By Jason Crane
Twenty Civilian Review Board semifinalists were announced at the Aurora city government Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conference platform.
Mayor of Aurora, Richard Irvin presented the update about the Civilian Review Board (CRB).
The establishment of the City of Aurora’s Civilian Review Board is a result of the City’s C.H.A.N.G.E. Reform Initiative, launched by mayor Richard Irvin in June 2020 following the local, national and global civil unrest and calls for systemic police reform and unprecedented racial reckoning.
One-hundred thirty-four applications have been narrowed to 20 that will be reviewed by the African American Heritage Advisory Board, Aurora Hispanic Heritage Advisory Board, Indian American Community Outreach Advisory Board, and the Human Relations Commission.
The 20 semifinalists in alphabetical order are: Peter Aguilera, Christopher Bennett, Kim Bright, Timothy Brown, Rajesh Char, Casildo Cuevas, Mary Fultz, Vincent Gaddis, Jacqueline Gibson, Ginger Ingram, Angela Massey, Denise Matuzak, Andrea McMillian, Brian Moreno, Marcy Reimer, Lily Rocha, Yolanda Stovall, Scott Voris, Luma Webster, and Curtis Wilson.
The 20 semifinalists eventually will be narrowed down to nine members scheduled to serve three years with a two-term limit.
More information can be found at: www.aurora-il.org/CRB
• Consent was given to a resolution to accept the quote from Collision & Crime Forensics, LLC, 300 South Fillmore St, Papillion, Neb., 68046 to purchase Leica RTC360 3D Laser Scanner Kit with accessories and certified on-site training at the not to exceed amount of $122,365.61 for the Aurora Police Department.
This 3D Laser Scanner will enhance the evidence collection and processing of crime scenes and other police related incidents where evidence collection is necessary. Using this 3D Scanner will greatly improve crime scene mapping as it is much more detailed then current methods of crime scene processing while reducing the amount of time spent processing scenes.
• Consent was given to an ordinance deferring the implementation of the annual Water/Sewer rate increase as provided in Article II of Chapter 48 of the Aurora Code of Ordinances titled “Municipal Utility Services until March 31, 2021.
Rate increases are approved by the City Council every two years. As such no approval was needed to increase rates this past July. The scheduled rate increase is approximately 5.0%. Due to the deferral of several capital projects in the Water Fund, it is financially able to incur the revenue loss from this temporary deferral. Early this year the City Council approved a deferral to January 1, 2021. Due to the continued impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic City staff members are recommending a continued deferral of the increase until March 31, 2021.
• Consent was given to a resolution authorizing the purchase of a 2021 Wheeled Coach Ford F-550 4×4 gas type 1 ambulance from Fire Service Inc., St. John, Indiana in the amount of $287,814 for the Aurora Fire Department.
This will replace a 2016 ambulance with 99,246 miles that has reached the end of its service life as a front-line vehicle as recommended by Equipment Services.
• Chairman of the Rules, Administration, and Procedure Committee Carl Franco said Rich Jacobs is the new chief of staff in the Alderman’s Office.
• Consent was given to a resolution appointing Gautam Bhatia to the Aurora Planning & Zoning Commission.
• Consent was given to a resolution reappointing Shanita Anderson to the Aurora Planning & Zoning Commission.
• Consent was given to a resolution appointing Angela Thomas to the Aurora Civil Service Commission.
• Consent was given to a resolution authorizing the execution of a second amendment to the Y’All LLC (F/K/A Windy City Distribution Inc.) redevelopment agreement.
City government of Aurora documents show:
Amendment will enable Y’All to sell their building at 1103 Butterfield Rd., within the Liberty Business Park, approximately seven months earlier than is permitted in the redevelopment agreement (RDA).
In August of 2011, the City approved a redevelopment agreement with Y’All LLC, the majority owned by Jason and James Ebel, owners and operators of Two Brother Roundhouse with the remaining 33% of the agreement authorized the use of $ 3,960,000 of TIF funds from the Farnsworth International TIF District (TIF 2) to finance certain redevelopment costs for the purchase and renovation of a 175,000 square foot building on approximately 10 acres of land for a beer and distribution business for the storage and distribution of specialty craft beers from around the world. The TIF advance was to be paid back from incremental property taxes and is secured by a junior mortgage. The mortgage was to be in effect for 10 years after which time it would be “null and void and of no further force of effect”. While Y’ALL has continued to own the building and pay property taxes, they sold the business to Reyes Holdings in 2013 because the State prohibited the same ownership to own both a beer distributorship and brewery. Robert Collins moved over to oversee Reyes. Reyes continued to operate the business and will do so until the end of the year. The City was aware of this change and agreed to it.
