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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - April 2026 Monthly Project Highlights Contact the City Clerk's Office at 515-239-5105 515 Clark Avenue, Ames, IA 50010 Report compiled by Taylor Swanson, Deputy City Clerk City Clerk's Office APRIL 2026 MONTHLY PROJECTHIGHLIGHTS CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE Branching Out Tree Giveaway: On April 11, 2026, the City of Ames hosted its first Tree Giveaway, aptly named Branching Out. During this event, 13 volunteers helped distribute over 500 trees to residents. The giveaway provided a great opportunity to briefly connect with community members while also allowing volunteers to contribute to a positive environmental effort. Five native Iowa tree species were offered, including Buttonbush, American Plum, Hackberry, Northern Red Oak, and Eastern White Pine. All these species are well-suited to Iowa conditions and provide important benefits for local wildlife and pollinators. More than 100 participants came to pick up trees, and we look forward to seeing tree babies growing in yards across the City in the coming years. 2 LIBRARY America’s 250 Continues: The Library continues the celebration of the United States of America with a series of events in partnership with Ames: A Glimpse Inside, Ames History Museum, Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa State University - University Museums, and Prairie Rivers of Iowa. • Insights into Iowa’s Transportation History: Friday, May 1, at 2:30 p.m., Ames Public Library Auditorium or Zoom • Streamliners Across Iowa: Friday, May 1, at 4 p.m., Ames Public Library Auditorium or Zoom • Revolutionary Iowans Traveling Exhibit Guide: Saturday, May 2, at 11-11:30 a.m., Ames Public Library Gallery • Prairie, Plows, and the People's College: Saturday, May 2, from 12 - 3 p.m., Farm House Museum (601 Farm House Lane, Ames) Ames Repair Café: The spring Ames Repair Café was held at the Library on April 18. Nearly 100 items were repaired, giving them new life, saving them from the landfill, and sparing owners the cost to replace! About 90 people also participated in a plant and seed swap during the event. Watch for the next Ames Repair Café in September. Celebrating Library Volunteers: Ames Public Library's spring book sale was held April 9-12. The amazing Library volunteers covered 125 shifts to set up, sell books, keep the sale stocked, and clean up. It takes a lot of work to run a fundraiser that draws over 700 attendees! The Library celebrated the 415 volunteers who assisted throughout the year with a reception on April 21, during National Library Week. Many stopped in for snacks, gratitude, and special awards. 3 PARKS & RECREATION Ada Hayden Heritage Park Trail Project: Although the trail has been installed, there are several items that need to be corrected by the contractor. These are detailed below . • Nine Concrete Panels on the East Side of the Lake – A crack appeared along these nine panels and will be replaced at the contractor’s expense as there is no reason they should have cracked. • Seven Concrete Panels on the South Side of the Lake – A crack appeared along these panels and will be replaced. This is a wet area, but it is difficult to determine whether the water was the cause of the cracking. Because of this, the cost (approximately $10,500) to replace these panels will be shared between the City and the contractor. • Water Ponding West of the Bridge – The intersection of two trails accumulates water. The contractor will be replacing this section of concrete to eliminate the ponding of water. This will be done at the contractor's expense. • Path Sloping Wrong Way – On a portion of the trail on the north side of the south lake, the concrete is sloped the wrong way which causes water to pond. These will be replaced at the contractor's expense. • Miscellaneous Items – The contractor will be picking up chunks of asphalt around the trail and fixing the connections where the paved trail meets the aggregate Upland Trail. While this work is being done, portions of the trail will be temporarily closed. Staff is working with the contractor regarding a time frame for the work to be completed and will communicate that with the public. Daley Park Splash Pad: Staff is waiting for approval from the State of Iowa regarding the permit to construct the Daley Park Splash Pad Project. Once approval is received, TK Concrete, of Pella, Iowa, will start construction. Staff is expecting to hear from the State in the next couple of weeks. City staff will be constructing the mechanical building for the project in late April. The project is expected to be completed in June 2026. 4 Homewood Golf Course: Homewood Men’s Golf League started Monday, April 20. The league is full with 20 teams, or 40 participants. The Couples/Pairs Golf League currently has 15 teams, or 30 people, registered of the 18-team maximum. The league starts Tuesday, April 28. As of April 20, 2026, Homewood Golf Course has had 1,874 rounds. During the same time frame last year, there were 2,131 rounds played. Homewood opened on March 28 in 2025 and on March 30 in 2026. Below is information related to the Homewood Clubhouse rentals: July 1, 2024 – April 20, 2025 July 1, 2025 – April 20, 2026 Paid Event Hours 102.75 91.50 Revenue from Paid Events $10,590.75 $9,204.50 Non-Paid Event Hours 107 116.5 Homewood Golf Course Hole Nine Crossing Project: Con-Struct, of Ames, Iowa, completed the first phase for the Homewood Golf Course Hole Nine Crossing project in time for opening day. The work completed included the removal of the pedestrian bridge, installation of a concrete