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:

• 21. Presentation of results of “Play Ames: Imagine your City”. On Saturday September 25, ISU's Community and Regional Planning 455/555 "Smart and Sustainable Cities" course worked with City collaborators to organize the first community engagement festival at four locations throughout Ames. This item reports on success and challenges and includes suggestions for future events. "Based on survey results, it can be concluded that overall the activities present at the festivals were enjoyable and engaging. In contrast, survey results were mixed on whether or not participants were learning something new. [...] Overall, it seemed that participants enjoyed the festival and that they would participate in such a festival again." Regarding the goal to increase engagement with underrepresented or marginalized residents, the report states that the event "represented a first step towards establishing more connection and trust with residents. It is a first step on a longer path towards co-creation and collaboration. [...] Long-term planning and continuity is needed to declare this process successful."
  
  This item was presented by three students and the instructor of the CRP 455/555 class. The festival took place in four locations, and the most popular (attended) locations were those right in the middle of a street, or highly accessible such as E 7th St or the downtown location. Locations such as Franklin Park or Reliable Street saw less attendance, and the class surmised this was due to being tucked away and not immediately visible to the neighborhood. For future such events, they recommended connecting with neighborhood leaders beforehand so they can help spread the word about activities. Other suggestions included making this an annual event, adding some structure and funding, and including City officials and staff in the activities to help drum up conversations.

• 22. Staff Report regarding Downtown Plaza Update. Staff and consultants from Confluence are bringing a new design for the Downtown Plaza to Council for discussion, possible adjustment, and approval. Changes include moving elements to new locations within the site, adjusting some feature sizes, and incorporating the real ice skating ribbon that Council approved in September. The plan also describes the new parking lot on 6th Street across from the Police Department that is to be opened before construction on the plaza begins, as well as on-street parking improvements adjacent to the plaza. Staff anticipates using ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to cover a budget shortfall.
  
  This presentation gave a glimpse of the future downtown plaza, which will contain an ice-skating ribbon, small building for skate rental and restrooms, splash pad, and a variety of seating options for small gatherings. Current estimates put the price tag at around $4.35 million, with a possible $450k through ARPA funding. Council voted 6-0 to proceed as per staff's recommendation in the report.
  
  

• 24. Resolution approving allocation of Council Contingency Funds for Community Garden Development for the additions to the Carr Park Community Garden and the new Community Garden at the Delaware Avenue site in the amount of $22,837. Council previously voted to increase the number of raised community garden beds at Carr Park and to establish a new community garden at 830 Delaware Avenue, the site of a former water tower. Since the modest costs for these garden projects did not make it into this year's budget, staff recommends paying with Council Contingency funds.
  
  This passed 6-0, and will be helpful and needed additions to our community gardens.

• 25. Review of Draft Request for Proposals for Small Lot Industrial Development. Earlier this year, Council received a letter from a property owner and developer proposing the creation of a TIF (tax increment financing) district for new small-sized industrial lots on their land off of Dayton Ave. Small lots with industrial zoning are very scarce at the moment, and that drives businesses and residents to other communities. Approving TIF would amount to a dedication of new property tax received here towards construction costs or some other form of rebate rather than being used for ordinary City purposes (streets, public safety, etc.), up to a predetermined threshold. The owner would be able to leverage the investment to create smaller lots than would be otherwise possible, resulting in more lots available for this type of use. Staff recommended and Council voted for the City to create a competitive bidding process with proposals describing the size of the development, cost of infrastructure, timing, planned uses, and level of City subsidy for a TIF infrastructure project. It may turn out that the original developer requester has the best land and situation for this purpose, but it seems wise to open up the opportunity to other interested parties.
  
  This item passed 6-0, so once the RFP is out developers can submit applications to develop a small-lot industrial site on property 10 acres or greater. 

• 27. Hearing on Ioway Creek Restoration and Flood Mitigation Project. Right after the acquisition of easements or outright purchases of Ioway Creek land were finalized at the end of September, the City solicited bids for the substantial construction phase of this flood mitigation project intended to reduce flood levels by up to 2 feet in the area. The bids are now in and Council is being asked to award a contract for $3.3 million for channel conveyance improvements of about 2,000 feet either side of the Ioway Creek crossing at S. Duff, with construction to begin in December and a goal of completion in late Spring of 2022 (and an extension has been requested). The contractor has options to haul out the remaining trees or incorporate them (mulch/grind) into the erosion control/final stabilization of the project, though I don't know if this decision has been made yet. Staff has also explained that "Re-planting details have been incorporated including a row of native trees and plants that are recommended to benefit threatened and endangered pollinators, some of which have been recently identified and photographed in Ames."
  
