North Dayton Avenue Industrial Park TIF

Bronwyn's Council Preview

 

YOU MAY VIEW THE MEETING ONLINE AT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
https://www.youtube.com/ameschannel12
https://www.cityofames.org/channel12
or watch the meeting live on Mediacom Channel 12

 

Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
TO REACH THE MAYOR AND ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL:
Send email to MayorCouncil@AmesCityCouncil.org
(Note that emails to elected officials are generally subject to Iowa Open Records requests)
 

MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL

The Ames City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.   The regular council meeting agenda  includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.

• 17.

  Motion approving salaries of Council Appointees for FY 2024/25.
  Each year, two Council members are responsible for heading up the evaluation committee for the two Council-appointed employees of the City (the City Manager, and the City Attorney). 
  
  
• 41. Resolution approving FY 2025/26 ASSET Priorities.
  Council regularly reviews our stated funding priorities for the ASSET process. (The ASSET process is how the City funds social services in the area, in partnership with Story County, United Way, and ISU Student Government.) There are no proposed changes to our priorities this year.
  
  
• 42. Resolution approving amendment to FY 2024/25 ASSET Contract with The Salvation Army to add $100,000 for temporary emergency shelter services.
  Last fiscal year, Council authorized The Salvation Army to access $40,000 of ASSET money for emergency shelter services. They are continuing to provide temporary emergency shelter services, so are asking Council for $100,000 for that purpose in FY 24/25.
  
  
• 43. Resolution authorizing staff to enter into agreements with ASSET agencies for up to a maximum of $25,000 to provide relocation services to tenants.
  This is in response to a request from Good Neighbor Emergency Assistance to assist a number of tenants who are being displaced after the properties they rent were found to be out of compliance with our rental code and unsafe to occupy.
  
  
• 44. Resolution Awarding Downtown Facade Grants for Spring, Fiscal Year 2023-24.
  
  
• 45. North Dayton Avenue Industrial Park TIF Agreement with Dayton Avenue Development LLC.
  This is a final draft of the TIF Agreement that Council discussed last month for an industrial park off of North Dayton. Due to increased costs, the developer had asked for more reimbursement through the TIF funding mechanism.
  
  
• 46. The Bluffs at Dankbar Farms Subdivision Final Plat Second Addition.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 47. Staff report to determine the process for rezoning of 113 North Dakota from Residential Low Density (RL) to Residential Medium Density (RM) within Urban Corridor Designation.
  The owner of the property on the northwest corner of North Dakota and Lincoln Way is asking for a rezoning to allow the construction of medium density residential housing. Staff have presented several options that might accomplish this, and Council is being asked for direction.
  
  
• 48. Review of Draft RFP for Development of Surplus City Land at Harrison and Welbeck.
  At a meeting recently, Council asked staff to see some options for a potential addition of housing at the intersection of Harrison and Welbeck. The neighbors would rather see it left as green space, so Council also directed staff to provide some options for maintaining green space while still infilling with some single-family style small-lot housing.
  
  
• 49. Motion approving/denying a 12-month Class E Retail Alcohol License - Neighborhood Liquor and Smokes, 3505 Lincoln Way, Suite 105.
  Neighborhood Liquor is applying for a new 12-month alcohol license. They were denied for their prior request, and staff recommend denial again.
  
  
• 50. Follow Up on Scope of Storm Water Modeling for Conservation Subdivision Ordinance Changes.
  
  
• 52. Resolution approving agreement with the Arbor Day Foundation accepting US Forest Service Inflation Reduction Urban and Community Forestry Grant in the amount of $810,500.
  The City is being awarded a grant for trees!

Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially.  This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.

• Bicycle safety
• Quarry Estates 4 ways top.
• Affordable housing.
• Little Bluestem Ct.
• Ames trash collection.
• Drop Box referral memo.
• Romero House request for SFCOD text amendment
• Code enforcement updates.
• 2023-24 Campustown public improvements.
  