culvert, and filling and grading the ravine with over 5,500 cubic yards of soil. The crossing in the ravine between the tee and green created a pathway for walkers and golf carts. Phase two includes installing the concrete path for the crossing and repairing the sidewalk behind nine green. The concrete path for the crossing will be installed towards the end of the golf season in October or early November. As a result of the above work, the westernmost asphalt parking area driveway on the course was severely deteriorated from the heavy equipment traffic. Staff is working with the Public Works Department to develop plans and specifications to remove the asphalt parking/drive and replace it with concrete. The number of parking spaces w ill be increased as part of the project. Replacement of the westernmost drive will happen as soon as possible with the balance of the work done after the golfing season. Ontario Park Open House: The Parks and Recreation Department will host an open house for Ontario Park on Saturday, May 9, from 1 to 3 p.m. This open house is an opportunity to explore the property and provide input. People are encouraged to walk the site and imagine what could be included as the land is transformed into a park. Off -street parking will be available. 5 Park Maintenance Shop Expansion Project: King Construction, of Iowa Falls, Iowa, completed the construction of the Parks Maintenance Cold Storage Building, the renovation of the break room in the main Park Shop, the installation of the landscaping around the site, and all turf seeding. An open house took place on April 22 where members of City Council, Parks and Recreation Commission, City staff, contractors, and residents attended. Parkview Park Playground Project: City staff will be demolishing and excavating the Parkview Park playground site in preparation for Play-Pro Recreation, of Clive, Iowa, installing new equipment. Once the structure and swing are installed, staff will install an engineered wood fiber surface and concrete border. Installation started the week of April 27. 6 WATER & POLLUTION CONTROL Nutrient Reduction Modifications Update: Construction at the Water Pollution Control Facility continues to focus on construction of the new aeration basins. Work is also proceeding in the Raw Wastewater Pump Station as the interconnections to the new Grit Building are installed. Bypass pumping is required so that the contractor can make repairs to the main front gate; that task had to be delayed due to high plant flows following heavy rain events. Once the work was able to proceed, the main gate was found to be damaged more significantly than initially anticipated, and staff is working with the consultant to determine the best course of action. The new Administration Building has been classified as “substantially complete.” In May, a significant level of electrical controls and switchgear installation is expected to start. Raw Water Line Emergency Repair: During development of the most recent Capital Improvements Plan, staff from Water & Pollution Control partnered with Public Works to include a project to stabilize the bank of the South Skunk River between E Lincoln Way and SE 16th Street in order to protect a 30” raw water main. The line is part of a loop that connects the 10 wells in the SE Wellfield and the Youth Sports Complex Wellfield to the Water Treatment Plant. Over the past several years the river has been consistently eroding the east bank towards the pipeline. In mid-March, the erosion became severe enough that the pipeline was exposed. Staff had initiated repairs on an expedited basis, only to have high waters in early April turn the situation into a true emergency. 7 Pictured below are progression photos of the stream bank erosion from March and April. An emergency contract was enacted to begin immediate stabilization of the pipe. The pipe was removed from service and depressurized. Sheet piling was installed to prevent further deflection. Then dirt behind the pipe was excavated, and the pipe was pulled back into a straight alignment in its original location. As of April 28, the re-aligned pipe passed a pressure test confirming that the joints are tight and passed two separate tests for bacterial quality to confirm that no river water entered the pipe while it was submerged. The pipe has been backfilled and is ready to be returned to service. The restored riverbank still needs to be protected with rip rap, pilings, and/or some other form of stabilization. The photos below show the restoration work in progress. This work only addresses the immediate emergency. There are other locations on this stretch of the river where the pipeline is in similar danger. Additional mitigation activities will be necessary in the immediate future. When the 30” portion of the looped well line is out of service, the capacity of nearly all of the wells is reduced, due to the high velocities and friction losses. Fortunately, the two 8 new wells in North River Valley Wellfield are not impacted and are available to help supplement capacity. Constructing the looped raw water pipeline network in 2009 and drilling additional wells in 2025 are perfect examples of the need to continuously invest in projects that increase the resiliency of the water system to unforeseen emergencies. Tour Season Underway: As academic calendars begin winding down for the semester and spring fever kicks in, tours become popular activities for both elementary grades and college courses. Students from Gilbert Elementary recently toured the Water Plant and are pictured below learning about the treatment process from Water Plant Superintendent Calvin Forte.