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:

• 14. Resolution approving Agreement for Water Service Operations and Territory Transfer with Xenia Rural Water District. One significant constraint on growing the footprint of Ames to accommodate the 15,000 or so new residents expected by 2040 is the availability of water. While the City's water utility has a lot of capacity, the City isn't permitted to serve new areas outside of its legally established water service territory, except by agreement with the current rural water service providers. This agenda item lays out a proposed agreement that City staff has negotiated with the Xenia Rural Water District. The deal is complicated and full of trade-offs, but it does provide a probably-affordable way to ensure that new neighborhoods end up with infrastructure that's up to City standards, including pressure and volume for firefighting—even when the water is not itself provided by the City.
  
  After a presentation by staff on the history and current status of negotiations between rural and municipal water services, this proposal passed 6-0. Some points of the agreement include: 
  ​​​-a defined buyout cost of $3,000/net acre for the first 60 months of the agreement, adjusting per the Consumer Price Index after month 60
  -guaranteed buyouts for certain areas for 5 or 10 years, depending on location
  -Xenia would build and maintain hydrants in areas of the city that they will serve
  -Xenia would bill their customers for sanitary sewer and stormwater fees, as those would remain the responsibility of the city
  
  It was worth noting that Xenia's rates could be higher than Ames's, and this might cause some confusion, as Xenia will provide water to areas which will be within the city limits of Ames. 
  
  

• 15. Resolution approving Downtown Facade Grants. The Façade Grant Program incentivizes properties to improve their streetscape appearance in a historically appropriate way through matching grants funded from the "community betterment" portion of Ames's 1% Local Option Sales Tax. This agenda item presents an application from one property and recommends funding it. 
  
  This facade grant (for the property containing Photosynthesis) passed 6-0.

• 16. Staff Report regarding request by Zoning Board of Adjustment to define “Temporary” in the Zoning Ordinance. 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. During this agenda item, Council will decide whether or how to move forward on this. 
  
  This item proceeded 6-0.

• 17. Ames 2040 Plan Public Draft Comments. The initial round of public comments on the City's draft comprehensive plan, Ames Plan 2040, were included in our October 12 agenda item. However, some Council members said they'd rather take more time to digest the comments before acting. Staff has also proposed some specific edits to the plan's future land use map for us to consider and has proposed implementation priorities for the next several years. Council now has an opportunity to adjust the plan. Public hearings for the final draft are anticipated in November.
  
  Most of staff's recommended changes were approved by council 6-0, such as Land Use Designation Map changes, the creation of an implementation chapter, and designation of the Project Review Matrix as advisory.

• 18. Resolution approving/motion denying the placement of Agility Course Equipment (type of playground amenity) in Carr Park. As part of efforts to diversify the kinds of equipment in Ames Parks, staff has proposed a new "agility course." Agility courses are described as having multiple play pieces that allow individuals (kids, teens, & adults) to utilize their upper and lower body strength to complete multiple activities such as cargo nets, over-head ladders, balance beams, ledge hanger, spider walk, and others. An example course from another city is shown below. Following community outreach, the the Parks and Recreation Commission is recommending that agility course equipment be added to Carr Park. Council is now being asked to vote on placement of the agility course equipment. This agenda item includes a large amount of community feedback, both opposing and supporting this location. 
  
  This item passed 6-0, after a presentation by Parks and Rec staff. This agility course proposal received robust feedback from neighbors, some of whom shared potential concerns with the project and others who were supportive of the concept and its location.
  
  

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. 

• Grove Avenue Request to Rezone. Neighborhood residents write asking Council to rezone properties on Grove Avenue (near North Grand Mall) from residential high-density to medium-density, to prevent potential development that might disrupt the character of the neighborhood. Although Council previously declined to act on a similar request from a single property owner, this request is presented as a unanimous request of the area neighborhood association meeting of approximately 35 residents.
  
  This item was placed on a future agenda with a vote of 6-0.

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