NORTH AURORA VILLAGE BOARD MEETING
VILLAGE BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Monday, August 21, 2023
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Village Board meeting was conducted live remotely
via telecommunications.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Gaffino called the meeting to order.
SILENT PRAYER – MEDITATION – PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Mayor Mark Gaffino, Trustee Jason Christiansen, Trustee Laura Curtis, Trustee Mark Guethle, Trustee Mike Lowery, Trustee Todd Niedzwiedz
Staff in attendance: Village Administrator Steve Bosco, Finance Director Jason Paprocki, Community & Economic Development Director Nathan Darga, Village Attorney Kevin Drendel, Public Works Director Brian Richter, Police Chief Joe DeLeo.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS – Judy English of 317 Kingswood Drive, North Aurora spoke to the Village Board about the commercial traffic that has been passing through her street. She expressed concern for the residents’ safety, specifically children.
Administrator Bosco stated that the Village is aware of the situation and is taking steps to correct the flow of commercial traffic. He said that a sign has been placed on John Street to help prevent trucks from navigating through the residential neighborhood. Bosco agreed with Ms. English, saying that GPS was directing commercial traffic, like delivery trucks, through the neighborhood to the rear of the commercial development rather than down Airport Road. The Village has been petitioning Google to send traffic down Airport Road. The Village has reached out to IDOT to place signage along Route 31 and could potentially add signage on John Street. Staff has also reached out to the warehouse and has been working with the manager to pass the message along to delivery drivers.
PRESENTATION-Mayor Gaffino presented to the winners of the Beautification Committee’s 2023 Summer Recognition Program.
CONSENT AGENDA
1. Village Board Minutes Dated 08/07/2023; Committee of the Whole Minutes Dated 08/07/2023
2. Travel and Business Expenses in the Amount of $50.00
3. Interim Bills List Dated 08/07/2023 FY23 in the Amount of $65,119.64
4. Interim Bills List Dated 08/07/2023 FY24 in the Amount of $4,000.00
5. Interim Bills List Dated 08/14/2023 in the Amount of $250.00
6. Bills List Dated 08/21/2023 in the Amount of $387,617.51
Motion for approval made by Trustee Lowery and seconded by Trustee Curtis. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Lowery – yes, Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes, Trustee Guethle – yes. Motion approved (5-0).
NEW BUSINESS
1. Approval of Purchase of John Deere 410P Backhoe Loader for Public Works from Westside Tractor in the Amount of $200,325.44
Public Works director Brian Richter stated that the Water Division was looking to purchase a new John Deere 410P Backhoe Loader from Westside Tractor Located in Lisle. Richter said that the purchase would be made through the Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing program, which had been used previously to purchase trucks. Richter stated that by using the program it will save the Village $116,000.
Motion for approval made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Lowery. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Guethle – yes, Trustee Lowery – yes, Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes. Motion approved (5-0).
2. Approval of Purchase to Retrofit two Water Division Trucks with New Equipment and Bodies from Knapheide Equipment Company in the Amount of $38,740.70
Public Works Director Brian Richter stated that the Public Works and Water departments were seeking to retrofit two trucks in the Water Division with new equipment and bodies. Currently all Water Division trucks are outfitted with utility bodies which are not covered and it causes tools and equipment to be exposed to the weather. Richter stated that they were seeking to outfit one truck with an enclosed utility box, the box that was currently on the truck would be repurposed to another truck which will also receive a new hitch and liftgate.
Motion for approval made by Trustee Niedzwiedz and seconded by Trustee Guethle. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes, Trustee Guethle – yes, Trustee Lowery – yes. Motion approved (5-0).
3. Approval of Bid Award for the 2023 Parkway Tree Replacement Program to The Fields on Caton Farm in the Amount of $34,250.00
Director Richter stated that this year the Village had received three bids and have decided to recommend the Fields on Caton Farm. Staff has done their due diligence on the Fields on Caton Farm as it would be the first time using the company.
Motion for approval made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Curtis. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Guethle – yes, Trustee Lowery – yes, Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes. Motion approved (5-0).
4. Approval of Ordinance Approving a Map Amendment and a Special Use for a Planned Unit Development for 1.7 Acres of Property to be Known as the North Aurora Fire Protection District Station 1 in the Village of North Aurora
Community & Economic Development Director Nathan Darga stated that the North Aurora Fire Protection District was back for final approval of the Map Amendment, Special Use-PUD, Site Plan Approval and Final Plat Approval related to the proposed development of a new Station 1.
Motion for approval made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Niedzwiedz. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Guethle – yes, Trustee Lowery – yes, Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes. Motion approved (5-0).
