By Jason Crane
The Aurora City Council, Tuesday, May 13, expressed appreciation and a farewell to Ward 4 alderman Bill Donnell, Ward 7 alderman Brandon Tolliver, alderman-at-large Ron Woerman, and chief management officer, Alex Alexandrou. Recently alderman Donnell announced he wouldn’t run for another term. Aldermen Tolliver and Woerman lost their reelection efforts. Alexandrou recently announced his retirement.
•The meeting with presentations and input from individuals can be viewed on the city government of Aurora’s YouTube page after the 7-minute mark by clicking here.
•The Aurora City Council approved a Resolution authorizing the execution of an Airport Maintenance Operations Agreement with Airfield Maintenance Services, LLC for an initial five-year term in the initial amount of $424,500 with an automatic five-year renewal upon mutual consent by both parties. An annual increase based on the Consumer Price Index will be capped at four percent.
The purpose is to renew the airport maintenance contract with Airfield Maintenance Services, LLC whose contract expires December 31, 2025. To prevent any interruption in service during inclement weather and to allow the contractor to acquire financing for equipment replacement, City officials request the approval of a new contract with a 5-year initial term and the provisions for a 5-year automatic extension with mutual consent by both parties. In addition, this renewal contract will incorporate an annual payment escalation clause in a not-to-exceed amount of 4 percent based on the consumer price index.
Airport maintenance requires specialized training and certifications as prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Aurora Municipal Airport, ARR is open 24 hours a day and has earned a reputation as a safe and reliable reliever airport.
Airfield Maintenance Services, LLC (AMS) is owned by John Broz and had taken over the maintenance responsibilities at the Aurora Municipal Airport in 2022 upon the passing of long-time maintenance operator, Dan Wolf. Broz had been an employee of Wolf for more than twenty years.
City government documents show, since Airfield Maintenance Services, LLC has taken over maintenance responsibilities, they have proven their knowledge, organizational skills, efficient equipment use and command of the required tasks associated with airfield maintenance.
Airfield Maintenance Services, LLC is on call 24-7 and carries substantial liability insurance. AMS does not perform these services for any other airport.
•The City Council approved a Resolution authorizing the director of the Purchasing Department to provide funding to Leopardo Construction of Hoffman Estates, Ill. in the amount of $29,484,587 for the complete Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) scope, not including soft costs, plus a 5% contingency for construction of the new Fire Department Headquarters and Fire Station #4.
City government documents show authorizing the allocation of funds to Leopardo Construction in order for them to execute the contracts for the construction of the new Fire Department Headquarters. Completion of the building of this station should provide reduced response times, therefore providing greater protection of life and property to the citizens of Aurora. In addition, the move into new Fire Station #4 will eliminate the increasing cost of maintaining and repairing the outdated Fire Station #4. The new facility will provide a new home for the fire department administration, who have presently outgrown Central Station at 75 N. Broadway. The fire department headquarters will also provide the Aurora Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) with office and vehicle space, as well provide a new and updated emergency operations center (EOC), that will be utilized by AEMA to coordinate disaster response.
In 2021, the Aurora Fire Department hired a consultant to conduct a fire station location analysis to establish optimal locations for a planned additional fire station and relocation of two stations, required to effectively meet fire and EMS service demand due to the continued growth and development of the City.
The study determined it would be in the best interest of the public and the Fire Department to construct a new Station #13 and relocate Stations #9 and #4. Following Council approval, a capital improvement plan (CIP) for the relocations and new buildings was submitted and approved. Staff members released a request for proposals (RFP) on May 15, 2022, for architectural services and in March 2024 issued an RFP to select a construction manager where Leopardo Construction was approved as the construction manager for the Fire Department Headquarters project on August 27, 2024.
•The City Council approved a Resolution authorizing the director of the Purchasing Department to purchase technology services for Fire Station 4 from multiple vendors for a total not to exceed $1,704,049.43.
The resolution is requesting that technology equipment from several vendors be purchased installed at the new Fire Station 14.
A new Fire Station 4 is being built that will house the Fire Administration, Emergency Management (EMA) and Fire Station 4 firefighter paramedic teams. Technology purchases are required to ensure the proper functionality and efficiency is achieved for the units in this building.
After the architectural drawings were completed for Fire Station 4, IT staff and APD staff worked with both NTI and Scientel to determine technical requirements for this new building.
NTI, the city’s go-to fiber provider since 2010, won the Kane County fiber contract through a competitive bidding process (Resolution R24-076) and will be utilized for fiber installation for Fire Station 13 at a cost of $93,371.00
After a competitive bidding process, Scientel Solutions, LLC., (“Scientel”) was awarded a three-year contract with a three-year option to manage and upgrade all City-owned CCTV cameras via Council resolution R21-135. This has provided Scientel with extensive knowledge of the City’s CCTV network. Pricing this installation is based upon the agreements in R21-135.
After a competitive bidding process, Scientel Solutions, LLC., (“Scientel”) was awarded a three-year contract with a two-year option to manage and upgrade all City-owned networking equipment via Council resolution R21-135. This has provided Scientel with extensive knowledge of the City’s computing network. Pricing this installation is based upon the agreements in R21-135.
The combined costs for CCTV and networking equipment are $385,122.00.
