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Home My WebLink About~Master - September 2022 Monthly Project HighlightsHIGHLIGHTS SEPTEMBER 2022 MONTHLY PROJECT Contact the City Manager's Office at 515-239-5101 515 Clark Avenue, Ames, IA 50010 Report compiled by Carly Watson, Principal Clerk City Manager's Office In response to concerns about sound in the City Council Chambers, Media Production Services is facilitating the installation of some new equipment that will improve the experience for those attending in-person meetings and events. The upgrade will make microphones mobile on the dais, provide better speaker coverage for the dais, staff table, and the gallery; and include a Bluetooth audio loop for people with devices to “tune in” to the meeting. Installation has been scheduled for the week of October 31st, 2022. Due to difficulties in acquiring the required equipment, this project has been delayed several months from its original installation date. In the interim, staff has been adjusting the existing equipment to minimize the sound issues until the problems can be resolved. 2 Nearly 40 firefighters from across Iowa and the Midwest assembled in Ames at the City of Ames Training Site (COATS) over a three day weekend to develop and master their firefighting skills. The Ames Fire Department was selected by the Gary Sinise Foundation to be the host site for this multiday, hands-on training in partnership with Interstate Rescue. The Gary Sinise Foundation provided the course free of charge to students, which allowed them to experience a high quality training program taught by national level instructors right here in Ames. One of the classes, Training to Perform Under Pressure, which was taught by Interstate Rescue, allowed students to practice and learn different techniques related to first arriving company operations and firefighter survival. 3 4 IowaWORKS at the Library: Ames Public Library will host IowaWORKS Career Planners Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Community members can stop by for help with career services, such as resume assistance, unemployment filing, and more. September is Suicide Awareness Month: Ames Public Library continues to partner with local organizations to share important mental health information to the community. On September 29th, Your Life Iowa presented “How To Talk About Suicide” at 7:00 p.m. in the Library’s Auditorium and via Zoom. On October 4th, the City of Ames will host “A Community Conversation About Suicide” at 6:30 p.m. in the Library’s Auditorium. Ames firefighter Sarah Chingren will open the event by sharing the story of her teenage son Vincent who died by suicide last year after struggling with anxiety and depression. Representatives from the Ames Police Department, Iowa State University Department of Public Safety, Ames Community School District, Mary Greeley Medical Center, YSS, and National Alliance on Mental Illness will each have an opportunity to provide facts and resources focusing on mental health issues. Voting and the Library: Ames Public Library will be an early voting satellite location as well as an election day poll site, but it serves as more than just a space when it comes to voting. The Library hosts many events to help citizens become informed voters. In September, the League of Women Voters helped interested visitors register to vote, check their registration status, and request absentee ballots for National Voter Registration Day. The League of Women Voters also presented information at two upcoming events: “Breaking News: Local Media on Life Support” September 28th at 6:30 p.m. and “How Iowa’s Proposed Constitutional Amendment Could Impact Public Safety” featuring retired City Attorney John Klaus October 20th at 7:00 p.m. in the Library’s Auditorium. Braver Angels will present “Skills for Bridging the Divide” October 15th at 10:00 a.m. Local organizations will host several candidate forums at the Library leading up to the election. Find more 5 information and resources at https://www.amespubliclibrary.org/learn-explore/civics- center/voting. Park(ing) Day: Ames Public Library was one of six downtown locations to host a temporary “parklet” created by students from the ISU Landscape Architecture program. Check out the photo of their finished project! 6 Ames City Auditorium: On September 10th, the Auditorium presented “Man With A Movie Camera”, a 1929 documentary film set in Russia and Ukraine. The film was accompanied live with an original music score by the Austin, Texas based music ensemble Montopolis. This was a unique opportunity for the community to see what daily life in Ukraine was like and the musical score provided additional ambiance to the experience. Many patrons stayed after the screening to talk to the musicians about the film and their work. On September 24th, the Des Moines Symphony presented a live stream at Bandshell Park of their season opening concert. Ames was one of four locations that offered the screening free of charge to community members. The symphony provided the equipment and personnel for the event, while Bandshell staff tied them into the Bandshell’s sound system and provided internet access in the park. It was a successful event, and staff is interested in hosting the event again next year if the option was presented. 7 Ames/ISU Ice Arena: After over 20 years of operation, a new scoreboard (shown below) was installed on September 7th by Varsity Sports of Des Moines. Every year, the dasher boards and glass get covered with puck marks and do not look very good. Staff contracted with Mr. Hockey to clean the dasher boards on September 26th. Additionally, staff cleaned the glass and all the metal stanchions. The finished product is shown below. Dredging Wetland G in Ada Hayden Heritage Park: Nagle Construction, Allerton, Iowa, will be completing the dredging of one of the wetland cells on the west side of Ada Hayden Heritage Park. The project includes removing approximately 3,800 cubic yards of sediment from Wetland G, depicted in the map below. The map also shows the portions of the upland trail that will be closed during this project. The wetland cells in the western and southern portions of the park slow the storm water entering the park and allow soil, sediment, and contaminants to be deposited in the wetlands instead of entering the lake. Dredging the soil and sediment from the wetland cells ensures the wetlands continue to work as originally constructed. The project is expected to last six weeks, weather dependent. 8 Furman Aquatic Center: The aquatic center opened later than normal this year due to a shortage of lifeguards. Additionally, basins and amenities were closed at times due to the availability of staff. Season pass holders accounted for 60% of our attendance with the remaining 40% coming from daily admissions. Below is the attendance for this year compared to the last four: 2022 2021 2020* 2019 2018 May 1,764 560 0 2,412 6,903 June 27,750 27,583 0 24,674 25,123 July 29,362 30,456 0 31,874 29,991 August 17,993 23,475 0 16,781 19,298 September 2,061 2,182 0 1,830 456 Total 78,930 84,256 0 77,571 81,771 *Closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Homewood Golf Course: The golf course opens on April 1st every year, weather permitting. The following table shows the number of rounds played April 1st to September 26th for each of the past four years: 2022 2021 2020* 2019 Rounds Played 16,634 16,282 12,923 11,487 *Not open until May 1st due to the pandemic and reduced number of tee times per hour Pickleball Courts: The plans and specifications for converting two tennis courts to six pickleball courts were distributed to potential bidders on September 28th. Due date for bids to be received by is October 26th. The project includes crack repair, fence installation, resurfacing the entire tennis court and pickleball surface with corresponding boundary markings, and installation of posts and nets. Contractors will have until June 30th, 2023, to complete the work. North River Valley Playground Equipment: Staff completed installing a new two-bay swing, Engineered Wood Fibers (EWF), and a concrete border at the new playground adjacent Hawthorne Shelter on the north side of North River Valley Park. Pictures below show the newly opened playground. 9 Wellness: Two adult dance classes began recently. The West Coast Swing Dance class began September 19th indoors with twelve registrations and Belly Dance, held outdoors at Roosevelt Park, began September 15th with nine participants. A new session of Tai Chi began September 7th with the addition of a practice group class being added to other established Tai Chi classes. There are 15 registrations in the classes and 15 registrations in the practice group. Classes are being held outdoors at Moore Memorial Park until October and then will be held at the Homewood Clubhouse. A new session of Healthy Foot classes began September 6th with five registrations.