Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen's Council Preview

The Ames City Council begins at 6:00 PM.  The agenda includes:
 

• 26. Resolution approving South Duff Access Safety Improvements Project.
  ​The City has several improvements planned for South Duff between S 5th St. and the Squaw Creek bridge. 
  • Raised median
  • Stoplight at Southpoint Centre drive
  • Access road on the East side of South Duff (still being negotiated with Walmart and neighboring businesses)
    
    The City is also pursuing a three party cost-sharing agreement for the improvements, which would include the City, Hunziker Development, and Walmart. (After DOT grants of $850K, costs to be shared by aforementioned three parties would be approximately $250K.)
    
    Council is being asked to approve survey and final design costs for the engineering consultant (CGA). The design of the project alone will cost around $87K (split three ways), but will give more accurate cost estimates for construction and hopefully allow bidding to proceed in late summer. 

• 27. 3599 George Washington Carver Avenue rezoning.
  Hunziker Christy Shirk Builders, Inc is requesting a rezone of their recently annexed property at 3599 GW Carver from Agricultural to Planned Residential (PRD). Planning and Zoning recommended approval 6-0, and staff recommend approval if the developer agrees to putting sidewalks on both sides of their private street. 
  
• 29 & 30. Sale of City-owned property at 1125 Maxwell Avenue and 306 Wellons
  Staff recommends the public hearings on the sale of two properties (1125 Maxwell and 306 Wellons) be opened on July 12th, and continued to a later date. This allows additional time for staff to arrange the agreements.
• 31. Staff update on Urban Deer Management Program.​
  Because of concerns about urban deer, the city has allowed limited hunting in the city limits by specially licensed hunters. Hunting is only allowed on properties of 3 or more acres, and the neighboring property owners must consent. In past years a few wooded/agricultural tracts were approved for hunting, and no residential properties were approved for hunting in 2015. In 2015, 25 tags were purchased, with a total harvest of 15 deer. 5 of the 6 Special Urban Deer Task Force members recommended continuing with our current system of urban deer hunting, while 1 of the members felt the hunting unnecessary and unhelpful in controlling the deer population. Staff recommends the following locations for urban deer hunting:
  • Wooded City property south of Hunziker Sports Complex
  • City property north of landfill off Watt St.
  • South River Valley Park
  • Gateway Park (west timber area)
  • Homewood Golf Course
  • Inis Grove Park
  • Any other areas meeting criteria upon request from property owner (and requiring consent of neighbors)
    ​
• Why you should watch until the end: Often, the most important topics of the meetings aren’t on the agenda, but rather come in our “non-agenda packet”. This includes letters from citizens, memos from staff, requests from developers, etc., and is how select items eventually get placed on the agenda. ​​If Council feels an idea has enough merit, suggestions brought forth in this way are usually referred to staff during Council Comments, the last thing on the agenda before adjournment. This is an interesting and important piece of the Council meetings, but often gets overlooked due to its placement on the agenda and meeting fatigue. Our non-agenda packet this week includes the following:
  • A request from Café Beaudelaire to redefine their outdoor service area, potentially adding a seating deck on the parking in front of their entrance
  • A memo from staff recommending that Council initiate a text amendment to allow for clubhouses in medium density zoning. (Currently allowed only in high density)
  • A memo from staff reporting back on a request from Hunziker Companies to create a minor amendment process for Major Site Development Plans
  • A proposal to bring a 110 room hotel to the 2700 block of Lincoln Way, which would require reducing parking requirements to one stall for every two rooms. (The standard is currently one parking stall per room.)
  • The developer at Quarry Estates is asking for Council to approve geothermal wells being put under the conservation easement, meant to buffer the lake and park from residential development.

Thanks for reading,

Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen

City Council At-Large

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