Dan DeGeest's Council Review

Hello Friends,

I was out of town for work this week and unable to attend the City Council meeting.  I did have several friends in attendance who reported it was a full house thanks to several big items on the agenda including a discussion about the redevelopment of the Old Middle School property on State Street.  I have reviewed the video of the meeting and have added some comments to the issues below.

Please read below for comments and voting results and as always, thanks for reading.

Dan DeGeest>>

The regular meeting of the Ames City Council for January 10th, 2017. The agenda included:

• 23. Motion directing staff regarding amount to make available for Outside Funding Requests in FY2017/18.
  At a recent meeting, Council was asked to provide direction to staff regarding outside funding requests. (Examples include Main St. Cultural District, Campustown Action Association, and the Ames Historical Society) Council wanted more information on MSCD’s request for a 77% increase in funding. Staff report back that MSCD plans to use this additional funding for more lights ($20K) and beautification.
  I like the lights on Main Street.  They look nice and add visual interest to the area.  But it would be difficult to approve a request for a 77% funding increase when there have been so many debates about increases of just 1% for other worthy recipients.
  Motion to approve funding requests with a 6% increase ($145,114) passed 6-0.
  Council agreed to look at funding the lights on Main Street from the contingency fund as was done last year in the amount of $20K.

• 24. Trinitas annexation. Motion referring Petition for Voluntary Annexation to Planning & Housing Commission and motion directing staff to negotiate terms of development agreement.
  A development company called Trinitas is hoping to develop an 800 bed student housing development on the west edge of Ames. There are two decisions to be made at Tuesday’s meeting. First, this land is not currently in the city, so annexation would be required to proceed. The second issue is whether or not to pursue a pre-annexation development agreement. This area is underserved in several ways, and such a development would require improvements to Lincoln Way, a shared use path into town, water main extensions, sanitary sewer, storm water improvements, and this area isn’t currently served by CyRide. The City Manager recommends proceeding with annexation and a development agreement to answer the many needs required to serve that area.
  I don't know about you, but I'd have to think that adding 800 beds of student rental property on the fringe of Ames that is not serviced by City utilities or Cy-Ride would have to be one of the lowest development priorities in Ames.  I don't understand the trend to move students further and further away from Campus where they spend the bulk of their time while living in Ames.  There are already two other large student rental projects (Breckenridge and 2700 block) moving forward on Lincoln Way, is this really the best project for this new land that will be annexed in to the City?
  Motion referring Petition for Voluntary Annexation to Planning and Housing Commission passed 5-1 (Beatty-Hansen NO)
  Motion directing staff to negotiate terms of Development Agreement passed 6-0
  

• 25. Staff Report on 321 State (Old Middle School site) Development Options.
  In June, Council directed staff to seek a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area designation from the federal Housing and Urban Development department. The NRSA designation was recently approved, so the city can now proceed with planning for the development of this property. Staff are now presenting six items which need further clarification, after which staff will develop an RFP. The City's goal is for finished houses by 2018.

              1. Should City serve as developer, or partner with a master developer? Staff advise against City serving as the developer of the subdivision.

              2. For development, which financial incentives should be offered?

              3. What percentage of homes should be for low and moderate incomes? Current requirement is 51%, should City set a higher goal?

              4. What is Council’s preference as to ownership vs. rental in the development?

              5. What building types should be allowed? (Only single family houses vs. multi family units, etc.)

              6. Should the City incorporate any open space in the development? This is a new issue, and is being proposed because of the impending purchase of Franklin Park. The suggestion in the staff report is that the city could use the current Franklin Park for medium density affordable housing, while transferring the open space from the current park to 321 State St. 
  This was the hot issue for the evening.  We have been talking about this piece of land for years now.  During the election it was on everyone's, including mine, campaign platform.  The land is secured and the HUD requirements are in place - it's show time.  Are we going to do something really unique here while providing housing opportunities for low income residents or is this going to just be another run of the mill development?
  There were many people on hand to provide comments and ideas and a particular sticking point appears to be around if rental properties should be allowed.  It's too bad that renting has been so stigmatized in Ames.  I went to school here, I get it.  Many students want a place that is cheap and honestly don't care that much if it is a dump.  They are not planning to live there long term.  This becomes a vicious cycle with renters that don't really care and landlords with no incentive to maintain their properties beyond the bare minimum.  But, renting is a legitimate housing model for young families, young professionals, and lower income people who can't afford to, or because of job security or other reasons do not want to buy a home.  Forcing this development to be 100% owner occupied would immediately disqualify a lot of the people who need these housing options and should be benefiting from the use of these CDBG funds.  In the end Council elected to allow the developer to propose the mix of rental and owner occupied housing.
  Motion to target 60% minimum low income housing passed 5-1 (Betcher NO)

• 26. Resolution authorizing Mayor to sign the Real Estate Purchase Agreement and Sales Contract with Iowa State University to purchase property at 201 S. Franklin Avenue (aka Franklin Park) in connection with the Citys CDBG State Avenue Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area (NRSA).
  At a recent council meeting, it was revealed that ISU is not interested in renewing leases on a few properties currently leased by the City for parks. One such property is Franklin Park, and the City is planning to buy this property from ISU.
  ISU is no longer interested in owning this property and is giving the City the first opportunity to purchase it.   The City is very interested and wants to move quickly as this park is critical for this area of the City with it's close proximity the Old Middle School development previously discussed and a shared use path project from the LRTP planned to be completed in the next 5 years.
  Motion to authorize purchase passed 6-0

• 27. 2016/17 U. S. Highway 69 Improvements Program (South Duff Avenue Traffic Signal).
  In October, Council approved plans and specs for improvements to South Duff/Hwy 69, including a traffic signal and raised median. While plans and specs were approved at that time, Council delayed awarding the bid until a funding arrangement could be reached with Wal-Mart and Hunziker Co. If all parties sign the necessary agreements by January 10th, then staff recommend Council award the bid and move forward on this project. If, however, any of the parties haven’t signed by 1/10/17, then staff recommend Council reject the bid.
  Tabled until the January 24th meeting since funding agreements are still not signed by all parties.

• 28. Staff Report regarding Long-Range Transportation Plan to implement bike route/park trail connections.
  One of the goals of the Ames City Council is to “Encourage Healthy Lifestyles”, and several of the specific tasks related to that goal involve our bike path and park trail system. Staff have included in this report a list of state/federal/private funding sources available for trails, a map of our current trail system (showing gaps needing connection), and a five year plan to complete these connections.
  No action was taken here as this was just a report.  The City has agreed to increase funding for building out our shared use paths and trails.  In addition to more money being allocated the big shift is addressing our trails as a transportation network, just like our roads, and targeting projects that will close gaps in the routes.
  

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