Bronwyn's Council Review

As usual for the review, my comments are red and italicized in the context of the latest Council Preview by David Martin.
 

The Ames City Council meets on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. on Zoom.  The agenda includes:
 

• 31. Resolution Approving the Composition of the Ames Climate Action Planning Community Input Task Force. The Mayor and Council are counting on robust community input to help guide and inform the development of our Climate Action Plan. In this agenda item, staff proposes that we appoint a task force of community members to reach and represent distinct sectors of interest and expertise, including business, non-profit organizations, faith organizations, students, and others. The process would be similar to our Boards and Commissions appointments, in that interested people would fill out applications, the Mayor would nominate individuals, and the Council would then vote on approval. An important part of the task force is that each of its members would chair regular meetings with others in their sector, separately from the full task force meetings. 
  
  After a presentation by staff, and feedback (including feedback received via e-mail prior to the meeting), Council recommended a few tweaks to the task force. For one, this group's role will be primarily that of a sounding board and collector of input, rather than a decision-making body, so it was suggested to call it something along the lines of "Supplementary Input Committee" rather than "Task Force". Second, a number of the responses Council received on this topic recommended including a greater number of students or young people in general. Finally, Council was also supportive of changing the bullet called "other" to a better term describing the underrepresented populations we seek to engage. Based on these recommendations, staff will finalize the composition of the committee and bring it back to Council for final approval.
  
  (video)
• 32. State Reinvestment District Incentive Pre-Application. The City's pre-application for the Iowa Reinvestment District is ready to be sent this week, assuming Council approval. If the Iowa Economic Development Authority then approves our pre-application, then we'll have almost another year to work with them to finalize the application. If the final application is also approved, then the state will divert a portion of new retail sales and hotel/motel tax receipts within the designated downtown area back to the City over 20 years, and we'll use those funds to help pay off the proposed aquatic center on Lincoln Way across from the Department of Transportation. The map below shows the area in green where we propose to capture new sales and hotel/motel taxes and the location of projects currently being considered there.
  
  
  
  The effect of a Reinvestment District award is comparable to a grant that's paid in installments, but since it's actually just a portion of tax receipts, the size of the grant will be limited by the actual amount of new sales and hotel/motel tax generated in this area. It looks like the award would amount to somewhere between $21 million and... $0. That's because the City only gets revenue when there is successful economic development, that is, with paying customers.  And our reinvestment revenues are limited to new tax receipts. So, for example, the City wouldn't receive any revenue on sales tax from the existing yogurt shop even though it's within the district boundaries. So what might these new businesses be? The largest in sight is a proposed mixed-use development on Lincoln Way between Clark and Kellogg including a hotel, conference space, restaurants, retail, and office space, pictured below. 
  
  
  
  Even so, Council approval and City submission of this Reinvestment District pre-application wouldn't commit any private developer to build exactly this or that. The projects envisioned are likely to change and we'll get a fuller picture of the overall finances in the coming year, including probable developer requests for significant public financial support. So the immediate question for Council, in my mind, is simply this: do the possible future revenues still look good enough to send in this pre-application? Our City Manager recommends it. If the pre-application is approved, there will be many more issues to tackle. 
  
  As David mentioned above, the pre-application is merely the first step of several that will need to align in order for this Reinvestment District to do what we hope it can. If successful, it could help us in funding the new indoor pool/aquatic center, an amenity which will be sorely needed once the current municipal pool located at the High School is demolished. Council voted 6-0 to submit the pre-application as recommended by staff.
  
  (video)
• 33. Urban Revitalization Area Annual Report. Urban Revitalization Areas (URAs) allow for tax exemptions on the value of property improvements if the applicant meets additional criteria set by the City. For example, the URA for 415 Stanton (The Crawford) requires that "The original school structure will remain, and historic materials will be preserved or adaptively reused when possible," among other things. This agenda item compares five applications for URA property tax exemptions against the relevant criteria. The City Manager recommends approval, assuming that one currently incomplete application is completed prior to the Council meeting.
  
  This report was received with no questions from Council, and accepted 6-0.
• (video)
• 37. Hearing on Zoning Text Amendment to the Downtown Service Center Zoning District to Reduce the Number of Vehicle Parking Spaces Required for Apartment Use. Council considered relaxing parking requirements for downtown medium-size residential developments in December and voted to ask staff to prepare an update to our zoning ordinance for it. This agenda item is the first reading of the new ordinance.
  
  This first reading to amend the Downtown Service Center zone requiring fewer parking spaces for small to medium sized residential developments passed 6-0.
  
  

   

  (video)

Communications to Council: The following items are requests and communications to Council that aren't published on the agenda, so we won't deliberate them substantially.  This includes staff reports and communications or requests from constituents and developers. Typically, Council will ask city staff for more information, put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication, taking no further action. 

(video)
 

• Campustown Bars Violations. "Since January 2021, the Police Department has noticed a troubling trend and lack of due diligence to keep underage individuals out of Campustown bars. The following is a list of citations issued since January 1st... The City Council has the authority to initiate the license revocation or suspension process if excessive violations occur; however, the Police Department is not yet recommending that step."

• Transformer Art.  "In response to City Council’s direction, the Public Art Commission (PAC) has investigated options for painting or wrapping electrical transformers in the Downtown area."

COUNCIL COMMENTS:  (video)
During Council Comments, Council voted 6-0 to direct staff to remove any instances of the word "squaw" from roads, parks, and maps in Ames, in response to the US Board of Geographic Names approving the change of the creek running through town to "Ioway Creek".

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, Ward 3