and welcoming to all but maybe most importantly the vision statement can remind us that as we walk down the road of recovery to be kind to one another there are people suffering in many ways that we can't see it is important to show empathy for diverse perspectives and needs being caring compassionate and welcoming is one of the hallmarks of Burnsville so how has the city reacted - response and recovery to meet the priorities of safety health quality of life and balance well my answer would be different from week to week because we receive new information we must pivot to adapt to the changing environment as you may know your mayor council members and staff quickly change the way we serve our residents and businesses by connecting virtually and providing services in new ways the shelter in place may expire in a few days but we envision that we will continue to provide many services virtually so that we can meet our priority of safety and health for our residents many community events and programs have been canceled or postponed for this year it is disappointing but again it is what had to be done to prioritize the health and safety of our community we continue to look for ways to connect with our residents if you haven't noticed the city of Burnsville Facebook page has posted activities each week such as read along for kids adventure activities such as geocaching in Burnsville parks and trails and rockin lunch our many concerts to keep our bodies and minds moving our team will continue to look for new ways to connect with residents and business we know that economic and Community Development are challenged at this time so we are making concerted effort to reach out to our businesses and listen to their concerns and support webinars and webinars and resources to whoever needs them I also want to call attention to the people that provide essential services that we count on 24/7 our city staff let me introduce you to our city of Burnsville leadership team city manager melanie Mascola deputy city manager Greg Lindberg police chief Tanya Schwartz fire chief BJ jongmin community development director Jenny Faulkner public works director bryan petersen and parks and recreation and facilities director garret back our city staff hasn't me missed a beat essential services such as water sewer and other quality of life services have gone on seamlessly we have taken precautions to ensure the safety of our staff while balancing the needs of our residents additionally the safety and protection provided by our first responders has been incredible throughout this pandemic on average police officers and fire fighter / a medics take about 55,000 calls per year this year they have been challenged even further with the precautions and demands of kovat 19 not only do they answer the calls to protect and serve but they go beyond that to provide joy and compassion care to out residents in unique ways one of our community members a nine-year-old girl was delighted as a Burnsville police and fire department participated in a birthday parade that her family had arranged to creatively celebrate her birthday during this time she was going to celebrate her birthday at Disney World but she received a parade from our police and firefighter paramedics our police officers have been helping the school district delivered food packages to our seniors who are mentally or medically fragile food and secured or living alone we are truly grateful for not only their service but the compassion they show our residents every day I am on with our caring and compassionate team of volunteers have been helping our ISD community education with brain power in a backpack and with food distribution for our school district we pack and deliver over 700 food packs for our children every weekend colvett 19 truly has touched every life and livelihood in our city I want to acknowledge a wonderful Burnsville city staff I am proud to work with wonderful caring and devoted public servants thank you to the 290 staff members that make this city operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year even during a pandemic I am not only proud of our council members that he staff and see city leaders I am proud of our partners whom we collaborate with on many challenges that cope that 2020 has thrown our way the City Chamber Convention and Visitors Bureau school district and County along with various organizations have come together in different ways to provide critical information in our leaders forum roundtables webinars and other avenues last week the city was a partner with our Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitor's Bureau supporting small business week after Li the National Small Business Week was cancelled but not in Burnsville we thought that it was ashamed to cancel something that can bring a spotlight to small and local businesses during this time of economic crisis so together our three organizations work to support one another to provide sounding boards informational materials and promote a campaign to highlight and support small and local businesses the chamber also held their annual awards luncheon last Thursday virtually of course congratulations to our 2020 Burnsville business Person of the Year Sandra Schaefer the 2020 Legacy Award recipient Mike O'Connor the ambassador of the Year Jessica Jane airing and volunteer of the year Dale Japan we are happy to have your business acumen leadership and service in Burnsville let's make sure that we continue to support and provide goodwill beyond just Small Business Week there are a variety of ways that we all can support our small and local businesses everything from buying gift cards or takeout to simply sharing a social media post or tagging your favorite business so that they get free advertising I vow to continue our part to support small businesses most recently through the US Conference of Mayors I led and facilitated a small business and entrepreneurs zoooom webinar meeting with over 280 mayor's throughout the country to help equip them to help their small businesses and to have the resources to navigate the Small Business Administration process and website as we navigate recovery and beyond I truly believe we are better together frankly we have to do this together we will get farther faster together I know that it seems like a slow we are slowly moving towards something that is unknown right now we will get back to some semblance of a different normal it will just be in phases and different we continue to be cautious but we are optimistic that we can balance safety with quality of life and our livelihoods although optimistic we also understand that we will be dealing with the effects of Cobra 19 and the impacts to our residents and business for most of 2020 and beyond at the city we are preparing for the long game just as many of you are reviewing your personal or company budgets for the coming year we are also considering the financial impacts to the city budget we will continue to ensure our financial health is intact the one thing I do not want to sacrifice is our triple-a bond rating we need it now more than ever we are also working through the US Conference of Mayors National League of Cities and other partners to inform Congress of the COBIT 1919 impacts on city budgets and services just as businesses have impact to their bottom line so do our local public service organizations like the city of Burnsville we are strongly advocating on the state and national level for reimbursements and funding to support city services we are also in the middle of taking our census it is very important for us to have a complete count we are doing well so far but we can do better why is it important that everyone gets counted or because it means Minnesota and Burnsville will receive its allocation of funding from the federal government we all pay taxes to the federal government it is dollars for education Community Development Block Grants police fire transportation transit and so much more to put a dollar amount to it it roughly equates to about two thousand seven hundred dollars for each person counted for every year over a ten year period if every person is counted that amounts to approximately 167 million dollars per year that will fund our schools a police fire transportation transit and more it also means that we keep our seat in Congress we are at risk of losing a seat this is not good Minnesota needs voices in Congress I cannot stress enough how important answering nine simple questions are right now if you haven't already please complete your census questionnaire dear burn civilians we will have to make bold decisions as leaders without sacrificing the vibrancy and welcoming nature of our city we must and we will tackle recovery together once again I would like to thank Jennifer and the Chamber of Commerce for hosting the 2020 State of the City and for being a great partner to the city thank you to the residents and businesses of Burnsville for your strength compassion kindness care and resiliency throughout this pandemic we will make a difference together and lastly thank you to our councilmembers our city staff together we will make Burnsville a vibrant city boldly leading welcoming to all blessings to all and God bless Burnsville and god bless america you