HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - June 21, 2022, Special Meeting of the Ames City CouncilMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL
AMES, IOWA JUNE 21, 2022
The Special Meeting of the Ames City Council was called to order by Mayor John Haila at 6:00
p.m. on the 21st day of June 2022, in the City Council Chambers in City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue,
pursuant to law. Present were Council Members Gloria Betcher, Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen, Amber
Corrieri, Tim Gartin, Rachel Junck, and Anita Rollins. Ex officio Member Bryce Garman was also
present.
RESOLUTION APPROVING CHANGE ORDER NO. 1 TO RESCO OF ELKHART,
IOWA IN THE AMOUNT OF $18,247.64 (inclusive of sales tax) FOR PURCHASE OF
TRANSFORMERS FOR ELECTRIC SERVICES IN ACCORDANCE WITH REVISED
UNIT PRICES
Mayor Haila stated Don Kom, Director of Electric was present if the City Council had questions
for Staff. There were no questions.
MOTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION: Moved by Gartin, seconded by Junck to accept the
Resolution approving the change order as submitted.
Roll Call Vote: 6-0 Motion declared carried unanimously.
HEARING ON PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION 19.809
REGARDING CAMPUSTOWN SERVICE CENTER (CSC) REQUIREMENTS THAT
50% OF EACH BUILDING FAÇADE SHALL HAVE CLAY BRICK:
The Mayor opened the public hearing and stated that it has been requested by Staff to continue the
hearing until June 28, 2022
Moved by Beatty-Hansen, seconded by Junck, to continue the hearing to June 28, 2022.
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
WORKSHOP REGARDING INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY IN ESTABLISHING ASSET
FUNDING PRIORITIES
Assistant City Manager Deb Schildroth recapped the purpose of the workshop. She stated that the
City Council approved the Analysis of Social Services Evaluation Team (ASSET) Funding
Priorities for Fiscal Year 2022/23 and took action on considering ways in which the City Council’s
vision and goals, related to inclusion and creating a diverse community, should or should not be
used to establish the Fiscal Year 2023/24 ASSET priorities. This action stemmed from a discussion
at the November 10, 2020, City Council meeting where recommendations from the “Policing in
Ames…A Path Forward” report were considered. One of the recommendations in that report was,
“If the City Council wishes to do so, the allocation of ASSET funds could be reprioritized in the
next budget cycle and concentrated in human services that better meet the City Council’s social
justice goals.” In lieu of reprioritizing the ASSET funding allocation, the City Council approved
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including social justice into the discussion of ASSET priorities at the November 10, 2020, meeting.
This was briefly revisited a year ago and, at that time, the City Council stated they wished to have
a Workshop that is dedicated to this topic so it can be discussed thoroughly in time for the Fiscal
Year 2023/24 ASSET priorities. Ms. Schildroth stated that the ASSET priorities are typically
presented to the City Council in July after being reviewed by City staff and volunteers. She
elaborated that the discussion tonight is to see if there is anything the City Council wants included
as the priorities are drafted. Assistant City Manager Schildroth stated that the priorities will then
be presented in July for final consideration.
Mayor Haila asked Assistant City Manager Schildroth to highlight what work is being done at this
time regarding the topics listed in the memo from Staff. Ms. Schildroth reviewed the types of
reporting the ASSET volunteers ask the agencies to complete through the budget submittal
process. She noted that the volunteers ask for the number of people being served that have mental
or physical disabilities and the number of people that fall within certain levels of the federal
poverty guidelines. The ASSET volunteers are also in year two of asking agencies to report on the
number of people they are serving in race and ethnicity groups, as explained my Ms. Schildroth.
She stated caution in the data regarding race and ethnicity groups because most of that reporting
was during the pandemic and services were limited or not provided during that time, thus that
information is not the best base line to use but the ASSET volunteers are asking agencies to
continue to collect that information so a more solid and useful trend line can be established moving
forward.
