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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - August 2021 Monthly Project Highlights MONTHLY PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS AUGUST 2021 Report Compiled by Carly Watson, Principal Clerk, City Manager’s Office 2 FIRE The Ames Fire Department was invited to Vintage Cooperative to discuss the basic operation of an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). The cooperative recently had an AED installed on site and residents requested further information on its use. Training Officer Plach gave a brief overview on how to operate an AED and the different special considerations for using an AED. The residents were also given the opportunity to operate a trainer AED along with place the AED Pads on the departments training manikins. This informal session also allowed for a great question and answer session related to AEDs and medical responses. 3 LIBRARY The Library's Summer Reading Challenge is complete. Over 2,200 people participated in the challenge, logging over 2 million minutes of reading! We also had great participation at our many outdoor storytimes and events. Once again, the Library served free lunches in partnership with Ames Community School District’s summer meal program. Ames Public Library has recently launched or expanded several special collections: • Patrons can now check out an Adventure Pass to even more local attractions, including Furman Aquatic Center, African American Museum of Iowa, and Des Moines Children's Museum. • The Library now offers Roleplaying Game Kits and videogames for checkout. See more of the unexpected things you can check out at https://www.amespubliclibrary.org/books- movies-more/special-collections. • We continue to add new STEM Kits for children to learn Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math concepts through play. September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month! Library staff will be handing out popcorn and stickers and helping college students sign up for their Ames Public Library card at our weekly Bookmobile stop on ISU campus. 4 PARKS AND RECREATION Ada Hayden Fishing Pier Repairs: Woodruff Construction of Ames recently installed a new section of path in preparation of beginning repairs to the fishing pier which is scheduled to begin the week of September 6. The project includes removing several pilings, removing the decking and railings, installing new decking and railings, and adding new walkways. Work on this project is scheduled to be finished in October. Ada Hayden Wetland Dredging: Parks and Recreation staff is working with Water and Pollution Control to develop specifications for the dredging project. Necessary permits are being obtained so work can commence. This project is to be completed this fall. 5 Community Center: The Community Center was closed August 16-22 for annual maintenance. The gym floor was refinished, the cardio and weight room floors were stripped and waxed, and all carpeted areas were cleaned. Franklin Park Improvements: A new two-bay set of swings has been installed to the west of the play equipment and a concrete border has been poured aro und the equipment and swings. A shelter is being installed with only the roof yet to be added. Final aspects of the project include a drinking fountain, electricity to the shelter and future path lights, and light fixtures in the shelter. Public Works will be installing a shared use path through the park in 2022 which will connect to these new features. Furman Aquatic Center: The Furman Aquatic Center (FAC) will close for the season on Monday, September 6. After closing, the one remaining leak in the Lazy River will be repaired and tested so it will be ready for the 2022 season! 6 Summer 2021 experienced a large increase in Aquatic Center rentals (16 days in August) as shown below: Year Rental Hours Revenue 2021 63 $9,425 2019 49 $7,325 2018 41 $6,113 Below is a picture of the view that water walkers would have enjoyed on an evening! Pickleball Courts at Emma McCarthy Lee Park: A public input meeting was held in August regarding the upcoming conversion of two tennis courts to six pickleball courts . There was great support from the attendees and several suggestions regarding design and rules that will be incorporated into the plans. This project will be bid late this fall with construction taking place in the spring/summer of 2022. 7 Splash Pad Project: City staff, along with Snyder and Associates representatives, have met with several manufacturers to determine what each has to offer in regard to features, controllers, filtration, and other components. The design is expected to be finished this fall so bid documents can be distributed. Some construction may begin this fall with the goal of opening in early summer 2022. Tahira and Labh Hira Park Development: Concrete paths are to be installed in September along with a basketball pad. Staff is installing a shelter and will be adding the basketball goals. A drinking fountain, electricity, light fixtures, grills, and benches will also be added in September. This will be the first park to have a central trash area which will be adjacent the east parking lot. There will be signage to educate users of the “carry-in, carry-out” type of philosophy for this park. Wellness Programming: A new session of in-person, virtual, and outdoor Fitness, Yoga, Cycle, TRX and Tai Chi classes began Monday, August 25. The partnership with Reiman Gardens to offer Yoga and Tai Chi classes will continue this fall with a new session starting Wednesday, August 27. Classes are held in the gardens and staffed by Ames Parks & Recreation Fitness Instructors. Aqua Classes began at Forker Pool at ISU and at Green Hills Wellness Center August 23. Participants were thrilled to get back into the Green Hills warm water pool. Seventeen classes are being held weekly at Green Hills and three classes are being held weekly at Forker Pool. An end of the summer potluck was held for all Ames Parks & Recreation TKD participants and their families at Brookside Park. Green Hills Pool 8 PUBLIC WORKS Excitement is in the air as the start of football season is just around the corner. The first Iowa State University home game kicks off on Saturday, September 4 vs. UNI. Traffic jams are likely around the stadium. Drivers are encouraged to avoid 13 th Street as the road is under construction between Grand and Duff. Instead, please follow the routes highlighted on the Iowa DOT’s game day routes map. 9 WATER AND POLLUTION CONTROL Supply Chain Disruption for Water Meters: As of August 23rd, the Water Meter Division had completely exhausted its inventory of Encoder/ Receiver/Transmitters (ERTs) – the radio units that transmit a water meter reading to a meter reader. This equipment, supplied under a contract with