Review: Telephonic Meeting
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Bronwyn's Council Review |
As usual for the review, my comments will be in red and italicized. This electronic meeting went fairly smoothly, we received some feedback mid-meeting via e-mail on the subject of which Commission/Council meetings to cancel, if any. Please see item 28 below for more information.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, City Hall is closed to the public through May 15th, 2020. Therefore, this will be a telephonic meeting. If you wish to provide input on any item, please call 515-239-5214 or email citycouncilmeetinginput@cityofames.org on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, beginning at the meeting start time of 6:00 p.m.
You may listen to the meeting live at:
First, some introductory remarks:
Remember the big topic from the last council meeting just two weeks ago? Yep, it was e-scooters. Things sure have changed.
Since then, the City has closed its facilities to the public, including City Hall, the Ames Public Library, the Municipal Swimming Pool, the Community Center gymnasium, the City Auditorium, and City Hall -- although designated staff continue to work in some facilities and the 24-hour Police Department lobby remains open. Non-critical programming and events have been canceled as well (Parks & Recreation classes, EcoFair, etc.) This is all being done with a singular focus in service to the City's mission to provide essential government services to Ames residents and businesses. These services include police and fire response, electrical service, our famous water supply, wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and others.
The City takes crisis preparation very seriously and has procedures in place to mobilize response to protect its mission, in collaboration with crucial partners including the Mary Greeley Medical Center, Story County Department of Public Health, Story County Supervisors, Iowa State University, and the Ames and Gilbert school districts. The goals of the City's COVID-19 Response Plan as developed by the City Manager's office are:
1) To slow the spread of an outbreak of the virus in our community by taking actions to assure that physical separation among our citizens is achieved so our medical systems are not overwhelmed.
2) To protect City employees from being exposed to the virus so that we can continue to provide essential government services by taking actions to mitigate the amount of contact between City employees and our citizens.
The City's focus on these goals explains the temporary reduction in services. I actually got a bit emotional at the library in the last hours before it closed when I saw our regular and faithful visitors together with an influx of families with their big stacks of books and found myself wishing we could make just one little exception. But it was necessary; closing the library and other facilities is a strategic decision to mitigate the impact on our medical systems when the pandemic curve results in multiple patients needing simultaneous treatment. Each City department is making decisions about how to provide its services in the context of those two main goals above.
Note that our outdoor City Parks are almost all open (Ada Hayden, Brookside, etc.) - only the Dog Park is closed. Even as we practice social (physical) distancing, it's important for people to get outside and stay active!
For more information on the City's COVID-19 measures and resources, visit https://www.cityofames.org/covid19. The Mayor and City Manager are working closely to keep the community informed through this web page, press releases, and their other communications.
The United Way of Story County is also maintaining a great compendium of information, including resources for those in need of some personal assistance as well as those would like to volunteer their time or make a donation to help others. See https://www.uwstory.org/covid-19-resources.
On to the Council meeting. Given the reduced capacity for robust discussion in a telephonic meeting, our agenda is smaller than normal. The items include:
- 16. Hearing on Major Site Development Plan for 901 North 4th Street (Metronet). MetroNet has located a site that can house both networking equipment and a communication tower with antennas for television signal reception on N. 4th Street near the railroad tracks in an HOC (Highway-Oriented Commercial) zone. This is part of MetroNet's planned fiber-to-the-premises Internet service. As part of the requirements for this use, MetroNet is submitting a Major Site Development Plan for Council approval. If Council approves the request, then they will also need to obtain a Special Use Permit from the Zoning Board of Adjustment for their approximately 70-foot antenna structure.
Alert readers will remember that MetroNet previously proposed a similar use for the City-owned pump house at 1420 Lincoln Way. While Council agreed in January to sell the property to them in principle, we did not approve a tower on this site and we have not actually completed this sale. MetroNet appears to find the N. 4th Street location preferable. - There were no public objections to this new proposed location, and this item passed with a vote of 5-0-1. (Gartin abstained due to a potential conflict of interest.) One thing to note, prior to the meeting, the property owner posed a question about a parking easement and a remote parking arrangement, which Council moved to put on a future agenda for discussion. The motion to place the parking discussion on a future agenda passed 6-0.
- 22. Hearing on 2019/20 Asphalt Street Pavement Improvements (14th and 15th Street). Portions of these streets are to be repaved between Clark and Duff. During the February 25 meeting, Council directed the project to achieve pedestrian connectivity on at least one side of 14th Street and one side of 15th Street (which do not currently have sidewalk continuity). However, property owners immediately adjacent to the project area are adamantly opposed to the construction of sidewalks and want to address Council on this during public hearing. Given the need to minimize large gatherings and the fact that telephonic council meetings are generally harder than in-person or video meetings, staff is recommending that Council only accept the report of bids at this meeting and not complete a public hearing or award a contract for construction at this time. Since the bids are good for sixty days, the required public hearing and award of bid for this project can occur at a later date. Sounds like a good recommendation to me.
- Council followed the staff recommendation on this item, accepting the report of bids but not awarding a contract at this time, with a vote of 6-0. This will allow time for input as requested by some of the neighbors in this area.
- 28. Staff Report on City Council and Board/Commission meetings under the COVID-19 Emergency. As the staff report states: "With the COVID-19 pandemic upon us, it brings into question if, or how, we intend to conduct future City Council and Boards/Commission meetings through this emergency." Our Municipal Code and Iowa law require certain meetings and public hearings in order to conduct business in the usual way, so canceling all meetings would add to the disruption. For those meetings that continue, does Council recommend using a video meeting platform or some other approach?
- Council recommended that Commission meetings might continue electronically, and that each Commission/Board Chairperson could reach out to their board members to gauge ability to conduct electronic meetings. Council also expressed interest in continuing to meet electronically, though sensitive or controversial topics will be avoided until in-person feedback can resume. Staff will examine the feasibility of conducting some Council workshops electronically, and Council will decide later on which workshops might continue on-line. The feedback we received encouraged Council to continue to meet electronically, and also continue to allow for public input via phone or e-mail (as we did for this meeting).
Non-Agenda Packet: None this week!
Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, At Large