Well hi, how are you?  I'm good, thanks.  Pull up a seat and watch tonight's Ames City Council with me, won't you?

Promises to be a busy evening.  The top agenda item is a report from city staff on another tax abatement request from eastern Iowa car dealer Deery Brothers for a proposed dealership on SE 16th St. and Dayton Rd.  The company is offering some of the land in the area for flood mitigation.  While putting more skin in the game, it doesn't address the primary concerns of council members who voted against the measure last week--the need for abatement in a business that would compete directly with already exitising businesses.

We're also watching a city report on requirements that 85% of emergency calls are responded to withing five minutes.  The council could be looking for some flexibility on this as the city grows.

7:26PM:  Forgot to mention--1st Ward Council Member Tom Wacha is not in the chambers this evening, but is in attendence via Skype.  It's a brave new world.

7:57PM:  Deery Brothers/tax abatment issue underway.  City Manager Steve Schainker says the donated land isn't worth what Deery's folks say it's worth, and an offer to rechannelize the Skunk River wouldn't have a great effect on reducing flood water collection in the area.

8:10PM:  Hotel owner Monte Parrish is speaking now.  He's mentioned At-Large Council Member Matthew Goodman twice while making his argument.  Remember--Goodman wasn't the only one to vote against the measure last month, so calling him out specifically on this is unseemly.

8:12PM:  Mayor Ann Campbell just reminded future speakers that comments need to be directed to all council members, not individual members.

8:25PM:  Council discussion is underway.  The only member of the public to speak against the abatement proposal was David Wheelock--the owner of Hickory Park.  No kidding.

8:34PM:  Tom Wacha is still not convinced that flood mitigation efforts in the area would be enough to get his support.  He's still a "no."  Haven't heard from Goodman or Szopinski as yet.

8:40PM:  Victoria Szopinski makes her comment, saying the fact that tax abatement is just way business is done today is part of the problem, that businesses are asking for advantages that should be decided by the market.  She's clearly a "no."  Wacha, FWIW adds that he could be persuaded to give abatement on the dealership land itself, but only IF engineers could do more to show flooding could be mitigated.

9:00PM:  Larson moves that the council take another look at the exact same abatement criteria that were rejected back on April 10th.  Says he wants to give it "one more shot."

9:05PM:  Mayor Ann Campbell, in a rare vote, casts a tie-breaking "yes" and passes Larson's motion after the council splits on a 3-3 tie.  She calls it a "do or die" when the issue comes back before the council, presumably as part of the first meeting in June.  The real question, who is going to feel the brunt of the lobbying to change their vote--Goodman, Wacha, or Szopinski?