By Jason Crane
At the Aurora city government City Council meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conference platform, director of communications, Clayton Muhammad gave a presentation about the Aurora STEAM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Academy.
Together with Hinsdale-based TinkRworks, the city government will provide education for more than 750 students from 1st through 6th grades. There will be two STEAM courses, six sites, four sessions between February and the end of the year.
One course is Art Alive for students in 1st through 3rd grades to provide an interactive, hands-on experience teaching students to code their own electric art. Students will customize a wooden facade and attach electronics to make it light up, play different sounds, and move.
Another course is Roverbot for students in 4th through 6th grades. Offered will be an engaging critical-thinking experience where students are taught about motors, sensors, LEDs, and Adruino minicomputers by developing a fully-functional customized robot.
The six sites are: APS Institute, Eastwood Community Center, Main Baptist Church, Randall West Community Center, Sacred Heart Church, ARM Mobile Tech Center.
The four sessions are:
• Winter Session in February through March offering 18 courses for 168 students.
• Spring Session in April through May offering 19 courses for 176 students.
• Summer Session in June through August offering 24 courses for 220 students.
• Fall Session in September through December offering 23 courses for 212 students.
Muhammad said, “Every course is one to two weeks. There’s no more than 10 students per course, (it’s) extremely important to have that ratio of instructors to students.
“Each session will begin with an open house. A virtual open house for Winter and Spring where all the registrants will come on Zoom, meet the instructors, the mayor, and aldermen.
“Each session will conclude with a recognition ceremony.
“Applications for each session will open two weeks prior to the start of the session.”
• Mayor Richard Irvin read a proclamation honoring Reverend Gary L. McCann’s service to the Church and Community.
Pastor McCann from New England Congregational Church is preparing to retire after 35 years of service at New England Congregational Church. He said, “Thank you! I appreciate this honor very much.”
McCann expressed his appreciation to the mayor and City Council.
“I appreciate all the work that all of you do. We’re grateful in Aurora for the leadership that you offer,” he said.
• Mayor’s Healthcare Hero Award was presented to Karina Suarez-Darden, community health worker for VNA for her work to make health-care access easier for Aurora’s residents.
Suarez-Darden said, “Thank you everyone! I wasn’t expecting this.
“I just want to thank VNA for the opportunity they’re giving me to work really close with my community.”
In December she lost her mother to COVID-19. Suarez-Darden lives in Aurora’s Third Ward. Her alderman, Ted Mesiacos, said, “Definitely a stalwart.
“(The community) wouldn’t be where it is today without her. She comes from good stock, a little, solid, family.”
Mesiacos added, “Karina, sorry to hear about your mother. I know how you’re feeling. I lost my father as well in December.
“Congratulations on this well-deserved award, for you and your family.”
City Council approved the following mayoral appointments:
• Approved was a resolution Appointing Gautam Bhatia to the Aurora Planning & Zoning Commission.
• Approved was a resolution reappointing Shanita Anderson to the Aurora Planning & Zoning Commission.
• Approved was a resolution appointing Angela Thomas to the Aurora Civil Service Commission.
City Council approved the following agenda items:
• Approved was a resolution to accept the quote from Collision & Crime Forensics, LLC, 300 South Fillmore St, Papillion, Neb., 68046 to purchase Leica RTC360 3D Laser Scanner Kit with accessories and certified on-site training at the not to exceed amount of $122,365.61 for the Aurora Police Department.
This 3D Laser Scanner will enhance the evidence collection and processing of crime scenes and other police-related incidents where evidence collection is necessary. Using this 3D Scanner will greatly improve crime-scene mapping as it is much more detailed then current methods of crime scene processing while reducing the amount of time spent processing scenes.
• Approved was an ordinance deferring the implementation of the annual Water/Sewer rate increase as provided in Article II of Chapter 48 of the Aurora Code of Ordinances titled “Municipal Utility Services until March 31, 2021.
Rate increases are approved by the City Council every two years. As such no approval was needed to increase rates in July. The scheduled rate increase is approximately 5.0%. Due to the deferral of several capital projects in the Water Fund, it is financially able to incur the revenue loss from this temporary deferral. Early this year the City Council approved a deferral to January 1, 2021. Due to the continued impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic City staff members are recommending a continued deferral of the increase until March 31, 2021.
