The new mall proposal is slowly starting to move forward after city staff presented the latest draft of a zoning agreement to the Ames City Council on Tuesday night.

Although public input on the zoning agreement won’t be taken until the Aug. 9 council meeting, several audience members sported “No new mall” buttons.

According to the new agreement, developer James “Bucky” Wolford has until December 2006 to secure construction financing and titles to the land on the corner of 13th Street and Interstate 35 or the whole deal is off.

In response, Wolford is asking for more time to comply with the conditions of the agreement. In a letter addressed to the City Council, Wolford said a financing deadline of December 2007 would be more appropriate for several reasons.

“It leaves us with only approximately 14 months to complete the lease-up process and to arrange construction financing. Such a schedule is very tight to allow us to come to agreement with the numerous tenants and a lender,” Wolford stated in the letter.

“Closing on the land and having construction financing by Dec. 1, 2006 requires us to commence grading on the project during the winter months. From a construction standpoint, this is just not practical. Your winter months are very severe, and nothing can be accomplished at that time.”

Ames City Manager Steve Schainker said he wants this project to move along faster.

“We’re trying to encourage this to happen sooner rather than later and not let it drag out,” he said. “This is a balancing act between the comfort of the developer and us speeding it up.”

The city’s request for $250,000 to pave a bike path from the proposed mall site to Dayton Road and $100,000 to add a CyRide route has been taken out of the agreement, but Wolford has agreed to construct drop-off and turn-around facilities at both the north and south sites and also contribute $50,000 toward one new bus.

Wolford has also agreed to extend a 10 foot bike path along East 13th Street from the eastern edge of the Interstate 35 entrance ramp to the eastern edge of the proposed mall site.

Under the new zoning agreement, Wolford would have three years after the financing deadline to complete construction.

New school routes were also presented to the council Tuesday night in response to the modified school boundaries.

The council unanimously passed a resolution to pay for three new crossing guards and modifications to street signals that total $24,500, without any funding being contributed from the Ames Community School District.

New guards will be placed at the intersections of South Dakota and Mortensen Road, Grand Avenue and 13th Street and 13th Street and Burnett Avenue.

Ames Police Chief Loras Jaeger said additional staff will be monitoring all the crosswalks during the first week of school and child counts will also be taken at each crossing to determine if any adjustments need to be made.