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Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to Council.
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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.
- 29. Resolution approving plans and specifications for Mini Pitch Court at Lloyd Kurtz Park (3710 Hyde Ave), setting October 23, 2024, as bid due date and November 12, 2024, as date of public hearing.
A mini pitch court is a hard-surfaced, fenced in court for a variant of soccer called futsal. In February of 2024, Council directed staff to fund the installation of one mini-pitch court at Lloyd Kurtz Park at an estimated cost of $192,000 using the $150k of originally allocated funding plus $42k found in cost-savings from other parks projects. Now the estimated cost of the mini-pitch court and associated infrastructure is $338,401. Council is being asked whether to proceed with the installation, and how to fund the difference. Cost-savings from a handful of other completed Parks projects could cover some of the difference, getting us to $260,960 of the needed $338,401. - 30. Request to Waive Infrastructure Requirements for Dayton Ridge Subdivision located within Rural Story County.
This is a request from a property owner north of Ames on Dayton Ridge Parkway to divide their lot into 4 lots for rural residential development. They are seeking a waiver so they aren't required to install City-level infrastructure (paved roads with curb and gutter, sewer, etc.). This area is already designated as rural residential by Story County, and it isn't in a growth area of Ames, so staff recommend approving a conditional waiver. - 31. Major Site Development Plan Within the Environmentally Sensitive Overlay at 1205 and 1399 S. Dayton Avenue.
This Major Site Development Plan is being done after-the-fact. The owners of the property enlarged the pond (pictured below) without seeking any permits, even though it lies within the river's floodway and thus is subject to certain requirements. Upon review by staff and the engineers who enlarged the pond, it appears that all the requirements for approval of a Major Site Development Plan have been met, so staff recommend approval, but asked the property owners to please seek permits before doing work in the floodway.
- 33. Hearing on Assessments for Snow/Ice Removal.
After a snowfall, property owners have 10 daylight hours to remove accumulated snow/ice. If they fail to clear the snow and someone complains, the property owner is notified and given 24 hours more to clear the snow before the City will clear it for them and charge them. Some property owners then pay the charge, but others may not. In these cases, the cost of the service is assessed to the property owner. Council is being asked to approve a resolution assessing 4 properties the costs of snow and ice removal on January 25th and 27th, 2024. - 34. Hearing on Assessments for Sidewalk Repair/Replacement.
Similarly to snow and ice removal, sidewalk repairs are the responsibility of property owners in Ames. If the City receives a complaint about a sidewalk needing repairs, the property owner is notified and given a period of time to bring their sidewalk into compliance. If they don't, the City then hires the work done and may assess the charges back to the property owner. Because this work can be costly, city staff recommending spreading the payback period over 10 years.
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.
Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 1
