Ames residents will have to wait a little longer to splash around the new downtown plaza.
Schainker Plaza will not open until the splash pad passes a state inspection and all construction problems are fixed.
The city reached a legal settlement in February with Henkel Construction, the company that built the plaza. Under that deal, Henkel agreed to finish repairs by May 22 at no extra cost to the city.
As of May 18, two problems remain: The spray nozzles at the splash pad are not working correctly because of where they were placed. Workers are also still checking whether all electrical issues have been fixed.
City staff pressed Henkel to have Confluence, the project’s architect, put in writing that the finished work meets design standards. So far, the city received no such document. Confluence is scheduled to visit the site May 26.
Before the splash pad can open, Iowa law requires a state inspection. The city tried to schedule that visit, but they haven’t secured a date. Without a passing inspection, the city cannot get the permit it needs to operate the splash pad.
During a virtual meeting on May 19, the Ames City Council voted to wait to open any part of the plaza until both the repairs are approved and the state permit is in hand.
The ice-skating ribbon, a popular winter feature, will not be repaired until between September and November 2026.
Solar farm lease approved
The city is one step closer to turning unused airport land into a solar energy farm, but leaders learned the cost of electricity produced might be more than originally expected.
The council approved a revocable lease with Greenfield Development to build a solar farm on about 150 acres of land at the James Herman Banning Ames Municipal Airport. The company would install solar panels and sell the electricity directly back to the city.
The project was estimated to produce up to 24.9 megawatts of power — enough to run thousands of homes. The lease would last 25 years, with options to extend or for the city to buy the system outright.
The council required that no land set aside in the airport’s future growth plan be included in the solar zone. That change trimmed the available land from 165 acres to about 150 acres, which may reduce the size of the final project and could raise the per-kilowatt-hour cost of electricity.
Signing the lease does not mean the solar farm will definitely be built. The two sides must still agree on a separate deal by June 30, 2027, covering the price of electricity and the exact layout of the panels. If they cannot agree, the lease expires and the city owes nothing.
Next meeting: The council will meet in regular session at 6 p.m. May 26 at Ames City Hall.
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