The Aurora City Council recognized Aurora Christian School’s wrestling team for recently winning the State championship (see above).
City Council recognized recently- hired employees Anna Payton, head of Animal Control and Danny Powell, head of the Phillip’s Park Zoo.
Several individuals used their three minute opportunity to speak at the meeting to thank City officials for their work with the developer of a restaurant approved to be build on Farnsworth Avenue near their homes.
• Approved was was a resolution to seek Kane County Riverboat Fund grant assistance to return the Sentry Statue to its post on top of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Memorial Museum on Downer Place. City officials will apply for a Kane County Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund grant in the amount of $33,000, to assist.
• Rejected was a resolution requesting professional services from Oakbrook Terrace-based Crowe Horwath, in the amount of $98,725.
The City of Aurora government seeks to evaluate its current technology department and City-wide technology services and develop an information technology (IT) strategic plan focusing on the following objectives:
Engage in process mapping to document key technology-related processes; identify key projects and help IT plan, budget, and prioritize; develop IT short and long term goals and alignment with Citywide vision and other innovation strategies; seek ways to streamline and modernize, as well as standardize the way citywide departments utilize IT’s services and technology.
The estimate is 559 hours at $176. per hour.
Eighth Ward alderman Rick Mervine expressed concern with the number of hours quoted for the IT evaluation. “I don’t dispute that Crowe Horwath is a good organization. I’m not suggesting that you find somebody else to do this. My request is that you go back and work with Crowe Horwath to figure out how to restructure this process.”
City officials want to plan Aurora’s potential as a Smart City and the regional leader for smart innovation systems and technologies.
Mayor Richard Irvin stated that Michael Pegues, chief information officer for the city of Aurora has saved the City $2.3 Million since he was hired last year.
Irvin said, “alderman Mervine is suggesting that only he knows what is correct and what these consultants should provide and what the City staff should do.
“Why would we think, as a Council, and as mayor, that he’s going to start overspending money now if his point has been to save money for us the whole time?”
The Council voted 6-5 to send the IT strategic plan agreement back to the Finance Committee for review.
Dissenting votes were by Juany Garza, Carl Franco, Mike Saville, Ed Bugg, and Sherman Jenkins.
• Approved was a resolution for payment of specialized training for the Aurora Police Department Special Response Team and Naperville Police Department Special Response Team as outlined in the Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The cities of Aurora and Naperville have been awarded a joint grant by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The purpose of the grant is to assist recipients in the development and implementation of a plan to prepare for and respond to complex coordinated terrorist attacks, which includes police and fire, other government services, critical infrastructure, and whole community partners.
The grant is scheduled as a three- year project that will culminate in the Summer of 2020 with a large exercise. Specifically, the grant outlines one week of joint training during the 2018 and 2019 calendar years. The two teams have discussed and researched various trainings for the 2018 joint training and have concluded that Evergreen Mountain, LLC would be best suited to deliver the necessary training.
The Evergreen Mountain, LLC training cadre is comprised of experienced military special operations personnel and law enforcement personnel with tactical operations experience. The cost of the training is $42,000..
• Approved was a two week extension of a moratorium on the issuance of new licenses for the operation of video gaming terminals. During the term of the moratorium, no new licenses for the operation of video gaming terminals shall be issued by the City, and no applications for the issuance of such licenses shall be processed.
Wendy McCambridge, city clerk of Aurora has been doing extensive work comparing ordinances of neighboring municipalities.
City officials discussed a cap on the number of video gaming terminals citywide at 200 with a cap of five per site, a half-mile between locations, and video gaming terminals prohibited in the downtown.
City officials are concerned about video gaming from establishments lowering income for the casino in the downtown.
For every $100 spent, the City receives approximately 10 times the amount of return from gambling proceeds at the casino than video gaming at establishments.