Ames council approves 80/20 annexation process for Irons subdivision amid sewer, cost concerns

The Ames City Council voted May 13 to initiate an 80/20 annexation process for parts of the Irons subdivision and the Ames Golf & Country Club, a step council members said would create contiguous municipal boundaries while leaving unresolved questions about sewer connections and costs for residents.

Councilors said the annexation would allow the city to pursue a more uniform boundary and to move forward with planning tied to the Borgmeyer property development, which must be approved by the state before some annexation actions can proceed.

City planning staff explained the 80/20 process and told the council that the annexation cannot be formally recorded until the Borgmeyer property is approved through the state process. Kelly Diekmann, planning staff, said that means the annexation sequence likely will not begin in earnest until late 2025, and the sewer trunk required to serve properties farther west would likely be an expensive, multi-phase project beginning from Hyde Avenue and the railroad corridor.

Residents at the meeting raised immediate concerns about cost and disruption. Lee Huey, an Irons Way resident, told the council the likely cost of connecting to municipal sewer could range “on the low end” from about $20,000 to as high as $50,000 per property when private lateral work, landscaping and septic abandonment are included. He and others said many homes in the subdivision have relatively new, high-performance septic systems and that forcing early connection could impose large unexpected expenses.

Daryl Veggie, also an Irons Way resident, urged the council to pause and study costs and disruption: “I don't think you have any idea what this is gonna cost,” he said, calling for a referral to staff for more study and for cost estimates tied to likely sewer alignments.

Staff told the council they had already begun the requested follow-ups: public works and planning will study possible sanitary sewer alignments, identify possible special-assessment approaches to share the trunk cost among benefitted parcels, and work with the county on septic abandonment processes. Diekmann said one option would be a city-led special assessment to construct the trunk and repay the cost through assessments over time (typically 10 years), but that household-level connection costs (the private lateral and any yard restoration) would still fall to property owners.

The council voted to proceed with the 80/20 annexation (alternative 1) and directed staff to return later this summer with engineering routes, preliminary cost estimates and a special-assessment feasibility review. Councilmembers repeatedly emphasized that: (a) annexation does not force immediate hookup the day property lines change; and (b) staff will present timing and cost scenarios so elected officials and property owners can weigh options.

Mayor John A. Hayla noted the council could in the future amend development agreements to adjust timing or require phased connections, and staff said exemptions for properties beyond the 200‑foot hookup rule are legally constrained by state standards but administrative waivers of specific requirements do exist in some cases.

The council’s action establishes the legal path for annexation while leaving open how and when property owners will be required to tie into municipal sewer. Staff will present a detailed memo this summer on sewer alignment options, cost estimates, special-assessment mechanics and the county’s septic-abandonment rules.

What’s next: staff will return with engineering options and cost scenarios; the Borgmeyer property’s state review remains the gating factor for the official annexation schedule. Residents asked the council to consider phased or delayed connection options keyed to the useful life of existing septic systems; councilors asked staff to include those scenarios in their report.