iTron, is a critical element in the Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system utilized by the Ames water utility. Orders have been backlogged for more than five months, and the Meter Division exhausted its usual inventory plus a contingency stockpile of 200 ERTs. For now, the ARM conversion project is on hold. Where customers have an existing meter that fails, the Meter Technicians are rebuilding the meters and reinstalling them without a new ERT. New construction will have meters installed, but will require a manual meter reading until a supply of ERTs has been received. We have been cautioned about potential disruptions in the supply of some treatment plant chemicals such as polyphosphate, ammonia, and fluoride. As a result, the Water Plant is keeping a larger inventory on-hand to provide an increased margin of safety. Fortunately, the chemicals in question, while important, are not critical. We recently offered assistance to another central Iowa utility who was within a few hours of running out of an essential chemical. “Severe Drought” Persists into September: The exceptionally dry weather continues. The US Drought Monitor index released on August 26th shows most of Story County in a “D2 – Severe Drought,” with portions of our watershed now covered by a “D3 – Extreme Drought.” Timely rains have helped keep water demands down through late July and August, but with the return of students, water demand predictably rose to near peak levels for 2021. Starting in the second half of August, the water table measured in the municipal supply wells began to drop. Had they dropped to this level earlier in the year, staff may have recommended moving into the first stage of the water conservation plan (mandatory even-odd day watering schedules). But with the expectation that demand will begin to fall for the season starting in mid-September, it appears that we have made it through the calendar year with no use restrictions. 10 With that being said, we are likely going to go into the winter with a significant soil moisture deficit. The latest seasonal assessment by the National Weather Service offers this bleak prediction. “Widespread severe (D2) to exceptional (D4) drought continues across much of the West, Northern Great Plains, and Upper Mississippi Valley. Drought intensified for parts of California, the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, and Northern Great Plains since mid-July, due to above-normal temperatures and lack of sufficient rainfall. Drought is expected to persist for nearly all of the western and north-central U.S. through the end of November . . . Drought is forecast to expand across the Central Great Plains, based on short-term precipitation deficits, low soil moisture, and favored above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation at most forecast time scales.” The lack of surface soil moisture could allow frost to go deeper than normal and could result in an increased occurrence of water main breaks and frozen water service lines this winter. Staff Tour Demonstration System for Nutrient Reduction Systems : In August, staff took a trip to Rockford, Illinois to meet with representatives of Aqua Aerobic Systems . Aqua Aerobic is the provider of an emerging “Aerobic Granular Sludge” technology that is rapidly becoming the system of choice for achieving nutrient reduction goals at wastewater treatment plants. The technology is more compact, and thus less expensive, than a traditional biological nutrient reduction system. In early September, staff will be going to Rochester, Minnesota to view a different technology system recently placed into operation. Additional site visits are planned ahead of the kick- off to the WPC Nutrient Reduction Modifications in early 2022. Water Distribution System Monitoring Network: Council will be asked in September to issue a Request for Proposals for a distribution system monitoring network. This will involve installing a series of 25 or more sensors into the water distribution system that will track pressures (and possibly other water quality parameters), allowing the staff responsible for both the treatment plant and the distribution system to see in real-time how the system is performing. It will permit rapid notification of water main breaks, as well as data that could be used to optimize pumping schemes to reduce the frequency of main breaks. 11 Water and Wastewater Workers Week: Governor Reynolds has signed a proclamation designation September 19-25 as “Water and Wastewater Workers in Iowa Week.” To help increase the recognition for these essential workers who maintained service throughout a pandemic and a derecho, the Mayor will be asked to proclaim at the September 14 Council meeting that same week as “Water and Wastewater Workers in Ames Week.” Sludge Transfer to Verbio Complete (for now): On July 12, Verbio completed their hauling of 2.2 million gallons of anaerobically digested sludge from the Ames Water Pollution Control Facility to their facility. The sludge will be used as a “biological seed” to jump -start Verbio’s own digesters. The cooperative agreement was not only incredibly beneficial to Verbio, it also saved the City nearly $50,000 by eliminating the expense of having a contractor apply sludge. As Verbio brings additional digesters on-line, they will be taking additional sludge from WPC. Watershed-Based Nutrient Reduction: Staff is continuing to pursue efforts in the watershed to reduce nutrients. Recently, staff selected ISG to provide conceptual design services for a land retirement project at Moore Memorial Park. This will include both short - and long-term plans for the park that incorporate nutrient reduction practices such as prairie land, wetlands, and other best management practices. The existing site is currently in agricultural use and borders the west bank of the Ioway Creek. Preliminary concept development is expected in early September, outreach and stakeholder feedback in late September, and a final concept plan and report in late October. An additional project that staff is working in includes a saturated buffer/bioreactor project in Story County. This project is in conjunction with Iowa Department of Land Stewardship (IDALS) and Story County Conservation and will include the implementation of 10-20 sites throughout Story County. A feasibility study of potential sites is currently underway, and will be follo wed by landowner meetings, securing easements, and design this winter. Construction of this project is expected summer of 2022. The practices implemented with this project will provide nutrient reduction credits, which will be entered into the Nutrient Reduction Exchange. These credits will be banked and used towards offsetting nutrient requirements at the Water Pollution Control Facility, if so desired in the future.