Rachel's Council Review

Hello Council Newsletter Readers!

I'm very excited to begin writing the Council Review this year and am glad to be a part of helping keep our community informed! As a quick introduction, I am a current Iowa State student, lifelong Ames resident, and the Ames City Council Ward 4 representative. 

As usual for the review, my comments are red and italicized in the context of the latest Council Preview by Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen.
 

The Ames City Council meets on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.  The agenda includes the following. Note that you can generally click on individual agenda items below to get the full staff report or other explanation.
 

• 20. Staff Report regarding Grove Avenue Re-Direction Area.
  This item was requested by the Northwood/Overland Heights neighborhood association, who asked Council to rezone the land pictured in the following image from RH (high-density residential) to RM (medium-density residential). They are primarily concerned about the land being used for commercial purposes and how traffic would flow through their neighborhood. This land has been designated as a "redirection area" in our newly adopted Ames Plan 2040, so it is a good test of how we will use this new land use document. Redirection areas are meant to predict where land use and development types might change as Ames grows. The current number of dwelling units on the site is a little more than the standard for medium-density residential, but not much. Council is being asked whether or not to change the zoning to medium-density, or if there are other ways we could meet the neighborhood objectives, such as an overlay zone.
  
  
  
  After discussing each of the options and hearing from several neighbors who came to comment on the issue, the council voted 6-0 for Option 1: to Initiate a Rezone to RM Zoning with Owner Meeting. This was the option supported by the neighborhood association and would not cause any of the existing uses to become non-conforming. This would also still allow for higher density in this area in the future, as RM zoning would theoretically allow up to 56 units, as compared to the 25 units in the area now.
• 21. Hearing on rezoning of 23959- 580th Avenue from Agricultural “A” to Intensive Industrial “II" .
  Staff are recommending this change of the former Caremoli site from Agricultural to Intensive Industrial, as it is consistent with the Ames Plan 2040. It's prior use was as a food manufacturing site, and although it will not use city utilities, it will be required to come up to code with building, fire, and zoning requirements. 
  
  This item passed 6-0.
• 22. Hearing on proposal for the City of Ames to lease its right, title, and interest to property locally known as 205 South Walnut, Ames, to Heartland Senior Services for a period of 50 years (location map).
  Staff are recommending this public hearing be continued to the January 25th Council meeting, to give legal staff and Heartland time to finalize the lease agreement.
  
  The motion to continue the public hearing until January 25th passed 6-0.
  
  
• 23. Story County Saturated Buffer/Bio-Reactor Project.
  This project is intended to reduce nitrogen runoff from reaching streams and rivers, helping the City to meet goals set by the DNR for nutrient reduction at our Water Pollution Control Facility. This project will involve around 30 edge-of-field modifications around Story County, such as bio-reactors or saturated buffers. Both work similarly, by slowing water down through organic matter, but the saturated buffer uses plants to remove nitrogen, while in a bio-reactor, bacteria live in a host of wood chips and convert nitrogen in the water to gas. Both methods can potentially reduce nitrogen by 43%, with the saturated buffer performing a little better at 50% reduction. The funding for this project comes from IDALS (Iowa Dept of Ag and Land Stewardship), Story County, and Ames, with Ames contributing $41k.
  
  Both agreements passed 6-0.
• 25. Staff Report regarding COVID-19 Meeting Policies.
  With the recent surge of cases due to the Omicron variant, Council is being asked how to proceed with meetings of Boards, Commissions, and the like. City staff and visitors to City buildings are already being asked to comply with the CDC's recommendation that masks be worn indoors in public settings. Options for Council include requiring masks at Council, Board, and Commission meetings, moving the meetings to virtual format, some combination of the two, or exempting Council, Board, and Commission meetings from a mask requirement. Staff are recommending one of the first two options.
  
  After a short discussion, council voted 6-0 in favor of Option 1: to to Require masks to be worn at City Council, Boards, and Commission meetings. This is the option most consistent with city staff's policy, since it is not possible to maintain six-foot separation at these meetings. A follow-up motion was made to have staff look into options for attendees watching the council meetings virtually to be able to participate live during city council meetings. This is so that if someone is not physically present at the council chambers, but wants to call in during the meetings with a comment, our meetings can still be accessible to them. This motion also passed 6-0.

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.
 

• Staff report on the cost of a Bike/Pedestrian Path on East 13th St. beyond Dayton to the east under I35  (map).
  
  No action was taken on this item at this time.
• Request from the Ames History Museum for $150,000 to be used for an expansion and building rehabilitation project.
  
  The city council asked the city attorney to write a memo on this request before budget time. (6-0)

Thanks for reading,
Rachel Junck
Ames City Council,  4th Ward