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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)
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL
CALL TO ORDER: 5:15 p.m.
- 1. Public Hearing regarding Proposed Property Tax Levy for Fiscal Year July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027.
This required public hearing is for input related to our tax levy. The attached document describes the school, city, and county tax rates. The City of Ames levy will be 10.27 for general (non-ag) properties, down slightly from last year's levy of 10.30. The City's total levy of 10.27 goes towards a few different levies, including the general levy, transit levy, and debt service levy. This year, both the general and transit levies will see a small decrease (to land at 6.26 and .59 respectively), while the debt service levy is up slightly from 3.32 to 3.42.
MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL
This Ames City Council meeting is at 6:00 at City Hall. The 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.
- 39. Discussion on City Attorney job description and hiring timeline (tabled from March 10, 2026, meeting).
Copied from the last meeting: The current City Attorney has announced his upcoming retirement. Since this is one of two positions hired and overseen by the City Council (the other being the City Manager), Council is receiving a report from the HR Director about the City's process for filling this position. The application will be available starting on May 1st, with interviews and the selection process hopefully yielding a final candidate by the end of summer. - 40.Staff Report on Ironwood Estates request for woodlot restoration of Iowa DOT Property.
This staff report is in response to a request from the Ironwood Estates Homeowners Association to replant vegetation as a buffer between their properties and Hwy 30. Brush (mostly invasive) had been cleared for needed electrical work, and the neighbors are requesting the City seek grant funding to replant native vegetation in its place. - 41. Resolution approving the expansion and/or establishment of Park Boundaries.
This resolution would bring any greenways and other unspecified natural areas which are City property and right-of-way into the Parks system. Currently, these areas are public property but are not specifically governed by municipal code. - 42. Resolution approving staining or receiving a credit for the Precast Concrete Panels of the Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center.
This agenda item relates to the appearance of the concrete panels adorning the outside of the Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center. The concrete panels were supposed to have a uniform color of gray, but instead appear somewhat blotchy. Council is being asked to decide if we should attempt to stain them, or leave them as they are and take a credit of $52,000. - 45. Award of contracts for Resource Recovery and Recycling Campus.
At our last meeting, Council delayed the award of bids for the R3C to give staff more time to investigate some of the bid amounts compared to the estimates.
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
