The City of Ames officially broke ground on the $32 million Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center on Wednesday, with about 150 people in attendance. “This project comes with broad support of communities throughout the county who see this aquatic center as not only an economic development investment but also as an investment in health care,”.
For the first time in 12 consecutive semesters, a joint meeting between the Iowa State Student Government and the Ames City Council will not happen after it was scheduled to occur before the Senate meeting March 27 but was canceled. “It slipped through the cracks on both Student Government as well as [the] City Council,”.
Ames experienced a 32.3% increase in 2023 in mental health calls for service to the communications center and the follow-up to these calls, according to the city. The 3,600 calls in 2023 include communication with family members, providers, clerk of court, attorneys and other resources. This communication is usually done by the Ames Mental Health.
Several Ames animal shelter volunteers asked the council for a new shelter before the Ames City Council approved the city’s $301 million budget for fiscal year 2024/25 Tuesday at its fifth meeting in 12 days, which included $100,000 to begin the process for a new shelter. Volunteers described to the council during the public comment.
In the second of three meetings this week, the Ames City Council continued to hear from city staff about their departments’ budgets including electric, parks and recreation, fire and police. The final meeting of the week is Thursday and the council will listen to public input and vote on the budget during their meeting Tuesday..