Premeeting comments on Ames City Council agenda May 12th, 2009

Please consider attending the "Renewable Energy in Neighborhoods Open House" in City Hall Council Chambers at 6:00 pm Monday, May 18th, 2009. The current zoning code does not allow energy generation in residential areas. This open house presents possible zoning code changes to allow home energy production from solar and/or wind. Hopefully the council will be able to resolve this soon. There are several Ames residences that would like to install solar.

Free Summer CyRide is almost here!

The council meeting this Tuesday starts at 7:00 pm.  The agenda includes:

• Item 2 -- Presentation by ISU on subsidized low-income elderly housing project proposed to be located on Ontario west of Minnesota Avenue.  Warren Madden, Vice President for Business and Finance for Iowa State University, will present information regarding a possible partnership with Volunteers of America. The purpose of this partnership is to develop buildings to conduct research regarding designing, operating, and managing retirement living units. This new development is being proposed on ISU land along Ontario Road. This project is in the early stage. More detail will be available at a future date. It would be nice to complete the sidewalk system on the north side of Ontario. No action is expected of council.
• Item 12 -- Power Plant Units 7 and 8 Nitrogen Oxide Reductions project. This item approves the plans and specs and sets a bid date for a project to reduce the nitrogen oxide output from the power plant. The city's Capital improvement plan (CIP) has budgeted $3,400,000 for this project.
• Item 16 -- Purchase of Five CyRide Buses. Five new replacement buses for CyRide. CyRide has one of the most used and oldest fleet of buses in the state.
• Item 30 -- Staff report regarding potential acquisition of properties at 13th and Grand Avenue.  Three property owners on the corner of 13th and Grand have offered to sell their property to the city. City staff's option 4 (don't proceed with acquisition) seems warranted as a possible turning lane expansion (not being considered presently) would require only portions of the three properties. To be clear the current plan to improve the intersection performance (by upgrading computer controller and lights) is going forward this year. For more info on current planned improvements see comments on October 14th, 2008 and on Sept 11th 2007.
  
• Item 31 --  Update to 2008/09 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. Due to the delay in the Human Services Campus the 2009 CDBG money will be designated for the city's home acquisition/reuse program and low/moderate income home improvement grant program. An additional $130,000 (with 42 pages of federal instruction) of Community Development Block Grant Recovery (CDBG-R stimulus) will be received by the city. The funds are required to be spent relatively quickly, the city needs to specify the expenditure of the CDBG-R funds soon.
  
• Item 34 -- Furman Aquatic Center update (A, B, C). The project is on budget and on schedule to be open the beginning of July, 2009.
• Item 36 -- Staff report on composition and schedule for Residential Property Maintenance committee. The council directed city staff to form a committee to make recommendations in regard to a property maintenance standard for owner occupied homes. The city staff is requesting direction on the composition of the committee.
  

Jim Popken
City Council At Large

Disclaimer: My intent of this communication is to give you a heads up on items coming to the city council. I may state some of my impressions and leanings here. I will, however, try to avoid staking out a position on issues before the council meeting occurs. I feel that I should avoid committing to any positions until I have heard and considered all the public input at the council meeting before a vote.

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