In the first of three budget hearings, the city council heard about the projects and notable achievements from the past year from city staff and community leaders. Topics included the Ames Public Library, utilities, transportation and finance.
“We’re going to give you an opportunity to review with the departments all the different programs and activities we have,” City Manager Steve Schainker said. “They’re going to try to focus on what they do. There’s obviously financial implications to what they offer but we’re going to try to focus on service levels and performance rather than dollars.”
The Ames Public Library highlighted their efforts in making the library welcoming and accessible.
“Libraries are a key component in providing critical information, resources and spaces for learning and connecting, not only to the world of ideas but to our fellow community members,” director of the Ames Library, Sheila Schofer, said.
The library had 334 volunteers overall, with 90 youth volunteers who helped offer free summer meals. During the summer, 5,318 meals were provided.
Schofer also touched on the services the library provides for youth, like workshops and a space for teens. The library also hosts a repair cafe and ‘speed friending,’ geared toward college students.
“Nearly a million items were checked out last year, that’s an average of 2,734 items a day,” Schofer said. “It goes beyond books. We support the checkout of park packs, Wi-Fi hotspots, STEM kits and more.”
Park packs are backpacks offered by the library with guidebooks, tools and ideas for exploring.
Ward 2 Rep. Tim Gartin asked about the impact of increasing homelessness around the library.
“We build relationships with people,” Schofer said. “I think they value our space and tend to treat it with respect, so sometimes, maybe when Parks and Rec saw some challenges, we didn’t see that at the same level. People who are going through a hard time in their life come with the stress of that. I think our biggest thing is to train our staff on good de-escalation.”
The director of the Water and Pollution Control Department, John Dunn, touched on the numerous events hosted by the department throughout the year and looking ahead to the upcoming year.
“When you think about a customer’s expectations of their drinking water, it really boils down to three priorities,” Dunn said. “They want their water to be safe, they want the water to be reliable and they want the water to be affordable.”
Emergency power upgrades are underway for new generators for well fields and booster stations, and the demolition of the old water treatment plant is set to wrap up this year.
Research has led to cost-saving treatment changes, while a chemical study found minimal contamination except in one inactive well. Upcoming projects include pump upgrades, real-time water quality monitoring and sludge disposal improvements to cut costs.
“We strive to meet not only the letter of the law, but we also seek to meet the spirit and the intent behind the law,” Dunn said. “As new and emerging regulations unfold, we’re always trying to monitor well in advance so we can make adjustments proactively before new regulations take effect.”
The public works operating budget focused on utilities, specifically sanitary sewer collection, water distribution systems, stormwater and resource recovery.
“We’re continuing to look and update our solid waste management plan with our new partners,” Interim Director of Public Works Justin Clausen said. “We’ll be coming back to council here in the next few months, maybe weeks to look at new partnerships and what we’re going to do with municipal solid waste going forward in the future.”
Clausen also touched on public works engineering, and traffic engineering to improve traffic capacity and improved accessibility at pedestrian crossings.
There was also a presentation about the city fleet and facilities, with six all-electric city vehicles and four aiming to increase the number of hybrids.
“I always enjoy hearing from the departments, seeing what they’re doing,” Ward 3 Rep. Gloria Betcher said. “It makes me feel really good about our staff and our city and I just want to thank everybody for maintaining that high standard, that excellence through the people.”
To view the entire budget document, please visit the city of Ames website.