By Jason Crane –
Volunteers for the City of Aurora government Emergency Management Agency (EMA) were honored in front of the Aurora City Council Tuesday.
The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes volunteers who have achieved the required number of hours of service over a 12-month time period. The award levels include bronze, silver, gold, and the highest honor, the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Silver Award recipients who volunteered 250-499 hours include: Kathy Becker, 460 hours; Patrick Frey, 406 hours; Larry Becker, 404 hours; Dave Hoefener, 347 hours; and Mike Bialko, 317 hours.
Bronze Award recipients who volunteered 100-249 hours include: Rich Tamborski, 215 hours; Tyler Gunderstrom, 194 hours; Colin Pradel, 144 hours; Terry Tiz, 130 hours; and Nancy Beauchamp, 126 hours.
Little Mr. Aurora & Little Miss Aurora winners honored were Benjamin Mendoza, and Alaria Selmon.
Jason Crane/The Voice
The requirements for the finalists include: To be enrolled in kindergarten through 5th grade, live in Aurora, and be comfortable in front of an audience.
The Little Miss Aurora finalists: Olivia Corral, Sunidhi Guruprasad, Blaze Kimbrough, Kyra Maksymiw, Evelyn Mendoza, and Alaria Selmon.
The Little Mr. Aurora finalists: Jayson Campbell, Averitt Dhodapkar, Jayden Harper, Marcus Hemphill, Benjamin Mendoza, Julian Torres. Click here to see a video of the event.
• Approved by the City Council was a resolution appointing Cole Grizzell to the Aurora Youth Council.
• Approved was a resolution appointing Victoria Esparza, Daniel Gonzalez, and Noemi Vargas to the Aurora Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board.
• Approved was an agreement between the Aurora government, through the Aurora Police Department, and Family Service Association of Greater Elgin Area (FSA) regarding a partnership to provide community-based mental health services to youth and their families in Aurora.
F.S.A. will set up a satellite therapy office at the Aurora Police Department (A.P.D.) for citizens to visit. In exchange, F.S.A. will provide community-based mental health services to youth and their families at A.P.D.. This agreement will give the citizens of Aurora greater access to services which include crisis assessments and therapy sessions close to home in a safe environment.
F.S.A. previously worked in Aurora, but did not have an office space in Aurora.
• Approved was a resolution to enter into a Project Development Agreement with Ameresco, Inc. in Framingham, Mass., for the development and construction of one or more solar photovoltaic generation facilities.
The two facilities will be on 20 acres of Aurora Airport property in Sugar Grove and on a 10-acre landfill at Sullivan Road and Route 25 in Aurora. The Ameresco, Inc. has worked with airports and on landfill projects in other cities. For no cost to the Aurora city government, Ameresco would do research and preliminary designs for the facilities.
• Approved was the authorization of the purchase of Motel 6 at 2380 North Farnsworth Avenue through the settlement of a pending eminent domain action.
The purchase of this property, on Farnsworth Avenue, in addition to the Fox Valley Inn is to realigning Corporate Boulevard so that it aligns with the traffic signal at Premium Outlet Boulevard. It would increase appeal to developers.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing Execution of Labor Agreement Between the City of Aurora and Local 99 of the International Association of Firefighters, AFL/CIO/CLC from 1/1/17 through 12/31/20.
The contract with Local 99 of the International Association of Firefighters, ALF/CIO/CLC on 12/31/16. Negotiations began in December of 2016 between the City of Aurora and IAFF Local 99.
Upon the completion of the tentative agreement, the Union ratified the contract on 10/15/18. Highlights of negotiated terms include increased employee contributions across all tiers for health insurance. By the end of the contract term, the employee health insurance contribution will be increased and standardized to 15.25%. In addition, increased user fees that more closely mirror the market standard will be effective 2019. The wage increase for 2017 is 2.25%, 2018 is 2.5%, 2.5% is 2019 and 2020 will be 2.5%.
• Approved was a resolution for a Labor Agreement between the City of Aurora and the Aurora Supervisors Association (ASA) from April 1, 2017 through December 31, 2020.
The Aurora Supervisors Association (ASA) contract expired on March 31, 2017. Negotiations began on October 27, 2017 between the City of Aurora and the Aurora Supervisors Association (ASA). The Union ratified the contract on August 23, 2018.
