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 at City Hall.  The agenda includes:
 

• 3. Discussion of correction to information provided previously regarding number of signatures needed for reverse referendum pertaining to the Indoor Aquatic Center bonds. Due to a miscommunication with the City's outside bond attorney, the number of petition signatures needed to trigger a public vote on authorization of URA bonds for the indoor aquatic center was previously misreported; this agenda item corrects that. Our current understanding is that a petition would require 477 eligible signatures to trigger a public vote, based on voting in the November 2019 election. 
  
  This item was informational only, and didn't require a vote.
• 4. Resolution approving partial repayment to Iowa Department of Transportation for a portion of the RISE grant awarded to the City of Ames to help fund roadway and utility improvements associated with the ISU Research Park. A 2014 grant for infrastructure in the ISU Research Park up to $4,010,728 was conditioned on creation of an additional 365 jobs projected in Workiva’s growth strategy, but at the end of the reporting period, only 138 jobs were created. This triggers a clawback provision requiring $448,746 to be refunded to the state, to be split evenly between the City of Ames and Iowa State University. This figure could have been even higher, but the DOT has generously applied partial credit for the jobs that were created and has also reduced the overall percentage of payback required due to a policy change that was enacted after our 2014 agreement.
  
  Council voted 6-0 to repay the difference owed to the State ($278,223, split evenly between ISU and the City) over the course of the next 5 years.
• 5. Motion directing staff regarding policy issue changes pertaining to the Ames 2040 Plan. This agenda item is an opportunity for Council to address issues of substance in the Ames Plan 2040 comprehensive plan draft. We are currently aiming for a release of the draft plan in late August for a period public comment before it returns to Council for further action.
  
  Council discussed the 2040 Plan, and made some adjustments, such as a 6-0 vote to include a page on the Hospital/Medical Overlay similar to the existing pages about other overlays. Council also reviewed the land acknowledgement inserted in the plan since the last chance for Council input. The Plan will now be revised for public input with these final edits and grammatical clean-up.

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. 
 

• 1621 Wilson Land Use Request. This staff memo responds to an inquiry about potential reuse of former Facilities Management and Planning building of the Ames Community School District at 1621 Wilson.
  
  Council voted 6-0 to advise the developer to reach out to the neighborhood to initiate input meetings.

• Nonconforming Garage Reconstruction. Responding to a resident's concern about constraints on his ability to rebuild a nonconforming garage, Staff lays out options that Council could pursue to address the issue.
  
  Council voted 6-0 to put this on a future agenda for discussion.

• Urban Fringe Plan Natural Area Request. This staff memo explains the context regarding a request that Council permit subdivision of property that is designated "natural area" within the Ames Urban Fringe Plan map.
  
  Council also voted 6-0 to put this on a future agenda for discussion.

• ZBA Request to Define "Temporary." For the past few years, the Zoning Board of Adjustment has approved "temporary" special use permits for the yard waste collection site on Freel Dr. The Planning Director determined that without a definition of “temporary” in the Zoning Ordinance, there is no basis to consider three prior years of the use and proposed continued use of the site for three additional years as "temporary." ZBA then wrote to Council asking for a definition of "temporary" to be added to the Zoning ordinance. This staff memo describes possible Council actions along those lines.
  
  Council voted 6-0 for a staff memo on this topic.

• Parking at Former Tribune Building. The new owners of the old Tribune building downtown are contemplating its use as a performance venue and ask Council to adjust parking requirements to make that practical. This staff memo provides options that Council could consider in response.
  
  Council voted 3-2-1 (Beatty-Hansen, Corrieri, and Junck voting Aye, Betcher and Martin voting Nay, Gartin abstaining) to direct staff to begin the process of removing parking requirements for theaters in Downtown and Campustown service center ("DSC" and "CSC", respectively) zoning districts. This will go to Planning and Zoning for their input, and will still come back to Council before final approval of any change.

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, At Large