Dan DeGeest's Council Review

Greetings All:

The June 28th meeting was pretty cut and dry and shaped up to be one of the shorter meetings in recent months ending before 8PM.  Most of the agenda was fairly procedural with very little discussion and recommended items passed unanimously.  Interestingly, the most spirited discussions took place at the end during Council Comments when the recent display of the Confederate Flag during the Main Street Cultural District Bike Night (read more at the Iowa State Daily and Iowa Informer) and the efforts by the City of Ames and the Ames Community School District to build new swimming pool(s) were addressed.

The Ames City Council review for June 28, 2016.  The agenda included:

• 26. Scenic Valley Subdivision, 2nd Addition.
  The first addition of this subdivision was approved in 2014. The preliminary plat for this area included two conditions, one involving street lighting and the other involving an easement to protect trees and slopes. Staff is recommending approval, as they believe these conditions have been met.
  Motion Approving passed 6-0
• 27. 896-500th Avenue (Crane Farm Subdivision). Development Agreement and Final Plat.
  If a development occurs within an allowable growth area, the city may pay for “oversizing”, increases in infrastructure over and above the needs for the development, which may be needed for further future developments. This property involves an extension of Mortensen Ave, a CyRide turnaround, and improvements to 500th Ave. Staff estimates a third of the improvements could be considered “oversizing”. The City can chose to take on the costs of extending Mortensen and Wilder, or to pay for separate additional infrastructure equal to the oversizing costs. Staff is recommending the developer pay for the extension of Mortensen and Wilder, and the City will assume the responsibility for a shared-use path along Mortensen. 
  Motions Approving Development Agreement and Final Plat passed 6-0
• 28. Hearing on rezoning of property located at 104 South Hazel Avenue from Government/Airport District (S-GA) to Neighborhood Commercial (NC).
  The property at 104 S Hazel had been used for Story County Community Life services, but these services are now being provided through a third party, Optimae. Because the County is no longer using the property, they wish to sell it. Staff is recommending a change in zoning to Neighborhood Commercial (NC). Planning and zoning voted 6-1 to rezone to Neighborhood Commercial. The County has indicated that they’re willing to consider contract rezoning to limit uses of the property to office and social service providing. 
  Motion to Rezone to Neighborhood Commercial (NC) with Contract passed 6-0
• 29. Hearing on Vacation of Roadway Preservation Easement at 3599 George Washington Carver Avenue (Scenic Point Subdivision).
   At the May 10th Council meeting, a vacation of the easement at 3599 George Washington Carver was referred to staff. The developer is asking for a release from their easement, as the road it was secured for is no longer in the LRTP. If growth to the north continues at its current pace, it may be that this road will come back to the LRTP in future years. 
  Motion to Vacate Easemant Passes 6-0
• 35. Progress Report from Sustainability Coordinator regarding FY 2015-16 activities.
  In 2010, the City and ISU agreed to share the services of the Director of Sustainability. Initially, this partnership was focused on lessening electric consumption, but the scope of services for this position has expanded, and now includes topics such as waste stream, Smart Business program, education and outreach, and data management. Staff recommend a continuation of the contract, for a City investment of $25K annually.
  Burning our trash we process at the Resource Recovery Plant is not recycling.  Turning our trash into fuel for the power plant is landfill diversion and in that context it is very successful. However, I often get frustrated that people get the wrong idea that because we burn our waste there is no incentive to recycle. That simply is not the case and taking measures to recycle more and reduce our overall waste stream are still important.  If you dig into it, you will find that the electricity produced by refused derived fuel (RDF) is actually more expensive than simply buying that energy on the open market.
  
  One of  the efforts undertaken in this partnership was to see if and how our waste stream could be enhanced to improve the quality of the RDF produced.  An audit was performed (folks hand sorted through our garbage) and a few key things were discovered.  First, the amount of glass in the waste stream is low, which indicates glass recycling programs are working.  This is good because glass is very hard to mechanically sort out and over time fouls the RDF system as it melts and builds up.  Second, the trash was very wet with organic material, which helps to support the idea of adding a composting component to our City waste services.  Not only is this organic material non-combustible, but it also ruins other normally good RDF materials like paper.
  
  I encourage everyone to use less and recycle more but do take some comfort in the fact that the City is proactive in dealing as efficiently as possible with the waste we do generate.
  Motion to continue funding the contract passed 6-0
• 36. Staff Report on Artspace Consulting.
  ArtSpace, of Minneapolis, is a non-profit company that focuses on providing affordable live/work space for artists. They have two models in which they help communities. First, if they are expected to develop a property, there is a $25K prelim visit, a $30K market study, followed by $600-$900K of city investment to assist ArtSpace in due diligence and planning if they commit to a project. Their second model is consulting only, and would run around $20K. It may be worth examining other Iowa communities which have taken advantage of their services, such as Council Bluffs or Dubuque. 

  Our fellow residents that make at or below the area median income (AMI) deserve access to good quality housing and the City has an opportunity to help facilitate that goal.  ArtSpace is a non-profit, affordable housing developer that creates live/work housing for artists using an array of available tax credits and creative funding sources.  While not exclusively for artists, they have found that mixing the arts into an affordable housing development greatly improves the overall outcome for residents.  It would be a creative approach to a long-standing problem.
  
  However, some on Council were hesitant and had concerns that the City seeking out a developer is not how development is done in Ames.  But isn't that the point? We need creative ideas, not necessarily just keep doing things the same way.  The City completed its RFP process once already on the 6th St. properties it owns and has set aside for affordable housing and it failed to produce a project.
  
  To be creative, Council needs to be ready to take a chance and try something new, think outside the proverbial box.  Is there a chance that ArtSpace would not work out in Ames? Yes!  Is there a chance it would produce the most amazing affordable housing development ever completed in Ames, Yes!  Will we find out if we don't try?  No!
  
  Further concerns were raised about ArtSpace expecting financial assistance from the City, but guess what, we do this routinely all the time; it's called a tax abatement.  We have doled out millions in tax abatements to commercial, for profit, developers over the years.  Why would it be so concerning that a non-profit, building thoughtful, targeted, affordable housing - housing that is already heavily subsidized from various sources - would expect the City that will benefit from the multi-million dollar development to have some financial role in the project?
  
  ArtSpace may end up not being the best fit, but refusing to try new things, break the status quo, or alas, set a new precedent is not the creative leadership that will help solve this and other challenges we face in Ames.
  Motion to have staff contact other Cities in Iowa that have worked with ArtSpace passed 6-0

Thanks for reading,

Dan DeGeest>>