Ames citizens peppered landscape architects with questions about fishing, sailing and zoning ordinances in connection with plans for the Ames Quarry park.

Representatives from various organizations working on the planned quarry park gathered in the Ames Public Library Wednesday night to answer questions posed by area residents. The use of motorized vehicles, the building of a bridge and the possibility of nearby development all sparked discussions among the about 25 participants.

“We don’t want a conflict,” said Jim Patchett, founder and president of Conservation Design Forum, Inc., the landscape architect company for the quarry project.

No motorized vehicles, either land- or water-based, will be allowed, he said. However, “little electric trolling motors” in fishing boats may be permitted, as they are quiet, do not cause a lot of wave action and pollute less than gasoline motors, Patchett said.

The idea to build a bridge over the man-made channel that will join the two lakes in Ames Quarry also caused some concern. The ISU Sailing Club requested about 20 feet of clearance under the bridge, but this would increase the difficulty of bridge construction.

Erv Klaas, co-chair of Friends of Hallett’s Quarry, said there was a lot of public support for a bridge during the referendum, and officials should consult the public before deciding if a bridge should be built.

Possible construction of a rural residential area on 250 acres west of Grand Avenue also was a concern. A development company owns this land, Klaas said, and it is currently agriculturally zoned.

While there is no indication in the works to change this, the property value will rise once the quarry park is built, Klaas said. The owners could request that the county rezone the land as a rural residential area, he said.

“It’s going to take a lot of courage on the part of our local politicians to oppose that,” Klaas said.

A rural residential zone would be a problem because septic tanks are a source of potential contamination in the quarry lake system, Klaas said. When tanks are not cleaned properly, sewage bypasses filtering systems and leaches out, eventually entering the groundwater, he said.

Steve Lekwa, director of the Story County Conservation Board, warned of the dangers of “over-fishing.” He recalled the decimation of the fish population when the city purchased Peterson’s Pit in the early 1980s.

“[People were] carrying fish out of there for about two weeks in five-gallon buckets,” Lekwa said. The fish population has still not recovered.

Lekwa voiced concern over the same problem in the Ames Quarry lakes, especially because the lake system has only one narrow spawning habitat.

The shoreline stabilization project may have the benefit of creating additional spawning habitats, Patchett said.

So far, people are respecting the city’s request to not fish in the lakes, although Lekwa has had some reports of ice fishing.

“Patience is the operative word,” Lekwa said.

Nancy Carroll, director of Parks and Recreation, said she hasn’t had any problems with the public not being allowed to visit the quarry.

“I think it’s important that the city communicates why,” Carroll said.