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 1

 

Electric Services Cost of Service Study

Bronwyn's Council Preview

 

YOU MAY VIEW THE MEETING ONLINE AT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
https://www.youtube.com/ameschannel12
https://www.cityofames.org/channel12
or watch the meeting live on Mediacom Channel 12

 

Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
TO REACH THE MAYOR AND ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL:
Send email to MayorCouncil@AmesCityCouncil.org
(Note that emails to elected officials are generally subject to Iowa Open Records requests)
 

AGENDA
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL

The Ames City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.   The regular council meeting agenda  includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.

• 6. Electric Services Cost of Service Study.
  A Cost of Service (COS) study is designed to compare the rate users pay with the actual cost of providing the electricity. The last time one was done was 2011, so another was undertaken starting about this time last year. The rate changes proposed by the consultant and staff wouldn't increase the overall revenue, but rather would shift costs to better reflect the COS for any given time of day. This should incentivize strategic power consumption strategies, especially for the heavier industrial/commercial users of electricity. Finally, the demand for electricity is highest during the mid-afternoon in the summer, so by charging a higher rate for "on peak" power, it sends pricing signals to the consumer to shift any flexible power usage to "off peak" times. Council is being asked for input on this strategy, then the issue will go to EUORAB (Electric Utility Operations Review and Advisory Board) for comment before a final decision is reached.
   
  

Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially.  This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.

• 113 North Dakota Rezoning Request.

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 1

 

 

 

Year-End Sustainability Report.

Bronwyn's Council Preview

 

YOU MAY VIEW THE MEETING ONLINE AT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
https://www.youtube.com/ameschannel12
https://www.cityofames.org/channel12
or watch the meeting live on Mediacom Channel 12

 

Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
TO REACH THE MAYOR AND ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL:
Send email to MayorCouncil@AmesCityCouncil.org
(Note that emails to elected officials are generally subject to Iowa Open Records requests)
 

AGENDA
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL

The Ames City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.   The regular council meeting agenda  includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.

Note: I just returned from a trip to visit family, so this newsletter will be a little incomplete. Links are present and should work though, for the items I wasn't able to summarize.

• 27. FY 2023-24 Year-End Sustainability Report.
  
  
•  29. 

  Motion directing staff regarding solid waste collection & disposal strategy

  
  Over the past year or more, Council and Staff have been studying our residential solid waste (trash) disposal systems, and it is clear than an overhaul is needed. (We are not discussing any changes to commercial or industrial solid waste collection.) For many years, Ames residents were told just to throw everything away, and that garbage would be sorted and then recycled or incinerated. It turns out that wasn’t exactly true, and it has led us down a course that now needs to be changed, for a couple of reasons.
  First, while SOME of our garbage was getting sorted, and SOME of that sorted material was getting incinerated, some of it was going unsorted straight to the landfill in Boone. When there is too much garbage, or when the power plant or Resource Recovery plant are undergoing repairs and maintenance, all of our unsorted materials (including metals and glass) are being landfilled, which happens more frequently than most people know. This “just throw it away and the City will sort it for you” messaging gave people a false sense that any recycling thrown away would be sorted out and recycled. This is still something I hear from residents to this day. I think if people knew how much of their garbage ended up in landfill in our current system, they would be very surprised and disappointed.
  The second issue is that in order to incinerate those materials which can be burned, a lot of natural gas is required. Our power plant can NOT incinerate just garbage…in fact, to incinerate our waste, it requires a ratio of 90% natural gas to 10% garbage. Since the price of natural gas is climbing, this requires the City to use natural gas when we could instead purchase potentially greener and cheaper energy off the grid.
  For these reasons, we are considering moving to a more traditional system in which residents would be asked to sort recyclables from non-recyclables before pick-up, and then those materials would be hauled to a transfer station before going on to be recycled or landfilled. At this point, I often hear the argument that recycling doesn’t happen like people think it does, and that most plastics don’t even get recycled. This is not news to us. We would ask people to recycle items for which there IS some value in recycling…metals, glass, cardboard/paper, and certain plastics still do have value as recyclable materials.
  We are also considering ‘organizing’ our solid waste collection in Ames. Under our current system, any one of 7 or 8 providers can pick up garbage from anywhere in town, leading to situations where one small residential street could see 7 garbage trucks per week. This is hugely inefficient, and leads to increased traffic and road repair costs, not to mention the carbon output of the vehicles themselves. Under an organized system, Ames could be split into zones, and bids could be sought from any of the providers to service each zone. Since recycling is proposed to be part of the equation, any service provider bidding on a zone would need to be able to provide trash AND recycling pick-up. If we pursue organized collection, we wouldn’t let one bidder win all the zones, as it is healthy to keep some competition going among the haulers.
  Long story short, our current system is not sustainable financially nor ecologically, and we as residents need to be more aware of our responsibility as individuals for our solid waste. We don't take these decisions lightly either, we know it will impact small business (some of the haulers) and residents greatly.


