Ames’ metropolitan status is finally being realized.

Ames has received two new metropolitan designations, which will bring over three quarters of a million dollars per year to the city. Assistant City Manager Bob Kindred said large cities’ populations have decreased and the monies they received now are now going elsewhere.

“Future funding distribution is up in the air,” Kindred said. “Some populations went up in the 2000 census and some went down. Now . those funds which some cities received will shift to other cities like Ames.”

The first designation is Ames becoming a Metropolitan Planning Organization. Kindred said the organization status brings Ames into direct dealing with the federal government.

“The funds for this are not immense,” Kindred said. “This is more of a rite of passage, as Ames is now designated as a direct transportation funding partner with the federal government.”

Kindred said Ames is currently part of a regional planning alliance that splits funds between 15 cities. With the Metropolitan Planning Organization status, the city no longer has to share funds.

“Now we get $75,000 every year, and our priorities are bike paths,” Kindred said. “We also get $53,000 for transportation planning. However, that won’t be a net gain because we put it back into the 11 steps to fulfill the complex process needed to get the [Metropolitan Planning Organization] up and running.”

The population of 50,726 is what enables organization status, Kindred said, but it is not the only deciding factor.

“In order to get the [Metropolitan Planning Organization] we had to meet criteria from the Census Bureau,” Kindred said. “When they finished their evaluation we qualified. We had to have 1,000 people per square mile to the total of 50,000 or greater. The way they do that evaluation, it was possible we wouldn’t have met their criteria as an `urbanized area.’ They only want the densely populated areas.”

The second designation comes in the form of the Community Development Block Grant, which brings Ames an additional $700,000 every year. The grant is the largest source of federal community development assistance to state and local governments.

Ames Housing Coordinator Vanessa Baker-Latimer is pleased the community has attained this status.

“I think this is a great opportunity for the council to provide funding to assist with housing, community development, neighborhood revitalization and economic development,” Baker-Latimer said. “Now we’re working on the next steps to finalize but we’re not sure what those steps are. We’re in the process of finding that out.”

Kindred said the sole criterion for receiving the grant was a population of over 50,000 until 1999 when the Federal Office of Management and Budget put a moratorium on designating any new entitlement communities, freezing the process for Ames.

“For the last year we’ve been trying to get help from our delegates in Washington,” Kindred said. “Last month Tom Latham came through.”

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco, along with members of the city council and the city manager, met with Latham in March to ask for assistance to get the grants. He got the grant in April.

“He had researched [the grant] quite deeply and knew what was going on,” Tedesco said. “Then he really went to bat for us. I’m very thankful for that and I applaud his efforts.”

Kindred said the designation brings “entitlement status” to Ames, which means the city directly receives Community Development Block Grants, which are administered by HUD. The grants are given to communities to meet the needs of low- to moderate-income families and citizens. When Ames’ population was under 50,000, the city had to compete with all the other cities whose populations were fewer than 50,000.

“It’s been years since Ames has gotten any of those funds,” Kindred said. “So we’ve been saying, `Hey, we should get this.’ Our lower- to moderate-income families have suffered in the past because we haven’t been able get the funds.”

Kindred said city staff will meet to review the process and decision points with the council.

“[We’ll meet] hopefully in June,” Kindred said. “We want to designate a separate night to bring the council up to speed on the steps we need to take in order to receive the money and cement the designations.”