  Major projects often involve difficult trade-offs. This one has certainly generated its share of criticism. In my opinion, this is at least partly due to the poor optics of having piles of felled trees visible from one of our major thoroughfares for several months—which is largely a consequence of FEMA deadlines and DNR requirements. More substantially, I'm no biologist, but it seems pretty obvious that this work forced the sensitive wildlife that survived the tree removal (along with any people who were camping nearby) to flee the immediate area and seek a more hospitable environment. Those seasonal species who were away when the trees came down, such as the endangered Indiana bat and/or the threatened Northern long-eared bat, will have to look for nesting sites upstream or downstream or elsewhere. Fortunately, the Ioway corridor is much longer than the immediate project segment near S. Duff. The felled trees obviously won't be capturing much carbon anymore either, though I couldn't say how the capture capacity of the to-be-replanted areas will compare to what the trees actually accomplished. It's also clear that some people just prefer the idea and look of trees and consider a forest to be more "natural" than the marshy rolling wetland that's planned, regardless of how the land looked 200 years ago. Anyway, the City has been trying to crack this nut for over ten years now, with many public outreach efforts as part of the decision-making, overcoming many hurdles along the way.
  
  This item passed 5-1, (with Betcher maintaining her nay vote). One adjacent property owner was present to speak, and shared concerns about heavy-equipment traffic over his property, as well as his disappointment with the tree clearing. 
  
  For further context, I've pasted in the chronology of this project from the City's website below:

  • 2010: Major flooding occurs; City Council establishes goal to mitigate flood impacts.

  • 2013: Flood Mitigation Study completed. In 2013, the City of Ames worked with consultants HDR, to develop a strategy to mitigate challenges of area flooding. The final report was presented in January 2014. To access the report, click here. On December 10, 2013, the City Council approved a series of flood mitigation measures targeted at, among several things, undertaking a "stream restoration" of Ioway Creek. This stream restoration project involves flood mitigation in the Ioway Creek channel. A central component includes conveyance improvements within the creek channel approximately 2,000 feet either side of the South Duff Avenue bridge.

  • 2015: Consultant hired to design flood mitigation project. On October 27, 2015, City Council approved a professional services contract with WHKS & Co. of Ames, Iowa to design the flood mitigation project and to aid in the FEMA grant application process.

  • 2016: "Full build" (channel shaping) alternative selected. On November 29, 2016, as part of the Special Meeting of the City Council, direction was provided for staff to work toward Hydraulic Alternative No. 6 (2010 Event), which was for “full build” (channel shaping). This project would increase channel conveyance of Ioway Creek at the South Duff Avenue bridge by removing excess deposition of sediment, establish a multi-stage channel, reduce steepness and instability of highly eroding streambanks, provide thaw management, and establish a vegetated stream buffer. This project would improve the creek/bridge alignment, creek capacity, and hydraulic flows utilizing natural channel design (multi-stage channel to reconnect the creek with the floodplain), and would provide streambank toe protection and native vegetation stabilization for more resilience in large storm events.

  • 2020: FEMA grant approved. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a grant to the State of Iowa that includes funding for Ames. The Ames City Council recently approved a funding agreement with FEMA to move the project forward. Through a nationally competitive grant process, the City of Ames is receiving funds for the Ioway Creek flood mitigation project to lower flood levels in the South Duff Avenue area. The grant will cover 75 percent of the project’s $4.9 million cost or $3.7 million.
    
    

  • 2021: Flood Mitigation Tree Clearing. City Council approved a project March 9, 2021, to remove trees along Ioway Creek approximately 2,000 feet each direction of South Duff Avenue. Because Story County includes endangered or threatened bat species territory, the trees had to be removed by the end of March prior to bats returning to the area to nest.
    
    Larger cottonwood trees being removed will be used to construct wood pallets. Other larger hardwood trees being harvested will be used to make items such as furniture and wood trim. The remaining trees will be stockpiled until they are removed as part of a flood mitigation project later this year.
    
    The tree clearing is part of channel grading necessary to complete conveyance improvements within the channel to lower flood levels in the South Duff Avenue area. This flood mitigation project is funded with a $3,747,450 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant and local match of $1,249,150.

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. 

• Bluestem Audubon. This letter expresses concern about the possibility that land along Worrell Creek could be used for housing developments.
• Student Government. This letter from ISU Student Government thanks the City Council for participating our first joint meeting of the academic year.
• Public Art Commission Request. The City's Public Art Commission, which normally meets on the first Wednesday of the month at noon, notes that they have had difficulty making quorum at times and asks if members with scheduling difficulties might be able to attend the otherwise in-person meeting via Zoom.
  Council voted 6-0 to decline to take action on this item.

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