Council Member Betcher asked about volunteers reviewing the data collected and then relating it
back to the City Council priorities, the services needed, and the rebalancing of allocations. Her
concern was that the City Council has not examined their role in the funding process and is not
asking enough or the right questions. She said that because of this, the City Council is leaving
those actions to the ASSET volunteers or to the agencies themselves. Ms. Betcher stated that she
is not sure that is an accurate depiction of what is happening with the process. She asked Assistant
City Manager Schildroth what she sees as the City Council’s role exploring those priorities with
the volunteers and the wider community.
Ms. Schildroth stated that ASSET is intended to be a funder driven process. The funders have the
authority to set policies, which are reviewed on an annual basis, and any changes made to the
Policies and Procedures Manual is presented to the funders for final approval. The funder priorities
are another area of the policy setting process, and each funder handles that differently in terms of
involving volunteers and areas of service to focus on, Ms. Schildroth explained. She noted that
recently one of the sources of information utilized was the 2020 Community Needs Assessment.
An ASSET agency looking at a new or expanded service is asked to refer to the most recent
assessment, to justify their request. Ms. Schildroth explained she is the liaison between the City
Council, the ASSET Administration Team and all the volunteers. She stated that she communicates
the conversations and ideas that the City Council discusses and the information that comes forth
during the budgeting process to serve as a guide during Agency hearing. She also stated ASSET
holds a Joint Funders meeting in January and September. Ms. Schildroth explained that those
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meetings are the perfect venue for funders to bring up issues and items of concerns that they want
to discuss with the Administration Team, volunteers, or other funders.
Council Member Betcher asked if the 2020 Community Needs Assessment is the primary way the
City is getting information from the larger community about what the City Council’s priorities
need to focus on or if information is gathered from other surveys or agencies. Ms. Schildroth
stated that it is mainly from agencies. She explained that the ASSET volunteers ask the agencies
to provide outcomes. The agencies also conducted individual surveys on the constituents they
serve on quality of services, access to services, and satisfaction of those services. A Clear Impact
score is calculated for each agency. The scorecard database rests with United Way of Story County,
and it is funded by Story County, the City of Ames, and United Way for the purposes of collecting
outcomes and reporting information. Assistant City Manager Schildroth noted that the ASSET
volunteers can provide the City Council access to the scorecards to review the agency outcomes
and identify trends lines. Council Member Corrieri noted that agencies are required to meet with
Anneke Mundel annually to review the agency outcomes and the United Way and ASSET
priorities. She stated that adjustment to services are made if needed.
Council Member Betcher stated her concern is that she doesn’t see the City Council asking
questions about the impact of what the City Council is doing. Ms. Betcher stated as the City moves
to hire a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Coordinator, she is hoping that person looks at the
community strategic plan and that all services will start looking at the way the City budgets and
interacts. She feels that the City Council is distanced from the process and the City Council is not
asking the questions about how City funds are impacting the community. Ms. Betcher stated that
she also does not think that City Council is asking the community members what they need in
terms of priorities from the City Council. She mentioned the need to have meetings to listen to
citizen input on priorities for the City Council. She wondered if the City Council needs to ask those
questions or if that needs to be the responsibility of the DEI Coordinator. Ms. Betcher then referred
to the memo she sent to the Council Members that included examples of questions that the City
Council might think about asking. She would like the City Council to discuss the memo because
the City Council has the responsibility to make some sort of stand on the topic.
Council Member Rollins asked for clarification on what kind of data the ASSET volunteers are
gathering from the agencies. Assistant City Manager Schildroth clarified data from the Budget
Manual. She highlighted that the Budget Manual explores age, race ethnicity, income level, mental
health, physical disabilities, and location of residence. This is information within the agency’s
budget explained Ms. Schildroth, and some of the information will be moved to the scorecard so
a trendline can be created. Ms. Schildroth noted that ASSET no longer collects gender data.
