Hello All
Ames Community Conversations on Diversity
The Community Conversations on Diversity Committee invites Ames residents to help in Building a Stronger Ames – Including Me!
New residents to Ames report that it is often difficult to get to know people. Long-time residents of Ames sometimes feel uncertain about the new faces they see in the community. They wonder what is bringing these new residents to Ames. Some residents feel judged by their appearance or behaviors before they feel people make an effort to get to know them.
The goal of Building a Stronger Ames – Including Me! is to bring diverse individuals together to talk with other residents they would not likely meet otherwise, and to discuss their sense of belonging in Ames. The program seeks to give residents an opportunity to define the problems associated with welcoming new members to our community, and to find ways to solve them. Residents will meet in groups of eight to 12 people during October and early November to share their experiences, listen to one another, and build the kind of trust that is necessary for long-term change. The groups will be led by trained facilitators.
Building a Stronger Ames – Including Me! is an initiative of the Community Conversations on Diversity Committee. This local team of citizen volunteers has worked for several months to design the program. It is modeled after successful dialogue programs in other communities. The program is supported by the City of Ames, Ames Rotary, and Iowa State University Extension.
For more information about Building a Stronger Ames – Including Me!, or to register to participate as a group member or facilitator, please email AmesCommunityConversations@
Ames Council Meeting
This council meeting starts at 7:00. There are several items of interest on the agenda including:
- Item 13 -- Motion approving/denying renewal of Class C Liquor, Whiskey River, 132 Main Street. This downtown institution is having problems. The problem is not with underage violations. The problem is that the building has been deemed to be "dangerous" and the owners have done little to remedy the situation.
- Item 14 -- Motion approving/denying renewal of Class C Liquor, Bali Satay House, 2424 Lincoln Way. This establishment has many underage drinking violations and a pattern of fighting.
- Item 17 -- Report on Final Phase of Feasibility Study for Human Services Campus. The architect's study is complete. I think that this report is just informational. The city has paid for the study and pledged $600,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) federal funds toward this project. The United Way and the interested agencies now need to raise the additional millions of dollars to make this project a reality.
- Item 18 -- Housing Code Advisory Committee Update. This is a committee that has been reviewing the city's housing code and will be making recommendations regarding the city's housing code to city council (in particular the rental housing code). This is an interim update. This will be interesting to all home owners in that this committee may be recommending that many of the code requirements be applied to all housing in Ames (not just rental housing).
- Item 21 -- Review of Story County Lincoln Highway Corridor Study recommendations. This study is Story County's proposed plan for development for the Lincoln highway corridor (with particular focus between Ames and Nevada). I am in general agreement with city staff that there are several problems with the plan (see map below).
- The plan calls for the old Lincoln Highway between Ames and Nevada to be bordered by residential 1 acre lots. The report indicates that this is an effort to preserve the rural nature of old Lincoln Way. I would think a zoning designation that would allow only 35 acre lots would do more to preserve the scenery of old Lincoln Way.
- The plan calls for industrial usage south of the railroad. Having residential and industrial strip development so close together is a recipe for conflict.
- The north side of Highway 30 is all commercial/industrial development. This type of development does not allow for any type of community identity. The building backs would front Highway 30 and without design standards the prospects of viewing a junky area from Highway 30 are quite real.
- There is no plan for a controlled build out from the respective cities (Ames and Nevada) for the rail corridor, Lincoln Way corridor, or Highway 30 corridor. This is not preserving community identity.
- See staff report for more on the proposed plan/study.
Those are the expected highlights.
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.
If you know others who would like to receive this news letter please direct them to http://jimpopken.org/ames/newsletter
See JimPopken.org for past postings.
