A new vision for the downtown Des Moines is slowly unfolding amid much policy direction and planning.

Des Moines City Councilwoman Susan White expressed her desire to put the city's plan in motion sooner rather than later.

"I'm tired of all the planning, I'm ready to start doing things," Councilwoman White said. "I'm ready to move along."

White said the council has been planning downtown development for so long, that she'll probably be dead by the time they actually do anything.

"The community gave us direction, let's do it," White declared. "This isn't rocket science, why are we making this rocket science?"

The discussion was triggered at the Jan 22, city council meeting when staffers gave a presentation of the proposed direction on a vision and mission statement for downtown planning work.

Councilman Scott Thomasson said that they were good ideas and long-range issues but not priorities.

Countered White, "This city won't sustain itself, we'll be combining with other cities. I can't take this anymore. I don't want to hear anyone nitpicking anymore."

Council members decided to prioritize and turned their attention to the draft vision statement.

Much attention was given to word choice and wording, and after several revisions a vision statement was passed.

A calmer discussion took place about the PACE evaluation of the downtown water system.

Paj Hwang, a PACE engineer project manager, presented an overview of the current water system and improvement recommendations.

PACE did a study focused on downtown planning and also noted additional areas for improvement.

Several water pipes in the downtown area and other areas in Des Moines need to be updated to meet requirements for fire flows for Water District 54.

The water pipes can hold their own for the time being, but sooner or later they will have to be replaced.

"These aren't just domestic or rural areas anymore, you have upgraded needs," said John Hastig, project manager for Gary & Osborne.

The council unanimously agreed that something has to be done, the biggest issue being how to finance the project.

"Is there an ability to finance it without doing it on the backs of the current ratepayers?" asked Councilwoman Carmen Scott.

"The logical next step would be a discussion on policy," said Mayor Bob Sheckler. "That could be a pretty lively discussion."

"Now I think we're talking better information," said Mayor Pro Tem Dan Sherman. "I'm very happy with the discussion we've had today. I think we can make a good decision based on this information."