On Tuesday, the short-staffed City Council tabled some topics, but was able to revisit a proposed change to Ames’ water rates.

“Ryan Doll was called out of town today,” said Mayor Ann Campbell. “And Riad Mahayni sounded bad enough over the phone that no one wanted him here.”

Because of the absences, several large topics were tabled for future meetingsm, including Targeted Growth Strategy, a resolution to approve or deny a Convenience Commercial Node and the first passage of an ordinance raising the sewer rate by eight percent.

“I would rather wait for the whole council to be present and listen in on those topics,” said councilman Jami Larson.

During the public forum, Ames resident Joe Rippetoe spoke about the proposed Lifestyle Center to be built by Wolford Development. He questioned the relationship between Wolford and the council and why the council would speak to the media about the issue but not actually act on it.

“Wolford has failed to meet a legally binding agreement,” he said. “There are no known anchors, and no prospects for any anchors.”

Rippetoe has spoken about the Lifestyle Center at the last three City Council meetings.

With so many items on the agenda tabled, the item that brought about the most discussion was, once again, the changes to the water rate structure.

John Dunn, director of water and pollution control, compared Ames’ rates to other towns’.

“Ames is either below or at the median rates,” he said.

Some residents are unhappy with the proposed restructuring because activities like watering a lawn will have a significant impact on residents’ bills.

After receiving a number of calls about the fairness of the changes, Dunn brought the issue to the forefront of the council.

“We’re not trying to spring anything on the customers here,” he said. “We’re trying to get the message of conservation out. Fairness is really in the eye of the beholder in this case.”

City Manager Steve Schainker said the change would benefit those who conserve water.

“This is revenue-neutral to us – we don’t need it,” he said. “When you make rate adjustments, some come out winners and some come out losers.”

In a letter written to the council members, Ames resident James Sorenson described extreme differences between utiility bills under the two rates.

“I freak out when I get a $200 irrigation bill now,” according to the letter. “With the new proposal, we would have months exceeding $700 just to water our lawn!”

Larson thinks the attention residents are paying to the proposed rate change is a good thing.

“This has really got people thinking about conserving water and understanding peak rates, and that’s a good thing,” he said.