• Approved was a resolution requesting ratification approval to renew a subscription for Clarity, a strategic enterprise Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) software with CDW-G Corporation, 200 N. Milwaukee Ave, Vernon Hills; under the National IPA purchasing agreement (2018011-01), for a three-year contract not to exceed $81,015.00.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the purchase of one 2021 Wheeled Coach Ford F-550 4×4 gas type 1 ambulance from Fire Service Inc., St. John, Ind. in the amount of $287,814.00 for the Aurora Fire Department.
• Approved was a resolution request approval to pay one-year renewal of Accela, Inc., 2633 Camino Ramon in San Ramon, CA 94583 for customer relationship management (CRM) hosted solution in the amount not to exceed $37,868.90.
The Accela CRM solution will allow Customer Service 311 to manage citizen service requests without interruption which includes but limited to:
Mobile apps, incident reporting via text messaging, automatic GPS location detection, map based incident tracking and reporting, increased transparency and outward facing case information, enhanced internal reporting capabilities.
In 2020, as part of the ongoing TrakIT Community Services Development Project, the City purchased Tyler Technologies MyCivic 311 to replace Accela’s Info Aurora mobile app for full system integration.
In Q1 2021, TRAKiT Phase 2 implementation will focus on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module, which was initially out of scope during the initial phase. Phase 2 focuses on the remaining components of the TRAKiT CRM module which requires integration with MyCivic 311.
MyCivic 311 is a comprehensive, customizable platform designed to promote civic engagement and enhance the quality of life in your community. Through a single, public-facing app, residents and business owners have access to all the services, resources, and information your organization has to offer, to enable them to play a more active role in the area they call home.
Mobile application through MyCivic platform for the City
Send targeted push notifications, surveys, and feedback forms
Encourage two-way communication with citizens
Connect to bill payment portals
Provide interactive, GIS-based maps to points of interest
Ability to display top 40 most common requests that could be submitted achieved through MyCivic admin portal module
Enhanced CRM Analytics Reporting
City leadership decided to extend the expiring Accela contract (12/31/2020) for one additional year to support integration, legacy system obsolescence for cost savings and avoid citizen disruption for business continuity. Accela has agreed to provide an extension and confirmed services would not expire pending resolution approval.
It’s estimated the Tyler Technologies MyCivic 311 mobile platform could be fully implemented and operational within a 6-month duration.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the execution of a second amendment to the Y’All LLC (F/K/A Windy City Distribution Inc.) redevelopment agreement.
City government of Aurora documents show:
Amendment will enable Y’All to sell their building at 1103 Butterfield Rd., within the Liberty Business Park, approximately seven months earlier than is permitted in the redevelopment agreement (RDA).
In August of 2011, the City approved a redevelopment agreement with Y’All LLC, the majority owned by Jason and James Ebel, owners and operators of Two Brother Roundhouse with the remaining 33% of the agreement authorized the use of $ 3,960,000 of TIF funds from the Farnsworth International TIF District (TIF 2) to finance certain redevelopment costs for the purchase and renovation of a 175,000 square foot building on approximately 10 acres of land for a beer and distribution business for the storage and distribution of specialty craft beers from around the world. The TIF advance was to be paid back from incremental property taxes and is secured by a junior mortgage. The mortgage was to be in effect for 10 years after which time it would be “null and void and of no further force of effect”. While Y’ALL has continued to own the building and pay property taxes, they sold the business to Reyes Holdings in 2013 because the State prohibited the same ownership to own both a beer distributorship and brewery. Robert Collins moved over to oversee Reyes. Reyes continued to operate the business and will do so until the end of the year. The City was aware of this change and agreed to it.
Resolution 11-159 provided for a redevelopment agreement for the above mentioned property in TIF 2 which expired one year later in 2012. This agreement provided for a junior mortgage that would be forgiven upon the terms of the RDA being followed. A key term of the RDA was that the developer needed to maintain and own the property for at least 10 years for the junior mortgage to be forgiven.
With the City’s consent, for the reasons noted above the facility was “sold” but maintained the same use and therefore was deemed to remain in compliance in 2013. Since then the property has been maintained and has paid taxes in roughly the anticipated amount per the RDA and as detailed below. As such, the City has no call on the junior mortgage unless the business is sold prior to 10 years elapsing. The most current real estate taxes are approximately $300,000 annually.