To consolidate and improve effectiveness of EMA Radio communications staff has selected L3Harris to build and configure an emergency management radio tower on the FS4 campus. This will establish dependable emergency communication systems fully integrated with the P25 radio network to enhance interoperability, ensure rapid response, and uphold public safety standards.
L3Harris, a trusted partner since 2010, was selected under Resolution R23-384 to upgrade and manage the city’s public safety radio network to the national P25 protocol. This ensures seamless integration of EMA radio equipment with the P25 network, supporting reliable emergency communication and compliance with public safety standards.
Total costs for the installation and configure of this radio tower and equipment is $411,292.58.
Continuing with the need to consolidate emergency radio communications, city staff has selected Information Station Specialists (ISS) to relocate the of AM Radio System tower from a remote location at Solfisburg Park to the FS4 campus.
ISS, a Michigan-based company specializing in emergency AM radio towers and equipment, built the tower at Solfisburg Park. They are certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to handle and transfer the city’s AM radio license.
Total cost of this relocation is $28,346.20.
To ensure that the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is integrated with the Critical Incident Intelligence Center (CIIC) and the city-wide CCTV network, IT staff will work with Constant Technologies, Inc. (ConstantTech) to video encoders at the EOC.
This will enable seamless integration of real-time video feeds at the CIIC to provide enhanced situational awareness, enable proactive coordination, and empower rapid decision-making for efficient crime prevention and public safety operations.
Resolution R21-039 awarded the Cinemassive video system contract to ConstantTech through a competitive process.
Total cost of these encoders is $10,970.00.
When the EOC is activated and staff from around the city gather with neighboring agencies and volunteers, effective communications capabilities is paramount. City IT staff will work with Burwood Group, Inc., (Burwood) to equip the EOC with advanced Microsoft Teams Rooms integration to streamline collaboration, facilitate efficient decision-making, and enable unified communication for improved emergency response and coordination.
The EOC design allows it to be configured as one large room, or up to three smaller rooms. The design of the video and audio technology installed must support these configurations.
Burwood was awarded contracts for SharePoint and Teams integration after a competitive bidding process (Resolution R23-006).
The total cost of these room enhancements is $774,947.65.
The total cost of these technology components for FS4 is $1,740,049.43.
In addition, the City is currently implementing a new Fire Station Alerting System (FSAS) from Purvis Systems that was approved via Council Resolution R24-025. A change request to the Purvis Systems contract for Fire Station 4 and other Fire Stations will be brought to Council under a separate resolution.
Approval was given to a resolution authorizing the director of the Purchasing Department to process a change order to the agreement with Cordogan Clark for the architectural services, including design, engineering, and construction services for Fire Administration/Fire Station #4 in the amount of $817,886.00.
The purpose is to authorize the additional costs as the scope has increased from the City’s original estimate.
In 2021, the Aurora Fire Department (AFD) hired a consultant to conduct a Fire Station Location Analysis to establish optimal locations for the planned additional fire station, and relocation of two (2) stations, required to effectively meet fire and EMS service demand due to the continued growth and development of the city. The study determined it would be in the best interest of the public and the Fire Department to construct a new Station #13 and relocate Stations #9 and #4. Following Council approval, a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for the relocations and new buildings was submitted and approved. Staff released a Request for Proposals (RFP) on May 15, 2022, for architectural services and began looking for property. The acquisition of property for Station #9 was approved on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 (O23-056).
Cordogan Clark was awarded the architectural services for the Fire Department Headquarters/Fire Station #4 with resolution R23-299 in October 2023. At the time of the initial contract, the scope/size of the station was not fully developed. As historically done, the original proposal was a percentage of construction basis, the City capped it within the resolution as a not to exceed fixed dollar amount.
The initial request to the Infrastructure and Technology Committee was a requested increase of $1,021,544. After our many meetings and discussions, Cordogan Clark offered to reduce their fees from 7.5% to 7.0%. This has reduced the final request to $817,886.00 (a savings of $203,658.00)
The new agreement value of $1,997,636 (Project cost $27,214,729 * 7.0% + Reimbursables) is an increase of $817,886.00 over the initial resolution of $1,179,750. This dollar amount is arrived from the Leopardo Construction design fee estimate. Cordogan Clark bills based on a percentage (7.0%) of construction. As a result of the programming and schematic design phases and the final decision to move Emergency Management to this building/station the project scale increased. Fire Station #4, will include the administrative Fire offices (i.e. Fire Chief, Deputy, Assistant Chiefs, and Administrative Staff). Fire Station #4, the updated construction value of $27,214,729 from the original estimate of $15,450,000.
Many factors have contributed to the increased costs, time specifically. When the City began planning for these stations, costs were much less than they are today. Fire stations last 50-70 years in many cases, so staff members have done a remarkable job reviewing and assessing needs vs. wants and tried to ensure there is room for growth/changes as the building ages.
The funds are available in account 355-3033-422.72-35 (C135).
Based on the current schedule, Fire Department Headquarters/Fire Station #4 will commence this spring with completion spring/summer 2026.
The new Fire Station #4 should provide better coverage and response times to the community and allow the AFD and AEMA to continue to grow and respond to the increased development throughout the City.).