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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - June 2022 Monthly Project Highlights MONTHLY PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS JUNE 2022 Report Compiled by Carly Watson, Principal Clerk, City Manager’s Office 2 FIRE This month crews have been busy doing more training on the new Tower Truck and preparing for the National Driver Operator Aerial Certification course and written exam for members who are not already certified. Additionally, the fire department is conducting a process improvement with the department’s new firefighter physical agility entrance exam. A statewide survey and national review of employment standards for new firefighter testing has helped the department identify nine critical functions that any new firefighter would be expected to complete, with no additional training, on the first day of the job. Ames Firefighters are currently evaluating and validating each function as they run through the entire new firefighter physical agility exam. The department’s Peer Fitness Team has been hard at work laying out the exam, designing workouts to help prepare candidates for testing, and scripting guidelines for each function along with a video for candidates to view prior to testing. 3 LIBRARY Book Sale: The summer book sale is coming July 7-10 in the Library’s Auditorium! The book sale is one of the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation’s fundraisers, with all proceeds used to enhance the Library’s collections, programs and services. The Book Sale schedule is: • Thursday, July 7 - 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. - Admission $2 (Free admission and early entry starting at 5 p.m. f or donors to the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation at the $20 level and above) • Friday, July 8 – 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. - Free admission • Saturday, July 9 – 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. - Free admission • Sunday, July 10 – noon to 5 p.m. - Admission $1, and everything is free! (Auditorium only) Juneteenth: Library staff went above and beyond preparing for Juneteenth! In addition to planning a related art exhibit, storytime, and film discussion, the Library participated in the Juneteenth community celebration by sending the Bookmobile stocked with thousands of curated books and movies by and about African Americans. Thank you to the many staff who helped amplify Black voices and celebrate Freedom Day! LSI Providing Assistance at the Library: Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) will be at Ames Public Library Wednesdays from 11 a.m. until noon in July to provide families with easy access to free parent education, resources, and support. The Library has also partnered with The Bridge Home and ACCESS to provide services on-site. Solar Bench at the Library: There's a new bench in front of Ames Public Library, and this one's powered by the sun! Made by SELS - Smart Era Lighting Systems, the new seating option offers wireless and USB charging stations for phones and electronic devices, including USB ports and wireless. It also has built-in lights for night time. The system is completely self-sufficient, storing power collected by solar panels in built-in batteries. As an added bonus, the Library's wi-fi can keep you connected to the internet while you charge. 4 Novel Ideas: The Ames Public Library (APL) has a “Novel Ideas” program that allows staff to make suggestions. Things like the hotspots, park packs, and role playing games that are available for patrons to check out have developed from ideas submitted to our Novel Ideas team as well as our Welcome Kits that contain everything from bus passes to menstruation supplies. These ideas are funded by the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation. One of our recently approved ideas submitted by Julia Humphrey with Seth Warburton was to take part in the Food Waste Diversion (FWD) program. As part of the City of Ames Climate Action Plan the City is trying to reduce the amount of food waste that enters the landfill. Food waste that goes into the landfill rots and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, municipal solid waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for approximately 14.1% of emissions in 2017. APL generates food waste in the staff break room and in Literary Grounds as coffee grounds. The Resource Recovery Plant (RRP) is working with a contractor to compost food waste through the FWD program. Though the Power Plant is able to burn some waste as refuse-derived fuel, less flammable waste material is still shipped to landfills. APL can collect food waste and deliver it to RRP to be composted. This will keep our food waste, undesirable as refuse-derived fuel and harmful in the landfill, out of the waste stream altogether. 