Outcome information is also included on the scorecard, i.e. what kind of an impact is MICA’s food
pantry having in the community. Each scorecard has three years of data, which includes the
pandemic and thus is skewed, explained Ms. Schildroth.
Council Member Corrieri said she is seeing the Mainstream Living data just starting to show
results. She stated Mainstream Living is submitting the same information to the City, County and
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State. Mainstream Living is also tracking people who can find and keep affordable and safe
housing, explained Ms. Corrieri.
Council Member Rollins discussed trying to identify the gaps between ASSET and the City
Council’s Priorities. Assistant City Manager Schildroth stated ASSET focuses on services and
identifying those services through the priorities. Each ASSET volunteer is a liaison to an agency
and is required to visit one or two agencies in the fall after the budget has been submitted and
attend a board meeting of that agency. Ms. Schildroth discussed the assorted topics the agencies
collect data on and noted that ASSET asks them to identify their strengths, and if it meets the
projections that had been set. She stated that ASSET also asks if they did not receive ASSET
funding, how it would impact their services and operations. She noted that ASSET wants the
agencies to be able to diversify their funding, and to identify where else can they get funding.
Mayor Haila inquired about the County wide survey and mentioned that there is a process in place
the City Council goes through to set priorities. Ms. Schildroth stated that the Community Needs
Assessment, which started in late 2019 and wrapped up almost a year later during the pandemic,
was used primarily for the last review of priorities. ASSET allowed an extension because of the
pandemic and saw mental health push to the top. ASSET also looked at the Annual Resident
Satisfaction Survey, but the data was a year old. During the agency hearings in January, ASSET
asked the agencies what they were seeing as their priorities; the common theme right now is
workforce as there is not enough staff to fill the vacancies.
Council Member Corrieri indicated that United Way of Story County holds several listening
sessions with representatives from agencies as well as other representatives they invite from the
community when discussing priorities. Mayor Haila said there is an alignment as well between
Iowa State University, Story County, United Way of Story County, and the City of Ames where
similar priorities can be seen.
There was discussion around how people access the available services and how community
members are made aware of what is available. It was noted that marketing and promotion happen
on different levels, with word of mouth being the primary way people hear about services and also
the 211 hotline that provides information and resource referral services. It was discussed that
Ames is a service rich community and the school district is instrumental in referring families to
agencies as well as the Department of Human Services. Additionally, it was mentioned that there
is a list provided at the customer service counter at City Hall and agencies cross refer individuals.
Mayor Haila thought seeing the scorecard would be useful. Council Member Corrieri stated that
all scorecard information is on United Way of Story County website and if the City Council
members would read through the scorecard they would have a solid understanding of the
functionality of the services provided. It was noted that ASSET has allowed the agencies to identify
what data points they want to collect information on, which is always being reviewed and
enhanced.
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The City Council members discussed if anyone has heard from individuals that have been
discriminated against, unable to access services, or not aware of the services. Council Member
Rollins noted that an opportunity to review the data is a good way to identify if there are any gaps
and if so why, is it a language barrier or something else. The City Council also discussed how to
collect the data, review it, and then determine gaps since the agencies are collecting real time data
and information, which is put on the scorecard. It was agreed that the City Council needs to
determine what they want to do with that information.
Council Member Beatty-Hansen asked how the City Council can keep this discussion on the
forefront and not forget about it down the road. The City Council members discussed hosting goal
setting sessions twice a year, and potentially adding ASSET Priorities as a conversation at that
time or perhaps the DEI coordinator would have suggestions as well.
First, The City’s ASSET volunteers review the current priorities based on what they learned during
the agency hearings in January and determine if changes need to be made. The volunteer’s
feedback is provided to Council typically at the first Council meeting in July, if needed. Priorities
need to be finalized so that they can be presented to the agencies at the annual agency training in
August as well as the volunteer orientation in September. Mayor Haila said specificity and clarity
are key. Ms. Schildroth indicated prioritizing the categories was a step the City Council took a
couple years ago, not only the three ASSET funding priorities but each of the services listed under
the priorities.