5. Approval of Resolution Authorizing the Transfer of Property from the Village of North Aurora to the North Aurora Fire District
Village Attorney Kevin Drendel reminded the Village Board that the Village was engaged with the North Aurora Fire Protection District in an intergovernmental land swap. He stated that there is a statute that governs that. Now that the zoning had been approved, the Village will need to complete the statutory process for the transfer of title. The parcels to be exchanged were the parcels on the northwest corner of Block One for the parcels on the southeast corner of Block One. Drendel stated that the Fire District approved a resolution previously identifying the Village parcels for acquisition, while the Village had identified the Fire District parcels for acquisition. The Fire District has passed their ordinance approving the transfer of their parcel, the Village needed to pass their ordinance approving the transfer of the Village parcel to the Fire District. Once the Village approved the transfer, the Fire District would take immediate possession of the Village parcel, while the Village would take title to the Fire District parcel but possession would happen after the Fire District new Station 1 was completed and occupied by the Fire District. Drendel stated that as part of the contract, the Village would be paying the Fire Protection District $1,276,000.
Motion for approval made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Lowery. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Guethle – yes, Trustee Lowery – yes, Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes. Motion approved (5-0).
6. Approval of Bid Award for the Sharepoint Implementation Document Management System to Hartland Business System in the Amount of $54,745.84
Administrator Bosco stated that the Village had embarked on a three-phase project to modernize its’ technology, this being phase two. The Village began by implementing Office 365 which has a document management system component. The Village is trying to modernize by getting rid of paper copies and starting put them into a searchable database. Phase two would take all of the digital files that the Village already had on their servers and identify, classify and assign them to departments and then migrate that to the new SharePoint system that is part of Office 365.
The Village received twelve proposals with a range between $40,000 and $1.27 million. Staff identified the fourth lowest proposal as the best proposal. Bosco said that there was $60,000 in the budget for the project.
Motion for approval made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Niedzwiedz. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Guethle – yes, Trustee Lowery – yes, Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes. Motion approved (5-0).
7. Approval of Resolution to Approve Revisions to the Human Resources Manual for the Village of North Aurora
Finance Director Jason Paprocki stated that the item included the Resolution to update the Human Resources manual, including revising the entire social media policy and an ordinance updating the Village Code policy regarding Village Administrator duties as it relates to the HR manual. Paprocki stated that the item had been discussed at both the July 17, 2023 and August 1, 2023 Committee of the Whole meetings. One change had been made as a result of the last meeting, staff originally suggested providing Staff with a 15 minutes paid break to be taken alongside their 30 minute unpaid lunch. The Village Board suggested making that a 30 paid break rather than 15 minutes.
Motion for approval made by Trustee Lowery and seconded by Trustee Guethle. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Lowery – yes, Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes, Trustee Guethle – yes. Motion approved (5-0).
8. Approval of Ordinance Approving the 4th Budget Amendment for Fiscal Year 2022-23
Director Paprocki stated that approval was need for the transfer of money between departments with the General Fund. Paprocki stated that certain departments were over budget and certain departments were under budget but in total the Village was under budget so it did not change the total bottom line. The approval of the agenda item would also increase the Village’s General Fund capital transfer that was originally budgeted for $600,000 to go from the General Fund to the Capital Projects Fund but because of increased tax revenue the Village received during the year the transfer increased to $3,000,000. The item would also increase the budget for the other miscellaneous funds within the budget.
Motion for approval made by Trustee Lowery and seconded by Trustee Curtis. Roll Call Vote: Trustee Lowery – yes, Trustee Niedzwiedz – yes, Trustee Christiansen – yes, Trustee Curtis –yes, Trustee Guethle – yes. Motion approved (5-0).
VILLAGE PRESIDENT – None
TRUSTEES COMMENTS – None
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT – Administrator Bosco stated that the Village had a good financial year with sales tax revenue. He stated that the Village had a robust Capital Plan which included a new Public Works facility. He stated that the Village had been concentrating on building the Capital Fund.
ATTORNEY’S REPORT – None
VILLAGE DEPARTMENT REPORTS
1. Finance – None
2. Community Development – None
3. Police – Police Chief DeLeo stated that the Department’s newest Officer, Joshua Campbell would be sworn in on August 28, 2023. He also said that the background check had been currently being processed for the Community Service Officer candidate selected with a tentative start date of September 5, 2023. There will be an eight week training program that would be police in conjunction with the code enforcement team. DeLeo announced that the Police Department would hold its’ community picnic September 2, 2023 from 12pm to 3pm.
4. Public Works – None
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn was made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Lowery. All in favor. Motion approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jessi Watkins
Village Clerk
