By Jason Crane –
The Aurora City Council honored the 41 community groups that participated in the August 7 National Night Out, at the City Council meeting Tuesday.
Unanimously approved was an agreement to facilitate the environmental cleanup and related remediation of the former Copley Hospital site at 502 S. Lincoln Avenue on the near southeast side of Aurora. The site has been vacant since 1995. Click here for more details.
In addition, the Council approved more than 30 items on the consent agenda, including:
• The application for a liquor license for D.C.’s Good Times d/b/a The Aurora Tap House at 134 W. Downer Place. The space is currently occupied by The Web Tavern;
• Keeping the seasonal decorations ordinance as is, instead of changing the time line from 60 days to 90 days to take down outdoor holiday decor;
• The provisions in an ordinance pertaining to local preference in bidding for City contracts;
• Payments to Embassy Suites Naperville for $29,302.72 for a joint Active Shooter Training as part of the Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack Grant;
• Execution of the labor agreement between the city of Aurora government and the Association of Professional Police Officers (APPO) from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2019. Wage increases will be kept under three percent for the three-year contract, which is retroactive to the beginning of 2017. The contract expired in 2016;
• Acceptance of an agreement between Aurora University and the city government regarding local law enforcement cooperation, handling violence and sexual offenses, information sharing, issuance of timely warnings and emergency notifications and mutual aid;
• Postponed until the September 25 City Council meeting was the vote on the resolution to approve a memorandum of understanding with Smart City Media, LLC of New York, N.Y. for the installation, operation, and revenue sharing of interactive outdoor kiosks using the City Post smart media platform.
The four aldermen who voted against postponing the vote of the memorandum of understanding were: alderman Juany Garza, Second Ward; Ted Mesiacos, Third Ward; Carl Franco, Fifth Ward; and Sherman L. Jenkins, alderman-at-large.
The reasons sited by eight aldermen who voted yes were to receive input from the several groups including Aurora Downtown which is the oversight organization for Aurora’s Special Service Area (SSA) #One which has a September 20 meeting.