Y’All has a contract to sell the building to Prologis, a world leader in industrial real estate for over 30 years. The contract is scheduled to close within the next 30 days subject to the approval of this resolution. While the market is strong, it may not make sense for the City to require the original developer to hold the building for the remaining roughly 5% of the time on the RDA. Staff recommends that the 2nd amendment, as attached be executed to allow for the sale within the next 30 days that could take place by right anytime after August 2021.
While the original RDA in 2011 set a date of August 25, 2021 to release the City’s junior mortgage, with the industrial market very strong it is not surprising that the property is now under contract, Based on staff estimates, the current $300,000 tax bill will not only continue to be paid but will likely increase based on the sales price.
While the economics of the original agreement did not unfold so as to fully amortize the $3.960,000 upfront TIF, the decision to fund these monies has kept the building in operation since the TIF was approved and based on the contract in place will maintain it a productive revenue producing use.
• Approved was a resolution accepting the improvements and maintenance security for Waterleaf Womens Center, 3598 E. New York Street.
• Approved was a resolution expressing official intent regarding certain capital expenditures to be reimbursed from the proceeds of an obligation.
• Approved was an ordinance of the city of Aurora, Kane, DuPage, Kendall and Will Counties, providing for the issuance of taxable General Obligation Bonds, Series 2021, in an aggregate principal amount of $8,000,000, and related matters – finance committee agenda item – January 14, 2021 meeting.
City government of Aurora documents show:
The purpose is for the approval of the City Council of a proposed ordinance providing for the issuance of the City of Aurora Series 2021A General Obligation (G.O.) Taxable Bonds.
In August 2018, the City Council approved Resolution R18-220 a Redevelopment Agreement (RDA) with Fox Valley Developers for the remediation and cleanup of the Old Copley Hospital site with a development incentive of $3.0 million. In November 2019 the City Council approved Resolution R19-382 an RDA with Fox Valley Developers for the renovation of the Old Copley Hospital with a development incentive of $9.0 million to be paid in two $4.5 million installments per the RDA. Both of these resolutions/RDAs are attached.
In order to fund the initial RDA the City utilized Line of Credit funding for $3.0 million which would be converted into a long-term bond as the project progressed. The current RDA for the renovation of the project as amended recently by the City Council as attached, provided for the funding of the First Lump Sum Payment no later than January 31, 2021. This amount, combined with the $3.0 million from R 180-220 results in a $7.5 million issue. I am recommending the City defer principle payment due to the historically low interest rates currently available and due to the timing of tax increment revenue availability in a not to exceed amount of $500,000 for a total taxable issue of $8.0 million.
Financing for the renovation of the Old Copley Hospital has been discussed with the City Council at each phase of the redevelopment project. As noted in the recent 2nd Amendment to the RDA, the developer of the project has:
1) Completed the District 131 Administration facility
2) Received financing for the project in the approximate amount of $75 million
3) Complied with all provisions of the RDAs as amended.
As such, the City will make the First Lump Sum Payment for the project of $4.5 million by January 31, 2021. In order to reduce issuance costs the City will take this opportunity to combine this payment with the refinancing of the Line of Credit funding of $3.0 million for the remediation portion of the project.
Attachment 1 shows the timetable for this refinancing with a final closing in mid- February 2021. The City has sufficient Funds to provide for the payment of the First Lump Sum payment of $4.5 million from available reserves in the General Fund and will reimburse the General Fund immediately upon receipt of proceeds. The total transaction will be recorded in the newly created Lincoln Weston TIF district Fund #227 in the Adopted 2021 Budget.
The City is fortunate in the timing of this debt issuance in that interest rates continue to hold at all time historical rates for both taxable and tax exempt municipal bonds. As outlined in Attachment 6, the interest rates are estimated to be below 3.0% even for the longest maturities in this issue.
The attached bond ordinance provided by the City’s bond counsel Chapman and Ctuler is a parameters ordinance which specifies a not to exceed bond amount, and also specifies limits on such items as amount to be paid in any given year and the amount of premium or discount allowed from potential buyers of the bonds.
If the bond issue is not completed the City will carry the current $3.0 million in debt for the remediation in the Line of Credit. The new $4.5 million for the First Lump Sum Payment would need to be taken from reserves, which was not the intent as outlined in the original RDA approval.