Council Member Beatty Hansen suggested the City Council should change “low to moderate”
income to encompass all three of the priorities. It was noted that NAMI services are not covered
by insurance. Mayor Haila stated that there is a mental health epidemic in the Ames community,
as well as nationwide, especially for youth. He highlighted that there may be youth who are not
getting the help they need and if the low to moderate umbrella is moved, it will it adversely affect
a group.
Assistant City Manager Schildroth stated there are 32 local agencies with well over 100 available
services. She noted that the City of Ames is not funding all of them but is funding most of them.
YSS is the primary organization within the ASSET process, as explained by Ms. Schildroth, that
provides mental health services and outpatient substance abuse. She stated that the ARC of Story
County and NAMI are advocate organizations, which serve individuals with mental health issues,
and brain injury and intellectual disability services, which services two different population groups
through advocacy, education, and support.
Mayor Haila asked what the City Council members objective was and how they would like to
direct staff to proceed.
Moved by Council Member Beaty-Hansen, seconded by Betcher, to strike the phrase “low to
moderate income” from Priority #2 and add a general phrase encompassing all three priorities with
emphasis on social justice and low to moderate income.
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The City Council then discussed the definition of social justice.
Council Member Gartin stated that ASSET has served the Ames community for several years. The
volunteers need clarity in their mission so do not ask them to define and apply social justice, he
said. Ms. Schildroth noted that the volunteers would ask for a threshold regarding what the City
Council looking for as far as underrepresentation. Discussion was had around how to track and
collect data as some agencies have big staff, and some agencies have one person staff so the City
Council cannot ask them to provide same data.
Council Member Beatty-Hansen withdrew her motion.
Council Member Beatty-Hansen moved to move the qualifier “low to moderate income” from
Priority #2 to be an overarching qualifier of all three categories. Seconded by Betcher.
The City Council discussed the clarity of that motion. Beatty Hansen clarified on Priority #2 where
it states “meet basic needs, with an emphasis on low to moderate income” would move “low to
moderate income” to the top under the title so it would be in effect for all three of the priorities
and not just Priority #2. Council Member Gartin asked Ms. Schildroth how that would change the
way the volunteers did their work. Ms. Schildroth stated she believes it is an assumption that the
agencies are currently providing services with an emphasis on low to moderate income.
Council Member Gartin asked if the City Council is moving for a change or clarifying what is
already being done. Council Member Beatty-Hansen said clarifying what is already being done,
stating Ms. Schildroth said that was assumption volunteers are already making.
Mayor Haila confirmed the City Council is changing “Categories 1, 2, and 3 are in priority order
as are the lettered services in each category with an emphasis on low to moderate income”. Mayor
Haila asked the City Council if they have any questions regarding this wording.
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Council Member Beatty-Hansen inquired about removing the word “quality” before childcare on
Letter D of Priority #2. Beatty-Hansen moved to strike the word “quality” from on Letter D of
Priority #2. Seconded by Betcher.
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Ms. Schildroth asked if she could share these changes with the ASSET volunteers.
Council Member Betcher moved to get a recommendation from staff on an appropriate time for
the City Council to have a discussion like tonight’s on an annual basis so that the City Council
understand the ASSET priorities and how they align with the City Council goals. Seconded by
Rollins.
Council Member Gartin said the City Council needs to have an annual time where members step
back and ask how they are doing.
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City Manager Schainker said that the City Council can have this discussion every year at the
priority setting meeting for ASSET or it can be made a discussion for a City Council workshop.
Betcher withdrew the motion.
Moved by Betcher to have a City Council Workshop on ASSET priorities and outcome data in
June of 2023. Seconded by Gartin.
