The Ames City Council will vote on whether to allow small production facilities, including microbreweries, in commercial zones. 

Scott Griffin, owner of Olde Main Brewing Company of Ames, has requested that there be a text amendment to the Ames zoning ordinance that would allow for the company to build a production brewery facility at 1615 S. Kellogg, as well as an event center and a tap room. The current zoning would allow for the event center to be built, but not the brewery. 

Griffen indicated to city of Ames staff that the company desires to build and operate a 25,000-square foot facility that would allow the company to produce 15,000 to 25,000 barrels of beer annually, each barrel holding around 31 gallons of beer. At that rate, Olde Main would be operating at five to 10 times their current production. 

The City Council also plans to extend the city’s contract with Waste Management of Ames for hauling and related services to the Boone County Landfill. The current contract includes four optional extension periods through June 30, 2019. The extension from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 is the first. The approved budget for the 2016 fiscal year for this service is $213,750, and the council could opt to reject the extension and re-bid the hauling services.

Another item on the council’s agenda is to approve the use of a project grant for an urban conservation demonstration. Ames applied for and received the $100,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s Water Quality Initiative in late February. The proposed project up for approval will include soil quality restoration, as well as bioretention cells at various locations near Fifth and Sixth Street near City Hall in Ames. 

This project can be combined with the 2014-15 Downtown Street Pavement Improvements project, which will be carried out in the 2015 construction season.