Aurora city government is seeking a riverboat grant to develop the former Fox Valley Park District administrative offices, 712 S. River Street, into a center for non-profits.
Aldermen heard a report on the “Thrive Collaborative Center” concept during its Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, April 2 at City Hall. Chief innovation officer Adrienne Holloway said the grant process, which is under way, requires a city resolution.
If received, the $35,000 grant from the Grand Victoria Riverboat Fund, would be used to add computers and other technology to the building, which is vacant and owned by the city government.
Alderman-at-large Sherman Jenkins asked if non-profits have been identified to set up offices in the space, but Holloway said the city government has not done a “call-out” to non-profits because the technology is not in place. If the grant is approved, non-profits would share the building and pay rent to the city government.
Fourth Ward alderman Bill Donnell said he worked in the building for 27 years as a Park District employee. He said he is “very excited that the City is looking for a positive use” for the building. Fox Valley Park District built a new headquarters, The Cole Center, and moved its administrative staff members to the building on Illinois Avenue.
Holloway said the City should be notified if the funds have been granted in June.
• In other business, a resolution to accept a proposal from Communities in Schools to run the City’s 2019 Summer camp programs will be on the City Council consent agenda for Tuesday, April 9.
As a third-party administrator, Communities in Schools would run the programs for just under $188,000. The plan is for four sites to be host to programs: Georgetown Elementary School in School District 204; Homestead Elementary in District 308; Smith Elementary in District 129; and Fred Rodgers Magnet Academy in District 131. A Drama Camp for the entire City is to be held at East Aurora High School.
The camps are to start the first and second weeks of June, depending on when schools let out for the Summer.
On the consent agenda will be resolutions for three tax increment financing (TIF) Districts. Two of the TIFs are in downtown Aurora and would be carved out of an existing TIF District. The third is a new TIF for a senior housing development at 75th Street and Route 34. All the TIFs would be based on projects that are ready to occur, city officials said.
TIFs provide a structure for the city government to reinvest added tax revenue from new development back into the area where it originated. The goal of a TIF is to stimulate new private investment, thereby increasing real estate values.
• Another item on the consent agenda is a resolution to purchase insecticides from Clarke Mosquito Control Products, Inc. of St. Charles for pellets that go into catch basins to help cut down the mosquito population.
The amount of the contract is slightly more than $32,000.