Voted on motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
Council Member Gartin encouraged the City Council to volunteer with these agencies to better
understand the needs of our community.
DISPOSITION OF COMMUNICATION TO COUNCIL: Mayor Haila noted that there was
one item to consider. The item was a request from Kevin J. Foley, Executive Director Des Moines
International Airport for local support for the Des Moines International Airport terminal project.
City Manager Schainker recommended that the City Council refer the item to staff for staff to
respond directly to the individuals who made the request.
City Manager Schainker told the City Council that there are three options: deny the request, invite
the Director to a future Council meeting, or delay a response until budget time. The City of Ames’
share would be approximately $900,000, which would be paid over four years in approximately
$250,000 increments. Mr. Schainker indicated he understands this would be a difficult decision
for the City Council to make.
Council Member Gartin asked Mr. Schainker if the City had been asked to fund something like
this before. Mr. Schainker said he does not recall funding a project like this in the past. He noted
that Ames residents all use the Des Moines airport and that the City would like to participate in
regional projects, but this is a big request. He explained that the City has sustainability projects to
work on. Mr. Gartin said the airport is an amenity that is important to Ames, but it is difficult to
understand a cost benefit analysis on this.
Mayor Haila stated there are rumors that legislation is going to come back with a hard cap on
property tax again. He said that there are issues with the local option sales tax and guaranteeing
that the State will fund the investment back to the City. Mayor Haila said the City Council are all
elected to represent the citizens of Ames, and there is pressure to balance the City’s budget. Mr.
Schainker stated many projects are being delayed and he is supportive of regional growth, but
many projects need to be completed within the City.
Council Member Gartin moved to bring back at budget time in context of other priorities of the
Community. Seconded by Council Member Beatty-Hansen.
Council Member Betcher stated that the City Council has enough issues and is concerned if
projects within the City of Ames can be funded. Mr. Schainker said the City Council could allow
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a presentation in November or December during a budget guideline session. Mayor Haila stated
that the City Council set policy that December 31st is the cut off request for funding.
Mayor Haila stated the motion on the floor is Kevin Foley, Executive Director of Des Moines
International Airport make a presentation before the end of 2022 and it has been seconded.
Vote on Motion: 1-5. Voting Aye: Gartin. Voting Nay: Beatty-Hansen, Betcher, Corrieri, Junck,
Rollins. Motion failed.
Moved by Beatty-Hansen, seconded by Corrieri, to deny request for presentation.
Vote on Motion: 5-1. Voting Aye: Beatty-Hansen, Betcher, Corrieri, Junck, Rollins. Voting Nay:
Gartin. Motion carried.
COUNCIL COMMENTS:
Rollins thanked everyone who attended the Juneteeth event. She thought they had a great first
collaborative community event.
Gartin expressed kudos to Rollins for leading the Juneteeth event. He also asked the Mayor to
mention what he will be doing Sunday June 26, 2022.
Betcher thanked the City Council for the discussion to ASSET priorities. She also thanked
everyone who collaborated on the Juneteeth event, saying it was a great community event.
Betcher mentioned that her and Beatty-Hansen will bring back recommendations for the staff wage
package for the next fiscal year at the next meeting. She said that she will be sending information
on that prior to the meeting.
Mayor Haila talked about the Ames Triathlon at Ada Hayden on June 26, 2022. He will be offering
opening remarks at that event. He has also interviewed two individuals for the Ames Resident
Police Advisory Committee (ARPAC), with more in the coming week, and will be submitting
recommendations to the City Council on seven individuals in the City Council packet next week.
Garmin stated he had been gathering comments from student government members about
Welcome Back weekend.
ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Betcher, seconded by Beatty Hansen, to adjourn the meeting at
7:47 p.m.
Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously.
__________________________________ ____________________________________
Renee Hall, Recording Secretary John A. Haila, Mayor
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Diane R. Voss, City Clerk