By Jason Crane
Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin, and the Aurora City Council listened to a proposed resolution authorizing the provision of America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for Aurora Civic Center Authority (ACCA) in the amount of $4.5 Million for 2024.
ACCA has requested financial assistance to subsidize its anticipated operating loss for 2024. Anticipating this need, the City has reserved ARPA funds to enable ACCA to bridge the gap in operations for 2024. At least $2.3 Million dollars is going to the construction of Immersive Theatre.
President and CEO of the Paramount Theatre, Tim Rater, said, “Our overall budget is about a 30 Million dollar operation. We are still around ten percent down on our subscribers. We were at forty-one thousand subscribers prior to the pandemic. We were down all the way to twenty-nine thousand. We are now back up to thirty-seven thousand.
“At a 30 Million dollar budget with our revenues 10 percent down, and expenses anywhere from 10 to 20, sometimes 30 percent higher, (for) wages, materials. It’s really to fill the operating gap.
“There’s different ways we could do that. We could eliminate programs. We could close the school. We could not do our Bold series. We could not do RiverEdge Park. There are things to do that we could cut.
“Right now, we’re trying to make sure we don’t have to do that.”
Mayor Irvin said, “It also cuts the number of people that come to see those shows. Cuts foot traffic, food and beverage sales. It cuts a lot of things that we’ve come to rely on for folks coming downtown. That’s half a million people just for the Broadway series alone.”
Rater added, “The largest subscriber-based theater in the Nation was Walnut Street Theatre (in Philadelphia), pre-pandemic at 54,000, and they’re under 19,000 right now.
“The fact that we’ve gotten back almost where we were, it’s remarkable. It’s not the norm. We are bucking the trend in so many ways. We wouldn’t be able to do that without the City’s support.”
Mayor Irvin said, “Many theaters in Chicagoland specifically, are failing, and because of our partnership, not only are we not failing, we are able to get back to that point, pre-pandemic. So now, you (pointing at Rater) are the number one subscribed theatre in the Nation, we are trying to grow and hold onto that.”
The discussion and presentation can be viewed on the city government of Aurora’s YouTube page after the 7 minute mark by clicking here.
City government of Aurora documents show staff members received a request for financial assistance from the Aurora Civic Center Authority (ACCA) to subsidize operations for 2024. ACCA operates the Paramount Theatre and River Edge Park along with the Copley Theatre in Aurora in addition to overseeing a performing arts school and it’s well-regarded event space. These venues provide significant economic activity within the downtown and contribute measurably to the economic vibrancy and resurgence in the downtown that Aurora has experienced in recent years.
Virtually all not-for-profit performing arts organizations both regionally and nationally have suffered significant and prolonged financial impacts from the COVID pandemic. While patrons and subscribers are slowly returning, attendance and financial performance have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. These trends have had well documented negative consequences for many arts organizations and their environs, including in Chicago with some closing or suspending programming to well off into the future. Some have laid off a large percentage of their staff members citing declining subscription and ticket sales and cost increases of 20% – 30% after the pandemic. While the exceptional quality of ACCA’s offerings has enabled their subscription base to remain strong, the combination of industry-wide cost increases and its mission to maintain affordability has caused this deficit.
Changes in operating policies and procedures will likely be needed to adjust to the new post COVID reality. Aside from tailoring back their offerings, many theaters are experimenting with a wide array of changes from online performances to combining performance and dining experiences. Inflationary trends have increased costs across the board. Fewer advance ticket sales have been reported, creating additional marketing efforts and expenses. These trends continue to present financial challenges for theater operators.
The City of Aurora and ACCA are working to collaborate on a long term and sustainable operating and financial plan responding to these trends. This plan will be presented in the upcoming months. In the meantime, ACCA has requested the City to help them bridge the financial gap in operations while the situation stabilizes.
The City was awarded $35,221,280 in ARPA funding, which was received in July of 2021 and July of 2022, and has budgeted approximately $27 million of ARPA-related expenditures through the end of 2023, leaving approximately $8 million. The $4.5 million requested would leave approximately $3.5 million in ARPA funding allocations to be distributed. Please note that the amounts may change slightly as final, actual, expenditures are incurred and paid.