Resolution 11-159 provided for a redevelopment agreement for the above mentioned property in TIF 2 which expired one year later in 2012. This agreement provided for a junior mortgage that would be forgiven upon the terms of the RDA being followed. A key term of the RDA was that the developer needed to maintain and own the property for at least 10 years for the junior mortgage to be forgiven.
With the City’s consent, for the reasons noted above the facility was “sold” but maintained the same use and therefore was deemed to remain in compliance in 2013. Since then the property has been maintained and has paid taxes in roughly the anticipated amount per the RDA and as detailed below. As such, the City has no call on the junior mortgage unless the business is sold prior to 10 years elapsing. The most current real estate taxes are approximately $300,000 annually.
Y’All has a contract to sell the building to Prologis, a world leader in industrial real estate for over 30 years. The contract is scheduled to close within the next 30 days subject to the approval of this resolution. While the market is strong, it may not make sense for the City to require the original developer to hold the building for the remaining roughly 5% of the time on the RDA. Staff recommends that the 2nd amendment, as attached be executed to allow for the sale within the next 30 days that could take place by right anytime after August 2021.
While the original RDA in 2011 set a date of August 25, 2021 to release the City’s junior mortgage, with the industrial market very strong it is not surprising that the property is now under contract, Based on staff estimates, the current $300,000 tax bill will not only continue to be paid but will likely increase based on the sales price.
While the economics of the original agreement did not unfold so as to fully amortize the $3.960,000 upfront TIF, the decision to fund these monies has kept the building in operation since the TIF was approved and based on the contract in place will maintain it a productive revenue producing use.
Dave Dibo, director of Economic Development for the City of Aurora government said, “That business was sold because the State said you could not have the same company operating the distribution company and the brewery at the same time.
“They had to sell the building but this company stayed in the building and will stay in the building until August.
“Prologis is coming in to purchase the building and this will allow them to do so.”
• Consent was given to a resolution requesting ratification approval to renew a subscription for Clarity, a strategic enterprise Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) software with CDW-G Corporation in Vernon Hills; under the National IPA purchasing agreement (2018011-01), for a three-year contract not to exceed $81,015.
• Consent was given to a resolution request approval to pay one-year renewal of Accela, Inc., 2633 Camino Ramon in San Ramon, CA 94583 for customer relationship management (CRM) hosted solution in the amount not to exceed $37,868.90.
The Accela CRM solution will allow Customer Service 311 to manage citizen service requests without interruption which includes but limited to:
- Mobile Apps
- Incident Reporting via Text Messaging
- Automatic GPS Location Detection
- Map Based Incident Tracking and Reporting
- Increased Transparency and Outward Facing Case Information
- Enhanced Internal Reporting Capabilities.
In 2020, as part of the ongoing TrakIT Community Services Development Project, the City purchased Tyler Technologies MyCivic 311 to replace Accela’s Info Aurora mobile app for full system integration.
In Q1 2021, TRAKiT Phase 2 implementation will focus on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module, which was initially out of scope during the initial phase. Phase 2 focuses on the remaining components of the TRAKiT CRM module which requires integration with MyCivic 311.
MyCivic 311 is a comprehensive, customizable platform designed to promote civic engagement and enhance the quality of life in your community. Through a single, public-facing app, residents and business owners have access to all the services, resources, and information your organization has to offer, enabling them to play a more active role in the area they call home.
- Mobile application through MyCivic platform for the City
- Send targeted push notifications, surveys, and feedback forms
- Encourage two-way communication with citizens
- Connect to bill payment portals
- Provide interactive, GIS-based maps to points of interest
- Ability to display top 40 most common requests that could be submitted achieved through MyCivic admin portal module
- Enhanced CRM Analytics Reporting
City leadership decided to extend the expiring Accela contract (12/31/2020) for one additional year to support integration, legacy system obsolescence for cost savings and avoid citizen disruption for business continuity. Accela has agreed to provide an extension and confirmed services would not expire pending resolution approval.
It’s estimated the Tyler Technologies MyCivic 311 mobile platform could be fully implemented and operational within a 6-month duration.
Final approval for items on the consent agenda are set to be made at the January 26 Aurora City Council meeting.