The Ames City Council is set to hear public feedback on their draft of the Capital Improvements Plan Tuesday evening.

As previously reported by the Daily, the $309 million plan aims to bring improvements and changes to utilities, transportation, culture and recreation, community development and public safety. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the council chambers of City Hall.

Some of the improvements proposed in the plan include: a 5 million-gallon water reservoir, CyRide route pavement improvements, replacing a front-line fire truck engine and general city hall repairs.

Susan Gwiasda, the city’s public information officer, said the council is looking for a diverse amount of feedback from the public.

“We had a previous meeting where departments went through those capital improvements, presented them to council, received questions from the council, answered those questions– this is an opportunity for the public to provide their feedback,” Gwiasda said.

The council is also set to vote on the Home American Rescue Program Allocation Plan’s proposed estimated budget, populations and activities. The plan utilizes roughly $1.26 million made available by the American Rescue Plan Act to address homeless assistance needs by diversifying housing options, according to city documents.

City documents describe individuals or families who would qualify for program funds as: homeless; at risk of homelessness; fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking and those with the greatest risk of housing instability where providing assistance would prevent homelessness.

City documents continue to detail the four-eligible activities the funds can be used for. They include:

• The production of affordable rental housing.
• Tenant-based rental assistance.
• Supportive services including homeless prevention services and housing counseling services.
• The purchase or development of non-congregate shelters for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Ioway Creek shared path

In their consent agenda, the council is set to vote on a shared use path system expansion along Ioway Creek from S. 5th Street to 0.5 miles east of S. Duff Avenue. Gwiasda said the city had cleared trees along the area where the path is set to be as part of flood mitigation efforts.

“A path along there is not something that’s going to get damaged– it gets submerged,” Gwiasda said. “But when the trees were all in that area, it tended to funnel the water, and the water ended up– during times of high water– …much less controllable and manageable.”

According to city documents, the revenues for the project add up to roughly $1.24 million, and the expenses add up to roughly $1.21 million.