ARPA funding was provided to mitigate negative economic impacts experienced as a result of the pandemic. Certain industries related to travel, hospitality, the performing arts, and tourism have been disproportionately impacted by COVID regulations and shutdowns. ARPA funding is intended to assist these entities overcome the financial impacts of the pandemic and provide funding resources as the industries recover and adjust to their new circumstance.
Provision of the funding allocation to ACCA will allow for continued operation of the Paramount Theatre, River Edge Park, Copley Theatre, and the Stolp Island interactive theater. It is estimated that by 2025 ACCA will be delivering approximately 1,000 shows per year.
ACCA’s activity, theater, and concert performances contribute to significant economic activity in the downtown and allow for the generation of tax revenue for the City. A downturn in these activities would have a negative impact on economic activity, business retention, and tax revenue generation in the downtown.
Funding for the expenditure will be made available in the City’s 2024 Budget by amending line item 287-1830-465.50-20.
Alderman-at-large John Laesch asked for the resolution to be placed on Unfinished Business for further discussion. The resolution will likely to be approved at the Tuesday, Jan. 9 full City Council meeting.
•Held at the Committee of the Whole is an Ordinance creating Section 2-65 of the Code of Ordinances pertaining to Aldermanic Initiative Funds.
City government of Aurora documents show the purpose is to restate, amplify, amend and codify existing procedures governing the use of funds appropriated by the City Council for disbursement by individual aldermen and to provide additional authorization and guidance pertaining to their uses.
In the 1990s, the City Council began to appropriate a portion of the City’s Gaming Tax Fund for use by the ward alderperson (then only 8 in number) to disburse at their discretion on capital programs within their respective wards. Over time, the City Council supplemented these appropriations with contributions from the Capital Improvement Fund and authorized the alderpersons at-large to disburse these funds as well, but in small amounts than it authorized for their counterparts. By tradition, the City Council permitted ward alderpersons to “carry over” a portion of their unspent funds to be used in subsequent fiscal years.
Although the City Council from time-to-time did adopt a resolution that 2/3 of an alderman’s annual budget be devoted to capital purposes, it never incorporated this rule as part of the Code of Ordinances. It also did not appear to confer any authority upon an individual alderperson to direct the disbursement funds appropriated for his or her use. Under Illinois law, individual aldermen ordinarily must act collectively while assembled as the City Council (or one of its duly-established committees) to exercise governmental authority – thus, it is unclear what authority an individual alderperson possesses to contract on behalf of or otherwise bind the City or to direct City staff members to release such funds. In many instances, the City Council addressed this question by adopting resolutions authorizing specific programs on behalf of a requesting alderperson, but did not adopt a permanent mechanism for processing routine requests. Instead, these requests have been processed by staff members as a courtesy so long as they are consistent with custom and practice.
The proposed ordinance creates a new Section 2-65 in the Code of Ordinances establishing an “aldermanic initiative program” that codifies the City’s custom of appropriating funds for special aldermanic projects, provides the necessary authorization for disbursements of these funds, and addresses the manner and extent to which funds can be carried over from year-to-year.
The proposed ordinance provides that the City Council may budget for two types of initiative funding: capital funds, which will be divided evenly among the ward alderpersons, and non-capital funds, which will be divided evenly among all alderpersons. Because this ordinance will be codified and is therefore designed to be of a “general and permanent nature,” it does not propose any specific amounts for the City Council to budget for these purposes – rather it anticipates that to be a decision made annually by the City Council.
Under this proposal, an alderperson may authorize the disbursement of capital funds for specific improvements to infrastructure but has more discretion over the types of community enhancement programs he or she may choose to fund with funds appropriated for non-capital purposes — provided that all expenditures must primarily have a public, rather than a private, purpose. The ordinance enumerates several purposes for which an alderperson does not need to seek further approval to authorize the disbursal of non-capital funds, and vests the Rules, Administration, and Procedures Committee with the authority to further authorize additional or “outside-of-the-box” uses. The ordinance specifically prohibits the use of initiative funds for certain purposes — consistent with existing Illinois law and the City’s Ethics Ordinance.
The ordinance further provides guidance as to how and when an alderperson may request a disbursement, carry-over funds from one year to the next, and when necessary, request to transfer funds from a capital to a non-capital account and vice-versa. The ordinance also expressly provides that an individual alderperson may not bind the City to a contract and expressly provides that the City’s Purchasing Ordinance applies to all procurements made with aldermanic initiative funds.
