NORTH AURORA DAYS
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Monday, May 11, 2020
Call to Order
Mark Gaffino called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.
Attendance
Mark Gaffino, Doug Botkin, Jessi Watkins, Holly O’Brien, Carolyn Bird Salazar, David Fisher Robyn Stecklein, Steve Bosco, Bill Hannah and David Hansen.
Approval of Minutes
David Fisher made a motion to approve the March 9, 2020 meeting minutes, which were seconded by Doug Botkin.
Motion to Approve: All in Favor
Discussion
- Discussion of North Aurora Days
Village Administrator Steve Bosco updated the committee on the May 4th Village Board North Aurora Days discussion and the recent Restore Illinois Plan released by the Illinois Governor’s office. Bosco mentioned the Village Board decided to wait until the next Board meeting or the June 1st meeting to make an official decision on North Aurora Days since they wanted to hear the North Aurora Days Committee’s input. The Board meeting was before the Governor’s plan was released. Bosco said currently we are in phase 2 of the Governor’s plan and festivals are not allowed until phase 5. Bosco mentioned that since North Aurora is in the Chicago region for the Governor’s plan that it was unlikely the region would move through the phases quickly enough to hold the event as originally planned.
Bosco said staff met last week regarding events planned for the upcoming summer, reached out to the Clocktower ownership and reached out to the Illinois Liquor Commission. Staff met on May 8 to discuss concerns of holding events in the near future, the public safety aspect and the challenges of planning public events. Clocktower Plaza ownership mentioned they were okay with postponing or holding North Aurora Days as long it followed the Governor’s orders. Staff also reached out to the Illinois Liquor Commission in regards to obtaining a special events liquor permit for the beer tent. The Liquor Commission said they would wait until a week or so before the event to determine if they would approve it or not. The Commission said they would unlikely grant a permit if it was against the Governor’s orders. North Aurora Days Chairman Mark Gaffino said he reached out to Mooseheart, who said they were uncomfortable to hold touch-a-truck this year regardless if the State were to allow it.
North Aurora Chairman Mark Gaffino asked committee members their thoughts and concerns on holding North Aurora Days 2020.
Jessi Watkins said it would be a challenge to get volunteers for the event and said the public would probably be anxious about gathering. Watkins said that even if the event was pushed back a few months the event would still have similar concerns if North Aurora Days was held as scheduled. Watkins mentioned she would prefer to cancel North Aurora Days due to safety concerns.
Doug Botkin said having it in August is probably not possible due to the Governor’s guidelines. Botkin also said that our region will probably trail behind everywhere else in Illinois since it deals with Chicago and other high density areas. Botkin mentioned getting the insurance for the beer tent takes time and probably not worth the cost of paying if the permit would get denied by the liquor commission. Botkin mentioned having an event at end of September or October would be neat to do, but doesn’t think it would be possible. Botkin preferred to cancel North Aurora Days.
Holly O’Brien said the Mothers Club met last week. O’Brien said she asked them if North Aurora Days were to happen in August how many would be comfortable in volunteering for the beer tent. O’Brien said 50% would volunteer, 25% were a maybe depending what was going on, and 25% would not. This indicates that there would be problems staffing the beer tent. O’Brien also asked the same question if the event was moved to the fall. The percentage of volunteers stayed the same. O’Brien said that ensuring safety for all would be difficult and it would be tough to convince the public to come out. O’Brien suggested cancelling it due to safety of volunteers and the public.
Carolyn Bird Salazar mentioned that it would be tough to have the public attend and feel comfortable in a large gathering. Salazar said even pushing the festival to end of the year may be tough to get people to come out to it. Bird suggested cancelling it until there is minimal risk to the public, volunteers, and staff.
Police Chief Dave Fisher said he would suggest cancelling the event since all of his officers are typically working the event. Chief Fisher said if one or two of the officers caught the virus it could spread through the department and affect daily operations. Chief Fisher said any event for the rest of the year may be difficult to do since the flu season and a second wave of COVID could be possible. Robyn Stecklein said that if we can’t do Mooseheart as a safety event and since we are supposed to be a safety collation that it’s probably not best to hold the event. Stecklein said once everything is lifted that we reevaluate the situation.
Finance Director Bill Hannah said it would be tough to do the event and to ensure safety to participants, residents, and the crowd. Hannah mentioned no sponsorships have been received by the Village and that the Village would have to foot the entire event if it were to happen. Administrative/GIS Analyst David Hansen said this event would be difficult to plan and enforce especially if it violates the Governor’s orders.
Mark Gaffino thanked the Committee for sharing their thoughts and concerns. Gaffino said that North Aurora Days 2020 should be cancelled due to public safety reasons and that the Village/region would probably not be able to reach phase 5 of the Governor’s Restore Illinois plan in time. Gaffino mentioned there is no reason to force something, especially if public turnout would probably be low. Gaffino also said the Committee should continue meet to monitor the situation when needed. Gaffino suggested to start moving some of the contracts to North Aurora Days 2021. Gaffino said the Committee appears to unanimously agree to cancel North Aurora Days 2020.
Steve Bosco said the event would need to be cancelled by the June 1st Village Board meeting at the latest since most contracts cancellation clauses start 60 days out. Staff has cancelled one band contract since it had a 3 month cancellation clause and reached out to the fireworks company. Bosco mentioned the fireworks contract says the Village would owe the firework vendor, Central States, 15%. However, after talking to Central States they would void this year’s contract entirely. Bosco said the Village would be able to cancel many of the band contracts for free and cancellation of the entire event would probably be less than $10,000 if all contracts would hold to their contract amounts. It’s very likely it would be even less if we can move or re-sign the same contracts for North Aurora Days 2021.
David Fisher made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:26 pm, which was seconded by Doug Botkin.
Motion to Adjourn: All in Favor
Respectfully submitted,
David Hansen
