Ames City Council Provides Direction On Reopening City Facilities

Press release from the City of Ames:

May 27, 2020

At its Tuesday meeting, Ames City Council provided direction to City staff about reopening various City facilities closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In deliberating, Council Members reiterated the challenge of balancing access to recreational opportunities while continuing to protect the health of citizens and City employees by reducing opportunities to spread the virus.

The Council provided direction to the Ames Parks and Recreation staff to:

• Reopen the Ames Dog Park on June 1.
• Continue to move forward on opening the Ames/ISU Ice Arena in June.
• Reopen Ames Municipal Pool as soon as possible following usage allowed under Governor Kim Reynolds’ current and future directives.
• Reopen the Georgie Tsushima Memorial Skate Park on June 1 as allowed by the Governor.
• Reopen City playgrounds on June 1 as allowed by the Governor.
• Not open the Furman Aquatic Center for the 2020 season.
• Consider opening the Brookside wading pool with restrictions and a schedule determined by staff.

Additionally, the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau, Iowa State University, and City of Ames agreed to cancel the annual Independence Day fireworks due to difficulties with enforcing social distancing policies.

In another vote, the City Council lifted the suspension on issuing sidewalk café permits contingent on the Governor’s directive.

City staff have developed “decision-making criteria” that include the Governor’s directives, public health guidance, and other considerations to guide decisions on facilities and events. City staff prepared the decision-making criteria process to evaluate factors such as the number of people involved, how densely crowded people will be, what type of protective supplies are available or provided, and whether social distancing is possible.

Some of the events cancelled based on the criteria include:

• Fourth of July parade
• Mayor and City Council’s Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast
• Street ‘N’ Greet Block Party Trailer reservations through Sept. 1
• Ames Municipal Band concerts
• Rummage RAMPage

City Hall and City facilities will not reopen to the public before Wednesday, July 1, 2020. City staff continue working from their offices and in some cases from home. To prepare to open, physical barriers are being installed to protect the public and staff. Customers can conduct City business online or by contacting individual City departments directly. Until it reopens, the Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Ave., is providing a curbside pick-up program.

The Resource Recovery Plant, 110 Center Ave., has resumed individual solid waste drop-offs and will resume the Household Hazardous Waste collection service based on scheduled appointments in June.

For additional information or concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, call the City hotline at 515.239.5670 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or email covid19@cityofames.org

This press release was produced by the City of Ames. The views expressed here are the author’s own.