Adoption of this Ordinance will provide greater clarity and transparency to the decades-old aldermanic funding program while providing greater flexibility for the alderpersons to allocate funds to projects important to their constituents.
The discussion and presentation can be viewed on the city government of Aurora’s YouTube page after the 36 minute mark by clicking here.
•Placed on Unfinished Business is a Resolution to provide annual true-up to Scientel Solutions LLC., 2021 N Eola Rd, Aurora, for preventive maintenance and support of City-wide CCTV for a total of $71,765.00.
City government of Aurora documents show R21-135 was passed in June 2021, to award maintenance of the City’s Closed-Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras to Scientel Solutions, LLC (“Scientel”). The goal of this City-wide initiative is to ensure effectiveness and uptime for the camera program but also have greater ability to plan, manage costs and reduce risk.
At the time of the award of R21-135, the City had 560 cameras in use across the City. Additional cameras have since been added at various City locations bringing the current total to 653 cameras. Additional requests, including those at River Edge Park, Grand Boulevard, Aurora Police Department and 101 Lake Street, will bring this total to 653 by year end. This increase in cameras results in an increase in fees owed to Scientel for annual preventative maintenance and cleaning.
Based upon the true-up approved in R22-356, Year 3 of the agreement in was to have been $283,290.00. The increase in number cameras deployed will add $39,125.00 to that amount making the new amount for Year 3 for CCTV cameras $322,415.00.
Any true-up due for Year 4 will be due in June 2024.
Scientel’s global headquarters, based locally in Aurora, Ill., is home to a 24x7x365 Network Operations Center (NOC) with a world-class dispatch process. Scientel has integrated all City cameras into Scientel’s 24×7 NOC for monitoring to ensure that all cameras are operating at peak performance.
Scientel’s team meets regularly with City staff members concerning camera performance, monitoring and maintenance. The Scientel team has performed admirably during the past year and City staff members are pleased with the performance of the contract.
This purchase will be made using existing funds in Account Number # 101-1283-419.38-07 Professional Services.
As part of the City of Aurora Technology Strategic Plan or “IT Roadmap”, the Information Technology Division is seeking to evaluate and improve efficiencies throughout the organization. This purchase and true-up is aligned with the Strategic Plan.
•Placed on Unfinished Business is a Resolution to provide annual true-up to Scientel Solutions LLC., 2021 N Eola Rd, Aurora, for Network Infrastructure Managed Services of city-wide network infrastructure for an amount not to exceed $139,050.
City government of Aurora documents show at the time of the award of R21-136, the City and Scientel agreed upon pricing at 250 network devices in use across the City pending a detailed inventory assessment.
Following expansion of the city-wide network including new services at 1226 Grand Boulevard, 101 Lake Street and expanded services at River Edge Park, Aurora Police Department, City staff members and Scientel agree that 527 network devices will be in use by the end of 2023.
In 2016, the IT Department received Council approval to enter a five (5) year SmartNet maintenance agreement with Cisco that totaled $2,159,885. From 2016 until the passage of R21-136, the IT Department received Council approval for purchase of new and replacement Cisco equipment totaling $1,034,753. This 5-year total spend of $3,194,638, equated to a $638,928 average annual spend on Cisco equipment and licenses.
The Scientel agreement approved in R21-136 also includes network design, planning, procurement, monitoring and installation of devices which is not included in the former Cisco agreement.
Based upon the true up submitted in 2022, Year 3 of the agreement in R22-357 was to have been $762,200. The increase in the size and scope of the city network and subsequent number network devices deployed adds $139,050 to that amount making the new cost for Year 3 $901,250 which will be billed to the City quarterly.
City IT staff members maintain accountability and control of the network traffic and is responsible for overall network performance. With this agreement, City IT staff members have a co-partner to help manage physical components and develop network enhancements as the requirements of the City’s network continue to expand over time.
In addition to the costs listed above, if City IT staff members had continued to utilize Cisco equipment and the required Cisco SmartNet licensing over the last three years, the total cost to the City just for product licensing would have been $2,782,230.96. The cost of the Scientel contract over the same period – which includes those services – has been $1,991,700.00, which is a $790,530.96 savings to the City.
