Aurora aldermen heard a one-year update Tuesday during their regular Committee of the Whole meeting at City Hall about the success of the outside law firm hired to handle prosecution of drunken driving cases.
City Council members approved a contract with the Wheaton law offices of Kimberly M. DiGiovanni in August 2017. Prosecution of cases began in October 2017.
One goal of the move was to reduce the number of driving under the influence (DUI) accidents by increasing the number of DUI arrests, Police Chief Kristen Ziman told aldermen.
In 2017, there were 326 DUI arrests, she reported. In 2018, there were 447.
Part of the reason the increase in arrests was because officers received training as part of the law firm’s services that made them more confident in making DUI arrests, DiGiovanni said.
The projected total revenue to the city for 2018 DUI arrests and convictions is $572,836.
DiGiovanni’s contract with the city government was $5,200 per month in 2018 and increases to $5,500 per month for this year. One way the contract saves the city money, Ziman said, is because officers do not accrue overtime waiting for cases in court. Overtime savings already have added up to $256,032 since the city government began working with DiGiovanni, she added.
In other business, a report from the Special Ordinance Committee caused disagreement among some council members about whether requests for special events ultimately should be approved by the Government Operations Committee as they have been in the past.
Assistant chief of staff Alex Voigt presented information about how special events requests are handled. She said that a new formula would streamline the process. All event applications would be managed by Special Events Department staff members, which would approve all applications. For many years, the Government Operations Committee gave final approval of all events,
Currently event organizers may have to fill out several applications, visit a number of departments, and attend a minimum of four meetings to get an event approved. It is proposed that aldermen would be apprised of an event during the process so he or she could give feedback.
“It will be one clear event process,” Voigt said.
But Seventh Ward alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns, chair of the Government Operations (GO) Committee, said she felt it was wrong to bypass GO approval because it would move the final decision out of the democratic process.
Four speakers gave the same message to aldermen during the public comment portion. The ordinance will remain on unfinished business.
Fourth Ward alderman Bill Donnell said taking the issue back to the Special Ordinance Committee, which Hart-Burns suggested, would be counter-productive. He suggested that aldermen “chew on” the viewpoints submitted. An eventual vote will tell whether the ordinance will be accepted as written, he added.
In other business, aldermen will vote during the Tuesday, Jan. 22 regular City Council meeting on a contract to purchase $222,000 worth of new and replacement protective clothing for the Aurora Fire Department. It will be on the consent agenda.
The current Protective Clothing Replacement Program contracts expired December 31, 2018.Coats, pants, boots, and helmets will be purchased from the Dinges Fire Company in Amboy, Ill..
Held at the Committee of the Whole level was a resolution to enter into a land lease agreement with Ameresco, Inc. of Framingham, Mass., for the construction of a solar energy generation facility on top of a landfill at the corner of Sullivan Road and Illinois Route 25.
The cost of development and construction of the project is to be paid by Ameresco, according to city reports, which will recoup the cost of its investment by selling the power generated by the solar farm back to the city government of Aurora at a reduced rate, compared to the rates currently paid by the city to established power companies.
On the Tuesday, Jan. 22 consent agenda will be an agreement with Alfred Benesch & Co. of Naperville for 2019-2020 bridge inspections that will be paid for with Motor Fuel Tax funds.
The city inspects and maintains 31 bridges as directed by the Federal Highway Administration and National Bridge Inspection Standards. The data collected is used by the Illinois Department of Transportation to allocate funding for bridge projects. The engineering agreement with Alfred Benesch & Co. is not to exceed $121,117.
Funding for an agreement between the city and Amita Health Employee Assistance Program will be on the consent agenda.
A three-year contract will cost $26,000 per year. For more than 25 years, the city has offered its employees the benefit of using an Employee Assistant Program that offers a way to assist, counsel, and support employees who have personal concerns.