• 30. Staff Report on Infill Development Standards, including Pocket Neighborhoods and Townhome Dwelling Type.
  
  
• 31. Request from the Alcoholic Beverages Division to provide a response regarding the status of the Class C Retail License - Celaya, 217 South Duff.
  
  
• 38. Hearing on Zoning Text Amendment to Allow For 20% Alternative Design Adjustments to General and Base Zone.
  
  
• 39. Hearing on Zoning Text Amendment on Updates to Chapter 9 Flood Plain Zoning Regulations.
   
  
  

Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially.  This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.

• Campustown.
• Fellows Leadership.
• EUORAB.
• Solid Waste Collection and Disposal.
• Public Works-Welch Ave Tree Trenches.
  

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 1

 

 

 

CYTown

Bronwyn's Council Preview

 

YOU MAY VIEW THE MEETING ONLINE AT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
https://www.youtube.com/ameschannel12
https://www.cityofames.org/channel12
or watch the meeting live on Mediacom Channel 12

 

Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
TO REACH THE MAYOR AND ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL:
Send email to MayorCouncil@AmesCityCouncil.org
(Note that emails to elected officials are generally subject to Iowa Open Records requests)
 

AGENDA
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL

The Ames City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.   The regular council meeting agenda  includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.

• 49. Agreements with Iowa State University for CYTown.
  ICYMI, here is my synopsis from the March 11th Ames Council Preview: 
  
  For several years now, ISU has been developing the concept of CyTown, a commercial/residential/entertainment district at the Iowa State Center. Not only do they believe it will add a vibrancy to the area, it is also the mechanism by which they can fund much-needed renovations to the main four buildings at the Iowa State Center. (Hilton, Scheman, Fisher, and C.Y. Stephens). The City's concerns with CyTown were two-fold. First, the university doesn't pay property tax. Second, per State code, they aren't allowed to compete with the private sector in certain ways. In order to come to a compromise on these issues, a Memorandum of Understanding is being proposed, which outlines responsibilities for maintenance and establishes a payment-in-lieux-of-tax (PILOT) to be paid to the City. For the first two decades, this PILOT would be reinvested in the ISU Center, and then would gradually revert to the City. 
  
  Now (following an agreement reached regarding utility easements), Council is being asked to approve the proposed MOU (memorandum of understanding) regarding this PILOT. 
  
  
• 50. Ames Economic Development Commission.
  This is an annual report and contract renewal from the AEDC. No changes are proposed to the contract. Currently, the City funds the AEDC for business recruitment/marketing services ($115,000) and $60,000 for the City Business Development Coordinator.
  
  
• 51. Summary of Harrison Road Surplus Land Neighborhood Outreach Meeting for Housing Infill Options .
  In December of last year, Council heard a report from staff about housing infill opportunities in Ames. (Infill is a term describing redevelopment of existing areas of a city, rather than "greenfield" developments which typically expand the footprint of a city in order to provide additional housing.) In addition to several more substantially-sized privately-owned areas of town, one small (1.8 acre) City-owned property along Harrison Rd. was mentioned at that meeting. For that property, staff recommended starting with a public outreach meeting. An outreach meeting was held on April 11th, and staff are reporting back on that meeting and options for proceeding or not. Notices were sent to 112 property owners, and 15 people (representing 11 properties) attended the meeting. None were in favor of developing the site for housing. Those in attendance were shown several potential options for format and density of single-family housing (ranging from 5-12 residences) but they declined to note any preference between the options.
  
  
• 52. Request to Initiate a Zoning Text Amendment for Exception to Minimum FAR and Height Along Main Street.
  This was a request from the owners of Ames Silversmithing, who recently purchased the one-story at 218 Main St, and would like to renovate it. They are asking for an exception to the two-story building requirement on Main St. 
  
