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Bronwyn's Council Preview |
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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.
- 26. Energy Audit for City of Ames buildings.
One of the first implementation steps of the City's Climate Action Plan involves retrofitting municipal buildings. This agenda item involves hiring a consultant to help us determine which projects on City buildings can provide the most climate value for the cost. - 27. Resolution approving the reallocation of $11,250 towards Homelessness Outreach.
Recently, Council had allocated $15k to go towards convening service providers and also conducting outreach with homeless populations. The City is now suggesting moving forward with an outreach team that consists of ARCH (Alternative Resources for Community Health), the Ames PD Mental Health Advocate, and a Mary Greeley Medical Center social worker. The $11,250 remaining from the original $15,000 will be directed to this purpose. - 28. Staff Report on Community-wide Inclusion Plan Models.
Staff have provided a review of other communities approaches to inclusion plans. At this time, staff recommend continuing to work on fostering deeper connections with underrepresented populations, but they suggest that hiring a consultant to do a further Study or Plan may not be needed at this time. - 29. Request for Initiation of Voluntary Annexation Within North Ames of Multiple Properties Generally Between George W. Carver Avenue and Hyde Avenue.
A large piece of land north of Ames is now requesting annexation, and Council will be asked to decide if the City should also pursue annexing non-consenting land as part of an "80/20" annexation. (In Iowa, up to 20% non-consenting property can be annexed as part of an annexation to prevent the creation of islands of county property within a City, and for uniform borders.)
- 30. Workiva Economic Development Agreement Employment Calculation.
In 2013, the State of Iowa and the City of Ames provided an incentive to Workiva on the condition that they would create 700 jobs. Workiva is reporting the creation of 164 jobs within the state, well short of their initial pledge of 700. The original agreement with the City said jobs "in Ames", but Council is being asked to consider all jobs created within the state toward this total. Given this shortfall, Workiva will pay back $1.42 million in previously abated tax. - 31. Animal Shelter Relocation Project Update.
This is a very exciting development in the City's need for an updated Animal Control facility. Staff learned late last year that the former Eagle's Loft daycare building (north on Dayton) might be available for purchase. This building and site have a lot of potential, so a design consultant will provide an estimate to Council within the next month on the cost and process to relocate the Animal Shelter to this site. - 33. Hearing on Text Amendments to Chapter 23 Conservation Subdivision Ordinance.
Back in November, Council directed staff to bring back changes to the the ordinance that governs development in the Ada Hayden watershed. Most notably, a requirement for 80% of lots in a given development to abut open space was removed and the requirement for set-aside open space in developments was reduced from 25% to 10%. Staff recommend adding some language requiring stormwater management practices that reduce certain pollutants before they flow into Ada Hayden. - 38. Resource Recovery and Recycling Campus Location Updates.
Ames is moving forward with a plan to decommission the current Resource Recovery plant, and build a waste sorting, recycling, and transfer center. A few potential locations are listed by staff, and Council is being asked to consider them or suggest any other potential locations to pursue.
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.
Ames City Council, Ward 1
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