City IT staff members selected Scientel Solutions, the Network Infrastructure Managed Services partner. Scientel’s Solution offered an efficient, cost-effective, and risk-reducing approach for the City.
Scientel’s global headquarters based locally in Aurora, IL is home to a 24x7x365 Network Operations Center (NOC) with a world-class dispatch process. Scientel has integrated all City networking equipment into Scientel’s 24×7 NOC for monitoring to ensure that all networking equipment is operating effectively.
Estimated network equipment purchases is an estimate based upon the previous year replacement amounts and estimated work in 2024.
A budget amendment will be submitted to Account Number # 101-1280-419.38-26 to pay for this purchase.
As part of the City of Aurora Technology Strategic Plan or “IT Roadmap”, the Information Technology Department is seeking to evaluate and improve efficiencies throughout the organization. This purchase is aligned with the Strategic Plan.
The City Council gave consent to the following agenda items likely to be placed on the Tuesday, Jan. 9 full City Council agenda:
•Consent was given to a Resolution authorizing the award of a contract for the 2024 citywide Sanitary Sewer CIPP Lining Project to Hoerr Construction Inc., in the bid amount of one million one hundred forty-eight thousand four hundred seventy-eight dollars and zero cents ($1,148,478.00).
City government of Aurora documents show the purpose is to rehabilitate the existing sanitary sewer main throughout the City by cured in place pipe lining. Lining of the sewers would prevent future pipe failures which would result in much costlier dig repairs.
Closures of entrances to the businesses and residences will be kept to a minimum during construction.
Six bids were received, opened, and read aloud on December 1, 2023. The low bid in the amount of ($1,148,478.00) was submitted by Hoerr Construction Inc. Hoerr Construction successfully completed a similar project in early 2023. $1,958,987.80 will be funded with account 510-4063-511-73-14 (IB018) which has a requested 2024 budget amount of $2,500,000.00.
This project was subject to the Local Preference Ordinance, however no local contractors submitted.
Impacts to traffic and residents will be kept to a minimum.
•Consent was given to a Resolution authorizing the director of the Purchasing Department to enter into an agreement with Donegal Services LLC, 13011 Grant Road, Lemont, Ill., in the amount of $56,050 for Building Demolition at 14 S. LaSalle Street.
City government of Aurora documents show the City recently purchased the parking lot at the southeast corner of Galena Boulevard and LaSalle Street. As part of the renovation of this lot to provide additional public parking for downtown, the City is looking to demolish a single-story, City-owned building within the lot at 14 S. LaSalle Street.
An invitation to bid was published and twelve bids were read aloud on November 29, 2023. Of the twelve bids received, Donegal Services LLC was determined to be the lowest responsible bidder in the amount of $56,050.
This agreement will be funded using account 340-4030-418.73-99 (CIP 071), which has a 2024 budget of $275,000.
This bid was subject to Local Preference but was not a factor as no local companies were within the required threshold for consideration.
The renovation of this parking lot, which includes the demolition of the building at 14 S. LaSalle, will provide necessary additional parking to accommodate the ongoing redevelopment of Downtown Aurora.
•Consent was given to a Resolution authorizing the purchase of a turf maintenance sprayer, from Reinders Inc., through Sourcewell (formerly known as the National Joint Purchasing Cooperative), for $109,819.86.
City government of Aurora documents show the purpose is to ensure that the City’s Parks & Recreation Division has adequate turf spraying equipment to perform their turf maintenance safely, efficiently, and effectively.
The sprayer assigned to the Parks and Recreation Division has been in service for over 20 years. Due to diminishing reliability, increased downtime, and accumulating maintenance expenses, and difficulty procuring parts for repairs, the turf sprayer was approved for replacement in the City’s 2024 Budget.
Advancements in technology have introduced new features and safety measures that are absent in the existing sprayer. The acquisition of modern large area sprayer such as the Toro Multi Pro 5800 will enhance operational efficiency and improve maintenance staff member safety through technological advances such as GPS mapping/plotting and product drift reduction.
The City participates in Sourcewell for the purchase of replacement equipment and additional vehicles. This program bids vehicles for purchase, which allows the City to satisfy its own bidding process with less effort, and use a greater purchasing power to get lower prices.