  
• 54. Planning Division Work Plan 2024.
  Staff in the Planning Department have listed the projects on their to-do list, one of which is a zoning overhaul. While helpful and needed, it is a big project and could delay related Council referrals. Staff are asking for Council's input on the timing of this project and others.

Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially.  This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.

• Residential energy audit.
• Downtown parking.
  
• CyTown emails 050624.
• CyTown March 122024.
• Pool demolition.
• Koshu delegates AIPCA.
• Highland Ave bike ped.
• Mowing hours.
• Dotson traffic concern.
  

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 1

Collection Procedures for Past Due Parking Tickets and Utility Accounts.

Bronwyn's Council Preview

 

YOU MAY VIEW THE MEETING ONLINE AT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
https://www.youtube.com/ameschannel12
https://www.cityofames.org/channel12
or watch the meeting live on Mediacom Channel 12

 

Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
TO REACH THE MAYOR AND ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL:
Send email to MayorCouncil@AmesCityCouncil.org
(Note that emails to elected officials are generally subject to Iowa Open Records requests)
 

AGENDA
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL

The Ames City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.   The regular council meeting agenda  includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.

• 36. Hearing on City of Ames Budget.
  This hearing is the next step in approving our adjusted current-year budget and the proposed FY '24/'25 budget. (As per a new state requirement, a special meeting of the Ames City Council was held for a public hearing on the budget on April 9th.)
  
  
• 38. Hearing on Baker Subdivision Multi-Family Housing Geothermal Installation.
  As part of the Baker Subdivision, the City had hoped to install geothermal systems in order to reduce energy needs and long-term utility costs. Geothermal systems have been prepared for the single-family style housing, but the bid for the multi-family geothermal system came in at more than twice the engineers estimate. To rebid the project with a new design would delay the project enough to jeopardize the LIHTC funding upon which it depends. Due to this, staff recommend rejecting the bid and forgoing the geothermal system for the multi-family development.
  
  
• 39. Hearing on sale of land at 321 State Avenue within the Baker Subdivision (now known as 3216 Tripp Street).
  We approved this item at our March 26th meeting, but the Iowa Finance Authority has certain requirements for publishing notices regarding this type of sale, so we are doing it again to ensure proper notice is published.
   
• 40. Hearing on amendment to Chapter 5 and Chapter 22 of Ames Municipal Code regarding Missing Infrastructure Requirements.
  This amendment would allow staff some flexibility in waiving our requirements to fill in missing infrastructure on a few specific non-residential unimproved streets in Ames. (Carnegie, Edison, Pullman, Freel, McCormick, Flemming, Cherry, and Sondrol) 
  
  
• 43. Collection Procedures for Past Due Parking Tickets and Utility Accounts.
  In January of this year, we directed staff to pursue these alternate methods for collecting unpaid parking tickets or utility bills. First, for parking tickets for Story County residents totaling more than $50, the Story County Treasurer can place a hold on vehicle registrations. For other State of Iowa residents, or for unpaid utility bills, the State has a setoff program administered by the Department of Revenue to collect funds via tax refund or casino/sports wagering winnings. 
  
  
• 40. First passage of Ordinance amending Chapter 28 of the Municipal Code establishing Geothermal Services and rules and charges therefore 
  This item deals with the geothermal system in place for the single-family lots at the Baker Subdivision. Electric Services will maintain the equipment for 50 years, after which point the responsibility for maintenance will switch to the homeowner.

Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially.  This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.

• Dayton Ave TIF.
  

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 1

 

 

 

Bike & Pedestrian Master Plan

Bronwyn's Council Preview

 

YOU MAY VIEW THE MEETING ONLINE AT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
https://www.youtube.com/ameschannel12
https://www.cityofames.org/channel12
or watch the meeting live on Mediacom Channel 12

 

Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
TO REACH THE MAYOR AND ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL:
Send email to MayorCouncil@AmesCityCouncil.org
(Note that emails to elected officials are generally subject to Iowa Open Records requests)
 

AGENDA
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL

The Ames City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.   The regular council meeting agenda  includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.

