Veishea representatives have requested $10,000 from the Ames City Council to pay for the Friday and Saturday night pancake feeds and to supplement funds for other weekend entertainment.

Four Veishea representatives requested the funds at a special meeting Tuesday night and presented plans for how the money would be used.

Nick Dial, Veishea co-chairman of sponsorship and senior in history, said Veishea organizers have had a hard time getting contributions from sponsors because of the current state of the economy.

“We’re cinching up the belt wherever we can, and we’re asking if you could help us pick up the slack,” Dial said at the meeting. “That would relieve an enormous amount of stress and tension.”

Last year, the council offered $6,300 to sponsor the Friday and Saturday night pancake feeds, but Dial said the current need of outside sponsorship made the $10,000 request reasonable.

Veishea General Co-Chairwoman Elyse Harper, senior in psychology, said some sacrifices have already been made to save money this year, including cutting the carnival rides and hosting fewer entertainment acts for a shorter duration.

Dial said the city’s allocation would go toward various aspects of the weekend evening entertainment, including staging, security and the two pancake feeds.

He said that out of all the organizations they have requested funding from, only one did not mention the economy when responding to the request.

“Short story, I chose a very, very bad year to be on sponsorship,” Dial said.

In their presentation, the Veishea representatives also walked the council through the weekend’s entertainment options. They said, Stevie Starr, a professional regurgitator, will be making a return performance on Friday, and comedian Bill Burr will perform at CY Stephens Auditorium on Saturday.

The council will make a decision on whether to grant the funding at a future meeting.

The 2009-2014 Capital Improvements Plan was put to public discussion Tuesday, and some citizens were especially concerned about the plan to demolish Carr Pool at a cost of $50,000 after the construction of the new Furman Aquatic Center.

Roy Cakerice, chairman of a group called Friends of Carr Pool, said he surveyed Ames residents who had voted on the new aquatic center, asking them whether they would rather see Carr Pool demolished or kept in use.

Cakerice said he took this poll on two separate occasions, and both times the results showed that only 22 percent of those surveyed wanted to have Carr Pool demolished. Cakerice said got the names of people who had voted in the aquatic center vote and sent surveys to more than 1,000 people. The first time, 41 percent responded and the second time 37 percent responded.

“Too many people out there in Ames, Iowa, want to keep this pool so it can be used,” Cakerice said. “I’m asking you tonight, take that $50,000 off the budget so we would have time to work through this situation.”

He said that though he and others have brought this issue to the council before, there has been no discussion from the council concerning the pool.

Mayor Ann Campbell said since the demolition isn’t scheduled until next year, there would still be a chance to receive public input and possibly change the decision to proceed with demolition.

A lengthy discussion about a proposed subdivision north of Ames took up much of the City Council’s regular meeting. The preliminary plot for the Rose Prairie subdivision was voted down unanimously by the council, which voiced concerns about the land not yet being annexed by the city.

The 224-acre subdivision was planned to be built north of Ames, in the land between Ada Hayden Heritage Park and the Ames Golf and Country Club. Though proponents of the subdivision claimed the project would be beneficial to the surrounding area, the council deemed the project too risky to the environment, specifically to Ada Hayden Heritage Park.

The council approved funding for a feasibility study regarding the expansion of the Ames Library. The study would be done by an architectural firm that would give guidance and narrow the library’s options for expansion.

CyRide fares free this summer

As part of the 2009/2010 budget, CyRide will be offering fare-free rides between May 15 and Aug. 15.

According to the minutes of a special meeting held Feb. 2, CyRide Director Sheri Kyras said she thinks the free rides could increase ridership by 20 percent.

She said the fare-free summer would cost $93,200, but said the free rides would help Ames achieve its goal of becoming a greener community.