Hello All
 
The City of Ames is sponsoring  "Ames, Be Cool". Conserving natural resources and helping the environment are great goals, but sometimes it’s hard to know what to do.  As the City of Ames continues to promote its EcoSmart programming and reduce its own carbon footprint, here’s an opportunity to learn more about how Ames residents can help. As part of the Ames City Council’s goals to promote environmental sustainability, the City of Ames, along with the Ames Community School District, is sponsoring "Ames, Be Cool," an educational forum from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, September 27.  Lunch is provided at no charge. See more info about  "Ames, Be Cool".
 
This council meeting starts at 5:30. The agenda includes:

• Item 2 -- Presentation by McKel Group regarding proposed Downtown Catalyst Project at 328-330 Main Street. This is a possible downtown catalyst project. Many may remember the downtown charrette process the city had several years ago. The goal of that process was to have a project that could jump start additional economic activity in the downtown. Initially the resulting recommendation from the charrette was for a civic plaza east of City Hall. There was some resistance to this proposal by the community and the downtown district. The current proposal is for the old town center building (some know it as the old JC Penney building). This would represent a significant investment by the city in the downtown. I want to make sure that the vast majority of the downtown businesses are behind this proposal. I suspect if this goes forward, we will not see a city council support an investment of this magnitude in downtown for many years in the future. So the downtown and the council needs to make sure this is the right project.

• Item 3 -- Discussion of possible revisions to the Municipal Code pertaining to abatement of dangerous buildings.  There are several buildings in town that have been problems in neighborhoods for many years (top complaints coming from Country Club and Ross Road areas) . The city process dealing with these buildings is quite lengthy (requiring legal action and much time in court). This item is reviewing ways to streamline the process.

Those are the expected highlights. Tune in early.
 
Jim Popken
City Council At Large
 
Disclaimer: My intent of this communication is to give you a heads up on items coming to the city council. I may state some of my impressions and leanings here. I will, however, try to avoid staking out a position on issues before the council meeting occurs. I feel that I should avoid committing to any positions until I have heard and considered all the public input at the council meeting before a vote.
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