• 2. Second reading of Ordinance for the City-wide Designation of the Urban Revitalization Area (URA).
  This is the second reading of this ordinance. (The first reading was held at last week's meeting.) 
  
  
• 3. Bike & Pedestrian Master Plan Presentation.
  This workshop is primarily being held to review and discuss the City's progress to-date with the Bike/Ped Master Plan. Public input has been collected over the past few months, and staff, along w/ the consultant, Toole, will present the results of that input. Council will then have an opportunity for input of our own, before reviewing next steps.

Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially.  This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.

• Downtown design exception request text amendment. 
• Rezoning request.
  

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 1

 

 

 

Sidewalk Safety Program

Bronwyn's Council Preview

 

YOU MAY VIEW THE MEETING ONLINE AT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
https://www.youtube.com/ameschannel12
https://www.cityofames.org/channel12
or watch the meeting live on Mediacom Channel 12

 

Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
TO REACH THE MAYOR AND ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL:
Send email to MayorCouncil@AmesCityCouncil.org
(Note that emails to elected officials are generally subject to Iowa Open Records requests)
 

KHOI's Capitol Week

Ames Council News keeps you up to date on the actions of the Ames City council.  If you are interested in what is happening with government of the State of Iowa check out KHOI's Capitol Week. Laura Belin updates you on developments in Iowa government. Capitol Week is  an in-depth look at each week’s legislative actions, the governor, public agencies, and important events, as lawmakers act on matters that affect you and your family. 

AGENDA
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL

The Ames City Council special meeting is at 5:15 p.m. at City Hall.   Iowa Code section 24.2A requires a public hearing on the proposed property tax levy for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025. This property tax levy hearing must occur before holding a hearing on the proposed annual budget. This new requirement, approved during the 2023 legislative session, requires the property tax levy hearing to be the only item on the agenda.

• 1. Public Hearing Regarding the Proposed Property Tax Levy for Fiscal Year July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025.
  As part of a new State law in 2023, this public hearing is being held to hear thoughts on the proposed property tax levy. The City's proposed total levy is $10.09446 (per $1,000 of valuation). (This levy is down 1.04% from the prior levy of $10.20097.)

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL

The Ames City Council meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall.   The regular council meeting agenda  includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.

• 25. Staff Report on Sidewalk Safety Program
  Last year, it was determined that our sidewalk repair parameters needed review. Currently, sidewalk repair is the financial responsibility of the abutting property owner. It is a complaint-based (rather than proactive) system, and requires sidewalk to be replaced if it has gaps, cracks, etc. The staff proposal would update the size and number of gaps and cracks requiring attention. Council will also consider other factors, such as proactive enforcement and cost sharing.
  
  
• 26. Request for Accommodation for Kiwanis Trailer at 803 & 919 E. Lincoln Way
  This request is from the Ames Kiwanis, regarding a paper recycling drop-off semi trailer located between 803 and 919 E. Lincoln Way. A gravel driveway was added between the two properties without permits from the City, and the semi trailer is currently parked over the property line on this unauthorized driveway. The staff report outlines an option for an exception process overseen by the Zoning Board of Adjustments (ZBA), or the Kiwanis may yet reach an agreement with one of the property owners to park the trailer entirely on one property.
  
  
• 27. Plats of Survey for Rural Boundary Line Adjustments within Boone County
  Last year, Council received a request from a property owner to be allowed to subdivide property into parcels for estate planning purposes. At the time of the request, the property owner was amenable to a restriction to farming related purposes on all of the parcels but the one containing an existing farmhouse. Now the request is to allow the construction of one additional house, but restrict the remaining lots to farming purposes only.
  
  
• 28. Proposed 2024-29 Consolidated Plan Five Year Goals and 2024-25 Annual Action Plan Projects 
  Annual Action Plans and Consolidated 5-Year plans are both required of HUD (Dept of Housing and Urban Development) in order to receive federal CDBG dollars. This is a follow-up to a meeting on Feb 20, when staff held a workshop to collect feedback from Council and the public on the proposed goals and priorities of the 5-year plan.
  
  

Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially.  This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action.

• Yard waste exemption.
• Zoning adjustment.
  

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 1