Policing in Ames: “A Path Forward”
Meeting Date:
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
 |
David's Council Preview |
https://www.youtube.com/ameschannel12
https://www.cityofames.org/channel12
or watch the meeting live on Mediacom Channel 12
Usually some of the agenda items will have a period where members of the public may briefly speak to council.
TO OTHERWISE 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)
The Ames City Council meets on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. on Zoom. This agenda includes:
- 18. Final decision on Policing in Ames: “A Path Forward”. On September 29, Council received the City Manager's Report on Policing in Ames. The report covers themes including organizational culture, police officer recruitment and selection, police officer training, department policies, City ordinances and State law, transparency of records, accountability in complaint handling and discipline, communication, and funding, and it makes 21 different recommendations across these nine themes. In this meeting, Council is being asked to make motions directing staff to implement the desired recommendations. Given that we already received public input on these topics during our September meeting (minutes available here), if you'd like to provide further comments to Council, I strongly recommend that you contact us by email (address above).
- 19. Discussion of whether to extend the expiration of the Face-Covering Ordinance. The City's face-covering ordinance is set to expire on December 31. Given that it usually takes three different council meetings to revise an ordinance, our City Attorney is advising us to decide whether to set the process of updating the expiration date in motion now. We also received substantial public input on the subject of this ordinance in September (minutes available here), so if you'd like to provide further comments to Council, I strongly recommend that you contact us by email (address above).
- 21. Solar Farm Electrical Permit. It turns out that our Electric Utility's connection fees don't make much sense when it comes to large solar arrays like Ames's SunSmart Community Solar Farm. In this item, Council is being asked to create a new permitting rate for large installations. If we adopt staff's recommendation, then the permitting fees for this project will drop from $35,116.90 to $12,742.85.
- 22. Resolution accepting transfer of Miracle League Field and Inclusive Playground from Ames Foundation to the City of Ames. This amazing project raised some $2,000,000 in private donations to build a highly accessible playground and ball field for people of all ages and abilities as a gift to the community. In this item, the Council is being asked to receive the outright donation of this brand-new park to the Ames Park and Recreation system for stewardship and maintenance from now on. I can't get over how awesome this is. The ribbon-cutting for the new park is scheduled for Thursday, November 19 - see event details here.
Non-Agenda Packet: The following items are requests and communications to the council that are not on the agenda for full discussion. This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically the council will ask city staff for more information (a memo), put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action. Council generally processes these requests and communications during the agenda portion called "Disposition of Communications to Council."
- Derecho Summary. This report details the August 10 derecho's impacts on the city, lessons learned, and next steps. Highly recommended reading.
- ASSET funding priorities. This memo reminds Council of our current list of ASSET funding priorities, in case we decide to revisit them as suggested in Policing Recommendation #21.
- Human Relations Commission memo on Policing. Council asked the City's Human Relations Commission to comment on the Policing report.
- Achievement Gap. This memo identifies ways that the Mayor and Council could assist the Ames Community School District in its effort to close the achievement gap.
- Freddy's Parking. The requester asks Council to reserve metered spaces on Lincoln Way for delivery and mobile order pick-up.
- Downtown Parking. The requester asks Council to consider altering parking requirements for downtown development.
- Council Meeting Schedule. This memo sets out the schedule of Council meetings through the end of 2021.
Thanks for reading,
David Martin
Ames City Council, Ward 3