Changes to the contract were negotiated, in part, to keep pace with benefits recently agreed upon with other represented groups within the city. Wages agreed upon for the term of this agreement are 2.25% for year 2017, 2.5% for 2018, 2.5% for 2019 and 2.75% for 2020. OAP insurance contributions for active employees are currently at 12.75% of the premium for all tiers (10% family) and HMO insurance contributions are 10% of the premium for all tiers. By the last year of the contact the employee contribution will increase to 20% of the prevailing premium. User fees have also been increased to more accurately mirror the current market for services.
• Approved was an Ordinance providing for the Execution of an Easement Agreement between the City of Aurora and Midwest Generation, LLC for a sanitary sewer easement on the property located at 5S171 Eola Road being on the east side of the N. Eola Road, south of Illinois Prairie Path (City of Aurora / Midwest Generation, LLC.
• Approved was a resolution to use 180 Engineering (aka CY LLC) for technology staff augmentation for the Information Technology Division.
• Approved was a resolution for Chicago Premium Outlet to have a Music Festival as part of their 2018 Thanksgiving Cranberry Jam event to be held at 1650 Premium Outlets Blvd. on November 22.
• Approved was a resolution Establishing Amusement Fees Charged by the City of Aurora.
• Approved was a resolution for the purchase and installation of a digital sign for the corner of Indian Trail and Church Road in Ward 1 from Aurora Sign Company, Aurora, in the amount of $48,716.00.
• Approved was a resolution to award the West Branch Downer Place Bridge Water Main Repair project to Superior Excavating Co. in Channahon for $111,000.00.
To repair leaks on the 12″ water main under the Downer Street Bridge over the west branch of the Fox River.
Annually, the City performs a water main flushing program; this program helps remove sediment from the water mains, and is also an opportunity to operate valves and identify potential maintenance requirements. During the program earlier this year, it was determined that the 12″ water main along Downer Place over the west branch of the Fox River had a leak. Normally, standard maintenance of water mains is completed by the City Water and Sewer Maintenance Division, however in some cases it is advisable to utilize the services of a contractor.
This particular water main is insulated and is also suspended under the sidewalk along the north side of the bridge. For these reasons, it was determined that it would be more cost effective to bid this repair publicly rather than attempt to complete the repair with City forces. Based on a preliminary analysis, it appears that the leak is related to a separated joint; field analysis indicates that as many as two additional joints might require repair, which cannot be further delineated at this time due to the presence of the insulation. The contract was bid to allow for an iterative repair process, during which the main will be repaired and then pressurized to determine if additional joints will require repair.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the Director of Purchasing to enter into a contract with Youngren’s Inc. 736 New Haven Ave, Aurora IL, 60506 in the amount of sixty six thousand, one hundred and twenty four dollars and no cents ($66,124.00) for the installation of ventilation improvements for the Water and Sewer Maintenance building located at 649 S. River Street.
• Approved was a resolution to approve renewal of a three year contract for the City of Aurora’s internet bandwidth from Edmund G. Urban, Urbancom Communications Inc., 5320 W. 159th St., STE 503, Oak Forest.
• Approved was a resolution Accepting The Proposal of Sikich LLP To Conduct The Audit Of All Funds And Accounts Of The City For Fiscal Years Ending December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020, And 2021.
Kept on unfinished business:
An Ordinance of the City of Aurora, Kane, DuPage, Kendall and Will Counties, Illinois, providing for the issuance of Tax Increment Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2018A (River City TIF Number 6) in an aggregate principal amount of $__________, for the purpose of refunding certain bonds heretofore issued by the City and now outstanding, and authorizing the sale of said bonds to the purchasers thereof.
An Ordinance of the City of Aurora, Kane, DuPage, Kendall and Will Counties, Illinois, providing for the issuance of Tax Increment Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2018B (River City TIF Number 3) in an aggregate principal amount of $__________, for the purpose of refunding certain bonds heretofore issued by the City and now outstanding, and authorizing the sale of said bonds to the purchasers thereof.
• Approved was a resolution authorizing the execution of additional documents related and subordinate to the redevelopment agreement between the City of Aurora and Pizzuti Aurora Industrial, LLC dated August 28, 2018.
Jason Crane/The Voice