5 PARKS AND RECREATION Ames/ISU Ice Arena: In June, the Ames/ISU Ice Arena hosted two camps, the USA Hockey Camp and the Planet Hockey Camp. The USA Hockey Camp was for bantam players (14 and under) and hockey officials. It was held from June 12-17 with 150 participants throughout the week. The Planet Hockey Camp was held June 20-24 with a total of 19 participants. The Ames/ISU Ice Arena also held its third “Drive the Zamboni Class” on June 28. Staff was notified by ISU representatives that the ISU Men’s Hockey Program has been suspended for this upcoming season. In FY 2021/22, the Men’s Hockey Program rented approx imately $76,000 worth of ice time. Staff is having internal conversations and discussions with user groups to determine how to make up for this lost revenue. Staff is looking at additional programming opportunities and whether user groups would like to rent additional ice time. Community Gardens: Staff has mostly completed the community garden spaces along Delaware Avenue. Gates for the openings are on backorder and will be installed as soon as they arrive. Temporary closures will be put in place until the gates are installed. These beds are at ground level and surrounded by fencing to keep deer out. All these garden plots have been reserved and gardeners have begun planting! Homewood Golf Course: The golf course opens on April 1 of every year, weather permitting. The following table shows the number of rounds played from April 1 – June 27 for each of the past four years: 2022 2021 2020* 2019 Rounds Played 6,863 7,176 4,640 5,209 *The Golf Course did not open until May 1 due to the pandemic and had a reduced number of tee times per hour. 6 Wellness: A new session of tai chi began June 1 at Moore Memorial Park and due to increasing demand, a third class has been offered. A total of 32 registrations have been accepted for these classes. The first session of Total Aqua Conditioning classes began Monday, June 6 at Furman Aquatic Center with 48 registrations. The second summer session of all group fitness classes and aqua classes at Green Hills began Monday, June 27. Classes will continue to be offered in -person, virtually and outdoors. The ninth annual Yoga in the Park began Saturday, June 4 at Bandshell Park. Yoga in the Park is a free class offered every Saturday morning through July and is taught by a variety of volunteer yoga instructors from various studios in Ames. 7 PLANNING & HOUSING Ames Main Street: Ames Main Street has begun a visioning process for Downtown related to future desired improvements. City staff has reviewed the public input with Main Street representatives to understand their goals, which coordinates with City activities. Additional information and discussion is needed between staff and Main Street representatives to further their visioning process. Ames Plan 2040: City staff attended a meeting with Boone County Supervisors on May 5 to review Ames Plan 2040 and to gauge interest in an Urban Fringe Plan and 28 E with Boone County. Consensus was to revisit the issue later in the summer or early fall after completion of the update process with Story County. Ames Urban Fringe Plan: The Ames Urban Fringe Plan Update public comment period ended on June 14. Story County and City staff participated in three public meetings. Comments were received in writing at the three public meetings as well as through online commenting tools. Staff will provide a complete set of comments to the City Council in mid -July. More information can be found on the Story County website. CYTOWN: Iowa State University (ISU) has received approval from the Board of Regents to proceed with an initial preparatory phase of “CYTOWN” that includes redoing parking lots and installing basic infrastructure in order to support the future development concept. The work will occur with the parking lot areas along Fourth Street and include new parking lots, grading, water, electric, sanitary sewer, and storm water management facilities. The current bus stop in this area will be relocated and off-site work may also occur within Stuart Smith Park along University Boulevard. ISU will be coordinating with City staff regarding the infrastructure planning while additional discussion about future development uses on the site continue. Linc Development: Staff has met with the Linc Development team to discuss preliminary terms for use of TIF and development of the project. The discussion revolves around the project description used for the Reinvestment District Application to the state. Additional meetings with the developer are planned for early July. Once there is consensus on the scope of the project and its development parameters, an update will be provided to City Council to receive additional direction on how to proceed. Residential Subdivisions: The Planning Division has been notified that two of the large residential subdivisions expected to get started in 2022 are not going to proceed at this time. Hayden’s Preserve was approved by City Council on May 24 , but the developer has since indicated to staff that the project is too costly in the current environment for them to move forward at this time. Auburn Trail is a planned subdivision in North Ames by Hunziker C ompany that has also been put on hold due economic conditions. 8 PUBLIC WORKS Resource Recovery Plant: The month of May 2022 saw the highest volume of tonnage in a single month (4,849 tons) since August 2017. With many of the upgrades, enhancements, and changes for efficiencies made at the Power Plant and at the Resource Recovery Plant, the entire amount was able to be handled by the Waste-to-Energy system without any diversion to the landfill.