The Ames City Council approved plans on Tuesday night to move forward on the construction of the new Ames ice arena.

The agreement ended nearly six months of negotiation on how the facility will be built and run.

The approval of the plan, which already has been before the Iowa Board of Regents and the governor’s executive council, allows Ames and Iowa State to select an architect and begin designing the $3.8 million facility.

The arena still is scheduled to be completed by fall of 2000.

The facility will be owned by both the city and the university and will be built on university-owned land.

The main point of controversy throughout the long debate over the arena plans centered around the easement agreement.

Although the old arena is owned by the university, the city will have authority over the new arena for the first 30 years, after which time the university will be able to purchase the facility.

If the new arena closes within those 30 years, the city will be reimbursed.

“It’s going to be an unusual arrangement,” said Ames City Manager Steve Schainker. “We still have a lot of work to do.”

Council Member John Parks said the arrangement will enhance communication between the two owners.

“It requires the two parties to keep communicating,” he said.

Another issue discussed at Tuesday’s meeting was a possible city lighting ordinance.

The proposed ordinance would have restricted when and where public lighting could be used within city limits.

The ordinance failed to gain the approval of the council.

One of the main sticking points was the ordinance’s provisions dealing with commercial lighting. The proposed statute would have restricted most new commercial lighting to business hours.

The issue of lighting will be revisited and brought before the council at a future meeting.