Toro, a reputable manufacturer of landscape maintenance equipment, has begun accepting orders for the next wave of equipment production which is tentatively scheduled to commence early in 2024.
In order to secure a place in the production que, the Parks Maintenance Division is requesting authorization to place an order for a Toro Multi Pro 5800 turf sprayer from Reinders Inc., which is an authorized Toro distributor, for $109,819.86, using Sourcewell contract# 031121-TTC.
The current sprayer will be evaluated for a potential trade in to offset a portion of cost of the new sprayer.
Funding to satisfy the cost of the requested equipment has been approved to be available in the 2024 budget with specific allocation in the following account 340-4440-451.74-51 ($110,000.00).
•Consent was given to a Resolution authorizing the director of the Purchasing Department to execute a professional services agreement with Walker Consultants in the amount of $93,470 for a Downtown Parking Study.
City government of Aurora documents show downtown Aurora has a stable parking system that is in need of both a goal-oriented and technological upgrade to help accomplish goals to make the Downtown a great place both to visit and to live in by making vehicular traffic/parking a convenience and asset, not a burden and impediment to improved pedestrian experience in Aurora’s downtown.
The timing is excellent for a new Downtown Parking Study. One of the largest parking demand generators in the Downtown, the Hollywood Casino, will be relocating outside of the Downtown with an expected move date in 2025/26. IDOT is also reviewing a renovation of US Route 25 (Broadway Avenue) through the Downtown that will likely result in fewer on-street parking spaces. Two new residential projects (totaling nearly 500 new rental units) are also about to begin construction just north of Downtown on the east and west banks of the Fox River. These upcoming changes, when coupled with the other changes that have occurred in the downtown since the last parking study in 2012, point towards the need for a new comprehensive study of the parking throughout the downtown.
Staff members utilized the Qualification Based Selection (QBS) process earlier this year. Six consultants responded and Walker was selected as the firm most qualified to provide these services. The key contract tasks include: existing conditions assessment, future parking needs analysis, public engagement plan, parking policy improvements, electric vehicle best practices, comparable review and preliminary recommendations.
The following accounts will be used to fund the professional services agreement: 520-1830-465-.32-59 – $35,000, 101-1830-465.32-99 – $39,000, 235-1830.465.32-59 – $20,000.
The results of the study should positively impact the City by providing recommendations and strategies to ensure a well-balanced parking system over the next ten years throughout Downtown.
•Consent was given to a Resolution authorizing the director of the Purchasing Department to adopt unit prices for the purchase of Sensus water meters.
City government of Aurora documents show the purpose is to provide a means for purchasing Sensus Water Meters and accessories. These water meters will be used in new developments and as replacements for worn out meters in use.
Section 48-16 of the City of Aurora Code of Ordinances states that the City owns and maintains the water meters. For new developments, the permittee pays a fee for the new water meter. When existing meters must be replaced due to normal wear, the customer is not charged for the new meter.
Several years ago, the City decided to exclusively use Sensus brand water meters. The decision to use one brand of meter was based on the desire to standardize installation and maintenance. When the Sensus brand water meters were chosen by Aurora, the City also decided to implement the Sensus Flex Net Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system. The AMI system transmits data from each water meter via radio transmission to Aurora’s Water Billing Division. In 2013 the City of Aurora began a program to replace existing water meters that are one inch in diameter or less.
The Water Meter Maintenance Division is working on replacing older inaccurate water meters and meters not functioning properly in coordination with the Engineering Division. Core and Main is the sole source provider for Sensus water meters in this region.
The quantity of water meters needed during any given year is based on demand from private developments as well as the need to replace worn or non-functioning existing meters. Due to the inability to predict exact quantities for the various size meters, it is recommended that an open purchase order be prepared that establishes unit prices for these meters. The unit prices are based on a quote provided by Core and Main and is valid through January 1, 2025. Funds for these purchases are included in the 2024 budget in account number 510-4062-511.65-50 in the amount of $1,750,000 (Water and Sewer Fund)
Core and Main is the sole provider of Sensus water meters.
This resolution is needed in order to continue providing new water meters for newly constructed buildings as well as the replacement of worn-out existing meters.
•Final approval for items on the Committee of the Whole consent agenda are set to be made at the January 9 Aurora City Council meeting.